Q: Should Senate Democrats compromise on the endless stream of unacceptable nominees ?
A: Absolutely not.
That the Bush administration is so giddy with hubris and contemptuous of the other side is itself unacceptable. That they wouldn't choose new nominees is also terrible. It's a terrible choice, but filibuster is the right thing to do to prevent the marginalization of the minority this Republican putsch fights so hard for. The Republican Party is calling for the rest of us to kneel and kiss the ring, and any Democrat crossing the aisle is as guilty of treason as the opponent.
That the Senate approved Bolton's nomination is indicative of the bad behavior of the Republican Party at large. Most members of the Foreign Relations Comittee agree with me: Bolton is a dick, and he can't speak for the nation because we can't trust him to speak for himself. I watched the end of hearings on C-Span. Approval means a rubber stamp, because as one of the brain-dead enemies of our State said, the President is owed complete obedience from his lessers. Whatever he wants, including the missing $9,000,000,000.
So I say, "Do it." Filibuster these creeps. And if they change the rules of America to say the minority shall have no voice I say, "Do it." Freeze everything. Shut down the government, just like the Republicans did when Newt didn't get to sit up front with Uncle Bill in his airplane.
The Congress only functions as a tool anyway, and every piece of legislation they've generated has been another bone in my throat. Stop the mayhem. Stop the budgets. Stop the presses, we're shutting the place down.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Texas Morality: All Values Deeply Discounted
I was raised with the belief that Chivalry, and not Realpolitik, should guide our behavior toward others. So I've been disturbed by lawmakers and executives claiming some bizarro moral high ground as they do exactly what I'm teaching my son to not do. I call it Texas Morality, or Wal-Mart Morality: All Values Deeply Discounted!
Mercy is a value I was surprised to see expressed by the normally cynical, ruthless and mercurial GOP-controlled Justice Department. It came as a surprise that despite the GOP's strong support for the death penalty and the executive's predeliction toward killing women, crazies and simpletons, a man's life was spared.
He was the star of a popular television show for about 10 years, and he was on the run from authorities in Dukes of Hazzard territory. Acting on principle, this lovable raff affected the lives of people around the world. The show was America's Most Wanted, and the Bush Justice Department handed him a plea deal to prevent the states from executing Eric Rudolph. Remember, he used domestic terror tactics- Bombs, to kill his philosophical opponents. He placed bombs in the middle of the Atlanta Olympics to kill people he disagreed with, with no regard given to the innocent.
His real beef was probably with abortionists, gays, the international community and athletes, but surely he shares with McVeigh the anti-establishment leaning used to justufy the mass murder of strangers in Oklahoma City. But these are both criminals against our society who used indiscriminate weapons to commit capital crimes, crossing state lines in pursuit of their victims.
Bush and his friends have tacitly endorsed his violent behavior toward the rest of us who value liberty and demand the responsibility to make our own decisions. He and Das Republikbureau are preparing to warehouse Mr. Rudolph in a prison at our expense where he will have access to media, a law school, and hero status within the nutso community.
Since the Republicans hired Arthur Anderson (Accenture) to keep the books after AA helped Enron rob their customers and ruin the futures of their employees and stockholders, it is perfectly clear that this deeply-discounted value system and poorly-accounted record keeping is consistent with the Bush Plan to kill random Americans and ruin the futures of the rest. And they lay claim to the moral high ground.
Mercy is a value I was surprised to see expressed by the normally cynical, ruthless and mercurial GOP-controlled Justice Department. It came as a surprise that despite the GOP's strong support for the death penalty and the executive's predeliction toward killing women, crazies and simpletons, a man's life was spared.
He was the star of a popular television show for about 10 years, and he was on the run from authorities in Dukes of Hazzard territory. Acting on principle, this lovable raff affected the lives of people around the world. The show was America's Most Wanted, and the Bush Justice Department handed him a plea deal to prevent the states from executing Eric Rudolph. Remember, he used domestic terror tactics- Bombs, to kill his philosophical opponents. He placed bombs in the middle of the Atlanta Olympics to kill people he disagreed with, with no regard given to the innocent.
His real beef was probably with abortionists, gays, the international community and athletes, but surely he shares with McVeigh the anti-establishment leaning used to justufy the mass murder of strangers in Oklahoma City. But these are both criminals against our society who used indiscriminate weapons to commit capital crimes, crossing state lines in pursuit of their victims.
Bush and his friends have tacitly endorsed his violent behavior toward the rest of us who value liberty and demand the responsibility to make our own decisions. He and Das Republikbureau are preparing to warehouse Mr. Rudolph in a prison at our expense where he will have access to media, a law school, and hero status within the nutso community.
Since the Republicans hired Arthur Anderson (Accenture) to keep the books after AA helped Enron rob their customers and ruin the futures of their employees and stockholders, it is perfectly clear that this deeply-discounted value system and poorly-accounted record keeping is consistent with the Bush Plan to kill random Americans and ruin the futures of the rest. And they lay claim to the moral high ground.
Science OR Intelligent Design
Intelligent design is a very convenient short cut to the conclusion desired by the enemies of science and progress. But it's not science. It's not testable, and not reproducible.
That's easy for me to say, since I can accept that an omnipotent being can do anything. I'm not terribly pious, but I can't clip the wings of the Deity and prevent it (Him?) from creating an evolutionary universe where change is the constant and black and white television yields to color. I like the fact that experimental science has led to sterile surgeries, long life spans and low infant mortality. I like the bright colors in my wardrobe, the car I use to transport my body, the Thai foods I wouldn't know about if other cultures hadn't evolved independently of mine.
So test your theory. And remember you can't walk into the laboratory with your results. The Bible can't be used to justify your conclusions, because it is the experimental subject. And when you do attempt to create the universe, make sure you have fresh underwear on.
That's easy for me to say, since I can accept that an omnipotent being can do anything. I'm not terribly pious, but I can't clip the wings of the Deity and prevent it (Him?) from creating an evolutionary universe where change is the constant and black and white television yields to color. I like the fact that experimental science has led to sterile surgeries, long life spans and low infant mortality. I like the bright colors in my wardrobe, the car I use to transport my body, the Thai foods I wouldn't know about if other cultures hadn't evolved independently of mine.
So test your theory. And remember you can't walk into the laboratory with your results. The Bible can't be used to justify your conclusions, because it is the experimental subject. And when you do attempt to create the universe, make sure you have fresh underwear on.
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