Gettin' It Done - 10

Kinda continuing with the theme from yesterday's post (Gettin' It Done - 11).

This one really seems to stick in Willard's craw - or more accurately, in WIllard's advisors' craw, cuz that guy seriously has no tho'ts of his own on Foreign Policy.  Anyway, they first tried to slam Obama for "leading from behind", but then they found out nobody supported direct US involvement.  Next, they tried to slam him for "following the French", but then they found out that all that "French-ified leadership" was depending on American-supplied intel (which everybody called indispensable), and without which, (eg) they'd still be talking about the Slaughter in Benghazi.  And on and on and on.

10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafi: In March 2011, joined a coalition of European and Arab governments in military action, including air power and naval blockade, against Gaddafi regime to defend Libyan civilians and support rebel troops. Gaddafi’s forty-two-year rule ended when the dictator was overthrown and killed by rebels on October 20, 2011. No American lives were lost.

You can argue that last bit: "no American lives were lost", and connect it to the 4 dead Americans in Benghazi last month, and then try to score a few points about how Obama's policies are unravelling and blah blah blah.  But when Condi Rice comes out and defends Clinton's State Dept, saying in effect that foreign service is some dangerous shit and you don't conduct proper diplomacy by hiding in a bunker - well I have to think the translation is something like, "You really don't know what the fuck yer talkin' about, Willard".

One of the things we never hear is that Qaddafi was aware of the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie - at least aware of it, if not very closely involved.  Ya gotta know that if Willard was in charge when Libya went down, they'd be naming buildings and parks and high schools after the prick for his "stalwart efforts to bring the Islamofascists to justice!"

So lemme see, when Sadam has nothing to do with 9/11, we pretend he did so we get ourselves into a supremely stoopid war that goes on for 8 years and gets more Americans killed than actually died on 9/11, and costs us a trillion dollars.  But when Qaddafi actually does have something to do with hundreds of dead Americans and he finally gets what he deserves for it, then we just shrug - meh - and make like it's no big deal; plus we get to listen to Repubs piss and moan about how Obama didn't do it right, or some other fuckin' nonsense.

These people have no soul and no honor.

Serious Wonkette

I've been in some FaceBook fights over the last year or so with some "friends" who have ended up calling me "the enemy".  Some of these guys are standard-issue wingnuts and they're pretty wacky and kookie and I tend to see them as little more than a fringe-y and colorful thing that serves as a distraction for the Press Poodles, but doesn't represent anything of substance.

I really hope that's the case, but when Wonkette has a hard time smiling about it, there may be real cause for worry.

A man advocating executing journalists for treason in honor of Free Speech Week for being too supportive of the American president just described other people as “Orwellian.”

This week marks the 50th anniversary of The Cuban Missile Crisis.  I bring that up because in the middle of all the shit, JFK managed to remember history, and specifically recalled the warnings from The Guns of August. ie: everybody has a plan; everybody follows their plan; and the whole thing becomes a matter of an If/Then Algorithm that always ends in a shooting war.  Having been burned once (Bay of Pigs), Kennedy broke with tradition, refusing to allow "the plan" to take precedence over actual in-the-moment reasoning.

With all the banter and bickering over Red Team vs Blue Team that's gone on for as long as there's been places on the internet to go and engage in the fiercest flame wars you can imagine, we've gotten to a place (I think) where the fight will no longer be confined to cyberspace.  Each "side" knows most of what the other side has to say; and each side recognizes the style and substance of the other side's rhetoric; so it becomes "if Attack 238, then Counter Attack G; unless Attack 238 is combined with Straw Man Gamma, in which case, deploy Parry & Riposte Yellow yada yada yada".

Unfortunately, there's always a very dark and dangerous aspect of things like Populism and Partisanship and Regional Chauvinism etc.  There's always somebody hangin' out in the bar (or the park or wherever) just itchin' for a fight to break out.  Doesn't matter what the fight's about, they're just looking to mix it up with somebody, and all they need is a decent-sounding excuse.

Now consider the sheer numbers of combat veterans we've been minting lately, and put that together with the fact that we have as many guns in this country as we have humans; plus the widening of permissive gun laws; and then take a long look at the style of recreation favored by a very important slice of the American Male Demographic: Video War Gaming, Paintball, Combat-style Shooting Sports (with real guns and live ammo).

Step by step; in small degrees; inching forward; If. Then. Boom.

Doesn't have to be that way.  It just happens to be the trend.

Obama Ad

Lena Dunham is the creative genius behind a series on HBO called Girls.  (One of my new faves)



And of course, "conservatives" are freaking out about it - I think mostly because the GOP's Cool Factor number is making a serious attempt at dipping below absolute zero.

Gettin' It Done - 11

In the last "debate", Willard said something like "we don't dictate to the world, Mr President, we help people overthrow the dictators", it was an Etch-A-Sketch moment for the ages.  He said it with great confidence and authority, as if he believed in his heart of hearts that the noble GOP still somehow held a clear advantage on Foreign Policy issues.  And he said it as if he really expected all of us to have forgotten completely that Obama helped out in Tunisia; and had knocked over Qaddafi; and is still applying constant pressure on Saleh; and is pushing Assad, and...

11. Told Mubarak to Go: On February 1, 2011, publicly called on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to accept reform or step down, thus weakening the dictator’s position and putting America on the right side of the Arab Spring. Mubarak ended thirty-year rule when overthrown on February 11.

Whatever sounds good for his argument right now is what Willard says.  The heat of the moment is all that matters.  If he can move you just a little with a snappy 10-word bumper sticker - that's all he seems to care about.  And if it goes against easily verifiable events of history (like something that happened last year, or several months ago, or fucking yesterday), well - whatever - it's not like the idiots he's talking to actually know anything; not about history anyway.  And as long as he's got that solid 25% who never venture outside The Bubble, WIllard can say whatever he wants and let DumFux News do the rest.

Important Rape Advisory Update

Hat tip(s) = BlueGal and Daily Kos

People

Lizz and Sarah tell us what it is.

Today's Pix

You don't have much of a war if nobody shows up to fight

Oops

So Trump the Chump did his little bombshell thing yesterday, and wow - what a fuckin' stinker that was.  The bastard totally screwed up my chance to crow and brag and strut around - asshole that he is, I'm sure that's exactly what he was planning all along.

So, I was wrong yesterday when I posted my prediction that Lil Donny's big revelation would be about Obama and divorce (Out On A Limb).

But Jesus, dude - you wanna fuck with the Prez and your idea is to try a little extortion?  You turn it into a very bad thing that essentially takes a charity hostage?  Why not just give the money to the charity and stop being such a dick about it?

Gettin' It Done - 12

Yeah, I know - Obama didn't do a lot of the things he should've done: Gitmo and Military Commissions and Black Sites and Drone Attacks and Habeas Corpus and and and.  All true, except that he's also been pretty busy issuing Exec Orders to the effect: "while the legal authority exists for us to do all these really shitty things that are totally unconstitutional or extra-judicial or straight up illegal, I'm directing members of the Executive Branch not to do them - if you guys think that's possible."

I think Obama's been trying to get some political cover (duh); both so he can use the tools he's got to go after the bad guys, and to defend himself from the shit-slingers.  So he doesn't get good marks for closely following the law, but since he's "my guy", I'll have to cop to believing I can trust him more than I'd trust "their guy".  

12. Reversed Bush Torture Policies: Two days after taking office, nullified Bush-era rulings that had allowed detainees in U.S. custody to undergo certain “enhanced” interrogation techniques considered inhumane under the Geneva Conventions. Also released the secret Bush legal rulings supporting the use of these techniques.

I hate the feeling that I'm constantly having to choose from a list of lousy options - imagine what it must be like in the Oval Office every fucking day.

A New One

Just a good place to go once in a while to get a little bleach splashed on your soul.

Atheist Overdose