Saturday, May 24, 2003
Everything you need to know right now
is laid out beautifully by Tarek over at The Liquid List in this post.
This is must read, folks.
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is laid out beautifully by Tarek over at The Liquid List in this post.
This is must read, folks.
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THERE SHOULD BE NO DELAY
So a guy walks into a liquor store and points his gun at the clerk and demands all the money from the register and a pack of smokes. The clerk complies, but presses a little button and the police are alerted and quickly arrest the thief. The thief is tried and jailed for his crime.
Notwithstanding the quick response time of the local constabulary, this is an example of someone abusing his personal power (ie gun ownership) breaking the law and being justly punished for it. It happens all the time. People are punished for breaking the law. Even presidents are punished for breaking the law. Nixon had to resign because he abused his power and broke the law.
Now it's Tom Delay's (R-North of Hell) turn to pay for abusing his power and breaking the law. He used the Department of Homland Security to secure the whereabouts of the missing Texan Democrats who were thwarting his power grab plan in Texas. He then lied about it. Not under oath, but still lied. On tape. Using the DHS was illegal. Using the DHS was immoral. Lying about it, well, par for the course.
Tom Delay must be made to pay. Our national security apparatus, flawed as it may be, is not to be used for ANY other purpose than what it is intended. To do so sets a dangerous precedent that, once established, is bound to be repeated. If a very public violation of the trust we have given to the DHS goes unpunished, then it will allow those who may have the ability to abuse their power, to abuse our trust, to do so without fear of retribution.
Tom Delay just robbed a liquor store. The clerk pressed the button. The police have been alerted. They need to do their job.
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So a guy walks into a liquor store and points his gun at the clerk and demands all the money from the register and a pack of smokes. The clerk complies, but presses a little button and the police are alerted and quickly arrest the thief. The thief is tried and jailed for his crime.
Notwithstanding the quick response time of the local constabulary, this is an example of someone abusing his personal power (ie gun ownership) breaking the law and being justly punished for it. It happens all the time. People are punished for breaking the law. Even presidents are punished for breaking the law. Nixon had to resign because he abused his power and broke the law.
Now it's Tom Delay's (R-North of Hell) turn to pay for abusing his power and breaking the law. He used the Department of Homland Security to secure the whereabouts of the missing Texan Democrats who were thwarting his power grab plan in Texas. He then lied about it. Not under oath, but still lied. On tape. Using the DHS was illegal. Using the DHS was immoral. Lying about it, well, par for the course.
Tom Delay must be made to pay. Our national security apparatus, flawed as it may be, is not to be used for ANY other purpose than what it is intended. To do so sets a dangerous precedent that, once established, is bound to be repeated. If a very public violation of the trust we have given to the DHS goes unpunished, then it will allow those who may have the ability to abuse their power, to abuse our trust, to do so without fear of retribution.
Tom Delay just robbed a liquor store. The clerk pressed the button. The police have been alerted. They need to do their job.
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Friday, May 23, 2003
LONESOME DOVE
I just finished reading McMurtry's epic western last night. I decided at about page 675 to plow on through to the end and at about 1am or so, I sighed as Captain Call realized the mistakes of his life. I realized that even such larger than life figures as those in the book, like Call, can be haunted by their pasts, then maybe there's hope that those people who are destroying our country while painting themselves as epic heroes will one day have to drag themselves back to their one whore towns with nothing but their memories of how they had lived hypocritical and ultimately useless lives. Or maybe some rogue indian will just shoot a few of them in the leg and then their legs will turn black and have to be cut off but it will be too late and they will die from gangrene and madness in some Montany whorehouse. Or maybe that's too good a death for them.
In any case, a hell of a read. A true "Great American Novel." I'm sure I'll revisit it when I have the leisure of taking my time with their journey. You catch so many details the second go round.
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I just finished reading McMurtry's epic western last night. I decided at about page 675 to plow on through to the end and at about 1am or so, I sighed as Captain Call realized the mistakes of his life. I realized that even such larger than life figures as those in the book, like Call, can be haunted by their pasts, then maybe there's hope that those people who are destroying our country while painting themselves as epic heroes will one day have to drag themselves back to their one whore towns with nothing but their memories of how they had lived hypocritical and ultimately useless lives. Or maybe some rogue indian will just shoot a few of them in the leg and then their legs will turn black and have to be cut off but it will be too late and they will die from gangrene and madness in some Montany whorehouse. Or maybe that's too good a death for them.
In any case, a hell of a read. A true "Great American Novel." I'm sure I'll revisit it when I have the leisure of taking my time with their journey. You catch so many details the second go round.
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Thursday, May 22, 2003
Still working out the bugs here. But I figured, hey, if the repugs can forge ahead with an ill advised tax cut without considering the ramifications...little things like bankrupting states and schools, putting people out of work, ruining the environment, letting people starve and die from lack of quality health care...if they can do all that, well, I guess I can switch to blogspot without thinking about it too much. Not that I don't love StudioX23, but they've asked me to move as I was taking up otherwise valuable internet real estate. As they do sooo many valuable things there. So, I'm here now. Ready to take on the world! OR at least the blog world.
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Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Welcome to my new home. This seemed like the place where all the Kewl Kyds hang out, So I figured I'd hang out here too.
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So, it looks like Christine T. Whitman has abandoned her post as Prime Enviromental Destructor, the Big PED, the giant foot stomping on trees and making us choke on noxious stinky foot air. That makes TWO rats that have scurried from the BFEE Garbage Scow. Is it a sinking barge? Are there problems at the top? Jebus knows if we had lost two Clintonistas in as much time, there would have been major scandal reports. But say what you will about the Garbage Scow, it is not a leaky vessel. When the rats crawl off to spread their plague to the "private sector," they check their dirty laundry at the plank.
Oh, the best part! Her suspected replacement works for the Automobile Industry. You know? The car makers. The people who think "Environment First." Oh, shit. That's the Green Party. The Automakers hate the environment. It gets in the way. But, then again, we wouldn't be in this fix if 600 or so Greenies in Florida who thought they were "making a statement" had voted for the man who wouldn't put the pyros in charge of the woodpile.
Buffy is gone. So are the rumors that Spike was headed off to join with Angel. The wife was all hepped up to start watching Angel. All I can say is, "Thanks for killing Spike, Joss." But you have to like turning Sunnydale into a sinkhole. Hopefully the Bushies weren't watching. They might get ideas...
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Oh, the best part! Her suspected replacement works for the Automobile Industry. You know? The car makers. The people who think "Environment First." Oh, shit. That's the Green Party. The Automakers hate the environment. It gets in the way. But, then again, we wouldn't be in this fix if 600 or so Greenies in Florida who thought they were "making a statement" had voted for the man who wouldn't put the pyros in charge of the woodpile.
Buffy is gone. So are the rumors that Spike was headed off to join with Angel. The wife was all hepped up to start watching Angel. All I can say is, "Thanks for killing Spike, Joss." But you have to like turning Sunnydale into a sinkhole. Hopefully the Bushies weren't watching. They might get ideas...
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