It's Smear-Time

It has been a crazy few weeks in the world of politics. The Republicans have been in all-out smear mode. Here's a sampling:

• Edwards blogger kerfuffle
• Bogus Pelosi plane "controversy"
• Bull sh*t story about the Oregon "state climatologist"
• Drudge-fueled tripe about Gore
• Disgusting smear that Obama was at a terrorist school.

This is all within a month of each other! One after another the Republicans peddle their total crap and the media eats it up.

Can we finally put the "liberal media" label to rest? They are clearly cogs in the Right Wing Noise Machine.

Peace Rally and March

I went to the peace rally and march in DC on Saturday. The media has been saying "tens of thousands" of people showed up, perhaps they are correct but they make no mention of where they get this number. It certainly felt like a lot more showed up (the march wrapped the capitol and were still thousands of people waiting to start the route).

See more of my photos in this Flikr set.

Characteristics of a Cult

Here are a few characteristics of a cult that I found eye-opening:

• The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and... regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.


• Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.


• The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).


• The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality...


• The leader is not accountable to any authorities...


• The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary...

There are more characteristics, but these especially made me think of a particular group: Bush followers.

The 35% of people in this country who still approve of the job Bush is doing can never be swayed. They have an unquestioning commitment to Bush. Dissent of Bush's actions are discouraged by questioning someone's patriotism and going so far as to accuse those who dissent as terrorists. Bush himself believes he is doing God's will and is on a mission to save humanity from the "evil-doers." Bush and his cult have divided the country and divided the world: "you are either with us or against us." Bush hasn't been accountable to anyone since the Republican congress for 6 years of his term refused to do anything to check his power (thankfully that has changed). Torture, illegal domestic wiretapping, repeal of habeas corpus, and on and on are all justified because supposedly the end justifies the means.

Bush followers are cultists. No amount of proof of Bush's incompetence and flagarant law-breaking will ever convince them he isn't there Messiah and is hurting our country. They have dragged the country down because of their weak minds and their need to be subservient to authority.

I give up on ever trying to convince them. Remember Waco?

Photo by orangeacid.

Updates

I haven't posted in a while because I haven't had much to add to the ongoing discussions in the netroots. Here are a few items I wanted to address:

• My gas price prediction was wrong, though prices have definitley increased (they are about $2.50 a gallon here in Alexandria).
• The Democrats' 100 Hours agenda officially began today and started with passing legislation to strengthen our security by implementing all of the remaining recommendations of the 9/11 commission. Republicans whined of course... not sure why, they did have 5 years to act on it but were unable.
• The smear job had begun on Barak Obama.

Much more of course happened over a surprisingly busy holiday break. More to come from me soon!

McCain Wants To Stifle Blogs

John McCain (R-Crazyland) doesn't care for blogs...

[McCain] has introduced legislation that would treat blogs like Internet service providers and hold them responsible for all activity in the comments sections and user profiles.
...
McCain’s legislation could deal a serious blow to the blogosphere. Lacking resources to police their sites, many individual blogs may have to shut down open discussion.

What ever happened to the party of personal responsibility? If someone does something illegal in the comments of a blog (e.g. slander) shouldn't it be the person's problem who made the comments?

... why people think he is presidential material is beyond me.

Don't Rush Me

Bush doesn't want to be rushed in making a decision on Iraq:

"I'm not going to be rushed into making a difficult decision, a necessary decision, to say to our troops, 'We're going to give you the tools necessary to succeed and a strategy to help you succeed."

Ignoring the fact that our President can't speak in complete sentences, his response brings up some follow-up questions...

1. Mr. President, the war in Iraq has been going on for more than 3 years, why don't you already have a strategy to succeed?



2. You admit that a decision in "necessary," why haven't you then admited your policies in the past have failed?



3. Why are you relying on the troops to succeed alone? Shouldn't you also be trying to find a political solution?

Of course these questions would never be asked by a reporter - they don't want to lose their access. Meanwhile our country and especially our troops suffer while we wait patiently for his "necessary decision."

It's Coming...

The election is over and the good guys were victorious. YAY!

Last September I thought it was odd that gas prices were falling just in time for the elections. I made a prediction then and wanted to reiterate it:

after the elections, gas will rise back to around $3/gallon by the end of the year (regardless of who has control).

The oil companies love Bush. He's one of them and they wanted to help him win. Guess what - it didn't work but shame on them for trying to swing the election.

I'll revisit my prediction at the end of the year. Any bets? :)

Bill Stumps For Webb

Bill Clinton made an appearance in Old Town Alexandria this evening.



Mark Warner (former Governor of Virginia), Tim Kaine (current Governor of Virginia) and Bob Kerrey (former Senator of Nebraska) also came out to support Jim Webb.

The crowd was massive and the energy high. I miss Bill so much - his optimism and leadership is in stark contrast to Bush's divisiveness and idiocy. Tomorrow, we as a country have a very good chance to say no to the direction Bush has lead us and put on the brakes until he is out of office.

I uploaded a few more pictures in this Flickr set.

Home Prices Falling

Good:

The price of existing homes last month fell 2.2 percent, the largest monthly decline in the almost four decades the number has been tracked, according to an industry report released yesterday.

I couldn't believe people would pay so much for so little. They caused this overheated market by excepting the prices. If they refused to buy - it would have never gotten so bad. Economics 101.

I hope it falls even more - wishful thinking? Perhaps, but this market still needs a major correction.

Photo by guyfromlargo

"Back Off"

You got to be kidding me. The snide jerk doesn't like to answer questions about his failed policies in Iraq. Rumsfeld (and by extension Bush) have reached new lows.

"You ought to just back off, take a look at it, relax, understand that it's complicated, it's difficult"

(emphasis mine)

Oh - we're too stupid to understand? Only your brilliant mind can handle it? WTF! Your "brilliant" mind is what got us into this mess. Oh, and don't forget: "it's difficult."

These are the people who are governing our country. They don't want to be accountable and the Republican-controlled congress has refused to do anything about it. They look the other way - all they care about is power and don't give a sh*t about what is good for our country.

Had enough? Vote for the Democrats. They are our only chance to get our country back on track.