Sour Grapes - Guilty

I'm not going to be shy about the disappointment I'm feeling that Dick Cheney seems to be 'feeling good.'

Call me a sadist, but after spending the morning writing about the swath of destruction being cut across Iraq and Afghanistan and cutting the worst gore out of crime scene video where a family of eight was beheaded outside Baghdad, I'm not feeling particularly forgiving of the old cunt right now.

I just watched video of a child who had his fingers blown off after picking up an IED outside Marjah, so why does one of the people responsible for all this get to rest comfortably and go home later?

Suck a cock and die, Dick.

Abuse Survivors Express Disappointment With Pope

Abuse Survivors Express Disappointment With Pope

This story continues to make me want to vomit. If hell does in fact exist, there is a special place reserved for people like the pope and the leaders of the catholic church and others who actively work to cover people who destroy other people.

Benedict XVI, I sincerely hope you spend eternity being sodomized by Satan. Fuck you and die.

You are banned from the BatCave.

And, if you care, I'm listening to:

Fighting for Freedom

Support the troops.

I’m not going into a rant about what supporting the troops does and doesn’t mean. That debate has been rehashed so many times, I’m not going to say anything new. It’s a tired argument.

You’re going to say that I can’t support the troops if I’m against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And then I'll say that your idea of supporting the troops is a hollow joke. It takes more than a bumper sticker and standing up for a Lee Greenwood song at a monster truck rally.

On that argument, we are at an impasse.

I’m talking about the whining I hear on a regular basis regarding the media. There is a deep resentment towards the media for ‘getting into our business’ that I’ve been hearing from people in the military.

The sentiment seems to be that we should shut the hell up and just let the army do its job.

No.

I’m going to get into why my answer to that is an absolute, unequivocal ‘no’ in a second, but first, let me clear up a couple of things.

When we talk about our troops, we always hear about how they’re fighting for our freedom, or protecting our freedom. That’s a notion that I’m not sure I’ve ever heard questioned.

But it’s just not true.

That isn’t the function of our armed forces. Their function is to keep America strong, not free.

A strong military is hardly unique and there are plenty of governments and countries and empires now and throughout history who have had strong armed forces yet had no freedom.

China, the former Soviet Union, the Third Reich, and we could go on and on through the mightiest military forces in history. If a strong military was the key to freedom and democracy, these societies would be the models of what we should pattern our Republic after.

No, the difference is the free exchange of ideas.

The media.

Because these powers, with all their military might, controlled the flow of information.

They had state-run outlets for information that the government wanted the public to hear. There was no transparency and no accountability because there was no free press to ‘get into the military and the government’s business.’

That is our job. The media holds the military and the government and corporate America accountable.

We have, these past years been failing miserably, but that is a different post.

And that transparency, not military strength is the difference between a totalitarian state and a free country.

You are the ones fighting for our safety and strength.

We are the ones fighting for our freedom.

Teacher Uses Bible As Textbook: ACLU Gets Involved

Teacher Uses Bible As Textbook: ACLU Gets Involved

Perspective

I have bitched and bitched about Obama's impotence and inaction. And for the record, I intend to keep doing so.

Anybody with a super majority who can't even keep the most basic of his promises is inept.

Any President who fucks around with Congress with something like Don't Ask, Don't Tell when he has the power to issue an executive order is disingenuous.

Our war in Afghanistan has escalated on his watch and bled over the border into Pakistan.

His health care reform is a joke. It's a bigger 'fuck you' to poor people than the shit system we have now.

His administration has put me squarely in the 'throwing-my-vote-away-on-third-party-candidate' category.

As a socialist, you have no idea how grating it is to hear conservatives call him a Socialist. Obama is squarely establishment.

Then, I saw this...

...and remembered that as unhappy as I am with our current President, we just came out of eight years of the worst, actually the single worst American President that history has seen so far.

It's true, Obama is as bad as Clinton.

But at least we're not where we were.

What Do You Get The Man Who Has Everything?

What do you give the man who has everything?

You let him shoot you in the face and then apologize on television for inconveniencing him.

(I need to look that up. Did that happen on or around Dick's birthday? Interesting theory. Christ, I'm clever.)

I know, it's old news, but fuck, some things just never stop being funny.

Digging His Own Grave

Right now, I'm listening to a live stream of Scott Roeder's murder trial.

If you didn't know, Roeder is the domestic terrorist who shot Dr. George Tiller in his church last May.

First, the judge ruled that Phill Kline could not testify for the defense. He said that he would allow Roeder to argue his beliefs as motive but that he would not let a public figure lend credibility to those beliefs.

Good goddamn ruling, judge.

Then came the opening statement from the defense.

I could not believe that I was listening to Roeder's attorney and not the prosecutor. He talked about how Roeder stalked Tiller.

He described how Roeder had to kill Tiller at his church because he had no other option since Tiller's clinic and home had security.

Now, Roeder is on the stand himself, digging his own fucking grave.

Rot and choke on a dick. I'm going back to listen to more.

Holy shit he just said that he asked Jesus into his heart watching the 700 Club. This, of course comes as no surprise.

Dr. Tiller, once again, thank you for the lives you saved and sleep well.

37 Years And Countless Lives Saved

This picture isn't the best, but the purple wristband says "Trust Women 5-31-09" That was the day that Dr. George Tiller , a woman's health care provider was assassinated in his church. It's funny that the trial of his killer starts on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Thirty-seven years ago today, the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion. They ruled that the forth amendment's guarantee of privacy extended to what happened between a woman and her doctor.

Since then the attacks on that ruling have been relentless. What's at stake isn't just a woman's right not only to choose, but the right to make this choice in the only place it should be made: a doctor's office.

Regulations meant to subvert Roe have made abortion all but inaccessible in some parts of the country.

A reported rise in treatment for girls who have tried 'do-it-yourself' abortions that have gone wrong has gone up alarmingly.

This fight is far from over. Roe was only the first step and it is far too early to celebrate.

We are pro-choice because we are the ones who respect the sanctity of life.

Grief and Low

Last July, the night after I got back from my grandma's funeral, Low was playing at the Record Bar in Westport. I know I already mentioned this in the tag of my last post, but I'm doing a whole other post now.

Anyway, standing by myself at the back of the bar, listening to Mimi Parker was the most healing thing I could imagine.

This seems timely because a couple of my friends lost loved ones this week. I love you guys and I'll see you when you get back.

Pigs Are Pigs Are Pigs Even North Of The Border

And for the record, we black out the faces of victims, not perpetrators. Suspects aren't entitled to anonymity even if they are cops.

We'll see if we can do some research and find mug shots and names for the pigs responsible for this girl's death.

Ashley, I'm so sorry. Sleep well.

And in case anybody cares, I'm listening to Long Division by Low.

I saw Low at the Record Bar the night I got back from my grandma's funeral this summer and for some reason, it was the most comforting thing in the world.

The capacity of music to soothe grief is amazing.

At 35, I thought I had lost the ability to be surprised by things like that.