Bloggers bitch-slap bridge bullies, bridge babes back

In a finale to the bridge brouhaha, the USBF has dropped its attempts at punishing the ladies who publicly admitted they didn’t help put the worst President in American history in the White House. Here’s the full story:

Bridge World Brouhaha Ends With a Statement, Not Punishment for Players

Let’s hope we’ve heard the last of this miserable little sideshow. Not that it isn’t important, mind you. The punishment of individuals by the group for perceived violations of political correctness is an issue of monumental significance. And that’s exactly what this was.

Not to sound egotistical, but it can’t be coincidence that this decision comes only a few days after several “liberal” bloggers – or at least, bloggers labeled as such by Amy Ridenour of the NCPPR – began commenting scathingly on the USBF’s draconian actions. I feel especially vindicated, since this blog was one of three selected for special consideration (the other two are here and here). I was, to say the least, bemused to see myself described as a “liberal”. Apparently all it takes these days to be labeled as such is to say something unfavorable (or truthful) about the President. The Neoconservative minority certainly has taken public discourse to a new level.

And so this whole sorry episode draws to the only favorable conclusion possible. I hope we’ve heard the last of it. I’m bushed by bloviating, babbling and blabbing about bridge bullshit.

Bush-bashing blogger baffled by bridge brouhaha

Hotel Foxtrot Sierra, Batman! With all the uproar about the American bridge players lately, you’d think they’d gotten on stage, burned the flag and called Bush a lying coward. Take this from “Project 21”, a black leadership network, as reported in the Hawaii Reporter (emphasis mine):

“This team was supposed to be representing our nation and its people, but its members acted in a disrespectful manner by holding up an anti-Bush sign. It was crude partisan political theatre,” added Project 21’s Hicks. “As a neophyte in the then-burgeoning Black Power movement, I remember when several black members of the U.S. track team engaged in a ‘black power’ salute while on the victory stand at the 1964 Olympics in Mexico City. They were summarily hustled home. I think it was completely proper for the U.S. Olympic Committee to do what they did. There was a great deal of discrimination against blacks at that time, but those men should have understood they were representing all of America and not just black Americans. Similarly, these women today were representing our nation and not just Bush-hating leftists. It was stupid, immature and frankly anti-American behavior. I’m sure the Dixie Chicks were proud of these women. If there is no punishment for this current unsportsmanlike behavior, seditious, partisan and juvenile behavior will have been rewarded.” (Hawaii Reporter, 11/19/2007)

Excuse me? Anti-American? Okay, I’ll accept childish and immature, but anti-American it ain’t. What’s anti-American is for people like these who should know better to call it anti-American. I guess what disturbs some people, especially those on the extreme right, is that anyone would have the audacity to publicly admit that they didn’t vote for Bush. After all, free speech and independent thought aren’t encouraged in America today. Just ask Bill Maher.

The last few days have seen the most visitors to this blog since its creation. And to think that all I did was comment on the bridge brouhaha and the subsequent backlash.

Of course, when I noticed that my blog was one of three highlighted for special consideration by no less a luminary than conservative blogger, National Center for Public Policy Research leader, all became clear. Apparently a lot of people read it. God only knows why, since if you want mindless, right-wing bullshit you can get it from Rush Limgaugh, White House press releases, or from watching Faux Noise.

This is what Ms. Ridenour had to say:

A handful of the liberal bloggers who are defending the bridge players (for example, here, here and here) don’t seem to understand what the First Amendment says and means.

What a wonderful country we might have if all the liberals who use their freedom of speech rights read the Constitution carefully and with intelligence once in a while. (Right, Amy, dream on.)

I guess all it takes to be labeled a “liberal” these days is to say something critical about the President.

Actually, I have read the Constitution, having spent the last 21 years of my life defending it as a member of the Armed Forces. I can still find nothing in it that would lead me to believe that the sanctions being leveled against the bridge players are at all justified. What strikes me as especially ridiculous about this is the severity of the punishments:

“Three team members later expressed regret for offending others with the sign, but Greenberg and three others who did not apologize now face sanctions from the United States Bridge Federation (USBF) — the organization that selects teams for international tournaments. A hearing to decide their fate will be held at the Fall North American Bridge Championship in San Francisco later this month. The four currently face a one-year suspension, a year of probation, 200 hours of community service, a required letter of apology and be required to give a full accounting about the reasons and actions for displaying the offending sign.” – Hawaii Reporter, 11/19/2007

Okay, I can understand demanding an apology, and an explanation for why they did it. It was childish, and probably wasn’t the right forum to air their political frustrations. But a year suspension, 200 hours of community service, and a year of probation? Be serious! Bush won’t even be in office for that much longer. This is political correctness at its worst.

Some have even accused them of “treason” and “sedition”.

Wow, strong stuff. I’ve compiled a short list of traitors from recent American history. Let’s see how the bridge babes compare, shall we?

• Jonathan Pollard – sold U.S. secrets to Israel; convicted of espionage, sentenced to life in prison without parole.
• Aldrich Ames – sold the identities of American secret agents to the KGB, got several people killed. Convicted of espionage, sentenced to life in prison without parole.
• The Rosenbergs – sold nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, convicted of espionage and treason, executed.
• The bridge team – held up a sign saying they didn’t vote for Bush.

Wow. Our standards for traitors have really fallen. How is it “treason” to say you didn’t vote for the president? Last time I checked, in America you have the right not to vote for whomever you don’t want to vote for. We aren’t a dictatorship yet, despite the extreme right’s best efforts to the contrary.

Let me be perfectly clear about this.

I don’t give a rat’s ass about bridge.

I don’t play any card game more complicated than Texas Hold ‘Em. I played Magic: The Gathering a few years ago and it gave me migraines. What upsets me is the way these American citizens have been treated, by their team, their federation, and their country. The cowardly, baseless, scurrilous attacks on them and their patriotism are entirely unjustified and unwarranted. The punishments leveled against them are completely out of proportion to what they did.

And that’s what bugs me. I fear for the future of this country, if we begin to tolerate this sort of punishment for even the most minimal of political opposition. This is a slippery slope we cannot afford to go down.

 

Five More Reasons to Vote Republican

Just in case you needed more.  Just in case you’d forgotten what’s really at stake next year.

 You should vote Republican if you like the idea of the country being run by:

Lying hypocrites,

Cowards,

Fascists,

Psychotics,

and Race-baiting, hate-filled, fearmongering lowlifes.

Despotism vs. Democracy – Where is America today?

I found this little gem on YouTube today and thought it deserved to be shared:

Once upon a time, the government knew that the real threat to democracy comes most often from within than from without. Contrast this video to Tom Tancredo’s latest paranoia-fest:

What a difference. The first video is warning us to beware of those who would set us against each other and spread fear and paranoia. Mr. Tancredo’s campaign ad is intentionally doing the opposite. He’s encouraging us to be afraid of “them”. Racism, fear-mongering and paranoia are the name of his game.

Not that any of the other Republicans are any better. Giuliani continues to beat the terrorism drum with his now-self-parodic “9-11 Tourette’s”; Romney increasingly is looking like a better-coiffed caricature of John Kerry, but without the military background; Huckabee, of course, does not believe in evolution and will thus soon become extinct; John McCain lost all credibility last night:

but of course, he still hasn’t promised to end the war, so he never really had any credibility to begin with. The rest are basically irrelevant, since none has a chance of being elected. The only Republican with any credibility at all is Ron Paul, who (imagine this) actually thinks the Constitution is the law of the land instead of a set of optional guidelines! Unfortunately, he isn’t being taken seriously by most “republicans” because he isn’t a race-baiting, fear-mongering, raving paranoiac Bush clone.

So, where is America today? How far down the slippery slope to despotism have we fallen? Only time, and the next election, will tell. Do we have the courage to stand up and say “no more” to the neocons and their radical, anti-American agenda of tyranny and hegemony? Or will we once again cave in to fear, hate and division and elect another Republican president?

I hope we find our collective balls and vote for freedom this time.

I wish Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) or Wesley Clark were running. Then there’d be a real Republican in the ring.

Bush gets his man

And the country gets a giant, mailed fist up the ass.

Mukasey Wins Vote in Senate, Despite Doubts

53 to 40. Can you f***ing believe that? This proves nothing except that blackmail works. Bush basically threatened the Senate with another “recess appointment” of one of his Texas buddies – or someone like it – if they didn’t confirm Gonzales, I mean Mukasey.

Six “Democrats” joined 46 Republicans and one “Independent” to confirm Mook for the post of attorney general. Seven did not vote, of whom five are running for President. That means if 11 Democrats had voted with a conscience instead of submitting to extortion, Bush would now have to resort to his previous tactic of a midnight recess appointment of yet another sycophantically loyal, dangerously incompetent bumbler. Gonzales isn’t doing anything at the moment; maybe he’d be willing to come back.

This is a disaster for both the country and the Senate. In the face of clear and obvious presidential extortion, they caved, and had the nerve to tell us it was for the best. Those of us who grew up during the cold war used to call it “appeasement”. In other words, throwing meat at a tiger in the hopes it will eventually become a vegetarian.

In this case, Bush continues to run the Constitution through the shredder while Congress keeps handing him pages, in the hopes that he might read it before he destroys it.

Five reasons to vote Republican next year

I know, there really aren’t any.  But just in case you’re considering it, here are a few things to think about before you vote.

You should vote Republican if:

You want to see more of these.  Coming from Iran, this time.

You like it when people are made homeless by disaster followed by incompetence.

You want to see these guys marching down your city street (they’re Blackwater thugs).

You really didn’t want to be a homeowner anyway.

You think waterboarding should be an Olympic competition.

Mook’s Nomination now at Senate level

The Senate is now reviewing the nomination of Michael Mukasey for attorney general. His confirmation is said to be almost a sure thing, despite growing criticism of his positions on things like civil liberties and torture, and questions about his ability to think, act and speak independently once he assumes the post and Bush is his boss.

At the center of the criticism is Mukasey’s refusal to answer direct questions about whether waterboarding, a so-called “intensive interrogation technique” used by the CIA, the Japanese in WWII, the Nazis, the Spanish Inquisition, and others, should be considered “torture” and therefore illegal under U.S. law and the Constitution.

Mukasey declined to comment, stating that he “hadn’t been briefed on the program.”

Bullshit. I’m willing to bet most of the men and women drilling him on it in the past few weeks hadn’t been briefed, either. But somehow they, and millions of intelligent Americans, know enough about it to form an opinion. What Mukasey displayed in not answering the questions, but engaging in semantic word-wrangling, was not prudence but cowardice.

For the historically ignorant out there, including President Bush and his cronies, here’s a little background: Waterboarding was used by the Japanese against American POWs during WWII. They called it the “water cure.” After the war was over, the officers who used it on our boys were prosecuted by the United States for war crimes.

What’s changed since then? Is there anything that makes it justifiable for us to use it now? I don’t think so.

We’re supposed to be the “good guys.” That means our conduct must be consistently better than anyone we consider ourselves superior to, such as all those tyrants and dictators around the world. If we allow our intelligence operatives to torture prisoners, and engage in meaningless wordplay and logical gymnastics to justify it, then we’re no better than the Kim Jong Ils or Robert Mugabes of the world. We just have more money and better weapons.

We’re supposed to be the “good guys.” That means there are certain things we just can’t get away with doing.  Torture is one of those things.

Nominating an Administration toady as chief law enforcement officer of the nation is another.

We must not become the enemy we are fighting.

Blackwater Blackshirts leave another Black Mark on U.S.

Never trust a paramilitary organization with “Black” in its name.

Just ask anyone who grew up in Germany in the 1930s.

For further proof that something must be done about these disgraceful, unprincipled, mercenary thugs, we turn now to the latest article in Newsweek:

Blackwater is Soaked

When a republic ceases to rely on its own armies, and begins to hire mercenaries to do soldiers’ work, it’s the beginning of the end.

Mercenaries were one factor in the fall of the Roman empire.

King George III hired Hessian mercenaries to fight against the Colonials in the American Revolution. It didn’t work out so well for him, either.

Machiavelli warned against hiring mercenaries in The Prince.

Mercenaries cause far more harm than good for the country that hires them. Beholden to no laws, they behave as though they are gods on the battlefield and kings off it. Loyal to no cause but money, they quickly and willingly betray the very nation they were hired to defend.

And in this case, respecting of no authority, Blackwater thugs actually physically threatened American troops. In doing so they have made clear their true loyalty. Blackwater may have been founded by a so-called “born again Christian” but by now it’s clear they serve no master but Satan.

This is treason. It is nothing less than a total betrayal of everything this country once stood for. Blackwater must be destroyed, its armies disbanded, and its leaders brought up on charges, and the sooner the better.

Our survival as a nation may depend on it.

Lynne Cheney Flubs it on “Daily Show”

Last night’s “Daily Show” was memorable for two major reasons. First, the headlining guest was Lynne Cheney, the wife of the most powerful man in the world, and perhaps the unlikeliest person to ever be seen on the program. Second was the incredible insult she dealt to, well, two of our closest allies.

In a discussion about the Iraq War, the so-called War on Terror, and the relative resultant safety of the free world since Bush’s Blunder, Mrs. Cheney asserted that there had been six years in which we have not been attacked by terrorists. Jon Stewart reminded her that there had, in fact, been attacks in London and Madrid. She replied by saying “I was talking about American interests.”

The room fell silent, followed by an audible “ooooo” from the audience. Jon, clearly trying to give her a graceful exit from this verbal disaster, came back with a rather subdued “I had assumed they were our allies.”

Don’t believe me? Watch the video here.

It comes about 3 1/2 minutes into the segment.

How could the wife of one of the leaders of the (maybe not for long) free world make such an incredible, horrible mistake? The problem, I think, lies in the way neocons think. They see the world in terms of “us and them”. America, for them, exists in a vacuum, and if the rest of the world doesn’t follow our “lead”, however disastrous it may be, then fuck ’em.

Well, I say it’s time for that sort of thinking to get the treatment it deserves. We have lost our place in the world as leaders, thanks to this crowd of criminals, perverts and liars. Once upon a time we really did hold the moral high ground. We held other nations to account for human rights violations, treaty violations, and international crimes. Not any more.

Now we’ve begun doing exactly the things we most deplored in other, less tolerant, societies. Clandestine surveillance of our citizens. Torture of prisoners. Secret prisons. Mercenary armies beholden to no law. These are the stuff of fascism.

Brought to you by Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rove and Co.

On a lighter note, the “Colbert Report” was a standout performance, with General Wesley Clark taking center stage as guest of honor. I wish he were running this year. He’s just the candidate the Democrats need – someone with true courage, honor, integrity, and military background. A leader, in other words.

And now, the list – S.R. 315 Votes

The following is from the Congressional Record on 20 September 2007, regarding Senate Resolution 315 condemning MoveOn.org for its attack ads directed against General Petraeus. They are grouped according to vote (YEA= Traitors, NAY = Patriots):

Grouped By Vote Position

Traitors—72
Alexander CR-TN) Dole (R-NC) Martinez CR-FL)
Allard CR-CC) Domenici (R-NM) McCain CR-AZ)
Barrasso (R-WY) Dorgan CD-ND) McCaskill (D-MO)
Baucus (D-MT) Ensign (R-NV) Mcconnell (R-KY)
Bayh (D-IN) Enzi (R-WY) Mikulski CD-MD)
Bennett (R-UT) Feinstein (D-CA) Murkowski (R-AK)
Bond CR-MO) Graham CR-SC) Nelson CD-FL)
Brownback CR-KS) Grassley CR-IA) Nelson CD-NE)
Bunning CR-KY) Gregg CR-NH) Pryor (D-AR)
Burr CR-NC) Hagel (R-NE) Roberts (R-KS)
Cardin (D-MD) Hatch (R-UT) Salazar CD-CC)
carper (D-DE) Hutchison (R-TX) Sessions CR-AL)
Casey (D-PA) Inhofe CR-OK) Shelby CR-AL)
Chambliss (R-GA) lsakson CR-GA) Smith CR-OR)
Coburn (R-OK) Johnson CD-SD) Snowe CR-ME)
Cochran CR-MS) Klobuchar CD-MN) Specter (R-PA)
Coleman (R-MN) Kohl (D-Wl) Stevens CR-AK)
Collins CR-ME) Kyl (R-AZ) Sununu CR-NH)
Conrad (D-ND) Landrieu (D-LA) Tester (D-MT)
Corker CR-TN) Leahy CD-VT) Thune CR-SD)
Cornyn CR-TX) Lieberman CID-CT) Vitter CR-LA)
Craig (R-ID) Lincoln CD-AR) Voinovich CR-OH)
Crapo (R-ID) Lott CR-MS) Warner CR-VA)
DeMint CR-SC) Lugar CR-IN) Webb (D-VA)

Patriots—25
Akaka (D-Hl) Harkin CD-IA) Reid CD-NV)
Bingaman (D-NM) Inouye CD-HI) Rockefeller CD-WV)
Boxer CD-CA) Kennedy CD-MA) Sanders Cl-VT)
Brown CD-OH) Kerry CD-MA) Schumer CD-NY)
Byrd CD-WV) Lautenberg CD-NJ) Stabenow (D-MI)
Clinton CD-NY) Levin CD-MI) Whitehouse CD-RI)
Dodd CD-CT) Menendez CD-NJ) Wyden (D-OR)
Durbin (D-IL) Murray CD-WA)
Feingold CD-WI) Reed (D-Rl)

Not Voting (Patriots by default) – 3
Biden CD-DE) Cantwell CD-WA) Obama CD-IL)

Here’s the full text of the Resolution.

The results of the roll-call vote can be found here.

I call upon all thinking, patriotic Americans to check this list for your Senator’s name. If he or she is on the “Enemies” list, write to them and let them know that We, the People, strongly condemn this Unconstitutional and dictatorial edict from the President.

Freedom isn’t free, folks. It requires eternal, constant vigilance. The enemy within is always harder to spot and harder to fight than the enemy outside.