Cheney Vs. The Bees

Ken AshfordBush & Co., Iran, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

"Some have suggested by liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein we simply stirred up a hornet’s nest. They overlook a fundamental fact: We were not in Iraq in September 2001 and the terrorists hit us anyway."

That’s what Dick Cheney said two days ago.  Yes, he’s still making the connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.  It’s a sickness, in my view.

And "hornet’s nest"?  If 9/11 was a bee sting, Iraq wasn’t the hive.  That’s the problem, and your critics are right, Dick.

Holly Martins adds more:

So let’s get this straight: If you suggest any policy in Iraq other that the administration-approved "Stay the Course" you are handing a nation over to terrorist control. But if terrorist activity, or the threat thereof, seems sufficiently worrisome to contemplate another policy then. . .it doesn’t matter, because the terrorists will attack us anyway? Withdrawal from Iraq is appeasing the terrorist enemy–but 9/11 demonstrates the mindset of that enemy is irrelevant. Wouldn’t the logic of the latter claim suggest that the terrorists simply might not notice we had withdrawn and/or attack us no matter what? Are they all-powerful evildoers, or Ritalin- deprived ADD cases? Also: There were all sorts of things we weren’t doing in 2001. We hadn’t yet thrilled to the magic of Gigli, or whatever the name of that sucky Coldplay record is. Does this mean if there’s no Gigli sequel, the terrorists win? Please make our head stop hurting like this, Mr. Vice President, Sir!

In related news, the Wall Street Journal provides a rationale for the Iraq war which may surprise some for its candor: the Iraq invasion was about creating a home base from which the United States can launch future wars against Iran and Syria:

The invasion of Iraq was not only about weapons of mass destruction…It was also about establishing a U.S. war-fighting beachhead in the heart of the Middle East, the principal breeding ground of terrorists. The invasion took out one terrorism sponsor, Saddam Hussein, and gave the U.S. a presence for intimidating two others, Iran and Syria.

According to WSJ author Melloan, we need to finish the job in Iraq quickly – not so we can send the troops home – but so we can get ready to fight Iran:

Nowhere is the antipathy toward America and the West more clearly manifested than in Iran…Getting Iraq under control is urgent because of what may be the next threat in the Middle East.

Don’t expect the string of wars to end anytime soon. Melloan concludes that the fight could last “30 years in the view of some analysts.”

That’s a lot of beehives.

As Predicted

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

Last week, I made brief mention that the White House Christmas Card this year avoids the use of the word "Christmas", and merely says "best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness".   I predicted that the wingers would go nuts.

I was right.  WaPo covers the story:

This month, as in every December since he took office, President Bush sent out cards with a generic end-of-the-year message, wishing 1.4 million of his close friends and supporters a happy "holiday season."

Many people are thrilled to get a White House Christmas card, no matter what the greeting inside. But some conservative Christians are reacting as if Bush stuck coal in their stockings.

"This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture," said William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

He’s referring to the tolerant part of our culture. [NOTE: The link for William A. Donahue was provided by me.  Check this guy out]

Bush "claims to be a born-again, evangelical Christian. But he sure doesn’t act like one," said Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com. "I threw out my White House card as soon as I got it."

That’ll show ’em.

Religious conservatives are miffed because they have been pressuring stores to advertise Christmas sales rather than "holiday specials" and urging schools to let students out for Christmas vacation rather than for "winter break." They celebrated when House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) insisted that the sparkling spectacle on the Capitol lawn should be called the Capitol Christmas Tree, not a holiday spruce.

Then along comes a generic season’s greeting from the White House, paid for by the Republican National Committee. The cover art is also secular, if not humanist: It shows the presidential pets — two dogs and a cat — frolicking on a snowy White House lawn.

"Certainly President and Mrs. Bush, because of their faith, celebrate Christmas," said Susan Whitson, Laura Bush’s press secretary. "Their cards in recent years have included best wishes for a holiday season, rather than Christmas wishes, because they are sent to people of all faiths."

It shows you how far off the ranch these conservative Christians are, when Laura Bush’s press secretary even understands.  The cards are sent to people of all faiths.  How hard is that to comprehend?

That is the same rationale offered by major retailers for generic holiday catalogues, and it is accepted by groups such as the National Council of Churches. "I think it’s more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards," said the council’s general secretary, the Rev. Bob Edgar, a former Democratic congressman.

Wow!  Put Christ back into our war planning?  It’s an awkward segue, but I agree . . . and I’m not even sure I know what he means!

But the White House’s explanation does not satisfy the groups — which have grown in number in recent years — that believe there is, in the words of the Heritage Foundation, a "war on Christmas" involving an "ever-stronger push toward a neutered ‘holiday’ season so that non-Christians won’t be even the slightest bit offended."

It’s not about being "offended".  It’s about being inclusive.  The only ones "offended" are people and groups like the Heritage Foundation.

One of the generals on the pro-Christmas side is Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss. "Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether this is sinister — it’s the purging of Christ from Christmas — or whether it’s just political correctness run amok," he said. "I think in the case of the White House, it’s just political correctness."

Wildmon does not give retailers the same benefit of the doubt. This year, he has called for a consumer boycott of Target stores because the chain issued a holiday advertising circular that did not mention Christmas. Last year, he aimed a similar boycott at Macy’s Inc., which averted a repeat this December by proclaiming "Merry Christmas" in its advertising and in-store displays.

"It bothers me that the White House card leaves off any reference to Jesus, while we’ve got Ramadan celebrations in the White House," Wildmon said. "What’s going on there?"

What’s going on is a recognition that, during this time of year, there are many religious holidays celebrated by people of many religious faiths.

At the Catholic League, Donohue had just announced a boycott of the Lands’ End catalogue when he received his White House holiday card. True, he said, the Bushes included a verse from Psalm 28, but Psalms are in the Old Testament and do not mention Jesus’ birth.

"They’d better address this, because they’re no better than the retailers who have lost the will to say ‘Merry Christmas,’ " he said.

Donohue said that Wal-Mart, facing a threatened boycott, added a Christmas page to its Web site and fired a customer relations employee who wrote a letter linking Christmas to "Siberian shamanism." He was not mollified by a letter from Lands’ End saying it "adopted the ‘holiday’ terminology as a way to comply with one of the basic freedoms granted to all Americans: freedom of religion."

"Ninety-six percent of Americans celebrate Christmas," Donohue said. "Spare me the diversity lecture."

"While we’re at it", Donahue continued, "let’s put these minority people back on plantations.  This is America, where majority rules.  Majority rules — I’m sure that’s in the Constitution somewhere.  Or the Bible.  Take my word for it — it’s there."   He then hollered into the kitchen to his wife, "Woman, I told you wanted more pie!  Get your sorry ass moving and bring me my damn vittles!"

RELATED:  Apparently, some megachurches hate Christmas, too.  Many of them are closing their doors on Christmas (which falls on a Sunday this year), anticipating low attendance.  Conservative Captain Ed doesn’t get it either: "Given that the ‘war on Christmas’ has been pushed by churches such as these, I find these decisions rather stunning. . . If Christian churches want to reclaim Christmas for themselves, then they need to literally show up to do so. Closing the doors is nothing less than surrender."

University of Kansas Course Cancelled

Ken AshfordCrime, Education, Godstuff, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Back here, I wrote that a religion professor at the University of Kansas (the state where the intelligent design debate is taking place) was planning to offer a course entitled "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies.”

According to this article, the professor decided to cancel the course yesterday.  Oh, and somethng else happened yesterday, too:

A college professor whose planned course on creationism and intelligent design was canceled after he derided Christian conservatives said he was beaten by two men along a rural road early Monday.

University of Kansas religious studies professor Paul Mirecki said the men referred to the class when they beat him on the head, shoulders and back with their fists, and possibly a metal object, the Lawrence Journal-World reported.

"I didn’t know them," Mirecki said of his assailants, "but I’m sure they knew me."

Messages left by the Associated Press on Mirecki’s cell phone were not immediately returned.

Sheriff’s Lt. Kari Wempe said Mirecki reported the attack just before 7 a.m.

The professor said he confronted the men after they were tailgating his vehicle along a road south of Lawrence. "I’m mostly shaken up, and I got some bruises and sore spots," he said.

Apparently, religious fundamentalists think it is okay to beat up on religious professors.  Jesus wouldn’t have it any other way, right?

Shakespeare’s Sister provides the larger perspective:

Meanwhile, conservatives go around with liberal hunting licenses stuck on their bumpers, Ann Coulter says a baseball bat is the most effective way to talk to liberals, Bill O’Reilly offers up San Francisco to terrorists, conservative hate groups are on the rise again, violence against the LGBT community is on the rise again, women who report rapes are being prosecuted, pharmacists are telling women they’re being punished by God as they rip up their prescriptions, the poor suffer a constant barrage of shit from conservatives and their policies that allow them to abstractly blather about an “ownership society” but have real-world, life and death consequences for the people subjected to those policies, and the asinine duo of O’Reilly and Coulter have the temerity to moan about how conservatives need to employ security details to protect them from liberals. Can we please have a modicum of perspective on who, exactly, is being attacked here? What’s Ann’s big concern? That she might get another pie thrown at her? Well, sorry—I don’t have a lot of fucking sympathy for someone who incites violence against liberals and then finds herself with whipped cream in her hair.

…Enough with the martyr complex already. The only thing you’ve got left to defend is an unimpeded ability to say whatever you want to say, whenever you want to say it, no matter how outrageous. And to do that, you’ve got to pretend that the evil liberals have taken you out of context, even when they’re just reprinting your direct transcripts. You’re pathetic. Every hate group in the world should have it so good as you.

And P.S. rest of America—they’ll come for you, too, eventually. Then maybe the culture war will be more than just a source of amusement.

SCOTUS Update: Rumsfeld v FAIR

Ken AshfordBush & Co., Congress, Constitution, Iraq, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Supreme Court, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

This is arguably one of the most important cases of this term, and I simply didn’t have time to summarize it before oral arguments today.  Below is a summary from the folks at SCOTUSblog. 

Before I begin, I want to make a prediction that the Solomon Amendment will survive this case.  The Court is simply too conservative to let it go away.  It will be interesting to see how the Court manages to reconcile Dale though.  In other words, you will have two incompatable holdings in my view:

(1)  It is constitutionally permissible for a private organization to discriminate against gays (the Dale case, which permitted the Boy Scouts to discriminate against gays)

(2)  But private organizations (i.e., college) cannot discriminate against a government that discriminates against gays (i.e., army recruiters).

UPDATE: SCOTUSblog reporter Lyle Denniston witnessed oral arguments this morning, and isn’t optimistic about FAIR’s chances either.

Tough tightrope.  Anyway, on to the case:

Few cases jumble together so many sensitive and controversial issues as Rumsfeld v. FAIR. The case touches on such topics as discrimination against homosexuals, military preparedness in the wake of September 11, the place of gays in the military, and the right to protest the government. It is no wonder that it is one of the most anticipated cases before the Supreme Court this term.

FAIR, which will be argued tomorrow, revolves around a federal statute known as the Solomon Amendment, which conditions federal funding to universities on those universities granting military recruiters the same access to campuses, students, and recruiting resources and services that they give to all prospective employers. At issue is whether the Solomon Amendment violates the First Amendment by preventing universities from enforcing nondiscrimination policies against the military because of its policy of forbidding open homosexuals from serving in the armed forces. Solicitor General Paul D. Clement will argue on behalf of petitioners; E. Joshua Rosenkranz will argue on behalf of respondents. The parties’ merits briefs can be found here.

Read More

Sounds Like A Lifetime Movie

Ken AshfordAssisited Suicide/Schiavo, CrimeLeave a Comment

In Boston, an 11-year old girl lies in a coma.  Like Terri Schiavo (remember her?), there is a court battle over whether her ventilator and feeding tubes should be removed.

The twist is that only one person is fighting for the girl’s "right-to-life" — the girl’s father. 

But he’s more than the girl’s father — he’s the guy who beat the girl so severely that she became comatose.  Obviously, if the life support system is withdrawn, and she dies, he will be charged with murder.

The full story is here.

That’s a photo opportunity I want to see: Randell Terry, Bill O’Reilly, and the other right-to-lifers in a mass rally, sharing the stage with a child beater.

Fox News Hates Christmas

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

The News Corporation is Fox News’ corporate parent.  And as we know, Fox News employs Bill O’Reilly, currently fighting against the "War on Christmas", and John Gibson (author of the book "The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought").  And Fox News itself is hitting the "War on Christmas" story pretty heavily.

Anyway . . . like most corporate offices, The News Corporation/Fox News is having a Christmas party. 

Ooops.  Did I say Christmas party?   Below is the invitation (click to enlarge):

Fox20invite

Will O’Reilly and Gibson attend the "holiday party"?  And if so, will they go around saying "Merry Christmas" in that fuck-you tone of voice?

[H/T: Air America]

I Don’t Get Art, I Guess

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

A guy takes a car engine, puts it in an art gallery, runs it continuously.  Why?  So that a cactus nearby can thrive.

The same guy takes a shed, dismantles it, builds a boat out of it, sails down a river, and then rebuilds the shed.

He takes a replica of a sculpture, throws it into a lake, and then takes it out six months later.

That, my friends, is art.

Apparently.

The guy’s name is Simon Starling, and he just won the Turner Prize for excellance in art, or something.

Eric Muller has more.  He doesn’t get it either.  Neither do many Brits.

Easy Question

Ken AshfordBush & Co., Right Wing Punditry/Idiocy, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

UPDATE AND BREAKING NEWS:

The American Civil Liberties Union will file a lawsuit today against former CIA director George Tenet and three American contractors challenging the CIA’s abduction of a foreign national for detention and interrogation in a secret overseas prison, RAW STORY has learned.

The suit alleges that Tenet and other CIA officials violated U.S. and human rights laws when they authorized agents to kidnap El-Masri, and that his unlawful abduction and treatment were the direct result of an illegal CIA policy known as “extraordinary rendition.”

___________________  Back to regular post _____________________

John Hindrocket at Powerline is puzzled:

The Telegraph reports on the increasingly weird foreign policy crisis in which the White House finds itself. The CIA set up a system of rendition, whereby terrorist suspects are turned over to certain foreign governments. The CIA also established a network of secret detention centers in several countries, including some in Europe.

***

So the CIA established policies that it knew would be controversial and would damage American interests if revealed, and then leaked the existence of those policies to the Washington Post for the purpose of damaging the Bush administration. And now the administration is trying to defend the CIA. Why, I wonder?

The answer is quite simple, John.  You are working from the false premise that the CIA established the system of rendition. 

But isn’t it possible — indeed probable — that the Bush Administration approved of, or possibly instigated, the rendition policy?   After all, like all things governmental, the pinnacle of the intelligence community sits in the White House, and the CIA falls under the executive branch.   

Even I don’t believe Hindrocket is stupid enough to think that the CIA acts entirely on its own, certainly when it comes to interrogation of "terrorists".  He surely is aware of the fact that the White House has taken an active interest in extracting information from detainees, which is what the rendition system is all about.  Hindrocket is advancing the excuse/lie that the policy of rendition solely was a CIA creation, done without the knowledge and consent of the White House.

But it ain’t true.

There is a very simply reason why the White House is defending the CIA’s policy of rendition: because the White House has condoned the policy of rendition.  They can’t reverse themselves now.  Next question.

Bigfoot Sightings Getting Even More Ridiculous

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

29_crop_silver_star_mt_029_1New photos have emerged, reportedly showing Bigfoot.  They were snapped on Silver Star Mountain in Washington State.

Take a look at the photo on the right (click on it to enlarge to a separate window).  This is an unretouched enlargement of one of the photos (all posted at this site).

I can clearly make the outlines of a parka (the white lining of the hood and the inner jacket).  So it is either a man wearing a heavy winter parka . . . or Bigfoot (wearing a heavy winter parka).

You be the judge.

Jesus Sightings Getting Even More Ridiculous

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

Jesustailgate_1Where’s Jesus now?  It was only a matter of time…

LAREDO, Texas — An image on a truck tailgate has sparked a new wave of religious pilgrims in Texas.

Portraits of Jesus Christ and a table full of candles surround what some are calling a miraculous image.

Believers say the face of Jesus is visible in the dirt on the tailgate.

Since word of the vision got out, at least 150 people have made a pilgrimage to visit the truck.

Some light candles, some take video or pictures and some just pray.

The truck’s owner, Julio Radillo, said he isn’t going to drive this truck for a while. And when he does, he’ll remove the tailgate as a memento.

Radillo said he thinks the image of Christ appeared as reminder to people to strengthen their faith.

It’s dirt, people!

Brian Williams: Bush Administration Has a “Right” To “Buy” News

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

Well, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams just went down several pegs in my book:

Appearing on the December 4 edition of CNN’s Reliable Sources, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams told host Howard Kurtz that the Bush administration has "the right" to pay a columnist to tout its views in his column. Williams also condoned the "politiciz[ation]" of programming on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).

Read the whole disappointing thing.

Explorer Robert Ballard Gets Snippy

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

I’ve been a Titanic aficionado since as long as I can remember.  So this story peaked my interest:

Scientists Unveil New Titanic Discoveries

Undersea explorers said Monday that the discovery of more wreckage from the Titanic suggests that the luxury liner broke into three sections — not two, as commonly thought — and thus sank faster than previously believed.

"The breakup and sinking of the Titanic has never been accurately depicted," Parks Stephenson, a Titanic historian, said at a conference at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

***

Undersea explorer Robert Ballard located the bulk of the wreck in 1985, at a depth of 13,000 feet and about 380 miles southeast of Newfoundland. He declared that the ship had broken into two major sections, and that is the way the sinking was portrayed in the 1997 movie about he catastrophe.

However, the latest expedition, sponsored by the History Channel, found two hull pieces, each roughly 40 feet by 90 feet and lying about a third of a mile from the rest of the wreck. The explorers said the location of the wreckage indicates that the ship’s bottom came off the ship intact — constituting a third major piece — and later broke in two.

So far, so good.  But Ballard’s response to the latest discovery was unnecessarily peevish:

"They found a fragment, big deal," Ballard said. "Am I surprised? No. When you go down there, there’s stuff all over the place. It hit an iceberg and it sank. Get over it."

Sounds like Ballard has something he needs to "get over".

The War On Christmas – A Bat Boy Perspective

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

Brian Flemming was once a fundamentalist Christian; now he is an atheist activist.  He is also the co-author of Bat Boy – The Musical.  Sick and tired of hearing about the phony "war on Christmas", he decided to do something about it: he decided to actually declare war on Christmas.  Read more.