...more recent posts
Wednesday, Aug 24, 2005
Radical Fundamentalist Cleric Claims His Fatwah Endorsing State-Sponsered Terrorism Was "Misinterpreted"
Then ...
The Elements of Style
Creationism, a previous theory, gave credit to God. These folks insist that intelligent design is not creationism, but a completely new theory worthy of being taught in public schools. Therefore, Jehovah is off the short list of potential designers.
I suggest careful consideration be given to the great grandfather (raised to the 300th power) of Bill Blass. Bill had to inherit his talent from someone. He could not have gotten the idea for that great double-breasted blue blazer all by himself without some kind of genealogical assistance.
Those of us who want to give his ancestor credit as "the intelligent designer" could seek to have the Big Bang Theory renamed the "Big Blass Theory".
Why not? As long as there is no religious attribution being given to the designer of intelligent design, my choice of designer is as good as anybody's. Anyone who disagrees with me is free to promote the designer of his or her choice.
Tom Foley, Letters to the Editor
Maine Sunday Telegram
via Bill in Portland Maine
Friendly Fire
The current story of Cindy Sheehan reminds me of a book I read for a college history class, C.D.B. Bryan's Friendly Fire. This is a tale of a mother, Peg Mullen, trying to learn about the circumstances of her son's death in Viet Nam.
She starts on an earnest quest to fill in some blanks, to answer some questions, to deal with her loss by understanding her son's death. The Army responded with delays, obfuscations, half truths. In her struggle to seek the truth, her opinion about the U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia turns.
Perhaps if the Army had simply told her that her son was killed by friendly fire in the confusion of a fire fight, she might not have gone through the transformation that she did. But if the Army couldn't tell her the simple truth of what happened that day, how could she trust anything that the Army had to say?
With Cindy Sheehan, I see parallels. What bothered her most deeply about her first meeting with Bush was that Bush would not say the name of her son. If Bush couldn't show that simple act of empathy, then what value does he place on any stranger's life?
While browsing for information about this book, I came across the the original review from the New York Review of Books, plus an interchange between the author and reviewer.
The review is cut short, with the remainder behind a subscription firewall, but this choice comment is visible:
Tuesday, Aug 23, 2005
Mendacity Has Permeated His Pathetic, Shriveled Soul
No, not Bush's. Well, yes, Bush's, but the immediate object of my disdain is someone else, a talk radio blowhard, a veteren of the Velvet Rope Tour of Iraq by a gaggle of talk radio blowhards, a liar who goes by the name of Mark Williams.
I caught a bit of his performance on MSNBC's Blow Hard Ball over at Crooks and Liars. His first lie: "I'm not anti-Sheehan". Then Mr. Talk Radio Blow Hard launches into an attack on Sheehan, calling her pathetic. The Blow Hard lies so much, he probably didn't notice that he started his segment with a lie.
A point that he reiterated (blew hard and blew harder) is that there was a "debate" three years ago, and that the anti-war crowd should shut up. Technically speaking, there was a debate. But only based on today's low bar for what passes for a debate.
The Mendacious Administration told lies over and over again, in an attempt to permeate the minds of American's with their mendacity. They told not just small lies, but huge, magnificent lies that will stand through the ages as monuments to their foul, disgusting, lie-filled minds. They compounded this by branding anyone who spoke the truth as a traitor, a co-conspirator with Saddam, a friend of bin Laden.
This charade may have passed for "debate" in the Politburo, but is a disgrace to the very concept of democracy. "Consent of the governed" my ass. The Mendacious Administration cares only about the accretion of partisan power, not the intangible called "truth".
The MSNBC Blow Hard Ball hostess harangued the anti-war guest about "what's the Democratic solution?" Well, la dee dah. The Mendacious Administration creates a world class clusterfuck, and now it's up to the Democrats to fix it? "Well if you can't give me a five second answer for how to un-clusterfuck to region, then your opinion doesn't count!"
Okay, here's your solution Blow Hard Ball hostess: ride those SOB's out of town on a rail. RIght, now. This afternoon. Tar and feather the worst of them, and drag their sorry asses down to that pig farm outside of Waco Then we'll start figuring out how to un-clusterfuck the region.