Ran across this quote. True, so very true.
H. L. Mencken:
As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
Posted by Judith at January 7, 2006 03:54 AMJudith: Did you ever get to see the anti-Letterman rant "Uncle Jaun" Williams went into on O'Riley? And you thought I was tough on him? Jaun needs an exorcist.
Posted by TIKI AL at January 7, 2006 04:14 AMDidn't know H.L. had E.S.P.
Posted by TIKI AL at January 7, 2006 04:32 AMTIKI, missed the rant.
"The inner soul of the people". I think it was Maureen Reagan who once said of her Father's Presidency that the Country needed a "Daddy" and that her Father's Presidency was a reflection of how sick the American people were.
Posted by Judith at January 7, 2006 05:11 AMBremer will be on Dateline Sunday night. Should be interesting.
Posted by Judith at January 7, 2006 05:27 AM"Republicans evidently have reason to worry about their image. An Associated Press-Ipsos public opinion poll released Friday showed voters sharply favoring Democrats over Republicans in a general party matchup for Congress, 49 percent to 36 percent."
Read it and weep bastards.
Posted by Judith at January 7, 2006 06:32 AMThings are secure in theme park of neo-con land. Their principles have been perfected by the Ralph Reeds and Abramoffs of the breed. Things are so good, do a search in Google for the search term "failure" and see what the #1 hit happens to be. Who could be including "failure" so often with other key words? Life has it's little rewards.
Posted by phidipides at January 7, 2006 08:10 AMWe are attending a get-together at our very Christian, very Republican, neighbors house today.
I am wondering if politics will come up.
I am really wondering if I can hold my tongue.
I won't be writing later today if I am jailed.
Posted by Anjha at January 7, 2006 08:42 AMRepubs in my neck of the world will discuss anything EXCEPT politics. They avoid the subject like the plague. For some reason.
You're a saint to even show up at their party.
Posted by euzoius at January 7, 2006 08:48 AMVery Republican = Not very Christian
Posted by God Of War at January 7, 2006 08:53 AMHad what I hope is a tin foil hat thought: With the NSA wiretaps they have access to the emails, which also means they have access to bill paying online, stock transactions, etc. After 9/11 all were searching for financial records and the NSA would afford the perfect tool for getting these, AND since we have CPA's sending over returns to India (indiv & corp) for processing, that would become an international link. As I was installing my Norton '06 that promised to keep my computer safe from keystroke bandits I realized cookies would be a natural for NSA, IRS etc. After all, once you're in, why not put a tracker on your target? See, this is why there needs to be a return to debate and Congressional oversight.
Posted by mainsailset at January 7, 2006 09:04 AMThe husband is Japanese and spends several days making awesome food and rolling sushi - my motives are not that pure.
He is also more moderate. She is the extreme.
Our kids play together.
The creepiest thing, there is an autographed pic from GW and Laura in their daughter's room - to me that is almost child abuse.
Posted by Anjha at January 7, 2006 09:15 AMDeLay is giving up on his dream of coming back to his post as Majority Leader. Heh.
Posted by dj moonbat at January 7, 2006 09:41 AMThe Hammer has fallen!
Now lets hope that the people of Texas loosen their grip on him enough to let him drop to the floor.
Posted by snark at January 7, 2006 09:47 AMYes, "let him drop to the floor"...1 foot shy and a rope around his neck.
Posted by bbtb at January 7, 2006 09:55 AMWow, that was vivid, bbtb.
Posted by iamcoyote at January 7, 2006 09:59 AMI have a massive headache, my apt's a mess, and I need my skull rebuilt. My Saturday sucks.
Posted by jm at January 7, 2006 10:32 AMHope you're feeling better bbtb.
They do still lynch down south, don't they?
And they eat their own.
Oh, damn, I forgot - Bu$hCo already said that he was innocent. All hopes detoured.
Posted by Anjha at January 7, 2006 10:34 AMHELL GIVE HIM TO THE INDIANS DOWN SOUTH
SOO0OO THEY CAN SCALP EM
Down on "Friday Night Quick Hits" the trolls be questioning our Patriotism again.
I find it very interesting that to be "Patriotic" one must walk rank and file over the lemming cliff with them.
Lucky for us the founders of this great Nation did not subscribe to that idiocy.
Posted by Anjha at January 7, 2006 12:40 PMAnjha: At my repub-catholic neighbor's new years party, I was shown their daughter's newly decorated bedroom. The obligatory signed picture of Laura and George was anticipated, but even I was creeped out by the AUTOGRAPHED charcoal self-portrait of Jesus. Is brainwashing child-abuse?
Posted by TIKI AL at January 7, 2006 04:05 PMAnjha: Forgot to mention the "Shroud of Turen" towels in the guest bathroom.
Posted by TIKI AL at January 7, 2006 04:11 PMI just read an article at Slate about Tirhas Habtegiris in Dallas who couldn't afford to continue life support with a Ventilator despite her apparent willingness to do so. There was a Left Coaster thread about it here, but I apparently missed it.
Baylor apparently made the decision to turn off the ventilator while she was still conscious.
In the Slate article, the cold son of a bitch writes that Tirhas Habtegiris herself might have preferred a material gift on her 21st birthday rather than insurance that would have paid for the ventilator.
I wasn't in the room where this occurred, but despite her terminal cancer, if she was awake and asking her doctor not to disconnect the ventilator tube, as far as I'm concerned the hospital officials that made this decision as well as the people that actually turned the machine off are murderers. You don't deny medical care to someone that is asking you for help just because they don't have money or insurance. How disgusting can our society get - both for what apparently happened in this Dallas hospital AND for this cold mother f. that wrote an article because HE WANTED TO SPECULATE that Tirhas Habtegiris wouldn't have had sympathy for someone else in the same circumstance before she was sick herself.
There are many in this country that are greedy and self-centered, but there are also many of us that wish we were in a position to help correct the inequities in our society. Unfortunately, most of the material wealth and power are in the hands of the former and not the latter.
Posted by Tampa Student at January 7, 2006 05:54 PMLeft wing religious people (Christian and otherwise) need to start growing some balls. The right wing hijacking of religion and the "moral high ground" is an abominable developement and ludicrously unecessary. The religious/spiritual sensibility isnt going away anytime soon in the U.S and the lefts failure to face up to this speaks volumes about how genuine its commitment to engagement and change really is.
Posted by jondee at January 7, 2006 07:04 PMAnjha: Forgot to mention the "Shroud of Turen" towels in the guest bathroom.
Posted by TIKI AL at January 7, 2006 04:11 PM
*******
That's funny!
I found this to be disturbing.
Making sure all recent updates are updated.
And, damn I'm tired. Enough reading tonight.
Posted by Anjha at January 7, 2006 08:32 PMThe right wing hijacking of religion and the "moral high ground" is an abominable developement and ludicrously unecessary
I doubt devolving into a religous tug-o-war is going to do anything productive. "I am holier than thou" rings too hollow for many of us. Ah, if only organized religion had been made illegal. The Founding Fathers had the idea that the majority of Americans were stupid and uneducated, and religion was the only moralizing force that kept them from being savages. If they could see what was happening today they would have made it illegal. I'm sure of it. Very wise men. Lots of good, only one real mistake.
Posted by phidipides at January 7, 2006 08:42 PMAnd as I like to point out on occaision, the writers of the Declaration and Constitution WERE NOT Christians. They were new age enlightened diests the lot of them, almost without exception. The big exception was Washington. The biggest lie you'll ever hear is that this country was founded on Christian values. It most certainly was not.
Posted by phidpides at January 7, 2006 08:46 PMAnd give them enough rope . . . it's the same with "in god we trust" being stamped on the currency. I only worry that there is not enough time, nor enough rope.
Posted by dorita at January 7, 2006 09:25 PMCore Neo Con Website for Neocon wannabes, Townhall.com. Attack their core sites. Use laughter, they think Liberals have no common sense or sense of humor. They attack feminism and family values. They preach about Jesus until Iraq is mentioned, then it's all about the cash. I tell them to start the draft, they say we're not really at war.
Posted by L. I. Beralhawk at January 7, 2006 11:30 PMBack in MY day, after walking 20 miles in ass-deep snow to a 1 room school/outhouse we said the pledge without "under God" in it. I'm still pissed at the Knights of Columbus for causing us to learn the non-inclusive, un-patriotic version. Why exclude part of the population, when they may be needed to fight a GENUINE war in the future? National pride is currently restricted to mono-God warriors. Thanks, K.O.C.-sukaahs.
Posted by TIKI AL at January 7, 2006 11:35 PMIs Christianity a Casualty of War?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-campolo/is-christianity-a-casualt_b_13329.html
Posted by Judith at January 8, 2006 12:31 AMAnd as I like to point out on occaision, the writers of the Declaration and Constitution WERE NOT Christians. They were new age enlightened diests the lot of them, almost without exception. The big exception was Washington.
And Washington didn't write shit.
Posted by dj moonbat at January 8, 2006 05:52 AMdj moonbat: I Agree- and speaking as a highschool history major and frequent viewer of the history channel, I am considered by many republicans to be an expert.
Posted by TIKI AL at January 8, 2006 03:51 PMWell,call me nuts but if some of these rattlesnake brandishing,"Left Behind"targeted, arnt nudged in a more,shall we say Blakean, Whitmanian,Einsteinian direction,theyre still going to be obsessed with "humasexuals",The Rapture,theyre still going to vote in droves "because my pastor says to" and theyre going to embroil us in their lethal psychosis.
Posted by jondee at January 9, 2006 03:10 PM