I will conquer
Space around me
So maybe I’ll win
Saved by zero
Maybe I’ll win
Saved by zero
—The Fixx

If you want to smell the fear you must click it

Zero:  A contemptibly worthless, undistinguished person…

The Republican Party is rife with Zeros these days. The nine nincompoops above are just a random gaggle selected from the dozens and dozens of them pining to spend time in the GOPper boxes of national leadership-ness-ness.  The assortment of  war criminals, gas bags, elderly has-beens, living and dead, and a burgeoning bunch of weiner wanna-bees will continue to plague the nation until the electorate relegates them to the slag-heap of history.

Why are there so few qualified leaders?  Because the number of capable leaders has never exceeded one percent of the population.  That makes it even more critical that we elect only the best qualified individuals to leadership positions in society.

Leadership is vital to progress.  Wisdom, insight, and foresight are indispensable to the endurance of any nation, and just now all such essential qualities are in short supply in our government, despite the fact that Barack Obama shows every sign of being able to fill the shoes of leadership we so desperately need.

Obama’s speech in Cairo is a stirring demonstration of his willingness to confront the changes that are needed now, but it is just the beginning of his efforts to grow into the enormous job confronting the United States and the world.  We certainly haven’t exhausted our national stamina and courage in confronting our many problems just yet, but if you’re not already doing so, it is time to add real prayer to our arsenal of hope.  Pray for our country, pray for our people, pray for our president.  And if you’re feeling really generous, pray for our world.  And remember, prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict, but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict.  Dig it.

Society is the offspring of age upon age of trial and error; it is what survived the selective adjustments and readjustments in the successive stages of mankind’s agelong rise from animal to human levels of planetary status. The great danger to any civilization at any one moment is the threat of breakdown during the time of transition from the established methods of the past to those new and better, but untried, procedures of the future.
—The Urantia Book

Conservative Think Stink Tank patrons gathered recently to revivify their ailing philosophy, and to wonder out loud why no one likes them;  right to far right: Rummy-teh-dumby, Dick the Cheney, Hannity Teh Stoopid, Rush teh Outrage, John “You Will Know There Faces and You Will Know Their Names” McLame, Turdblossom Rove, Princess Palin, Loofa O’Really, CondoLeza, James Dobson, Dubya teh Bush, Rev. John Hagee, Joe the Lieberman, Roger Fauxy Ailes, Lindsey the Suck-up, Count Novak, and Phil Gramm-Cracker. Out of the picture patrons include Richard Perle, Mrs. Dick the Cheney, Poppy Bush, and a veritable host of other conservative shitheads. (Click it)

WASHINGTON D.C. — In the film “K-Pax,” Sal, one of the inmates of the ward, was put there after pointing out he could smell the stink on the elite that came and went from the hotel where he served as doorman.  These days, quite a lot of people profess to being overcome by the reeking of the Washington elite, and are not considered mentally unstable, except of course, by the Washington elite themselves.  They recognize the malodorous waft is coming from the inmates patrons of Washington’s oldest and rankest conservative Think Stink Tanks. (Ironic that it was an early incarnation of Senator-elect Al Franken who pointed out the problem of “stinkin’ thinkin’ ” a long time ago.  They ignored him then;  but he’s on their radar now.)

But yes;  the wonder that is conservative national provincialism:  Every nation sovereign, a god unto themselves.  No need for supranational unity.  Some of those nations have open state religions, and some, like us, often pretend they don’t;  some believe might makes right, and some believe they’re right and everyone else is wrong.  One more thing.  If it appears God didn’t create a planetary life system that could withstand the worst amoral attacks and abuses of man, it’s not our problem;  it’s God’s.

Uh, no.  He did not begin any investigations; nor did he spend any time looking for that one moral bone that may be in his body.

The cleansing of the temple, a story most every Christian knows, demonstrates that Jesus did not look with approval upon the refusal to employ force to protect the majority of any given human group against the unfair and enslaving practices of unjust minorities who may be able to entrench themselves behind political, financial, or ecclesiastical power. Shrewd, wicked, and designing men are not to be permitted to organize themselves for the exploitation and oppression of those who, because of their idealism, are not disposed to resort to force for self-protection or for the furtherance of their laudable life projects.  —The Urantia Book

During the past eight years, the Bushmen have done their utmost to entrench themselves behind political, financial, and ecclesiastical power.  Their make-believe foreign policy has failed to do aught that it set out to do, except enrich the coffers of the war profiteers, bankrupting our nation’s treasury in the process. But self-aggrandizing alliances will never prevent wars, or control the several most powerful governments.  As long as America suffers from the delusions of national sovereignty right along with every other so-called sovereign nation in the world,  War will continue.

As the most powerful nation on earth, we have an opportunity and an obligation to lead with our highest vision of the world, a world that offers freedom and liberty to every man, woman, and child in every country;  offers them safety and protection from any source of organized aggression. This can only be accomplished when all cooperative nations join together and form the genuine rudiments of the government of all mankind.

Peace will not come to Urantia until every so-called sovereign nation surrenders its power to make war into the hands of a representative government of all mankind. Political sovereignty is innate with the peoples of the world. When all the peoples of Urantia create a world government, they have the right and the power to make such a government SOVEREIGN; and when such a representative or democratic world power controls the world’s land, air, and naval forces, peace on earth and good will among men can prevail;  but not until then.

And that stink tank philosophy of global hegemony?  That effluence must be washed clean from the minds of the jackasses entrenched in our government.  Dick ‘n Bush are out smearing around vast quantities of…

…but the shine is off those turds for good, and it ain’t ever comin’ back.

Greed in the name of torture and domination has shown itself bankrupt, socially, morally, ethically, and spiritually. Drain the pool.

•  •  •  SCATOLOGY WEEK  •  •  •

Joe Lieberman offers up a ginormous double shitburger to the Senate Democrats that allowed him to continue as chairman of two senate committees. “I made it myself,” quipped Lieberman.

WASHINGTON — Senator Joe the Lie berman, with McCain Campaign trail makeup still etched in the folds of his face, presented the Senate Democratic Caucus with one of his legendary homemade, giant double-shitburgers, after emerging victorious from a secret caucus vote which allows him top off his stint as a disloyal Dick with the retention of his two senate chairs.

Although many members of the caucus are privately furious over Lieberman’s ugly butt-sucking behavior during the campaign, they are betting their “lingering resentment” will cause Lieberman to cooperate with them when it comes time to get down in the sewage again. This kind of “you rub shit on my back and I’ll rub shit on yours” ploy has always produced reciprocity in the past, but some senators are openly skeptical about ever trusting Lieberman again.  “He’s a giant double-shitburger-making machine,” said one senator who voted against Lieberman. “Some of my colleagues think this is politically smart,” he said, “but just wait. Lieberman is a lying sack of shit, and he doesn’t care who steps in it. There’s no more trusting toads like that.”

Apparently the red uniforms beat the blue uniforms to win the World Series.  Anyway, there’s the zone Obama was trying for; the middle.

Just watched the Obama 30 minute ad, and to be honest, I have to say I had a hard time identifying with it.  I guess it was just too blatantly pitched to the middle class;  whoever they are.  I should say up front that I’m one of those Americans who will suffer a tax increase under an Obama administration because, in fact, I’m way inside the top one percent of all wealthy Americans these days.

How wealthy am I?  I’m not really sure, what with the roller coaster economy these days, but as an admirer recently marveled, I have a $60 million dollar custom built jet, and a $24 million dollar doggy jet that follows it with our two dachshunds, Willie Wanker Warhol and Dandy Dick The Dachshund.

Liberals attacked McCain for not knowing exactly how many residences he owns, but truth is, the guy is a pauper, really.  Oh, Cindy has some beer bucks I’m told, and seven homes might impress a few single home owners;  but I own twenty-seven homes that range in price from Obama’s 1.6 million dollar dump to my private island estate at $300 mil.  But enough about my munnies.

It was clear from the Obama ad—  I don’t care for the McCain “infomercial” slur— that he’s in the tank for the middle class.  It’s just too bad that a big gaggle of them are outright racist, another flock are confused Republicans who think they’ll get rich some day, and then there’s the Democrats. Why anyone would try to unify this rabble is beyond me. And no, I won’t try and scare you with that socialism shtick, God forbid the middle class figures that out. The less said about “spreading the wealth around” the better.  Just give me a president who will make my tax cuts permanent and keep the war machine crackin’ open new markets.

So yeah.  Middle class? Save your ass; vote for Palin-McCain so the wealth will continue to trickle down to you, and we can have victory wherever we choose no matter how long it takes, or how many of your kids get to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep our nation free.  And don’t worry about me.  I’ll be fine.

(LOFL)

The Grand Oil Party slogging through the political wilderness

Updating my initial compilation of the Obamacans (Republicans for Obama ) is becoming quite the task. Add endorsements from the likes of W’s former Secretary of State Colin Powell and press spokesman Scotty McClellan; former Reagan’s UN Secretary Kenneth Adleman; former McCain adviser Charles Fried; former Minnesota Republican Governor William Weld; former South Dakota Senator Larry Pressler– well, you get the idea.

More interesting is what a post-election loss will mean to the Republican party as a whole as the unholy alliance between its corporatist and fundamental evangelical wings rips itself asunder. At stake is control of the party. Will it be Palin v. Romney? Huckabee v. Ridge? (In order to make it a fair a balanced civil war, Fux News will have to give Palin her own yack show alongside Huck’s.)

Today’s LA Times leads with a story titled “Social conservatives fight for control of Republican Party” , which points out the fundies have quietly taken over the machinery of the GOP.

In skirmishes around the country in recent months, evangelicals and others who believe Republicans have been too timid in fighting abortion, gay marriage and illegal immigration have won election to the party’s national committee, in preparation for a fight over the direction and leadership of the party

Meaning that even if McCain wins, God forfend, the battle for the soul of the GOP is already joined. Reports of Palin going rogue are the first visible sign. Recall her Freudian slip at a rally last month where she referred to “a Palin and McCain administration.”

Could be the basis for a hit scripted reality show: Survivor meets The Handmaid’s Tale’s , a ripped from the headlines, theocratic melodrama timed to usher in the end of days.

All of which should provide some badly needed (though temporary) comic relief as the Obama Administration struggles with the legacy of ruin left to it by the Bushies. That would include the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,  a health care system on the brink of collapse, military occupations in two Muslim countries with the promise of more military operations to come (witness recent incursions into Syria and Pakistan, not to mention covert ops inside Iran),  and an overcrowded planet facing severe resource depletion and environmental degradation set against a background of runaway global warming.

Can I get me a witness?

[Image from data5.blog.de]

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

Some further reflections on this comment I posted at The Lake this morning, vamping off Blue Texan’s analysis of the disaster that John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin is proving to be:

“He chose…poorly.”

Great line, delivered by the ancient guardian knight in the second Indiana Jones movie about the holy grail.

The greedy bad guy has to choose the actual cup used at the Last Supper (which is suppose to confer eternal life). Instead of selecting the humble wood one, the kind that would be carved by a hard working (social activist!) carpenter, he chooses (identifies with) the most ornate one, as befitting a great king, poisoning himself in the process.

How fitting.

If the antagonist had related to Jesus as the humble Prince of Peace instead of the mighty King of the Holy Roman Empire, he would have chosen wisely and not have died such a horrible death.

In the scene depicted below, Indy uses the healing power of the grail to restore a worthy life, his father’s, a life dedicated to the quest for knowledge. Contrast that with the desire to merely prolong an unworthy life, one dedicated to greed and power.

Redemption, at least in the secular sense, is a theme the USA and the rest of the world might want to pursue now that the neocon Republican world view has proven such an utter disaster.

If you can’t stay up that late anymore.

One of the functions of humor is to help all of us take ourselves less seriously.

But political satire has every bit as important a blade to wield as political analysis.  People who were apprehensive about Palin’s appearance on a comedy show were-so because they see nothing remotely “funny” about her candidacy;  rather do they see unmitigated disaster for our country should McCain-Palin manage to wheedle their way into the White House.

Alec Balwin, who takes a stab at diagnosing the discomfort of viewing the “real” Palin appearing on SNL, doesn’t seem to get that, but he does get the “humor is as humor does” approach to reality.

Laughing in the face of appalling danger is difficult on a good day;  on a really bad day, it’s well-nigh impossible.  But humor can be a safety valve to prevent the building up of pressure from the intense struggle for genuine human progress. Through humor it’s possible to get the point and the insight as it  mitigates the impact of rigid fact, or relative truth.

The delicious irony then, of watching Palin parody her own refusal to answer questions, but sit-dance like a political puppet to a prega-nant Amy Poehler parodying Palin, well; guess you have to go there only if you dare.

All humor aside, one thing is for certain. Hearing Sarah lie on the teevee day after day through that tightly-pinched voice box of hers will never make me want to see her on SNL ever again, let alone in the White House.

The Mouse Circus and the Blogosphere are saying Obama “trounced” McCain.

What would you expect the “liberal left” MSM to say?
That McCain’s angry lizard temperament was just what America needs?

You wont need to use a scalpel to unpack the debate performances of “that one” and the fighter jock, because it’s as plain as the flicking tongue who won what voters.  Let’s take a look.

The “Vote angry” vote.  They have “every reason to be angry,” and John stroked them where they live. McCain took every last one of the “too angry to think straight” vote.

McCain then courted, and won, the Joe-the-Plumber vote. Plumbers around the country with butt crack fatigue will vote for McCain without ever looking at the tax benefits Obama layed out for them.

“The Mobile-Exxon” vote goes to McCain; Obama will take away their huge tax break over our dead bodies.

Irish  business vote went to McCain because he mentioned Ireland’s business tax rate.

Auto industry voters got an ass whipping from Obama for falling behind the curve; vote to McCain.

“Any trade agreement is a good trading agreement” vote to McCain.

Responsible “Pay as you go” freaks— to Obama.

Insurance executive vote:  McCain.

“Send money to people that don’t like us very much” vote is totally McCain’s.

“Sarcastic Admiration of Obama’s eloquence through a McCain filter” vote:  to McCain.

“Drugs killing young Americans” vote: McCain.

“Columbia internal politics be damned, trade agreement a no brainer” vote to McCain.

Peruvian vote: Mostly Obama’s.

“Stand up to other countries” vote goes 100% McCain.

“Ham-handed gestures” vote exclusively McCain’s.

“Throwing money at the problem” vote planning group suicide, but survivors will vote McCain. [Read more →]

Should Sarah Palin be dropped from the Republican ticket?

David Brooks at The New York Times:

Is Sarah Palin qualified to be vice president? Most conservatives say yes, on the grounds that something that feels so good could not possibly be wrong. But a few commentators, like George Will, Charles Krauthammer, David Frum and Ross Douthat demur, suggesting in different ways that she is unready.

Kathleen Parker at National Review Online:

…it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion…

…I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.” …

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself…

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

Jack Cafferty of CNN:

With Palin’s negative poll ratings rising inversely to McCain’s crash in the polls, I say— hell no! This is no time for McCain to be a real maverick!

•

Fugue* Magazine is on top of the story.

Despite the best attempts of the McCain campaign to derail a bipartisan commission looking into Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s role in forcing a former official out of office for not firing her ex-brother in law, Sainted Sarah was found guilty of abusing her power and violating state ethics statutes.

Pausing briefly from her campaign of inciting crowds to an irrational fear and hatred of Barack Obama, she simply denied that she had violated anything, and returned to promoting herself as a maverick that would change the way government functions in Washington, D.C.

Despite promising to cooperate with the investigation fully, she clammed up after being selected to replace Darth Cheney as the nation’s VP. Instead, the NY Times reports that

“The McCain campaign flew operatives into Alaska to wage a public relations campaign to discredit the investigation and to help mount legal challenges to it.”

The lead “operative” was former US Attorney Edward O’Callaghan, who HuffPo reports was until just a few weeks ago the

“…co-chief of the terrorism and national security unit of the U.S. attorney’s office in New York.”

Now, I made a living in the legal profession in Alaska for three years in the early nineties, so the names of the special investigator Steve Branchflower, a former prosecutor, and the fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan, the former Anchorage Police chief, are not unfamiliar to me.

In addition to the traditonal machismo associated with these jobs, these guys are typical Alaskans when it comes to having outsiders tell them how to run their biz, so I won’t be surprised if we learn that they told McCain’s goons to go straight to hell.

There’s an old Alaskan saying that refers to the historic disparity between the number of males to females in the state that can be tweaked to fit the current governor’s improbable rise to power:

Alaska: Where the odds are good but the goods are odd.

•

* fugue a state or period of loss of awareness of one’s identity,
often coupled with flight from one’s usual environment, associated
with certain forms of hysteria and epilepsy.