It is no surprise that the opposition is questioning the sitting president’s choice for a Supreme Court nominee. That is to be expected and has always been a part of our process.

Despite the often-intense scrutiny and “Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?” allegations during the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill confrontation, Thomas (who’s performance on the High Court has been less than stellar, to say the least) has been approved by the Senate and has been taking a valuable seat for years now, while doing practically nothing.

The sexual harassment accusations by Anita Hill have only produced a nightmarish web of traps, mainly for federal workers and the useless, but mandatory “sexual harassment” courses and seminars, which mainly deal in how to cover your ass and to inform people that saying almost anything, can land you in really hot, scalding water.

And who doesn’t remember President Bush nominating Harriett Myers to the Supreme Court and subsequent nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito?

Let’s not forget Roberts’ flubbing of the Obama presidential oath and the following middle-of-the-night repeat – this time, with the text of the oath in his hand. Amazing how dumb and arrogant some people can be sometimes…

Now, we have nationwide discussions about what President Obama’s pick, Sonia Sotomayor has said in some speech, several years ago. Nobody seems to be too interested in her views concerning abortion, gun control, or any other issue, as if that wasn’t important at all. All the politicians, pundits and commentators seem only interested in a small part of a speech she has delivered in 2001 in which she said that she hoped that “a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who has not lived that life.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said today: “She thought a Latina woman, someone with her background, would be a better judge than a guy like me, a white guy from South Carolina. And it is troubling, and it is inappropriate. I hope she will apologize.”

Well, senator, in your particular case and with your pro-Bush voting record the Latina woman simply had to be right.

Both Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh have already called Sotomayor racist. Rush even went as far as saying that nominating Sonia Sotomayor is like nominating David Duke. But did anyone expect Limbaugh to say anything that actually made sense?

Liz Cheney, Dick’s daughter, finds the statement “troubling”. She certainly has the right to express her opinion, as to the best of our knowledge; her dad did not quite manage to deprive us of our right of free speech and expression…maybe if he had a bit more time…What troubles us in turn is the fact that Liz Cheney is a very strong advocate for what Dick Cheney has done and for what he continues to forcefully cram down our throats. Now, that is really and truly “troubling”.

The case of the white Connecticut firefighters, alleging racial discrimination in the promotion process might be a better case to study, as Sotomayor was originally involved in that lawsuit. In any case, it is now the turn of the Supreme Court to rule on that one.

Come on guys! Get off the “racist”, “activist” excuses and start exploring the real issues. Sonia Sotomayor might not be perfect, because nobody is, but she has by far the most actual experience on the bench of all the present members of the Supreme Court. And that does have to count for something.

Technorati Tags: anita hill, clarence thomas, comment, crackers, sexual harassment, sotomayor, supreme court

As we all know by now, North Korea has been conducting more, or less successful nuclear tests, missile launches and has in general been a royal pain in the ass for practically everybody and in particular for its own people.

The present height-challenged dictator Kim Jong-Il was born on 16 February, 1941 in Khabarovsk, USSR, the eldest son of Kim Il Sung and his first wife, Kim Jong Suk. The year of his birth has subsequently been changed to 1942 to make a more convenient 30-year age difference between himself and his father, and the place of his birth was altered to become a secret camp on Mt. Paektu in Samjiyon County, Ryanggang Province.

In any case, all the way until his death Kim Jong Il’s (“the runt” from here on) daddy, Kim Il Sung was always referred to as “Dear Leader “and now both he and the runt are called “Great Leaders”. We always wondered if there was any confusion in that sort of terminology, but frankly that is immaterial. The comrades can call themselves whatever they desire, but the most appropriate title in our opinion would be “Great Fat Turd”.

If you want a good laugh, check out the runt’s biography on the official “Democratic” People’s Republic of Korea website. The crap written there simply defies description. Suffice it to say that the present “Great Fat Turd” is said to be “Possessed of warm human love and broadmindedness”. We are confident that the thousands of people imprisoned by the runt for saying considerably less venomous things about him than we are here, safely ensconced all the way across the ocean would not quite agree with the  “warm human love” description. And neither would the countless hungry people, subsisting solely because of foreign shipments of rice and other food. As it stands, it would be totally suicidal for any of them to complain in the slightest, as the “Great Fat Turd” is totally merciless.

North Korean state media reports that Kim routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round of golf. He is said to have 17 different palaces and residences, including a private resort near Baekdu Mountain, a seaside lodge in Wonsan, and a palace complex northeast of Pyongyang surrounded with multiple fence lines, bunkers, and anti-aircraft batteries.

The official website doesn’t mention of course the North Korean gulag, comprised of at least 12 concentration camps, holding at the very least some 200,000 people at any given time. It is a world of horror, rivaling the Nazi and Soviet “facilities”, with gas chambers, where entire families and groups of “unreliable” people get murdered.

Most are imprisoned because their relatives are believed to be critical of the regime. Many are Christians, a religion believed by Kim Jong-Il to be one of the greatest threats to his power. According to the runt, not only is a suspected dissident arrested but also three generations of his family are imprisoned, to root out the bad blood and seed of dissent.

The runt has been portrayed variously as an unstable nuclear-armed madman and a cognac-swilling playboy serviced by a team of women known as the “Joy Brigade.”

He loves to eat lobsters and roasted donkey, drinks the most expensive cognacs, has a collection of new Mercedes Benz automobiles, a collection of some 20,000 videos and of course all of those pretty, usually blond members of the “Joy Brigade” who help him paddle his little boat through the stormy waters of any of his personal swimming pools.

In any case, the entire U.N. Security Council in a rare, unified moment has condemned the North Korean nuclear test and the missile launches. The U.S. is saying that North Korea is going to “pay a price” for its behavior. We wonder how this is going to happen. Our leverage is limited to curtailing deliveries of cognac, blondes and the Benzes – but that is probably quite futile as he can get anything he wants through China, Russia, or by sea. We could of course stop food deliveries and starve the North Korean population, which has already suffered so much under the runt’s little, but heavy boot.

And as a closer we offer a video of the runt greeting the then South Korea’s President Roh Mu-hyun, who committed suicide by jumping off a cliff just a few days ago. Why can’t the North Koreans be as lucky?

Technorati Tags: blonds, cognac, Concentration Camps, Funny-Looking, Gas Chambers, Gulags, joy brigade, Kim Jong Il, Mercedes Benz, Nasty, North Korea

Too many people seem to forget that Memorial Day, observed in the U.S. on the last Monday in May is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.

Most Americans see it as an opportunity for heading out to the beach for the first time, to have a cookout, or as a day when most swimming pools open for the season.

President Obama said in his Memorial Day message: “This Memorial Day weekend, Americans will gather on lawns and porches, fire up the grill, and enjoy the company of family, friends and neighbors,” he said. “But this is not only a time for celebration. It is also a time to reflect on what this holiday is all about; to pay tribute to our fallen heroes; and to remember the servicemen and women who cannot be with us this year because they are standing post far from home – in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world.”

A great many participate in annual events, such as the “Rolling Thunder”. On Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend about half a million motorcyclists drive into DC to pay tribute to American troops who fell in battle. The roar of the Harleys and other types of bikes resounds throughout the area for days before and after the event. Although tattoos are not required for participation, this still appears to be one of the largest tattoo and facial hair displays anywhere.

The National Memorial Day Concert is held on Sunday under the steps of the Capitol building and televised nationwide.

Arlington National Cemetery continues the time-honored tradition of “Flags In”.

Soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) are joined by service members from the U.S. Marine Corps Ceremonial and Guard Company, U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard, U.S. Air Force Honor Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard in placing more than 250,000 grave decorating flags at Arlington National Cemetery.

The official wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns – often mistakenly referred to as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – is held on Memorial Day before noon and followed by a program at the adjacent Memorial Amphitheater.

After these events a number of parades and other events are held both in the Washington, DC area and across the country.

The important thing to remember is that these are solemn and most certainly well deserved tributes to our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen, who have given their lives in the service of our country.

And lets not forget that largely due to the advances in battlefield medicine, the percentage of our wounded is higher that ever. Let’s not forget the often cruelly wounded and their families. Our hearts are with you, always.

And we salute all of those active duty personnel and the veterans, who have served our country honorably and who have often sacrificed so much.

Let us hope that these honors and observances do not extend to those officials, who have sent these brave men and women in harm’s way for reasons other than the security and honor of our country, but rather to further their own, or their own little group’s agendas.

Technorati Tags: Arlington National Cemetery, Brave, dead, Honorable, Honoring, Memorial Day, tomb of the unknowns, war

What?! Are you serious?! What the hell are you talking about?!

These are some of the reactions we have heard so far about this brilliant (we think) idea.

What could possibly be more just – maybe not for the detainees – than this? To have Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Paul Wolfowitz and all the other neocons play gracious hosts to the 240, or so people, whom they have locked up at the Guantanamo prison. Admittedly, some of those guys are indeed dangerous and committed, or at the very least tried to commit terrorist acts. In those cases, providing that we actually have credible proof, the perpetrators should be tried in some kind of a federal or military court and locked up in a secure prison. The now closed Alcatraz facility comes to mind – after all, as far as we know nobody has ever managed to escape from that one.

Come to think of it,  could we not covert Alcatraz into a long-term depository for our abundant crop of neocons?

The rest – the myriad guys, who haven’t really committed any crimes, but have been imprisoned in Gitmo for many years and maybe even interrogated in the Dick Cheney-style “enhanced” manner probably and not surprisingly hate our guts with a passion.  Wouldn’t you be pissed off, if someone hauled you off from somewhere in shackles, maybe tortured you and kept you locked up in prison for years? All this while you, yourself knew that you didn’t do anything wrong?

Just think of the possibilities of how these prisoners would interact with their neocon hosts. We will not be listing our own predictions for the moment, but invite you to post your ideas as comments. We’re looking forward to some really imaginative posts. The best ones will be placed prominently right in this story, so make them good

In the meantime, we offer for your reading pleasure  Dana Milbank’s description of Thursday’s slugfest between President Obama and the ever-fear-mongering Dick Cheney, pulished Friday in the Washington Post.

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As of today, we haven’t seen any really imaginative, or funny comments on the issue, maybe with the exception of Burro’s idea of creating a detainee/neocon vaudeville act.

Therefore, in relation to the ongoing debate between the forces of light and the forces of darkness (Dick Cheney comes to mind immediately as an example of the latter), we are posting a letter from a combat veteran on the subject. This gentleman has served in combat (Cheney did not), risked his life, fighting probably the nastiest bunch of enemies one could possibly imagine – the Nazis. Here is his letter from the Saturday, May 23, 2009 issue of the Washington Post:

“On the treatment of prisoners, Mr. Cheney is wrong and the president is right ["In Dueling Speeches, a National Security Debate," front page, May 22]. I speak as a combat veteran of World War II who carried a Browning automatic rifle in a squad that suffered over 100 percent casualties. I fought in Italy, France and Germany. I was shot at (and missed) many times. I returned fire (and didn’t) many times.

Often an enemy soldier would jump up with his hands in the air after he had wounded or killed one of your fellow soldiers – perhaps one you knew well.

You immediately became responsible for his welfare and, no matter how tough it was, you took your finger off the trigger. Don’t tell me we weren’t fighting terrorists. We liberated concentration camps where we saw things that would turn your stomach. Sometimes we had to defend those who ran the camps from skeletal prisoners who tried to beat them to death with boards. We hated them, but we were not like them, and we were not like Mr. Cheney. He’d have made a lousy soldier. But we already knew that.”

JOHN CLAYTON SR.

We can only hope that Dick Cheney and his ilk will read the letter and take it to heart. As its stands, we do not have much hope for that, as honor does not appear to be particularly high on these people’s agenda…

Technorati Tags: detainees, guantanamo, hosting, justice, neocons

Just as the Obama administration announced the long-overdue new nationwide mileage and emission rules, the Republicans are starting  global warming-denial sessions in Congress.

Over the past several years scientists around the globe have rejected the main arguments of the global warming deniers – that the climate isn’t really clearly warming, that humans aren’t responsible for it, and that the whole thing doesn’t actually amount to a problem. Public opinion has also shifted and even Exxon Mobil talks now about greenhouse gases.

Those facts do not seem to convince the professional and semi-professional deniers at all and the Republican Party – as irrelevant as it has become of late – has latched onto that issue like its life depended on it.

“We’re cooling. We’re not warming,” said the Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele.

“The idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical,” said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, even though nobody is on record as saying that carbon dioxide causes cancer.

Such arguments could play a small but key role in the House’s deliberations this summer on climate-change legislation.

A 2007 U.N. report stated that it is “unequivocal,” that global warming is progressing and that a good part of it is most likely due to the greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity.

Public opinion polls have also been shifting: In 2005, a Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 56 percent of Americans were convinced that global warming was occurring.

Now, 75 percent say the government needs to do something about it.

We suppose that the GOP doesn’t give it a hoot about what the mainstream scientists think, or say, but doesn’t even care about what the public thinks – that in view of the record low popularity of the Republican Party. It almost seems like the quintessential image of a drowning man, who will clutch at anything, including a straight razor to stay above water.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele actually said on the radio not too long ago that any warming is “part of the cooling process.”

Republican Congressman John Shimkus suggested in a hearing that limiting emissions might starve the world’s plants, wondering:  ”If we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere?”

We rest our case…

By the way, as far as the nationwide mileage and emission rules announced today by president Obama, we find it a bit hard to understand why there is so much talk about billions of dollars needed for development of new cars, their increased cost and so forth. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI, about which I have written in an earlier post not only meets, but exceeds the proposed regulations. It has also been voted the 2009 Green Car of the Year by the Green Car Journal.

Technorati Tags: auto, boehner, deny, emissions, global warming, gop, Mileage, obama, republicans, standards, steele