Whiny Ass Titty Baby

Time for Game 6.

Yeah, I got one of these

Hard Work

Pink sings about hard work.

Happy Resurrection Day

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

Air America Returns to Phoenix

I give up

This pretty much says it all.

Tbogg

This man is a genius.

There's now an easy answer to this old faux-clever question about "would you have left Saddam Hussein in power":

"Sometimes, when a drunk old man shoots you in the face and you have birdshot near your heart, you leave it in place - not because the birdshot is good, but because the operation to remove it is worse. Even with modern medicine, it may not be a cakewalk."

I think even Hugh Jidiot would get that point.
# posted by Matt : 1:04 AM

Liar, liar pants on fire

The man over Bush's left shoulder just happens to be one Jack Abramoff. The man shaking Bush's hand was a chief of an Indian tribe with a profitable casino. Chief Garza was a potential client of Abramoff's lobbying/theft operation. Bush very clearly denied knowing Abramoff. Abramoff arranged this meeting for Chief Garza. Why is this any different from Clinton lying about Monica? Please, help me.

I didn't have sexual relations with that (wo)man

I guess the difference is that Bush didn't stick his pecker in Abramoff's mouth, at least literally, but isn't the lie the same?

This is funny

An American Speaks

Just read this. All of it. Very carefully.

Doughy Pantload

Jonah Goldberg is an idiot. Glenn is right that Goldberg's "thinking" is emblematic of the rot that is American "conservatism". What too many Americans fail to realize is that the US Constitution guarantees them certain inalienable rights. The Bill of Rights guarantees you life, liberty and pursuit of happiness free of governmental intrusion. In other words, we are presumed to be free and the government has the burden of establishing cause to interfere in our lives - not the other way around. A US citizen is not required to obtain the government's permission to be free - you are born with it.

I love my country but fear my government.

Oh yeah, the Suns beat the Cavaliers. Go Suns!

Bush

Glenn Greenwald has a great post about a recent AP poll and other important stuff. He has really been on a tear with respect the whole NSA issue. I left this comment at his site but liked it and changed it to fit my site.

I agree with so much of what he has to say, and has said of late, about Bush and his belief that he has the right, in a time of war, to ignore the law. From talking with those around me, liberal and conservative, most understand that there may be times when the edge of the law is not clearly defined and they will tolerate, or at least give the President the benefit of the doubt, some "aggressive" exercise of the executive function - in a time of war. The issue, here, as I see it, is that most people (at least those that took the AP poll) recognize that we aren't really in a time of war. And, if we are, we certainly aren't acting like it. The mood in the country, the lack of a real enemy (how do you fight an idea), the lack of a Declaration of War and the President's own actions (can you say 365 days of vacation) do not comport with his statements that he only has these extra powers as the commander in chief because we are a country at war. That is not to say that the problem is just that the President has not done an adequate job of convincing us we are at war - as numerous people have pointed out the only thing this President and his Administration is good at is using fear and 9/11 to scare the shit out of us - it is that we know, intuitively, that we are not at war and that the President is only using 9/11, and the alleged War on Terror, to justify his attempt to secure political power for his own use. That is really all that is going on here. We know "The President's NSA Program" is not justified by real, legitimate, genuine, bona fide national security interests (if it was someone by now would have been able to adequately answer Atrios' question how revelation of the program has in any way hurt national security) and that is only really a political program for political purposes. Why? Because FISA already provides for warrantless searches in exigent circumstances. The fact that Bush wants to avoid judicial review by the rubber stamp FISA court is ominous. The fact that the pliant Congress hasn't done an effing thing to stop him even after he promises to continue to break the law and violate the Constitutional rights of US citizens is, well, just plain scary.

More Vacation Blogging

We left the day after Christmas and drove to Albuquerque, NM and stayed there for two days. The earlier post had pictures from the Sandia Peak Tram. There is usually a lot of snow on the mountain but this has been a dry winter. The other pictures are from the aquarium in town. It is first class. The photo that didn't turn out well was of a large tank full of luminescent jellyfish.

We drove to Sante Fe and stayed there overnight and went skiing at Ski Sante Fe. The next day we drove to Taos and went skiing for two days at Angel Fire. It was awesome althought there wasn't as much snow as we would have liked. It was great to get out of the office and breath some fresh mountain air. Denice and I ate at Lambert's in town - such a wonderful place and a great meal. We had a great dinner.

I will get back to regularly scheduled programming, i.e., Bush bashing, soon.

Vacation Blogging

Sad But True

"Our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artifically induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear."

Douglas MacArthur (1952).

h/t antiwar.com

Jesus Christ (Revisited)

Here's a link to the wikipedia entry for Jesus Christ. There's a wealth of information about the birth and life of Jesus Christ. Obviously, it is best to simply read the Bible to learn about Jesus. I recommend starting with one of the synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Wikipedia has the text of each gospel with some commentary here.

Blueletterbible.org has a more sophisticated site that allows the reader to compare different versions of the Bible. I am somewhat of a traditionalist and like to read the King James version although I also read the New International Version. Many new readers may want to read The Message because it is in plain language and is very easy to read.

Spend a little time getting to know Jesus better. I promise that you will feel better.

Jesus

I thought I would tell the story of the birth of Jesus in very simple terms.

Original Intent

GWB's admission that he authorized the NSA to spy on U.S.citizens is so wrong on so many levels. The essence of our constitutional, republican form of democratic government is that we are a nation of laws and not men. The idea that the President is inherently endowed with the power to ignore a federal statute was expressly prohibited by the Framers. Even Scalia in the Hamdi case acknowledged that the President's powers are no limitless.

FISA was enacted to allow the government to engage in surveillance of U.S. citizens who may be engaged in terrorist activities. FISA allows the government to perform wiretaps without a warrant for up to 72 hours. Therefore, the only real purpose behind GWB's use of the NSA to perform warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens is to avoid judicial review. This is all the more troubling when one considers, as has been so aptly pointed out by Josh Marshall at TPM, that the FISA court essentially acts as a rubber stamp for the government and that the FISA court rarely denies a request for a warrant. GWB doesn't want the FISA court/judge to know the target of his surveilance because, IMHO, he is unlawfully spying on citizens for political purposes. God only knows just how many innocent people who do not have ties to Al Qaeda have been subjected to these warrantless searches and other activities expressly forbidden by the Fourth Amendment.

We ought to be very concerned. And, if impeachment is appropriate for a President who lies about blowjobs, then it ought to be required for a President who admits that he has violated the constitutional rights of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of U.S. citizens.

I learned in freaking elementary school that Republicans and conservatives believe in limited government, in the notion that the President is not an all powerful Monarch. To read and hear so many self professed "conservatives" defend patently illegal and unconstitutional conduct by GWB is proof positive that the Repubublican party is power mad and anti-ideological. Theirs is an ideology of convenience. The ends justify the means.

Unlike Matthew Yglesias, I have no confidence whatsoever that GWB has not violated the rights of U.S. citizens. I do not trust this man with power to run a McDonalds let alone the most powerful military of the most powerful government on the planet. Can one seriously claim that the Republican leadership would not be in an effing full on tizzy if we had a Democrat President engaged in this activity during an undeclared war of choice?

We have all been had. There was a coup de etat in 11/00 and it was just confirmed on national television by our smirking chimpaholic. And, btw, why did GWB refuse to confirm the existence of the secret orders to Lehrer yesterday but go on national teevee during a Saturday radio address one day later and confirm it? Why did it risk national security to confirm it yesterday but be okay today? It's all campaign style pr with GWB.

I recall a couple of weeks ago that Kevin Drum had a post about "secret laws" and I thought, nah, can't be. Maybe Kevin was just paranoid. Now, GWB admits it all. Secret prisons, citizens held without due process, NSA engaging in warrantless searches. What's next, GWB decides he has the right in a time of war to suspend habeas corpus and declares martial law to protect us from a "potential" risk?

There has always been and always will be those who want to harm the United States. So what. Men of greater stature though have not felt it necessary to arrogate for themselves the omnipresent belief that they are annointed to destroy democracy to save us.

It may be time for a revolution. I suppose we should all assume we are being watched. I would also assume that all of the lefty blogosphere is being monitored for "subversive" elements. Act accordingly.

Manos a Traves a la Frontera

This is Francisco Robles. He teaches in a high school near his home in Jures, Mexico. Francisco stayed with us last week as part of an exchange program called Hands Across the Border. The program allows children from United States and Mexico to live with a family from another culture. Francisco was here to check out the homes the Mexico kids will stay in and to meet the parents in the program. Francisco spoke very little english and my spanish is not too good. But, somehow, we finally learned to talk with one another and determined we have much in common.

Francisco has a wife and two eight month old twins. He is the youngest of, I think, eight children who are spread around Sonora, Mexico and Baja. On Friday night we drank Coronas, ate and talked about kids and family. We really had a good time. I want to drive and visit him and his family this summer.

Estamos Hermanos y Amigos!