Author's posts
Mar 02 2008
Pure Strategery: bush’s Plan to Save America
Back at the end of 2006, after the republicans lost control of Congress, bush was asked about his “legacy.” You may recall his response:
And you’re talking about legacy. Here, I – I know – look, everybody’s trying to write the history of this administration even before it’s over. I’m reading about George Washington still.
My attitude is if they’re still analyzing number one, 43 ought not to worry about it, and just do what he think is right, and make the tough choices necessary.
In a most peculiar way, he may be right to question a quick assessment of the years he “ruled.” To find out what I mean, hop in a barrel and follow me over the fa-a-a-a-alls…
Feb 12 2008
Can we talk about Iraq?
With all the hoopla going on in the MSM regarding the primaries and caucuses it seems like Iraq has fallen off the screen. Of course, conventional wisdom says that the “surge” has succeeded and we’re well on our way to “victory.” Clammyc has a fine diary up over at the Big Orange about Iraq.
Scott Ritter, a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, also has a fine article over on Alternet.org. His views on the situation in Iraq, currently, in the near future, and in the long run, are alarming to say the least. His assessment looks rather bleak indeed.
Hop in a barrel and follow me over the fa-a-a-a-a-alls.
Jan 28 2008
SOTU: How To Use A Teleprompter (NOT!)
For me, and I’m guessing for many DDs, it is a painful thing to watch and to listen to Bush “make a speech” on TV. I put that last bit in quotation marks because he never really makes a speech; rather, he reads the text scrolling by on a Teleprompter.
A Teleprompter is a device that displays the text which a speaker is delivering. It can be: 1) placed directly in front of the lens of a video camera (so that the speaker’s eyes appear to be directed at the viewer) or 2) it can be projected onto those little glass screens you see on either side of a speaker’s platform, such as we will see in the upcoming State of the Union address.
My main point in this diary is that, despite the unending pain of watching Bush speak, there is a counterbalance in the humor provided by his robotic use of the Teleprompter in option 2) situations. I’m sure this arises out of the extensive rehearsals he went through with Karen Hughes prior to previous SOTU deliveries.
Jan 27 2008
SOTU: How long will it take? (w/poll)
On Monday night bush will once again attempt to fool the American people in the annual State of the Union (SOTU) address. Of course he has succeeded at this many times in the past and the MSM didn’t even blink, didn’t question any of his premises, but simply took up their role as stenographers and duly reported, “The President said…”
My question is: How long will it take before he tells his first lie?
And I don’t mean anything along the lines of, “Hello,” he lied. I mean a flat out falsehood intentionally designed to hoodwink, bamboozle, dupe or otherwise deceive the people of America and/or the world. I’m talking about a major whopper here.
To find out my guess, hop in a barrel and follow me over the fa-a-a-a-a-alls.
Nov 01 2007
An Environmental Horror Story w/poll
They were so excited when they first heard the news. A small colony of yeast cells learned that they had been selected to make Champagne! While they weren’t certain of all the details, they knew it was a glamorous job, much more prestigious than pedestrian work like making bread. Plus, they knew that they would be dining on sugar and they sure did love their sweets.
The big day finally came and the yeast colony was dumped into a bottle of wine loaded with sugar. The bottle was corked and carefully placed in a rack where the yeast cells could get to work. Except that it didn’t really seem like work. No, it was more like a big party–plenty to eat and ample opportunities for reproduction.
Within the closed environment of the bottle, the colony went about its ordinary daily business for days, and then weeks and months. Gradually, over the course of time, their waste products, alcohol and carbon dioxide, built up in the bottle. None of the yeast cells paid much attention to that since lots of sugar remained to be consumed.
Nevertheless, there came a time when some of the yeast began to die off, mostly weaker and younger cells. The stronger cells partied on until the concentration of alcohol and carbon dioxide in their environment became too great and large numbers of yeast cells began to succumb to the toxic waste.
Eventually, the colony was wiped out, but they had given their all in creating a fine bottle of Champagne.
Now let there be no suspicion that any of the yeast cells did anything wrong in living and dying as they did. Each cell did what yeast does-they consumed, they excreted, and they reproduced. There were no large corporations formed by the cells to consume even more even faster, creating even more toxic waste. There were no political cells which could have asked the nonexistent scientific cells to do some sort of investigation and maybe recommend a course of action to reverse course. No faction of the colony rose up in protest against the tremendous buildup of waste.
No, the unreasoning yeast cells simply consumed, excreted, reproduced, and died.
Oct 03 2007
a poem inside a dream
This is a poem for buhdy and all of the other dreamers who have made docudharma a reality.
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