The true reasons for the Iraq invasion?

Over the weekend I saw the documentary The God Who Wasn't There, not a bad movie, not a great one. It started out really well, but was too short and the ending seemed more cathardic for the filmmaker then relevant to the movie.

But it did bring up some interesting things, mainly through the interviews of christians. On in particular:

"101 Last Day Prophecies, just some of the things that are supposed to happen:

Literal Babylon, formerly called "Babel", would reemerge in the land of Shinar, The land of Shinar is known as modern day iraq, and Saddamn Hussien spent over 20 years rebuilding literal babylon. As a matter of fact he had Madonna come in and Christen it."

SCOTT BUTCHER, creator RaptureLetters.com

This prompted me to look up 101 Last Day Prophecies to see for myself. I just can't get around the coincidence of the "Land of Shinar" reference in the rapture, or the coincidence of key members of the bush administration being affiliated with the The Project for the New American Century, a group who had advocated rebuilding the middle east starting with Iraq.

So Iraq is mentioned in the rapture, and the architects for the war in Iraq belong to an organization that advocated just such an action...

Makes me think.

Resisting the urge to say "I told you so"

The loyalty to bush is amazing, it crosses from politics and into the realm of friendship. People generally LIKE george bush, but is that enough for him to be president?

As more and more evidence as to how incompetent the bush administration comes out, the more people will question their feelings about bush. Feelings are more dangerous then rational thoughts, because feelings are more personal and not governed by logic. I enjoy Enrique Iglesias' "Escape", for not explicable reason, I just think its catchy. In the same way I like "Escape" people like bush, and when pressed for a reason why they like him, they can't give you any real concrete ones. Well they can't give you concrete answers as to why they think bush would be a good president, mostly their answers are for why bush would be a good drinking buddy or church goer.

So as the veil of the emperors new clothes is revealed, the urge to say "I told you so" becomes more and more prominent. This, however, will do more harm then good.

Human beings do not like to be wrong, or admit to being wrong. Most people have the point of view that you are the asshole. You get cut off in traffic, you honk your horn, you're the asshole, not the person who didn't signal, or check to see if the way was clear.

So factor in that support of bush is the equivalent of a woman, on her cell phone, putting on makeup, cutting you off in traffic without signaling. Who's the asshole?

There is a culture war in this country, between the "elitists" and the "religious nuts", part of bush's election was a direct slap in the face from one side of the country who feels that the other side of the country looks down on them. This is evident by the use of the phrase "we won, get over it", as if voting for president of the united states is like voting for the greek guy on American Idol.

When dealing with this mentality it is so easy for the truth to backfire in your face. Unfortunately at this critical juncture in time, we neither have the time or the patience to deal with the learning curve, which just makes the situation worse.

Its a catch 22, the situation is not really open to nuance, the fine balance between reaffirming people's new found clarity all the while resisting the urge to say "I told you so", but its something that needs to happen.

Dropping the N bomb.

Being a liberal white male, the "n" word makes me feel uncomfortable. It isn't just the meaning of the word, the word itself is just ugly to see and ugly to say. Unfortunately, the "n" word is making a big comeback thanks to Dave Chappelle and the Boondocks.

Dave Chappelle helped to start the ball rolling, his highly popular show is highly quotable, "n" word and all. Dave lamented that this was wearing on him as he confessed to Oprah that during a shoot, one white worker laughed inappropriately to a race inspired joke.

The Boondocks is worse, going so far as to have a fantasy episode where Martin Luther King Jr, after awaking from a comma (instead of having died as a result of sniper's bullet), is disgusted at how his "dream" has been perverted.

This is America, and I honestly believe in freedom of speech, but when I find dropping the n-bomb to be a casual affair, maybe its time to think about the responsibility of free speech. I am in no way suggesting that these shows be censored, just that the writers may want to rethink what they are doing. Granted rap music has been doing this for years, and their over use of the n-word is one of the reasons I don't enjoy rap, however the Chappelle show and the Boondocks are some of the smartest and funniest television on tv in recent years, but is the price of this work worth the resurgence of one of the most repugnant words in the American language?

"Nigga please"

Gonzales described the emergency FISA process

LEAHY: Of course, I'm sorry, Mr. Attorney General, I forgot you can't answer any questions that might be relevant to this. - Senate Judiciary Committee hearings

'Nuff said

A comment on admitting you made a mistake

In his article When does the "self-correcting" blogosphere start to self-correct? Glenn Greenwald talks about a refusal to self-correct oneself on the conservative side, he says:

Before the Capitol Police acknowledged yesterday that there was no legal basis for removing, let alone arresting, Cindy Sheehan -- to the contrary, they admitted that they "screwed up" because "Sheehan didn't violate any rules or laws" -- numerous Bush followers in the blogosphere were celebrating Sheehan's detention on the ground that she broke the law. Many of them were calling for all sorts of punishments to be imposed on Rep. Lynn Woolsey, who invited Sheehan to the speech and therefore aided and abetted her "illegal" behavior.

Yesterday I participated in a discussion of the Sheehan incident in a discussion group, the opinions ran right down the party line, with no spill over. The conservatives felt Sheehan had acted illegally, the liberals felt that her arrest was illegal.

Now that the police are admitting to a mistake, the conservatives are quiet... why? Nobody likes to admit they are wrong.

It's human nature, we don't like to admit that we made a mistake, that we were wrong, pride just won't us do it. Case in point, any time bush is wrong, he refuses to accept responsibility for it. What kind of message does this send to our kids?

Martha Stewart, broke the law and went to jail, she returns with absolutely no remorse, and publicly complains about having to wear and ankle device. I haven't seen one point where she says "Guess I shouldn't have broken the law".

What does this say to the future generations when people like bush and stewart refuse to accept responsibility for their actions? How do I justify to my child that they must fess up to having broken the lamp when the president of the united states refuses to. bush once confessed he was worried that kids may try pot because he had, well what about lying, and refusing to accept responsibility for ones actions?

What's worse, it seems since bush took office that this kind of behavior is becoming more and more prevalent.

So its no surprise that conservative blogs refuse to admit they made a mistake, or worse, that they are so quick to allow a woman to go to jail simply because they don't like her stance on the war, when the president himself refuses to admit he made a mistake or tell the truth in congress.

Olbermann taking the mickey out of bill o'reilly

Hilarious doesn't begin to describe Olbermann's attack on bill o'reilly... it was a gut wrenching affair.

Charges against Sheehan dropped

As expected Charges against Sheehan dropped

It has been argued that Sheehan resisted arrest and thus the reason for her arrest, granted given the following statement:

“Neither guest should have been confronted about the expressive T-shirts,” Gainer’s statement said.

Is resisting an illegal action grounds for arrest? If you know the cop in question is incorrect in their judgement and you "don't respond" to their orders, can you be arrested? If so, its once step closer to the iron curtain.

Sheehan claims that she had little chance to "not respond" and was whisked away seconds after removing her coat. Also the fact that a Representatives' wife was ejected, not arrested, caused some concern. Beverly Young was asked to leave for wearing a pro-war t-shirt, Cindy Sheehan was arrested for wearing and anti-war one.

Regardless of the next day legalities, the actions did what they were meant to do, and no show any sign of dissent in front of the president.

Boycott UPS! The continuing story...

As my crusade against UPS continues, I recently chatted with some friends about their experiences, to say that we had similar experiences is and understatement... let me explain.

One friend told me that UPS had attempted delivery, despite being home the entire day, not uncommon, they were then told they could pick the package up at the delivery center. Once they got there they were told it was still on the truck, so they drove up and down the streets of Brooklyn till they could find the truck (probably at a dough nut shop) and demanded their package.

Another friend told me how he too stayed home for a delivery, got a "Delivery Attempted" notice and proceeded to call the dispatcher, after informing the dispatcher about the invention of the radio and and cell phones he received his package.

I also learned that UPS is union, Teamsters, suddenly it all makes sense. I've never had this problem with FedEx or Airborne Express, only UPS.

For the record, I am in favor of the theory of unions, I believe that the union used to be a proud and noble endeavor, now, however, it has become a symptom of the corruption it fought so hard against.

On a side note, I did a google search for Boycott UPS! I was pleasantly surprised to see my site appear on the first page, but was disturbed that I share that honor with a group who's intention of boycotting UPS is based on their refusal to ship firearms.

What a dilemma, I hate UPS for their inability to deliver a package on time, but admire them for taking a stance against firearms...

Boycott UPS!!!

Civil liberties defended in the speech, just not in the building.

Cindy Sheehan arrested in House gallery for wearing a T-shirt of all things.

God bless America, the constitution, and apple pie, just don't speak ill of it.

Disgusting, utterly disgusting.

If this were a drinking game, I'd be drunk already...

9:20 pm Twenty minutes in to his State of the Union Address and already people around the country are drunk from having done a shot everytime bush used his key words: terror (pronounced terrah), evil, freedom, democracy, weapons of mass destruction.

I am not sure why I am watching this, its nothing new. Same ole same ole, he speaks a lot but says nothing.

The next three years are going to be hard.

9:26 pm Well I feel dirty now. bush once again took the name and words of a man killed in the war in iraq for political reasons. Does this man have any shame?

9:29 pm Hamas must recognize Israel and disarm... so far the agenda is Terror, clap, Terror, clap, oh now its Iran... how about healthcare? Jobs? The price of gas?

9:32 pm ok now its time for the fantasy part of the speech, this is where going to Mars and alternative fuel sources are mentioned and quickly forgotten.

9:35 pm bush just defended his use of illegal wire tapping... the way he defends it reminds me of a thief explaining how the loot got in his pockets.

9:37 pm time to chug, bush just boasted as to how well the economy is doing, despite higher energy costs.

9:38 pm uh... bush just stated that immigrants (illegal) are good for the economy...

9:39 pm bush pats himself on the back for how great his tax relief has been to the economy. US national debt at the moment: $8,189,891,920,028.07

9:41 pm Uh... doesn't the line item veto already exist?

9:42 pm TIME TO CHUG!!! social security reform, made to sound worse then it actually is *HA Democrats grew a sack and started cheering when bush said that congress didn't listen to him. Impressive, boy he looks pissed.

9:45 pm border protection? Sure, why not, its only 4 years too late.

9:46 pm DID HE JUST SAY AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE!?!? Uh... Dems aren't clapping.

9:48 pm Alternative energy sources, ah... nuclear energy bush has a hard on for a nuclear power plant, he must think he's Monty Burns. Did he just say ethenol?!?

9:50 pm ok now he's just gone crazy... American Competiviness Initiative!?! Nano-technology, super computing, someone's been reading the dictionary.

9:52 pm DRINK-no child left behind.

9:54 pm DRINK-abortion... get in now while you can, once Scalito gets sworn in we can kiss it good bye. ABSTINENCE-DRINK!

9:55 pm ha! I find it hilarious that bush would talk about morality since he is completely devoid of any. Republicans like to stand a lot, maybe they should find more comfortable chairs. bush just talked about "legislate from te bench" ironic that he would say such a thing, since the elimination of roe v wade could be interpreted as such.

Did Sandra Day O'Connor skip out on tonight's events?

9:57 pm human/animal hybrids?!? what?!?

9:58 pm ethics in Washington... there are ethics in washington?

10:00 pm ok, not even sure what that meant but it sounded nice... The Ryan White Act?!? Honestly... its like going to Mars.

10:03 pm Turn back or finish well... what the hell does that mean? Isn't this over yet?

Done! Thank god, I can take a shower now.