An Infection Breeds in America

(this was previously posted as a diary on the Daily Kos)

In the past three weeks, we’ve been hammered by pundits and prophets, denizens of marbled hallways and plush leather chairs. We’ve seen both courage and cowardice by those we’ve sent to represent us in the halls of power. At any other time, the partisan games of one-upmanship would be tolerable but there comes a time when such games are more of a hindrance than help

We, the people, ask little of our leaders. We expect them to conform to certain standards and ethics but give them lots of deference. We can tolerate a lot, overlook many transgressions and foibles but we always expect the power to come on when we want it, the potholes to be fixed eventually, and the pizza to be delivered on time.

Those expectations are gone. This economic situation is dire, perhaps worse than any we have known. We speak of the Great Depression, but it is nearly a century distant. But that was then, this is now. America was very different then than it is today. America has a problem. It is infected.

Today, we have the advantage of internet technology to flash news instantaneously from Congress to Wall Street to the kitchen. But that only delivers the news; in many cases this technology set the stage for bigger schemes, more ingenious larceny, or massive global obfuscation. Like before, abject greed and corporate irresponsibility has the lion’s share of blame for this recession. And within our halls of power, there is an ally to those moneyed interests. The Republican Party, the supposed party of Lincoln, is closely tied to the same corporate mountebanks that brought this country so close to the edge of the precipice. To say they are allied is to underestimate their relationship for it is more akin to a marriage than a business arrangement.

The modern Republican Party cannot see past its corporate masters. They don’t see the people of Main Street, the folks who try to work every day to just get by. Those normal people are invisible to the GOP. The powerbrokers at the GOP can only see those who can give a financial boost to the Party, the lowest rung on the ladder of success in their view are the business owners, not the workers.

To be sure, the modern Republican Party has nothing but distain and hatred for all things labor. They despise any rule or legislation that favors the working person. In their world, we would all be working for the bare minimum at the maximum number of hours including our children and our elderly. This dream of theirs harkens back to a time long ago when 16-hour shifts at 2 dollars a day were considered good wages.

This is not bipartisanship. This is setting the foundations for a coup d'état. The GOP is so angry at the outcome of the November elections that they will sacrifice the American economy to occupy the halls of power once again. They were able to bamboozle the voters in 2000 and 2004. They got an imbecile elected president and took control of both the Senate and the House. But they couldn’t hold on to that power. The most significant reason that cut them loose from the dock and sent them adrift was their unabashed greed. Their greed cost Tom Delay his seat in the House. Their greed sent Duke Cunningham and Jeff Skilling to jail. Their greed folded the economy like a bad suit. Their greed sent Barack Obama to the White House.

America is better than greed. We’ve conquered fear and hatred many times throughout our history. We’ve been down this road before and have to get back on track if we wish to see sunlight at the end of this dark tunnel. To do this we have to remove the cause of our blight. Like a gangrenous limb, we have to remove it to save the whole. The GOP is gangrenous. They no longer serve any useful purpose; in fact, they are infecting the body American by their presence. We, as a people, have to make a stark and unpleasant choice: to allow the Republicans to remain and suffer the pain and anguish of an economic death or remove the offending organ and save the country for our descendants?

The choice is obvious, but the remedy is not. President Obama’s words of bipartisanship only serve to delay the inevitable. There is no rehabilitation of the GOP. A once proud Party is now a mere shell of itself, beholden to the corporate icons and moneyed interests that loom large over this economic collapse. The Republicans are not unlike the Gollum of Tolkien’s tale, so obsessed with the One Ring that it lost all humanity with nothing left but anger and deceit.

President Obama must take the case to the American people. He should hold up the GOP to the scorn of those who have been harmed the most by this recession. Those who are working to reverse this downturn should give this bad economy a face, a Republican face. Make those responsible for this disaster wear the Scarlet Letter. Frame the discussion, take to the airwaves and publications with the message of hope for the recovery and blame for the greed and avarice of the last eight years.

Make them pay for what they did to this country. Perhaps from the bones of a shamed and desolate GOP, there will come a more responsible and truly conservative party. To paraphrase an old saying: to save the party, we must destroy it.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Go it alone

There come a time when all roads lead out of town. When all talk is done and all things have been said. There comes a time when there is no safe refuge, no safe harbor to wait out the coming storm.

That time is now.

We tried it their way and lost. Lost big. They want to keep playing the same number on the same wheel but we have to cut our losses and move on. The Republicans, despite losing two elections and all of their base, still cling to the same old moves, the same disastrous policies that caused this catastrophe. They aren't stupid, they're delusional. They can't accept the fact that the country holds them responsible for this mess, that the people aren't blaming Bill Clinton like they want. They try and try to hold tight to that flimsy toilet paper ideology even as it gets pissed on by every economist of merit in the country.

President Obama made some progressives angry for reaching out to the GOP to craft a bill that's both effective and bipartisan. In the House, he gave up a lot and got handed back his lunch. No Republican voted for the bill. In the Senate, he's gone so far into the whole 'bipartisan' myth that he's heading into ineffective. What's more important, any bill or the right bill?

In return for offering his hand in cooperation, the Republicans filled it full of shit. They are so consumed by the election of Barack Obama, an African-American who has the real chance of becoming one of the greatest presidents in history, that they will allow the American economy and the people they represent swirl down the drain like a cold turd.

How's that for the Party of Patriots? They wave the flag then use it to blow their nose.

Obama has to do the unthinkable. He has to tell the American people that the Republican Party is not helping him. He has to put that bully pulpit to good use and make the GOP pay for its partisanship. The Dems need to grow a spine (as if that has any chance of happening) and hold their own membership together and forget the Repugs. Keep the Blue Dogs in line and shore up support with the progressives. If any Repugs get an earful back home, let them into the room but with a commitment to vote yes when all is said and done.

Play hard ball and you'll win. The rules have changed and the stakes are high. The country's got your back. This is no time to be Mr. Nice Guy.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Got your back, Spocko!

The Vulcan is at it again!

Over at Spocko's Brain, the intrepid Vulcan is taking on the Crap Demon again. A couple of years ago, he took on the piss and vile that is the morning show on San Francisco's KSFO.

Officer Vic making a point.

The hosts of that waste of radio waves are especially cruel and vile right wing trash. They tried and almost succeeded in taking Spocko off the 'Net. His ISP at the time was cowed into suspending his site by Disney, which owned KSFO. In a clear violation of the Fair Use provision of the Copyright laws.

The EFF got his back then, we should be there for him now.

Update: His email to Molly Peck, National Advertising Manager, Chevrolet may have been screened so look up Ms. Peck in Google and promote it. That way she'll see it when she googles her name. Try every avenue you can think of to bring this to light.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Sunday Morning Cuppa Joe

Just got up and shit, getting old sucks. Aches and pains, bad foots and back, throat feels like I half swallowed a dozen oysters. Crap!

Sunday used to be fun. Back in the day, my grandpa would take my next younger brother, Neil and I to a little cafe on Main St. for breakfast. He alternated weekends with my sisters. We would order whatever we wanted as long as we ate it. I would get french toast, french fries and a vanilla shake, my brother would order french fries and a bowl of chili with a chocolate shake. These weren't the wimpy, fake milk bullshit shakes you get at McDonald's but the home blended kind made from scoops of ice fucking CREAM. They would pour it into those special glasses with whipped cream and a cherry and give you the extra still in the metal mixing cup.

Damn, ain't had one of those in years. Probably give me gas.

As we scarfed our meal, Grandpa would give us a quarter for the jukebox. Back in 1969, it was good for three songs. The deal was that we would have to play 'G8' and pick two others we wanted. I have a disagreement with my brother as what song that was. I know it was by Engelbert Humperdinck but the song is in dispute. I think is was either "Am I That Easy to Forget" or "Release Me". Neil says it may have been Tom Jones and the song was "Delilah". Although that song's more popular, I know that my memory is correct.

What were we talking about? Oh Yeah!

Grandpa passed away in 1971. Good man who loved his grandkids, all 8 of them. You see, Grandpa liked to drink a few beers with his buddies on Saturday night. Sometimes quite a few. Dad would get a call from the bar to come and take him home. On Sunday morning, he would show up, take either the boys or the girls in tow and head out to the Diner. I remember Mom always in a piss-poor mood when we left.

Years later, long after he had died, she told us Grandpa was hung over and needed something to eat, so he just took us with him. But I don't think it was just convenience that brought us along. Mom wasn't there as we ate. Grandpa would talk to us, ask us questions, brag to the waitress about what we were doing. We have a photo from 1968 that shows Grandpa napping on the couch with my sister curled up next to him fast asleep. She still remembers that he wore a cologne that was all his, that put her at ease. Mom says he was just passed out and it was probably the beer coming out of his pores, covered up in Old Spice.

She's mellowed in her opinion of Grandpa over the years. She's come to respect the way we 'kids' think of him and what he meant to us. She saw him through the eyes of an adult, a person who could see the faults and flaws without the innocence of youth. The loving eyes of a child can over look the dark realities of adulthood. That isn't necessarily a good thing. But in the context of this situation, it salvages a memory of a man who worked hard for a lot of years with little to show for it, other than a loving family. He didn't jump into the bottle because of despair but of loneliness. He needed his buddies at the bar for companionship. Who are we to judge that?

My dad, who moonlighted as barkeep at that tavern for extra money, said that every bar stool tenant there knew about us kids. All the 'Norms' and 'Cliffs' knew who we were, what baseball team we played on, who got the awards in school; everything about us. All that came from my Grandpa. When I was 10, he gave me a bike for my birthday. He said that he just happened to put a dollar on the punchboard game and he won the bike. He told me: "Didn't know what to do with the damn thing so I guess you can have it." A few years ago, Mom told me that he spent all night at that game until he won the bike.

If we don't allow for mistakes, allow for some human failing, we may end up slighting the memories of those who were important to us. When we talk about Grandpa now, Mom always says; "He really loved you kids." forgetting the way she felt about him back then. Selective memory can be a good thing, I guess.

We tend to be too judgmental, too strict in our personal dogma. If we don't allow some fresh air into the way we think, our standards will grow cold and rigid, like a petrified tree. We didn't have that as kids but some of us have it as grown-ups. I fear that I've gotten that way in my adultery too.

So today, I'm going to a little diner near my apartment and order french fries, french toast and a vanilla milkshake.

Happy Sunday, Grandpa.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Legacy, My Ass

We have a lot on our plate right now. The Economic Stimulus package is getting its day in the spotlight because we have to get it in place right NOW. But there will come a time in the next few weeks when a nagging question will need to be answered.

What will happen to the criminals that just left office? We know they're criminals because they've admitted their crimes on network TV. I believe they are actually proud of their larceny and torture. Just watch to what Darth Cheney had to say on it.

Well, I have something to say too. But I'm going to let a friend of mine tell it. Sadly, he's no longer with us. But Jim, if you're watching from above, this one's for you.
(video compiled by jizman71)



Jim Hinde, Seattle Busker extraordinaire.

Rest In Peace, good sir.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

A Tonic

In November, we won a battle. It had been a long time since we had one of those. But the war rages on. We have the upper hand for now, but the fight isn't over.

Our enemies were not defeated. They only suffered a set back. They will do as we did in 2000 and 2004, step back and regroup. But we can look back at their successes in 2000 and 2004 and see how they came to lose what seemed for a long time, an insurmountable lead.

The country is in a tailspin and we need someone who can pull us out of it in a big freaking hurry. We need a political equivalent of Captain Sullenberger to take the stick and bring us in safely.

We the people, on the other hand, need to take care of our own houses. We can't sit in the La-Z-Boy at home crying over our lost wages, tuning into Lost or Desperate Housewives, while our lives swirl down the shitter. We have to do our part to salvage the legacy our parents and grandparents left for us.

Here are a few of the things we can do:

1. Turn off the TV - Jesus Fucking Christ, this idiot box will be the death of us all. It is only a single form of entertainment, not a replacement for using your brain. If you 're hooked and still need that boob tube fix, here's what you do. Pick your five favorite shows and watch them, TIVO them or whatever. Pick a good time, like 7:30 on Mondays, Wednesday, and Thursday. Watch no more than an hour at a time. Only an hour, two if it's a movie. Make two of your five shows educational (No, Fox News does not qualify) Something from Discovery or the History Channel. If you can't find 5 shows, make it 3 or 2 but not more than five. Be strong, there are other things to do.

2. Do Something Creative - Hobbies, home projects, gardening, anything that involves working with your brain and your hands. For example, I do leather work and I like to garden. When the season is upon us, I will start a small container box garden on the deck of my apartment. The challenge will be to select the right plants for the conditions. Just cruise through my links and you'll find a few folks who'll be more than willing to give you a head start. Here, here, and here for starters. Ask and you will receive. As for leather work, I have to fix the sewing machine so that one is on hiatus. Hand sewing leather bags is hard on the digits. Let me know in the comments what hobbies or activities interest you with links.

3. Get Serious - No shit here. This isn't tin hat conspiracy theory bullshit. Plan for the worst. My friend, Monkeyfister, has lots of ideas and suggestions for becoming self sufficient. The best advise is to get involved in activities that will sustain you and your family through rough weather if it comes right down to it. Stockpile non-perishable food, medicine, drinkable water, simple appliances that do not need external power. If you are qualified and responsible, you may want a firearm. Protecting your family is the idea here if the bottom falls out of the country's political structure. This also works as a hedge against natural disasters. Growing your own food will be a godsend in this case.

4. Get Active - Don't sit on your fucking hands! Let your worthless leaders know how you feel. Call them on the phone. Write them a letter. If you send an email, back it up with a snail mail. Get your neighbors involved too. Join a Meet-up in your area. Connect with people in your city that feel as passionate about this shit as you do. Hold our congress critters' feet to the fire on the Stimulus Bill and any add-ons that come later. The crap that went on the last eight years would not have happened if people had paid attention. Don't rely on the traditional media for your news. Get it from other sources. Compare the stories. Search the Web. Be informed.


There are other things to do. If I missed an important one, let me know and I'll add it to the list. The reality of it is simply that We, the People, need to get off our lazy asses and start being Americans again. My ancestors didn't stop working in the woods to watch Oprah, they didn't whine and snivel about hangnails and boo-boos so they could stay home from work. Shit, most of our ancestors didn't even have weekends. They certainly didn't have vacations. They worked until they died so that their kids could go to school and live a life that was better than theirs. Are we made of the same stuff? Can we be as strong and dedicated as our great grandparents were?

The Boomers are an 'entitlement' generation. They feel that success is their by reason of entitlement. They need not work for it, it must be given up by the previous generation. The work ethic suffered a great injustice. Luckily, it wasn't killed outright. There are those who never really got out of the hole financially. They still worked the farms, in the factories or in the woods hard as before. They never got the good government grants or the great retirement plans. They had to work just as hard as their fore bearers did. Many of us come from those folks.

So there it is. Deal with it. Right now, the Republican Party is doing everything in its power to derail the Stimulus Package for no other reason than it gives Obama a win. They'll trash the country just to keep Obama from being proven right. That borders on treason. And not to be undone, our intrepid Media is following the Repubs every word like a bunch of lovesick teenagers.

Don't get me started on that...

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Wake Up!

Busted Knuckles, over at Ornery Bastard, has a post linking to our buddy, Monkeyfister. He has a post that everyone should read, learn, and heed.

We face a catastrophe of biblical proportions in the next few months. Obama is our best bet in the White House but even he isn't the whole answer. We, as a people, need to take responsibility for our lives.

For eight long, fucked up years, the American People have been fed shit and been told it's apple pie. And we believed it. We kept eating Bush and Cheney's crap and calling it good. Well, no more!

The time to be sheep has passed. The time to be Americans again is now. My ancestors came here with nothing - abso-fucking-lutely nothing. They helped build a country that was second to none. Somewhere, down in our genes, we have the same stuff. Are we brave enough to reach down a pull that shit out? We're in this shit together, folks. You, me, the guy next door, the bum under the freeway bridge - fucking all of us.

The time is here. But now, we sit all warm and fuzzy in our homes, sucking our thumbs waiting for our Powerball numbers to hit.

Fuck that!

Monkeyfister has the goods on what we can do to prepare for the shitstorm that's coming. He's no tin-hat freak, but a good man with a noble purpose. His suggestions should be taken to heart. Scroll down his blog and look at some of his previous posts. Talk about bloggy goodness, this shit'll save your fucking life.

READ AND HEED!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

A little touch-up and remodeling

I haven't been satisfied with the way this blog looks for a while. I'm a dinosaur when it comes to HTML so I have to be content to use Blogger's lame templates. I have found a few cool ones elsewhere on the Toobes but they need a bit of modifying before I can upload them here.

So, you may see a few changes here and there. Feel free to let me know how it looks or offer a suggestion or two. I'm all ears. Well, under this old gray mane that is!

My technorati number is 9! Wow, it was only 0 just a week ago! You guys are great!

Update: Well, that was an exercise in futility. Every template I used was bunk. They looked great but had more bugs than a stray dog's ass. We'll keep trying, so enjoy the blandness of the sight for a few more days. I'll get it right yet.

So Mote It Be,
David A,

I gots a Birthday!

In all the commotion of the last couple of weeks, with the Inauguration, skewering the VRWC, and B.A.D., I neglected to notice a rather auspicious occasion.

On Jan. 22, this blog turned five years old.

OK, it hasn't made much of a splash in that time but its not for want of trying. Posting has been sporadic and a bit austere but I have made some gains.

Let's look at the first few entries of 'Shamanaqua' circa Jan/Feb 2004...

The first post: Jan. 22, 2004, shortly after Bush's State of the Union speech.
State of the Onion
To Grow Without, We Must First Grow From Within
Quagmire? It's A Damned Vortex!

My, how time flies.

¡Cinco más años!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Gekkos and Greed

Greed: -noun "excessive or rapacious desire, esp. for wealth or possessions."

Gekko: - ie: Gordon Gekko, character in the movie "Wall Street" who said:

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good"

On Wall Street today, we are seeing fiction become fact. Not just unrestrained greed, we've always had that. But what we have is unrestrained greed as the ship is sinking.

Consider this metaphor:

A rich man is on the deck of the Titanic, ready to jump into the water and swim to a waiting lifeboat. A crew member hands him a life vest instead of a young woman with a child. Before he jumps into the sea, he fills the life vest with gold coins and jewels he got from the ship's safe. He jumps overboard with a suitcase and pockets filled as well.

The CEO's of financial institutions are like our foolish man overboard. They see disaster ahead and before all else, with concern for no one but themselves, they fill their suitcases and pockets with gold and jump. But this time, rather than sink to the bottom of the Atlantic, these Gekkos land IN the lifeboat. Our government gave them the gold and made sure that before anyone else, before any of the regular passengers could be saved, these Icons of Corporate Rape are assured a place of safety and security.

Believe it or not, we've seen this shit before. History is a bitch. If you refuse to learn from it, it will sneak up behind you and kick your ass. Think back to the heady days of the late 1800"s. We had just gotten over the Civil War and were getting our industries started. Immigrants from all parts of the globe were streaming into the US to work for a pittance but much more of a pittance than they were making back home. The great industrial giants raked in the ducats and became the modern American Rich. Names like Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Morgan gave rise to the myth of the common man making good, when in truth they were just robber barons. They controlled the government and made policy. This lasted into the early part of the 20th Century until the shit hit the fan.

A lot of historians can point to different watershed events, publication of the book "The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the massacre of Wobblies (IWW workers) at different places across the country. But, for me, it all spells out quite clearly that the common folk got schooled. They had been kept in the dark for more than 50 years by the Corporate Giants and finally had enough. Add to that a new World War, a flu epidemic and a financial collapse. Starving people have a way of causing a ruckus.

Well, now we have an economic collapse not seen since the days of Herbert Hoover, perhaps earlier. After eight years of servicing by the Bush administration, our Gekkos have convinced Congress to give them a bailout and have raked in hundreds of billions in ill gotten booty. This unadulterated orgy of consumption could only last so long. Warnings and pre-shocks of impending disaster were seen as early as 2001 when Enron and Global Crossing started to fail. Soon, we started seeing corporate giant after corporate giant fall or be consumed by another up and down Wall Street. It was a financial mass extinction as the old Wall Street was being replaced by new and more devious creatures. However, like the little mammals and lizards who watched the Great Chicxulub (Yucatan) Impact of 65 million years ago, we are seeing a pending horror approaching us quickly and can do little to stop it.

But first things first, we may have to let the big dinosaurs die off to rebuild this world the way we need. They are doomed, the great corporate giants are history. We watch and listen but all we hear is how much they earn or how much they've taken from our pockets. This isn't chump change, this is the only resource we have to rebuild and clean up the mess these bastards left for us. I can't stand by and allow them to rape and pillage the country as we sink into the sea.

Let the Gekkos drown, save the real people. Otherwise, there will be no one left to bring the country back from the Deep.

Because as I said earlier, starving people have a way of causing a ruckus.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

I've Got a B.A.D. Feeling About This!

Ye Olde Rogue's Gallery of Lesser Blogs and Other Enemies of the Crown
Posted Here For All To See....

These Brigands and Hooligans Are Hereby Deemed Enemies of the Crown Of Blogtopia.
Loiter amongst them at your peril!

David Aquarius' List of Nefarious Blogs

Peachy Green: These young ladies are quite good at letting me know how much of a putz I am for not applying some common green sense to the junk I do every freaking day. Go there, be schooled.

Copper Springs Leather Craft: I dabble in crafting leather bags and purses for friends and fiends. Since moving into a smallish apt. I haven't had the space (nor the will) to get back into the mix. So, I go here to see what creations I can steal from his repertoire. I'm afraid I can't quite match his goods but he has a lot of insight into crafting that I enjoy.

Mekosan and Co.: OK, this is a great blog, concise and fun, written by a short-hair Mexican Chihuahua named Meko. Hey, he's nine times smarter than Limbaugh and lots more lovable than Glenn Beck! I confess, this blog is from a great friend of mine and former roommate. Meko was a rescue pup that we got just shortly before we lost the lease on our house. Due to economic reasons, we parted ways. Who knows, I may post of few pics of Meko on my blog.

A Gardener In Progress: I've always been at ease when my hands were full of dirt and manure. OK, that didn't come out right...Let me rephrase that... I've always loved turning soil, seed and sunshine into real good munchies. My aforementioned friend and former roomie is a horticulturalist and specializes in container gardens. She's amazing! She can create with flowers and plants what Picasso did with paint. Anyway, I travel through Blogtopia (gotta love da Skippy!) looking for bloggy goods to see what I can do now that I'm holed up in a cardboard box apt. I came across Catherine's blog a few days ago and love what I see. It helps that she's in my back yard too. I can see Mt. Rainier from my deck, if I strain over the railing. Check out her blog if you love to see new life springing forth from the good green Mother Earth!

Rawmodel.com: I came across Anthony's blog a few weeks ago as I was trolling around Google. Good looking gent and has a damn good sense of global citizenship. Go there and read about his adventures in Bali and his work in Permaculture. Good stuff, Maynard!

Lots more bloggy goodness to be had if one just takes the time to adventure into the unseen waters of Blogtopia. I've come across angry right wing environmentalists (sorry, can't bring myself to link there), self-absorbed yuppie spawn obsessed with all things Twitter, naked old folks who can't seem to understand what all the fuss about Rush Limbaugh is (Ewww, just ewww, that one was totally by accident!)

In other words, you never know where the next click will take you. Go there, be shocked, but be schooled. After all, it's all about humanity. And you know how freaking nuts we all are!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Update: I used Lucida Blackletter font for the title, hope you see it that way.

Update deux: Skippy and Jon Swift have kindly given this page a nod. I thank you!

Blogroll Amnesty Day

B.A.D. to da B.O.N.E. (Blogs Of Notable Excellence)

What is B.A.D.?

Oh, gentle traveller, 'tis a righteous tale of woe and repression, of demons and Orcs, and of salvation and retribution. Come hither, sit and take a repast of bread and brew and I shall weave this tale for you.

Yes, it was long ago in the Time before the Great Emancipator, when King George the Simple and his grand vizier, the evil overlord Darth Cheney did rule the land.

There was battle and bloodshed in Blogtopia (from Sir Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo did we come by that name!) as we took umbrage from the denizens of the Overlord. We fought the knaves of Red State and the flying monkeys of the Freepers; many of our kind did conquer the ugly, dreadful lies of King George. All of the Liberal blogs had fought bravely, the great and powerful to the small and meek. Side by side did we wage a mighty war for truth, justice and American Pie.

But victory was not ours as the Idiot King and the evil vizier, Cheney took the throne over Prince Kerry of Cape Cod. There was a great and mournful wail that came up from the beaten warriors of Blogtopia.

Sad as this defeat was, sadder still was the recriminations and oath breaking that did accompany thus. The great and powerful blogs, once mighty and golden symbols of Progress, began to grow fat and conceited. They formed great councils of blogdom, gathered the aristocracy of the Liberal Web to plan and scheme. But they did close the gates of their magnificent castles to the lesser blogs. They had once proudly announced to all in Blogtopia who their allies were in the Great War with the Idiot King, but no more. They had grown complacent, allowed themselves to be turned away from the common folk they had come from and be corrupted by soundbites, spotlights, and fair maidens of the Media.

They locked their castles to the lowly blogs. Left them to wither in the wind and be consumed by the Overlord's minions. So, gentle traveller, our tale might have ended here, sad and lonely, with the awful demise of the tiny blogs.

But, lo, there was a great sound that came forth from the lesser bloggers. They would take on the minions themselves, without the fat and bloated Royal Blogs. Those who were of greater size would take a handful of smaller blogs under their wing and put their visage prominently upon their walls. Thus did the good folks of Blogtopia learn of the wonder of the lesser blogs, feast upon the tender morsels of goodness and flights of magic and fantasy. This day was hence forth known as "Blogroll Amnesty Day", a day to post upon your blog the links to five blogs smaller than yourself.

What? You want more? Is there more to this tale?

Yes, there is!

And lo, did King George the Simple come to the end of his reign and Darth Cheney did answer the call of his master, the Great Corporate Beast. The war for supremacy took a mighty turn when the Blogs once again answered the call to defeat the Orcs and Demons of the Overlord. The Idiot King had tried to place his crown upon the head of Sir John the Ancient, but there was too much strife and poverty in the land. The townsfolk had grown weary of the lavish ways of the King and his minions and began to listen to the Liberal Blogs. Soon, a mighty warrior came forth from the common folk to claim the crown for himself. Sir Barack of Obama did take his place in the Great House of the People. The lesser blogs did defeat the flying monkeys and the Eaters of Cheetos and a great and mighty cheer was heard across Blogtopia.

That, my good friend, is why we celebrate B.A.D. today. Because there is no blog too small to make a big splash.


(this video link was blatantly stolen from Blue Gal)

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Is it time for torches and pitchforks yet?

Just say the word!



Every day we hear more and more bullshit. Shit that gives me cause to break out the pitchfork and start marching up the road to the castle. I want to hear the fucking truth, not the crap that the powers that be feel we should hear.

Now, I want to give Obama the time he needs to get this runaway train under control but he has to understand that this deference has conditions. He's come before the people on quite a few occasions and said pointblank what has to happen to turn this shit around. We support that.

Infrastructure. Health Care Reform. Accountability of Government. Mortgage Assistance. The list isn't that long but it is daunting.

We, the American People, understand that this is BORROWED money. Fuck, the last eight years saw at least 10 times the cost of this stimulus package run up on the People's Plastic. For what? What do we have to show for a TEN TRILLION DOLLAR debt courtesy of George W. Bush and the Republican Party?

What we need is to get past this and on to putting shovel to dirt, hammer to nail and pen to paper. You say we have to get beyond politics then you dive into the middle of it with 50 lbs of dead weight tied to your ankles. Those weights have names. Jettison them. Get to shore, shake yourself off and get to work. Fuck the Republicans! They Are Not Important!

You extended the hand of cooperation and bipartisanship and got it bit. You know the Chinese proverb - "Fool me once....?"

Why, oh fucking why are we asking these Brooks Brothers Buttfucks to approve the stimulus package?

We own them. They are a racist, dickless, regional embarrassment to American politics. We have the numbers, we have the people's back, we have the issues. What we seem to lack are leaders with cajones.

So, my friends and allies, start sharpening the tines and waxing the handles 'cause the ride's gonna get real fucking bumpy from here.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Call To Arms!!

The Democratic Party, with the deference of the President, is about to capitulate once again to the GOP.

After winning the most decisive election in the last 70 years, with the most abundant political capital seen in D.C. since Reagan, the Democratic Party is about to cave in to the weakest Republican minority in history. The Republicans have bullied this party to the point where the mere hint of opposition to Democratic policies causes them to fold like a lawn chair.

Jesus H. Christ on a Toast Point, get a fucking backbone! When will we ever learn that the Democratic Leadership has all the character of wet toilet paper?

sent to my senators:

How can we accomplish the task of bringing this country back from the brink if we repeatedly trudge down the same road that got us here? Why do you consistently insist on capitulating to the GOP? Look up the definition of the word 'coward'.
Tell Sen. Reid what it means.

You won the White House. Act like it!
Forget bipartisanship, you can accomplish our goals without the people who got us in this mess. Yes you can!

The only bipartisanship I want to see is when we knock 'em to the ground, step on their backs and climb out of the hole they dug us into.
Get to work!

Someone send some calcium supplements to Congress, stat!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Learning from Past Mistakes - Step One

Now the clean-up can begin. Not just the bunting and the confetti on the National Mall, but putting the People's House back together after eight years of Bush & Cheney trashing the place. Like the morning after a teenager's party at his parents' house, we have come home to a disaster zone filled with stinking trash and broken furniture. And like parents, we can't reach over and pull the gizzards out of the offending teen, we have to be responsible and put things right. Then we can start pulling out gizzards.

Which brings me to the steps being taken to clean this shit up. From personal experience, I know that if something gets fucked up, the last person to decide how to fix it is the person who fucked it up. If I trashed my parents' house, I don't get to decide how to clean it. I get the honor of picking up the garbage, hauling the trash, gluing the furniture back together and anything else my dad tells me to do. Dad gets the honor of standing over me with his belt, watching me work. What do you think would happen if I told the old man that he should pay someone else to do the clean up so I can go out with my friends?
Yeah, I thought so...

This country is broken. Broken in as many ways as you can count. Every time the Republicans took control of the situation, they made it worse. They saw this country as their personal playground. They didn't have to take responsibility for anything because they were The Boss and Bosses pass the buck. Missing money wasn't the fault of the person who took it, but the fault of the accounting geek who found out. Tearing up the environment wasn't bad if you could show how to make a shit load of money doing it. If someone pissed you off, you just called them an enemy combatant and put them in jail; no charges, no trial, no problem - simple. No one was going to hold them accountable, no one was going to call them on their bullshit; it was Good Times in the Good Ol' USA!

And the Democrats stood by and watched. They didn't raise their hand and say shit. They stood by and watched their sibling party trash the House. They watched as the furniture got broke, they watched as the windows were shattered, watched as the cat was shaved - stood by and did nothing. Now, when the time has come to pay the piper, they're standing there as the Republicans point to them and say "They did it!"

Fuck That!

President Obama has made a lot of progress in setting down what needs to be done. But what he doesn't need to do is let the Republicans to decide what happens next. They've already made it perfectly clear what they want to do. They want someone else to clean up this mess. They want to outsource it to anyone but themselves. They feel that the policies that got us in this shit hole are good enough to get us out. All I have to say on that is:

Dude, if you're trying to get out of a shit hole and the only offer of help from the Republicans is another shovel, it's time to stop asking them for help. We need to get OUT of the hole first before we start digging a new one. Understand this: the Republican Party does not want to help. They only want you to fail. Being all 'Kumbaya, let's be bipartisan' is bullshit.

This is how to solicit help from the GOP: Kick 'em in the nuts, step on their back and climb out of the hole. When they've learned their lesson, admit their mistakex and apologize, then we might lower a rope.

Sounds pretty tough, right? Sounds kinda cold-hearted and cruel. In fact, it sounds damned familiar. This is what the GOP has been doing to the Democratic Party for 25 years.

Let me pause for a moment to thank John Amato for his links above. He goes off on the same tangent as I but with a much larger audience. Right On, Brother John!

Here's the clip from the Rachel Maddow Show with Economics Professor Paul Krugman and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR).
LISTEN TO THEM!
Why?
Hell, Prof. Krugman is only the most recent recipient of the goddamn Noble Prize in Economics and Cong. DeFazio is only the Chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. They know of what they speak, they've been dealing with this shit for years.

Who have the Republicans got?
Rush Limpdick and BillO the Clown.



The graphic she had up showed that 33% of the stimulus package will go to tax cuts and only 18% for infrastructure.

Wha? 18%?

There's enough broken shit in this country to keep us busy for decades and the longer we piss around the worse it's going to get. That bridge in Minneapolis didn't fall because it was brand new, it failed because it was neglected. When will the next bridge fail, the next highway collapse or water main explode? What happens to the Gulf Coast when hurricane season comes upon us and another Category 3, 4 or, goddess forbid, a 5 slams into it?

Tax cuts are not the answer, they are the fucking problem. I don't want a check for $300 if I have to drive over a bridge that's ready to crumble. Keep the fucking $300 and fix the goddamn bridge. It's time we recognize that this mess is ours now, as in belongs to us. We didn't make it but we have to fix it. We have to take ownership of it in order to put it to rest. We cannot count on the Republicans to help and we shouldn't...here's why...

When Ronald Reagan made his wingnut speech about how government was not the solution but the problem, he set into motion the wheels of the GOP Gravy Train. Once they realized that they had the power of Nixon and the face of a movie star; the sky was the limit. America became their playground and they had a ball. Reagan ran up the deficit and the national debt like a drunken sailor, blaming Democrats at every step. Lee Atwater (rot in Hell, you bastard!) was Reagan's Merlin. He wove a spell of doublespeak and nuance that framed the discourse to flummox the media and the Democrats. He actually had some of the Dems believing that it was their fault.
Can you say 'Blue Dogs'? I knew you could.

When Reagan termed out, they tried to do the same thing with Poppa Bush but he was no Reagan. He screwed the pooch and got kicked to the curb by Bill Clinton. Nothing could have pissed off the Republicans more than to see a charismatic Southern jimbo like Clinton take the White House away so soon after Ronnie. Well, we saw what it did to the GOP. They went apoplectic. Lee Atwater, on his death bed, passed his magic wand to Karl Rove then died in agony. (That's Karma, bitch) Despite America's need for real leadership, Rove took out his Faustian contract and put Poppa Bush's Dim Son in the White House. Eight long fucking years of corruption, torture, graft, violations of civil and human rights, and pissing on the Constitution. The worst part... they did it without an iota of regret.

That sordid chunk of history shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Republican Party looks out for their own self interests, always thinking of '#1'. It also shows that they care as much for the American people as they do for their hired help - keep them in the dark, pay them next to nothing and if the authorities get too close, turn them over to the INS for the reward.
Self-centered, greedy, soulless cretins all. They lie, cheat, steal, and would toss an old lady under a train to get to a nickel off the ground. They have NO honor - none, zip, zilch, nada, no way, no how, not now, not never. Trust and Republicans should be treated like matter/antimatter; they cannot exist in the same place at the same time.

So, President Obama, put away your bipartisan speeches and put on your hip waders ass kickers. Take out the bulk of those bullshit tax cuts and put back the projects that were removed. I would rather have a steady paycheck repairing a bridge or installing cable across the country than a single check for a few hundred dollars.

Besides, I would only use it to buy weed anyway.

Update: I changed 'hip waders' on a suggestion from BK at Ornery Bastard. Puts the cherry on the post.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Hope Upon the Raging Sea

As I watched President Obama take the oath and give his speech, I was struck by a wave of relief. Words came to me to express this feeling.

I call it "Navigating the Sea of Change"

The Darkness has broken; the return to the Light has begun. The denizens of the night, the shade and the shadow, have retreated to friendlier caves and crannies.

Evil subsides for now.

Yet they won’t be far; they always nip at our heels and are just out of sight waiting to return to prominence. The forces of greed and secrets abhor the Light, cannot stand the sharp, fresh air of the great wide open. It pains them to breath it, to walk through it, to live in it. They have their allies, minions who seek their favors that walk amongst us. They too will hide from us but in plain sight.

President Obama has a great burden to carry and we must help him. This burden cannot be shouldered by one man, but by all. We are in this with him. The ship of state has many oars and traverses a raging sea. One man cannot navigate these waters alone. There’s an oar with my name on it and if I won’t row, who will? Who will take up the responsibility of bringing this country back if I shy away? Who will show courage if I back down?

The forces of greed and secrets hide in plain sight. They draw their will from our fear, our uncertainty. If we lack the courage to bring this country back, they will take our fear and draw America further into oblivion.

To cure a disease, you must starve it. To cure America from its malaise, you must starve the blight that infests it. Fear is its sustenance, its nourishment. Responding to this affliction with the courage of conviction and virtue that President Obama asks of us will change this raging sea into calm waters.

The journey ahead is long and arduous and we have only just left the dock. My turn at the oars is nigh and I am ready and able to grasp hold and pull with all my strength. My president has demonstrated great strength and confidence, now I must show him mine.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Even the air is different...

Hope the levity below doesn't ruffle a few feathers. Just had to spotlight the absurdity of public safety concerns in the Bush era.

It's starting to sink in... We really are in for a sea change. Now, I don't expect Pres. Obama to walk across the Reflecting Pond to his inauguration but I do feel he has the goods we need to eradicate the Bush Stink that's all over this country.

Given the weather, the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial was outstanding. The performers were genuinely proud to be a part of this change. It showed in their performances. Massive egos set aside for the chance to participate in the inauguration of not only a new president and administration, but a new direction. Everyone is getting ready to participate. People realize that Obama has no magic wand, no big green button on his desk that he pushes and all the problems magically disappear. He makes the plan, puts out the pieces and we, the people, get off our fat asses and make sure the whole thing gets put together.

We expect leadership. For eight long and painful years, we've been subjected to government by frat boys. Nothing but elitist wackjobs out for their own self interests; the country and its people be damned. To those assholes, these past eight years have been more than a success, they've been a godsend. Even those who lost their money in the financial market collapse got another bonus from the Bastard-in-Chief with the TARP funds. All-in-all, a profitable adventure. The Day of Reckoning is coming for them but not until Bush and his Pardon Pen have left the building.

More on this later...right now, I'm still basking in the glow of change.

Damn... I feel like a man dying of thirst coming up on a real oasis after years of mirages.

Update: Welcome to Blue Gal!
She has graciously added this humble page to her Blogroll. Many thanks.
So, to the hordes of loyal followers of this space - both of you - go there, enjoy the words contained within and be schooled.

Update Deux: Fuckin' A! My lucky ass day! The Ornery Bastard has hitched his wagon to this ol' caboose. Go there and be stripped down and tuned up. Be forewarned, he speaks Saxon as well as I do, no tender ears allowed.

Change you really can believe in

Just in time for the Inauguration...



(via dcist.com)

Say goodbye to Bush, get a new president and free hookers!
But act now, there's an expiration date.

God Bless the USA!

David A.

Countdown to Oblivion

The last eight years couldn't have been a bigger clusterfuck if you wrote it down as fiction. Even then, you'd have been laughed out of every publishing house in the country.

And we own it all to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. In a just world with real laws and real accountability, these two fools would have been stripped of their office, taken before a court of their peers, convicted and jailed for high treason. We can dream.

In reality, the abysmal record of this collection of toadies, yes men, pundits, and party bosses that serve as our nation's law enforcement officials will probably land these cretins a goddamn medal, a fat book deal and scrub history of every iota of truth about their nefarious deeds.

But that's not why I wrote this.

There's a buzz - OK, a rancor about what Pres. Elect Obama will do with all the Bush vermin infesting our government when he takes over. Lots of people, whom I respect greatly, want him to start proceeding now with investigations and indictments of the big players with the small fry served up next.

While there's only a few days left, and Bush (erg...it pains me to type this!) is STILL president. Obama has to be a bit cagey with his intentions for the legal proceedings to come. Bush still has lots of ink left in his Pardon Pen for a great number of people, people that deserve to be slapped in irons for long, hard years.

Should Obama make noises about commissions and special prosecutors, he might cause concern in Cheney's Dungeon which will translate to pardons for him, his lieutenants, vassals, and minions. We don't want that.

So, all I've heard from Obama has been a lot of talk about reconciliation, bi-partisanship, getting beyond the Bush years and starting a new page. Fucking garbage.

I hope that this is just Obama's way of deflecting attention away from his real intentions so he won't show his hand to Bush and Cheney. Get them to think he's all 'Kumbaya, we forgive you. Let's all hold hands across the world and have a big hug!'.

Don't think that for an instant, a fucking microsecond, that if the situations were reversed the Republicans would show the same consideration. They would (as they did in 2001) pounce like a hyena on a baby gazelle.

Laws were broken, people were killed, the good name of America was trashed, we tortured innocent people and sent many more to countries that could do even worse. How can we just look the other way and say "Oh,that Bush! He's such a minx! We forgive him this one time. Now, can we get back to work?"

Fuck that. Obama may be holding his cards close to his vest here. He may be planning to ask Congress to investigate the Bush Administration but noises within the Democratic arena aren't sounding too promising.

A lot, and I mean a lot, of Congresscritters actually do feel like this should just be put on the shelf for history to judge. They're chickenshit bastards, each one. They are so terrified of the GOP that, even with the majorities the American people gave them in the last election, they still tremble at the thought of being called names. Among these Denebian Slime Devils, is one Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader.

Harry Reid must go through a case of Pampers a day. I've never seen a more cowardly, chickenshit, worthless excuse for a human male. My three year old grand niece saying 'Boo!' would make him soil himself. He's not the only one, add to his name each of the so-called Blue Dogs - or Bush Dogs. Together as a group, you couldn't come up with a single vertebrae, let alone an entire spinal column.

These cowards have to be put on notice. We prosecute law breakers in this country regardless of the consequences to your golf game or dinner invites. To bring this country back from the edge of the fucking abyss we may have to piss off a few Republicans - Heaven Forbid!

This shit makes me shudder with anger. How fucking dare they even consider letting off one of the most corrupt administrations since Warren Harding? Who's leading the party, slugs or soldiers?

In a little less than a week, we will see how this plays out. But I guarantee that I will be on this page with a vengeance if the Cowards of the Congress get their way.

Wait for the Inauguration, then hit them with subpoenas, congressional hearings, grand juries, the Big Chair, the fucking kitchen sink and Aunt Emma's wood stove. Bring the whole hornet's nest into the light of day and let the American people see just what went on in the Bush White House for the last eight years.

Then reopen Alcatraz.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

OK, Atrios, I'll bite...

Over at Eschaton, Atrios goes on (and on and on and on) about Supertrains. At the local watering hole, Horses' Ass, Goldy and his crew go on (and on and on) about transit issues here in Seattle.

Personally, I like transit or at least the idea of it. I live in one of the suburbs of Seattle and transit sucks. It doesn't just suck, it blows a fetid wind of graft and ineptitude rivaled only by the actions of Bush' pet, Brownie, during the Katrina Debacle. Sound Transit, the local transit authority, couldn't get me across the street without 3 transfers and a 45 min wait for the next bus.

Their motto is: "You can't get there from here."

Light rail is opening up south of Seattle and some points north. This mainly serves the city and has NO bearing on me. Now, I could drive to Tukwila and take the rail into Downtown, or sit on a bus from my apartment for 95 minutes. Either way, I have to take off an entire day just to go to Seattle for whatever business I need. Forget driving, I have enough trouble getting my car to make the straight stretch to work, let alone navigate the alpine hills and NASCAR wannabes of downtown Seattle.

I am the perfect customer for light rail but I sit in the Renton Highlands waiting for a bus that will come late. Lots to do here but it ain't the bright lights of the Big City. And if I want to see a concert or something that is later than 10pm, well, I guess I gotta get a cab. So much for decent entertainment.

But hey, I'll always have Jimi.


(he's been my neighbor for almost 20 years. Rest well, sir.)

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Is it time to take a rational look at medical marijuana?

Gotta say, this knocked me over. Isn't it about time we started a decent, emotion-free discussion of the medical uses of cannabis.

Yes, it's Marijuana. Yes, if you smoke it, eat it, or otherwise ingest it, you will get high. You will become giddy. The most inane things will make you giggle. You will eat tuna fish and Oreo sandwiches. More than likely, you'll walk to the mini-mart and get a bag of Doritos, a six pack of strawberry Crush, beef jerky, and a cool belt buckle/flashlight in the shape of a skull.

But why should this behavior preclude any research into cannabis and its pharmacological benefits? The fact that stoners use it should be the joke, not the bane of cannabis research. Think about it. If there was a concerted effort to do real and exhaustive research into the effects and benefits of cannabis, there would be no shortage of subjects to study. It would be like turning over a stone and finding the Library of Alexandria.

But seriously, we have to get beyond the stoners, the failed Drug War, the noise and the confusion. To be fair and upfront, full disclosure as follows: I've been a member of NORML for more than 30 years (on and off if you count dues paying member...hey, I was broke for a lot of those years, give me a break!) In 1977, while at Washington State University, I joined in a fit of activism and because I was out of pot. I didn't get any pot but I did get schooled. Even after a internal upheaval at the state level, I still held the org close to my heart. Still do. I try to volunteer at Hempfest, talk to Meetups, and stoke the fires at the coffee shop. I think I could do something here too.

President Obama is going to have his hands full with every bitch and complaint wafting up from the masses. Every swinging cause is trying to get a sympathetic ear within his inner circle. Cannabis research, decriminalization and possible legalization are bandied about but we have a long row to hoe. The CW about cannabis is "Thou shalt not discuss nor mention cannabis without declaring an unwavering hatred for ALL drugs" If I hear another pundit equate marijuana with heroin, cocaine or meth, I'm going to hurl.

What do they take us for? We may be stoned but we ain't stupid. Wingnut Extraordinaire Bill O'Reilly tries to make the case against medical marijuana research. Anyone who considers this putz an authority on anything needs to get high. Wingnuts think BillO is so contemporary and factual while stoners think he's an idiot. So much for the theory about destroying brain cells.

Go to Change.org, go to the poll and vote for your favorite causes, one of them Marijuana Reform.

One of the most disgusting and inhumane aspects of the War of Drugs is the incarceration of millions of people for nothing more than possession of marijuana. This article by Paul Armentano speaks volumes in a few short paragraphs of text about the criminal tragedy that is our Marijuana Drug Policy

Since the early ’90s, the total number of Americans busted annually for pot has nearly tripled. In 1991, police arrested a modern low of 288,000 people for minor marijuana violations in the United States, according to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report. By 2006 (the last year for which data is available), a record 830,000 people were arrested. (Of those arrested, an estimated 90 percent are charged with minor possession — not trafficking, cultivation or sale.)

That’s one American arrested for pot every 38 seconds.

Tell me that's not an outrage. Tell me that is what our judicial system was designed to accomplish. Tell me this is fucking justice! What normal, well educated, decent human being thinks this is OK?

Pot is not the same as crack. It is not heroin, nor is it meth. It is a common plant that when ingested gives the user a feeling of euphoria and giddiness. The claims of its benefits bring out the worst in the Putrid Punditry.

"Marijuana is BAD." "There is no evidence of any medical benefits." "It is the most dangerous of all drugs." "Do not look behind the curtain. Stay away from the man with the dials and knobs. And your little dog too."

So here we are. Fat and happy that our guy got the nod and is President. We will soon see the back end of Bush and Cheney. Huzzah! But where will that leave us. There is a lot of bullshit to weed through. Bush once accused Clinton of trashing the place as he left. It was later proven to be utter bullshit, even though the Magic Media still speak of it to this day as if it did happen. But this time, there will be a trashing of America's House. It won't involve missing keys on the keyboards but missing people in Guantanamo. Bush tied the workings of the government into a unbreakable Gordian Knot.

Can Obama get through all the bullshit? The War on Drugs is not just another topic for discussion at the Obama dinner table. Something real has to be done to pull this bullshit out of the Spin Cycle. His choice for Drug Czar will tell us a lot about what to expect from the new administration. Also, his pick for Attorney General, Eric Holder, at one time favored lengthy mandatories for first time possession. (ie: 5 years for possession with intent to distribute for pot) Does he still? Will Obama allow him to follow through on these bullshit measures?

Keep your eyes and ears on red alert until then.

We need good, thorough research of Cannabis and its medical properties. No bullshit about stoners and drug wars. Just fund the goddamn research.

So you don't like Mexican drug lords coming into this country to grow pot, make millions from its sale and distribution and shooting law enforcement personnel. You know, I don't like it either. If I could go to the liquor store or smoke shop and buy a 10 gram bag of Mendocino Purple Punch for 25 dollars, 15 of which would be taxes, how would that benefit the Mexican drug lords? Who would pay 50 bucks for 3.5 gms of shake from their seedy meth head dealers?

The Mexican drug cartels have nothing to gain and everything to lose from legalization or decriminalization. If they could (and who's to say they don't) they would contribute thousands of dollars to kill any legalization legislation. Crooked law enforcement know this. They benefit from seizures, abatements, and federal drug grants. Their anti-cannabis position has nothing to do with the effects of marijuana on society and has everything to do with what the War on Drugs contributes to their bottom line.

Take the illicit money away from marijuana and you make it safe for consumption by responsible adults. Keep it illegal and you allow the worst drug criminals to make bundles of money, remain as dangerous as Al Qaeda, and sit ever so pretty just a few short miles from our borders. That is not a good thing.

If stoners can figure this out, why can't everyone else?

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Good Goddess, PETA! Put down the hash pipe!

As a responsible human creature, child of Gaia, and devout Earther; I have to say to PETA:

Get off your fucking high horse, will ya!

PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, have suggested to the fine folks of Spearfish, SD to change the name of their high school to "Sea Kitten High School". WTF?

Now, I've never been a big fan of sports, especially high school sports. Yes, I was the nerdy kid that always got hassled by the big jocks, that is until they needed to pass general science or mathematics. Then I was their bestest friend. Anyway, I'm not a big booster when it comes to high school sports. Too many parents put way, way too much emphasis on competition, to the point where we have parents rioting in the stands when their kids get called by the officials or make a mistake. But this isn't a rant about sports, its a rant about PETA.

'Sea Kitten"? Oh yeah, that name will strike fear in the heart of every cross-state rival this high school will ever face. "Onward, Sea Kittens! Bury the Tigers! Beat the Eagles! Crush the Vikings! Go Kittens!"

Yeah, that'll work. Why don't you folks sit down and have a nice grass-fed beef steak with mushrooms and a baked potato. Animal fat helps promote brain growth.

Guess what? People need to eat to survive. We eat veggies, animals, and in some cases, insects (urp!). In order to make it day to day, one form of life must consume another form of life. Life into life. Fact of nature. Can't change that no matter how many naked painted women you put in cages.

I respect animal rights groups that use their influence to keep our animal kin from being exploited or killed for bullshit reasons. Tiger penises? Bullshit reason. Swordfish steaks? Too few left to fish, gotta stop and let them repopulate. Shooting quail fresh out of a box with the Vice-President? Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. If you hunt an animal, you eat the animal. Take the game in a way that's sporting and gives the beast a chance to get away if you fuck up.

Common fucking sense people, really. Don't like subsistence hunting, don't do it. Turn your energy and resources toward Dick Cheney and his creepy canned hunt bastards. Protect endangered animals that need it, not animals that provide food for the masses. Put your resources toward intelligent management of game availability rather than try to convert everyone to vegetarianism.

Here's the kicker to PETA and their incessant crusade to make everyone a vegan. What is the difference between a cow and a carrot? Sure, one has a face and the other doesn't but they are both alive. They both exist to reproduce and contribute to the grand scheme of the Mother Earth. How do we know a carrot doesn't feel the water as it's being steamed with butter and honey?

Face it. One form of life depends on taking the life from another to survive. Sorry, that's called the Law of Nature and Pamela Anderson can't do anything to change it. Besides, she's having enough trouble with the Law of Gravity. I eat plants and animals to stay alive. I try and make sure that my food didn't get to my plate by less than honorable means and that other forms of life are off the menu due to obvious circumstances. We have brains, we should use them.

And when I shuffle off this mortal coil, my essence will join with that of the Earth Mother. Her children will take sustainence from my remains as I took sustainence from them.

Turnabout is fair play.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

This is getting on my last nerve

Just seat the bitch already.

Roland Burris should be seated by the Senate as soon as fucking possible. Why? Because Reid and Durbin and the rest of the clown college fucked this episode up like the last Seinfeld.

Blago played them like an old tin whistle. Admit it, take your lumps - again - and move the fuck on.

Jesus H. Christ esq. we have a hellova lot of goddamn work to do. This shit is taking up valuable time.

Fuck me to tears, these assholes have no goddamn sense of reality.

(already posted as a comment at Firedoglake.com)

Update: I just can't leave this shit alone...

Here's another comment I posted over at Hoffmania.com (great place, lots of tasty goods. go there often, then twice more!)

the Shamanaqua response to the Blago/Burris Fiasco...

You know, I have so much hope for this administration. Sure, it's misplaced in a lot of ways and I am setting myself up for disappointment but I think I have to be optimistic. I know that I will disagree with a good portion of what Pres. Obama may end up doing to get us out of Bush's septic tank. He's in charge 'cause I voted to put him there. The economic recovery doesn't have to have the David Aquarius Seal of Approval to take place. Yet, some of my expectations are shared by a great majority of Americans. One of them is that my leaders show some courage and intelligence.

So, having put that out there I have but one question.

What the fuck is going on?

Jesus Christ on a Bicycle, can we refrain from looking like a bad clown circus for one fucking week? Great Goddess, does Harry Reid have ADD?

Here's a suggestion: Think BEFORE you make a decision.

OK, Harry... Nancy...Come over here a second. Here's a few facts that you may have forgotten in your quest for meekness.

One: the Republicans will distort anything you do to bring this country back to their control. It's in their DNA. They are NOT nice people. They do NOT put America first. They do NOT negotiate in good faith. They will stab you in the FRONT as they shake your hand. The Republicans are wounded and beaten. Remember the last eight years? Don't give them a hand up, step on their neck. They've bitten your helping hand every fucking time you held it out. Need another reason? How did the movie 'Old Yeller' end?

Two: We the People are watching. We aren't as clueless as we used to be. We have this rather unrealistic expectation to be foremost on your mind. We would like you to realize just WHO THE FUCK you work for.

Three: Fuck the Media. Fuck going on Fox News. Fuck putting your face in the cardboard hole so pundits can throw pies at you. When you do go on the air, is it too much to ask that you already have your statements PREPARED? What is the benefit of appearing on the Sunday talk shows and getting schooled by every mouthpiece out there including George Snuffleupyourass?

Four: Refer back to the headlines of Nov. 5th. You won the fucking election. Act like it.

So Mote It Be

David A.

Shit Storm

Unemployment figures are out. Lots of good, hard working people are sitting at home right now wondering how $247.00 a week will pay the mortgage/rent, utilities, food, gas and the inevitable unexpected expense.

Been there, hated it! I recently lost 25 - 30% of my wages by the elimination of overtime. The company I work for is like all other corporate icons, cut back on the foundation of your business while keeping worthless middle management fuck-ups fat, dumb, and happy in their gated communities, Lexus' and 6-figure salaries.

No, I'm not bitter. Not at all.

You know, if you make a good wage, earned it with hard work and diligence and managed not to step on the necks of the people around you - Good for you! Be a millionaire, a billionaire even. I don't begrudge anyone being rich, it's what they did to get there and what they do to stay there.

The details of the Obama Economic Stimulus Package are out and they look a bit inadequate. Look, we NEED this package to defibrillate the septic tank that Bush has buried us in. But puny measures will only make matters worse. You don't bring a garden hose to put out a forest fire. At Daily Kos, mcjoan makes a damn good case for using the Stimulus money to rebuild and repair our crumbling roads and facilities at America's national parks. Oh, to hear the Repugs wail over that one!
The point is that we have to be serious about rebuilding this country, everywhere, not just in the places with the big names and high profile footprints. We have to repair a bridge in Omak, WA and I-5 in CA. Let the Repugs wail. Let them go on record trying to hamstring this plan. Let them put their names to the effort to keep America on the canvas. And when the Stimulus Plan begins to bring us around and folks starts to enjoy the fruits of their hard work, we can remind the American People who was with them and WHO was against them.

Republicans want to turn this into another political board game. They want the Dems to cave on the size of the Stimulus Package so it fails badly. Then they will reap the benefits of the failure and take charge again. This time, however, the country will be in such bad shape the GOP will start pushing real draconian measures in a bid to create a new 21st Century feudalism.

This can not happen.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

American Pandemic

Just got this from Daily Kos's Deviltower.

A case of the Walmarts.

This scares the living shit out of me. I don't think influenza could do worse.

Clarification Needed

It has been brought to my attention that my last post ventured into a bit of hypocrisy. Hm... I may need to clarify things a bit.

First, what a person believes is their business. If I ask about it, I expect to hear their opinion with its inherent bias. (Yes, I know... Bias is based on facts, prejudice is based on opinion but I'm being kind) In fact, I ask this question quite a bit. I enjoy listening to people talk about their faith. I learn a great deal about the human capacity to accept certain premises as true while ignoring any evidence they may not be. Such is the lot of humanity.

Second, I may comment on such things, give my opinion of how they err in their thinking, but that shouldn't matter to them. Why would my opinion matter at all? Their faith must be strong enough to survive any reasonable assault on its premises. But, despite any questions or comments I make, I will never tell someone their faith is wrong ... for them. I only make the statement that their premise is wrong ... for me. Christianity is wrong for me. I cannot say it is wrong for anyone else. When Christians try to make their beliefs part of my world, I get heartburn. The public arena is open to all but when religions start using their beliefs to make changes in rules that affect me, I get angry.

Finally, I consider all faiths important in the grand salad bowl of human potential. There is a path that each of us take as we head into the Future. This path is ours and ours alone. It's paved by the things we've experienced, learned, considered and dismissed from our birth to the present and stretches out before us to the moment we cast off this mortal coil. We may walk this path to the Future by ourselves but we are never alone. All paths intersect, run parallel and diverge many times along the way. As we walk our path, we meet up with others on their path. We exchange ideas, state opinions, argue our facts, then we part company (even if only for a short time). Each time we intersect with another's path, we expand our own. One of the problems I see with humanity is that we try to shield ourselves from the paths of others. We must be strong enough in our own faith to challenge it. If it cannot hold up to debate, then there must be change. Holding onto a belief that you have no faith in is, well, hypocritical and shows a lack of personal courage.

Unfortunately, modern religions count on this hypocrisy of spirit. They instill fear and confusion into their dogma, using peer pressure and, in many cases, threats of violence to hold on to followers. (yes, condemnation of one's soul IS a form of violence) If they were to allow free thinking in their ranks, their 'Church of Cards' would surely fall.

Yes, my rants may single out Christianity. I am not as experienced with Islam to do the same, although many of the same concerns I have about the Jesus cult applies to the Muhammed cult. They are two sides of the same worthless coin. Judeism is part of the trifecta in this circus of fools too, but since they've been the target of the other two for so long you kind of cheer them on. In reality, they aren't so innocent in all this. You need only look at the Middle East to confirm it.

I don't have the answers for you. I only have answers for me. If one of my answers applies in some way to a question you have, so be it. That answer becomes yours. I look everywhere for the answers to my questions. When I find something that impresses me, I take it along for the ride to see if it can withstand my journey. If it does, I accept it as part of my path and it becomes one of my answers.

I rant about Christians because they can not, or will not, do this. They are held to a strict set of rules and standards that can only be changed by people who have gamed the system well enough to make these decisions for everyone else. Normally, I would have little problem with this, other than the off chance to challenge a few staunch believers. But these gamers try to make decisions that affect me and that's when I cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.

Hope that clarifies things a bit.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Update:

a bit of fun with the Faithful courtesy of Goldy at HorsesAss.Org



See you in the Hot Place.

Holy of Holies - My Christian Rant

From time to time, I find myself knee deep in religious falderal, vainly trying to debunk the sordid mythologies that creep into our cultural machinery, clogging the drains and backing up the john. For nigh on 30 years, I've been holding my 'faith' close to my chest while others wave theirs around like a virgin's wedding night bedlinen. People of strong faith, particularly Christian, love to use their faith as a golden bludgeon. They put it on public display so you can be awed by its shiny goldenness but never hesitate to use it should you ask why. I have had a few bruises to show for the questions I've asked.

So, here it is in all its glory... my take on religion and faith...just in time for the holidays.

Christianity began 2000 years ago, give or take a few years depending on which bible scholar's math you believe and whether or not they remembered to carry the one. The story is well known but here is the short version.

The Gospel According to Shamanaqua:

A young couple, freshly married and pregnant, go into a small town to be registered as citizens for a census. They found refuge in a barn and shortly thereafter delivered a healthy baby boy. The livestock found it to be rather entertaining.

Anyway, this baby was foretold to be the 'Son of God' and would lead his people, the Hebrews, out from under the repressive thumb of Rome. He is raised by his father to be a carpenter until the age of 12.

This is the part of the story where it is more fill-in-the-blanks. Not much is written about him for 18 years. This gap gives many of the fringe religions plenty of leeway in creating a whole new set of stories involving this man and his adventures all over the world. But, in the main text of Christianity, not much happens except he becomes an adult. He visits his rather eccentric cousin who lives near the river and gets baptized. Apparently this gives him the incentive to leave his father's business and become a religious prophet. He buys into the 'Son of god' mythos.

For three years he gathers followers, 12 apostles, a groupie named Mary and a host of rich friends. He marches into Jerusalem as people throw palm fronds at his feet. (or donkey's feet if you go by the story) He preaches to the masses, gets busted by the local cops. When questioned about Jesus' activities, his followers throw him under the bus (or donkey, I guess) The Feds (Romans) want nothing to do with him for political reasons, send it back to local jurisdiction and Jesus gets crucified.

The rest is more mythology (faith, if you're Christian) meant to solidify the mystery for the faithful.

Good story. Bit of a downer at the end but it holds up against myths from other faiths.

Now, before you get your bloomers in a bunch, there's no reason to think that this is meant to demean your faith. If you believe that this is the True and Actual History of Jesus Christ, the Messiah then OK, so be it. Why would my opinion matter to you?

I look at all faiths and their mysteries through the same lens, even my own. I have no, repeat no, idea how to answer those lofty questions about the origin of the universe, the reality of '?' (God, Allah, Buddha, Ramtha, Flying Spaghetti Monster, -insert your deity of choice here-) So I do what people of faith have been doing for centuries - I make it up as I go.

I mean, how can we answer those questions when we are so small and insignificant in the grand scope of the Universe? Can a flea relate to the applications of quantum mechanics? Should he? The flea does the best he can within the confines of being a flea. Perhaps some day a flea may come along that can be a little more aware of such things as quantum mechanics but he still ain't no Einstein. He's still a flea, for God's sake.

So we, as puny humans, cast our lot with a myriad of myths and legends. Unfortunately, it is also quite human to maintain that ours is the one true faith and that all others are the myths. Not just myths, mind you, but dangerous and viral myths that threaten to poison the minds of the faithful and condemn us all in '?'s (insert deity here) eyes. Kind of like cheering on your favorite football team but with swords, guns and bombs. Not unlike English soccer.

Christianity lost its way long ago when it decided to become the de facto religion in the world. Never mind that the other religions had a real problem with that position. Thus began the Dark Ages.

When discussing religion, I make one observation that tends to rankle the faithful.

Jesus Christ was the last true Christian, and he was Jewish.

I say this because of the history his followers made after he died. Sure, they were persecuted in the beginning, Christianity certainly doesn't have a monopoly on intolerance. They were a threat to the political theatre that was being played out at the time. But once they got a Roman Emperor on their side, they got a chance at some pay back. Enter the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and you have the start of an oligarchy. Over the next 1700 years, the characters of this theatre changed but the script has remained intact. That's 1700 years of bloodshed over who's God is bigger, badder and more 'loving and compassionate'. Millions of innocent people died because they were raised in a culture that wasn't Christian and refused to change their mind.

There is NO correct faith. There is NO absolute definitive way for us to recognize the Creator. We are small and have not the capacity to comprehend the scope of what it would take to look upon the 'face' of the Creator. All we have are our myths. Sure, they seem silly to those who don't hold them dear but that's the way of humanity. We are individuals and each have a unique way of bundling our facts, our beliefs, our histories, and our experiences into a form that seems reasonable to answer the unanswerable.

I may not agree with your myth. I may even say that it runs counter to everything I believe but I cannot say you should not believe it. Your beliefs are yours, mine are mine. I have as much right to tell you to change your beliefs as I have in telling you to change your fingerprints. The reverse is especially true.

Proselytization and forced conversion are not religious. They are political, abhorant and counter to the development of humanity. The history of these policies has been violent, bloody and responsible for the death of millions of innocent people. All in the name of God. To be more precise, all in the name of Christ or Mohammad. Better still, all in the name of Power.

When the world's religions abandon the premise of conversion of the non-believer only then will they begin to approach what Jesus Christ's real mission was - to lift up the downtrodden and give them a chance to succeed according to their own faith. Until then, it's just another get-rich-quick scheme on a global scale.

Those are my beliefs, your mileage may differ.

So Mote It Be,
David A.