Random noise, incoherent thoughts, whatever.
I saw this on the Internets. It’s a definition of a new word.
Buypartisan: A bill sponsored by politicians from both parties who are both being paid off
Strangely appropriate.
-TPP
Lindsey Graham is an awful speaker. There’s no rhythm to his speech, his gesturing looks rehearsed and the message sounds phony, because it’s delivered like he’s reading it from the prompter rather than speaking to a crowd.
Nevertheless there was one gem in his RNC speech yesterday. I don’t think he or the Republicans really understood what they’re saying though.
Check his speech on YouTube from 5:45 to 5:55.
Here’s a transcript of those 10 seconds:
Let there be no — let there be no doubt about it. We are on the road to victory.
Victory! You can say it at this convention. We are winning!
Pretty usual posturing that has no basis in reality, but the really golden moment came right after he paused for applause. On the gigantic screen behind him they were showing the tombstones of American soldiers in Arlington Cemetery. A screenshot is posted above.
Yes, we are winning, indeed.
-TPP
Upstate New York has been all up in arms about all kinds of things lately.
An Iraqi artist named Wafaa Bilal wanted to exhibit his project at Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. He was using a modified video game to have viewers view the Iraq war from the Iraqi point of view. And not just any Iraqi’s point of view, but a suicide bomber’s at that.
That didn’t go so well with the local neo-cons, who first got RPI to cancel the exhibit by pressuring them with withdrawn donations and “safety” issues. Apparently the FBI was also alerted about a possible “terrorist” threat.
A local art gallery called Sanctuary for Independent Media then decided to let Mr. Bilal exhibit there.
That wasn’t ok with the local neo-cons either, who continued to protest against the art exhibit. One of the leading voices protesting was one Robert Mirch, Republican Majority leader in the city of Troy.
The day before the exhibit was to go on, the Sanctuary for Independent Media premises were shut down by the Department of Public Works for building code violations. It appears that the doors of the 108-year-old building the gallery resides in were 3 inches too narrow. And that’s a violation. The gallery had been cited for the violation some time ago, and at that time given until mid April to correct the issues. It is not mid April yet. It just happens Mr. Mirch is the commissioner of the Department of Public Works in the city of Troy. What a coincidence!
Well done Robert! Keep up the good work up there in Troy! We are all so very proud of you.
-TPP
It’s no wonder why New Yorkers so dislike the mayor with 9/11 tourette’s syndrome. It’s stories like the one New York Times is writing about today that make him look like a more evil version of Dick Cheney.
The New York Times writes about the ruthlessness, pettiness and sometimes even downright illegality in the ways lil Rudy dealt with outspoken critics of him and his mayorality. New York City paid out a record amount of civil penalties during Giuliani’s term as a mayor of the city.
It’s a good thing this mini-Goebbels hasn’t been able to fool the outsiders in the Republican primaries. Maybe there’s hope he will fade away from politics after his failed attempt to become Bush III.
-TPP
The New York Magazine writer Chris Smith has written a rather harsh article on Rudy Giuliani, his overbearing ego and inflated claims of his accomplishments in New York City.
The article goes on to document how most of Giualini’s most important accomplishments were all either results of him being at the right place at the right time to benefit from positive results of programs started by the previous administration, other people in the NYC Government (like City Hall) or just background noise from the upturn of the economy as a whole. Never mind what the reason though, Rudy is here now to take the credit even for “accomplishments” he actually opposed. For example a tax cut proposed by New York City Council Giuliani fought against for two years before it was passed. He also claims credit for lowering taxes in NYC 23 times. The article documents eight of those tax cuts were because the New York State in Albany decided on them. Giuliani had nothing to do with getting them done.
The article also says Giuliani was accustomed to appointing relatives and other acquaintances to positions of influence in the NYC Government over other qualified candidates. Sounds kinda like what another Republican Power Family is doing in Washington, don’t you think? It’s working real well for that family, too.
But the biggest problem the writer sees with Giuliani’s campaign claims is that he’s somehow the savior of New York City who brought the city up from the gutter to be the playground for tourists from all over. The writer quotes Ed Koch, an ex-Mayor of New York City:
“It’s insulting to every New Yorker that he goes around the country talking as if he thinks he was the animal tamer and we were the animalsâ€
Yet even that pales in comparison to Giuliani’s character. His questionable professional relationships (e.g. Commissioner Kerik), his petty ways of dealing with the women in his life and the schoolyard bully tactics he goes into when faced with resistance from other people. Fitting for a President? Not according to New Yorkers.
-TPP
I just watched a really interesting segment of Now on PBS. It was about problems with voting in the United States and how the Department of Justice is no longer interested in enforcing laws that guarantee every eligible voter gets to vote.
Instead it seems the Department of Justice has been co opted by the neo-conservative arm of the Republican Party to work on making sure non-Republican voters can not vote. As a result the arm of the DOJ that is supposed to protect Americans’ right to vote has seen half of its career lawyers leave during the Bush Administration years. During the past five years the DOJ hasn’t brought on a single lawsuit in favor of voters whose right to vote have been illegally denied. It’s the first time in history that’s happened.
The Republican Party is actively engaging in several different practices that aim to remove seemingly “unrepublican” voters from the voter registries across the country but specifically in battleground states. What kind of a democratic institution would do that? China does that. Russia does that. Saddam Hussein did that.
What’s even more sad than catching the Republicans with their pants down giving it to the American public while they’re on their knees is that nobody but the PBS is covering it. Not a single mainstream media outlet is reporting on the issue other than in passing. Here you have the ruling party actively, and almost certainly illegally, preventing eligible voters from voting, for years, and people don’t even know, because nobody is talking about it.
What the hell.
-TPP
It’s one thing to play the idelogical chess game while jousting for power in Washington, but to do that with the lifes of children is a whole another thing.
George Bush has vetoed a bill that would’ve expanded healthcare coverage on children predominanently from poor families. You know, maybe Kanye West was onto something after all with his juvenile commentary on live TV.
George Bush’es neo-con bullshit, however, has attracted the ire from several Governors of US States. They are sueing him because of it. It seems as if simply refusing the sign bills supported by both parties is not enough, he’s also introduced several new restrictions that disallow the states to come up with their own plans to expand healthcare options of children.
I continue to wonder why poor people in this country continue to support George Bush and the ideology of the Republicans when, again, it’s hitting the poorest people in the country the hardest.
-TPP
The Washington Post is writing about political pressure put on former Bush administration Surgeon General.
Richard H. Carmona, who served as the Surgeon General from 2002 to 2006, testified today at a House committee hearing that political appointees in the administration routinely scrubbed his speeches and reports for “politically sensitive” topics.
That kinda sounds like how the political officers operated in Soviet Union.
-TPP
