The Perfect Storm

Actually, this isn't a storm at all. It is what I would consider the perfect result after a stormy 8 years of Bush-rule.

1. Bill Richardson is nominated at the next Democratic National Convention to run for President.

2. Richardson chooses Barak Obama as his running mate for Vice President.

3. They win, despite the fact that many racist rednecks scream their heads off about a Mexican and an African running the United States of America. (Actually, I think he could be very effective in negotiating an possitive answer to our immigration problem)

4. After a successful two full terms, Bill Richardson has managed to get this country back on track, or at least repair some of the damage caused over the previous 8 years.

5. Former Vice President Barak Obama now runs for President and wins by a landslide. (Haven’t quite figured out who his Vice is yet)

6. After another 8-years, the United States has seen 16 years of upward mobility and our reputation on the world state as leaders economically, technologically, militarily, and diplomatically is finally restored.

Unfortunately, by then we'll probably have another nut-job come in and ruin it all, but I guess we will just have to elect someone else to clean up the mess 4-8 years later.

Yes, yes, I know life doesn't go as planned and nothing is going to be perfect. But hey, one can dream... right?

The Last Angry Liberal Blog Post?

Progressive Americans today have a very tough decision to make. Do we fight with everything we have and beat the neo-conservative, far-right, constitution-burning, Christian extremists back to the Stone Age (where they want so badly to take this country) or do we speak a more reasonable language, and try to heal the bloody gash cut between the "left" and the "right" by these very people?

By continuing this blog I am actively pouring salt into that wound. The type of vitriol we spill upon these virtual pages does not bring the other side any closer to reason. We are speaking to the choir. At first, I was willing to live with this. I know full-well who my audience is, and my goal was not to convert a "righty" to a "lefty" but to convert a passive liberal into an angry revolutionary.

But today I started reading Barak Obama's new book: The Audacity of Hope. Usually, I do not let a single book change the way I conduct myself. Or, rather, decades of nurture and nature do not allow me the opportunity to do so. But I started thinking about what would happen if we managed to gain absolute control of the House and Senate, and followed up by electing a democrat as President. What if that democrat was like me? What if he had a bumper sticker that said "If you aren't outraged by now, you're too stupid to argue with"? What if he made it a point not to let SUV drivers over in traffic? What if he exiled his family (or rather himself) because they voted for George Bush? What if he talked about picking up shovels, sticks, stones - anything - and marching to Washington, holding Congress hostage and not allowing them to leave until a vote was cast banning corporations, lobbyists and special interest groups from contributing to their campaigns? It is not that I don't think such a law needs to be passed. Indeed, our nation has little hope of maintaining a true democracy until such a measure IS passed. But sticks and stones hurt, and America is already in pain.

What we need today is a healer. We need someone who can bring the two sides back toward the center. Americans, and America's politicians don’t have to agree on everything, but if they agree on nothing... Well, then nothing will ever get done.

Republicans and democrats in the real world (that is, outside of congress and the whitehouse) agree on most things, even a few of the so-called "divisive" topics. If the republicans actually stood for what they are supposed to stand for, I would be on their side of the fence far more often. But how is passing federal laws and changing the Constitution of the United States to dictate what we can and can not do in our personal lives pulling back the power of federal government? How is fighting an unjust war in the Middle East where tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children have died, thereby creating thousands of new terrorists, going to strengthen our national security? How is providing tax cuts to the rich going to help the working class (and spare me your trickle-down nonsense, please)? How is spending billions on "star wars" while over 80% of the shipping containers arriving on our shores each day go unchecked going to curb our national debt? OK, there were two issues there, but you get the point. How is allowing health care costs to be the highest in the world going to stimulate our economy? How is allowing lobbyists to write legislation going to serve the people? The truth is, many of the republicans in office today are not republicans at all.

I am a progressive, and currently vote democrat. But does that mean I want to elect a politician who will raise taxes to fund obscenely bureaucratic programs? Does that mean I want an abortion clinic on every corner? Does that mean I would be willing to give up my right to protect myself and my family (and maybe someday my country) with a pistol? Does that mean I think a less qualified minority should be able to get a job in front of a more qualified majority? (note: let us not forget that Nixon signed the law for affirmative action)Does that mean I want to continue to see illegal immigrants crossing our border and landing on our shores by the thousands each day? Does that mean I think we should abandon Iraq overnight?

HELL NO!

Barack Obama is right. Americans, whether black, white, republican, democrat, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or atheist, generally want the same things. We want a government that acts in our best interest. We want politicians who do not avoid complicated, important issues by blowing out of proportion less important, divisive issues. We want to go to the hospital when we are sick without fearing an insurmountable debt. We want a vibrant economy where our hard work and skills are rewarded with decent pay and job security. We want to be guaranteed that the golden years of our lives are not going to be spent in poverty, or by working well beyond a reasonable age. We want to know that our vote counts, that elections will not be STOLEN by fixed/faulty voting machines and deceptively complicated court battles. We want to know that, even if our voice is not the majority, at least it was heard. And if it was heard, we are willing to accept reasonable decisions made by those who did not agree with us, or those who were elected as a result.

Let us say for the sake of argument that the nation is divided 50/50 and completely polarized. Half the nation of the United States of America would be unhappy with the government at any given time. This is not healthy. If half the population elects a President, or a congress, it is the politician's duty to serve all of America, NOT just the half that voted for him!

George Bush is an ignorant man. He considered a little more than half to be a "mandate" and completely ignored the other half, although he was elected to serve America, not just religious conservative republicans. I have been ignorant too. I have allowed my loathing of George Bush to push me beyond reasoning with others who might have considered voting democrat if it weren't for that jerk with the "I was born OK the FIRST time!" bumper sticker who wouldn't let their SUV get over in traffic. Yes, that was me folks. If you drive a Hummer and have ever been flipped off for seemingly no reason, that was probably me as well - or someone like me. I do not ask you to "excuse" my behavior anymore than I can "excuse" you for contributing to our over-dependence on foreign oil, rising gas prices, and the destruction of our environment. But I do ask you to try to see things from my point of view, as I will try to see things from yours. We may not agree, but I will at least try to get along.

Folks, I now have the audacity to hope. I will give this country one more chance. But if the person who gave me this hope (Senator Obama, I am talking about you) bows to corporate lobbyists, slanders opponents in partisan campaign advertisements, stops listening to the American people, shies away from fighting the REAL issues, or in any other way betrays those of us who have put our faith in him, may he be prepared to fight the battle of his life along with every other politician in the US, because we are SICK AND TIRED of being stepped on, and the privileged who continue to take advantage of the American people have NO IDEA how close they are to going the way of the French Bourgeoisie in the late 1700s.

This blog will remain, but the Angry Liberal has retired.

America, dear readers, anyone who is listening - May your hearts remain open to hope and mutual understanding. And may your guillotines remain sharpened - just in case.

Sincerely, hopefully, and skeptically yours,

The Angry Liberal

Cheney Has No Idea

TIME: What do you think a Democratic House would be like?

CHENEY: Well, I don't expect that to happen. I'm optimistic that we're going to hold both the House and the Senate.


Remember boys and girls:
I believe we're going to be greated as liberators...
The insurgency is in its last throws...
Saddamn Hussien was in contact with al Qaeda...

The American Way

Questioning the moral vacuum that seems exist on Capitol Hill and in State Legislatures from Sea to shinging Sea, a reader posited the following:

"How did America end up on this road? Parties didn't bring us here; it was our society that has for we did put our politicians in office. What I am trying to say is our political blunders and laws are a reflection of our society. Everybody wants freedom for themselves or groups of people, but not what is best for America as a whole. This is what I have concluded from reading blogs from Myspace. The radical views of these groups have influenced our parties so much there is no real American pride anymore, no unity, and has caused a degenerate society that has no respect for morality."

Not that I really disagree with this premise, but, in my not-at-all-humble opinion, the real problem is much more fundamental. Congress and our "Judicial" system, including our oh-so-wise and venerable "Supreme" Court, have set wheels in motion that absolve us noble, pious, holier-than-thou Americans of any sense of personal responsibility. Your twat get full-thickness burns, because you were driving while holding a cup of hot, freshly-brewed coffee between your thighs? Sue the company who brewed and sold you the coffee (who's likely to have deep pockets) for your helmet-worthy lack of common sense. Do you have a loved-one who tied one on last night, hopped behind the wheel of his car and then got intimate with a bridge embankment? Sue the bar, as it's definitely their fault your man is a judgement-lacking dumbass with no personal insight. Did your retarded hellion of a child choke to death on a Li'l Smokie that you allowed him to take from a Wally World sample-server? Sue the fuck out Wally World, one of the richest organizations on the Planet -- next to the Catholic Church, the Latter-Day Saints and Oprah (you go, girl!), because you're an idiot who lacks sufficient parenting skills to be allowed to breed. The list goes on and on, but I'm too fucking disgusted to continue.

Maybe it's a chicken-and-egg sort of deal, but that's kind of a moot point. At every step along the way, we, as individuals, have the opportunity to decide what is acceptable and what is not. We then have the responsibility to both speak and behave accordingly. Unfortunately, however, we have become a Nation of Hypocrites. From high atop our ivory towers, we decry activities that we commit on a regular basis behind closed doors. During working hours, we're Christ's apostles, but at home we're Caligula and Friends. This...philosophy, for lack of a better word, is both rampant and repugnant.

We need to spend less time passing judgement over others (Ahem...That's to you Mr. Bush, Mr. Robertson, Mr. Falwell, Ms. Limbaugh, Mr. Flanders, etc...) and more time making sure our own glass houses are nice and tidy. I'm pretty certain that this will require a shit-load of Windex.

Wipe til you can see your own reflections, dumbasses.

See Monkey Talk

When a Bully Gets the Smack Down

Question: What happens when the school bully gets his ass kicked by one of the little geeks he picks on?

Answer: Nobody is afraid of him anymore.

Thank you George Bush for squandering our financial resources, for stretching our armed forces too thin, for going into a sovereign nation, unilaterally, with no plan for withdrawal. The world used to listen to the United States. But what now?

- North Korea goes on testing nukes, sticking their collective tongue out at the US and the international community, telling the US that continued sanctions against North Korea will be considered "an act of war".
- Iran continues to develop a nuclear program (for energy or for war, we do not know) and tells the US that trying to stop them would be a "big mistake".
- Sudan continues with their campaign of ethnic cleansing, which has already slaughtered over 200,000 people and displaced millions. Are they afraid of us? No. In fact, they sent an open letter to members of the UN, warning them against sending in troops.

Nobody is afraid of the UN. Nobody is afraid of the US. The UN is impotent, as they always have been. The US, once a great nation, once a force to be reckoned with, is now a bully who got his ass kicked by one of the smallest kids in the class.

Our forces are stretched out all over the world, and now we hear rumors of Navy ships on their way to the Persian Gulf in preparation for an attack on Iran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be laughing his ass off. But I doubt he is as stupid-through-and-through as George Bush. I doubt he's saying "bring it on".

Thank you George, for ushering in what an editorial in the New York Times today called The Age of Impunity.

National Bitch Slap a Lobbyist Day

In honor of this great editorial piece by Lou Dobbs, I hereby name today - October 11th - National Bitch Slap a Lobbyist Day.

Did you know that lobbyists in Washington now outnumber politicians by 2-to-1?

Lobbyists for oil companies are being allowed to write legislation about energy, which is why they are making record profits every quarter, yet are STILL being permitted to drill off of OUR coasts without paying YOU and ME any rent. Yes, we own those coasts and they should be paying the fee to drill there, but this fee has been suspended indefinitely for those 'poor old oil companies'.

Lobbyists for logging companies are writing legislation for us regarding deforestation. Pharmaceutical companies have lobbyists writing laws about prescription drugs and health insurance (no wonder we're the only developed country in the world without universal health care). We have chemical companies putting in their two cents about environmental waste (hey, how come nobody invited me to put in MY two cents? Oh, that's because I haven't contributed millions to somebody's campaign...).

So, ladies and gentlemen, October 11 is hereby declared National Bitch Slap a Lobbyist Day. If you meet a lobbyist on this day, please greet them with a bitch slap to tell them how much they are appreciated.

So be sure to hunt these fuckers down - oh and these fuckers too - and hand over their rightful bitch slap.

Spaking of lobbyists, the assholes from AT&T and Verizon are trying to push Congress to allow them to tell us what websites we can and can't visit based on who gives them the most money. Learn more about net neutrality here.

You Dropped A Bomb On Me

Ooooooh! Look at all the pretty colours!

It seems that the deranged Elvis impersonator who rules North Korea has completed the underground detonation of a nuclear device, as his wannabe rockstar nation proceeds with its atomic program. Here in the US, Curious George has, of course, expressed outrage at this turn of events. "Unacceptable," he called it. He chastised Kim Jong-il for having the gaul to "go against the international community," and he let out a feeble battle cry to call others to action.

I must pause here to chortle like a feral pig. Tee hee!

Junior calls Mr. Mah Jong "bad" for going against the "international community"? I mean, the last person to do something so bold was, well, junior himself, when he went against the United Nations and proceeded with his terrorism campaign in Iraq. What a hypocritical ass-clown.

Someone, please, help me out here. By what right does junior think he can dictate the actions of the leaders of other sovereign nations? By what authority does he pass judgement. I will remind him that there is only one nation on this beautiful Blue Ball that has had a leader morally bankrupt enough to detonate a nuclear device in an act of aggression against another country...

It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.

- Bertrand Russell

Mosaic of Bush Made from Pics of Soldiers Killed in Iraq

Read more about Photomosaics on Wiki

Ask the War President