Cool, Man! The CIA Discovers the Blogosphere

ABC News: Silicon Insider: The CIA Discovers the Blogosphere

I always thought it would be cool to be watched by the CIA or the FBI. Call it a need for attention. I don't want the dark powers of government actually coming to get me or anything. If I don't post for a while, you'll know what happened. But the idea that the government is worried enough about activities to watch over someone is a clear indication that the person being watched is probably up to something good.

So, to the FBI or CIA: "if you're watching or listening to me, Thanks! Keep up the good work. I'll let you know through this if I have any good ideas about how to take down the military-industrial-Fox News-complex. And feel free to drop a note if you've got the time!"

Every Little Bit Doesn't Help Us Much

This morning, the "Breaking News" bars on the front-pages of our internet magazines held the pronouncement that Bush was stopping deposits to the national reserve. This was his PR ploy to make it look like he was do something besides laughing his ass off about the profits his buddies were going to be making. Shortly after came the analysis that it won't dent prices at all: Bush plan will do little to ease pain at the pump.

What would make a difference? Four little words: direct negotiations with Iran. Bush declares that and prices would be down 25 cents per gallon by the end of the week.

Core White House Changes Negligible

This story (Will White House Spring Cleaning Matter?) runs a little longer than most. It should have been even longer, so we can get some real analysis of the core changes, which are negligible.

Having Scotty quit? Yes, he's overwhelmed. Who's not going to be overwhelmed when they have to deal with a media that's somewhat wakened itself to face this disastrous presidency. It's not Scotty's fault. It's the President's fault.

Have Karl move to elections? That means two things. First, Karl is expecting to be indicted. Second, they need him to find a live rabbit to pull out a hat in November. He's the only one who could possibly figure out how to win while they stay on the course they have. As far as we can tell, then, the course won't change.

Having Andy leave? Another person who was overwhelmed by having to deal with the truth of this travesty.

Harriet Myers? Not relevant to anything going on. The others mentioned in this story? Who cares. Dubya and Bolten are swatting flies instead of figuring out that the shadow looming ever larger over them is the foot of Truth and Justice coming down to squash them.

Bush has given up on his term. He'll put up a show for now about making progress. Then, after he leaves office, he's going to hope that history proves him right before he's saved by the Second Coming. I wouldn't place a cent on either of those outcomes--even if the Second Coming does happen.

Talking to Kids About Smoking: Only dumbasses do it.

The ads I see touting the benefits of talking to your kids about smoking always put me off. They say to talk to kids about smoking. They go through role playing. They go through when and how to bring it up. I would imagine, since they are put out by the purveyors of the products themselves, that the ads are proven not to work very well.

I'll tell you what would work. I'll never take up smoking, and I never considered doing it as a teenager either. Why? Because of the way my parents talked to me about it.

It wasn't based on the relative health risks or dealing with peer pressure. It *was* about how smoking was stupid and evil and anyone who did it or was associated with it was an absolute dumbass. That was repeated over and over again at the dinner table.

We had contextual conversations about politics in general, and whenever the topic of the dumbass Republicans came up, we went large on the topic. It related to religious hypocrisy, praying on the poor, the evil of corporate greed, the marketing of poisons to Americans--the whole gamut of apropos topics when discussing the Right. Inevitably, smoking, which met all the criteria, was associated with this, and to this day I have a moral repulsion to smoking.

If we really wanted our kids to stop smoking, we'd have our parents talking in moral terms, not health terms. I don't suppose that will happen--especially associated with the idiot Rupublicans--but it sure would make a difference.

Bush chooses Portman as next budget director - Stocks & Economy - MSNBC.com

Bush surprised, disappointed when it wasn't Natalie: Bush chooses Portman as next budget director - Stocks & Economy - MSNBC.com

Bush noted in passing that he was surprised that Ms. Portman was not the new trade representative, as she had the "kind of inter-galactic travel experience that would, you know, be perfect for this job as we move into the century of interdependiary space trade."

Please don't walk here

Woman, 82, fined for jaywalking Just as we're trying to encourage everyone to get out more, to exercise and take responsibility for our health, we find that we have major populations with nowhere to walk. The granny crossing the street too slowly is one indication of this. In Europe, walking is a major form of transportation, and it's likely one of the reasons that they suffer from a lot fewer lifestyle-related health problems.

If we want to cut down on pedestrians getting hit, why don't we focus more on the cars that hit them.

He Sure Did Push a Big Pile of...

You think you knew how I was going to finish that one, didn't you? But Fineman tells us it's a big pile of...political capital! Fineman: Iran holds Bush, GOP hostage

Yes, he did push a big pile of political capital on the table, and we're all suffering from the stench of that gamble. (OK, I guess I couldn't resist the mixed pile metaphor.) But the reason he lost, and that we're all losing, is not because he had a bad hand. Indeed, if the President had been honest with Americans about his neo-conservative wet dream strategy, if he had played down the imminent threat, and if he had actually conducted any part of the war correctly--he would likely be sitting on top of an even bigger pile, so to speak.

I like what Fineman does, but he's overlooking some very important parts of the Iran/Bush problem. First, Americans know Bush and Cheney are going to be dishonest about the threat because they cried wolf(owitz) once before. But more importantly, Americans don't trust Bush and Cheney to be able to get anything right. We want him to sit out this deal, to fold his hand and go back to the ranch. He's not a player we trust our chips with.

That's the most dangerous part of this Iranian nuclear nightmare.

Framing quote

I don't remember the media talking about how Republicans frame issues. They just report that Republicans are pushing for tax "relief", or are against "partial birth abortion." But if a Democrat mentions values, it must be a political ploy.

Observe in this AP story: Clinton, Gore on same stage, almost - Politics - MSNBC.com: "In recent weeks, Clinton and other party leaders have sought to frame Democratic concerns in religious language."

Palm Sunday: A Passion for Violence

I almost rushed my young daughters out of the sanctuary of our liberal Presbyterian church in downtown Denver last Sunday. Our pastor had the kids up at the front and was leading them through the paces of the Passion scene. "And what did they say when Pilate asked what to do with Jesus?" And all the kids, in unison, yelled, "Crucify him!"

The only reason I didn't rush them out was that they don't know what crucify means, as they're not yet old enough for Sunday school, and that's a word we haven't added to their vocabulary list just yet. I'm not ready for them to know about violence. I want to let them learn more about peace first.

The news just a few days before was about Dubya & Dick's desire to rain nukes down on the Iranians. It seems to me, these reports and the Passion story aren't entirely unrelated. Indeed, it seems that we "church" our children in violence from their earliest years. Christians seem absolutely unable to resist thoughts and acts of violence. We have a religion in which the chief event started from horrific violence, and teaching kids the power of Jesus through this story leads to a permanent association of wondrous accomplishment with violence.

Has Dubya's brain been soaked too much in a fascination with violence? Does it have to do with his devotion to his religion? Does he secretly, or not secretly, desire to spill as much blood as possible during the one point in his life when he can do so without repercussions?

People who believe in the imminence of a biblical Rapture shouldn't be anywhere close to the controls. They are too much obsessed with the ways in which violence brings about magical occurrences.

Leaker in Chief? Also, Ignoramus in Chief!

Isikoff and Thomas have the most choice anonymous quote to come from a "Republican aide": "Leaker in Chief could stick." Well, I'm all for letting it stick: Leaker in Chief? Scooter Libby and George Bush - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com

Bush has always been known as a loyalty enforcer, as is also mentioned in the article. To the Bush family dynasty, little else has mattered in their rise to the top. They know that sticking by people with money and power, and demanding the same in return, nets good results. When someone goes against Bush, we see brutal attacks that do and don't lead to deadly situations (think of Saddam for the former and Plame and Shinseki for the latter).

The only problem for Bush is that while this is a great way to gain power, it turns out to be a terrible way to run a country, and he must be realizing this as his poll numbers sink into the muck. If we mix this loyalty enforcement with another media flop that came to light today, we see a very disturbing picture of what Bush does and does not spend time on. Check out this video to see what I mean: Ignoramus in Chief.

Here we see that Bush hasn't really thought through some very basic issues of how the war in Iraq is proceeding. He has absolutely no idea what this woman is talking about when she mentions that private contractors aren't subject to U.S. military law. (Really, if you didn't check out the video, you'll want to at this point so I don't have to continue explaining how stupid he is in this particular situation.) This is something that should be have been "vetted" (as Bush likes to say) in any number of meetings with the President during the (alleged) planning of the war. If he doesn't know anything about this, and if he isn't curious and if he doesn't watch the news or read the papers, what the hell is he doing with his time in Office besides exercising, vacationing and making sure he gets to bed early?

Seriously, it seems that Bush is not just one level removed from the average pundit. It's as if he's in a different universe altogether and can't be bothered to come back to reality to actually participate in the governance of the country. Unless, of course, there's a question of loyalty or political maneuvering. Then, he seems to be all there.)

If Bush wants to be known as the CEO of the government, then it only seems right to make sure he becomes the Ken Lay/Enron President, because that seems to be about as clued in as this guy gets.