Dumb (And Not-So-Dumb) Things You Should Read Today

[BlogBox]

While the liberal blogosphere's Dem candidate blog war rages, there are some seriously dumb (and not so dumb) things being said out there this week, including: Gays should just SHUT UP; Families don't need calendars because they mark their days by Iraq War news; The war turns 5 this week; A Fox News War on Christmas soldier falls; and John McCain is the "change" candidate. No, I'm not kidding, and guess who said that about McCain. All this and much more. Enjoy!

The War's 5th Birthday... Um, Bash

DCist notes the war protestors here on Thursday through photos:

Anti-War Protests in D.C. in Photos

There are more photos at the link, as well as some absolutely ridiculous reader comments, like this one:

Perhaps if these people would put on suits, act and dress like adults, and go march on Congress to see their elected representatives, something more substantial would come of this. Unfortunately this smattering of unorganized people engaged in symbolic and fruitless street theater doesn't move anyone to action. It just annoys those of us trying to get home.

When will they ever learn? Sadly...

Who Needs A Calendar When You've Got The War?

As Bush marks the 5th anniversary of Shock and Awe with lots of flags and free air time, others among us mark their entire lives by the war calendar. Dizzy Dezzi at The Democratic Daily explains:

I don't even need a calendar.

This is my life.

Most people map their lives based on important events like marriage, childbirth, divorce and other life changes. I can map my life based on the Iraqi invasion, from "shock and awe" to today, as my husband is currently deployed.

Iraq is very much a part of my daily life. I have to map my daily schedule based on whether or not my soldier will have access to the internet on any given day. If there is a bad news on TV, I may not hear from my soldier for days. I make sure I am sitting at my computer, anyway. Hubby needs something very particular, that he can't find at his current base, I have to send it to him. I have to fill out a customs form, just to send him a box of chocolates. Of course, his needs are never that simple…

This war was sold to the American people with the idea that we would, essentially, be in and out, just like the first time the US invaded Iraq. Now, 5 years on, there are thousands of families, just like mine, marking time based on when their soldier left for Iraq and when he's coming back.

Thanks for the reality check, Dizzy! Meanwhile...

Another Day, Another Republican Twit Telling Gays To Shut Up

Over at The Gaythiest Agenda (one of my fave five blogs these days), we get a closer look at State Senator Gary George (R-Oregon Should Know Better). The (cough) good (cough) senator's recent interview is twit-telling, to say the least. Here's an excerpt:

Just Out: What if an employee is fired because of his/her sexual orientation or gender identity? Isn't the Oregon Equality Act in place to guard against such discrimination?

George: As an employer, I don't wanna hear about it. This workplace is for work purposes. My advice to the gay community is SHUT UP, just don't talk about it. If you walk around talking about what you do in the bedroom, you should be on the pervert channel.

There's much, much more twitness at the link, along with Gary George's state senate contact info. Gee, I wonder how Gary feels about this?

War On Christmas Soldier Slain In Ratings Battle

Roger Ailes (the good one, not that other one) reports (Scroll down the page) that FOX's John Gibson has fallen on his sword (trans. "has been voted ff the island") for the sake of network ratings:

The Everending Story

Good news from the front, fellow Warriors on Christmas. John Gibson, Christian soldier, has fallen in battle. And not from enemy fire -- he collapsed under the weight of his lumpy albino head, which was carrying too many rocks for his emaciated frame.

Fox News Channel, tinkering for the first time in eight years with its popular early evening lineup, is replacing its 5 p.m. news broadcast, "The Big Story," with an election-theme program for the foreseeable future. The network confirmed this week that "America's Election HQ," a program that displaced "The Big Story" temporarily last month, would continue indefinitely. The program's hosts, Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly, also anchor the network's mid-morning newscast and are seen as rising stars on the channel. The change was first reported by the blog TVNewser.com. John Gibson, the longtime host of "The Big Story," will continue to have a role on television, the network said, although it appears that his future for now lies mostly on radio.

Victory is in sight. Christmas will not live to see another secular Winter Festival, mark my words.

It's too early to call it a trend, but with the cancellation of Tucker!, it can't be too early to send Glen Beck a gallon of Ancient Age with which to drown his sorrows. Just in case.

While Gibson tries to pull the FOX knife out of his back, we shouldn't assume that O'Reilly isn't suiting up to lead The War On Christmas, 2008.

The Supreme Court's Gonna Give Me A Gun! Yippee!

I live on Capitol Hill; therefore, this District of Columbia gun ban reversal case is extremely important to me: I'm neither a "cold dead fingers" gun enthusiast nor one of those "launch all of the guns into space" idealists. To me, the devil is in the handgun regulation details. ScotusBlog is live-blogging the US Supreme Court's DC Gun case, DC vs. Heller. Here's the most interesting part to me:

With Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Antonin Scalia leaving little doubt that they favor an individual rights interpretation of the Amendment (and with Justice Clarence Thomas, though silent on Tuesday, having intimated earlier that he may well be sympathetic to that view), Kennedy's inclinations might make him - once more - the holder of the deciding vote. There also remained a chance, it appeared, that Justice Stephen G. Breyer, one of the Court's moderates, would be willing to support an individual right to have a gun - provided that a ruling left considerable room for government regulation of weapons, particularly in urban areas with high crime rates.

Government regulation in urban areas with high crime rates? What does that mean exactly? How would that be enforced? 'Stop in the name of the law and show me your gun permit!"??? Anyone else following this case who can enlighten me on the pros and cons of the handgun ban reversal? Hey, my personal choice for home security would be one of those nifty hip-action baby Uzi deals. But should non-militia (as per the US Constitution) types be able to own one? I'm still torn on this issue.

The Defense Of John McCain

Here's the dumbest (from American Street): Lieberman explains his support for John McCain.

Dumbest Thing You Will Read Today

That is, unless you haven't read about Dick Cheney declaring how Iraq is just Teh Awesum!

Lieberman explains support for McCain - STAMFORD - U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn, told the editorial board of The Advocate and Greenwich Time he's supporting Republican John McCain for president because he's the most likely to bring about change in Washington.

Sorry about all that coffee you just sprayed all over your keyboard. But you should have seen that coming.

And everyone should've seen this McCain lie coming (from Mock, Paper, Scissors), too:

But it is not a campaign trip…

Just imagine. Had the true president been victorious in Bush vs. Gore, Lieberman could've been Dick Cheney. Naaah. Gore would've sent him on an extended (8-year) goodwill tour of a bunch of America-friendly nations. As for John McCain, he'd be in the exact position he is today: trying to defend and attack the house that Bush built, in order to win the election. Heavy sigh. On a lighter note...

Thank A DUer!

Thanks to dancingme for posting some of the GW Bush Presidential Library sketches, submitted in the design contest. There are pics in the post as well as a link to more. And now for this week's...

Something To Chew On

This week's morsel comes from New Orleans blogger, Your Right Hand Thief, who laments snarkily:

Yaay, We're number two!

Three years ago, I wrote:

What a sad f*cking day indeed if/when American troops return home from some costly, godforsaken overseas misadventure to find their homeland is no longer the #1 economy in the world.

Well, Mission Accomplished.

Remember what Satan (aka Al Pacino) said in "The Devil's Advocate": "It was a nice run, but you can't win them all."

We could've "won them all" (as in health, general welfare, and the pursuit of happiness), but for the greedy Republicans. And we still can win them all. But we've got to get those tightie righties out of power, and we know they'll do everything imaginable to keep from leaving. Keep those great blog links coming, and keep fighting. We're all we've got, friends. And our primary candidate preferences shouldn't keep us from working together to defeat the disastrous McCain argument for more war, more poverty, and less security.

-- Delilah Boyd

[NMDemDist2]

1. K&N, now to go back and read all the bloggy goodness

:hi:

[jimshoes]

2. McSame is the change candidate?

I'll have to read that one.:crazy:

[Patriot Abroad]

3. Great Lieberman Quote

Asked about the state of the economy and the prospect of raising taxes to pay for the war, Lieberman said it's unrealistic not to hike taxes and avoid a deficit. He lamented that even with the spike in patriotism after Sept. 11, 2001, Americans didn't embrace a tax hike like they did during World War II, when "you were asked to contribute a lot to beat the enemy."

I love the way history revises itself - Americans are never going to voluntarily pay more taxes, but they certainly would have accepted revoking the tax cuts on the rich and possibly a higher rate of tax should the bold leadership of the Republican congress at the time have called for it - instead we're increasingly broke!