NADA - New American Dark Ages

This Week With Mark Hinton

Lush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Monster

By now, you’ve heard about Lush Limbaugh’s attack against Michael J. Fox. Perhaps you’ve even read Limbaugh’s words. But you haven’t really faced the monstrosity of Limbaugh, the playground bully, until you see him mimic and mock Fox’s physical condition. Limbaugh is odious; he is vile. I cannot comprehend how anyone respects a single turd that falls from his mouth.

TSA – Taming Sheep Agency

Mer flew to Tucson last weekend. Like every good citizen of the fatherland homeland, she carefully thought about her duties regarding carry-on items. She packed her baggie with items of approved size. She contemplated the nature of gels versus ointments, creams and salves.

In Albuquerque, the guardians of safety and compliance put their heads together and recognized the threat implicit in a jar of homemade jam. No matter. Everything else passed scrutiny.

In Tucson, standards are higher — and Tucsonans safer for it, I’m sure. On the return leg, Mer’s little film canisters of face cream would not pass. The physically intimidating supervisor called to rule told her “original containers” are required. Well, in some places, if not others — but, perhaps, inconsistency is a tactic to keep us safe. Still, the original container is 3.5 oz and we all know what a crime against humanity it would be to try to smuggle .5 oz of contraband aboard. If half an ounce were missing from the original container, would it be OK? Or would that constitute unacceptable alteration of the contents? The answer is classified.

Mer was furious and prepared to say she’d never fly again, a threat she can’t keep. I haven’t flown in almost 6 years since I walked past countless men with machine guns fully prepared to kill me to keep me safe.

This is the price we’ve paid for lacking any imagination or real sense. It is the ultimate legacy of 9/11. We are ruled by fear and fear-mongers.

On a lighter note, maybe, I’m reminded of the story my brother, Dan, loves to tell. He and his wife, Sharon — a math scholar who speaks Arabic — lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years. They were returning to Saudi Arabia after a much needed escape to Europe. At the airport, the Saudi TSA — Total Sanctity Agency — found chocolates filled with flavored liquors in Sharon’s luggage. After confiscating her jam face cream chocolates, the Homeland Guardian advised my brother to take Sharon home and beat her for her crime.

The Saudis and the Israelis are our role models, now.

Karl Rove, the Architect of Victory

I heard part of the NPR interview with Karl der Grosse, king-maker. Karl says “stay the course” on the election — keep ’em scared of terrorists and taxes — and the Republicans will hold onto both houses of Congress. He’s sure of it. He’s seen more polls than anyone. It’s a cakewalk. Republicans will be showered with roses on Election Day. Some call him a mad genius — they’re half right.

I look forward to the day, soon to come, when no one remembers who the hell Karl Rove was and everyone spits on the ground if you utter the word Duhbya.

Time to (re-)read my not-necessarily-fictional Left Undone. mjh

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White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects
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Report Warns of Potential Voting Problems in 10 States By Amy Goldstein, Washington Post Staff Writer

Two weeks before the midterm elections, at least 10 states, including Maryland, remain ripe for voting problems, according to a study released yesterday by a nonpartisan clearinghouse that tracks electoral reforms across the United States.

The report by Electionline.org says those states, and possibly others, could encounter trouble on Election Day because they have a combustible mix of fledgling voting-machine technology, confusion over voting procedures or recent litigation over election rules — and close races. [mjh: perhaps this explains Rove’s odd optimism]
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The GOP Leans on A Proven Strategy By Peter Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer

Beset by discouraging polls and division within ideological ranks, the White House is accelerating efforts to woo back disaffected conservatives and energize the Republican base in a reprise of a strategy that succeeded in the last two campaign cycles.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have given multiple interviews to conservative journalists, senior adviser Karl Rove has telephoned religious and social activists, and the White House has staged signing ceremonies for legislation cracking down on terrorism and illegal immigration. Two weeks before Election Day, Bush aides invited dozens of radio talk show hosts for a marathon broadcast from the White House yesterday to reach conservative listeners. …

To maximize the blitz, the White House set up a tent on the North Lawn yesterday and let 42 radio hosts broadcast live during the day. Because it was on government property, “Radio Day” included outlets such as National Public Radio, but “it’s mostly conservative talk,” White House press secretary Tony Snow said. “This is a chance to talk to people and get heard,” said Snow, a former talk show host who did more than 20 interviews yesterday and has also been dispatched to talk to conservative Web sites such as the Power Line blog. …

Iraq was a subject of discussion as officials tried to explain Bush’s evolving rhetoric. Snow minimized the decision to no longer describe Bush’s policy as “stay the course,” telling Fox that he found only eight times when Bush used the phrase. The liberal Center for American Progress then quickly posted a list of 30 instances when Bush argued to “stay the course.” And Rumsfeld told Hannity that it is “nonsense” to say Bush is “backing away from ‘stay the course,’ ” saying he only wants to avoid confusion. …

Some conservatives said it is too late. “They honestly need a baseball bat against the head,” said Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who helped Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) take over Congress in the 1990s. “Because if they don’t change the lexicon immediately, as bad as this election is going to be, they’re going to lose the presidency in 2008. I’ve given up on 2006. They’ve already made so many mistakes, there’s no way they can fix it in two weeks. But I’m worried now they’re going to lose all the marbles.”

loco

Gas Attack

On the Republican noise machine’s gassy discharge regarding Gary King’s voting record, we need some information:

Do other legislators ever miss votes? What’s the average? Has Heather Wilson ever missed a single vote? How many votes missed are unforgivable? (Answer: one more than the those missed by whoever Republicans support.)

What was Gary King doing when he missed a vote? Was he in Scotland on a junket? Was he eating a free meal with Tom DeLay at Abramoff’s restaurant? Was he drilling for oil in the wilderness?

Which votes did he miss? The bills to name our state question, state dish, state dessert? The non-binding endorsement of apple pie and babies? The bill to write discrimination into the Constitution (aka the Defense of Marriage Act)? The “Only Republicans Know What Family Values Are” Act?

Inquiring minds want more than noise. mjh

Dump Duhbya

White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects

White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects – washingtonpost.com By Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post Staff Writer

Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill are bracing for losses of 25 House seats or more. But party operatives say Rove is predicting that, at worst, Republicans will lose only 8 to 10 seats — shy of the 15-seat threshold that would cede control to Democrats for the first time since the 1994 elections and probably hobble the balance of Bush’s second term.
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Rove thinks he has the winning slogan:

Vote Republican
It can’t get any worse

loco

On My Mind This Week

swift boats scum to town

Well, we’ve hit a new low in supposedly local politics as those vile vets of villainy, the Swiftboat Bums, chip in their 2 million cents to attack Gary King and support the oh-so-squeaky-clean Bibb. To think I actually had some respect for Whitney Cheshire, his campaign manager, as a New Mexican-style Republican, which is to say not-rabidly-radical. My mistake in judgement.

wilson and responsibility

Heather Wilson says quite baldly that she can’t be expected to keep track of 435 House members; the echo chamber picks it up. Let’s see — Heather is on the Page Board. There are about 60 pages. Can she be expected to keep up with 60 pages when it is her job to do so?

Perhaps more importantly, haven’t the Republicans been thumping their chests as “THE Party of Personal Responsibility?” Doesn’t that include responsibility for your job on Capitol Hill? Apparently not.

Isn’t it interesting that other members of the Page Board will testify, but Heather won’t have to. I guess everyone knows her position on the board was meaningless.

Pobrecito Dendahl

Another interesting bit of nonsense conservatives tell each other is why John Dendahl can’t raise money. You see, it’s because Bill Richardson will remember the names of every donor to Dendahl’s campaign. It’s bad business to support Dendahl.

Understand — I don’t doubt that. However, isn’t that cowardice? To let Bully Bill shut you up? Aren’t the Republicans the Party of Balls and Principles? Let’s see them. Or does business sense trump principle for Republicans? Dendahl is simply a bad investment.

It is also interesting to hear the same conservatives object to Richardson’s war-chest and the fact that he is giving money to other candidates. They say those candidates will be in debt to Richardson. Hmmm. This from the same people who insist all campaign money is protected as free speech and handing wads of cash to Republicans doesn’t buy any access. Apparently, only Democrats are corrupted by the system Republicans endorse. Yeah, right.

baseball, football, nascar and narnia

No one expects any decent TV on Saturday night, for whatever reason. Yet, last night was a new low to me (and, I’m sure, a high for many others). Not only did we have baseball, which screws up all of October every year, but football and, omg, Nascar. Choose your poison.

So, we chose to watch the Chronicles of Narnia. When I was a kid, I loved Narnia and it made me aware of literature, and literary technique, in a way that was of necessity new to me. That said, I think I was oblivious to most of its Christian underpinnings. I’m sure I didn’t get the death and resurrection of Aslan in the way that is now obvious even to me. But I grew up believing the bible isn’t as interesting as Aesop’s Fables. And certainly, Narnia, if it is a reworking of Christianity, is much more appealing than the original.

Still, I had to pause the DVD and rail for a few minutes on the madness of war in the name of religion. And I am frustrated more today than at 10 by a story that elevates children to warriors and kings and queens. It is a twisted and stunted imagination that resolves the largest issues with warfare. Real creativity would paint a world in which peace flourishes. But that’s almost beyond conception, isn’t it?

crazy safe

This week, we took our friend, Kathleen to the airport for a flight to Texas and beyond. I sat in the observation area browsing the Web on my laptop. Merri gamely accompanied Kathleen through the gauntlet. Kathleen is 91 years old and nearly blind. It took an hour to get her through security. Her metal knees required a strip search and pat-down.

Kathleen, a kind and patient woman, endured the nonsense and apologized for burdening the insane system that regards her as a potential terrorist. This is the legacy of 9/11, where we turned our world upside-down with madness.

Mind you, I don’t think she should sail through security while “the usual suspects” are the only ones inconvenienced. I just think we need to find a better way to make air travel safer. Some way that doesn’t require groping a 90 year old. mjh

Dump Duhbya

Counting The Iraqi Dead

Counting The Iraqi Dead By Eugene Robinson

[T]he exact number [of Iraqi civilians killed] is not the point. Rather, it’s the scope and scale of the carnage.

Late last year President Bush gave an off-the-cuff estimate of 30,000 Iraqi civilian deaths — this after the administration had steadfastly refused to acknowledge even trying to count the Iraqi dead. Now the administration is willing to allow that perhaps 50,000 civilians have died. It is unclear whether any science at all has gone into these estimates or whether they were essentially pulled out of a hat.

600,000 Iraqis Killed By War, Credible? – Early Warning by William M. Arkin

In an editorial yesterday, [the Washington Times] commented on the Hopkins numbers, opining that probably over 100,000 Iraqis have died: “The independent British organization Iraq Body Count reports 44,000-49,000 deaths, which is probably too low. President Bush’s “about 30,000” in December was obviously too low. The Iraqi group Iraqiyun reported 128,000 between the invasion and July 2005, which is probably closer to the mark. Extrapolated to the present, the figure would be in the high 100,000s or low 200,000s. But nearly 400,000 couldn’t possibly be the answer.”

Who would have thought it, that the anti-war Iraq Body Count would now be hailed as “too low” in its accounting? Who would have thought that the right wing newspaper would be urging acceptance of a number four times larger than the anti-war group for assuming Iraqi civilian casualties?

NADA - New American Dark Ages

Ending the GOP ‘culture war’

Eugene Robinson: Ending the GOP ‘culture war’

The culture war is supposed to be about morality, but really it’s a crusade to compel Americans to follow certain norms of private behavior that some social and religious conservatives believe are mandated by sociology, nature or God. Republican officeholders have paid lip service to this crusade, all the while knowing that the human family is diverse and fallible. They know that the gravest threat to marriage is the heterosexual divorce rate. They know that Republicans drink, swear, carouse and have affairs, just like Democrats. They know that homosexuals aren’t devils.

Most Americans know all of this too, by the way. Main Street hasn’t been Hicksville for a long time.

But Republicans positioned themselves as our national Church Lady and were rewarded with the support of the staunchest religious conservatives, who now feel betrayed.

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams