mondrian’s neon fantod

Let’s see… we could rollback the shrub’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans or we could kill Big Bird, reduce funding for the Centers For Disease Control, cut school lunches for poor kids, eliminate critical funding for AmeriCorps, eliminate the Energy Star program, screw Medicare recipients, kill student loans… oh, just go read the entire list known as Operation Offset.

One of these courses is wise, while the other is folly of the highest order. And any rich-ass motherfucker (read as, bullshit upper middle class libertarian wannabe, or republican asshole who lives in a gated community, or, frankly, anyone) who thinks that he or she shouldn’t have to contribute to the general welfare of the country that gave them the goddamned opportunity to get rich/succeed in the first fucking place can pretty well prepare to taste my boot.

Sorry. I lost it a little there. But I meant every word. We are, as the saying goes, all in this together, people. So let’s act like a community for a change.

Courtesy of the old woman:

On Friday, Condi Rice was giving the President his daily foreign affairs briefing. She concluded by saying: “Yesterday, three Brazilian soldiers were killed.”

“OH NO!” the President exclaimed. “That’s terrible!”

His staff sat stunned at this uncharacteristic display of emotion at a briefing, and watched as the President nervously as sat there, head in hands.

Finally, the President looked up and asked, “How many is a brazillion?”

Cheap shot, it’s true. Kinda like the booze that the shrub prefers. Oooh! Two cheap shots in one entry. Hell, it must be happy hour! Three! Three cheap shots! Ah-ah-ah-aaaaaah!

(yes, I just linked to the Enquirer story again. I’m starting to like it. help me, please)

First, that jackass Brown is still on the payroll at FEMA. Huh? What the hell is up with that? (see below)

Next, when speaking to a “congressional committee” Brown says:

But I do believe there are a couple specific mistakes that I made that I want to put on the table right now. First, I failed initially to set up a series of regular briefings to the media about what FEMA was doing throughout the gulf coast region. Instead, I became tied to the news shows, going on the news shows early in the morning and late at night and that was just a mistake. We should have been feed that information to the press instead of — and in the manner and in the time a we wanted to instead of letting the press drive us.

Which translates as “The mistake was that I/we weren’t spinning well enough” and not, in fact “I/We utterly failed to do our job.”

Perhaps he’s back on the take to shut him up? By which I am, of course, referring to the rumor is that Brown is the source for the National Enquirer’s story that the shrub is drinking again.

Tawdry gossip from a disaffected former employee or honest truth exposed by the last bastion of independent media left in the rotten republic, I can’t believe that I just linked to the Enquirer. But before you dismiss it off hand because it is, in fact, from the Enquirer, remember the lesson of Men In Black: tabloids, according to Agent K, are “the best investigative journalism on the planet.”

“It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men…”

by way of Hullabaloo (thanks for the link Patita!)

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

(Source: The Fourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism, Dr. Lawrence Britt, Spring 2003, Free Inquiry)

As Paul Reiser put it once… I’m not saying, I’m just sayin’…

Sheehan arrested in front of White House

Bush urges gasoline conservation.

Clearly the end is nigh.

Oh, wait… maybe not:

To help stabilize gasoline supply and attract more imports, Bush also said he would continue the suspension of certain antipollution laws for gasoline and diesel fuel.

oh, and this is good:

member Kuwait proposed building a refinery in the U.S. market, which Bush described as an “interesting offer.”

so, does if that happens will we have to invade ourselves to wrest the oil supply away from those pesky a-rabs make freedom possible in this troubled region?