Common Sense for Uncommon Times - Fair and Balanced |
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Random, occasionally rambling thoughts with links to interesting, scandalous, or partisan news of the day. Fair and Balanced 
We owe the liberty and freedom we take for granted to the enlisted men and women in the armed forces. They sacrifice family, ease, and even life laboring in service to all of us. The least we can do for them is honor their devotion with dignified pay scales, decent education for themselves and their children, and reasonable compensation for service away from their families and death on the battlefield. Flag waving politicians who praise the troops on one hand and cut their pay and benefits with the other should be deeply ashamed of themselves.
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Friday, April 30, 2004
Salon.com News | Pentagon's No. 2 flubs Iraq casualties Excuse me, please, but isn't this a far more egregious ignorance than Howard Dean's almost exact enumeration of American troop strength. Where's the press outrage that Wolfowitz, the parent of this war, doesn't know to the exact man and woman how many have been killed and wounded. My assignment, issued today, is for him to watch tonight's Nighline reading of the names of the dead as many times as he has to in order to memorize the list. posted by Dave on 8:02 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Sunday, April 25, 2004
The New York Times > Business > Energy Providers Seek Grant as Step to Build Nuclear Plant: "I think that the market and regulatory forces that have put nuclear back into play will continue in the coming decade" Dear Sen. Domenici...market forces don't usually include $400 subsidies. Unless they're in New Mexico, of course. posted by Dave on 11:22 PM | 0 comments link
U.S. Opts To Delay Fallujah Offensive (washingtonpost.com): "On the heels of Bremer's meeting on Saturday, the occupation authority formally announced $70 million in funding for civic improvements in Fallujah and nearby Ramadi: $20 million upfront and $50 million soon. " Damn, I wish Santa Rosa had such an easy way to raise money. We're almost the same size as Fallujah, but it's been a long, long time since the feds offered to drop $70 million on us. Maybe we shouldn't have voted for Gore. I guess a vote for real democracy isn't what Bush is looking for. posted by Dave on 10:55 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Monday, April 12, 2004
The New York Times > Washington > Pakistani Tells of North Korean Nuclear Devices: "Mr. Bush's aides say that they are making progress, and that there is no use publicly denouncing North Korea while diplomacy continues. If the country already has a few nuclear weapons, they say, a few more would not make a strategic difference." Has there ever been such a collection of fools in one administration. Tokyo, New York, Washington. That's three. Seoul, Beijing, and Los Angeles make six. Throw in Dallas, Hong Kong, and Bangkok and you're up to 9. I'm sure the fine folks of any of those cities would say, "We sure as hell make a difference to ourselves!" The potential for mayhem reaches nearly infinity after one nuke is produced and slipped into the grasp of someone who will use it. Each additional one represents potentially millions of deaths, gruesome blackmail, and global panic. This isn't a big deal to the Bushies? It's a clueless collection of partisan bunglers from the top down. When will the grown up Republicans step in to re-establish a sane conservative party in the United States? posted by Dave on 9:31 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Tuesday, April 06, 2004
He's still weird Bush's jokes fall flat in an appearance in Arkansas today. His mental top is starting to wobble. Technically it would be "precess", but for someone who can't pronounce nuclear correctly, we'll just call it a wobble. posted by Dave on 10:29 PM | 0 comments link
'Background' Moves to Forefront (washingtonpost.com): "Bush delivered the same joke at Williams's expense in May, June and July" Is Bush losing it? I hate to be the first one to mention the farting, naked elephant emperor in the room, but the past few days are beginning to transcend oddity. Dana Milbank's comments on the President's rut-stuck joke telling are just one symptom of a leader in need of a permanent vacation. Here's a few others that crossed the media's consciousness recently. Josh Marshall was reporting on a Bush press moment. He enhanced the transcript by listening to the audio, but even the official White House site has the interesting moment captured for all of us. President Bush in his own style, "Let me ask you a couple of questions. Who is the AP person? " Q I am. THE PRESIDENT: You are? Q Sir, in regard to -- THE PRESIDENT: Who are you talking to? Q Mr. President, in regard to the June 30th deadline, is there a chance that that would be moved back? I don't know about you, but I find several odd things here. First, President Bush is supposed to be answering questions, not asking them. This is beyond his usual Bushisms. More importantly however, is his peremptory and un-American response to the reporter who begins his question with "Sir, in regard to." Bush flies off the metaphorical handle with "who are you talking to." Sadly, the press corps is so cowed the reporter rephrases his question with the officially sanctioned form of address, "Mr. President." I don't know about you, boys and girls, but we don't bow to kings and queens here, and we don't kneel and genuflect in front of the oval office. "Sir" is a perfectly respectful and polite form of address that should do fine for any American from the lowliest welfare recipient and convict to the leader of the free world. Later reports indicate the reporter had a phone to his ear. If so, that makes Bush's pique more understandable but still over the top. I wouldn't make such a big deal about it if it wasn't for another hint that all is not well in the belfry of our CIC. At a fund raiser in Charlotte, SC, the menu came equipped with one small caveat...no silverwear: At the request of the White House, silverware will not accompany the table settings," it said in discreetly fine print. No silver. No plastic. The lack of utensils might have been why many plates went virtually untouched. The reason: So the tinkle of silver wouldn't disrupt the president's speech. I don't know about your toast making skills, but if Fearless Leader hasn't figured out how to talk over the tinkling of silverware by now, it's not going to happen. No, I think what we have here is the irresistible inclination of our chief to puff like a peacock...because he can. The clinching episode for me is the unwillingness of the President to appear alone, in public, and under oath before the 9/11 commission. You can call it embarassing to be polite, but I think Cheney is the necessary minder in chief. He knows that the President is unable to manage a challenging, aggessive questioner without becoming unhinged at the affront to his office. posted by Dave on 2:04 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- |