The Daily Grind
P.U. (Politics as Usual)
It's bothersome. The same conservative pundits and politicians that were, not too long ago, calling anyone who criticized then-President George W. Bush un-American and were up in arms over any perceived slight are now criticizing finally-President Barack H. Obama themselves. It's as if they have no memories, or as if we'll not notice their arrogance.
So, according to Republican pundit O'Reilly's standards, Republican pundit Limbaugh is un-American. I'm not surprised -- Limbaugh lambasted the military records of both John Kerry and Al Gore, both of whom volunteered to serve in the midst of the Vietnam war, both of whom DID serve in the Vietnam war while Limbaugh himself managed to get out of the draft because -- and I'm serious -- he had a painful pimple on his posterior. Limbaugh then lied about it, claiming that he was declared unfit for military service due to a high school football injury. (None of this is any of my business, mind you. I could care less about Mr. Limbaugh, his decision NOT to serve the country when the country needed him, and his painful pimple -- except that Limbaugh threw the first stone. Seems to me that choosing not to go to war is a personal choice that can be respected, UNTIL you make the choice not to go to war and then criticize those who did for not doing more.)
So now Mr. Limbaugh has repeatedly say that he wants President Obama, and by extension the United States, to fail. I know a lot of people who were critical of the Bush administration, but I never heard anyone say they wanted Mr. Bush to fail -- most people realize that America's well-being rests upon the President's success, and that failure will hurt REAL AMERICAN PEOPLE. Evidently, Mr. Limbaugh doesn't care much about real American people.
Right-wing arrogance.
Now on to left-wing arrogance...
Milorod R. Blagojević, Democratic Governor of Illinois, is currently absent. He was arrested on federal corruption charges a while back -- not for just one or two things, but if I remember right there were 21 charges on the arrest. The Illinois State Legislature took a vote to proceed with Mr. Blagojevich's impeachment.
The vote was 114-1 in favor of ousting the Governor. A second vote was held (I'm not sure why). The second vote was 117-1 in favor of impeachment, Blagojevich's sole supporter his sister-in-law.
So you'd think that Mr. Blagojevich would, in these times of financial crisis, do the right thing and step aside, rather than putting his state through the expensive of a lengthy trial and all the other goofy stuff that goes along with an impeachment. But he's not. In fact, while the impeachment proceedings are happening in his home state, Mr. Blagojevich isn't even present -- he's on a media tour on the East Coast, hitting all the morning news shows and whatnot in order to plead his case.
Okay. Mr. Blagojevich has NOT been convicted of his alleged crimes, though he has been arrested. He IS innocent until proven guilty. No one's arguing that. However, Mr. Blagojevich is in a position of power, and has been accused of blackmailing a children's hospital (threatening to withhold $18 million in state funding to the hospital until the hospital donated $50,000 to his re-election campaign) as well as trying to "sell" President Barack Obama's former Senate seat. This, combined with the fact that the Governor will not be able to perform his duties when he goes to court to defend himself leads the Illinois legislature to proceed with impeachment hearings -- they simply want Mr. Blagojevich out of office for the good of the state.
It's time for Mr. Blagojevich to do the right thing. Take responsibility for your actions. Your statements are on tape. Admit it. Step aside. Spare us the circus and the expense of lengthy impeachment hearings. This is NOT personal, at least at this point -- the Illinois people simply want a governor they can trust, and a governor who will be able to do his job without the distraction of federal legal proceedings. Your ego is getting in the way of the betterment of the state.
Back to Iowa... I saw our very own Fifth District Representative, Mr. Steven Arnold King (R-Kiron) was spotlighted (spotlit?) on The Daily Show last night. Seems Mr. King is worried that with Guantanamo Bay closing, someone will forget to read 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed his Miranda rights, at which point the terrorist will run across the street to an embassy and request political asylum in the United States. Then the terrorist will run across yet another street to a courthouse where he'll promptly be given citizenship - never mind that everyone in the nation knows how dangerous the terrorist is, that there's no way he could be given asylum, and that citizenship is a years-long process even if the terrorist (who hates the United States) would want such a thing.
Seriously. My congressman is worried about this. I've seldom seen a man so driven by fear and paranoia.
As Jon Stewart said, these guys aren't just gonna be walking around. They're enemy combatants. They'll be in prison.
Okay, I'm done with politics for the month. Feel free to mingle among yourselves.
It's bothersome. The same conservative pundits and politicians that were, not too long ago, calling anyone who criticized then-President George W. Bush un-American and were up in arms over any perceived slight are now criticizing finally-President Barack H. Obama themselves. It's as if they have no memories, or as if we'll not notice their arrogance.
"But this hate stuff, this rooting for the administration to fail in Iraq and other areas is un-American, unbecoming, and unacceptable. Like him or not, Mr. Bush is the elected leader of this country..." said Bill O'Reilly last spring.
"I want him to fail," said Rush Limbaugh recently. He then repeated it. "I want Barack Obama to fail."
So, according to Republican pundit O'Reilly's standards, Republican pundit Limbaugh is un-American. I'm not surprised -- Limbaugh lambasted the military records of both John Kerry and Al Gore, both of whom volunteered to serve in the midst of the Vietnam war, both of whom DID serve in the Vietnam war while Limbaugh himself managed to get out of the draft because -- and I'm serious -- he had a painful pimple on his posterior. Limbaugh then lied about it, claiming that he was declared unfit for military service due to a high school football injury. (None of this is any of my business, mind you. I could care less about Mr. Limbaugh, his decision NOT to serve the country when the country needed him, and his painful pimple -- except that Limbaugh threw the first stone. Seems to me that choosing not to go to war is a personal choice that can be respected, UNTIL you make the choice not to go to war and then criticize those who did for not doing more.)
So now Mr. Limbaugh has repeatedly say that he wants President Obama, and by extension the United States, to fail. I know a lot of people who were critical of the Bush administration, but I never heard anyone say they wanted Mr. Bush to fail -- most people realize that America's well-being rests upon the President's success, and that failure will hurt REAL AMERICAN PEOPLE. Evidently, Mr. Limbaugh doesn't care much about real American people.
Right-wing arrogance.
Now on to left-wing arrogance...
Milorod R. Blagojević, Democratic Governor of Illinois, is currently absent. He was arrested on federal corruption charges a while back -- not for just one or two things, but if I remember right there were 21 charges on the arrest. The Illinois State Legislature took a vote to proceed with Mr. Blagojevich's impeachment.
The vote was 114-1 in favor of ousting the Governor. A second vote was held (I'm not sure why). The second vote was 117-1 in favor of impeachment, Blagojevich's sole supporter his sister-in-law.
So you'd think that Mr. Blagojevich would, in these times of financial crisis, do the right thing and step aside, rather than putting his state through the expensive of a lengthy trial and all the other goofy stuff that goes along with an impeachment. But he's not. In fact, while the impeachment proceedings are happening in his home state, Mr. Blagojevich isn't even present -- he's on a media tour on the East Coast, hitting all the morning news shows and whatnot in order to plead his case.
Okay. Mr. Blagojevich has NOT been convicted of his alleged crimes, though he has been arrested. He IS innocent until proven guilty. No one's arguing that. However, Mr. Blagojevich is in a position of power, and has been accused of blackmailing a children's hospital (threatening to withhold $18 million in state funding to the hospital until the hospital donated $50,000 to his re-election campaign) as well as trying to "sell" President Barack Obama's former Senate seat. This, combined with the fact that the Governor will not be able to perform his duties when he goes to court to defend himself leads the Illinois legislature to proceed with impeachment hearings -- they simply want Mr. Blagojevich out of office for the good of the state.
It's time for Mr. Blagojevich to do the right thing. Take responsibility for your actions. Your statements are on tape. Admit it. Step aside. Spare us the circus and the expense of lengthy impeachment hearings. This is NOT personal, at least at this point -- the Illinois people simply want a governor they can trust, and a governor who will be able to do his job without the distraction of federal legal proceedings. Your ego is getting in the way of the betterment of the state.
Back to Iowa... I saw our very own Fifth District Representative, Mr. Steven Arnold King (R-Kiron) was spotlighted (spotlit?) on The Daily Show last night. Seems Mr. King is worried that with Guantanamo Bay closing, someone will forget to read 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed his Miranda rights, at which point the terrorist will run across the street to an embassy and request political asylum in the United States. Then the terrorist will run across yet another street to a courthouse where he'll promptly be given citizenship - never mind that everyone in the nation knows how dangerous the terrorist is, that there's no way he could be given asylum, and that citizenship is a years-long process even if the terrorist (who hates the United States) would want such a thing.
Seriously. My congressman is worried about this. I've seldom seen a man so driven by fear and paranoia.
As Jon Stewart said, these guys aren't just gonna be walking around. They're enemy combatants. They'll be in prison.
Okay, I'm done with politics for the month. Feel free to mingle among yourselves.
posted by Chris the Hippie at
6:00 AM
6 Comments:
"I'll put a good old fashioned US born brain eater up against any of these mother f-ers!"
Classic, just wonderful!
Only in America! All a person has to do to get some serious face time on the boob-tube is commit a little white-collar crime. Do criminals become celebrities in other countries? Did King think he was sitting around a campfire?
I've become disgusted with "the right" whose values, at one point, I claimed to share. I never was a fan of Rush, but now that he's turned to racist and anti-patriot diatribes, I want to distance myself as far as possible from anything labeled "conservative".
Failure, on any front, should not be an option for any American. Whether you like Obama or not, the man is our President. I don't agree with some of the things he's already done, but the last thing I want is for the rest of the world to hate us more than they already do.
It's funny, though, how Republicans are getting so much air time over this Gitmo thing. "He's turning the terrorists loose!" Oh, please. If anything, they'll be moved to better facilities where they'll have even less freedom.
I, for one, thank you. Just when I think the world has all gone insane, I can come here and be with you. We can be insane together, apparently.
HERE HERE!!
it's getting to where the only right wing and left wing talk i want to hear is concerning my favorite hockey team...i think the sooner we all become politically ambidextrous, the better...(and this is coming from someone who has leaned hard to the left for four decades)
...a rising tide raises all boats...
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