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This propaganda gets modded interesting? It is more like something from this site instead of /.

UD, you need to be posting on DU. Run along back there with your rewriting of history.

UD, you need to be posting on DU. Run along back there with your rewriting of history.

The crackpot you responded to escaped from this community.

The origonal poster needs to be posting here instead.

On /. you are really just a troll.

Morons (from your sig) like you need to post here with your misinformation and propaganda where it is accepted as fact.

The topic is not "welfare moms being gunned down by drug dealers on the street", it is the Shuttle and crew.

If we were talking about "welfare moms on the street being shot by drug dealers" and someone was harping about the Shuttle it would be every bit as OFF TOPIC as all of these posts you and your buddy are posting.

Someone else beat me to it above, you need to be posting here http://www.democraticunderground.com/duforum/DCFor umID60/32785.html troll.

Whomever modded this prick "flaimbait" is right. He needs to be posting here instead, along with all these jerks defending him.

Umm, yes the "soccer mom" is heroic, but it is for what moms do. The Space Shuttle fender-benders are much more catostrophic when they occur.

Here are some comments on this accident that are of the same sentement as your sig expresses.

The left wing is still pretty fucking damaged.

Read about how these patriots armed Saddam here

Thanks and have a weekend.

We're a small community of under 20,000. We discuss gun control in our Justice/Public Safety Forum. I'm on there as ThinkTank. And actually almost all of the Brady's facts are correct and double checked, as well as Violence Policy Center, Americans for Gun Safety or The Coalition of Gun Control. But there are links to research from The Harvard School of Health there as well detailing the costs of gun violence. I hope I see you guys there. Justice/Public Safety

Courtesy of The Democratic Underground

April 8, 2002
Trademark Idiocy Edition

If you're looking for conservative idiocy, the
ten listed below are trademark specimens. Jeb
Bush (1) tries to make it illegal to criticize him
during an election year, Rush Limbaugh (3) puts
"Crossfire" in the crossfire, and Rev. Michael Taylor
(4) says Dubya was chosen by God. Meanwhile,
Carl Ford and James Kelly (5) do the Taiwan slush-fund shuffle,
Spence Abraham (6) chows down, and Edmund Matricardi III
(7) engages in some (alleged) GOP dirty tricks. Finally, Bush
Administration Officials (10) don't think you're clapping loud
enough! So clap! Louder! And click here for the icons.

Jeb Bush
Itching to pick a fight with Governor Jebbie as he
struggles for re-election this year? Of course you are; we all
hate that guy. Here's a word of advice: you had better not
call the Jebster by name, because you might find yourself
slapped with a nasty lawsuit. You see, he's getting his name
trademarked so nobody else can use it. It all seems innocent
enough: Jeb claims to be upset that a GOP front group,
"Americans for Jeb Bush" shouldn't have the right to use his
name, because people might get confused... So he's
trademarking it. I know what you're thinking: Hey, if Jeb
wants to shut down a Republican group, that's great. Not so
fast there, buckaroo. What happens when some Dems start a
group called "Americans to defeat Jeb Bush"? Once Jeb
Bush(TM) has the legal precedent he wants, do you think he's
going to call off the lawyers when some Democrats try the
same thing? Don't count on it. I'm not real big on conspiracy
theories, but I'm guessing we won't see a very vigorous legal
defense from the folks over at Americans for Jeb Bush.

Right-Wing Warmongers
As the Middle East goes up in smoke and George W.
Bush sits on his ass in Crawford, right-wing warhawks are
lining up to encourage Bush to continue his do-nothing
policies. Bills Kristol and Bennett, the Wall Street Journal,
and the National Review (among others) have recently been
bashing any attempts by the administration - no matter how
pathetic - to restart the peace process as "moral confusion"
and "Clintonite wishful thinking." (Yes, we must end the
nightmare of peace and prosperity!) Of course, Bush's
nonsensical black-and-white "you're either with us or against
us" doctrine is causing a bit of a problem - because now the
same hawks who advocate direct intervention in Afghanistan
and Iraq have suddenly had to shut up when it comes to the
Israel/Palestine conflict. Which just goes to show that the
right-wingnut hawks would rather see endless war in the
Middle East than appear to contradict themselves.

Rush Limbaugh
Some conservatives aren't ashamed to contradict
themselves though, and here's the master: Rush Limbaugh.
Sweatboy had an interesting review of the new "Crossfire" up
on his website last week, a review which would leave even
the most hypocrisy-resistant gagging and clutching at their
throats as they struggled to stay upright. Comments such as,
"These are not broadcasters, folks, they're partisans. They're
childish, immature little kids in a sandbox kicking stuff
around," and, "Do they really think that a bunch of sniveling,
partisan hacks lying through their teeth is going to build a
huge audience?" leave one wondering whether Kaptain Krispy
Kreme has left the planet Earth for good and is now orbiting
a faraway sun somewhere in another dimension. Rush, here's
a mirror. Take a good look in it, and (assuming it doesn't
break) say H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E two hundred fifty times.
Feeling any slight twinges of shame? Nah, thought not.

Rev. Michael Taylor
I would have thought that ministers of the Lord were
above such earthly pursuits as sycophantic brown-nosing,
but apparently that ain't the case in Bush country. George Jr.
got a good laugh out of his Easter service last week when the
Reverend Michael Taylor started banging on about how the
outcome of the 2000 presidential election was the will of
God. "My friend, President Bush, for us who believe, that day
of the counting it was all over but the shouting," he said, to a
rousing chorus of "Amen!" Taylor went on, "My friends, a lot
of you are here strictly to visit and to see dignitaries that are
with us this morning, but you really ought to be here to visit
with Jesus Christ." This was a reference to front row, which
was filled entirely by the Bush family, including George H.W.
Bush (sold arms to terrorists), George W. Bush (drinking,
drugs, draft-dodging, AWOL, executioner), Laura Bush
(vehicular manslaughter), and Jenna Bush (drunk and
disorderly). God certainly does move in mysterious ways!

Carl Ford and James Kelly
From the "honor and integrity" file: Recently, Taiwan
was rocked by news of a secret NT$3.5 billion slush fund
which was used to buy favors for Taiwan in Washington, DC,
and elsewhere around the world. Leaked documents indicate
that two Bush Administration officials received payments
from the slush fund before they were tapped to join the
administration. One official, Carl Ford, is now the assistant
secretary of defense for intelligence and research, and the
other, James Kelly is the assistant secretary of state of East
Asia. Online Journal reports that Carl Ford was responsible for
millions of dollars donated to the Bush campaign and the
RNC. This raises questions of possible indirect foreign
campaign contributions, something which the GOP tried
(unsuccessfully) to pin on Al Gore. So, where's the outrage
about illegal Chinese campaign contributions this time? And
why isn't the liberal media all over this story?

Spence Abraham
Spence Abraham has one of the most difficult jobs in
Washington - planning his entire schedule around food.
According to the Washington Post, "His appointment
schedule is crammed with culinary references," including
"scheduling lunch," "working lunch," strategy lunch," and "a
'get to know each other' lunch." But it's not just lunch - how
about, "snacks," "heavy hors d'oeurves," "breakfast,"
"sandwiches," "cocktail party," "dinner," and, of course, a
"cook-off." Interestingly all this gastronomic information
comes from the energy policy documents which were
released recently but mysteriously censored (see Idiots 61).
Seems that the Bush administrations is much more
interested in you knowing the content of Spence Abraham's
stomach than knowing exactly what Dick Cheney did for Ken
Lay...

Edmund Matricardi III
This just in from the Republican dirty tricks
department. Last week the Associated Press reported that the
executive director of the Virginia Republican Party, Edmund
Matricardi III, allegedly tapped illegally into a telephone call
between Democratic Governor Mark Warner, Democratic state
legislators and their lawyers as they plotted strategy in a
redistricting case. While Matricardi refused comment on the
case, one prominent GOPer gave an eyebrow-raising
explanation: According to House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins,
the most powerful Republican legislator in the state,
"operatives play these games all the time." Oh really? Maybe
Republican operatives do.

Bradley County, Tennessee
The Constitution forbids the display of the Ten
Commandments in public schools. But public schools can
teach about the Ten Commandments, as long as it is done in
a historical context. So fundies across the country have been
trying to do an end-run around the U.S. Constitution by
posting the Ten Commandments in a historical context. But
usually the effort spent adding "historical context" is so
half-assed that these displays are blatantly unconstitutional.
(Imagine a giant full-color poster of Moses holding the Ten
Commandments, next to tiny white three-by-five cards with
ball-point-pen stick figures labeled "Julius Caesar,"
"Alexander the Great," "Phaeroah" [sic], and, for good
measure, "Martin Luther King, Jr.") After Bradley County,
Tennessee, decided to display the Commandments in a
similar fashion, a clever student filed suit asking that they
also display the Five Pillars of Islam in a historical context.
School officials who were previously so keen on teaching
religious history, suddenly lost enthusiasm. "At this point we
have our agendas full, and there's no point in the immediate
future to address that," said Commission Chairman Mike
Smith. Score another victory for separation of Church and
State!

Paul Scott
Paul Scott, a parent in El Cajon, Califorinia, recently
filed a discrimination claim on behalf of his school-aged
daughter. According to the claim, Mr. Scott thinks that his
daughter's right to privacy is being violated because she has
to share a bathroom with lesbian students, so he wants the
local school superintendent to designate separate bathrooms
for gay students and straight students. Fortunately, local
education officials rejected the claim outright. Apparently Mr.
Scott didn't get the memo when the whole "separate but
equal" thing was rejected by the Supreme Court about half a
century ago.

Bush Administration Officials
And finally: If you ever get the opportunity to go see
George W. Bush in person, remember this: APPLAUD.
VIGOROUSLY. Because if you don't, you see yourself on the
receiving end of the over-sensitive and easily provoked Bush
Administration Spin Machine. Just ask Paul Krugman. At the
recent Gridiron Dinner, while the rest of the media elite were
clapping like a pathetic bunch of trained sea lions, Krugman
did not. According to an anonymous White House source,
Krugman "refused to applaud any of the military leaders who
were announced, nor did he applaud the president, the vice
president or any members of the president's staff." The
source added that Krugman, who was seated in the audience
with hundreds of other people, "stuck out like a sore thumb."
Things are getting ominous here, people. It used to be that
you would get attacked if you criticized the president. Now
the Bush goon squad will publicly savage you if you don't
clap hard enough. See you next week!

who has the fortitude to oppose
The Chump-In-Charge

Read more here

Calling all war mongers. Read about the:

The Case For War Against Iraq

This article should inspire all to join protests
around the country against:

The Chump-In-Charge

Thanks and have a marijuana inspired weekend.

Read about the ten top conservative idiots here:
including our chump-in-charge:

Top 10 Conservative Idiots

Read about the Top 10 Conservative Idiots

Included is a discussion of John Ashcroft's
internment camps.

--As the bumper sticker proclaims:

Proud To Be An Amerikan (or more correctly,
a citizen of The United States of Amerika).

There are several countries that comprise
America: Canada, Mexico, United States, Costa
Rica, Venezuela, Paraguay, etc.

To read more about the babbling idiot in The White House
please, see:

W's Crusade Against Common Sense

Thank you and have a marijuana inspired weekend.

As he continues to spin downward:

Bush Tops The Idiots List For 4 Weeks!

Be patriotic; smoke Amerikan grown marijuana!

Read about the:

Top 10 Conservative Idiots

Be patriotic; smoke Amerikan grown marijuana !

Read more about my delusions at:

My White House Diaries

Thank you for a single term presidency,
W

The linked page is a 1.6 million character HTML document. Of that, .27 million characters are part of the text. The other 1.3 million are markup, virtually all bloated href, tr, td and font tags. That's some bad web design. The page would take about seven minutes to load on a modem.

What's more, they know how to make a reasonable page, as evidenced by the printer friendly version which weighs in at a much more sane ~.3M characters.

For anyone who wants reasonably sized HTML on Slashdot, make sure to check out "Light" mode on your preferences.

The linked page is a 1.6 million character HTML document. Of that, .27 million characters are part of the text. The other 1.3 million are markup, virtually all bloated href, tr, td and font tags. That's some bad web design. The page would take about seven minutes to load on a modem.

What's more, they know how to make a reasonable page, as evidenced by the printer friendly version which weighs in at a much more sane ~.3M characters.

For anyone who wants reasonably sized HTML on Slashdot, make sure to check out "Light" mode on your preferences.

you're closer than you think you must cheer the president or else!

just like to take you up on your point about fast food( junk food) being good for productivity, how much productivity is lost through obesity, and ill health caused by the fast food culture? I don't know the figures but i would guess that it costs western countries a lot of money.

In my opion , and that of the judges in the Mclibel case Mcdonalds aims there adverts purely at young children, ie happy meals, clowns, disney figures. By getting young children eating junk food it becomes a habit, one that would not have formed without this relentless advertising.
all this just makes me glad that the bbc has not been privatised yet.
one more rant , this a bit off topic but, it is not just the advertisers who are getting more extreme in their attempts to brainwash the public, read this and weep.

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers..... Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind numbing, spirit crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life..... But why would I want to do a thing like that?
says it all really? chose whatever you want but make sure it is what you want , not just what you have been told you want.

Slashdot reports trivial cellphone news while
Bush et al. rob America

Please read: Should President Bush Be
Charged With Negligent Homicide?

New Slashdot Odds:

Bush Resigns by 2003: 10-1

Cheney Asks France For Asylum 4-1

Bush Re-elected in 2004 15-1

Rumsfeld Resigns To Host Jerry Springer Show 1-2

Is there something outside the marketability of political orientation that is a factor in this difference in success? Does political orientation give a business an advantage in a Capitalistic society? Or is it that Republicans are just looser with their wallets?

Should The President Be Charged With Negligent Homicide?"

It's about time someone asked this question.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Your civil rights are being removed by The White House
with President Cheney and President-Vice Rumsfeld; however, you persist in reporting drivel such as MP3.

Thanks for nothing,

Woot_sprock

Courtesy of Bush Indicted For Treason

Call it a Conspiracy? Yes, No, Still Vacillating 'Twixt the Two
April 27, 2002

By Scaramouche

I believe in human nature. Sometimes good, sometimes evil, that is the dichotomy we all face in trying to make sense of this crazy mixed up world. Neither black, nor white, the truth exists in the world of gray.
I read "None Dare Call it a Conspiracy" when I was about 14 years old, some 25 years ago (yes I'm 39 years old - a la Jack Benny). While I could have agreed on some of the book's assertions. It reminded me way too much of the James Bond books I was reading at the same time. If I recall right, that was also one of the arguments in the book. Ian Fleming had been an intelligence operative and he knew what he was talking about. But I couldn't see the Trilateral Commission as SPECTRE. Or identify who Blofield was, Kissinger maybe?
There once was a psychological experiment where they ask volunteers to decipher the pattern of a series of flashing lights. Yet there was no pattern. Upon exit interviews, once told that there was no pattern, those with the most complicated theories refused to believe the testers and were adamantly defending their theoretical constructs. After all how could they be wrong? The final treatise of the experiment pointed out that the more complicated, or convoluted, the explanations posited, the stronger the ties to emotional involvement in the testees belief. Emotional investment solidifies belief. This goes a long way in explaining the beliefs of conspiracy theorists, fundamentalist, and an X-File fans.
Regarding Bush's planning on overthrowing the Constitution and establishing a dictatorship on the pretext of 9/11, I find that flying in the face of human nature. Many who worked in WTC were of his party. If not Republicans, they were ideologically leaning towards his economic policies, and were likely his type of campaign contributors. The risk vs. reward of this kind plotting makes no sense. The man may be dumb as a cactus but he is shrewd. And who knows what would happen when the posse catches up, if it ever came to light.
Remember the movie Armageddon, and that other non-memorable meteor-will-destroy earth-film where they decide we can't let the public know because the panic will be destructive. Maybe there was no intelligence failure. Maybe they thought they could contain it. Oops, there was an intelligence failure but not on part of the intelligence community. That could explain why the White House doesn't want an investigation. Bush has a record of covering up past mistakes and hiding the evidence of such.
This might explain why we get constant terror alerts. They are terrified of screwing up again. We are constantly at yellow alert. Yes, they turned yella', what would happen if the truth gets out.
But then again, I read articles like this:
In the early 1960s, America's top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Cuba.
Code named Operation Northwoods, the plans reportedly included the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and even orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. Cities The plans were developed as ways to trick the American public and the international community into supporting a war to oust Cuba's then new leader, communist Fidel Castro.
America's top military brass even contemplated causing U.S. military casualties, writing: "We could blow up a U.S. Ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba," and, "casualty lists in U.S. newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation." ...
The Joint Chiefs even proposed using the potential death of astronaut John Glenn during the first attempt to put an American into orbit as a false pretext for war with Cuba, the documents show.
Should the rocket explode and kill Glenn, they wrote, "the objective is to provide irrevocable proof ... that the fault lies with the Communists et all Cuba [sic]." ...
The secret plans came at a time when there was distrust in the military leadership about their civilian leadership, with leaders in the Kennedy administration viewed as too liberal, insufficiently experienced and soft on communism. At the same time, however, there real were concerns in American society about their military overstepping its bounds.
There were reports U.S. Military leaders had encouraged their subordinates to vote conservative during the election....
Afraid of a congressional investigation, Lemnitzer had ordered all Joint Chiefs documents related to the Bay of Pigs destroyed, says Bamford. But somehow, these remained.
"The scary thing is none of this stuff comes out until 40 years after," says Bamford
Read the entire article here.
Does this sound familiar? Is this a repeat of history or an aberration of Cold War history??
I read constantly from both sides of extremist's point of view. I adjudicate based on my understanding of human nature, read between the lines, as it were. This is how one deciphers the nature of man.
Hobbes said, "And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short." If this is the state of nature, men have strong reasons to avoid it.
Yet Rousseau said differently, "This common liberty results from the nature of man. His first law is to provide for his own preservation, his first cares are those which he owes to himself; and, as soon as he reaches years of discretion, he is the sole judge of the proper means of preserving himself, and consequently becomes his own master."
So which argument carries more favor? "Humans are selfish and must be constrained" or, "Humans are innocent and can be strive for perfection." It's Pepsi vs. Coke. It's Capitalism vs. Communism. But I don't see the world in terms of black and white. Nor do I have an emotional attachment to either.
I see many shades of gray. And sometimes I dream in color.

courtesy The Democratic Underground April 10, 2002 By Jeff Ritchie Given the current war on terrorism, many people are turning their attention toward foreign policy, and some of the people are actually employed in the Bush Administration. To help sort through the complex issues, we present these Frequently Asked Questions. As always, the answers to these questions have been screened through the Office of Homeland Security, and anyone who says otherwise is giving aid and comfort to terrorists. Q: The White House recently announced that it would not recognize the recent elections in Zimbabwe because of massive voter fraud. Does anybody in the White House see the irony in that, considering the Florida Election Controversy in 2000? A: No. Actually the entire White House staff was inoculated against attacks of irony after September 11. Q: Were you also inoculated against shame and guilt? A: Against what? Against who? Ha, ha. Just kidding. No, we never had any of those to begin with. Q: Shortly after the September 11 attacks, the President promised to get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive." Now that you seem unable to find him, the President is now threatening to invade Iraq. Is this a change of policy? A: In the heat of the moment we all say things that we really don't mean. I mean, it was just a few month before that when President Bush promised to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution of the United States. And nobody's holding him to that one. Q: After the President demanded that Israel pull out of the West Bank and cease its military offensive, Israel responded by stepping up its attacks. What will the President do if Israel refuses to comply? A: The President telephoned Prime Minister Sharon yesterday and informed him that if the Israeli army did not pull out of the West Bank, Mr. Bush will shriek like a little girl. Q: Critics have charged that the President's foreign policy is in disarray. Would you comment on that? A: I'm glad you brought that up, because we're all getting tired of the President taking the blame for other people's failures. So far in this Administration, we've met twice with the President of Mexico to discuss issues of vital importance and those meetings, with one minor exception, were a huge success. Q: What was the exception? A: The President really should learn to cut back on the bean burritos, if you know what I mean Q: What about our relations with our other strategic allies? A: The President recently concluded a very successful Far East trip, one in which he congratulated the Japanese on 150 years of partnership for peace with America. Q: Wasn't Japan our enemy during World War II? A: The Japanese? Shit, was that really the Japanese?! We thought it was Taiwan! Q: No. Taiwan is the island that the President referred to as a "country" even though for the past thirty years the U.S. has acknowledged that Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China. A: He really said that? Well, then who are the Koreans? Q: North or South? A: Oh, you're just screwing with me now, aren't you? Who knew that there were two Koreas? But suffice to say that both Korea are one of the three axes of evil, along with Iraq...and... Q: Iran? A: Yes. Exactly. Iran. Q: None of the September 11 hijackers were from Iran, Iraq, or Korea. In fact, fifteen of the nineteen hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Why didn't Saudi Arabia make the list? A: We take a comprehensive view of a nation before we declare it a terrorist state. That includes its political climate and its willingness to cooperate in the war on terrorism, not to mention its non-conference schedule and it's won-loss record against ranked opponents. Q: Weren't those last two criteria for getting at-large bids in the NCAA basketball tournament? A: Could be. But in a related matter, we're pleased to announce that the University of Indiana is off our list of terrorist nations. Q: Is that because of their appearance in the NCAA championship game? A: Yes. And because Bobby Knight is now coaching in another time zone. Q: There has been some talk that former President Clinton might be named a Special Envoy to the Middle East to mediate the current Israeli/Palestinian crisis. Could this happen? A: That could happen -- right after we hand over the keys to the White House to Al Gore. Q: So you're saying that... A: Right after Sharon and Arafat get themselves a little apartment in the East Village and open their own custom framing business. Q: So your message is... A: Right after David Spade wins an Emmy. Q: I think I get your point... A: Right after the Red Sox win the World Series. Q: Looking ahead, what are the President's foreign policy objectives for the remainder of his term? A: Right now we're working with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to begin deportation of persons who represent a threat to our nation. Q: You mean some of the 1,000 Arab-Americans being held in prison since September 11? A: No, some of the 49,274,146 people who voted for Al Gore on November 7.

Courtesy of The Democratic Underground

April 8, 2002
Trademark Idiocy Edition

If you're looking for conservative idiocy, the
ten listed below are trademark specimens. Jeb
Bush (1) tries to make it illegal to criticize him
during an election year, Rush Limbaugh (3) puts
"Crossfire" in the crossfire, and Rev. Michael Taylor
(4) says Dubya was chosen by God. Meanwhile,
Carl Ford and James Kelly (5) do the Taiwan slush-fund shuffle,
Spence Abraham (6) chows down, and Edmund Matricardi III
(7) engages in some (alleged) GOP dirty tricks. Finally, Bush
Administration Officials (10) don't think you're clapping loud
enough! So clap! Louder! And click here for the icons.

Jeb Bush
Itching to pick a fight with Governor Jebbie as he
struggles for re-election this year? Of course you are; we all
hate that guy. Here's a word of advice: you had better not
call the Jebster by name, because you might find yourself
slapped with a nasty lawsuit. You see, he's getting his name
trademarked so nobody else can use it. It all seems innocent
enough: Jeb claims to be upset that a GOP front group,
"Americans for Jeb Bush" shouldn't have the right to use his
name, because people might get confused... So he's
trademarking it. I know what you're thinking: Hey, if Jeb
wants to shut down a Republican group, that's great. Not so
fast there, buckaroo. What happens when some Dems start a
group called "Americans to defeat Jeb Bush"? Once Jeb
Bush(TM) has the legal precedent he wants, do you think he's
going to call off the lawyers when some Democrats try the
same thing? Don't count on it. I'm not real big on conspiracy
theories, but I'm guessing we won't see a very vigorous legal
defense from the folks over at Americans for Jeb Bush.

Right-Wing Warmongers
As the Middle East goes up in smoke and George W.
Bush sits on his ass in Crawford, right-wing warhawks are
lining up to encourage Bush to continue his do-nothing
policies. Bills Kristol and Bennett, the Wall Street Journal,
and the National Review (among others) have recently been
bashing any attempts by the administration - no matter how
pathetic - to restart the peace process as "moral confusion"
and "Clintonite wishful thinking." (Yes, we must end the
nightmare of peace and prosperity!) Of course, Bush's
nonsensical black-and-white "you're either with us or against
us" doctrine is causing a bit of a problem - because now the
same hawks who advocate direct intervention in Afghanistan
and Iraq have suddenly had to shut up when it comes to the
Israel/Palestine conflict. Which just goes to show that the
right-wingnut hawks would rather see endless war in the
Middle East than appear to contradict themselves.

Rush Limbaugh
Some conservatives aren't ashamed to contradict
themselves though, and here's the master: Rush Limbaugh.
Sweatboy had an interesting review of the new "Crossfire" up
on his website last week, a review which would leave even
the most hypocrisy-resistant gagging and clutching at their
throats as they struggled to stay upright. Comments such as,
"These are not broadcasters, folks, they're partisans. They're
childish, immature little kids in a sandbox kicking stuff
around," and, "Do they really think that a bunch of sniveling,
partisan hacks lying through their teeth is going to build a
huge audience?" leave one wondering whether Kaptain Krispy
Kreme has left the planet Earth for good and is now orbiting
a faraway sun somewhere in another dimension. Rush, here's
a mirror. Take a good look in it, and (assuming it doesn't
break) say H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E two hundred fifty times.
Feeling any slight twinges of shame? Nah, thought not.

Rev. Michael Taylor
I would have thought that ministers of the Lord were
above such earthly pursuits as sycophantic brown-nosing,
but apparently that ain't the case in Bush country. George Jr.
got a good laugh out of his Easter service last week when the
Reverend Michael Taylor started banging on about how the
outcome of the 2000 presidential election was the will of
God. "My friend, President Bush, for us who believe, that day
of the counting it was all over but the shouting," he said, to a
rousing chorus of "Amen!" Taylor went on, "My friends, a lot
of you are here strictly to visit and to see dignitaries that are
with us this morning, but you really ought to be here to visit
with Jesus Christ." This was a reference to front row, which
was filled entirely by the Bush family, including George H.W.
Bush (sold arms to terrorists), George W. Bush (drinking,
drugs, draft-dodging, AWOL, executioner), Laura Bush
(vehicular manslaughter), and Jenna Bush (drunk and
disorderly). God certainly does move in mysterious ways!

Carl Ford and James Kelly
From the "honor and integrity" file: Recently, Taiwan
was rocked by news of a secret NT$3.5 billion slush fund
which was used to buy favors for Taiwan in Washington, DC,
and elsewhere around the world. Leaked documents indicate
that two Bush Administration officials received payments
from the slush fund before they were tapped to join the
administration. One official, Carl Ford, is now the assistant
secretary of defense for intelligence and research, and the
other, James Kelly is the assistant secretary of state of East
Asia. Online Journal reports that Carl Ford was responsible for
millions of dollars donated to the Bush campaign and the
RNC. This raises questions of possible indirect foreign
campaign contributions, something which the GOP tried
(unsuccessfully) to pin on Al Gore. So, where's the outrage
about illegal Chinese campaign contributions this time? And
why isn't the liberal media all over this story?

Spence Abraham
Spence Abraham has one of the most difficult jobs in
Washington - planning his entire schedule around food.
According to the Washington Post, "His appointment
schedule is crammed with culinary references," including
"scheduling lunch," "working lunch," strategy lunch," and "a
'get to know each other' lunch." But it's not just lunch - how
about, "snacks," "heavy hors d'oeurves," "breakfast,"
"sandwiches," "cocktail party," "dinner," and, of course, a
"cook-off." Interestingly all this gastronomic information
comes from the energy policy documents which were
released recently but mysteriously censored (see Idiots 61).
Seems that the Bush administrations is much more
interested in you knowing the content of Spence Abraham's
stomach than knowing exactly what Dick Cheney did for Ken
Lay...

Edmund Matricardi III
This just in from the Republican dirty tricks
department. Last week the Associated Press reported that the
executive director of the Virginia Republican Party, Edmund
Matricardi III, allegedly tapped illegally into a telephone call
between Democratic Governor Mark Warner, Democratic state
legislators and their lawyers as they plotted strategy in a
redistricting case. While Matricardi refused comment on the
case, one prominent GOPer gave an eyebrow-raising
explanation: According to House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins,
the most powerful Republican legislator in the state,
"operatives play these games all the time." Oh really? Maybe
Republican operatives do.

Bradley County, Tennessee
The Constitution forbids the display of the Ten
Commandments in public schools. But public schools can
teach about the Ten Commandments, as long as it is done in
a historical context. So fundies across the country have been
trying to do an end-run around the U.S. Constitution by
posting the Ten Commandments in a historical context. But
usually the effort spent adding "historical context" is so
half-assed that these displays are blatantly unconstitutional.
(Imagine a giant full-color poster of Moses holding the Ten
Commandments, next to tiny white three-by-five cards with
ball-point-pen stick figures labeled "Julius Caesar,"
"Alexander the Great," "Phaeroah" [sic], and, for good
measure, "Martin Luther King, Jr.") After Bradley County,
Tennessee, decided to display the Commandments in a
similar fashion, a clever student filed suit asking that they
also display the Five Pillars of Islam in a historical context.
School officials who were previously so keen on teaching
religious history, suddenly lost enthusiasm. "At this point we
have our agendas full, and there's no point in the immediate
future to address that," said Commission Chairman Mike
Smith. Score another victory for separation of Church and
State!

Paul Scott
Paul Scott, a parent in El Cajon, Califorinia, recently
filed a discrimination claim on behalf of his school-aged
daughter. According to the claim, Mr. Scott thinks that his
daughter's right to privacy is being violated because she has
to share a bathroom with lesbian students, so he wants the
local school superintendent to designate separate bathrooms
for gay students and straight students. Fortunately, local
education officials rejected the claim outright. Apparently Mr.
Scott didn't get the memo when the whole "separate but
equal" thing was rejected by the Supreme Court about half a
century ago.

Bush Administration Officials
And finally: If you ever get the opportunity to go see
George W. Bush in person, remember this: APPLAUD.
VIGOROUSLY. Because if you don't, you see yourself on the
receiving end of the over-sensitive and easily provoked Bush
Administration Spin Machine. Just ask Paul Krugman. At the
recent Gridiron Dinner, while the rest of the media elite were
clapping like a pathetic bunch of trained sea lions, Krugman
did not. According to an anonymous White House source,
Krugman "refused to applaud any of the military leaders who
were announced, nor did he applaud the president, the vice
president or any members of the president's staff." The
source added that Krugman, who was seated in the audience
with hundreds of other people, "stuck out like a sore thumb."
Things are getting ominous here, people. It used to be that
you would get attacked if you criticized the president. Now
the Bush goon squad will publicly savage you if you don't
clap hard enough. See you next week!

Courtesy of The Democratic Underground

Top Ten Conservative Idiots

April 8, 2002
Trademark Idiocy Edition

If you're looking for conservative idiocy, the
ten listed below are trademark specimens. Jeb
Bush (1) tries to make it illegal to criticize him
during an election year, Rush Limbaugh (3) puts
"Crossfire" in the crossfire, and Rev. Michael Taylor (4) says Dubya was chosen by God. Meanwhile, Carl Ford and James Kelly (5) do the Taiwan slush-fund shuffle, Spence Abraham (6) chows down, and Edmund Matricardi III (7) engages in some (alleged) GOP dirty tricks. Finally, Bush
Administration Officials (10) don't think you're clapping loud enough! So clap! Louder! And click here for the icons.

Jeb Bush
Itching to pick a fight with Governor Jebbie as he
struggles for re-election this year? Of course you are; we all hate that guy. Here's a word of advice: you had better not call the Jebster by name, because you might find yourself
slapped with a nasty lawsuit. You see, he's getting his name trademarked so nobody else can use it. It all seems innocent enough: Jeb claims to be upset that a GOP front group,
"Americans for Jeb Bush" shouldn't have the right to use his
name, because people might get confused... So he's
trademarking it. I know what you're thinking: Hey, if Jeb
wants to shut down a Republican group, that's great. Not so
fast there, buckaroo. What happens when some Dems start a
group called "Americans to defeat Jeb Bush"? Once Jeb
BushÖ has the legal precedent he wants, do you think he's
going to call off the lawyers when some Democrats try the
same thing? Don't count on it. I'm not real big on conspiracy
theories, but I'm guessing we won't see a very vigorous legal
defense from the folks over at Americans for Jeb Bush.

Right-Wing Warmongers
As the Middle East goes up in smoke and George W.
Bush sits on his ass in Crawford, right-wing warhawks are
lining up to encourage Bush to continue his do-nothing
policies. Bills Kristol and Bennett, the Wall Street Journal,
and the National Review (among others) have recently been
bashing any attempts by the administration - no matter how
pathetic - to restart the peace process as "moral confusion"
and "Clintonite wishful thinking." (Yes, we must end the
nightmare of peace and prosperity!) Of course, Bush's
nonsensical black-and-white "you're either with us or against
us" doctrine is causing a bit of a problem - because now the
same hawks who advocate direct intervention in Afghanistan
and Iraq have suddenly had to shut up when it comes to the
Israel/Palestine conflict. Which just goes to show that the
right-wingnut hawks would rather see endless war in the
Middle East than appear to contradict themselves.

Rush Limbaugh
Some conservatives aren't ashamed to contradict
themselves though, and here's the master: Rush Limbaugh.
Sweatboy had an interesting review of the new "Crossfire" up
on his website last week, a review which would leave even
the most hypocrisy-resistant gagging and clutching at their
throats as they struggled to stay upright. Comments such as,
"These are not broadcasters, folks, they're partisans. They're
childish, immature little kids in a sandbox kicking stuff
around," and, "Do they really think that a bunch of sniveling,
partisan hacks lying through their teeth is going to build a
huge audience?" leave one wondering whether Kaptain Krispy
Kreme has left the planet Earth for good and is now orbiting
a faraway sun somewhere in another dimension. Rush, here's
a mirror. Take a good look in it, and (assuming it doesn't
break) say H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E two hundred fifty times.
Feeling any slight twinges of shame? Nah, thought not.

Rev. Michael Taylor
I would have thought that ministers of the Lord were
above such earthly pursuits as sycophantic brown-nosing,
but apparently that ain't the case in Bush country. George Jr.
got a good laugh out of his Easter service last week when the
Reverend Michael Taylor started banging on about how the
outcome of the 2000 presidential election was the will of
God. "My friend, President Bush, for us who believe, that day
of the counting it was all over but the shouting," he said, to a
rousing chorus of "Amen!" Taylor went on, "My friends, a lot
of you are here strictly to visit and to see dignitaries that are
with us this morning, but you really ought to be here to visit
with Jesus Christ." This was a reference to front row, which
was filled entirely by the Bush family, including George H.W.
Bush (sold arms to terrorists), George W. Bush (drinking,
drugs, draft-dodging, AWOL, executioner), Laura Bush
(vehicular manslaughter), and Jenna Bush (drunk and
disorderly). God certainly does move in mysterious ways!

Carl Ford and James Kelly
From the "honor and integrity" file: Recently, Taiwan
was rocked by news of a secret NT$3.5 billion slush fund
which was used to buy favors for Taiwan in Washington, DC,
and elsewhere around the world. Leaked documents indicate
that two Bush Administration officials received payments
from the slush fund before they were tapped to join the
administration. One official, Carl Ford, is now the assistant
secretary of defense for intelligence and research, and the
other, James Kelly is the assistant secretary of state of East
Asia. Online Journal reports that Carl Ford was responsible for
millions of dollars donated to the Bush campaign and the
RNC. This raises questions of possible indirect foreign
campaign contributions, something which the GOP tried
(unsuccessfully) to pin on Al Gore. So, where's the outrage
about illegal Chinese campaign contributions this time? And
why isn't the liberal media all over this story?

Spence Abraham
Spence Abraham has one of the most difficult jobs in
Washington - planning his entire schedule around food.
According to the Washington Post, "His appointment
schedule is crammed with culinary references," including
"scheduling lunch," "working lunch," strategy lunch," and "a
'get to know each other' lunch." But it's not just lunch - how
about, "snacks," "heavy hors d'oeurves," "breakfast,"
"sandwiches," "cocktail party," "dinner," and, of course, a
"cook-off." Interestingly all this gastronomic information
comes from the energy policy documents which were
released recently but mysteriously censored (see Idiots 61).
Seems that the Bush administrations is much more
interested in you knowing the content of Spence Abraham's
stomach than knowing exactly what Dick Cheney did for Ken
Lay...

Edmund Matricardi III
This just in from the Republican dirty tricks
department. Last week the Associated Press reported that the
executive director of the Virginia Republican Party, Edmund
Matricardi III, allegedly tapped illegally into a telephone call
between Democratic Governor Mark Warner, Democratic state
legislators and their lawyers as they plotted strategy in a
redistricting case. While Matricardi refused comment on the
case, one prominent GOPer gave an eyebrow-raising
explanation: According to House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins,
the most powerful Republican legislator in the state,
"operatives play these games all the time." Oh really? Maybe
Republican operatives do.

Bradley County, Tennessee
The Constitution forbids the display of the Ten
Commandments in public schools. But public schools can
teach about the Ten Commandments, as long as it is done in
a historical context. So fundies across the country have been
trying to do an end-run around the U.S. Constitution by
posting the Ten Commandments in a historical context. But
usually the effort spent adding "historical context" is so
half-assed that these displays are blatantly unconstitutional.
(Imagine a giant full-color poster of Moses holding the Ten
Commandments, next to tiny white three-by-five cards with
ball-point-pen stick figures labeled "Julius Caesar,"
"Alexander the Great," "Phaeroah" [sic], and, for good
measure, "Martin Luther King, Jr.") After Bradley County,
Tennessee, decided to display the Commandments in a
similar fashion, a clever student filed suit asking that they
also display the Five Pillars of Islam in a historical context.
School officials who were previously so keen on teaching
religious history, suddenly lost enthusiasm. "At this point we
have our agendas full, and there's no point in the immediate
future to address that," said Commission Chairman Mike
Smith. Score another victory for separation of Church and
State!

Paul Scott
Paul Scott, a parent in El Cajon, Califorinia, recently
filed a discrimination claim on behalf of his school-aged
daughter. According to the claim, Mr. Scott thinks that his
daughter's right to privacy is being violated because she has
to share a bathroom with lesbian students, so he wants the
local school superintendent to designate separate bathrooms
for gay students and straight students. Fortunately, local
education officials rejected the claim outright. Apparently Mr.
Scott didn't get the memo when the whole "separate but
equal" thing was rejected by the Supreme Court about half a
century ago.

Bush Administration Officials
And finally: If you ever get the opportunity to go see
George W. Bush in person, remember this: APPLAUD.
VIGOROUSLY. Because if you don't, you see yourself on the
receiving end of the over-sensitive and easily provoked Bush
Administration Spin Machine. Just ask Paul Krugman. At the
recent Gridiron Dinner, while the rest of the media elite were
clapping like a pathetic bunch of trained sea lions, Krugman
did not. According to an anonymous White House source,
Krugman "refused to applaud any of the military leaders who
were announced, nor did he applaud the president, the vice
president or any members of the president's staff." The
source added that Krugman, who was seated in the audience
with hundreds of other people, "stuck out like a sore thumb."
Things are getting ominous here, people. It used to be that
you would get attacked if you criticized the president. Now
the Bush goon squad will publicly savage you if you don't
clap hard enough. See you next week!

What is important to one person isn't so important to another. Clearly the First Amendment is very important; it affects all of us in ways that we often take for granted. In most countries, you can get thrown in jail or worse over something as trivial as a personal website. The only reason that is not the case here in the USA is because people are vigilant in its defense.

The radical right wing, led by people like Attorney General John Ashcroft is now running the government in the US. Without the protection of the First Amendment, we would quite quickly descend into a fascist hell like Germany did in the 1930's. Believe me, these people have no respect whatsoever for civil rights. Don't believe me? Go surf at Democratic Underground for awhile and you will see what I mean.