Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Terry Schiavo... again

GratisNet: "If I read or hear one more person say that while they oppose removing the feeding tube, they would not oppose 'heroic' measures being stopped, ie: respirators, etc. I will shout, ENOUGH already!

Do not these self righteous cretins realize what they are really saying? Do they really find no problem with suffocating someone (turning off a respirator) while depriving a person of food & water (via a feeding tube, which is a heroic measure, look it up) is a no-no?

If so, then it is not that they have a problem with killing the disabled then, it is only the manner in which the termination is accomplished. Some sanctity of life. Some Christians, Some hypocrites."

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Terry Shiavo

GratisNet: "What can one say about the farce playing out over that poor woman? The republicans, totally selling out to politics, force the federal courts to rule on the state court actions. So much for their cherished States Rights. So far the feds have refused to intervene, as has the Florida legislature. Democrats, on the other hand, lacked the common sense, principles and yes, political courage, to not go along with those republicans in congress willing to destroy the integrity of the state court system as well as two centuries of jurisprudence. Shame on them.

Senator Frist. One could only hope that he takes his surgery skills more seriously than he does his attempt at diagnosing the state of Shiavo's awareness based on a years old video tape. One could hope that he is not just another slimeball politician trying to cash in on the troubles of this poor woman. One could hope but one would be diappointed. Interesting that he gave his diagnosis on the floor of the senate and not in a TV studio. Could it be that any member of congress cannot be held legally liable for anything they say on the floor of congress while it is in session?

The parents of Ms Schiavo. As a parent I can understand and have empathy for any parent who has to come to grips with the fact that their child is gone. What I cannot understand is why they cannot understand the their daughter has been gone for many years and it is only her body that is here, with the autonomic nervous system of the brain stem keeping her diaphragm moving and her heart beating. I do not understand why, if they are so concerned for her, they are not caring for her themselves, as they did for some time early in this sorry story.

The people, including the family of Ms. Shiavo) who are engaged (and have been for some time) in the character assassination of her husband are despicable. The media outlets that promote the tales of these people are even lower.

I would hope that her family comes to understand that it is in the best interests of everyone to recognize that Terry's spirit, or essence or whatever it is that makes a person a person, has long since left this plane of existence and it is past time to let her body do the same."

Saturday, March 19, 2005

More random thoughts.

GratisNet: "Dan Rostenkowski and the late Jim Wright to be eclipsed as the most corrupt congressmen in recent memory by none other than Tom Delay who makes all who have come before look like altar boys in comparison.

Ulysses S. Grant, somewhere out there, rejoicing that his sorry administration has been replaced by that of the Lyin' King as the most corrupt in the history of America.

Warren G. Harding, somewhere out there, rejoicing that in comparison to the Lyin' King, he is the epitome of a successful president.

The Founders, somewhere out there, shaking their heads in bewilderment over what has become of their great experiment

Lady Liberty, hanging her head in shame over what the Lyin' King and his Band of Bullies have done to the time honored and cherished tenets of American democracy"

Friday, March 18, 2005

Random thoughts.

GratisNet: "Some random thoughts while coping with a medical emergency this past week.

Why is the congress holding hearings about steroid use in baseball? Please don't get me wrong, I believe that such use is wrong and is the only reason so many records, especially those relating to hitting, have been set over the past 20 years, but really. We have a regime that inserts faux journalists, and I am not referring to those employed by FOX News, working for faux news organizations into White House press conferences on a daily basis without doing even the most cursory background check. Why isn't the congress investigating this?

We have an ongoing debacle in Iraq, the result of going to war on a lie, on a plethora of lies. Why isn't the congress investigating this? We have the Coalition Provisional Authority, no it's not a purveyor of fine foods but the money squandering organization that was headed up by Paul Bremer (remember him?), having no clue as to the disposition of some $9 billion, yes that's nine BILLION dollars. Why isn't the congress investigating that? We have the obvious vote counting irregularities in Florida (2000), Georgia (2002) and Florida, Ohio, etc. (2004). Why isn't the congress investigating that, especially considering that the same irregularities occurring in Ukraine caused a great hue and cry in the self same congress over the 'integrity' of the vote, with calls for a new election?

We have the example of the Bush gang paying columnists and reporters (under the table, of course) to push their agenda in any number of areas. Why isn't the congress investigating this? We have the Bush gang using faux reporters (I'm not a reporter but I play one on TV), in faux news spots (which in another time and place would be called propaganda) to create infomercials in support of their dubious efforts to dismantle the positive changes of the 20th century, disguised as news that are distributed to local media the length and breadth of America, a practice that is in direct violation of US law. Why isn't the congress investigating this?

Why is the congress wasting our time and money with baseball and steroid use when each of the items noted above have several orders of magnitude more concern and impact upon America and its people? Why indeed. It is crystal clear that republicans cannot be trusted to put country above party. In that respect they are soul brothers to the apparatchiki of the old USSR and while it took some 70 years for the communist government to collapse and destroy the USSR (and nearly destroy Russia and the other republics in the process), republicans are on track to bring down democracy and totally destroy America as we have known it in a far shorter time frame."

Monday, March 07, 2005

How low have we sunk?

GratisNet: "Giuliana Sgrena says our troops fired without warning on her vehicle, on the open road to Bagdhad Airport. The driver of the car was a very experienced Iraqi driver, experienced in the ways of approaching US troops and checkpoints so as not to become a target. The man who negotiated her release was killed by a single shot to the head, after using his body to protect Sgrena, sniper perhaps? Of course the military explanation is totally at odds with Sgrena's account, are you surprised?

Sgrena says that as she was being released her captors told her to beware of the Americans for they would as soon you didn't go free. Why was that, why would American forces not wish her to be released? Is it, as rumored, that she has the goods regarding the use in the Siege of Falluja of chemical and biological agents forbidden by the Geneva Convention? Or perhaps her chief negotiator was the primary target because of what he may have been told or observed during the negotiaions that led to her release?

Our forces were told to expect a vehicle transporting her to the airport. Did not the message get relayed to the troops? If the message was relayed, does the event illustrate that our forces, for whatever reason, have become locked into a 'shoot first and ask questions later' mentality? Or is it simply because of the fact that they have blanket immunity from prosecution for anything that they do in 'the line of duty?' Either way does their action make you proud to be an American or does it make you want to gag at the thought of American forces emulating the inhumanity of the NAZI SS forces during WW2?

When will the American people finally have enough? Perhaps when Ms Sgrena writes her story, perhaps then it will become time for the thugs of the Bush regime to pay the piper. But don't expect to see anything in the American media for they will be too occupied with the likes of the Jackson trial, Martha's release, etc. then to cover the increasing descent into barbarism of our military forces or the inexorable movement toward fascism by the republican right.

The latest misadventure of our forces in Iraq say much about them but our reaction to such an outrage says even more about us."

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Columbia University Democrats nail it.

GratisNet: "Columbia University Democrats came up with a slogan as to why they were democrats and not republicans:

'Because bigotry isn't a moral value.'

That about nails it, eh?"

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Meltdown

Asian nations are deciding what they can do to limit their exposure to the
weakening dollar. Perhaps they will decide that our paper will soon be
a bad investment. United States government bonds, once the most stable
and solid of financial instruments have rapidly fallen to barely better
than junk bonds due to the fiscal irresponsibilty of Bush and the
republicans. They have cut revenues while dramatically increasing
spending, in fact they make the proverbial drunken sailor look like a
skinflint, a tightwad. The Europeans have pretty much come to the same
conclusions as the Asians and are currently rethinking their support
for the dollar as well as buying more of our bonds.

Where will it all end? At what point will the world, in self defense,
say enough is enough? Consider that with the Bush gang in the White House
and republicans in control of the congress, booming deficits are in our
future for as far as the eye can see. What does that portend for our
economy and that of the world? At what point will America's need for
money to fund current deficit spending as well as the interest due on
prior bonds and the redemption of prior bonds approach such levels as
to completely choke off the availability of capital for anything else?
What will happen to the economy, indeed to our society, when the
government sucks up all available capital in order to continue, and
pay, for its intemperate stewardship of the national finances?

Think if you will, no money for new homes. No money for mortages of
any kind. No money for business and industrial expansion. No money
for student loans, or automobile loans or loans of any kind. What
will that do to the "Ownership Society" charade Bush and his band of
fascists are trying to foist upon us? Quite simply the "Ownership
Society" will come to mean the the ownership society belongs to the
government and we have seen that before. In Russia, Germany, Italy,
Argentinia, Chile and banana republics everywhere. Whenever such ideas
have grown in the world, democracy and freedom have died. To be sure,
the fascists and dictators have always masked their goals with words
like freedom, democracy, honor, ethics but if history has taught us
anything it has shown that fascists, dictators and miscreants such as
Bush and his gang of thugs have no honor, ethics or respect for democracy
and freedom. They have only their avarice and need for power.

Wake up America for the point of no return for our democracy approaches
apace.