goddamn pussy republicans 2005.Jun.25 10:18

These lousy fucks need to be sent to Iraq to shine our troops' shoes and clean their guns. Or better yet, to serve as human shields since our Dear Leader thought it fitting to send our soldiers out without any armor.

These people are disgusting. They say liberals don't support the troops. But these pricks probably wouldn't even help a baby lying out in the middle of the street. Fuck them. I hope they find out how the welfare system works the hard way.

permalink | 1 writebacks

republicans are nazis 2005.Jun.24 09:50

This is from the horse's mouth itself, as it were.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Republican Party is an institution of anti-Americanism. They have funneled taxes from 98% of Americans into the pockets of their wealthy dick suckers supporters. They have sent brave American soldiers to their doom, lying to their face as they did so. They have cut funding for health care and disability benefits to the soldiers who were lucky enough to survive. They continue to support terrorist and despotic regimes such as Israel and Saudi Arabia. They authorize detention of innocent people and torture, and have committed crimes against humanity. They are attempting to destroy the Constitution, the document that defines the U.S. This is, pure an simple, treason and subversion of the Republic, and if there is any justice in the world, these sick bastards will get their own version of Nuremberg.

permalink | 0 writebacks

karl rove can suck my big fat hairy dick 2005.Jun.23 23:44

what an assmonkey. this guy should be sent to Abu Ghraib and sodomized until his teeth fall out. remember this, folks. karl rove is an enemy of the American people, and an enemy of the brave soldiers who are dying in Iraq. and his cowardly words prove it.

permalink | 0 writebacks

batman vs the terrorists 2005.Jun.19 21:25

Chris Nolan has an interesting take on Batman in Batman Begins with regard to the manipulation of fear and the use of force that makes it extraordinarily topical. He infuses the character of Ras Al Ghul with sensibilities very similar to many religious fanatics: we are doing what we are doing for the good of humanity. Gotham City is full of corruption and criminality, and sometimes killing millions of innocent people is the only way to save them. This obviously resonates with Osama bin Laden's critique of the West, which he considers the ultimate in evil, wickedness, and depravity. And this also echoes the sentiments of many so-called Americans who delusionally believe that God is on their side. If you think back to 9/11, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and some other evangelicals proclaimed that New York City had brought this upon itself, with its embrace of liberalism and homosexuality, to name a few traits offensive to these lunatics.

And lest you are not familiar with the DC Comics millieu, Gotham City is essentially an alternate incarnation of NYC (tangent: much of the movie, however, was shot in Chicago), and, if you take my analogy a little further, you could say that Gotham City basically represents urban America and the culture that it promulgates. It is a Platonic manifestation of the progressive West.

In essence, both Islamic extremists and Christian extremists share the same view: to purge the world of evil, urban America and its culture must be eradicated.

Now this is all well and good until you realize that no sacred scripture actually sanctions mass homicide. There is, of course, the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were indeed razed by God, but the actual moral of that story was about God's mercifulness. If Abraham could find at least one person who was worth saving in either of those cities, then God would spare them. Of course, he couldn't, so they were destroyed.

In contrast, however, Batman finds several good people in Gotham, which should be enough to redeem it. But the problem is that Ras Al Ghul, and real people like Osama bin Laden and Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson argue otherwise, and it is because they lack the key characteristic that Batman possesses which separates him from the animalistic criminals he fights: compassion.

It should be pointed out that Abraham is the often considered the father of both Judaism and Islam (and therefore, also of Christianity), and I think it is important to note that he was the one who believed that it was better for millions of wicked people to remain alive than for one innocent soul to be killed. (And these whack-jobs talk about the "culture of life." What bullshit. Anyway.)

Some literary critics consider American comics as defining American mythology. Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman, et al from DC Comics, and Spiderman, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, et cetera from Marvel Comics. These are our modern day conceptions of the gods and goddesses from ancient times, before the fire and the sword forced many to disavow them and swear fealty to the One God. I think Chris Nolan has crafted a very powerful interpretation of the Batman story, one which people ought to take to heart: the only thing that separates humans from animals, that distinguishes the sinner who can be saved and the soulless who are damned, is compassion. (Which, interestingly, echoes the central tenet of another of the world's major religions, Buddhism.)

permalink | 0 writebacks

cannon fodder 2005.Jun.16 00:55

cynical thought: now I know that ostensibly the anti-abortion stance is predicated on religion, but I wonder if it's not just part of the chain for the neocon plan for never-ending war: every embryo they "save" is a potential recruit in the "war against terror"

permalink | 0 writebacks

radical, dude 2005.Jun.09 07:00

I really don't understand why Howard Dean is getting so much shit for calling a spade a spade. Is not the Republican Party essentially white and Christian? Is not the Republican Party the haven for the intolerant? The ideological home of the wingnut racist who believes in an exclusionary afterlife that damns all the "non-believers"?

All you centrist pussies can whine all you like, but, come on, why can't we call it like it is?

The centrists continue to miss the singular lesson of the 2000 election. Think back. Remember who the spoiler was? Remember why Florida went to the GOP? (Besides the irregularities and the Republican thuggery and Jim Crow reborn.) Do any of you people remember a dude named Nader?

Were Naderites centrist, namby-pamby, I-don't-want-to-offend-anybody, especially not my white Christian CEO overlords, kind of folk?

Hell, no.

Look, folks. Let me spell it out for you. Corruption aside (and you don't need to tell me twice that there was a shitload of corruption), the Democratic Party in 2000 failed to capture the radical Left's vote, plain and simple.

Oh, and do you think the youth of our nation are moved by people who want to compromise with the GOP? Do you think they're really all that interested about going out to Iraq and dying for no good reason? Have you ever heard the phrase "keeping it real"? Come on. Young people have pretty good bullshit detectors (so much so that perhaps everything seems like bullshit.) If you're going to hem and haw and refuse to tell it like it is, you are not going to get the youth vote.

And, yeah, I appreciate the criticism that we should stop comparing ourselves to the Republic Party, and yeah, I appreciate the criticism that we need to focus on the message and not take pot shots at our rivals, but, shit, look how well the strategy is working for the GOP! The loudest voices are way right, and no one even bats an eye when they sanction the killing of judges, or the practice of torture, or when they discriminate brazenly against homosexuals, ethnic minorities, and women.

Look, the center is going to vote for their interests. They're really not all that interested in ideology. Those who continue to do well in the current climate will likely vote Republican. Those who are eating shit will likely vote Democratic. And given the ever-widening gap between rich and poor, you can see mathematically where the center is probably going to go.

The margins, on the other hand, are looking for a cause.

Think about it. Do you really think that an enormous majority of centrists voted for Bush in 2004? Come on, even with all the corruption and thuggery, Bush narrowly captured a majority. Chances are, it was pretty much 50-50.

But who would've tipped the balance to the Right? Yup, the wingnuts. The radical right. Those are the guys running the show, not the centrists, whatever you think. The centrists are starting to pee in their pants and some of them are considering jumping ship. The centrists will come in their due time.

Besides, the center is such a moving target. Does anyone really have a tried and true formula that'll capture the center? Of course not. It's much easier to pander to the radical wing of your party. And when it comes to the Left, these are the folk who won't vote otherwise. These are the people we need to mobilize, even if in the end, we don't want them running the entire agenda.

Look, people. We've got to fight fire with fire. We have to stop with this appeasement bullshit. Anyone who thinks that Democrats can get people to defect from the Republican party is smoking way too much weed. The people who matter are the ones who didn't vote. The youth, for one. The disenchanted activists. The minorities who don't really see much hope in a centrist message that is targeted to, yup, white Christians.

The center will take care of itself. You really think that middle class folks whose bank accounts and retirement plans are tanking right now are going to defect from the Democratic Party and vote Republican so that they can even be poorer than they already are? (And shit, if they do, who needs morons like that anyway!?!) Look to the Left. Look to the idealogues, the folks actually interested in change, the people who actually look at the big picture, who have ideas. The centrist agenda is simple and impossible to tack down: all they want to be is comfortable, and that is a horrifically vague target. But the radical Left tend to have concrete ideas. Show them that the world doesn't have to be as shitty as it is. Stop trying to be Republican-Lite. Stand up for your party for chrissake!

permalink | 1 writebacks