Better than Nixon saying (as Vice President) "you won't have Dick Nixon around anymore" Of course he lied. Later he said "I am not a crook!" Again, he perjured. Trump was very succinct. To the point. "I'm fucked" ... actually, he's sodomized with a shovel, sideways so it would hurt more.
Tag: Pilgrims
Tis the season once more….
for the Talk Radio Hate Speech about a "war on Christmas." I don't actually think they're stupid, mind you, they know full well that they're lying... and omitting a HUGE amount of data. So, to fact check them ONCE MORE... The Founding Fathers never instituted either Christmas or Thanksgiving as national holidays. Nor did the Pilgrims. Nor the Puritans. Abraham Lincoln did recognize both, but with the emphasis on Thanksgiving. Some of Lincolns closest friends and advisers were rabid anti-Catholics. King James First was crowned king because he was, at least in name, a Protestant. King James invited the Puritans and the Pilgrims, not very courteously, to get out of England. Because they said he was too Catholic. Their major sticking point was Christmas. He was for it. They were against it. The Hate Radio people insist that we're supposed to rule America and just by consequential extension, the entire world, by the several bickering groups of Late Medieval Feudal Warlords who were killing each other and a whole bunch of civilians in Europe at the time, and had just begun to tear up America, over different interpretations of the Christian faith. As usual in these Battles of (nit)Wits, the primary victims were Other Christians. Because in England at the time there were few openly Non-Christians to be had. Jews maybe. Jews who were burned at the stake, hanged, tortured etc etc right along with people suspected of Witchcraft. Or Christian Blasphemy. Which brings it to the central theme of the Hate Speech Radio Talkmongers. Why, you might ask, did the "founding fathers" NOT establish a natoinal religion? Well, I might answer, the slaughter of Christians by Christians was fresh in their memories. Washington had participated in an extremely bloody extension of an ongoing European "holy" war between Catholics and Protestants. In America the casualty count was comparatively low, mostly because the White Population was relatively low. Which brings up that ugly business of the Founding Fathers being Anti-American, as in, anti-Indian. In the mad rush to cast the Puritans especially but also the Pilgrims as Pure Saints who get to make our daily decisions and run our Government from Beyond The Grave, they have to omit details. Lots of Details. The scene replayed in countless Thanksgiving pageants of Racial Harmony between English Invaders and Americans has many dark corners that the Haters don't want to illuminate. It complicates the simplicity of their "war on christmas" ranting. And if they encouraged their listeners to actually think it would be bad for their bottom line. For instance many Puritans wrestled with the question of Where Did The Indians Originate? Because we're not mentioned in Genesis. Some, like the witch-hunter Cotten Mather,often quoted by the Hate-mongers on Fox News and Clear Channel as being a "Founding Father" whose original intent is Holy and Beyond Question, not only hated Christmas but also many of the toys which are now given for Christmas, meaning Dolls, were declared by him an his contemporaries as being Agents of the Devil. And that Indians have no souls, since we're not
In the dawning of the year 517 A.C.
Like in “After Columbus” or “Apocalypse Came” or “Anti-Cherokee” or “Aw, Crap! There’s not Any Chance of getting A Check in the mail today!” So there was a pow-wow the other day of First Nations peoples, downtown. Actually there’s been quite a few and I haven’t attended a single one. Right now I’m waking up, the last thing I did before crawling into the ol’ cot at some ungodly Pre-dawn hour was download a Beginner Course in speaking Cherokee. Because if I do attend a pow-wow I at least want to be able to say “good morning” in an American language. On the website for it, (I’ll post the address later) there was a short beginning on Cherokee written history. Which the teacher Sikawi aka Sequoia developed and published in 1821. The “alphabet” for writing Cherokee. A syllabary would be closer to the right word, it’s 86 characters that represent the phonemes of the Muskogeean languages. And as it turns out, the majority of the other American Indian languages can be written thus. I’ve been embarrassed for decades now that I don’t speak any of my heritage. I don’t speak Gaelic nor do I speak Cherokee. I know more words in German and Korean than I do Cherokee, and I can’t carry on an intelligent conversation in either of those languages. Turns out I’m not alone in that. When Sikawi wrote the syllabary there were only 10% of the Cherokee Nation who didn’t speak Cherokee fluently. Today that’s exactly reversed. Oh, yeah, it’s Columbus Day. Just another chance to reflect on the utter arrogance of a group of nations far away deciding that their way of life was so very superior that they have not only a Right but a Holy Duty to impose it on everybody everywhere. To put it into more perspective, three nations, Portugal, Italy and Spain call Columbus their son. Spain and Portugal were duking it out on a regular basis on the subject of which one was the True Leader of the Crusades. Which were, and are, still active. Never officially ended. Neither did the Inquisition. Europe was closer then to Children’s Crusade than we are to the Pilgrims. They were reaping the harvest of those evil sowings that included introducing a new species of Rat to Europe, along with Bubonic Plague, through the careful mis-management of the Trade Routes they had established during the Crusades. The majority of Europeans were living in such utter squalor, that the etiquette of the man walking on the outside of the sidewalk was developed, because people tossed their garbage and emptied their chamber pots into the gutter of the streets. The man walking on the outside would thus be in a position to open his cloak whenever a wagon went by, so the filth of the street would be deflected from getting all over the Damsel Faire. Also the custom of men’s shirts and coats buttoning with the flap on the left and the buttons on the right… so a man could unbutton a couple, with
The G.I. Jihadi Doll…
So my brother was telling me, about a toy that brainwashes little Palestinian and Iraqi and Afghan children into growing up to be Suicide Bombers which is intensely Bullshit on many levels. One is the Fundamentalist Islamic aversion to Dolls, much like the Puritans and Pilgrims lynching people as "witches" for giving kids dolls to play with. But the preacher who told him this, and of course had never had any more experience with Islam than my brother did, said that the doll had a little toy sword, a little toy rifle, and toy bombs... Just like the very REAL toy made by a company with many Military Contracts, such as making the butt-piece for the M16 rifle, buttons for the uniforms...and their doll shown above has bombs, has a gun, has knives... The big difference is, THIS doll actually exists. When Right Wing Lunatics preach that the Terror Doll is being used to brainwash little kids into the Suicide Bomb Cult, their Brainless followers eat it up with a spoon... and fork... and Tabasco Sauce... When the Society of Friends, the Quakers, point out the REAL doll and how the REAL doll is used to lure AmeriKlan kids into the Killing Machine, romanticizing War and Death, The Right Wing Lunatics Scream that the QUAKERS must be Terrorists and accuse the QUAKERS of Hate Speech. Our Local Right Wing Radio Propagandist "Gunny" Bob for instance. Oh, yeah, Gunny, three words... Semper... Fi... BITCH... Then there's the idea that Muslim preachers tell the Suicide Bombers that God is on their side, and if they die while fighting the Infidel they'll be taken to Heaven and adored by God and all the Saints and all the Angels... oh, wait, that's EXACTLY what USAF and Army and Marine and Naval Chaplains tell the HOMICIDE Bombers before each mission.
Barack Obama’s billionaire backers
Nothing anybody will say will change the minds today of any of those religious pilgrims going to the Inauguration Day ceremonies in Washington and elsewhere. But who's really calling the shots for Obama? Barack Obama's billionaire backers A day of change in America? Hardly. America still is a deeply divided caste society.
Two-edged sword of imperative morality
Because there's the argument that we have a Moral Imperative to make war. Funny how those wars Usually always involve the Capture of More Wealth for those who insist that it's our Duty To God to spread our Superior Civilization to the Unwashed Heathen. When McCain admitted at the end of the 2nd debate that the real reason for the U.S. propping up Georgia was exactly the same as the reason the Russians propped up South Ossetia, ... because of the pipeline and which Economic Power would get to run it, and thus make the Other eat crap and die. Or similar sentiments. He showed clearly that we didn't have the Moral Imperative to take up the sword. And the reverse is true, we didn't have Imperative Morality. The necessary Moral High Ground to decide that we must Punish Russia for daring to act in the national interests of Russia rather than that of America. Nor the same for "our" actions in Iraq. nor, obviously, "our" supposed Moral Imperative to "Force N. Korea and Iran to bend to OUR Imperial Will" Because, really, when you have to FORCE somebody to bow to your Superiority, ... ... you didn't have any such Superiority to begin with. That bit about the Unwashed Heathen is basicly a huge joke. The guys who spew their Hate masked as Noble Concern For the Darker Races, like to point to the Pilgrims. Not wanting to admit that the Pilgrims needed the Indians more than the other way round, "they were spreading the blessings of English Moderation, Liberty and Christian Enlightenment"... And one of the things the Savages did which shocked the Pilgrims, the "far superior European Civilization"... was that the Indians actually had the "unnatural habit of bathing regularly". Yep, I just took a whole herd of Sacred Cows and lined them up in front of a Belt-Fed Water Cooled Machine-gun.
In praise of Pope Benedict and his boys
The Vatican has updated the list of the seven deadly sins! We are no longer to be concerned only with gluttony, lust, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. As if these weren't more than enough! Oh, woe is I. The new cardinal sins (those that require absolution from a priest to be forgiven -- otherwise you're lookin' at a stint in Purgatory) are pollution, mind-damaging drug use, and genetic experimentation. Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, also made mention of the ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots. "The poor are always becoming poorer and the rich ever more rich, feeding unsustainable social injustice....If yesterday sin had a rather individualistic dimension, today it has a weight, a resonance, that's especially social, rather than individual." The church seems to be walking the walk here, at least where the Earth's fate is concerned. During Pope Benedict's papacy, Vatican engineers have developed plans for some Holy See buildings to use solar energy, including photovoltaic cells on the roof of the auditorium for pilgrims' audiences with the pontiff. As for fighting social injustice, one needs only visit the Vatican to sense that perhaps the church has a way to go on this one. I've heard suggestions in the past that the church sell some of its astounding collection of artwork to help the poor. The reply is that the art should be considered public wealth, equally available for all to see. A reasonable argument, especially if one has the resources to make it to the Vatican. As for the billions in real estate owned by the church, reference is usually made to Jesus' obvious love for the temple in Jerusalem as justification. The big beautiful churches, after all, were not built at great monetary cost, but through the dedication of thousands of laborers and through the prayers of the faithful. Again, a reasonable position. The Vatican, the artwork, and the great churches of Europe are part of human history and probably shouldn't be sold off to collectors and developers for fast cash. It's not often that I find myself in agreement with the Catholic church. But I have to say, I think they are on the right track here.
The latest, boy is it stupid
I was on the bus going to Memorial yesterday. there was a copy of the Omygodzette laying on the seat across from me, open to a section somewhat removed from the headlines... Mr Bush has demanded a cut in Medicare and a quarter trillion for the war. In related news, the Decider has said the intelligence that Iraq was spiraling downward out of control is proof we need to stay and make it spiral a little faster. Scores of Iraqis were killed by a car bomb in a marketplace in Baghdad. Bushiites called it an atrocity, glad they can see that. But can they see that Americans killing scores of Iraqis in a bombing is just as much an atrocity? Since the bomber pretty mangled himself beyond any hope of redemption, how much would you bet that he will be tentatively ID'ed as an Iranian? If one group of Iraqis kills members of another group of Iraqis, that is baaaadddd . Unless the Iraqis doing the killing are the ones supported by George. And the ones being killed are not supported by George. They're all foreign fighters anyway. Our nigras wuz perfectly happy with segregation until all these here Outside Agitators started comin' down here and stirring them up.... 200-300 Iranian Messianic Cult Pilgrims killed with much smaller bombs (the explosives that push bullets down a tube pointed in the general direction of other humans) Goooooooddddd Do these freaks actually believe that being killed by a bullet is somehow going to make the guys or their families feel better? "It's okay, they didn't use nerve gas to kill him"
Lost in translation
Today 345 pilgrims in Saudi Arabia were stampeded to death. Hundreds more were injured. It happened in the frantic scramble of millions of pilgrims trying to edge close enough to three ancient pillars to cast 29 pebbles at them. Or something like that. Before the sun set. I wish I wasn't feeling so disheartened by this news. It's not about the loss of life exactly. Antiwar activists are trying their best to give meaning to the Iraqi deaths we've caused in this war while Muslims in Mecca are dying because they've trampled each other. When you take this religious war at face value you can see why many Americans dismiss Islam as a religion for simple people. On one hand you become convinced to take up the responsibility of the white man's burden, and on the other hand you want to subdue any militancy such a people might entertain toward threatening you. On a day like today it's hard not to want to hedge your bets with the Neocon zionists. A stampede like this has the propensity to happen every year at the ritual of the Ramajat. Sometimes the casualties have been many times more. Each year the government tries to improve the lay of the land to accommodate the increasing millions of pebble-throwing pilgrims. Imagine if everyone descending to the subway was determined to use just the leftmost turnstyle, and they weren't about to slow down to do it. Except that these death at Mecca were of their own choosing, and except that to die on the Hajj is an honorable death, this predictable tragedy appears synonymous with the useless muslim deaths by our hand. I cannot help but feel there's racism in my sentiments. These pilgrims weren't killed because they were stupid or simple or primitive. This is tradition meets technology, maximum capacity meets three million persons, this is crowd dynamics. I do not begrudge the Muslims their holy pursuits, especially as a response to the tragedies we've visited upon them. But couldn't the pilgrims or the Saudi government for that matter take a special war-time care not to appear careless about their own lives? It's a hard enough sell over here. Here American newspeople are still asking questions like "civilian casualties -are the lives of our soldiers being jeopardized by too great of a concern for the safety of Iraqi civilians?" It would be no great leap for a young American soldier to rationalize his callous barbarity. He can believe he's machine-gunning the "stupid Hadjis" to their eternal paradise.