Wipe that smirk…
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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It’s so much more preferable for you to print W’s words versus W’s image. (Well, I mean, comparatively speaking, and only if I have to choose between the two, of course.)
That’s because what he says, especially if taken out of context as a quote, often sounds like a comedy one-liner, whereas there’s nothing really funny about that face (even the chimp resemblance is an insult to chimps) — his pictures are a detailed, ongoing visual record for posterity of a total nut case, and so they are sickening, saddening, and often downright frightening.
And good grief! Doesn’t he look like the Grinch here?!
I think wipe is to genteel a word to use. How I’m feeling right now from the Schaivo debacle, the repugs attacking judges, women’s rights at the pharmacy and womens’ sports under attack, the relentless push to make this a christian theocracy, the bankruptcy bill passing thanks to so many chickenshit democrats, Darfur being ignored to say nothing of the whole immoral Iraq ‘war’, well I’ll let out my inner violent child for just a second and say that I wish ..you know I can’t even say what I wish for this empty suit.
Maybe in a perfect world he’ll finally get tried for War Crimes in the International Court and that will be his legacy and history. That he lives to a very advanced old age and becomes a worse pariah than Nixon ever was. That the repugs and everyone abandons him including Laura so he becomes lonely old man dining on the bitter ashes of all his reputiated policies.
I had every intention of writing some quick and I hoped funny comment but this is what came out.
I find myself in the difficult position of hoping that the action he’ll probably always be most closely associated with–the liberation of Iraq–will be viewed historically as a success; while at the same time hoping that our society repudiates his horrendous record on the environment, civil liberties and the judiciary, labour, health care, tax giveaways to his rich corporate friends, etc.
Alan
Maverick Leftist
Hey Chocolate – take a few deep breaths. . .maybe a bubble bath with several candles, soothing music and a bowl of premium ice cream – or a bowl of any premium product you choose (if you can hook up with Masshol 😉
Please allow me to add to your rant – and I’ll limit myself to Terri Schiavo for now. I’m sickened that the DNC is planning to use that issue in an attack ad against Delay – asking viewers if they trust their lives in his hands. Dean accused the GOP of politicizing Schiavo, and in turn the GOP accused him of doing so. I agree with both, and I’m pissed off that the Dems are sinking to that level. If they proceed with the ad they’re no better than the Republicans in using the issue for political gain.
Hey there Anomalous, yeah really ,really deep breaths are needed today. Although I think my attitude today might be attributed to the fact that I watched Hotel Rwanda late last night and then couldn’t go to bed till about 7 this morning-then woke up after only a few hours.
Funny you mentioned ice cream as I had some all set to eat during movie then just couldn’t.
And yeah Dems wanting to use the Schiavo case specifically now is a bit crap isn’t it.
I feel the same way. And so I offer this, which was sent to me just after the election, to all of you who, like me, are still stressed, distressed, oppressed by the political condition. I found it while cleaning out some old emails today, and have edited it substantially. The article originally appeared on Beliefnet, and you don’t have to subscribe to Buddhism to benefit from the sensible things said here. Lama Surya Das is an American Buddhist teacher, known in some circles–because he started life as a nice Jewish boy–as the Deli Lama.
————–
Stressed About the Election? The Buddha Says: Breathe
Q.: Dear Lama Surya Das, I’m so stressed out about the election and attached to its outcome, I can’t think (or even breathe). What can I do? We are a nation so deeply divided that my heart aches.
A.: First, whoever you voted for, whatever you think, feel, believe, or worry about–Buddha says, first of all, breathe. One deep liberating breath can begin to alleviate the stress of a long, divisive political season.
Of course, if you have sufficient sanity and presence of mind to be able to stay centered amidst it all, if you can keep breathing naturally while you work wholeheartedly at whatever you are doing, more power to you! Literally. . . . The secret is to do what you are doing without undue concern for the results of your good labor.
In case you wonder how to do that: start by looking and listening while you breath, and stay aware. Awareness is curative . . . . [If we feel] that religious intolerance and extreme partisanship are the bane of our existence at this exact moment in time, our first step must be to scrutinize ourselves for any vestiges of such dogmatism and fanaticism in our own hearts and minds, our own homes and churches. Wishing it to go away just won’t do it, neither will blaming others; our first job is to dispel such prejudices and narrow-minded, anachronistic, superior thinking in ourselves.
To loosen my own attachment to opinions, I remind myself that if I really knew everything there was to know–past, present, and future– about any particular person, subject, or situation, my opinions and feelings about them would be quite different. . . .
[snip]
. . . We have to keep doing what we can . . . all the while realizing we ride on a moving stream we don’t control. . . . There is little use in always going against the current, resisting, fighting the flow, which can be just another form of clinging and attachment. You may feel “out” of the great flow, but it always flows right through the middle of your life, and through you, too. . . .
[snip]
Since we’re all together on this planet, we all need to care about unity. There aren’t just Democrats and Republicans. There’s only an us–humanity–and we’re all together. . . .
We live in volatile, dangerous times. Yet I believe there is a middle ground . . . . Buddha himself called it the Middle Way, beyond extreme views and overweaning attachments to one’s own opinion, and he exhorted us to find it and cleave to it, if we would find peace, harmony, and wise living.
We must, I think, heal ourselves in body and spirit, individually and collectively, if we hope to have any hope of healing the world. Transforming ourselves in order to transform the world has got to be our first order of business. Broken people cannot contribute very much to a healed and restored, renewed, and whole world.
[snip]
[A]s a spiritual activist I always teach and advocate . . . becoming the leaders we want to see in the world, by inculcating in ourselves and each other the six principles of enlightened living: generosity, moral self-discipline, patient forbearance, energetic effort and perseverance, reflection and introspection, and the wisdom of unselfish love, recognizing our universal responsibility and “inter-beingness.”
[snip]
On this journey, merriment is helpful. Lightness will help us get where we’re going, without capsizing and sinking. Travel light, and you will soon arrive.
Now there’s the “real cuntsman” from the TANG!
Or wait…is he looking at Gannon there?
No, Gannon is fondling him.
Is that a reflex?
Developing situation in Iraq.
Diary here has the basics.
But…
Town seized by Sunni insurgents and a quantity of Shia’ are hostages. I’ve heard any where from 10 to 100 Hostages. Insurgents demand all shia’ leave town. Networks reporting that a joint US – Iraqi operation is in the works. New tactic for Iraq, this could go very, very wrong….
Hope that the Number of hostages is exagerated!
Boy, as much as I hate to generalise about groups of people, those Sunni Iraqis are really ticking me off. They are basically pouting (in a very violent way) because they don’t get to lord it over the Shiite/Kurd majority like they used to. I wonder if it ever occurred to them to be thankful that they haven’t become victims of Rwanda-style genocidal retribution?
Alan
Maverick Leftist
If we would ever leave they will be. BTW, do you think such a mixed government can ever work in harmony – I don’t see us sharing ours with the native folks.
You might have a point, but don’t we have a very mixed society? Do you think all ethnic groups should be divvied up into homogenous “homeland” nations? It’s a difficult issue, but I’m not sure that’s the answer.
Alan
Maverick Leftist
I cannot answer for others, though I would say there are more cultural similarities between the Kurds and the Sunnis than the Native Americans and us. We have a limited amount of Blacks and Hispanics in the government; nowhere near enough to equally represent them. As for a mixed society I would say it is limited at least from where I stand. I live in a strictly white neighborhood where our wonderful police pick up every black guy that drives through. A few towns over a teacher insisted on sending a Black girl into the city on the school bus, even though she lived in that town. Our society may be mixed, but it isn’t integrated. People like to be with their own kind – it’s human nature. To rise above this would be a true mark of an advanced civilization.
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/03/int05016.html
Riverbend has a very good email interview with Buzzflash which again gives us such a good idea of what is going on over their from her personal view. She does talk about Sunni’s/Shiite’s working together for Iraq.
I’ve also read today that another reporter was killed, a Kurdish tv journalist was shot by armed men..not our troops apparently but that was all the information given so far.
When contemplating replacing republican democracy with Republican Theocracy, Branch Georgian Cult Leader turns to his favorite advisor, Cowboy Jesus.
“later tonight Jeff, in the Oral Office” ; )
“ha ha, slipped another one through the house”
“love those fuel prices, and my offshore bank account”
“how’s that for moral’s “
“now that’s my kind of bullshit”
“No Amurikan, left Behind”
“3 more years, and I’m outta here”
“we just picked a new state for the next election count”
“everything is bigger in Texas, including the bullshit”
A Texas House committee unanimously approved a bill restructuring sentences for possession of low amounts of marijuana in Texas. Fines and treatment would replace jail sentences under the proposed law for most offenders. The bill should go to the full house soon.
The Texas legislature is under a lot of pressure to reduce jail and prison overcrowding, and this bill may well pass. As a Criminal Defense attorney in Austin, I can attest that it is badly needed. The Fort Worth Star Telegram has a report:
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/legislature/11406856.htm
The Texas legislature is also seriously reworking the state’s probation system to reduce the number of probationers sent to prison for minor or technical violations of probation. Again, the primary motive is money – it is interesting to see the Republican majority scrambling to do almost anything to avoid raising taxes, even if it means treating people in the criminal justice system more fairly.
Good news/Bad news..well that’s the good news as I just read this morning that a bill being sponsored by Sensenbrenner I believe would make it a mandatory 5 year sentence to anyone who even passes a joint to someone who has previously been in prison. At least that’s what I think that is the basics of bill..was still half asleep when reading it. but bloody hell…
I think this is probably also inherently discriminatory as the higher percentage of minorities go to jail.
What code can be used to make a sentence appear in italics on this site, any help will be appreciated.
Look at the code beneath your comment box. Italics are made using <i>, </i>.
I am trying it out here to see if I can do it right
I tried to figure out from below the comment box, but it all kinda looks like greek to me at the moment.
.
I am trying it out here to see if I can do it right
I am trying it out here to see if I can do it right
See – no difference!
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité
Yes I tried it the way you said Oui and it works fine, so happy to finally get this, now if you can do easy directions for block quote, and posting pics. that would be helpful also. Thanks!!!!
For basic grey blockquotes:
Use this:
<div class="blockquote">Put text here</div>
For posting pics:
<img src="http://www.xxx.xxx">
Sizing them is more complicated, and always use preview when posting pics, so you don’t mess up the display for everyone else by posting an image that is too wide.
How do you change the ratings box so 4s are at the top? Someone on DK posted that you can do this, thus avoiding nightmares about downrating unintentionally. I’ve probably been staring right at it in my preference pages or in the BT/DK FAQs, but I just don’t see it. Thanks.
I don’t think you can, but if someone at dKos has figured it out, I’d like to know myself.
I can look into whether I can flip the order of display without having to write any new code. But I am a little reluctant to reverse the order for everyone, as that may result in more accidental ratings.
Thanks for the answer. It was mentaldebris, I think, of someone in one of her Over-Kos diaries. I’ll e-mail her for more info. 🙂
He is such a destructive man that this attempt to be “cute” and “playful” is revolting.