Libby's Blog, Revisited.

Libby's blog had a few interesting points I wanted to bring back up, especially since people are still pining for the ridiculous, sexist, crazy-psycho-christian who want's America to be run by the Bible.

The thought gives me nightmares.


FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE:
Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS:
A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.






FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY:
"We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS:
A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.Why or why will no one check sources! Politicians in general should be careful what they say, as lying only makes them look untrustworthy and mean. In this case, they look desperate and stupid; which could have been easily avoided.One comment about the taxes - the reason Republicans don't like it is that a lot of them (in politics) are wealthy. They would get a tax increase in order to provide relief to the middle class. This is exactly what we need; less coddling and special interests to the rich. This economy is flat out disgusting, and we all need some help before every family who makes under $100,000 a year goes bankrupt.

Polar Bears

Polar bears are SO FRIGGING ADORABLE!

,

Oh. You were expecting me to write something about the presidential debate?
I'll write a haiku or two:

Ahem...

McCain condescends,
And he has dumb ideas.
STOP THE GOD DAMN LIES.

McCain lies too much.
Obama kept correcting.
McCain, with lipstick.

John has a record.
Do you know McCain's record?
John's got a record!

Repubs are insane.
Keep believing those lies, folks.
...Better learn Swedish.

Instead of Palin,
Let's have a Polar Bear veep.
They know Bush Doctrine.

What, you want tax cuts?
You want healthcare and school funds?
Can't have it both ways.

Once upon a time,
McCain goes to the bathroom.
"Wait...that's my elbow."

"Oh, drill baby, drill!"
Exxon loves those tax breaks, yes.
Electric car who?

New Things I Wish I Hadn't Learned

WARNING:

Frightening and saddening images of things horrible

people do for their own agenda.

So, I realize that I've been hacking away at Sarah Palin lately, pointing out her hypocrisies, screaming and ranting about all her lies...

But now I have new ammo.

Being the crazy-psychotic-vegan-altruistic-hippie-who cares too much about animals, I have since come into the knowledge of the fact that Palin:


1. Has fought in the past, and is still fighting, to remove polar bears from the endangered species list, because it would cause problems for her oil-drilling agenda.

2. Even worse, she is an advocate AND a participant of AERIAL WOLF KILLINGS, in order to "cull" the wolf population. This is in conjunction with the hypocrisy that she is so adamant about being pro-life, yet kills animals for sport.

When you lie to the world, you get on my Shit List.

When you fuck with the animals, you go straight to the top of it.

Guns + Holy Bible = Oxymoron

Sigh.

Sometimes life is depressing.
It is particularly depressing whenever I decide to look around the internet and spot all the people who call themselves good Americans, yet really...well...they have about as much independence and logic as an old softball.

With mud on it.

That landed in dog mess.

You get the idea.

Anyway, as I tend to do, I went browsing the old Myspace and Facebook pages, looking around at all the people I could (not just people I know either...a guy needs a control group) and discovering that my lack of faith (no better word for it, really) in humanity is astonishing.

Nah, strike that.
Not faith in humanity. Faith in Americans.

Anyone remember "Schindler's List"? When Liam Neeson is talking to Ralph Fiennes (the hardcore nazi), he explains that having power is not killing everyone and taking what you want. Real power is deciding to pardon those who transgress you; Learning to forgive them, and not giving in to your ability to show off and slaughter.

If you see my segue here...

The U.S. is the most powerful country in the world. How do we exercise that power?

By invading places we aren't wanted?

By telling people that if they don't like our country to "go back where you came from?"

By persecuting every new culture that enters our borders, forgetting our own damn roots since every single one of our families were once immigrants?!

Or maybe...

Maybe we should see that that power could be used for diplomacy, and not the tradition of "I have the bigger gun, so I win".

Maybe by encouraging diversity and not saying "You look funny and talk differently so I don't like you". (Take the terms "Habibs" and "A-rabs" for an example if you will. I spy cousins of the N-bomb).

Maybe by opening up ourselves a little religiously as well. One of the major areas we get made fun of by other countries for is the fact that everything from TV programs to school subjects to presidential elections are chock full of religion. We are one of the only countries in the world who is over 90% religious. (I mean come on, Israel is over 37% agnostic/atheist!) We could take a lesson from less religious places like the Scandinavian Peninsula (Sweden, Finland, Denmark) who are in the top 6 for least religious, yet have the strongest economies in the world (and let's not forget...less wars). [These statistics were taken from TIME magazine.]

It really sickens me that the U.S. policy has been to keep your bible out in front of you, and your gun(s) behind your back. It seems to me like the world's largest oxymoron. I don't think Jesus bought himself a .45 at Walmart, in case the fish trick got him laughed offstage. Lies have replaced good policy, and we seems to be fine with that.

I understand that the U.S. has a large military, and I'm obviously not going to change that (or the "terr-ists" win). However, I fail to see how my lack of being a sheep, and my lack of 400 U.S. flag decals makes me any less of a citizen. After all, George Bush Sr. said he didn't think atheists should be considered citizens...and Sarah Palin saying that In God We Trust was "good enough for the founding fathers, and good enough for me". It's too bad that phrase was put on currency in the 1950s. But we don't need facts anymore, just a loud voice. Which many of us on the other side of the fence are reluctant to use.

After reading many things lately on U.S. norms and religion (as I said, the 2 are always joined at the hip), I have been opened up to a side that I hitherto have not spotted.

Religion has undue respect.

Don't believe in a war? Conscientious objector?
"YOU COWARD! YOU UNPATRIOTIC COMMIE!"

Oh, it's against your religion?
"You're a brave man, I respect your views."

BULLSHIT.

Why do people respect bishops? and the pope?
They're just men in funny hats who believe the same weird crap!
Why give them any more respect than a guy walking down the street?

I'm no longer going to give religion the blind respect that people believe it "deserves". I'm not going to go out of my way to insult anyone (anymore than I probably have in my rants), because I have morals. But if I'm told to respect someone's silly beliefs...sorry. It's not happening.

This country needs to pull itself out of the endless lies and stupidity. We need to stop believing all the shit the media and politicians feed us, just so they can get elected and then foreclose your home and steal your wallet. I've known too many people (and I'm not even counting the entire country for the last 8 years here) who have been screwed over and lied to by whom they described as "a good, christian man".

Hypocrisy Tastes Like Chicken

The following article is great. Lib sent it to me, and of course, I'm not one to shut up. I love the fact that the entire RNC has been "Obama's not experienced" and "Palin's such a great woman/mother/American/look at my daughter's boyfriend who I threatened to eat if he didn't marry her/Jesus wants me to drill in Alaska/Oh, wait! Look at the kitty!"

Yet when Palin's experience comes into question, the Repubs call it "sexism".

Say what?
Remember that whole FEMALE CANDIDATE HILLARY THING?

...Dumbass.

The RNC is really stretching itself here.

Saying that Palin is good enough to fight the Russians because she took on one corrupt official, Jesus spoke to her and said he wants her to drill for oil in the wilderness (and apparently kill a shitload of his animal creations...seriously, why not send another flood?), and that being a mother who HERSELF got married because she was pregnant, then doesn't believe in contraception so her DAUGHTER gets pregnant, and now has a 4 month old child with Down's Syndrome...and so you go for the VP spot?

HUH?

Anyway, read this article, because I'm not going away until I can turn at least one lifeform (even if its that kitty) away from the Dark Side.

*Just for the record, I browsed photos of Palin before finding the above one...has anyone else noticed that she has had some massive plastic surgery? Check some before and afters...she had a nice smile before, and now she has no lips. Politically irrelevant, just interesting.

GOP cites Palin's skill, but how relevant is it?

By TED ANTHONY
AP National Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Wait, now, say the Republicans. You think that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lacks experience? You think that at 44, with less than two years running the nation's northernmost state, she doesn't have what it takes yet to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?

Pshaw.

What about the fact that she stood up to embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens? What about her oversight of her state's National Guard contingent? Her experience as a mother? And, hey - what about the fact that she runs a state that happens to be very close to Russia?

Each of these characteristics has been cited by a Republican since Friday as an ingredient in John McCain's conclusion that Palin is qualified to become vice president of the United States.

"She has experience not only in politics but in life," former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee said Sunday on CNN.

None of this suggests that Sarah Palin is not a skilled, competent, multitalented public servant. But it means that, in the face of fierce Democratic assertions that she is too green to be elevated to vice president, the GOP is looking for whatever it can to show that's not the case and to bolster her credentials, particularly in national security.

And in some cases, the responses from Republicans who showed up on the Sunday morning talk-show circuit to promote Palin's qualifications are unexpected, to say the least.

Thompson: "She's a mother of five children. ... And she has more experience than Barack Obama."

Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina: "Governor Palin took on Ted Stevens. If she can take him on, she can take on the Russians." Stevens, a Republican senator, is facing corruption charges and running for re-election.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty: "Palin is commander-in-chief of the Alaskan National Guard." The state's Guard has about 4,000 members.

From McCain's wife, Cindy, came a geographic assessment of qualification: "Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. So, it's not as if she doesn't understand what's at stake here."

What these traits say about Palin's ability to serve as vice president or, in an emergency, as president is not entirely clear. But the flurry of comments by leading Republicans hint at a flood-the-zone strategy when it comes to Palin, whose gender, Christian faith and conservative chops infused a lively crackle into John McCain's campaign during the weekend between the two national conventions.

The GOP has also implied that Democratic reactions to Palin's selection are sexist, particularly since, they contend, her time as Alaska's governor gives her the edge over Barack Obama in executive experience. Obama, 47, has spent almost 12 years in office, all of it as a lawmaker - eight years as an Illinois state senator and nearly four as a U.S. senator. Palin's total is 12 - she spent 10 as a city council member and mayor, and nearly two as governor.

"If they want to go down that route, in all candor, she has far more experience than Senator Obama does," McCain said Sunday in St. Louis.

Democrats insist sexism isn't at play. "It's not the woman issue at all," former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota said Sunday on CNN. "There are a lot of other Republican women who could have filled this role if that is what he was looking for" - such as Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," saw a kindred spirit in Palin's experience as mayor, despite the fact that her town, Wasilla, has about 7,000 people and his had nearly 8 million when 9/11 happened.

"Maybe it's my own background as a mayor and United States attorney, but this whole idea of executive experience to me would really qualify her," Giuliani said. He dismissed questions about the size of the town she ran. "You know why? She had to make decisions. All Sen. Obama has had to do is talk. That's all he does."

Some of the comments seemed a bit non-sequitur. Russia, for example.

Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, considers Palin "extremely responsive and smart" and says she is in charge when it comes to in-state services, such as emergencies and natural disasters where the National Guard is the first responder.

But, in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, he said he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.

Stephen C. Donehoo, managing director of Kissinger McLarty Associates in Washington, and former military intelligence officer specializing in Latin America:

"No doubt the campaign staff have her hooked up to a fire hose on foreign policy issues," said Stephen C. Donehoo, managing director of Kissinger McLarty Associates in Washington and a former military intelligence officer.

"No doubt they fear a debate with Joe Biden that touches foreign affairs," Donehoo said. "My guess is Graham and (Joe) Lieberman are doing a lot of tutoring."

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota appears to have no such worries, given what he considers to be Obama's lack of experience.

"The president sets the tone," Coleman said. "The experience issue is on the other side. The No. 1 guy there is the guy without the experience."