Another Con Man Bites The Dust

Yes folks, yet another con man revealed.  This time it is the much revered General David Petraeus. The almost God like figure that George Bush couldn't get his nose far enough up his ass.  Yes, General David Petraeus was caught dicking his biographer.  The man who so loved the camera before he was revealed as just another egomaniac who believed his own press, went in the back door to Senate hearings that are trying to gin up a Watergate like controversy so they can delegitimize our duly elected president.  Yes folks, those same Rethuglicans Republicans are at it again but I digress.  That is a subject for another blog posting.  Yes folks, our BRAVE general snuck in the back door.  Need I say more?

Oh, I think I will.  Here is a partial gallery of other con men, i.e. phonies who were found out.  So many, so little time.  One good thing, we have found out about them before they could do any real harm.  No, let me take that back.  Petraeus did talk President Obama into a surge in Afghanistan in 2009 which failed TOTALLY, thus resulting in the loss of the lives and injuries of many truly brave men and women of our armed forces.  Thanks Dave, you fuck face.

Memo to the Mittster: you can get people to vote for you if you don't like them.  That's Rule #1.  I wish I could take some satisfaction in knowing that you are ashamed of yourself now for the selfish, out of touch fool that you have shown yourself to the whole country but I still don't think you get it.  You bastard.  Go play with your car elevators.

George W. Bush, the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY.  His presidency would be laughable except that it resulted in the needless deaths of thousands of innocents and ruined lives of their families.  Keep smiling.  He doesn't get it either.  Go clear some brush.

John Edwards, he of the $250 "I Feel Pretty" haircut.  Fucks another woman while his wife is dying of cancer.  A real man.  Uh huh.  Notice something all of these bastards have in common?  They STILL don't think they did anything wrong.


Oh I know, some of you of differing political persuasion that I am are wondering where is Bill Clinton?  I'll tell you where he is.  He is the MOST POPULAR MAN IN THE WORLD.  

So he got a blow job in the White House while talking on the phone to a member of Congress.  Here's the difference, NO ONE DIED.  

And last but not least, the most hated man in America.....er White Man America, President Barack Obama.  What did he do wrong besides being a socialist, Kenyan, Muslim?  HE'S BLACK!  He's also the president of the United States for the next four years.  Deal with it.

I'll take a man any day, black or white who is fighting for the middle class.  I'm not bothered that a black family is sitting on those expensive and historic White House sofas.  Are you?

Clay Warren Hunt

I try not to post my political views on my blog.  So much ranting and raving (on both sides) is done already, my little grain of sand contribution won't make much difference in the cacophony.  But sometimes I just cannot let an event pass by without commenting and/or bringing it to the attention of others.

Such an 'event' happened on the 31st of March.  A young man whose name I did not know committed suicide on that day.  His name was Clay Warren Hunt and he was a  veteran of our War of Choice in Iraq.  

Enough has already been said about those political leaders (of both parties) who instigated and authorized this unnecessary war with Iraq.  I cannot add anything new other than to again express my disgust and revulsion at those chicken hawks like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the repulsive Paul Wolfowitz who lied to take this country into war with Iraq.

This posting is only about marking the memory of this one young man who sacrificed his life on the altar of the unparalleled greed and ego of all those in Congress and the Bush Administration who took this country into a totally unnecessary war with Iraq.  

This young man's agony ended on March 31st.  However, the pain of his premature death will have to be endured by his family and friends for the rest of their lives.  Such a waste.  

Again, sorry for the 'down' posting but this was just something I had to say.

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The United State of America Tortures People

This morning I awoke at 4 a.m. I was wide awake. Something was on my mind. Normally I have no problem sleeping. When I go to sleep at night, I’m unconscious until about 6:30 or 7 in the morning. This morning was different. As I lay awake, I reviewed in my mind what was bothering me. Then it came into focus. Our country tortures prisoners. The United State of America tortures people. Never mind that torture has never proven to elicit useful information, our country tortures people. Yes, the United State of America, the self appointed “moral authority” in the world who lectures others countries on human rights abuses, tortures people.

Credit must be given to the Obama administration for releasing the “torture” memos. These twisted logic legal memos that attempted to legalize torture and thus provide cover for the Bush Administration. Last week an additional 2,000 plus photos were released of prisoners in Iraq being tortured and humiliated. What in the world did the Bush/Cheney and Company hope to accomplish by these criminal acts? Didn’t our country sign the Geneva Conventions against cruel and unusual punishment of prisoners or war? The Bush Administration claims that the “terrorists” are different than “normal” prisoners of war because they didn’t wear uniforms. Excuse me? What am I missing here?

The simple fact remains that Bush Administration officials instigated and condoned torture of prisoners. They broke the law. They water boarded prisoners. Cheney admits it. He’s proud of it. Our country executed Japanese soldiers at the end of World War II who water boarded our prisoners of war. How are we any different? Is it because the Bush administration had a legal memo “authorizing” torture and a doctor in attendance?

Barack Obama has a dilemma. He states that he “wants to look forward” and not “backwards.” How convenient. Maybe that’s what the Nazi war criminals should have used as their defense during the Nuremberg War Crimes trials. Maybe that is the defense that Pol Pot should have used when he was caught. No, it doesn’t wash.

Patrick Buchanan, one of the few well known conservatives who will actually listen to other arguments and isn’t brain dead, states that an investigation and trial “would tear this country apart.” He may be right. But the question remains, are we a country of laws or are we not? That is the question. All the conservatives can do is to attempt to drag Nancy Pelosi into the mix by saying she was informed of the torture.

I don’t know the answer. My heart says that we should be a country of laws and not give anyone a pass, even if they are at the highest levels of government. But reality is much different. There is a hard core conservative base in this country which is blind to the abuses, incompetence, and gross negligence of the past eight years of the Bush/Cheney regime. People of this mind set will never change. Most of them think that this country is God anointed for only straight, white people and the rest of us are only “tolerated.” When a complete idiot like the Miss California in the recent Miss USA contest states (response to legalization of same sex marriage) “…..in MY country and the family I was raised in……”, that tells you a lot about the mind set of these people. It is THEIR country and they don’t have room in their tent for anyone who differs from their views. The rest of us are outsiders. Don’t kid yourself this is the way THESE people think.

I didn’t want to post a negative blog on this beautiful, warm spring day but this idea that our country condones torture bothers me a great deal. Hopefully, as time goes by, I will become desensitized to it as much of our country is desensitized to violence in movies. But for now, I feel shock, shame and humiliation. But then I have always been accused of being naïve.

Here is one thing that really bothers me though, these people who initiated the policy of torture. These people who wrote the memos to make torture legal. And these people who carried out the torture. My question is this, how do they sleep at night?

Torture and Miss California

When I started this blog, my intention was not to have a political blog. There are more than enough blogs on the Internet expounding the whole spectrum of political views. What difference would mine make other than to add to the cacophony of angry voices?
However, recently several hot subjects on the political landscape have made it almost impossible for me not to add my voice to the range of opinions being expressed in the public forum.

One subject is same sex marriage. I will address that subject in a future blog. The other subject is torture. Ironically, the recent news has connected these two subjects. Last week, Miss California answered a question about same sex marriage this way:

At the Las Vegas pageant, Prejean, 21, was asked by judge Perez Hilton how she felt about legalizing gay marriage. "In my country, and in my family, I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman,"

Note the phraseology that Miss California uses: “in my county, and in my family” In the country I grew up in I was taught that we did not torture……………..anyone. It didn’t matter how reprehensible the subject of the torture was, WE DID NOT TORTURE. Our country was better than that.

This is an interesting country that we live in now. Many on the Right regularly warn about the end of civilization as we know it if same sex marriages are permitted. Yet, many of these same people see no problem with torturing prisoners. These are the same people who proclaim themselves “good Christians.” They go to church expounding on their “family values.” Hypocrisy is no stranger to their church pews.

Put aside the fact that torture doesn’t work. There is no valid proof that torture has ever provided accurate information. If someone tortured me, I would tell them anything they wanted to know just to get them to stop. It has been proven over and over again information can be obtained by much more subtle means than brute physical torture.

The Bush Administration went to great pains to rewrite the legal laws to provide cover for their torture polices. When the atrocities were first revealed at Abu Ghraib, I literally could not believe it. This was our country? We permitted this to happen? Then when the administration blamed it on a “few bad apples”, I knew they were lying. I was in the Army. Part of my training was not to torture or abuse prisoners. Why in the world would a “few bad apples” take it upon themselves to stack naked prisoners in a pile on the floor? Sic dogs on them? Smear them with feces? No, these were orders from on high.

Now the torture memos have come out. There is a great deal of scrambling for cover. The Republicans are saying the Democratic leaders of the house were informed of the “methods” used for “enhanced interrogation.” As if this justifies the torture. It doesn’t.

Obama is in a bad situation. He has stated that he wants to “look forward” and “not backward.” But, the simple fact is that laws were broken. It appears that the laws in this country against torture were broken from the very highest levels of the government. The highest levels of government means President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Under Secretary Wolfowitz, and Douglas Fieth along with others yet to be named.

I remember reading a book about the Nuremberg War Crimes trials in which the Allied judges refused to accept the “just following orders” defense before passing sentences on the German war criminals. I thought at the time, what would our country do if the situation were reversed? It seems to me, as bad as the Nazi’s were, somewhat unfair to hang the lowly soldiers for just obeying orders. What were they going to do, have a mass revolt? But now it appears that the “just following orders” defense will protect those who carried out the torture of terrorist suspects. What remains to be seen is how our country will deal with those at the top of our government who callously disregarded over two hundred years of American values and ordered torture that accomplished nothing but to put our country in further danger and almost destroy our moral reputation among the community of nations in the world.

Just as Miss California said “In my country and my family, the way I was raised…..”; I will also say “In my country and my family, the way I was raised you didn’t torture.” It is as simple as that. Our country does not torture. George W. Bush made that statement when asked at a photo op some years ago. He angrily replied “The United States does not torture!” Of course we all know he was lying now. Only one of the many lies the Bush Administration told this country.

I’m not sure what should happen now to those who ordered the torture and those who carried it out in the Bush Administration. A great deal of damage has already been done and some will perhaps never be undone. It will take a long time, if ever, until our country regains our reputation as the moral force in the world. One thing I am very thankful for though is that these practices have stopped. I am thankful that all this information is being made public. While it has been proven time and time again that most of the members of the Bush Administration have no shame (a common flaw all the religious self righteous have), the rest of us can show the world that we care and this is not the way our country operates.

Barack Obama was elected by the majority of the American voters. The majority of the American voters have rejected the politics of division that the Republicans so successfully ran over the past decade by using the fear of gay marriage to get their conservative religious base out to vote. So Miss California, same sex marriage is coming whether you like it or not. Torture is out. That is what is happening in “my country and my family” this time. We do not torture.

Free At Last!

The last week or so, I have experienced periodic feelings of euphoria. Butterflies would invade my stomach. I thought, "What is this? Am I finally going to with the Powerball Lottery?" But, I check my Powerball tickets twice a week (Thursdays and Sundays) and alas, I am no closer now to winning than I was three years ago when I purchased my first ticket.

Then, it was a day or two ago I realized what was causing my feeling of euphoria. This feeling was much like the feeling I used to experience as a kid right before Christmas. "What was Santa going to bring ME?" But this was much more than the feeling in anticipation of Christmas. Much bigger. Then I realized. George W. Bush will soon be gone from our lives. GONE! Hard to believe. The nightmare of the past eight years is finally coming to an end. Somehow our country has survived, barely. It is finally going to be over. Bush's smirking presence, his cluelessness, his arrogance, his stupidity, will be gone. GONE! IT'S OVER!

Bush is even put his ranch in Crawford up for sale. This is the same ranch he used as a prop during the past eight years that he was just a "Good ole Texas boy." He's moving into a house that he hasn't even seen in Houston. Talk about lack of curiosity. He left the selection of the house up to his wife Laura. Reportedly Bush is working on his library and his memoirs. Now there is an oxymoron if there ever was one. A George W. Bush library. The George W. Bush memoirs. After eight years of lies who would buy a book of lies? His base? Perhaps.

Some of my conservative friends have told me that they are going to give Barack Obama "a chance." Notice the unwitting arrogance of such a statement. They say they will "wait and see" how he does. This attitude truly baffles me because I don't see how we could have done much worse than the past eight years under the grand therapy session of George W. Bush trying to prove to his father that he wasn't a loser and wastrel. If nothing else remember this about George W. Bush, he was our first president who had a criminal conviction (DUI.)

Below is a response I left on my friend Lar's blog. Lar had posted a thoughtful and invocative piece on the direction that our country may be going under our new president, Barack Obama.

Lar,

That was a thoughtful and heartfelt posting Lar. It was invocative and hopeful. Today we are at the threshold of a new dawn. The last eight years have been the worst in our nation's history. Our country was led by an incompetent enabled by a coterie of criminals and self aggrandizers to the brink of financial and moral collapse. The only good thing that can be said of George W. Bush, is that his monumental failure as a leader has cleared the path for Barack Obama to the presidency. Just as Herbert Hoover lead to Franklin D. Roosevelt; Jimmy Carter lead to Ronald Reagan; and Richard Nixon lead to Bill Clinton. George W. Bush has cleared the path for the resurrection of our country by the election of Barack Obama.

From an administration that caused untold destruction to America's moral standing in the world by condoning torture, repealing the right of habeas corpus, and eavesdropping on American citizens, ignoring death and destruction during one of the worst natural disasters in our country's history; our country now is only a few days away from resurrecting its rightful place as the moral leader of the world.

I thank God that this country has proved itself strong enough to withstand the assault on our country's Christian-Judaeo constitutional foundations by Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld and the rest of the criminal co-conspirators the Republican administration of the past eight years.

The heavy yoke of bi-partisanship and of pitting segments of our society against one another just so the "base" would continue to support the criminals of the Bush Administration and put them back in power so they could continue raping our country with their grossly unfair tax cuts for the rich only, will soon be lifted from our backs.

It will be a pleasure to see the future leader of our country without wincing in embarrassment at his latest struggle with the English language and his frat boy smirking arrogance. It will be with pleasure to see the future leader of our country visit groups around country of all people instead of the captive audiences of military academies and bases. It will be a pleasure to see all the citizens of our country (not just white conservatives) surround him, genuinely smiling and happy to be in his presence. It will be a pleasure to respect our new leader instead of making excuses for him and blaming someone else for his failures. It will be a pleasure to see George W. Bush go away.

I am so happy over this prospect that I have butterflies in my stomach from the anticipation of Inauguration Day, January 20th. The day this country goes forward into a new era with pride and dignity. I thank God for producing such a man as Barack Obama. I thank God that the majority of voters have seen through the lies and deceptions of the past eight years and voted Barack Obama as our next president and leader of our country. My heart is overflowing with hope and love for our country and all of its citizens. The New Day is here. To quote Martin Luther King:

"Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
-- "I Have a Dream" speech, August 28, 1963

Only 17 Days To Go

Only 17 days to go to the presidential election. Obama is in the lead. However, he cautions his followers not to get complacent. Get out and vote. It is well known that the young and minorities vote in lesser percentages than older voters. Even though the Democratic registrations are way up, that doesn't necessarily mean they they will actually go to the polls and vote. The McCain/Palin campaign are pulling out all the stops now. The robocalls have begun which, non to subtly, accuse Obama of being a terrorist. McCain and Palin are continuing the Big Lie that if Obama if election, the middle class will have their taxes increased. McCain has trotted out Joe The Plumber (who in reality turns out to be Sam the Contractor - he doesn't actually have a plumbing license, his name is "Samuel J.", and he has a tax lien on his house - obviously Joe the Plumber doesn't like to pay taxes, something he has in common with the McCain Republicans.) How anybody could vote for four more years of Bush like economics is beyond me. One important factor is the Right to Life issue. Many will vote for McCain solely for this reason and that is understandable. However, if anyone seriously thinks that Sarah Palin, the shrill, moose hunting Alaskan governor, is suited to be vice president is surely drinking the Repug Kool-Aid. But then, they probably realize she is just a blank slate like George W. Bush. The powers behind the throne then could push their own agendas which is more tax cuts for the rich and the decimation of the middle class. Every evening I'm glued to the TV set watching MSNBC and their coverage of the presidential race. I have been fascinated by politics ever since the Fifties when I watched my first political convention on that old Philco TV set we had in our living room on Washington Avenue in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. For many years I was a die hard Republican. However, that all changed when I was watching the Republican Convention in 1992 which was held in Houston, Texas. Patrick J. Buchanan gave a hate filled speech in which he stated that the Republican Party had no place for people of a different sexual orientation. What really gave me a chill down my spine was the reaction shots of the well dressed, white cheering Republican convention delegates. They reminded me of the "Good Germans" who saluted "Heil Hitler!" to Adolph Hitler as he paraded through the streets of German cities during the Thirties. At that time I realized that no matter what my conservative views, the modern Republican Party drummed me and my gay brethren out of the Republican party as non persons. Then, a few years later, when I had to apply at the Veterans Administration for health benefits, my opinion of the Republican Party was permanently changed. The Bush administration began a series of moves to discourage veterans like me from applying for benefits. Fortunately for me, there was such a political outcry that my benefits were not affected. I was grandfathered in the system. However, other veterans like me, who delayed their application for VA benefits were denied. The coldness and brutality demonstrated by the Republican party left me with no other choice but to join the Democratic party. To me, the Republicans believe "you're on your own." The Democratic party believes "we're all in this together." Many of my family and friends are Republicans and continue to be True Believers. I respect their views but disagree with them. I am convinced that when Barack Obama is elected president they will see that this is the best thing that could happen to this country. By the way, in the picture of the soldiers I am the second from the left on the bottom row. Basic training, Fort Dix, New Jersey, February 1960. A long, long time ago. I wonder what ever happened to my friend Mike Tine, the young soldier from Massachusetts to my left. Like ships passing in the night. So many lost friendships. So long ago.

Like a Lead Balloon

Well folks, in spite of what presidential candidate John McSame said yesterday ("The economy is fundamentally strong), the stock market sank like a lead balloon yesterday on the news that Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. Of course the one stock holding I have left also dropped drastically in value yesterday. Thus the great Ripoff continues under this Republican administration. And yet we hear "Extend the Bush tax cuts! The economy is fundamentally strong! I'm the change agent! Barack Obama is a Muslin! Sarah Palin is our saviour!" Do you get the feeling that the world is closing in around you? Shortly after George Bush took office I took money out of my bank account (cash) and placed it in a safe place just in case the whole banking system collapsed. At the time some friends of mine thought I was taking extreme measures for something that was unlikely to happen. My "extreme measures" are seeming less and less extreme every day. Fact: I sold all the stock in my IRA account a couple of years ago when the housing market started to collapse. I put those funds in various certificates of deposit. The last CD I had was with a large well known banking institution called Lehman Brothers. The same Lehman Brothers that declared bankruptcy yesterday. Thus, I missed my one cycle of having all my life savings in a failed institution. That was too close of a call for me. I don't want to panic but I keep getting this sickening feeling that the bottom is going to drop out of life as we know it. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but look around you. We're in a never ending war. The stock market is collapsing. Forty seven million people in this country have no health insurance; and those that do have trouble finding a doctor who will accept new patients. Global warming is fact in spite of what George Bush and his Kool-Aid drinking followers claim to the contrary. And yet the discourse we get from the little man who the Republicans nominated for president is lies, lies and more lies about the Democratic nominee. And the sad fact is, that too many people who vote in this country will buy into those lies. The Republicans know how to use the fear card ("Bar the door Katie! The gays are getting married!") I don't know where this country is going but it doesn't look good now. At least I have a few dollars stashed away for when McBush and McSame totally destroy this country with their selfish and short sighted policies. This blog was not intended to be political but sometimes it's hard to stay away from this subject when one sees that this country is headed towards disaster if John McCain and his moose field dressing vice presidential candidate is elected to serve out another four years of the Bush/Cheney regime. God help us.