The Good Democrat

Grand Obstruction Party

I don’t know why the hell President Obama ever thought he would actually have a responsible Republican party to deal with. I don’t know why any Democrat would even try to believe that the current Republican party has any inclination to help the Democrats score political points. Solving economic crises scores political points. Why would Republicans want to INCREASE the popularity of a Democrat? They are an obstruction party. Always have been. Always will be. They don’t believe government should work right. They never have. They never will. They scuttled Bill Clinton’s health initiative, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because IT WOULD HAVE BEEN POPULAR!

Get it through your heads, America, the Republican party is, in the words of Woody, a “child’s play thing.” They are not worthy to lead this country. They don’t actually WANT to lead. They don’t actually want to GOVERN. They would rather obstruct and defeat something that would benefit YOU as long as the blame goes on the Democrats for failing.

Frankly, the Democrats better get off their asses and shove the Republicans aside and get down to work. Who the hell needs them anyways? If they wish to be a child’s play thing rather than actual adult sparring partners, then that is one thing. But at their core, America, this Republican party cares more about scoring political points than dealing with the crises facing our country.

…And Why We Should Be EXTRA Thankful to God That This Man Did Not Get Elected

(via Matthew Yglesias)

This is EXACTLY Why I Voted For Obama

because he would do this on his first full day in office. Excellent work my good man. Keep it up.

After Killing 1300 Palestinians, Israel Tries To Give Palestinians Candy

A most telling moment in this article.

In an effort to show the ordinary Gazans that the war was not aimed against them, Israel on Sunday opened a regional medical clinic for the people of Gaza in the huge new passenger terminal at the Erez border crossing.

By Monday afternoon only three patients had shown up for treatment, according to medical officials there, none of them casualties of the war.

There have been efforts to try to make the place cheerful, with colorful plastic jungle gyms for children. But when a group of children passed through on Monday, all cancer patients on their way to a hospital in East Jerusalem, the parents accompanying them had stony expressions on their faces, and the jungle gyms and a table of Israeli candies and snacks were left untouched.

Guilty conscience, Israel?

Maybe you should have tried that BEFORE you killed 1300 Palestinians.

President Barack Obama and A New Democratic Era

I really don’t have much to say. I’ve felt these past eight years were one huge mistake made by, well, by the Supreme Court, frankly. The plurality of the people actually voted for the right guy back in 2000. I resigned myself to a Republican ruling because I figured he wouldn’t be that bad. His father was okay, and Reagan was pretty decent. But, my God, has George W. Bush been awful! The Republican party imploded on its own irrational propaganda. The greedy wrecked our economy. The warmongering tainted our image and security. What could go wrong did. An ideologically driven government tends not to govern very well.

I thank the majority of Americans for turning against Bush and the Republicans. I hope that Americans give Obama and the Democrats some time to clean up the mess that Republicans left. It will take a while to clean up after them. I hope the Republican party learns to become responsible again so that they can be a good party of opposition. I will not be voting for any Republican anytime soon.

Just now, listening to the Today Show, Robert Gibbs, Obama’s new press secretary, was asked about this or that, and he stated that he and the Obama administration were looking to work toward peace in the Middle East. This is such refreshing talk. We’ll see how well they manage it, but the direction is the right direction.

So I wish President Obama the best. I hope the Democrats in Congress get a little (well, really a lot) more courage and not really care what Republicans say or protest. Do what you need to do, Democrats. Fix the mess.

There are other ways than trying to kill each other to live life in this world

Twelve hours after Israel’s cease fire, Hamas also declares a cease fire. Of course, during those twelve hours, Hamas lobbed a bunch more rockets into Israel, proving that Israel’s killing of 1200 Palestinians did not in any way shape or form curb or halt the launching of rockets by Hamas into Israel. So…. what exactly did Israel expect from this new destruction? To strike a “blow” to Hamas, as Olmert said? Well, yeah, you hit them. You killed lots of them. But you also made them more popular because Hamas stood up against Israel. Look at how weak and impotent Fatah is looking right now. What Palestinian is going to support Fatah right now?

The real reason Israel ended its cease fire this weekend of all weekends, without Hamas ultimately wiped out, was because George W. Bush will not be in power anymore (THANK GOD!)

But the message sent to the rest of the Arab world, by Israel, is that Israel cannot defeat a ragtag religious, national group like Hamas with its military power. It cannot defeat a similar group in Lebanon, Hezbollah, through military power. What kind of message is Iran getting from all of this? That they can proceed forward with their nuclear ambitions knowing full well that Israel is incapable of launching a death blow at them. They may get hit, but Israel is truly incapable of ultimately harming their nuclear ambitions. That’s the message sent with the attack on Gaza. Iran has 65 million people. They spend on their military the same amount that Israel spends (roughly $9 billion). Israel, though, is heavily subsidized by the United States (and most likely will force the United States into a conflict with Iran that doesn’t really need to happen). Israel has 7 million people (but those 7 million project far more power per capita than the 65 million Iranians). Israel won’t really be able to do something against Iran because it has to get airspace approval of the nations between them. Iran gets to Israel through proxies (Hezbollah). Sadly Israel has not made many good friends in the Middle East and cannot do the same to Iran.

Israel should consider it though. There is a group in Iran that might be of Israel’s interest to support. The Kurds. Just throwing that out there.

Or maybe Israel could start trying to talk to Iran. Not about peace, not about war, not about anything but talking from one human to another. Send the Israeli Philharmonic to play in Tehran. Allow Iranian musicians to come to Tel Aviv. It has worked between previous intractable enemies (The Soviet Union and The United States). Surely it can work in a smaller area too.

Just saying. There are other ways than trying to kill each other to live life in this world.

Israel Plans Unilateral Cease Fire

After killing over 1000 Gazans, Israel says it is done. They say they’ve killed enough Palestinians to exact “punishment.” Hamas, of course, is not even close to being defeated. They will continue lobbing rockets into Israel. They will get more popular within Palestine. So…exactly what goals were attained? The only thing visible is lots of Gazan homes destroyed and over 1000 Gazans killed. There are still 1.5 million other Gazans who really like Hamas. So what goals were attained? If their goals were attained, would they now let food and other necessities into Gaza? Or are they going to continue starving Gazans to death?

Why would Israel end its war this weekend? What could possibly change that makes them decide to stop killing Gazans? It couldn’t possibly be that in America, George Fucking Bush is no longer going to be in power. Monday is his last day to fuck this world over. Israel knows this. They have to end now or they will be in big trouble when more responsible people come to take charge of America. Their days of killing wantonly are seemingly over.

The really sad part is that Israel really doesn’t seem to want peace with her neighbors. They know quite well that the more they kill Palestinians, the more Israel is hated in the Arab world, and they seem to welcome that.

I look forward to a more responsible government starting on Tuesday. Is the Obama administration going to be perfect? Nope. But they are a step in the right direction.

Goodbye and Good Riddance to George Wanker Bush

Just one more weekend of the bastard in power.

Eightmaps and Publicly Shaming Those Who Supported Prop 8

Eightmaps is a mashup between Google Maps and Prop 8 donors (public records), in an effort to publicly shame those who supported Prop 8. Now, my own personal view was fairly neutral. If I lived in California I probably would not have voted either way for Prop 8. I don’t think it was brought up well, and I knew the backlash would have been severe. I looked over the map and in the area I used to live in California is dotted with people I know. It is very interesting to see them on a map as such. Frankly, I don’t this working in shaming these individuals. In fact, I don’t think they care, unless this map is used toward harassment. That’s the problem when you deal with religious views. Standing up for those religious views won’t shame the person who stands for them. In fact, prop 8 opponents ought to be careful not to press too hard because religionists will take the attacks as religious persecution and welcome them.

Prop 8 opponents have to come to the realization that going through the courts (and thereby going around the will of the people) is foolish. Stop doing it. Go to the people. Convince them of your case. If you can’t get it, keep trying. But don’t force your will on the general population without everybody getting a chance to decide.

Israel’s War On Gaza Increases Extremists, and Decreases Moderates, Making It Far More Likely That Israel Will Be Less Safe in the Future

I don’t get it. I just don’t get it. Why can’t people see this? Why can’t Israelis see this? Why can’t Americans see this? The more you kill Palestinians, the more you push them toward extremists. The New York Times has a helpful article on this point, showing how Fatah, the moderate party of Palestine, currently the only Palestinian group actually trying to make peace with Israel, is rapidly losing power and influence among Palestinians. This of course is not new, and not unexpected. Frankly, it should be remembered that Israel FOMENTED Hamas as a counter to Fatah (because Israel found Arafat so despicable).

Israel hoped that the war in Gaza would not only cripple Hamas, but eventually strengthen its secular rival, the Palestinian Authority, and even allow it to claw its way back into Gaza.

But with each day, the authority, its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and its leading party, Fatah, seem increasingly beleaguered and marginalized, even in the Palestinian cities of the West Bank, which they control. Protesters accuse Mr. Abbas of not doing enough to stop the carnage in Gaza — indeed, his own police officers have used clubs and tear gas against those same protesters.

The more bombs in Gaza, the more Hamas’s support seems to be growing at the expense of the Palestinian Authority, already considered corrupt and distant from average Palestinians.

“The Palestinian Authority is one of the main losers in this war,” said Ghassan Khatib, an independent Palestinian analyst in the West Bank city of Ramallah. “How can it make gains in a war in which it is one of the casualties?”

Stupid, stupid Israel. You play into the hands of right-wing Christian fundamentalists (who tell you they give you 100% American support) and take on the Palestinians not realizing that the only reason why those right-wing Christian fundamentalists give you such support is because they believe Jesus will soon come back and convert you all to Christianity!!! You think they give a damn about Jews and Judaism? They care because Jesus was a Jew. They care because you will eventually convert when you come to your senses and realize that Jesus was the Messiah. They don’t care about what you consider to be the Messiah. It’s not YOUR Messiah that they care about, but theirs.

These Christian fundamentalists want a war with Islam, because it fits in with their Rapture ideology. And you are giving them exactly what they want. You fomented and supported Hamas as a counter to Fatah, and now have to deal with the consequences. Note that it is Israelis that are dying, not Americans. You didn’t have to counter Fatah. But you listened to the American Christian conservatives. You didn’t have to undermine Fatah in the early 2000s during the Intifada. But you did. Instead of punishing Hamas and Islamic Brotherhood for all the suicide bombings, you attacked and undermined Fatah. Why the hell would you do that unless you really did want more war, to kill more Palestinians? Stupid, stupid Israel.

American Torture

I suspect we will see more stories like this the further away we get from George W. Bush being in power. It’s nice to see the truth come out. Call it what it is. Torture. Legalized by George W. Bush and Congress.

George W Bush Admits He Authorized Torture

From the horse’s mouth.

BUSH: One such person who gave us information was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. … And I’m in the Oval Office and I am told that we have captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the professionals believe he has information necessary to secure the country. So I ask what tools are available for us to find information from him and they gave me a list of tools, and I said are these tools deemed to be legal? And so we got legal opinions before any decision was made.

That’s good enough for me to charge him with war crimes. The ends do not ever justify the means. The moment you use such means, your end goal fundamentally changes to something more sinister and dark than what you were originally fighting for.

On the Ends Justifying the Means, and What It Means for the Stability and Endurance of Our Country

I was just reading this article on the new season of 24 and thought this second to last paragraph revealed much:

That’s how it has to be. Jack Bauer represents the delicate balance between acceptance and discomfort as far as what is right in defense of the nation. He epitomizes the notion that the ends always justify the means when the result is a safer country, and yet the country that he inhabits is far less overtly safe than the real world.

That’s a very good point and observation. For those who believe that the ends always justify the means tend to have a less safe world. It is one of those inherent contradictions. To be more safe as a country, you have to limit what you can do, the ends do not justify the means because the moment you start using those means, the end changes and is no longer what originally desired.

It’s pretty interesting that in the world of 24, no matter how much torture they employ, no matter how many bad guys they kill, they somehow just can’t get peace, can they? Isn’t that interesting. Surely all that violence and destruction wears on the psyche of the people inhabiting that world.

Maybe there’s a better way…

Job Losses Under George W. Bush

For 2008 they equalled 2.6 million jobs. Add this to the list of things that George W. Bush screwed up during his terms. He was given a surplus and he gives Barack Obama one of the worst deficits, and worst economic conditions America has ever seen. Not to mention, of course, all the failed foreign policy.

Only eleven days left in this, the saddest, worst, most despicable administration in our nation’s history.