Forget The Hopeless “MSM”

1:09 am EST September 23rd, 2005 | Media | 11 Comments

Newspapers, cable news, etc. will all bow down to Maximum America. Well, not really, but visit anyway.

Bush Says Saudi Child Sex Workers Are Nothing To Worry About

12:09 am EST September 23rd, 2005 | News | 4 Comments

It’s the morality, stupid

President Bush decided Wednesday to waive any financial sanctions on Saudi Arabia, Washington’s closest Arab ally in the war on terrorism, for failing to do enough to stop the modern-day slave trade in prostitutes, child sex workers and forced laborers.

It’s not a crime when Saudi Arabia does it. They can traffic in humans, fund terrorists, subjugate their women, manipulate the fuel supply – Saudi Arabia simply lives by a different set of rules than any other nation. Wonder why?

Topic: George W. Bush

Brownie’s Bang Up Job

7:09 pm EST September 22nd, 2005 | Politics | 8 Comments

Just another reason we need a truly independent commision to investigate the mismanagement of FEMA and the Bush administration’s culture of corruption that rewarded political cronies with key appointments

Michael Brown, the embattled head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, approved payments in excess of $31 million in taxpayer money to thousands of Florida residents who were unaffected by Hurricane Frances and three other hurricanes last year in an effort to help President Bush win a majority of votes in that state during his reelection campaign, according to published reports.

Some Homeland Security sources said FEMA’s efforts to distribute funds quickly after Frances and three other hurricanes that hit the key political battleground state of Florida in a six-week period last fall were undertaken with a keen awareness of the looming presidential elections, according to a May 19 Washington Post story.

Homeland Security sources told the Post that after the hurricanes that Brown and his allies [recommended] him to succeed Tom Ridge as Homeland Security secretary because of their claim that he helped deliver Florida to President Bush by efficiently responding to the Florida hurricanes.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel uncovered emails from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that confirmed those allegations and directly implicated Brown as playing politics at the expense of hurricane victims.

As the second hurricane in less than a month bore down on Florida last fall, a federal [FEMA] consultant predicted a “huge mess” that could reflect poorly on President Bush and suggested that his re-election staff be brought in to minimize any political liability, records show, the Sentinel reported in a March 23 story.

Operation Help America

4:09 pm EST September 22nd, 2005 | Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Center for American Progress has a proposal that reduces $688 billion in federal spending in order to help Katrina (and now Rita) relief efforts while still preserving what it means to be America. It should be supported.

Topic: Katrina

The Ownership Society Continues

3:09 pm EST September 22nd, 2005 | Republicans | 12 Comments

The GOP is focused like a laser beam on getting people to donate to private organizations like the Red Cross. Do they do this out of a sense of civic engagement, feeling that these organizations are the ones that can help us in times of need? Sort of. They also push the Red Cross, etc. because they are in the midst of a concerted long-term campaign to kill the government (or, drown it in the bathtub) and they will try anything they can to stop people from looking to our government as a source of help — ever.

And they will do anything to stop us from fairly taxing the super rich in order to maintain the status quo. Paris Hilton and her ilk must be allowed to dive into their money bins without any sense of responsibility while the middle and lower classes foot the bill. It’s the con way.

And The Fabulous Prizes?

3:09 pm EST September 22nd, 2005 | Politics | 1 Comment

Evidently I’ve won an award. Thanks, Dave.

New Orleans 2?

2:09 pm EST September 22nd, 2005 | Politics | 8 Comments

Poor people are being stranded in the path of Rita in Houston. Two Americas, indeed.

Race & Blogging

8:09 pm EST September 21st, 2005 | Politics | 44 Comments

As anyone can see from a simple cursory glance at my picture, I happen to be black. That shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone, though if you’ve only ever heard my voice: trust me, I can understand. Now one of the interesting things about blogging is that I got into it very early and have made it to the point where people know who I am, whether they like me or not. I made a conscious decision early on that I wouldn’t be a “black blogger”, that is I made it clear that I was not going to be the blogger of record on racial issues (there are people much more gifted than I writing such material). Over the 5 years that I’ve written my blog, less than 1/10 of 1% of my writing could be remotely considered an opinion on race. One reason I’ve stayed away from that is that my opinion on issues of race are considerably more conservative and in the minority among black Americans. Let’s just say I share more ideology with Bill Cosby than Michael Eric Dyson. And I don’t want to be the “voice of black America” because quite frankly I’m not.

But that doesn’t change what people will decide to pigeonhole you with anyway. I’ve written two posts about what I think is a clear indictment of the insular and relatively monochromatic world that conservative bloggers inhabit, and the usual cackling from the cons is that I am a racist. I’ve had this idiotic label applied to me before from many of these same folks, and I sort of understand that I should go ahead and talk about these things because even if I may not be in the mainstream of black American opinion on these issues, it sure makes more sense coming from me than a guilt-ridden white liberal.

So yeah, I’ll reiterate – “stuck on stupid” has long been used by black Americans and the giddy school girl novelty that it’s been greeted with in the con world is indicative of their inability to echo beyond the same usual idiotic outlets while slapping each other on the back for being enlightened.

And yes, declaring that being “articulate” is a black politician’s virtue sounds bad regardless of whether the speaker had any racial intent or not. There are too many black professionals and politicians in this country in this day and age to have the fact that they all don’t sound like they come out of the ghetto be treated as a miracle of some sorts. And I’m going to say it.

Judd Gregg: Does He Want To Help America?

5:09 pm EST September 21st, 2005 | Politics | 3 Comments

I’m adding Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to the Help America Caucus for the following:

The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee refused to rule out
increasing taxes yesterday as he and many of his GOP colleagues called
for offsets to temper the effect of the next round of federal spending
for disaster relief in the Gulf Coast.

“We’ve got two sides to the ledger,” said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). “I’m
willing to look at a revenue solution . as part of a package.”

I haven’t seen any Dems dumb enough to join the Hurt America contingent yet.

James Taranto: I Simply Make *hit Up

4:09 pm EST September 21st, 2005 | Politics | 5 Comments

So James Taranto made up a poll showing a bounce back for Bush

Appearing on the September 16 edition of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes, Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal.com editor James Taranto relied upon nonspecific poll data to claim that President Bush’s job approval ratings are rebounding after the Hurricane Katrina disaster and that the Democratic response to President Bush’s handling of the catastrophe has “backfired.” It is unclear, however, to which polls Taranto was referring, as most polling shows Bush’s approval ratings are in a steady, downward slide.

No poll in America, or Mars, shows an improvement in Bush’s standing. Whether you think polls matter at this point or not, what Taranto claimed was simply extricated from his rectum. And he knows this and had to admit it – with a plethora of caveats.

“Media Matters cites various poll results that suggest we were mistaken, and it’s quite possible that we were. We haven’t been paying close attention to the polls”

Shorter James Taranto: I Lie And Make Things Up And You Should Call Me On It When I Do That Because I’m A Con And Am Incapable Of Telling The Truth.