Friday, November 30, 2007

Let's end the misery... put Hillary in the White House

Can't we just put Hillary in the White House now and get on with governing this nation?

I’m no obstinate Hillary fan by any means, but a couple things have led me to the conclusion that we would be better off with another Clinton presidency, and the sooner the better.

Mideast Peace. We currently have an alignment of the stars that represents a fleeting chance to achieve something substantive in the Palestinian “situation.” Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas are the most moderate respective leaders of Israel and Palestine in generations. They are willing to talk, to summit and even to appear with George W. Bush—all very high risk behaviors—in order to pursue the greater good of a peaceful two-state solution in the Levant. This is big stuff. After seven years of outright neglect, the US has been forced to host the summit in Annapolis. Our president, ever the gracious host, showed up briefly for a photo-op and managed to mispronounce not just one, but both leaders' names in the space of 30 seconds. Idiot. Bush should go away. Now. He has no intention of putting any effort into anything else and Israeli-Palestinian peace is too important and too achievable to leave it to such a simpering dolt. Bill Clinton was known for his detailed understanding of the conflict; even knowing which Jerusalem streets bordered key neighborhoods. He brokered the peace in Northern Ireland that has garnered him rock star status there for their burgeoning and booming economy. Let’s see if Hillary can do the same for Israel.

The other Democrats. Let’s face it; no other Democrat has a real chance of winning the nomination. Sure, I may prefer Biden or Dodd or Richardson, but they aren’t going to make a big push to challenge Senator Clinton. Obama seems smart, but he’s has no chance of manufacturing a winning coalition to beat Hillary. Come back in 8 years when you have more gravitas and Senatorial stature. Hillary Clinton, while not the perfect candidate, is intelligent, thoughtful and has the right connections to turn this ship of state around. Every candidate has flaws, but none of hers are fatal. The issue of perceived unelectability is a sham. Yeah, there are a lot of people who hate Hillary, who loathe her very protoplasm. She evokes a visceral response from a significant number of voters. Just as Tucker Carlson was making this very point last night, it occurred to me… who gives a shit? Tucker isn’t voting for Hillary anyway, or Biden or Obama or any Democrat, ever, so who gives a rip what he thinks of Hillary’s “electability.” And that goes for anyone delusional enough to have voted for George W. Bush or old man Bush for that matter. Heck most of those people, if they’re old enough, were so bent that they voted for Dick Nixon-- Dick Nixon for crissakes!!--so how can their opinion possibly be trusted—or even considered? It’s time to take this country back and cast such lunatic worries—such as caring what the Republicans will think—aside. One part of me wants Hillary elected just because it will piss off as many Republicans as possible.

The Republican candidates. The frontrunners are the most ragtag cast of losers and miscreants ever assembled. Seriously, are Republican voters that cynical that they can keep a straight face and vote for Giuliani after all the hell that was raised over Bill Clinton’s extra-marital tryst? Giuliani kept his mistress holed up on Long Island with police protection while he went through a messy divorce. New Yorkers hated Rudy up until 9-11, and then they still voted him out of office. Romney has flipped more times on more issues than Aunt Jemima has flipped pancakes. Sleepy Fred Thompson still thinks we’re at war with the Soviet Union—just what we need: yet another ill-informed, lazy old white guy who overplays his “aw shucks” persona at the expense of realpolitik. The only reasonable candidates are Ron Paul who at least is a consistent conservative, and John McCain who inexplicably cannot find traction in this field of incompetents. Whichever candidate slitherss out of this quagmire of misfits surely will have no ability to rouse the base into going to the polls next November. But, whatever.

It’s way too early to become too invested in the day-to-day battle for the White House, but certain issues make the status quo shameful. Bush obviously is the lamest duck president in history with no hope or inclination to improve his legacy. His major concern is now how much money he can make on the lecture circuit, “you know, to replenish the ol’ coffers.” While our soldiers continue to die in his war and taxpayers continue to pay off his debts, we can all rest easy that George’s “ol’ coffers” will be replenished—I know that was your greatest concern.

My personal wet dream is that the current Democratic Congressional leadership grows the gonads in the next few months to impeach Bush and Cheney for high crimes against our Constitution, spying on American citizens, holding prisoners without counsel, torturing prisoners against the Geneva Conventions and disenfranchising voters. Will that happen? Doubtful, but I can dream. I have to say that Pelosi and Reid have been a disappointment to me. While their majorities are thin, they do have control of committee chairmanships, which gives them the power of the subpoena, and they have not taken advantage of this gambit. My preference would have been to bring this government to a screeching halt while the rule of law was rammed up the administration’s collective asshole; but that was not to pass and it’s hard not to grow cynical.

Now we have to endure Karl Rove rewriting history instead of reviewing his defense briefs. In his laughable account of the run-up to the Iraq war, Rove claims the Bush administration asked for restraint on the Iraq Force Resolution in 2002, but the Congress passed the Iraq force resolution anyway thus painting poor old George W. Bush into a corner. Ha! Welcome to 1984 and George Orwell's memoryhole. And tell me again why Karl Rove is even allowed to walk the streets without being spat upon in castigation?

Reasonable people cannot try to appeal to such a moronic subculture that would accept Rove, Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld and Rice as viable leaders. This same subculture should be marginalized and ignored. We have been thrust into a war that has enriched all the wrong players: private contractors (ie, mercenaries), tribal warlords and oil sheiks whose petrodollars have an uncanny way of showing up in support of terrorism. Our tax dollars have been flushed down the rathole with no prospect for any return on the investment. Our soldiers have been killed and maimed while no political or diplomatic solution is proffered.

Next November a Democrat will certainly be elected President. That Democrat will likely be Hillary Clinton. Can’t we just put her there now to get a head start on the godawful mess she’ll need to cleanup?

Sunday, November 04, 2007

"Terrorist Busters"

Unfortunately, I am not making this up. Your CIA is hard at work ensuring that while the free world may still be struggling in the War on Terror (TM), at least we'll have a cool logo:




Not to be confused with this:



... and Ray Parker Jr is currently writing a song that will be sung during the 7th inning stretch of every major league baseball game next season.