This is less rant as reasoned argument but still -- what the hell are these people doing? the Defeatists 
have been having an email discussion surrounding the issue of bumper stickers, a favorite being "The Luddites were right!" probably on the assend of a large SUV. El Commandante referred to a classic OC sticker that had that totally sincere "Support our Troops" only on a cross with some Jesus stuff. Hmm...well, the Luddites weren't right, but they were prescient; if you want to support the troops, buy one a cup of coffee and ask how to enlist. Too old to enlist? Enlist your children -- nothing says support the troops more than having Little Daphne in Fallujah pulling guard duty on a police station. Or, get a bumper sticker that says, "I voted for this dipshit! It's my fault! Impeach Bush Cheney 2007!"
Which leads inevitably to this weeks latest abomination, the national phonecall database of the NSA. This is such a stupid idea that despite it's obvious violation of law, attack on civil liberties, abrogaton of the right to privacy and plain old fashioned silliness, one shudders to think of the wasted resources...to get what? For example, I have a friend who is an Ethiopian orphan via Hong Kong who used to work at Microsoft and retired rich and is now devoting his life to doing things that can make a difference. He's got a couple of business ventures in Francophone Africa because "the French and Belgians left them all so fucked up that I can really help without betting the store!" So, I call Joseph. Joseph calls one of his trading partners in Guinea. The trading partner calls his Uncle Sulieman in Las Vegas. Sulieman calls his second cousin who's the court physician to Bobby Bin Laden a Criefph, a shiek in Saudi. One of Booby's wives calls her thirteenth cousin twice removed who's married to Osama Bin Laden's fourteenth son who's married to the former Miss Calico Sheets of Olympia Washington. So, ergo, by social networking, I'm a terrorist. Hobbits! Idiots! Assholes. Go play 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Had lunch today with a couple of close friends. The guy with the real adult job was fashionably late; so while we were swilling water and bread, we began as too left-libertarian social justice oriented types will to talk politics. She's a lesbian, and an attorney. The attorney part bothers me at times, but not so badly as it bothers her. Her partner is an intellectual property attorney at the evil empire of Redmond. She told me that when this story broke the other day, Microsoft went gaggaggga in concern that they might have violated the law and all their internal standards about privacy by cooperating with these clowns. You know, big organization and who knows what anyone else is doing? Relief wasn't just palpable but visual and aural as well when they figured out that they hadn't done anything to support this nuttiness.
We've both been involved in large, failed software implementations -- as anyone knows who has tried to work one of those things, it's inevitably a failure but...after about two years, and five times the initial cost, it kind of works. We both sat there amazed...this project is an interesting data base for social science, I suppose -- "Look professor at the number of numbers in Idaho that are five degrees from Addis Ababa! In 2003! I guess that's why the Bush administration under Jenna bombed them!" (Idaho or Addis Ababa? Both...) but what the fuck, over -- how do you use it practically? Assuming it works...This was a full employment program for UNIX programmers and a boondoogle to keep Cray supercomputers being pumped out. There is no conceivable worth to it given the parameters they descirbe...so, do we believe that our government spent a helluva lot of time and money and violated the law, the consitution and common sense for no purpose? Or are they lying about what they were looking at? My guess, yes!
Joe Biden might be an overly verbose self-aggrandizing drunken politico-weasel from the corporate teat of Delaware, but he is a Democrat and he occasionally says things that are sensible. I hear a bit on NPR this afternoon -- "As for this stuff about trusting the President and the Vice President to do what's right, don't count me in!" 
So, who's for a left-wing conspiracy to get out the libertarian-commie-pinko-homosexual-lesbian-devil worshipping-anti-war-prochoice-prolife (how can you be prolife and support Iraq?) cabal vote to elect someone other than Republicans to do it old school and "IMPEACH BUSH+CHENEY 2007!"
By the way, where is Howard Dean coming from besides out of his own ass with this stuff about the Democratic platform supports the idea that Marriage is Between a Man and a Woman! That probably comes as a shock to a lot of Democrats, including Barney Frank.
The Democrats will not win by taking back the radical religious right...unless Howie gets a time machine and goes back to like 1852 or something, and imports a lot of those Democrats, who were all in favor of states rights and leaving slavery alone. The Democratic Party--Wrong on Slavery! Trying to be Wrong Again! Asshole. Hobbit. Idiot.
classic crusader axe stuff here. well played.
Posted by: the serrach | 12 May 2006 at 06:55 PM