EFFin’ Unsound

– posted by thehim

I’m on a bit of a serious kick here, but I promise, this is the last of it.  I’ve been wanting to write something in response to the attempts by certain people to paint Governor Gregoire as being “soft on crime” for the recent incidents of felon releases.  Not that I’m a huge fan of Governor Gregoire when it comes to criminal justice issues.  As the former Attorney General, she’s publicly shown little courage to talk about what she must know is the reason why our criminal justice system is a mess.  In solidly blue states like Washington, we need to start talking about the drug war and the incalculable damage it’s doing to this nation in terms of race relations, immigration, and crime.  And I believe we should be one of the states at the forefront of addressing it.   

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I never tire of Clark County Conservative. And yeah it is a week and change old. But since these old Republicans are weak and don’t change, here you go.

The MSM-ocrats are at it again.

After one of the most amazing market recoveries and surges in American history under President Bush, the MSM-ocrats want to make sure and kick America back into limited economic growth with higher unemployment. (Remember when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was around 7500 shortly after the 9/11 attacks? Just in the past two days, it set another new ALL-TIME HIGH - about its eighth new record - closing above 12,900 and looking to cross 13,000 soon. That is 2,000 points shy of a 100% increase, a doubling, in the DJIA over the course of six years. And all this comes on the heels of a recession that had started in 1999, the “Dot-com bust” in the last year of Clinton’s presidency, inherited by President Bush. And now the MSM-ocrats want to take that away all that growth that benefits ALL Americans by increasing taxes.)

What the MSM-ocrat idiots don’t get is that when you raise taxes…

“Yes, we’ll have to raise taxes,” Mr. Edwards declared in February in one of the first statements by a Democratic candidate on the issue.

… on the people who are responsible for fueling economic growth, you stifle economic growth. When you fuel economic growth, by cutting taxes for EVERYONE, including those who in invest in economic growth, employees and middle-America BENEFITS. Greater economic growth means economic expansion: new markets, more jobs, less unemployment, more earnings. You have to be an ass to not understand this. And that is exactly what the MSM-ocrats are: asses. By “soaking the rich”, they are ensuring that the markets will stagnate and the economic growth we’ve witnessed over the past six+ years, under President Bush, will slow down to a trickle.

Do you really want to give the MSM-ocrats a majority so that they can accomplish this?

And by the way, the above quote from the article came from MSM-ocrat pres. candidate John Edwards - you know, the “two Americas” Edwards - who juswt [sic - Carl] this past week made his campaign (ie donor donations) pay for a $400 haircut [this is a lie - Carl] from a salon called the Pink Sapphire. Edwards lives in the “rich America” of his analogy and wants to stick it to the taxpayer by raising taxes, all thee while railing against the “rich elite”, of which he is one. Edwards shoul [sic -Carl] just do himself a favor and bow out now. No one in America will elect a president who got a $400 haircut at a salon called the Pink Sapphire.

By the way the person identified as “Edwards” and a “Democratic candidate” was John Edwards! Stop the presses. I’m not sure name of the salon has to do with anything. Especially since the person who President Bush got his cocaine from was named Sapphire Pinkerton. I’m amused that getting a haircut is now off limits for Democratic presidential candidates. I mean I understand it’s more important, say, as lying into an illegal war. And just maybe, your side has been spending too damn much time obsessing about Edwards’ hair to warrant being able to make fun of him.

And seriously, nobody can care about the poor and the middle class if they are wealthy? No matter if they were born into a mill worker’s family in Carolina and worked their way out of that. No matter what he has or hasn’t done in the past or what his plans are for the future. Because those things simply don’t matter as much as the fact that he got a motherfucking haircut.

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Sharkansky doesn’t like being mentioned by Joel Connelly. Or thinks that Connelly will become relevant if he starts to share his paranoia. You know what, I’m not real sure what the point is.

How Joel Connelly can become relevant

Realizing that Dan Evans and TR weren’t good people? Not lamenting how Seattle isn’t the town it was in 1965? Not splitting his ticket in that annoying way he does? Write for a blog that hasn’t advanced its agenda since people realized it was just a Republican propaganda mill? Try to get people fired for saying “fucking” in a bar? Become paranoid of King County Elections? Make it so that any comments that link to a page that criticized his paranoia don’t get through?

You have to feel sorry for Joel Connelly, the contumelious liberal columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. His relevance is dwindling with the P-I’s circulation and the poor fellow isn’t very good at his job to begin with. He writes obsessively about Sound Politics, but can never get the details quite right. Sometimes he spells my name wrong, sometimes he uses words beyond his vocabulary (Here he inexplicably described Sound Politics as “venal”, but later admitted he didn’t know what that word actually meant).

Yeah, he spells everybody’s name wrong. That’s kind of annoying. But the venal thing may have something to to with the whiny way you beg for money. It isn’t the first word I’d use, but it isn’t wrong. And it’s certainly explicable.

Yesterday’s column purports to offer advice to the state GOP on how to become relevant, but instead directs some editorial suggestions to Sound Politics¹. But Connelly’s own advice is irrelevant. Sound Politics is not the Republican Party, but the opinions of a few individuals, speaking only for themselves. (In that sense we’re somewhat analogous to the P-I opinion section, but with higher editorial standards). Connelly’s advice to the GOP could be relevant if he critiqued the GOP’s own message machine and not just some random bloggers who happen to support the Republicans most of the time.

There are two fucking paragraphs about SP in a 25 paragraph article. One of those paragraphs is 2 sentences. Seriously, either masturbate or type, but try not to do both at the same time.

And frankly, SP is part of the problem for the state Republicans. When you basically say that Republican office holders should steal an election for you, it makes people not want to vote Republican. And I hope the high standards will compel them to mention the problems the King County Republicans have been having.

¹ Connelly’s main complaint with Sound Politics is that I referred to the lying bastards at King County Elections as “lying bastards”. But the only journalist who would not conclude that the leadership of King County Elections are lying bastards is one who either never deals with them, or who doesn’t know enough to recognize their endless parade of falsehoods for what they are. Once again, Connelly’s off-the-mark commentary reflects that he’s just not very good at his job.

Well, I certainly am all for calling people names, Ass Face. But when you make crazy accusations and then attack anyone who doesn’t share your paranoia, you may want to consider what you’re doing. Also, “offer something positive” is more boilerplate than off the mark. And seriously, I’m not sure what excesses Connelly is talking about from the Democrats. But a sincere attempt to help Republicans be more environmentally friendly and less crazy is perhaps a fools’ errand.

Lou Guzzo thinks PBS=Socialism. So you know we’re on reasonable ground.

Should governments in free, democratic nations like the U.S. that rely on a competitive economy and a capitalist system be controlling and financing news media like radio and television stations, just as the federal government in America does with the Public Broadcasting System?

Yes. Otherwise the only voices will be corporate media and bloggers. And while I like both in some instances, it’s nice to have a greater variety. I’d certainly be opposed to government propaganda, but I think PBS has been the most immune of the news outlets especially in the run up to the war. Frontline is perhaps the only news show that focuses on the news. I know it’s crazy.

My answer is a loud, unequivocal “No!” But that’s exactly what has happened in our nation, whose otherwise proud First Amendment to the Constitution promises a “free press” among other important freedoms. We also know that PBS TV and radio are decidedly on the Liberal side of political and related issues and that we have several examples of censorship of conservative issues by PBS directors.

Censorship like giving Tucker Carlson and the Wall Street Journal ed page their own shows. And man alive, you just can’t find a conservative voice on the McLaughlin Group. Also, PBS is controlled by pretty censorious conservatives at the moment. And will be until the end of the Bush Administration. Fortunately their efforts have so far been largely failures.

I can already hear PBS backers, who are also apparently Liberal themselves, shout in unison that the PBS radio and TV staffers are giving the public programs they cannot get on commercial television and radio — and that they have a right to pursue the entertainment and Liberal course they do unabashedly.

That’s right Frontline and Nova are better than weeks of Anna Nicole Smith (and yes, thehim had a good piece on Smith on his blog, and I liked Stephanie Coontz’ piece in the New York Times).

I acknowledge that PBS television, at least, has offered some top-grade programs, but they are programs that could be produced by commercial television — and, in fact, are offered by a private foundation. In the Seattle area, the Classic Arts Showcase is seen at all hours of the day and night on Channel 75. I should know; it’s my favorite channel.

Well, I wouldn’t be averse to a private foundation doing serious news. And surely there are ways to get it on the air. But I think more people watch PBS than watch Channel 75. And there is a glut of news, and the only thing that comes close to Frontline is 60 Minutes. But man, can they be cowed when someone doesn’t like the typeset of one of their sources.

Only in Communist and Socialist nations — as well as in Islamic countries — are the news media totally controlled and operated by government or theocratic leaders. Voices of opposition or opinions that run counter to the policies of such governments are never heard nor seen by the people in those countries.

Right. In this country they’re only heard on commercial TV. Also if PBS is socialism, and Hardball and Fox News are the best capitalism can do, perhaps Lou should get into the propaganda business for Hugo Chavez.

In commentaries like this one that I have made in the past, I have always referred to a specific example that underscores the problem. Newspapers owned and operated by private firms never complain about government control and operation of PBS and all its affiliates in radio and television across the land — most probably because most of the newspapers are controlled by Liberals.

Yes. When the Hearst Corporation owns the most liberal daily in the state, you know that newspapers are controlled by Liberals (and why is it capitalized?). When the ed boards are opposed to the very idea of public transit that doesn’t smell of pee and take forever to use, when they all have extensive business sections but no labor news that doesn’t go to the fucking EFF for a quote, yeah, they are fucking all liberals.

But, just let government dare to create and control newspapers in direct competition with the private newspapers — and I am positive you would be reading cries of anguish from the privately owned dailies and weeklies, as well as demands that the government newspapers be shut down.

Well that would probably be a vast improvement in most one paper towns. Maybe someone not from a huge corporation or a rich family might get more of a voice.

Should Congress pass a law forbidding government operation of any kind of news media? Absolutely! But it could never happen with the Democratic Party and all its Liberal cohorts in control of Congress. At the same time, should a private citizen or private organization file a suit charging that PBS’ TV and radio networks are in direct violation of the free-press guarantee in the First Amendment?

The less speech solution to speech you don’t like is the way to champion the First Amendment.

If such a suit is ever filed, it will be interesting to see what the Liberally influenced private news media do. Will they applaud and support the originators of the suit — or will they permit their Liberal tendencies to dictate support of the similarly Liberal government-operated and financed PBS TV and radio network?

Remember, the only appropriate government speech is to call pot smokers terrorists.

And, finally, it would also be interesting to see what might happen when such a suit is considered by the courts, particularly the Supreme Court of the United States. bYour guess is as good as mine.

bMy guess is that would be insane.

First off, if I deleted your comment when I came back, sorry. Over 400 in the moderation que, I didn’t look too carefully. Anyhoozle, Jim Miller doesn’t understand foreign policy. Or the English language.

Do You Believe In Magic? Judging by his comments last night, Barack Obama does.

I believe some strange things.

But, look, we are one vote away — we are one signature away or 16 votes away from ending this war. One signature away.

Now, if the president is not going to sign the bill that has been sent to him, then what we have to do is gather up 16 votes in order to override his veto.

Right. That was the most controversial thing you could find when the Democrats got together. I didn’t see the debate, but the pictures I’ve seen looked like a possible future cabinet meeting, and we’re perhaps deciding who’ll sit where. That something fairly obvious that Obama said was the craziest thing you could find certainly bears that out some. I’m pretty sure in the Republican debate there will be enough insanity to go around.

When I heard that amazing statement, I briefly wished it were true. But then I have briefly wished for many impossible things.

Jim Miller wishes women wouldn’t just stop laughing when he disrobes. And that President Bush could put together a coherent sentence. But the feeling passes.

To believe this, Senator Obama has to believe, among other things, that Al Qaeda would immediately end all attacks on Americans, and that the warring factions in Iraq, who have quarrels that go back, in some cases, more than a thousand years, will also immediately stop fighting.

Well, he didn’t say immediately. So there’s your first problem. Reading obviously isn’t a Republican virtue. But what he was saying was that the war will end on a date certain rather than when a Democrat gets hold of the White House. And I like how he thinks that the Iraqi insurgents are going to keep attacking Americans when they have left.

Sometimes we have to hope that a politician is lying to us, and this is one of those times. It would be far better if Obama were lying to us, far better if his claim that the war could be ended by a signature was a deeply cynical appeal to the far left in the Democratic party. But he may believe what he said. If he does, we must wonder what other impossible things he believes, we must wonder if, like the White Queen in Alice in Wonderland, Obama can believe “as many as six impossible things before breakfast”. Including the magical idea that a signature on an appropriations bill can immediately end a war.

Fortunately for Miller, the President has been lying consistently for 6 years. I’m not sure why we should ever hope for such a thing, but it sure does help explain Republicanism: God I hope he’s lying about the WMD. He says the mission was accomplished, but come on, he can’t mean it. Obviously the President of the United States doesn’t think that Social Security is in crisis. British Intelligence doesn’t think that! Ties between Secular Saddam and religious nut Osama? Aluminum tubes can do what now, oh right he’s lying. Really, nobody could have predicted that the levies would breach or that terrorists might use planes? Wait, he’s taking credit for something Al Gore said to make a sick joke about his incompetence in regard to the handling of the war, 9/11 and the shitty economy? Lucky us he hit the liefecta. Who’s doing a heck of a job?

Oh right, the substance of the paragraph. Obama believes that if we start to get out with a date certain of getting out it will do more to get us out than doing more of the same. And that is in fact impossible. I guess lies are good from the second tier of Sound Politics bloggers too.

– posted by thehim

I guess Carl is still out of commission, and I’m wrapping up another week of dot-com chaos (I’m gonna have to work on Sunday now too, ick), so I’ll just point you to Joel Connelly, who gets to criticize the idiots at Sound Politics for money:

Living in a one-party state isn’t any fun if you are part of the other party. The Republicans haven’t elected a governor since 1980. They’ve lately watched Democrats capture such once-unassailable GOP bastions as the 41st and 48th legislative districts on the Eastside.

Alas, the party has responded with boilerplate news releases and unpopular stands — witness its call for repeal of the state Growth Management Act. The Web site soundpolitics.com, an unofficial Republican voice, specializes in rancid name-calling: the “Seattle Clowncouncil,” “lying bastards” at the King County Elections Office and “Mrs. Gregoire, the felon’s friend.”

Why not dump clunky sarcasm? Play off Democratic excesses, deliver cogent critiques and offer something positive.

Why not?  Because willful ignorance and boilerplate ideology is easier than actually discussing the important issues of the day.

– posted by thehim

Following up on my post from Sunday, I just left the following comment in response to Jonathan Gardner’s post on the VA Tech shootings where he falls into the same trap of demanding authoritarianism that could easily be used to restrict his own freedom:

[Jonathan] Should he have been locked up when he first showed signs of psychosis and tendencies towards violence?

OK.

This is psychotic:

[Jonathan] Ghandhi was a pacifist. He was also extremely stupid. He believed that had the Jews in the 1930s committed mass suicide, not only could the holocaust have been prevented, but World War II as well. I’m sorry, I’m just not buying the whole mass suicide thing. Shall we follow the philosophy of Ghandhi, and commit mass suicide now rather than waiting for certain death later because we refuse to resist? If you truly believe that Ghandhi was a prophet of morality, by all means, slit your throat now.

And this shows a tendency towards violence:

[Jonathan] I believe Iran should be on the short list for a toppling. Perhaps it can be done without an invasion. Perhaps we can pull it off without even bombing the nuclear facilities. However, I strongly doubt it. Whatever it is, it must be done in months or weeks, not years.

Is it time to lock you up?

– posted by thehim

Big props to Lou Guzzo for having the following two paragraphs in the same post:

For many years, I have been saying and writing that we must soon have revolutionary changes in two main segments of American life to halt the continuing slide toward Socialism that is being engineered by Liberals and Ultraliberals. One of them is the print and broadcast news media and the other is academia, specifically the faculties of our colleges and universities.

…

However, until that day arrives, the megacorporations will rule the roost and dictate what news will be delivered, how it will be delivered, and when it will be delivered. In order to combat the monopolies that are now controlling the printed press, I proposed long ago that an amendment be written to the U.S. Constitution declaring that no individual or firm could control more than one segment of the print or broadcast news media — hence my “One to a Customer” idea.

If this was just Joe Q. Wingnut saying this, I probably wouldn’t even post it, but Lou Guzzo used to edit the goddamn PI.  It’s very clear he has no idea what the term “socialist” even means, especially since many socialists completely agree with him.

– posted by thehim 

This post is going to be a little more serious than most.  It’s hard to joke about what happened in Blacksburg last week, but in the world of blogs, tragedies involving deranged lunatics murdering innocent people often end up becoming crusades by deranged bloggers to use the tragedy to slander their political opponents.  Blogger Justadog from Where’s Your Brain? has spent the entire week trying to prove that the tragedy in Blacksburg is evidence that liberals are trying to assist in the Islamofascicommunista take over of the U.S.  His latest insane screed is here:

The ramblings of Cho to NBC sounds like he was an advent socialist - hating those that had more than him. Little did he know he could have prevailed if he had lived.

Cho Seung-hui was crazy, but he was evidently not crazy enough to believe that, as a minority, he had nothing to worry about in life.

America is becoming more socialist, more liberal, more perverted, more immoral, more cowardice, and more stupid - all factors that would have worked for him.

Before we get any farther, I just want to warn you.  This post is worse than most of what Carl and I have highlighted on this site.  There’s a reason for breaking this down, and I’ll explain it at the end.

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So, it’s probably a bad idea to have a computer from the last century. I know it. Anyway, my computer isn’t working again. The repar place said 3-5 days, so that’s when I’ll be back in service. So local righties, you have ’till midweek to only have thehim go after you.