EFFin’ Unsound

– posted by thehim

HorsesAss is well known for the lack of civility in its comment threads. A number of individuals will show up in the comment threads solely to “shit in the punchbowl”, so to speak. In this environment, there’s little use for the rantings of these lunatics. The common refrain is “don’t feed the trolls,” and for the truly disruptive ones, this is good advice. But every once in a while, a troll will appear who thinks he’s not really a troll*. He sees himself as some wise man who is valiantly fighting against liberal groupthink. These are the diamonds in the rough - the ones who are not quite smart enough to know who stupid they really are.

The latest incarnation goes by the name of Marvin Stamn, and his trail of idiocy may only be gathering some steam at this point. Here are the highlights so far.

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If I’d said that, I suspect my Lutheran grandmother, among others, would accuse me of being opposed to her religion. But for Eric Earling criticizing that hateful statement is a criticism of Catholicism. Or of religion in general:

Re: Liberals Still Don’t Understand Faith

I like how he’s responding to something he’d said. Instead of making it a running thing, or thinking up a more relevant title. Oh and how it has nothing to do with Washington State.

This post caused some lively discussion over the weekend. The topic is brewing elsewhere now too.

I’m sorry I’d missed the post. It was pretty stupid too.

Michael Gerson’s column in today’s WaPo discusses an atrocious Democratic own-goal in the process of that party trying to make itself hospitable to persons of faith. The error in question being the atrocious attack-ad put out by Louisiana Democrats against apparent Governor-to-be Bobby Jindal. Local Democrats are fleeing from the ad’s factually challenged and “theologically ignorant” accusations, which may have done much to cement the GOP’s growing strength in Louisiana.

Wait, what? A CFR Senior Fellow and Former Bush speech writer doesn’t think highly of Democrats? If we’ve lost the Bush speech writers, we’re in serious trouble. I actually am amused by the fact that Earling didn’t bother to link to (or read?) the Jindal piece. It’s mostly the sort of apologetics that you’ve heard if you’ve spent any time around practicing Catholics. But there is some extremely hateful nonsense, and that’s what Democrats were criticizing.

Gerson’s point is that all the outreach efforts in the world - such as say top-tier Democratic Presidential candidates being willing to talk about their personal faith a bit in public - isn’t going to help if the Democratic Party and its secular base keep throwing religious bombs:

This Democratic ad is not merely a tin-eared political blunder; it reveals a secular, liberal attitude: that strong religious beliefs are themselves a kind of scandal; that a vigorous defense of Roman Catholicism is somehow a gaffe.

It wasn’t the vigorous defense of Catholicism they were criticizing. It was the viperous attacks on other religions, such as saying that some protestant faiths (that he doesn’t name), “can hardly be called Christian.”

It’s too broad a brush to pin such missteps on all Democrats, or even all liberals for that matter. But it reminds me a professor of mine once said, “the problem with stereotypes is they’re usually true.” Some Democrats keep finding ways to live up to the stereotype. That perception may be all that counts.

I swear to God, if some Republican said “2+2=4 and we should turn the country over to Bin Laden,” Republicans would say, “Democrats don’t think 2+2=4″ when we invariably criticized it. And then there would be a, “perception problem” that we can’t do math to deflect from their crazy.

Geez, wouldn’t it be crazy if he were to be the United States Attorney General? I mean I made a lot of phone calls to put the nail in Skeletor’s coffin. Now he’s maybe back as AG? That sucks hard. Bruce Chapman has a somewhat different (and much wronger) take.

The Seattle Times thinks former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton, who also was a four term elected Attorney General for the State of Washington and more recently served on the National Commission on 9/11, would make an excellent new Attorney General. They are right; it’s a great idea.

Just a guess, but none of them are Native Americans, right? I mean what could possibly go wrong putting someone who spent that much of his career attacking Natives in charge of prosecuting non-Natives who commit crimes on reservations? Jesus Christ.

I have known Slade for forty years. He is a dynamo–articulate, scholarly, and eminently practical. When he was AG for Washington his opponents once satirized him in a political cartoon as a school marm with a ruler. Actually, it was an unintended compliment, since everyone knows him as a man of no-nonsense integrity, which is exactly what you want as a top law enforcement official.

Also, as the main proponent of stacking the Washington State judiciary with Republican judges, he’ll have a running start with Bush.

The Times suggests that if President Bush nominated him to replace Alberto Gonzales he could be confirmed easily by the U.S. Senate, many of whose members know him personally. That’s true, but it might make better sense to avoid another long confirmation process and make a recess appointment that could take effect right away. After all, there is only a year and four months left of the Bush Administration and the need for leadership at the Department of Justice is now, not later this fall.

Well, shit, why bother ever even having Senate confirmation? Who needs even the most basic of checks to make sure he’s a qualified candidate? Just pick some guy. And if you say “9/11 Commission” enough times people will forget what a lousy Senator he was, and why we kicked his ass out. And really, if President Bush wouldn’t take the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations seriously, what makes anyone think he’d take a 9/11 commissioner seriously on legal issues?
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– posted by thehim

As I’m sure everyone here knows, the President made his way to Bellevue on Monday to campaign for Congressman Dave Reichert.  Most Republicans today are smart enough to keep their distance from a lame duck President whose approval ratings have been hovering around 30% for almost a year, but Congressman Reichert is not one of them.  In fact, “smart enough” is not a phrase commonly associated with either the Congressman or his distinguished guest. 

Earlier this evening, as we were celebrating the success of raising $120,000 for Reichert’s opponent, Darcy Burner, in just this weekend as a response to Bush’s trip, Daniel Kirkdorffer challenged me to do a line-by-line breakdown of the President’s speech from yesterday.  Here it goes (get comfy, this shit’s long):

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I really shouldn’t go shopping before I write a hurried post edition. And it’s still good to be back.

* Shorter State Rep. Joel Kretz: I love a fair: “People come to Omak, spend money then leave.”

* Shorter Stefan Sharkansky: It’s Michael Hood’s fault that I’m a shitty tipper and an awful human being*

* Shorter Lou Guzzo: In case you didn’t know, government run health care would be paid for by taxes, and not magic.

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I’d like to talk about some crazy local shit that’s gone down when I was away (Seriously, going after a waitress on your blog? It’s not like she swore in a bar, or didn’t try to disenfranchise King County voters). But sadly, I don’t know enough about any of that. So, here’s Jim Miller blaming the New York Times for the fact that people know we torture people, instead of the more obvious blaming the people torturing with American sanction and the Americans giving them sanction.

Thomas Friedman Is Too Modest:  The New York Times columnist argues that the Bush administration has been ineffectual in the $propaganda war against Al Qaeda.

Among other wars I’d think. Friedman is an idiot, as we’ll see shortly. But that doesn’t make Miller any smarter.

One thing that has always baffled me about the Bush team’s war effort in Iraq and against Al Qaeda is this:  How could an administration that is so good at Swift-boating its political opponents at home be so inept at Swift-boating its geopolitical opponents abroad?

They care much more about beating Democrats than they do about beating our enemies. And since when did swift boating need a hyphen?

. . .
Dive into a conversation about America in the Arab world today, or even in Europe and Africa, and it won’t take 30 seconds before the words “Abu Ghraib” and “Guantánamo Bay” are thrown at you.  Yes, both are shameful, but Abu Ghraib was a day at the beach compared to what Al Qaeda and its Sunni jihadist supporters have been doing in Iraq, yet none of their acts have become one-punch global insults like Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.

Grab your swim trunks kiddies! We’re going to the rape room! Also, if you’re having a conversation about America, doesn’t it fall naturally that you’re going to talk about the things America is doing more than Al Qaeda? I know that sounds crazy, but when someone mentions that America doesn’t always live up to our ideals, you can just yell, “Hey! The A-Rabs are worse!!!!!!!!!!!!”

And which newspaper is most reponsible for making Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo insults?  Why the one that Friedman works for, the good, grey, hopelessly-biased New York Times.  How can Friedman not know this?  (Perhaps he should look at these examples from Timeswatch.)

Well, Abu Ghraib was first reported by 60 Minutes II, and then by The New Yorker. So while neither of them are newspapers, I think you’d have to be a pretty big asshole to actually draw that distinction. Also, it should probably go without saying, but if Americans didn’t rape, torture, sometimes maybe kill, and disappear people including children, the Times and other media outlets wouldn’t have anything to report.

(Friedman is, of course, wrong to credit (or blame) Bush for “Swift-boating” John Kerry.  The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did receive financial support from Republicans, but there is no evidence that they were controlled or even inspired by the Bush administration.  Their leader, John O’Neill, is a political independent who has quarreled with Kerry for decades.

That’s why Bush nominated Sam Fox for ambasador to Belgium. Because of his independance, and not his $50,000 to the Swift Boat Liars.

You can find my own views on the Swiftvets controversy in a number of posts, notably here.)

I’m reading them now. No, seriously. I totally am. All of the posts, even the ones you didn’t link to.

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– posted by thehim

I’ve been noticing that a lot of comments are being randomly deleted.  I’m not sure what’s up, and I think Carl is still without internet access for the time being.  If your comments have been deleted, it was not on purpose and we apologize.

– posted by thehim

Sound Politics’ head stereotypist, Don Ward, is one of the most clueless people I’ve ever met in my life.  That said, I’ve enjoyed talking to him because it gives me some insight into the mindset of people who have hardly ever left the state of Washington in their lives.  Don still inhabits a long-forgotten imaginary world where people who protest things are hippies and that Republicans are still the serious and responsible folks who should be running the government.  People have told me that Don has not, in fact, been in a coma since 1970, so I’m at a loss to explain any of this. 

Here, he discusses today’s planned protest of Greatest Failure Ever:

President Bush is coming to Bellevue today to headline a fundraiser for Congressman Dave Reichert at the Bellevue Hyatt around 3 p.m.

For those who weren’t aware, we don’t call Congressman Reichert “Congressman Drebin” just because he looks like Leslie Neilsen.  We have other reasons.

Having a POTUS visit is a signature event for the average get-yer-ya-yas-out professional protestor.

Those are my favorite kinds of protestors.

The excitement among liberal activists here is spreading like a wet spot on a toddler’s pants just before meeting the mall Santa Claus.

Or Ted Nugent’s pants when he was trying to get out of Vietnam. 

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– posted by thehim

I know I’ve been picking on Lou Guzzo a lot, but damn is it too easy:

I’m convinced that Asians are born with the extraordinary ability to handle chopsticks and never miss a bite. Otherwise, I believe they would have switched to metal forks, knives, and spoons a long time ago. Is it any wonder that they can boast so many stellar acrobats and balancing acts that are astounding to behold?

Sweet

– posted by thehim

I normally don’t use this forum to make fun of mere comments, but every once in a while, a comment is left at HorsesAss that is so remarkably idiotic that it must be shared with a wider audience. At 4:06 PM this afternoon, the following words were put together in sequence by a human being with basic English skills (and good spelling, surprisingly):

Whatever ‘covert’ is, Plame was not it, despite what CIA bureaucrats alleged.

I was completely unaware that CIA bureaucrats are not the people who decide who is and isn’t covert.