R Disasters,

Thanks for the encouragement. Being a right-winger is certainly a difficult condition to cure, but I have met an increasing number of Republicans that have been traumatized enough by Bush to be shaken free of their preconceptions. Clearly there is a large component of indoctrination and heredity involved, but I doubt the genetic component is 100% determinative.

Even if it is true that all they can do is hate, it may be possible to redirect their hatred toward more productive ends. Perhaps they can be taught to cannibalize one another?

Oh wait… they are doing that already.

I only wish I was as hopeful as you are that they will only continue to annoy – unfortunately there are a lot of people who see personal gain to be had, and will continue to rape the rest of us to have it.

Peace.

DS

A meteorite is a rock that has fallen to earth, a meteor is what is seen in the sky as it falls to earth.

What “soars” through space is called a meteoroid.

“Barack Dillusional Syndrome” ?

Try a bit harder to overcome your near-terminal case of BDS. Wilson went to Niger at the request of the CIA (and at the suggestion of his own wife, who was working as a lower-level analyst at the time FOR the CIA.) He spent his time there sitting around the hotel pool, drinking Long Island Ice Teas and schmoozing with a few mid-level government bureaucrats. He then came back to the U.S. and insisted that “Bush lied.” Bullspit! President Bush’s ONLY reference to ANYTHING in Africa during that SOTU speech was to quote the British, who, to the present day insist that Saddam’s Iraq HAD sought to buy yellowcake in Africa. No one, not the President OR the British have ever specified that Niger was involved in this attempt. The only connection Niger has to the issue was the British had discovered a forged document referring to Niger, but they say today that that document had nothing whatsoever to do with their assessment.

Secondly, Bush, Cheney, et al, did NOT go into “smear mode” as you put it. The name of Ms Plame was “leaked” to Novak by Richard Armitage who was a vociferous opponent of Bush’s Iraq policy and had no reason whatsoever to cover for Bush in any way. Besides, Ms Plame was NOT a “covert operative” subject to the non-disclosure rules as the Dim-bulb Democrats have insisted. Wake up and smell the coffee, BC. In 19 days, Bush will be gone and you’ll have your fondest wish…a far-left ideologue who’s both an empty suit and very likely even more corrupt than Clinton was.

Nice post, but you are wasting your time.

I am convinced that being a right-winger is like being born gay… it’s biologically hard wired in the brain.

All they can do is hate, hate, and more hate.

At least now that they are out of office, they can go back to being the mostly harmless but annoying cranks you’ve historically been.

How about just the last 8 years:

We used to have a strong dollar … but neo-con deregulation of financial markets weakened it.

Life used to be sacred … but neo-cons support endless war and the death penalty.

Marriage used to be sacred … but neo-cons want the government to decide.

We used to be respected around the world … neo-con preemptive war changed that.

We used to have a strong manufacturing economy … neo-con free traders changed that.

We used to have lower tax structures … which got us into this mess.

We used to enjoy more freedoms … neo-con religionists and fascists changed that.

We used to be a large exporter of American made goods … neo-con free traders changed that.

We used to be an openly Christian nation … which got us into this mess.

We used to teach patriotism in schools … which got us into this mess.

We used to educate children in schools … neo-con tax activists changed that by de-funding public education.

We used to enjoy freedom of speech … but neo-cons prefer to wiretap.

We used to enforce LEGAL citizenship … but neo-cons prefer to employ illegals.

We used to have affordable food & gas prices … but neo-con energy policies prevented reform of our transportation and agriculture systems.

The trouble is, America’s youthful voters today don’t know of the great America that existed forty and fifty years ago. They see the world as if it has always existed, as it is now.
…
We also had racial segregation, McCarthyism and a cold war, and enjoyed the economic benefits of a world rebuilding after a cataclysmic war that barely touched American soil. For better or worse, we cannot go back – we must move forward with the world we have, not the world we would wish to have.

Given the above, it seems likely that a return to Constitutional issues is in order. For my part, I think the first amendment gets trampled by the right and the left at times – “Christian Nation” as a label ought never to apply to the United States. The right to peaceably assemble is practically expired, and the right to petition the Government is even in doubt.

The second amendment has been interpreted far too obscurely – the individual right to bear arms is clear and unmistakable. The third amendment is thankfully not an issue so far. The fourth amendment has been bent and twisted to the point where all of your property can be seized and liquidated with no cause shown.

The fifth amendment has been gutted recently, along with the sixth. Even the seventh amendment has been assaulted. The eighth amendment is as good as gone. The ninth and tenth amendments, however, are where we need to really get to work. The People have far more rights than we assert. I think it is time to get assertive.

DS

As a tumultuous 2008 draws to a lurching close and a turbulent 2009 waits in the wings for the Times Square ball to drop tomorrow night, it’s an apt time to look back on the past year.

However, since every broadcast and cable network is already presenting its 2008 Year in Review, it would be redundant to do so here. Instead, I humbly offer my picks for the best, the worst, and the ugliest ”things” of 2008.

All of those categories feature multiple, worthy contestants although there are far fewer candidates vying for the peak of the good heap than there are for the bad and ugly top spots.

Far and away the best thing to happen to America over the past year would also have to be the choice for the past seven years as well, namely a non-event, the fact that the nation has not suffered another terrorist attack in almost 88 months.

That fact has led to a distinctly blase’ attitude among many Americans who have pushed memories of 9/11/2001 to back burners or have pushed it off the stove entirely, which is extremely unfortunate since those who forget the past historically ended up reliving it in the future.

Despite one’s view of President George W. Bush, he has to be accorded his due. Our national security programs and systems are deeply flawed, as has been pointed out in this space, but they have evidently been sufficiently effective, so far.

What the future holds, what 2009 and ensuing years have in store for us, is speculative at best but, as of now, we are relatively secure as a nation so the best thing not to happen to America in 2008 is easily the absence of another assault. For that, Americans should be deeply thankful and should be praying the situation continues. GWB deserves tip of the hat.

I struggled to choose the worst thing about 2008 because of the more subjective nature of such a choice….
(Read the rest of this article at http://genelalor.com/.)