Blog Box

August 26, 2005
Compiled by Delilah Boyd, A Scrivener's Lament

Michael Graham, Pat Robertson, George W. Bush, Russo Marsh & Rogers PR firm, Republican state officials, those gung-ho MinuteMen, Eric Rudolph, and Alan Greenspan. Notice a pattern yet? Read on. It's there.

Give Me One Of Those Old Time Religions!

Did you hear about FORMER hate radio host, Michael Graham? He was finally fired because he wouldn't apologize for calling Islam a terrorist organization. Naturally, like Judith Miller, he's turned into a "free speech" lover. Infidels Of Every Denomination writes:

Needless to say, he's all about the sanctity of free speech NOW, just like any other whiny wingnut who thinks s/he's entitled to a paid forum from which to spew hate.

Speaking of spewing hate, why do rightwingers only turn the other cheek when one of their own goes batshit? The usual suspects right-wing bloggers had plenty of the same-old-same-old to say this week about Pat Robertson's fatwa against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Eternity Road writes:

Your Curmudgeon can't see what all the foofaurauw is about. Chavez is a brutal dictator, he's steadily destroying the country he rules, and his minions have already shed the blood of innocents to protect his hold on power. Apart from sheer quantity, was worse ever claimed for Saddam Hussein?

Typical. All right-wing talking points all the time.

Mother Superior Jumped The Gun

That's right, boys and girls! Radical Christian cleric Pat Robertson gets a pass (actually, a big thumbs up) from his fundie fans, but the dancing nun gets a reprimand for celebrating the appearance of the new pope (not to be confused with New Coke) in Germany?

Rhodian Attic's Kathleen Callon writes: "Let A Nun Have Some Fun!"

All online polls this week indicate that the Mother Superior is both completely out of touch and way out of line. It's times like these that I wish some enterprising blogger would launch a secret Mother Superior cam...

Back to radical Christian cleric Pat Robertson. Chris Johnson at CeeJayOz.com asked: "C'mon, CNN, can't we put 'scare quotes' around the word 'Christian' when describing Pat Robertson yet?" And on my blog, A Scrivener's Lament, I asked: "Will Pat Robertson now petition for The 9 Commandments to be displayed prominently in public buildings?"

Well, Couldn't You Just Spit?

After causing a full-blown international incident, Ol' Scratch Pat had the gall to claim that the Associated Press had misquoted him. (Stop laughing!) I don't know about you, but I saw the Crooks & Liars video. Who are you gonna believe, Pat or your lying eyes and ears?

He now says there are many ways to "take Chavez out," including kidnapping. So, Pat doesn't want to kill Chavez; he only wants to kidnap him? These are Pat's choices?

But wait! There's more! Now Pat has issued a written apology. Sort of. Okay, Pat. Your 15 minutes are up, pal.

86 President 36%

On the BushCo job approval front... Don't you just love the smell of Pollcatz in the morning? It looks like they had to add another bar to the bottom of the graph. Ouch! Adding insult to injury, Think Progress notes that even Tricky Dick Nixon's approval was 39% at the height of the Watergate scandal.

It's high time we 86ed President 36%! No wonder George W. Vacation Boy decided to take a vacation from his vacation and hide out in Idaho.

Meanwhile, Cindy Sheehan returned to Camp Casey on Wednesday, just in time to welcome George W. back from his vacation's vacation. Emily Sharpe posts at Crawford Update that volunteers are so anxious to hear the president's definition of "noble cause" that they're constructing a regulation Marine One helipad for him at Camp Casey II.

On a more personal note, Maria at 2 Political Junkies writes:

I keep hearing how Cindy Sheehan is a "tool" of the Left -- as if she could not speak for herself or come to her ideas on her own. Valerie Plame is called a "Soccer Mom" as if she did not do service for her country. I have only one thing to say to that (Ladies, feel free to chime in): FUCK YOU AND YOUR SEXIST BULLSHIT Been meaning to say that for a while now. :-D

I'm with you, Maria!

For Sale: Grassroots Bullshit

George W.'s handlers must really be freaking out. Why else would a prominent, RNC-connected public relations firm pretend to be a grassroots organization (Move America Forward) protesting Cindy Sheehan's protest?

Democratic Underground's Ninkasi gave the story its national legs, Keith Olbermann ran with it, and Crooks And Liars posted the video, of course. We all knew this was a scam; the words on their freeper signs were spelled correctly...

From Ninkasi's original DU post:

When the MAF (Move America Forward) website first went up this (sic) take a look at who is was registered to: The .com address was first registered using this information: Registrant: Russo Marsh & Rogers 770 L Street, #950 Sacramento, CA 95814 US That's right, this genuine act of patriotism is brought to you by the Republican public relations firm Russo Marsh and Rogers. The Move America Forward organization isn't just based in the Bay Area, it's based in the same offices as the Russo PR firm. Same receptionist answers calls for both organizations. Website was registered to the firm until they figured out that it wouldn't look good if people knew that a PR firm was behind this 'patriotic grassroots activist group.' --snip-- Aside from bad politics, that's just disgustingly loathsome behavior.

Disgustingly loathsome. Perfect description, Ninkasi!

Actually, make that disgusted and loathing. Earl Bockenfeld's Radio Weblog (click on the August archive) notes: "OMFG, if you've lost the VFW, you've lost the war." You know BushCo's in real trouble when members of his handpicked audiences look like this:

...and your soldiers in Iraq look like this:

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Did BushCo think that George W.'s disgusting back door attacks on Cindy Sheehan this week would go unnoticed? Jason F King succinctly responds to Bush's Cindy Sheehan-inspired "Iraq withdrawal would weaken the U.S." statement with:

So has the invasion, asshole.

And Austoon Daily responds to BushCo's other Cindy Sheehan-inspired "Those Who Protest Iraq War Don't Want U.S. to Win 'War on Terror'" statement:

Looks like Rush Limbaugh is already laying the groundwork...

As for those mamas who don't protest the war but didn't let their babies grow up to be soldiers, Philly blogger The Disenchanted Forest revisits that Pittsburgh mom who declared, "Military service is not for our son. It's not for our kind of people." During your trek through The Disenchanted Forest, be sure to note the info on Philadelphia's missing children in the sidebar. We all know that the corporate-owned media won't cover them. (You'll see why.)

Gay Haters Mess With Texas

G-A-Y, posting at Good As You, writes:

Texas ballot's otherwise pleasant appearance to be tainted by presence of bullsh*t In Texas on Monday, the Secretary of State officially announced that a proposed constitutional ban on 'mo marriage (homo marriage) will be the second proposition on the November ballot. Bad news for Propositions 1 & 3 (dealing with rail facilities and economic development, respectively) as they were totally hoping that the creme to their sandwich cookie would not be a deceptive buttmunch hellbent on polluting the state with inequality, but rather a hot little proposal with a tight ass and a fair demeanor. Texans will vote on the matter November 8, followed by gay Texans voting on whether or not they will move to Canada on November 9.

As a native Texan (straight but not narrow), I say, "Give 'em hell at the polls, gay Texans!"

Barbarians At The Gate Houston City Limits

The Junkheap Of History is on this MinuteMen story like Dan Rather on a colorful metaphor:

Who could've foreseen it? Who do these pricks think they are? Now they're conducting armed surveillance on day laborers in Houston. --snip-- These idiots won't be happy until one of them caps poor Jorge who's just looking for work. And then Bush will just smirk and go "Gosh!" and do nothing to secure the borders or stop the MinuteMen.

Speaking of white sheet lovers, My Mind cleverly dissects homegrown terrorist, Erik Rudolph:

In April, Rudolph revealed his motives for the first time, blaming his attacks on the legalization of abortion and "aberrant sexual behavior." --snip- - Pat Rudolph said the idea that her son will be "buried in a cell" for the rest of his life is something she tries not to think about. Instead she focuses on Eric's innocent childhood of punching girls and terrorizing lemonade stands.

Son Of Silverado?

Finally, Americans are waking up to BushCo's "divide and conquer" tactic. It didn't work with millions of lost jobs and outsourcing. It didn't even work with their claims of a "few pockets" of violence in Iraq. What makes Greenspan fans think it'll work with real estate speculation?

Securities trader Bondad, posting at Daily Kos, notes the obvious signs of looming real estate problems. Chilling, considering who stands to gain the most from others' badly timed investments.

And who stands to lose the most when the bubble either bursts or slowly hisses itself to death? Could it possibly be low-income and unemployed middle class folks? Hmm. Thank goodness it's only a problem in a "few pockets" of the country.

Did you find the pattern of behavior I mentioned at the beginning? Consider the targets: non-Christians, oil-rich progressive world leaders, women, gays, racial minorities, anti-Iraq war protestors, pro-choice defenders, the sexually-active, poor people and the middle class.

Right-wingers would have you believe that YOU are a danger to America. Who's the real danger? (Hint: See paragraph 1.)

Know a hot blog that needs some coverage? Send your recommendations to Delilah.

Visit the Blog Box Archive