Choose Your Illusion
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posted by Aaron Turpen @ 8:24 AM
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Friday, September 22, 2006
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Thursday, September 21, 2006
Bush Is The Devil
Appearing tonight at the United Nations Comedy Club
By Dale McFeatters
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/content/2006/09/appearing_tonig.html
The United Nations may be ineffectual, but this past week it proved to be vastly entertaining, playing host as it did to the comedy of Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who have taken their act out of the Third World rooms where it normally plays.
Iran's president preceded his revival with a loopy 21-page letter to President Bush last spring, an offer to meet, an offer to debate on TV and, finally, an offer to debate before world leaders at the United Nations.
For whatever reason, the Bush White House saw fit to decline these attractive offers. There were fears of an awkward face-to-face confrontation between the two, which the Bush people wanted to avoid.
In fact, President Bill Clinton would have been the better choice for an impromptu hallway meeting with Ahmadinejad. He would have swept the little guy up in a bear hug and set off on a long discourse about health-care policy, AIDS in Africa, SEC basketball and Social Security until the Iranian leader was sobbing, "Please, please, take our nukes. Just don't force me to listen to the future of the Democratic Party."
As it was, Ahmadinejad didn't attend Bush's speech and Bush didn't attend his. The Iranian also didn't attend a lunch given by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan because, it was said, he does not attend events where alcohol is served.
Our diplomats should keep this in mind. If ever relations with Ahmadinejad get too testy, they can whip out their flasks and dump three fingers of Knob Creek into their water glasses.
The Iranian president elected for a '70s look at his speech, an open-collared pink shirt and an off-white sport coat that screamed, "Appearing at the Off Ramp Lounge of the I-70 Holiday Inn all this week."
At times, Ahmadinejad came dangerously close to making sense _ not a problem for his ally and fellow funnyman, Hugo Chavez.
He opened up by waving a copy of a book by Noam Chomsky and recommending it to the assembly. Veterans of the '60s muttered to each other, "Bet you anything he hasn't read it and never will," but Chavez went on to say, "The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species," so maybe he had.
After that blast from the past, the Venezuelan president got down to the point of his speech: George Bush is Satan. Even the Democrats don't go that far, although you never know the way our political discourse is headed.
"The devil is right at home. The devil, the devil himself, is right in the house," said Chavez, although Bush by that time was back in Washington. "And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here." As a precautionary measure against Bush's dark powers, he crossed himself before winding up, "And it still smells of sulfur today."
Chavez had two main aims coming to the world agency. He wants a seat on the Security Council _ which given the United Nations' convoluted politics, he may get _ and to have U.N. headquarters moved somewhere else, preferably Venezuela, which hasn't a prayer but would serve him right if it did.
But the Venezuelan rather undercut his case with the delegates when he said, "Let's be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It's worthless."
Somehow it puts you in mind of the Groucho Marx line that he didn't want to belong to any club that would have him as a member. Put your hands together, ladies and gentlemen, for Mahmoud and Hugo.
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By Dale McFeatters
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/content/2006/09/appearing_tonig.html
The United Nations may be ineffectual, but this past week it proved to be vastly entertaining, playing host as it did to the comedy of Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who have taken their act out of the Third World rooms where it normally plays.
Iran's president preceded his revival with a loopy 21-page letter to President Bush last spring, an offer to meet, an offer to debate on TV and, finally, an offer to debate before world leaders at the United Nations.
For whatever reason, the Bush White House saw fit to decline these attractive offers. There were fears of an awkward face-to-face confrontation between the two, which the Bush people wanted to avoid.
In fact, President Bill Clinton would have been the better choice for an impromptu hallway meeting with Ahmadinejad. He would have swept the little guy up in a bear hug and set off on a long discourse about health-care policy, AIDS in Africa, SEC basketball and Social Security until the Iranian leader was sobbing, "Please, please, take our nukes. Just don't force me to listen to the future of the Democratic Party."
As it was, Ahmadinejad didn't attend Bush's speech and Bush didn't attend his. The Iranian also didn't attend a lunch given by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan because, it was said, he does not attend events where alcohol is served.
Our diplomats should keep this in mind. If ever relations with Ahmadinejad get too testy, they can whip out their flasks and dump three fingers of Knob Creek into their water glasses.
The Iranian president elected for a '70s look at his speech, an open-collared pink shirt and an off-white sport coat that screamed, "Appearing at the Off Ramp Lounge of the I-70 Holiday Inn all this week."
At times, Ahmadinejad came dangerously close to making sense _ not a problem for his ally and fellow funnyman, Hugo Chavez.
He opened up by waving a copy of a book by Noam Chomsky and recommending it to the assembly. Veterans of the '60s muttered to each other, "Bet you anything he hasn't read it and never will," but Chavez went on to say, "The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species," so maybe he had.
After that blast from the past, the Venezuelan president got down to the point of his speech: George Bush is Satan. Even the Democrats don't go that far, although you never know the way our political discourse is headed.
"The devil is right at home. The devil, the devil himself, is right in the house," said Chavez, although Bush by that time was back in Washington. "And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here." As a precautionary measure against Bush's dark powers, he crossed himself before winding up, "And it still smells of sulfur today."
Chavez had two main aims coming to the world agency. He wants a seat on the Security Council _ which given the United Nations' convoluted politics, he may get _ and to have U.N. headquarters moved somewhere else, preferably Venezuela, which hasn't a prayer but would serve him right if it did.
But the Venezuelan rather undercut his case with the delegates when he said, "Let's be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It's worthless."
Somehow it puts you in mind of the Groucho Marx line that he didn't want to belong to any club that would have him as a member. Put your hands together, ladies and gentlemen, for Mahmoud and Hugo.
-----
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posted by Aaron Turpen @ 11:21 AM
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Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Wal-Mart, The Draft, and Property Taxes
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posted by Aaron Turpen @ 5:35 PM
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Sunday, September 17, 2006
Blindly Following
I don't personally agree with most of Rocky Anderson's socialist politics and have been disappointed in him many times in the past for actions he has taken. All that aside, he gave an inspiring speech a few weeks ago when G.W. Bush was in town bullshitting the American Legion about terrorism and the war in Iraq.
Rocky's speech hits to the core, but will be ignored as "more liberal clap-trap" by those who would be best served to listen to it. He is right: blindly following leadership (good or bad) is not patriotic... in fact, it's downright unAmerican. Doing as your told without asking questions is as unAmerican, in my opinion, as changing the oil in a Japanese car while drinking Mexican beer and singing the French national anthem.
No, true leaders of men do not demand blind obedience. They ask for respect and earn trust, but they do not demand anything. I doubt the real G.W., back in 1777, asked for blind obedience from his men. No, those stalwart 2500 or so soldiers stuck through Valley Forge because they loved George, not because he demanded it, but because he earned it from them.
Would that we had a real G.W. today to turn this nation around.
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4263654
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Rocky's speech hits to the core, but will be ignored as "more liberal clap-trap" by those who would be best served to listen to it. He is right: blindly following leadership (good or bad) is not patriotic... in fact, it's downright unAmerican. Doing as your told without asking questions is as unAmerican, in my opinion, as changing the oil in a Japanese car while drinking Mexican beer and singing the French national anthem.
No, true leaders of men do not demand blind obedience. They ask for respect and earn trust, but they do not demand anything. I doubt the real G.W., back in 1777, asked for blind obedience from his men. No, those stalwart 2500 or so soldiers stuck through Valley Forge because they loved George, not because he demanded it, but because he earned it from them.
Would that we had a real G.W. today to turn this nation around.
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4263654
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posted by Aaron Turpen @ 8:21 PM
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The 9/11 Controversy
The 9/11 Conspiracy may never be solved, but the following 3-part series is one of the best productions about the attacks I've seen so far:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/September2006/130906Demolitions.htm
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http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/September2006/130906Demolitions.htm
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posted by Aaron Turpen @ 11:10 AM
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