Speaking of Our Fearless Leader

I was kidding when I suggested that Bush might appoint himself Grand Dictator of the Universe. However, I'm one of those cynical folks who wouldn't be all that surprised if it turned out that George had decided to stay on after the party ends. Now I know you're thinking that the first Lame Duck to really deserve that moniker is gone come November 2008. Some folks are even counting the days (1 year, 4 months, 28 days.... and change.) But let's not forget that George is pretty damn comfortable with the idea that the rules don't apply to him.

Let's talk signing statements. Bush loves them. I think he's hovering around 600 constitutional challenges to laws enacted by Congress. Now George doesn't try to fight city hall by using his constitutional right to veto... heck no. He just adds an addendum that states that the law doesn't apply to him. This gives our Prez the ability to effectively rewrite the laws by reinterpreting how the law will be implemented. Nifty huh? So is it so outrageous to think that maybe silly old term limits don't apply to him either?

Then there's the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive. Basically as of May 9th, if George determines a catastrophic emergency has occurred, he can "take over all government functions and direct all private sector activities to ensure we will emerge from the emergency with an enduring constitutional government." Feeling safer now? Reaching for the Tums?

Let's face it, the idea that George might wish to maintain his little fiefdom post term isn't his alone. There was that little upstart idea of repealing the 22nd Amendment (embarrassing that 6 of the 8 sponsors in the House were Democrats... ouch.) And democracy is so obviously a terrible form of government - letting the popular opinion of the unwashed masses sway a leader from his God appointed task of bringing the world to it's knees... well that would be like listening to a focus group. A horribly liberally biased focus group. (There are actually people who believe this. There are actually people who believe the world is flat.)

And just because we haven't had an untainted presidential election in eight years, doesn't mean that this one won't be completely up and up. This is a DEMOCRACY - by the people, for the people and all that. They've fixed all that questionable election type stuff, touch screens, chads, and all. Right? Right. Well.......

Rant o' the Day - Death in America

Seems in the waning days of his Presidency (assuming he doesn't appoint himself Grand Dictator of the Universe) it seems our Fearless Deciderer in Chief is thinking of a legacy. Well, when things aren't looking too rosy, you should probably revisit the things that you know. So Bushie reached back, way back, to the grand glorious days of being Governor (his approval rating was a bit better back then) when he made himself memorable by killing off some 152 people. I guess you could say presiding over more executions than any other elected official in the history of the US of A makes a guy memorable.

Seems the Department of Justice will be overseeing how the states implement their appeals process in death penalty cases. (What would they do without that Patriot Act?) So warming to the task, he's set up his favorite legal mind to get the ol' killing machine a rolling. Good old Alberto. You'd think he'd have better things to do than fast tracking people to their lethal injection, what with all that fuss about firing attorneys and such. But back when they were a team in Texas, it rarely took these two more than 30 minutes to thumbs up an execution. I imagine Gonzales can fit that in between indictments.

But wait. Didn't Bushie just declare January 19th as the National Sanctity of Human Life Day? Thousands dead in Iraq and 152 Americans to boot. Now that's a legacy.

Get a(nother) Job

Back to the lack of gray matter, folks. A couple of pharmacists here in good ol' Washington State are suing said state for violating their civil rights by insisting that they actually do the job they are paid to do. It seems that providing emergency contraception forces them to choose between "their livelihoods and their deeply held religious and moral beliefs." Awwww.

Catch a clue, boys. If your deeply held religious beliefs make you uncomfortable doing the job, get another job. Don't ask someone else to sacrifice for you. YOU make the sacrifice for your deeply held beliefs. Nobody held a gun to your head and said "be a pharmacist." Maybe you made a poor career choice. Happens all the time. I suggest you move on.

When did we get the "right" to essentially force personal religious beliefs on other people? Don't want to touch pork? Don't take a job at the deli. I doubt that a whole lot of Jehovah's Witnesses work for Starbucks. Come to think of it, what's a deeply moral person such as yourself doing working in a business that's screwing hardworking Americans left, right and central anyway? Seen "Sicko" yet? When Americans pay $100 for a med that costs about 20 cents in Cuba, I'd say you're pretty much working for Satan anyway.

And while we're at it, let's take a look at some of those prescriptions you fill without feeling that it violates your deeply held religious beliefs. How about Viagra? I doubt that the majority of those prescriptions are for procreation. Feel okay with promoting lots of possible fornication or adultery? What about methadone? How do you feel about giving addicts their fake heroin? The point is, it's none of your business. Check for interactions, count the pills, ring it up. If you believe that contraception is tantamount to murder, don't use it. Worry about your own soul. I'll worry about mine.

Rant o' the Day - THE WAR

I have trouble with irrational behavior. I'm one of those people who truly believes that the presence of large amounts of gray matter in a mammal should imply a certain degree of higher intelligence. Regardless of loads of evidence to the contrary, I hold to the idea that we are a sentient species. So with regards to this insanity in Iraq, I just keep saying, "WTF?"

I just finished this rather lengthy article in The Nation. Yep, it seems that it is up to, like, one, non-mainstream (I'm the only person I know that reads it, makes it non-mainstream in my book) periodical to bother to amass and chronicle what the vets are really saying. The Nation interviewed 50 combat veterans from around the States and actually documented what they said about how American soldiers are enduring what psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton calls an "atrocity-producing situation." You think? Let's see - take a bunch of testosterone poisoned, wet behind the ears teenagers, amped and armed, underpaid, scared shitless and unsure if they're ever going to see home again and add tense checkpoints, futile house to house searches, endless high speed convoys through streets full of IED's, no understanding of the culture or language of the people around them, no way to know who's an enemy - and you expect maybe it's going to be all sunshine and puppies?

You know what? No one in the anemic "peace movement" wants to beat up the vets a'la Vietnam. But we're doing that doomed-to-repeat-it thing again, in spades. People are DYING over there. Lots and lots of grandmothers and babies and women and children. And nobody over here gives a rat's ass as long as it's over there and we can still watch Dancing with the Stars with our Lean Cuisine. You can barely get a good American interested in OUR casualties. (Vietnam was the same until the draft - nobody cares if only poor boys are dying. And we're still dealing with the PTSD of that war.)

Back to my original problem with irrational behavior. What has happened to the gray matter in this country? When did Americans get so looney? When did rational people start believing that a little sandlot of a country was a threat to AMERICA THE HEAVILY ARMED? Why can't we just leave? Huh? Want a hint? Read this.

The weaker sex...

So is it really so hard to figure why men still die sooner than women? (Actually, in the US the mortality gap is widening.) Come on, we can ponder their genetic material, ruminate on hormones and aggression, and be empathetic to their lack of support systems, but let's call a lunkhead a lunkhead. Men die on average 7-8 years before their wives - of stupidity.

Let's consider. Joe is getting a little thin on top and a little thick around the middle. Joe regularly has an elephant sitting on his chest and gasps like a beached flounder walking up a flight of stairs, but he smokes like a chimney and can't drive past a MickeyD's. Joe thinks he's a studly guy. Joe thinks he's in peak form. Joe's delusional and due to croak of a massive 'insert your cardiovascular accident here.' But truth be told, Joe could be bleeding out of his eyeballs and he wouldn't go to the doctor if his life depended on it. What irony.

In the mental world of males, I suppose there are things that pass for rationales for this behavior. Surely a routine check up might make casual bystanders think that Joe has a problem (translation - can't get it up.) And then there is the actual chance that said routine checkup could uncover an actual illness (translation - impending death.) And, of course, my personal favorite - it would be an act of submission - to her (translation - if the wife wants me to go, I must resist to appear, you know, manly.) The experts say that getting his fat butt to the doc is usually up to her. Lucky girl!

Pay up the life insurance, ladies.

Under Construction

I'm hooked. I'm addicted to spending my wee hours tapping on my frigging computer. Doesn't matter if anybody's reading these things - I'm writing again for the first time in years and it feels so good I don't want to stop. Kinda like an itch that's needed scratching for some time. It's a pleasure to know I can rant somewhere other than in my head.

What this blog will be is anyone's guess. Sort of a potpourri of crap in my overactive mind. Thoughts that don't fit a genre, wandering ideas, rants of the first degree. Musings. Life, as I see it, is interactive. I want a place to digest, a place to dissect, a place to disseminate. This will be it. We'll see how it goes.