First Door on the Left

Today’s New York Times editorial begins:

Republicans control the White House, both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court. But the greater their power, the more they have focused on one of its few limits: the Senate filibuster. They are so concerned that Democrats will use the filibuster to block a few far-right judicial nominees that they are talking about ending one of the best-known checks and balances in government. Rather than rewrite the rules of government for a power grab, Republicans should look for ways to work with Democrats, who still represent nearly half the country.

There is very little chance of that happening. Today’s Republicans view Democrats the same way they view anybody else in the world who does not agree with them – as the enemy. You do not work with the enemy, you crush him. That is the plan of George W. Bush, Bill Frist, Tom DeLay and company. Anybody who believes differently is naive.

Remember this paragraph from this article?

Absent a convenient boogeyman at which to pin the blame for their illusory misfortune, they invent, create, or manufacture one out of thin air. Just like that person who’s not content unless they’re constantly smack in the middle of divisive and emotionally-charged situations, conservatives aren’t content unless there’s someone to hate, blame, oppress, and kill.

Here, courtesy of the right-wing Power Line, we have the perfect example…

Actually, that works here in Minnesota, too. We have same-day registration, so a person (or, as sometimes happens, a busload of people) can go from precinct to precinct, registering and voting in each, as long as there is someone in each precinct willing to claim that the voter (or busload) lives in the precinct. It is illegal to ask for identification or proof of residence. This year, the Democrats blocked legislation that would have limited the number of voters any one person could vouch for to ten. As we reported last month, the Democrats stationed designated “vouchers” in hundreds of precincts around the state, wearing badges so that Democrats who had already voted in other states or precincts would know whom to see to vote again. This will continue until the Republicans gain control of the state Senate and finally can pass legislation to minimize electoral fraud.

“Absent a convenient boogeyman at which to pin the blame for their illusory misfortune, they invent, create, or manufacture one out of thin air.”

We didn’t watch ABC 20/20′s fluff piece attempting to rewrite the story of Matthew Shepard’s brutal killing last night, opting instead to watch Tom Brokaw’s telling of his 40 years in television journalism. I think we made the right choice.

The Denver Post published an editorial today which nicely sums up the foolishness of the ABC program…

Shepard killers tell a new story

The brutal way in which Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, was fatally beaten and left tied to a fence in October 1998 shocked the nation. A recent round of self-serving jailhouse interviews by his killers does nothing to expiate their crime.

The killers appeared on ABC’s “20/20.” Among other claims, the broadcast suggested that Shepard’s gay friends promoted the idea of a hate crime even before any facts were known. The murder brought national attention to Laramie and spurred vigils and protests across the world.

Aaron McKinney was convicted in Shepard’s death. Co-defendant Russell Henderson pleaded guilty. Both men are serving double life sentences. McKinney has waived appeal, but Henderson now plans a federal appeal on the grounds that he wasn’t fully advised of his rights.

In their interviews, the pair denied to reporter Elizabeth Vargas that Shepard was killed because he was gay.

“I would say it wasn’t a hate crime,” McKinney said. “All I wanted to do was beat him up and rob him.”

What rot.

Click on the headline to continue reading.

Pam, at Pam’s House Blend, watched the program and gives an excellent report.

ABC and 20/20 have lost all credibility in this household. They can keep their Desperate Housewives and Lost. We’ll be watching something else.

Key Iraq Parties Seek Vote Delay

(CBS/AP) Seventeen Iraqi political parties representing Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Christians and secular groups demanded postponing the election for at least six months until the government is capable of securing polling places. The balloting is now scheduled for Jan. 30.

The New York Times reported that the group included parties led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, and Sunni elder statesman Adnan Pachachi. Both men are backers of U.S. policy in Iraq. The two main Kurdish parties also supported a postponement. The Kurds have also been strong U.S. supporters.

Can you blame them? It’s doubtful that things are going to improve much in the next two months. Who in their right mind would want to go vote knowing that every single polling place will have a huge red target painted on it?

Then there’s our George “stay the course” Bush. Once he’s got his mind set on something there is no changing it, come hell or high water (which, you will recall, is how we got into this mess to begin with). Circumstances or reality be damned…

Asked about their demand for the election to be postponed, President Bush, at his vacation home in Texas, said, “The Iraqi Election Commission has scheduled elections in January, and I would hope they’d go forward in January.”

Hey, you voted for the blockhead. I didn’t!

I read this quote somewhere a day or two ago. I don’t know who said it or to whom I should give attribution, but here it is…

“I can understand the right’s opposition to same sex marriage. I’ve been married for 20 years and it’s the same sex over and over and over again.”

There it is, all neatly wrapped up.

I do believe Allen Snyder has the American conservative pegged…

It’s always amused me when conservatives get themselves all worked into a persnickety self-righteous lather about the evil, immoral, and decadent slippery slope they think the country is always hurtling toward the bottom of. There’s always some group with a dangerous and life-threatening agenda trying to force itself in on their happy, peaceful little ‘Father Knows Best’-like homes, always somebody forcing their bizarre and depraved lifestyle on them; homos, pinkos, feminists, minorities, commies, immigrants, peaceniks, anti-gunners, flag-burners, abortionists, labor unionizers, atheists. They either want to convert us all to Faggotry, stop whatever wars we’re fighting, make us all speak Spanish or Ebonics, repeal the Second Amendment, make the country socialist or communist, ban the Bible, feed Christians to the lions, or just plain hate, Hate, HATE, America and everything it stands for.

Conservatives (especially those on the increasingly psychotic, knuckle-dragging Christian Right) are forever playing the agonized, tortured victim, their divine rights are always being egregiously violated, their morally superior, ultra-indignant, and self-proclaimed Christ-like ‘way of life’ is always in danger from someone or other (first godless commies, now terrorists and married gays), the foundations of Western civilization are always being torn asunder, and they’re always the sole voices of reason (and the only true patriots) amongst the perpetual intellectual din of moral grayness and annoying nuance that is the stuff of liberalism.

Absent a convenient boogeyman at which to pin the blame for their illusory misfortune, they invent, create, or manufacture one out of thin air. Just like that person who’s not content unless they’re constantly smack in the middle of divisive and emotionally-charged situations, conservatives aren’t content unless there’s someone to hate, blame, oppress, and kill.

Click here to continue reading.

Liberal v. Conservative:

Hastert Launches A Partisan Policy

In scuttling major intelligence legislation that he, the president and most lawmakers supported, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert last week enunciated a policy in which Congress will pass bills only if most House Republicans back them, regardless of how many Democrats favor them.

Hastert’s position, which is drawing fire from Democrats and some outside groups, is the latest step in a decade-long process of limiting Democrats’ influence and running the House virtually as a one-party institution. Republicans earlier barred House Democrats from helping to draft major bills such as the 2003 Medicare revision and this year’s intelligence package. Hastert (R-Ill.) now says such bills will reach the House floor, after negotiations with the Senate, only if “the majority of the majority” supports them.

Can you imagine the screams coming from the right if the Democrats had tried something like this when they controlled the House?

The Republicans would do well to remember that they are not always going to be the majority party. The time will come when Americans will regain their senses and start electing adults again. Many adults have very sharp memories and some have even been known to hold a grudge for a very, very long time.

Bush Seeks Funds for Abstinence Education – because, as everybody knows, if you tell teenagers not to have sex, they won’t.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Would you say grace, please, Huey?

Amen.

That strip, by the way, is three years old. Not much has changed in three years, has it?

Also, if the entries in your weblog look like this…

there is a fairly good chance I won’t be able to read them.

Just sayin’.

GAO to Investigate Voting Irregularies

WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress’ investigative agency, responding to complaints from around the country, has begun to look into the Nov. 2 vote count, including the handling of provisional ballots and malfunctions of voting machines.

The presidential results won’t change, but the studies could lead to changes.

The Government Accountability Office usually begins investigations in response to specific requests from Congress, but the agency’s head, Comptroller General David Walker, said the GAO acted on its own because of the many comments it received about ballot counting.

GAO officials said the investigation was not triggered by a request from several House Democrats, who wrote the agency this month seeking an investigation. The effort, led by senior Judiciary Committee Democrat John Conyers of Michigan, was not joined by any Republicans.

I realize that machines (and humans) are not perfect. Errors are bound to occur. What I don’t understand, though, is why all the errors seem to have benefited Doofus. You would think, given the statistics of probability, that at least a few of them would have been to Kerry’s benefit.

I know, we lost, get over it… yadda yadda yadda.