Back to Bad News
I've had the misfortune of seeing several disturbing pieces of television news recently. The first, which has been noted on many blogs, was Donald Rumsfeld blaming those of us who said War in Iraq was a bad idea in the first place for the war turning out to be a bad idea. It's the same (il)logic used by right-wing fundamentalists who ignore history and say (as I heard a Fox "news" pundit rant about a year ago) "the anti-war protestors lost us the war in Vietnam". (The permalink wasn't working at Lying Media Bastards, so my link is just to the homepage...just look for the story titled "Rumsfeld to America...")

The second was a buttload of Republican whining about the Democratic debate, and various spokeswhiners complaining about "character assassination" of the "president". Look, HE'S the one who lied to us about why we "needed" to go to war, HE'S the one who held up thousands of service men from returning home so he could play dress-up as a pilot, HE'S the one who absurdly and asininely taunted terrorists and insulted service men and women everywhere by saying "bring em on", HE'S the one who consistently misuses the English language in public speeches (saying we're waging a CRUSADE in the Middle East, or saying that the leaders of Iraq would be PERSECUTED)...it's not the Democrats' faults he acts this way, so don't shoot the messenger. GWB assassinates his OWN character every time he opens his mouth.

I also caught parts of several "The World after 9-11" vignettes that CNN is running this week, much of which was flag-waiving dribble. However, there was a very interesting piece, full of interviews with (gasp) actual Middle Eastern Muslims, that painfully illustrated how the US has a far MORE NEGATIVE image in that part of the world now than BEFORE 9-11. Most Muslims felt sympathy for the US and shame over the attacks just after 9-11, but since then, have been dismayed and/or outraged to see Bush turn the US into a unilateral, global bully. In short, Bush has INCREASED hatred of America around the world--and particularly among Arabs and Muslims--and made the world LESS safe for Americans since September 11th.

And finally, here's news from Matt at The Daily Outrage, which puts into perspective just how colossally destructive Bush has been US workers. Remember how he insisted that tax cut would create jobs...yeah...well...wrong!

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Rush is an idiot
Okay, so you all know Rush Limbaugh is a liar and an idiot, but here's a great article that outlines his blatant racism as well as many other faults. Specifically, it's focusing on why he should NOT be allowed to host an ESPN show, but it's good fodder for anyone needed some quotes or stats to back up a "Rush is an idiot" argument (this way you don't have to threaten your sanity by actually listening to him spew his filth firsthand.)

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More Christian Militants
Here's a little story about that paragon of christian virtue, Reverend Phelps who--with his small band of fanatic supporters--went to New York to protest the new "gay highschool". Just imagine the uproar if a Muslim group held up signs calling the NYC Fire Department "fags", or ones that said "Thank God for 9-11"