The only thing better than them losing is losing in historical fashion, to the Red Sox!
That's all.
--Nick
You might have noticed the change in the subheader above, but it's worth calling out separately nonetheless. When people say that Bush is ignoring the real world and living in a little fantasy bubble created by Rove and company, it's not just this massively unfair typecast, as some on the right wil argue. It appears, instead, to be a dramatic understating of the situation. Reality is not disloyal or anti-American, as the Bushies claim - good or bad, it's how things are. And I'm sure I'm not the only one that believes that Bush's religious Messianic fantasies will only get worse if he manages to get reelected. There's another common phenomenon in which reality and fact are ignored, no matter how overwhelming, and loyalty to the will of the leader is held above all else. L. Ron Hubbard seems to have nothing on Bush - ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the cult of Bush.
So much for separation of church and state.
For those of us who are unwilling, there is an alternative. They don't make a card yet, but consider me a happy member of the Reality-Based Community.
--Nick
The more I read about the kinds of crap that the right is trying to pull this election, and how the right-wing media is playing along, the more they disgust me ... until I remember that this isn't new, at least to the Bush/Rove branch of the GOP.
The argument for this, apparently, is just as a counter to the supposedly liberal media - except the media isn't all that liberal these days - just look at Fox News and the like. I didn't follow politics enough to know back in the days where that rumor was originally born, but I have a theory on why it has such tenacity - if you accept that a big part of the GOP's strategy is to blatantly lie their asses off and treat reality and the truth as a liability (which they pretty much have to do these days), then honest, balanced reporting on the reality of things necessarily has to call out the conservatives as being full of crap. Which looks biased if you're one of the mindless Bush chattel that lives in his fantasy world with him. The fact of the matter: fair and realistic reporting these days has to look liberal these days, because the right-wing of today campaigns in spite of and against truth.
Which also explains why I get depressed about how much it always feels like the right's political spinning is more effective than the left's - if the right side is arguing that the world doesn't exist and the left side counters with the truth, you can see where the prevailing average of the two yields that the world is flat. Average reality with the obscene crap the right spews these days and you still get something slanted to the right. While I can't advocate that the left start spewing all of this same kind of crap, they've somehow got to make the electorate start to realize that Bush isn't just living in a fantasy world, but he's living in Bizarro-land in that fantasy world. Sorry, Bush - sometimes a coffee cup is just a coffee cup.
--Nick
Edit: An interesting analysis from Kevin Drum.
Holy Fuck. I am so frustrated right now . . . Bush is lying, he's oversimplifying (Kerry: The bill didn't have an exception for the life of the mother. Bush: it IS that simple, he voted again a partial birth abortion ban! DID YOU MISS THAT?) Screw the women, it's about reproducing the Christians - the mom is what, 25, 35? She's alrady got one foot in the grave! But really, that's not what I'm mad about - I'm mad that so many people like Bush's "simple" language and "plain speak" when really it's just opinions that aren't fleshed out or supported or explained. Americans are dumb and they like things oversimplified - "flip flopper" is catchy enough for them to latch onto - explaining the 1/3 of one percent is not. GAH. Bush's response to the environmental stewadship question just made me want to vomit and then sling it at the tv; it was such bull shit. SUCH bull shit. But what can you do.
An interesting read ... if you're strapped for time, the short version is, "He's tanking it. Duh!"
--Nick
A couple videos: From the RNC and from the debate.
Any Bush supporters want to explain that shit away?
No, I'm not talking about it being about time I posted.
About time Kerry raised the Stem Cell Research issue - it's my #1 issue and I know I'm not the only one who thinks Bush's fundamentalism is absolutely assinine in this regard...
--Nick
Once upon a time there was a story here. I would like to make clear, for the record, that this story was highly exaggerated. I would also like to make clear that I know I have a fucked up sense of humor and no good sense about what most people consider "private". Yeah, those things in combination can be pretty dangerous. I've been told I leak like a sieve and I am hereby declaring both my remorse and my intention to knock that off. Really. For the record, if someone says "this is a secret" I do okay, but people shouldn't have to tell me to keep my trap shut every time they say something around me. And for those of you reading this and thinking "this was unnecessary", it wasn't. Also for the record, I know SHIT about the internet. While I was a dumbass nonetheless, had I gotten 15 Google lectures *before* posting things would be different. I apologize to everyone. Really. I've had enough lectures and feel enough guilt to last me quite some time. Enough said.
It's been a long time since I've been sick and I'm not dealing very well with it. I really wanted to take a day off of work since I have that lovely sick time showing up on every paycheck, but we're moving our office this coming Friday and the Admin staff is under an unreasonable amount of stress right now. It was generally agreed upon that I would lose big points if I took a day off. It didn't help that everyone else at the office was sick too, but I think I was sicker. Anyhow, we have no vitamin C so I didn't take any. I drank alcohol and coffee. I didn't take any medication so now all the stuff that was in my sinuses is in my lungs/throat. Basically I'm just feeling really sorry for myself. I haven't even had any chicken noodle soup.
~whine~
That is all.