Category: Republicans

The Rude Pundit on Tookie Williams’s execution

Once again, the Rude Pundit says it all:

And the most disheartening thing of all was how little was mentioned, in the cruel march to the death chamber, of how the ex-wife of one of Williams’ alleged victims, Albert Owens (whose family is entirely fucked-up in conflict over the execution), called for support of Williams’ efforts to redeem himself for his gang-building past: “I, Linda Owens want to build upon Mr. Williams’ peace initiative. I invite Mr. Williams to join me in sending a message to all communities that we should all unite in peace. This position of peace would honor my husband’s memory and Mr. Williams work.”

A call for peace to honor the dead? What fuckin’ country does Linda Owens think she’s living in? Not in George Bush’s America, where more must die in Iraq to make sure the dead are honored. And certainly not in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California.

Nuclear option, part 2?

Well, it didn’t take Bill Frist long to start threatening to use the nuclear option again:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Sunday he is prepared to strip Democrats of their to ability to filibuster if they try to stall Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

“The answer is yes,” Frist said when asked if he would act to change Senate procedures to restrict a Democratic filibuster. “Supreme Court justice nominees deserve an up-or-down vote, and it would be absolutely wrong to deny him that.”

In recent weeks, Senate Democrats have questioned whether Alito, a federal appeals court judge, has the proper judicial temperament and ideology to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Several Democrats have said that Alito’s views on issues such as voting rights and abortion could provoke a filibuster unless he allays their concerns about his commitment to civil rights. Alito’s confirmation hearings begin Jan. 9 in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

I can’t believe that Frist isn’t being a little more cautious now that it appears Americans are turning against the Republican party. Does Frist really want to deny the filibuster to a possible Republican minority in 2006 or 2008? I’d imagine that there are at least a few senior Senators who would like to play things a little more cautiously, on the off-chance that the Democratic party picks up a majority in the Senate.

Orwell’s 1984 and war

I’ve been (finally) reading Orwell’s 1984, and I am shocked at how relevant some of Orwell’s prose is to today’s worlds, specifically the US and the Bush administration. For example:

War, it will be seen, is now a purely internal affair. In the past, the ruling groups of all countries, although they might recognize their common interest and therefore limit the destructiveness of war, did fight against one another, and the victor always plundered the vanquished. In our own day they are not fighting against one another at all. The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact.

That sounds scarily lke Bush’s apparent goals for Iraq. It seems obvious that Bush wants to stage a continuous war in Iraq, one that never ends. Why? To keep our society fearful of foreigners, which distracts the American public from noticing that the Administration and its corporate friends are stealing both taxpayer money and oil money from Iraq.

Another scarily accurate quote is:

And in the general hardening of outlook that set in round about 1930, practices which had been long abandoned, in some cases for hundreds of years — imprisonment without trial, the use of war prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture to extract confessions, the use of hostages, and the deportation of whole populations — not only became common again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who considered themselves enlightened and progressive.

We are seeing people standing up and defending the use of torture to extract confessions from “enemy combatants.” Most notably, Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney is vehemently arguing that the US should be able to use torture.

How long before the Thought Police are a reality?

The Majority Report on Tom Tancredo

Wow… I was listening to The Majority Report and was quite surprised to here Sam Seder and Janeane Garafalo discussing Tom Tancredo! Aside from Janeane not being able to pronounce Tancredo’s name, I think that they had Tancredo pegged perfectly: a psycho, racist, anti-Mexican right-wing wacko. Specifically, Janeane brought up the brouhaha Tancredo raised regarding the memorial for Flight 93.

Congrats, Tom, now liberal talk-show hosts in both New York (Seder) and Los Angeles (Garafalo) know what a wacko you are. I guess that any press is good press?

Tancredo in the news again

I found a couple of articles at SoapBlox Colorado regarding more fun with Tom Tancredo. If you are a member of the Republican party, don’t you really want to reign this guy in? He’s so extreme, so blatantly bigoted, so plainly insane that he can’t help but hurt your party..

Anyway, the first article is about the war of words between Denver Mayor Hickenlooper and Tancredo regarding Immigration. Basically, Tancredo sent a letter to Hickenlooper saying he believes Denver is a safe haven for illegal immigrants. Hickenlooper fires back that, if Tancredo wants to help funnel federal money into the state, then authorities will have more money to try and stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the city.

The story alludes to the growing rumblings inside the Republican party, as they try to strattle the line of wooing Latino voters while flying the anti-immigration flag. Tancredo never helps their cause, continually being a thorn in the side and refusing to toe the party line.

Gotta give Tancredo some props. He has the amazing ability to enrage both Democrats and Republicans.

As entertaining as that is, the next story is even worse. Apparently, Tancredo just can’t overcome his intolerance, this time while working with an interfaith group to try to come up with a “joint statement about religion, terrorism and retaliation (via DenverPost.com). Tancredo actually ended up causing more harm than good. From the same article:

“To me, the problem is not where the statement broke down,” said Joyce Rubin of the Denver office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), part of the interfaith group.

“The problem is that Congressman Tancredo continues to characterize and blame a whole religion and a whole group of people based on the actions of a few extremists and hasn’t apologized for it,” Rubin said.

I hope that the ADL isn’t holding their collective breath waiting for an apology from Tancredo. If there’s one thing that Tancredo has been consistent about, it’s his assuredness that he is right, and everyone else is wrong. He’s not just a racist, he’s a self-righteous racist. He is not going to change his views or beliefs for anyone. And he’s definitely not going to apologize for what he believes is right.