More C-SPAN wankerage

Okay, I lied. I am online, briefly. Wanted to share the latest silliness from a C-SPAN caller – not quite as deranged as the other transcripts (see links on the top of the sidebar to the left), but tastefully idiotic in its own way. Herewith Saturday’s treat (begins at about 1:53:25 of the video):

HOST: And we have a call from Massachusetts. Worcester [mispronounced - Ed.], Massachusetts, good morning.

CALLER [Middle Eastern accent, which is relevant to some of the syntax errors to come - Ed.]: Good morning.

HOST: Go ahead.

CALLER: Well, um, I want to say, congratulations to President Bush for the good work he has done in Iraq. Finally, this animal, Saddam Hussein, is dead, and I hope that he’s burning in Hell now (not “I hope,” I’m sure for that).

Uh, I wonder how come there are American people, who they do not support President Bush in that. I wonder how come people, they vote for the Democrats, who they are against President Bush’s policy. I hi — I didn’t born in the United States, I got raised up overseas. And I have to say to all the American people one thing: if it wasn’t for America, freedom wouldn’t be on any corner of this Earth. Communists, Nazis, and fanatic, um, Islamics, they would have conquered the world long time ago.

We own [sic] our freedom to the United States of America, and especially lately to, um, George Bush, Jr., and I have to say to all the American people that he is the greatest man on the human history that ever passed, um, on the, on this life, from, you know, this life. Thank you, President Bush, thanks to his administration, and shame to those traitors of the United States that they don’t support him. Thank you for the freedom we have.

HOST: The L.A. Times reports this morning out of Sacramento that Donna Summer will sing at the black-tie gala, Tony award winner Jennifer Holliday will croon at the swearing-in ceremony …

I think the host’s segue into Schwarzenegger’s inauguration plans was perfect. He didn’t even say “thank you.” He shouldn’t have. Yep, this is Drunky McStagger’s base, folks. You can almost taste the insanity.

As I’ve said before: they walk among us.

Holiday hiatus

I don’t expect to be online again until late tomorrow evening at the earliest, perhaps even Monday. Hope you’ll check back in periodically, and I hope 2007 will bring lots of blogging and banter around here, as well as wherever you are.

I wish you a safe and happy New Year. Catch ya on the flip side …

To sleep, perchance to dream

And what was Drunky McStagger doing when Saddam breathed his last?

US President George Bush slept as his enemy, Saddam Hussein, went to the gallows.

Aware that Hussein’s execution was imminent, Mr Bush went to bed at his Texas ranch. A statement released on his behalf hours after the execution, said declared Saddam’s death “an important milestone”.

Remarkable. I’m no psychologist, but I think this man keeps showing evidence that he is mentally ill. I’m not saying he had to be on death watch, but just to snooze away … well, that’s exceptionally disturbing.

But, then again, he hasn’t had any trouble sleeping lately anyway, despite the thousands of deaths directly caused by his vendetta. This man absolutely disgusts me.

Kicking a sleeping dog

Despite the glee that some Iraqi-Americans displayed at the news of Saddam’s execution (and I understand the celebrations attracted a lot of attention from the SCLM – now there’s a surprise), the real fact of the matter is that a lot of people – indeed, a lot of Muslims – are pissed off:

Arab pilgrims in Mecca expressed outrage on Saturday that Iraqi authorities had chosen to execute former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on a major religious holiday, saying it was an insult to Muslims.

Sunni Arabs at the haj were shocked at Saddam’s hanging[,] which followed his conviction for crimes against humanity against Iraqi Shi’ites.

“His execution on the day of Eid … is an insult to all Muslims,” said Jordanian pilgrim Nidal Mohammad Salah. “What happened is not good because as a head of state, he should not be executed.”

Don’t let the reference to a “choice” by “Iraqi authorities” fool you. The decision was influenced, if not made, by the U.S.: “Iraqi leaders met US military officers to determine the final arrangements. ” Well, that can hardly be more clear, can it?

Sure, ol’ Drunky McStagger got his trophy, but at what cost? Not only does Saddam now become a martyr, but surely the timing of the execution was no coincidence.

The Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, marks biblical patriarch Abraham’s willingness to kill his son for God. Muslim countries often pardon criminals to mark the feast, and prisoners are rarely executed at that time.

The death could harden hatred for Shi’ite Muslims in Saudi Arabia, a bastion of Sunni Islam whose Islamic orthodoxy — known as Wahhabism — regards Shi’ites as virtual heretics.

If Bush and his cronies wanted, by executing Saddam when they did and how they did, to exacerbate the violence, plunge Iraq further into civil war, and create further unrest across the Muslim world, they scarcely could have done so more effectively. Nice work. Too bad the world is going to have to continue to clean up after you for decades to come.

Saddam, etc. etc. ad nauseam

Yes, I know by the time you read this, Saddam likely will be an ex-person. But since this will get ample coverage in the blogosphere, I’m declaring this a gallows-free zone.

Stick around here for other stuff, but don’t expect incisive analysis about what Saddam’s death means, yadda yadda …

I’m just tired of the hype and hoopla. And I don’t even have access to a TV this week …

UPDATE (9:13 pm CST 12/29/06): Well, mission accomplished, troops can come home now.
Right?

*crickets*

But we’re safer now, right?

*more crickets*

UPDATE (9:30 pm CST 12/29/o6): Jeebus, look at this picture, from CNN’s website:

It looks like he’s a damn celebrity or something. How fucking macabre can the MSM get?

Huckabee: "Don’t be scared" … but I am

Mike Huckabee, Arkansas’ Southern-Baptist-preacher-governor, says he’s not scary.

“I think I would appeal to true conservatives for whom conservatism doesn’t mean they’re angry at everybody,” Huckabee said in an interview with The Associated Press. “My brand of conservatism is not an angry, hostile brand. It’s one that says `conservative’ means we want to conserve the best of our culture, society, principles and values and pass them on.”

[...]

“I would be the kind of Republican who doesn’t scare the living daylights out of people who are in the center or slightly to the left,” he said.

Give me a fucking break.

Herewith, some examples of Huckabee’s “appeal:”

• Arkansas Legislature rewrites bill intended to protect storm victims after Gov Mike Huckabee, Baptist minister, objects to language describing tornadoes and floods as ‘acts of God’
• Arkansas Governor Blocks Medicare Payment for an Abortion in Incest Case
• [Arkansas'] former executive chief information officer, Randall Bradford, said he and other employees were pressured to donate to Gov. Mike Huckabee’s re-election campaign. Governor Huckabee, a Republican, fired Mr. Bradford last month, saying he was not trustworthy. Mr. Bradford, who was paid $150,000 a year, told The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he was fired for refusing orders to stonewall legislators about the state’s troubled new computer system.
• Gov. Mike Huckabee defended a gift registry set up to help furnish his new home, saying it was put together by his wife’s friends for a housewarming party. ”My wife has friends,” Mr. Huckabee, a Republican, said. ”They wanted to do something for her. It has nothing to do with who she is.” He criticized news coverage of the registry and said he and his wife were being unfairly portrayed.

Scared yet? This guy shouldn’t be allowed within 100 miles of the White House, let alone have him in charge of the country. I know he has no chance doesn’t have a prayer (couldn’t pass up that pun), but it’s frightening even to consider that this guy thinks he’s qualified and popular enough to be president.

Actually, we’ve seen what can happen with a fundie president … and it ain’t pretty.

It’s a twister! It’s a twister! Auntie Em!

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush were moved to an armored vehicle on their ranch Friday when a tornado warning was issued in central Texas, the White House said.

The vehicle was driven to a tornado shelter on the ranch at 1:30 p.m. CST, and the president, Mrs. Bush and their two Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, sat inside until the weather cleared, deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said. They were never moved into the shelter, he said. The shelter is a few hundred yards away from the president’s house on the ranch.

Whoever controls the weather must be pissed.

Not as pissed as Chimpy, though:

The rush to the tornado shelter interrupted Bush’s day at the ranch where he cleared some cedar and was kept abreast of plans to execute Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

See, he was working for another couple of hours … and he’s moved up to cedar from brush. He’s a decider!

It’s not over in the 13th District

They’re still fighting over in Sarasota over the hotly contested congressional election between Christine Jennings (D) and Vern Buchanan (R), and it’s not going to end before the 110th Congress is sworn in next week.

A disputed election result in a House of Representatives race in Florida will be one of the first items raised when the Democratic-controlled House convenes next week, injecting partisan politics into the start of the 110th Congress.

Rep. Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat who has pushed for better safeguards on electronic voting machines, said on Friday that he will make a procedural point to establish that the swearing-in of Florida Republican Vern Buchanan does not prejudice ongoing challenges by his Democratic opponent, Christine Jennings.

“This is a district, Sarasota area in Florida, where there’s no way of knowing whether the result presented by Florida’s secretary of state is valid. In fact, I think there is significant evidence that it is not,” Holt told reporters.

Buchanan was certified the winner of the November 7 election by a 369-vote margin. But oddly, about 18,000 ballots in Sarasota County had no votes recorded for the disputed House race, while other races on those same ballots were voted upon.

A re-vote is not out of the question, so stay tuned. It looks like Buchanan will be sworn in, but Jennings’ legal challenges can continue.

Once again, the nation watches and waits to see if Florida has any fucking clue on how to conduct an election.

Boynton Beach pants thief strikes again

Fortunately, being in Indiana at the moment, I have an alibi … but the Boynton Beach Pants Thief has stolen another pair of pants at gunpoint.

This time, it was a pair of Enyce blue jeans. What’s most distressing is that this is the fourth such incident.

Police said they do not yet know if this incident is related to three other violent pants robberies that occurred between October and mid-November between Seacrest Boulevard and Ninth Avenue.

I guess I’d better keep my pants on … and, just in case, make sure I always have on clean boxers.

Saddam transferred to Iraqis … Geneva Conventions, anyone?

I freely acknowledge that Saddam Hussein is an evil man. I won’t lament his impending execution, although I may not agree with it. But we continue to erode international law by failing to adhere to the Geneva Conventions.

Handing Saddam over to the Iraqis, which was done today, is a clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, specifically Part II of Convention III (1949):

Prisoners of war may only be transferred by the Detaining Power to a Power which is a party to the Convention and after the Detaining Power has satisfied itself of the willingness and ability of such transferee Power to apply the Convention. When prisoners of war are transferred under such circumstances, responsibility for the application of the Convention rests on the Power accepting them while they are in its custody.

Nevertheless, if that Power fails to carry out the provisions of the Convention in any important respect, the Power by whom the prisoners of war were transferred shall, upon being notified by the Protecting Power, take effective measures to correct the situation or shall request the return of the prisoners of war. Such requests must be complied with.

Another black eye on America’s worldwide reputation, and another injury that will take decades to heal.