I COULDA BEEN A CONTENDA

What can I say man? Us bad boys attract some unsavory characters. We bring out the bad boy, and bad girl, in everyone.

Righties hate me. I got Lefties hatin on me. Even though that breaks my bad boy heart, I guess I gotta keep doin what I's doin. And if da Professor wants to correct my spellin airrers, I guess he gotta do what he goota do. Da guy is a professor.

Now don't be shy dudes and dudettes. I won't hurt ya. I might piss you off. I might get you to think. I might give you something you can improve upon. But I got no delusions about this blog gig Babies: Life ain't forever. Let's have a good time.

DO WE REALLY WANT THIS GUY?

Anyone that knows me, knows I've been a political hack over 30 years. I don't apologise to anybody for that.


In all that time, I've seen lots of good things happen. I've also seen lots of bad things happen. Loyalties traded. Promises broken or ignored. People stabbed in the back. Politics is not pretty or for the weak hearted.



That brings me to Senator Arlen Specter.

By most accounts, Senator Specter seems to be a decent guy. As decent as a Senator could be anyway. But what he is doing with his party switch has nothing to do with making America a better place for all of us. It has nothing to do with helping President Obama steer a moderate agenda or any other grandiose ideals.



It's about Senator Arlen Specter screwing the Republican Party because it's trying to screw him.





Everyone that reads this follows politics. We all know when a politician switches parties it has nothing to do with ideals. It has to do with convenience and ambition or anger. Reagan didn't leave the Democratic Party because "it left him." It was convenient and helped him fulfill his ambition.




What's worse, and foolish in my way of thinking is that Pennsylvania Democrats encouraged Senator Specter to do this. Then promised fundraising and other things to help him get elected as a Democrat. I even heard President Obama said he would campaign for him.




Mr. President and anyone else concerned or involved: Don't do it. Get a real Democrat to run against the right winger that is expected to win the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania Senator. President Obama and Governor Rendell can fundraise and campaign for him/her and we will have a Senator we can trust from Pennsylvania.



Word is Senator Harry Reid is pushing this Specter deal. You run the Democratic Party President Obama. You want your guy or Harry's?


Trust me. Don't trust Arlen or Harry.

A BAD DAY OF FISHING BEATS A GOOD DAY OF WORK

Weather was nice so my buddy John and I went fishing. Of course John had to bring his goofy brother. If you remember "Brother" from last time, he was the nut with all the camo gear, face paint and stinky scent just to go squirrel hunting. No different this time. John shows up with Brother and Brother gets out of the truck wearing his fishing outfit that looked like a Virgil Ward special. A coverall thing with patches advertising shit all over it. I asked Brother how much he was being paid to wear all that stuff. Brother said he got a deal on it at Bass Pro Shop in Branson Missouri. $49.99 and he also got a free refrigerator magnet. Jesus Christ.







I at least figured that if was at bass Pro Shop in Branson Mo. them maybe Brother was a decent fisherman like myself. I loaded my $100 Pflueger baitcasting Outfit and giant tackle box full of Gulps, Yums and Rapalas in the John's boat. Brother said I had some high fallutin fishin sticks. Then he said the EIGHT Zebco 202's strung with 20lb. test mono were his. Jesus Christ.



So we get the boat in the water. Of course John and Brother have to have the seats with backrests, but so what. We're fishing. I like to stand and work my cats and lures anyway. But not this time. John and Brother just want to go to a brush pile and catch crappie and bluegill. So I'm embarrassed that another accomplished angler like myself will see me with a freaking bobber and worm on my $100 Pflueger Baitcasting outfit. Luckily we had the lake to ourselves. John puts the trolling motor on high and we get to his brush pile. Then the fun begins.




John uses a telescoping cane pole that sticks out about twenty feet. He catches lots of fish with it but he also swings the damn thing around whapping heads and whipping whomever else is within twenty feet with hooks, minnows and worms. So John baits up and he starts catching fish. In the meantime, Brother, is dicking around with this two inch bluegill he can see is nibbling his worm for about thirty minutes. I asked him why he was screwing with that thing. Brother said he was not going to be outsmarted by a fish. Whatever dummy. So I opened a fresh bag of Redman Chewing Tobacco to relax me. Brother asked me to put it away because it would make him sick. I said "You fu#king with that go#d#mn two inch goldfish is making me sick shi#head!"
The mood changed from tense to joy on Brother's part because the two incher finally hooked itself and Brother hauled his prize catch onto the boat.





This is when the fun really began. Brother said he was allergic to fish slime and wanted me to take his trophy two incher off the hook and put it on the stringer. I took it off the hook and looked at John. John said I'd never get it shoved up Brother's ass without tipping the boat over.

So I told Brother I was Nihilist and didn't put living creatures on stringers. I threw Brother's prize back in the lake and knew I'd made a positive difference in the ecosystem.

JUSTICE IS ANOTHER VICTIM OF TORTURE

Nobody loves good irony more than I do. And as despicable as some of those entrusted to lead our Country's approval of torture is, I can't help but appreciate the brutal irony of Righties that believe we need to forget about it and "move forward."

The irony is that is was this same crowd that spent millions of our dollars investigating whether or not President Clinton got "orally pleasured" then lied under oath about it.

The righties back then demanded justice no matter what the cost. They said if a crime was committed it must be found and prosecuted. They weren't worried about embarrassing our Nation and the Office of the Presidency because "Justice must prevail."

But now the righties feign worry about embarrassment and emboldening enemies and other nonsense because their own people might end up on the receiving end of justice.

William Bennett said on CNN a few minutes ago that investigating the perpetrators of torture would appear as nothing but a political vendetta. He didn't say that when the Clintons were undergoing investigations.

Years ago, Richard Nixon talked about the penalty for committing a crime and that's why he couldn't pardon draft resisters. Not long after that he accepted a pardon from President Ford.

The Republican Party always tried to hold itself up as the "tough on crime" party. I would like to see it for once live up to it's hype.

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL LITMUS TEST

We all remember the fine play My Fair Lady. The story revolved around professor Henry Higgins making a wager with his friend that he could turn Eliza Doolittle into a proper lady. One has to think that a similar bet was made among Bush, Cheney and a few elitists from Skull and Bones.



Only this bet was how bad could Bush and Cheney fuck up our Country in eight years.







Their foreign policy was a bad joke. It was almost as if they asked Condi Rice to come up with the stupidest foreign policy ever, then ordered her to make it stupider. I guess the Arab World didn't hate us enough so Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq. The biggest regret the Bush Team has is they weren't able to bring Armageddon here during his two terms.




The Bush answer to climate change was deny first. Deregulate. Then wait.




Bush said we were addicted to oil so he said let's do more offshore drilling and drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge for more. Finding alternative energy I guess didn't make as much sense to Bush as finding a junkie more junk.





The Republican party is at fault here also. It picked the worst possible potential president it could in 2000. They did it again in 2008. Remember the republican debates. They were asked a hypothetical question about a terror attack. One of these jokers excitedly proclaimed he "would be looking for Jack Bauer."
The rest of them gave him high fives and the republican audience cheered. Does anyone still wonder why these people think torture is good?


The Republicans could have gone with the one candidate that had a true belief system and knowledge enough to state his case convincingly. Alas. They made fun of Ron Paul and ended up with John McCain. McCain proved himself worthy of unworthiness by picking the woefully inadequate Sarah Palin as his running mate. That gave the Republican base something to be happy about. If they weren't sure about McCain being a big enough idiot, for sure Sarah Palin would prove imbecilic enough. They went on to pander to bigots, homophobes and morons and got 47% of the vote. Rush Limbaugh gave his belly thump of approval.




Sarah Palin is still the "front runner" for the republican nomination in 2012. The only way to stop her is if an even bigger idiot stumbles onto the republican scene.


Stay tuned...

RIGHT WING ANGER AT WARREN JEFFS EXPOSED

Right wingers as a general rule have little imagination. They usually just get the days talking points from Rush Limbaugh's morning update or some blowhard on the Fox AM broadcast.

One of their more repetitive and ridiculous arguments comes when talking about gun control and "big government."

These jokers will rant on about freedom all hours of the night, but if a news organization doesn't tow the right wing line like Fox, they want them to shut up. So much for a free press.

They called me a racist because I thought it was important and the right thing to do to stand up for a man that was on the receiving end of racism.

I don't hate the Righties for venting on me. That's why I call them deluded right wing fools. In many ways, their deluded rants are entertaining. My favorite is when they use the nutjob David Koresh and his Branch Davidian cult as an example of why we need to arm ourselves against Uncle Sam.

Of course, any argument that uses a nut like Koresh as validation is just plain stupid. I think the righties are mad at the most recent religious wacko, Warren Jeffs, for not putting up a fight and getting a bunch of women and children killed in the process so they could use him to validate some of their goofy views about government.

But I guess as long as it's not two people of the same sex marrying, anything else is fine with the righties.

WEEKEND OPEN THREAD/ OR HOW I STOPPED WORRYING AND LEARNED TO LOVE THE BOMB

GRAY HEADED BROTHER. GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

A blog is as good a place to vent as any. Probably better since you don't have to worry about somebody punching you. But the vitriol endured by my Gray Headed Brother went beyond reasonable. It stretched into the realm of hatred and sometimes just silly.



I never had a problem with his story. The man and millions like him who's only difference from the rest of us was their skin had more melanin, endured slavery. Beatings. Lynchings. Jim Crow laws. Denial of service at restaurants and drinking fountains. Being herded into crowded, unsafe high rises like Cabrini Green in Chicago. The politicians all claimed they were doing a good thing for Negroes by putting as many as they could in one crowded place with no opportunity and no hope.



And because an old Black Man started a blog to tell us he didn't like the way he and so many people that shared his skin color were treated, many bloggers accused him of bigotry and hatred.




I was glad to let the man speak his mind. Most of us never had to live with what GHB had to.
I was never denied a job, or not allowed to eat at the counter because I am white. I was never barred from dating a girl, or living in a certain neighborhood, or denied membership in a club because I am white.




If venting about the mistreatment he endured helped GHB, or anyone else deal with it nonviolently, how is that bad?




Walk in the man's shoes. Most of us remember slights that happened to us years ago. Black men like GHB endured a lifetime of them. The man deserves some peace and understanding.

3 PIRATES KILLED. SHIP CAPTAIN FREED. RIGHT WINGERS ANGRY AT OBAMA FOR BEING DECISIVE

. Our Navy killed three pirates. Captured the third and the Captain of the vessel the bastards hijacked is safe aboard an American ship.

I can't wait for the right wing bloggers to receive their talking points and try and turn this successful mission into another of their deluded anti Obama rants.

Welcome home Captain Phillips and to our U.S. navy rescuers, WELL DONE!

A SERIOUS ESSAY ON MODERN THESPIANISM AND CULTURAL SYMBOLS

I didn't have anything to add today as far as important and relevant issues facing us. All the good subjects have been taken this weekend. So this is a good time to finally just come out and tell Nicholas Cage the Truth.

Nick is a crummy actor. Ronald Reagan was a better actor than this over rated turkey. He sucked in that movie with Cher. He sucked in that movie about the mandolin. He sucked in Ghost Rider. The guy just plain sucks as an actor.

Tori Spelling is not that good looking. Neither is Courtney Love. And Stevie Nicks is as good a singer as Nicholas Cage is an actor.

There. I said it and I'm glad.

HOME SWEET HOMO

When a gay couple moved into my neighborhood awhile back, I quipped to a neighbor that it was good we finally had someone around here that knew how to pick out drapes. Of course he told someone else and it got back to the gay couple. I was chasing the dog down a few days later and stopped to say hi and welcome to them.


One of them asked if I liked their drapes and I knew I was in trouble. I pretended not to take the hint and said the drapes look very nice. I should have stopped there but I had to talk about my dog which I caught and was bringing back home. Thing's a part beagle, basset, lab, Christ knows what else dog pound mutt. Good dog though when he isn't getting away.



Anyway I told them I wanted a mutt and not some pansy looking poodle or something. Sure enough, they have a freaking poodle. We made about 90 seconds worth of small talk in which I proceeded to make a fool of myself another dozen times.




They got me back for my lack of good taste when one of them said he thought my powder blue van was a pretty color and asked where I got my hair styled.

DON'T ASK ME I DON'T GIVE A DAMN. THE NEXT STOP IS AFGHANISTAN

As much as I appreciate a good public relations campaign, nothing will make Afghanistan into anything but what it always has been. A place where empires go to die.

Afghanistan is not just going to be deadly for our Soldiers. It will be deadly for our economy. We spent hundreds of billions in Iraq so "We would have a Democratic Ally in the region." Iran has more influence than we do. The little fat bastard El Sadr hides his little fat ass in Iran and spews his anti America bile. He is in charge of an army of nuts in Iraq that behead people and whip and kill women for having a piece of flesh exposed. Yeah. Our billions made a real difference in Iraq.

Same thing in Afghanistan only the cost will run into the trillions. And where is the world? Russia and China will veto our resolutions in the U.N. Security Council. We can't even get the world to punish North Korea, as brutal a regime as there is because of Russia and China.

Where is the world on the War on Terror. It's willing to pat us on the back and say go get em as long as we're paying the bills with American Lives and money. Russia was defeated in the Cold War by our economic system. Not to take anything away from Lech Walesa or Pope John Paul II. This is Russia's revenge. Drain our treasury in a world war while they sit back sipping Vodka and laughing at our foolishness.

There is no victory in Afghanistan. Our "allies" whether it's Pakistan or a tribal lord, are the best friends we can bribe. It's time to get the world off our payroll. We have an economy in collapse. Let's protect our borders and our Nation. The world wants us back it has to be on our terms.

VALLEY OF THE BANNED

Just when I was getting used to the honor and loneliness of being the only Nihilist officially banned from Professor Douglas' American Power, the Nutty Professor goes and bans one of the finest and wisest bloggers around.

Welcome to the Valley of the Banned Oh Wise TAO. Your legend continues to grow.

HAS ANYBODY HERE, SEEN MY OLD FRIEND GRAY HEADED BROTHER?

Looks like my Gray Headed Brother has called it quits. That's too bad. He generated lots of interest and discussion. maybe he ran out of things to say. maybe he was tired of being called racist. Maybe he just got bored. maybe the bastards that got Malcolm got to him.

Whatever the reason he left, I wish him well. I'll leave the link up awhile to honor Gray Headed Brother's legacy.

AN APPLE A DAY AND SINGLE PAYER NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE IS GOOD FOR YOU.

Here it is. Truth101's plan to reinvent how we pay for health insurance in America.

I support a single payer national health insurance program. We pay for it with a 4% income tax that everyone pays so we all contribute. With fair deductibles and copays to keep the mooches from screwing the system every time they get a runny nose it will be easily sustainable.

National health insurance would take the burden off employers. It would enable those that want to retire but can't because health insurance is too freaking expensive to now be able to.

And save me the right wing crap about not trusting government and government will make a mess. Look at our nation's highway system. Look at the millions who thank God for what FDR did and rely on Social Security. Look at our fabulous Military. Thank a Veteran. They were government employees.

A yes my friends. I do trust President Obama, Vice President Biden, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi a hell of alot more than a bureaucrat from India with my health care decisions.