9/11 denial

Disagreement with President Bush’s policies can take some radical extremes:

The Bush administration has constructed a new enemy — terrorism — which is not an enemy at all but a series of predictable actions taken by those who have no other means of addressing wrongs committed against them. Bush is using this as a pretext for global war and domination. - William Straub, Pasadena, California (source)

So 9/11 was a predictable action. Terrorists are not enemies, but instead a construct of the Bush administration. Three thousand dead is not a hostile act of war, nor is it a terrible human tragedy — it’s simply an action “taken by those who have no other means of addressing wrongs committed against them” — as if we should sympathize with them. They were wronged first, after all, and they had to get their message out somehow.

montezuma’s continuing revenge

Eventually we will all wake up and realize that smoking is a terrible revenge delivered to us by the Native Americans in return for the theft of their land. That day is coming. Smoking’s realities will far outweigh its attractions, and finally it will be considered about as acceptable as public nose picking.

Tobacco companies dread that day, of course — and they’re not above using deception and exploitation to delay its arrival.

Consider, for example, the fact that cigarette manufacturers have increased the amount of nicotine in cigarrettes by ten percent over the last six years:

toward polar-free guilt

“But the affair wasn’t her fault,” she told me. “Her husband was neglecting her. It’s no surprise she sought comfort in the arms of another man.”

Um, no. Fault isn’t a seesaw, with one side’s guilt establishing the other’s innocence. Both parties can be at fault.

A wife sleeps with another man. She’s guilty, her husband innocent. Oh, but wait – the husband was neglecting her. He’s the guilty one; she’s only a victim. Oh, but wait – he was only neglecting her to escape her vicious and incessant verbal abuse. Now she’s … and so on. It feels like watching tennis.

pandora’s database

Same old same old: Bush is evil Bush is the devil Bush needs to be beheaded yadda yadda yadda.

Bloggers are funny. Is the same thing really worth saying four million times? ("YES!" the resounding throng cries out. "Killthebeast cuthisthroat spillhisblood …")

Here's a different take on the story of the day. But first, the report:

CNN: Bush says US not 'trolling through personal lives'

President Bush said Thursday the government is "not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans" with a reported program to create a massive database of U.S. phone calls.

the original case for war

I support the war in Iraq.

Did we find weapons of mass destruction? No. I still support the war.

Did President Bush and his cabinet use flawed intelligence, gross mischaracterization, outright lying to bring us into war? Yes/probably/perhaps. I still support the war.

Why? Because I remember the original case for going to war.

Originally it wasn’t about weapons of mass destruction. That came later. I remember, because when Bush first explained why we should invade Iraq, Americans didn’t buy it, and I was disgusted.

data lies

I earned my driver's license at age sixteen in Virginia. Then my family moved to New Jersey: driving age, seventeen. I'd be permitted to keep my license as long as I passed the test.

I'd been driving for months. I took the test. I failed it.

Stupid multiple-choice test. What did that measure about my driving ability?

I should've retaken it, but refused. Instead I drove for two years on that out-of-state license until I went out of state for college. (Why my parents let me get away with that I have no idea.)

our estados aren’t so unidos

Do I lose my conservative card if I don't see a problem with this?

CNN: O say can you see a Spanish national anthem?

British music producer Adam Kidron says he just wanted to honor the millions of immigrants seeking a better life in the U.S. when he came up with the idea of a Spanish-language version of the national anthem.

The initial version of "Nuestro Himno," or "Our Anthem" comes out Friday and features artists such as Wyclef Jean, hip-hop star Pitbull and Puerto Rican singers Carlos Ponce and Olga Tanon.

freedom’s bedrock

Demanding ratings on movies, tv shows, videogames. Lobbying to eliminate NEA funding for sacrilegious art. Calling for IMAX theaters to stop showing evolution documentaries. Boycotting Disney for its pro-gay policies. Insisting that Superbowl halftime shows be modest and decent.

Censorship. All of it.

Or so we’ve been told.

Then the Muslim world explodes with riots, vandalism, arson, death threats, shootings and murders over a political cartoon published on another continent.

protesting core values

So much for the assertion that Judge Samuel Alito doesn’t reflect the core values of mainstream America: 72 out of 100 senators found him mainstream enough to grant his confirmation a floor vote.

Senators answer to their constituents. In this case, 72 of them feared their constituents wouldn’t stomach a filibuster. That speaks volumes in the wake of the apparently non-centrist filibuster campaign waged by John Kerry and Edward Kennedy, and joined by Hillary Clinton:

exploring torture

I’m no fan of Charles Krauthammer, but he wrote a bold, informative, and insightful commentary of John McCain’s stance on torture:

fined for W and Q

Apparently, linguistic tyranny isn’t limited to France. If nothing else, this would make for a memorable Sesame Street lesson:

CNN: 20 fined for using letters W and Q

I can just see little muppets carrying around placards with the letters W and Q on them, only to be arrested by other muppets in police uniforms …

money always wins

The Supreme Court has ruled that local governments can seize private homes and hand them over to developers to bulldoze and rebuild into greater tax-generating properties:

CNN: High court OKs personal property seizures

What about our rights, you ask?

The only person with rights is the one richer than you.

By this Supreme Court decision, any person can petition a local government to evict you from your home so it can be bulldozed and rebuilt as a larger taxable property. It's in the public interest, after all.

So go find yourself an apartment, you middle-class scum.

time to cancel some licenses

It's a good bet Maryland's right near the top of the "ignorant drivers" list:

CNN: Survey: Northeast has dumbest drivers

My favorite statistic is that 20% of drivers nationwide don't know that pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk.