Rook's Rant

My ability for detachment and lack of sentiment is non-existent. Even as I struggle to create this post, tears of sadness, and rage, threaten to well.

Baghdad Burning

It's very difficult at this point to connect to the internet and try to read the articles written by so-called specialists and analysts and politicians. They write about and discuss Iraq as I might write about the Ivory Coast or Cambodia- with a detachment and lack of sentiment that- I suppose- is meant to be impartial. Hearing American politicians is even worse. They fall between idiots like Bush- constantly and totally in denial, and opportunists who want to use the war and ensuing chaos to promote themselves.

At it's most conservative we are looking at over 200,000 human beings dead. 200,000 of God's children. No matter which way you look at it, our government--our congress, our president--is responsible for exceeding even the old testament's supposed demand (taking totally out of context and far from the spirit of it's intent) of an eye for an eye. How does 200,000 deaths equal just shy of 3,000 deaths from the attack on September 11, 2001? There is no equality but to pure, unadulterated evil.

Oh, not evil such as showcased in stereotypical Hollywood movies where a hell-spawned demon sits upon a throne of power, sowing destruction and horror in it's effort of fulfilling some archaic, superstitious prophecy. Rather, a bigotry of evil, a qua of arrogant moral superiority walks in the halls of power. A sadistic, amoral collective of intellectually lazy Neanderthals judging their fellow human beings with a callous, uncaring, unchristian set of values.

That is truly the Devil's work, if such a construct as the Devil did exist. Not some manifestations of supernatural powers conjured from the nether regions by using an ancient, barbaric language coarse of tongue and grating to ear, but by the simple act of one group of humans choosing a set of beliefs which allow for justification of killing other humans.

Continue reading "Here Speaks My Lack Of Blogging" »

The Vanity Press: Do You Have Any Evidence...?

What do you have no evidence that Patrick McHenry has done?

Well, of course I do. Patrick McHenry has yet to deny he was dressed in drag (in a blue dress no less!) and performed oral sex on President Clinton because Monica Lewinsky was busy trying to seduce underage gay male pages.

Stolen from uggabugga.

Because, as the prior post shows, they are doing it quite well all by themselves.

Oh, hat tip to (: Tom :) at The Funny Farm for the pic.

The Daily Brew
October 5, 2006
Save the Children

Are We Having Fun Yet? The GOP poured gasoline all over their heads
and lit it on fire five weeks before the election. Seriously, have any
of you had this much fun since Smirky McTortureburton stole the Oval
Office in 2000? Me either. Let me ask this, have any of you been in a
crowd of people all week who weren’t talking about this story? Me
either. “Mastergate” is going to be the gift that keeps on giving,
right through election day.

Now, I am about to say something that isn’t “on script” for a partisan
Democrat, so first, the disclaimer. I don’t think 50 year old men have
any business coming onto teenagers. That being said, one reason I can
laugh about this is because I remember what I was like when I was 16.
If Foley had been trying to make me his cyber-wackoff buddy when I was
a kid, I would have made a total mockery out of him. Seriously. I
would have invited my crew over, and we would have played right along
with him on the instant message chat, while we partied our underage
asses off. We would have been laughing hysterically as we asked him to
email us pics of his "senior staff member" while we pounded down cheap
beer. Then, we would have posted the whole thing on My Space.

But that’s just me. I was a rebel, unimpressed with authority figures,
whose only goal in life was a good time. Not everyone was like me. I
can see how some of the Hitler Youth from the GOP base, kids whose idea
of fun is a signing a virginity pledge with their parents, could really
get messed up by someone like Foley. Weird as they are, those kids
deserve our protection.

Which brings me to my larger point. If we are going to get serious
about protecting our kids, we are going to have to figure out a way to
keep them away from registered Republicans. Many of these registered
Republicans live among us, blending into our communities, just waiting
to strike. I think we need some form of notification system. We can’t
keep our kids safe from registered Republicans if we don’t know where
they are. So, toward that end, I offer the following list, which can
serve as a starting point for a national Republican registration
system. Because we have to put the kids first.

Republican Congressman Mark Foley abruptly resigned from Congress after
"sexually explicit" emails surfaced showing him flirting with a 16-year
old boy.

Republican executive Randall Casseday of the conservative Washington
Times newspaper was arrested for soliciting sex from a 13-year old girl
on the internet.

Republican chairman of the Oregon Christian Coalition Lou Beres
confessed to molesting a 13-year old girl.

Republican County Constable Larry Dale Floyd was arrested on suspicion
of soliciting sex with an 8-year old girl. Floyd has repeatedly won
elections for Denton County, Texas, constable.

Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a
10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

Republican Party leader Bobby Stumbo was arrested for having sex with a
5-year old boy.

Republican petition drive manager Tom Randall pleaded guilty to
molesting two girls under the age of 14, one of them the daughter of an
associate in the petition business.

Republican County Chairman Armando Tebano was arrested for sexually
molesting a 14-year-old girl.

Republican teacher and former city councilman John Collins pleaded
guilty to sexually molesting 13 and 14 year old girls.

Republican campaign worker Mark Seidensticker is a convicted child
molester.

Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in
federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

Republican Mayor Tom Adams was arrested for distributing child
pornography over the internet.

Republican Mayor John Gosek was arrested on charges of soliciting sex
from two 15-year old girls.

Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting
two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years
in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

Republican Committeeman John R. Curtain was charged with molesting a
teenage boy and unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted
child rapist in Florida.

Republican zoning supervisor, Boy Scout leader and Lutheran church
president Dennis L. Rader pleaded guilty to performing a sexual act on
an 11-year old girl he murdered.

Republican anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded guilty to
possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to
anybody who murders an abortion doctor.

Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to three
years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.

Republican racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom Thurmond
had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.

Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the
2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a
sexual affair with a female juvenile.

Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an
inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

Republican advertising consultant Carey Lee Cramer was sentenced to
six years in prison for molesting two 8-year old girls, one of whom
appeared in an anti-Gore television commercial.

Republican activist Lawrence E. King, Jr. organized child sex parties
at the White House during the 1980s.

Republican lobbyist Craig J. Spence organized child sex parties at the
White House during the 1980s.

Republican Congressman Donald "Buz" Lukens was found guilty of having
sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of child
porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.

Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of sex
crimes involving children.

Republican campaign chairman Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to
attempted sexual assault on a child and was arrested again five years
later on the same charge.

Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as
a congressional page.

Republican activist and Christian Coalition leader Beverly Russell
admitted to an incestuous relationship with his step daughter.

Republican Judge Ronald C. Kline was placed under house arrest for
child molestation and possession of child pornography.

Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged
with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.

Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for
distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.

Republican activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. "Republican Marty"), was
taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful sexual
activity withan underage girl and one count of delivering the drug LSD.

Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with molesting
a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.

Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having sex
with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the
allegations were reported in the media.

Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to traditional
values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy
for permission to perform oral sex on him.

Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing his
genitals to an 11 year old girl.

Republican anti-gay activist Earl "Butch" Kimmerling was sentenced to
40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted
to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts of
raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.

Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to two
years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year old
girl.

Republican politician Andrew Buhr was charged with two counts of first
degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy.

Republican legislator Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven felony
counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age of 16
(i.e. exposing himself to children).

Republican anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was found guilty of
molesting a 15-year old girl.

Republican County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to molesting a
male child.

Republican activist John Butler was charged with criminal sexual
assault on a teenage girl.

Republican candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting his two
daughters.

Republican Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was convicted
of molesting a 13-year old girl.

Republican County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded guilty to
unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy.

Republican City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no contest to
raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison.

Republican activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to possession of
child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months
in federal prison and fined $18,000.

Republican parole board officer and former Colorado state
representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child pornography
was found in his possession.

Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate Robin
Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex
from boys and girls over the internet.

Republican city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as a "good
military man" and "church goer," was convicted of repeatedly having sex
with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Republican businessman Jon Grunseth withdrew his candidacy for
Minnesota governor after allegations surfaced that he went swimming in
the nude with four underage girls, including his daughter.

Republican campaign worker, police officer and self-proclaimed reverend
Steve Aiken was convicted of having sex with two underage girls.

Republican director of the "Young Republican Federation" Nicholas
Elizondo molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six
years in prison.

Republican president of the New York City Housing Development Corp.
Russell Harding pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his
computer.

Republican benefactor of conservative Christian groups, Richard A.
Dasen Sr., was found guilty of raping a 15-year old girl. Dasen, 62,
who is married with grown children and several grandchildren, has
allegedly told police that over the past decade he paid more than $1
million to have sex with a large number of young women.

Republican Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the rape of
children in Iraqi prisons in order to humiliate their parents into
providing information about the anti-American insurgency.

Go here to get yourself on the mailing list.

at 4:00 AM I was born onto this planet.

Sorry about that.

Foley conflagration draws national attention to Wetterling

The Mark Foley scandal has focused a national spotlight on Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District race because of Democrat Patty Wetterling's background as a children's safety advocate.

On Tuesday, Wetterling rushed a TV ad onto the air calling for a criminal investigation of Foley -- the Florida Republican who resigned his House seat on Friday over sexually explicit electronic messages to teenage pages -- and the expulsion of any members of Congress who knew about Foley's conduct but did not take action.

On Wednesday, she was chosen to the give the national Democratic response this Saturday to President Bush's weekly radio address.

In addition, TV networks lined up Wednesday for interview time with Wetterling, and the New York Times and Washington Post, seeking the political repercussions of the Foley case, quickly discovered the race between Wetterling and state Sen. Michele Bachmann.

Foley has really caused a problem for the GOP across the board. Their candidates either remain silent, and come across as guilty by omission; speak out against Foley and the House GOP leadership, making the party look bad; or even worse, side with Hastert and announce to the nation they support covering up a predatory pedophile.

This is known as being vertically caught between a rock and a hard place.

(: Tom :) has resigned from our Blogger's Chess Match. Good game (: Tom :)!

Any other challengers?

I hate that I have to work full-time. I hate that I have to work. I want to win the lottery so I can retire and blog in my underwear. Or nakked. Ya! Nakked blogging, that's the ticket.

Seriously, though. I would love to be all blogging the Foley scandal. And the Rice memory problem. Or even simply getting all snarky about Kevin Drum's failure to put me on his blog roll. God, his blog sucks because of that.

And I hate him. Really, honestly I do. Oh, and he's ugly.

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall October 3, 2006 01:09 AM

“Mark Foley has never, ever had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor in his life,” Mr. Roth said. “He is absolutely, positively not a pedophile.”

Okay, next thing you know, they will be arguing over the definition of "is."

He left out nice.

Blog of the Moderate Left ｻ Naughty Emails

Naughty: An email sent from a wife to her husband, trying to convince him he really does want to skip the game tonight.

Not Naughty: An email from the Hon. Donald Rumsfeld promising $1 million in Iraqi gold if you just help him get to it. That is a con.

Coward.

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 10/02/2006 | Kline declines League debate with Rowley

The Kline campaign informed the League of Women Voters last week that the congressman is declining its invitation to participate in a three-way debate Oct. 14, in the thick of the election season.

In an early evening e-mail to reporters Friday, the Rowley campaign knocked Kline for "making little visible effort to make his positions known."

"Either John Kline does not have the courage of his convictions or he's very afraid of the voters in the 2nd District," Rowley said in the statement.

In a quick rebuttal, Kline spokesman Troy Young said Rowley was trailing in the polls and called her news release "the act of a desperate campaign on life-support."

"We're debating at least five times," Young said. "We debated twice before Labor Day."

The Kline campaign, however, was unable to explain why the candidate was refusing to participate in the most visible televised forum of the election season. The League, a nonpartisan political group that does not endorse candidates, has a 28-year tradition of sponsoring high-profile debates and political talks.

Hoyt, of the League of Women Voters, said U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, a Republican who represents southern Minnesota, had also declined an invitation to debate DFL challenger Tim Walz.

<snark>Awwwww, breaks my heart.</snark>

Editorial: War in Iraq heightens threat to United States.

CNN.com - Democrats: Leaked intel shows U.S. needs new leadership - Sep 25, 2006

"Unfortunately this report is just confirmation that the Bush administration's stay-the-course approach to the Iraq war has not just made the war more difficult and more deadly for our troops, but has also made the war on terror more dangerous for every American," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, head of the Democratic effort to take control of the House.

"It's time for a new direction in this country," Emanuel, D-Illinois, said in the statement.

"Press reports say our nation's intelligence services have confirmed that President Bush's repeated missteps in Iraq and his stubborn refusal to change course have made America less safe," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. "No election-year White House PR campaign can hide this truth."

A White House spokesman, Blair Jones, said, "We don't comment on classified documents." But he said the published accounts' "characterization of the NIE is not representative of the complete document."

In a statement issued Sunday afternoon, Bush's national intelligence director, John Negroponte, said, "What we have said, time and again, is that while there is much that remains to be done in the war on terror, we have achieved some notable successes against the global jihadist threat."

Oh, great. Now I am channeling NTodd channeling Atrios. Okay, this will require a sturdy brick wall, some ibuprofen and a strong cup of dark roast coffee. And hell no! to any suggestion of cream and sugar.

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat - New York Times

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

The intelligence estimate, completed in April, is the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by United States intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States,’’ it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.
[ed. note: highlighting done by yours truly]

That and the odious residue they left in the cushions; the only true product from that which we all share--along with opinions.

Anyway, I have done the action alert cookie jill posted. She being a member of skippy the bush kangaroo, the group blog of that rascally marsupial whom--I would be remiss if I did not mention--coined the term blogtopia.

Now, that was a mouthful, wasn't it? I tell you, the verbal gymnastics one is required to perform just to give a hat tip while also giving customary accreditation.

You want to know what is really scary? I believe I am channeling Matthew Yglesias ^{Future Conservative} channeling George Will.

Shoot me. Shoot me now.

Before I go off to get a cup of coffee from Dunn Bros. for The GirlFriend™ here is a little Friday night Cat Blogging^{™ Kevin Drum} with The Fuskers™ thrown in for good measure.

For those of you with either broadband or plenty of time on your hands here is a larger, uncompressed picture.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Rants From The Rookery.

I can't place my finger on it though, but somehow it seems familiar.

Update: I would like to clarify that I am in no way, shape, or form, upset about the name of ellroone's new blog. In fact, and though I am not even remotely responsible for her naming the blog what she did, I can not help but take some satisfaction and pride.

Well, that is until she pisses me off, then look out!

Update II: Okay, color me stupid. Seems I once again had my gender blinders on. I have been taken to task on several past occasions when I mistook a blogger as a male. As much as I would like to say I am not sexist, I am still carrying the biases of the culture in which I was raised. I am a work in progress.

My sincere apology, ellroon. Pronouns properly edited.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Hamas rejects Abbas unity pledge

Palestinian militant group Hamas has said it will not join a planned national unity government if recognizing Israel is a condition.

It follows a speech by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in which he said the government would recognize Israel and renounce violence.

Personally, I believe this to be a smart move by Mahmoud Abbas. It leaves Hamas looking bad, which they are if they refuse to recognize Israel. It also shows them to be more interested in violence than peace.

That being said, we still would not be in this situation if it was not for that fucknut, The Miserable Failure, sitting with insolence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

TwinCities.com | 09/22/2006 | Tight race is bad news for Pawlenty, Hatch

For the third time this week, a new poll shows a tight race for Minnesota governor, and that means trouble for the three major candidates.

For Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, undecided voters are poised to determine the election, and they traditionally vote against incumbents.

This story is so full of spin it is hard to choose where to begin. But choose I must. So, let's shovel this happy bullshit out of the way:

“To win, Hatch has to stop hemorrhaging votes to Hutchinson,” Morris said.

With 5 percent favoring Hutchinson, who has a name recognition of only 51 percent, of which only 10 percent have a favorable opinion of him while 5 percent viewed him unfavorably, I hardly call this hemorrhaging . Granted, the favorables topping the unfavorables is a positive trend for Hutchinson, but still, it is a bit over the top to be calling those numbers bad for Hatch.

In fact, when all is said and done, no negative trends, nor any statistical facts, are presented to back up that claim of Hatch being in trouble. Other than the 42 to 39 difference tipping in favor of Pawlenty-which I would assume is within the margin of error, I just am not seeing any trends hurting Hatch.

CNN.com - Deal on detainee treatment quells GOP revolt - Sep 21, 2006

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House and dissenting GOP senators settled a disagreement Thursday on a bill setting out procedures for interrogating terror suspects and trying them in front of military tribunals.

Congratulations, GOP, for demonstrating to the rest of the country that though you were united and of one mind with keeping a brain dead woman's body alive because of a respect for life, you are divided in respecting the bodies of humans that are alive.

Actually, you are fucking idiots.

Say congratulations to the new city of Columbus, Minnesota.

It's official: Township of Columbus is now a city

The northeastern Anoka County township of Columbus is Minnesota's newest city.

The township, which formed in 1857, officially gained city status Thursday when newly elected Mayor Mel Mettler was sworn in.

I can not explain this, but somehow I feel it is a sign of things to come. The little guy comes out on top.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the cosmic scales have tipped towards people and away from systems.