(Sorry for the short diary, but I'm up past my night shift bedtime).
Many of us on the left have sought for a word to counter the right's use of the phrase "Democrat Party". We've experimented with some, such as Publican, Republican American Community, and others, but we couldn't get them to work because they didn't roll off the tongue and were too obvious.
But Republicon works. It's every bit as subtle as "Democrat Party", and rolls off the tongue easier than "Republican American Community". But the slight change of one letter implies that the Repugs are con artists, evil, and after your money.
So the new word, my Democratic friends, is REPUBLICON.
I wish I could say I was surprised, but on Hannity & Other Guy, Melanie Morgan was sent in to defend Rush's comments about "phony Soldiers".
It looks like Melanie agrees with him. If you're against the war, it doesn't matter if you served your country, in her eyes and the eyes of the right, you're "anti-American".
About 4:40 (or 1:33 if you use the embedded video here) into the story, Morgan says:
A number of Soldiers who are fake or embellishers, or who are posers, like Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org, um, who go out there and use their far left, anti-American agenda, a political agenda, to undermine the real mission of our troops.
We all knew what was coming with the troop surge. Bush would get to the point that he couldn’t sustain the surge any longer, pull out the 30,000 troops involved in the surge, and declare that things in Iraq were getting better so they wouldn’t be needed anymore.
President George W. Bush will tell the nation this week he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by about 30,000 by next summer, but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress, The Associated Press has learned.
Of course we all saw this coming. Like Kos said, we have a habit of being right.
It's not the Jena Six, but it's close. A black man was arrested after defending himself against a group of white men attacked him for having a white girlfriend:
Aloysius Staton, 24, of Uniondale, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree assault after police arrested him for hitting a man with a beer bottle during a June 1 fight at the McDonald's on Atlantic Avenue, according to law enforcement officials. The bottle shattered on impact and the victim will require multiple surgeries, according to the felony complaint of the incident.
But Staton's lawyer, Bill Shanahan of Garden City, said the security video tells a different story. Staton acted in self-defense when he and his friend were victims of a brutal beating by five or six young men who had been drinking and were upset that Staton, who is black, had a white girlfriend with him, Shanahan said.
This was given to me by Ian Chinich of Iraq Summer. There over in the Michigan's 11th CD trying to get Thaddeus McCotter to change his mind on the war.
LIVONIA, Michigan
August 22, 2007
Green Mead Historical Park
Congressman Thaddeus McCotter's Birthday Party
We presented a staff person of Congressman McCotter with a very large "Birthday Card".
On location at Green Mead Historical Park in Livonia Michigan where Thaddeus McCotter held his "Birthday Party", volunteers for "Americans Against Escaltion in Iraq" welcomed Congressman McCotter's guests at the entrance with their "SUPPORT THE TROOPS" "END THE WAR" signs.
Being on location, I parked my Ford F-150 in the parking lot where ALL of McCotter's guests could see it. On my vehicle, I had used white paint to simply display the REAL numbers that showed the exact number of U.S. Troops that have been wounded, and killed as of August 22, 2007. And of course, the "SUPPORT THE TROOPS" "END THE WAR" signs that also were displayed on my
vehicle.
The video was taken from a camera phone so the quality is less than great, but it shows Rep. McCotter of Michigan's 11th Congressional District running away from Iraq War Protestors:
McCotter has always been a slippery guy. He's almost never in his district, he never returns phone calls or letters, and now when being confronted, he moves like a bat out of hell. Enjoy the show!
About a week ago, a Soldier outed himself after controversy was brewed over his anonymous writings to The National Review about his story of things that were going on in Iraq. The right was quick to respond, with Michelle Malkin even going so far as to publish his myspace page so that their wingnut counterparts could bash him via email and call him a bad Soldier. We were pissed about the right’s lack of support for the troops. And we were correct for being angry.
As we all know by now, a Soldier in uniform attended YearlyKos and wanted to have a debate with Jon Soltz. Jon Soltz rightly told him that he cannot be attending or speaking at political functions while in military uniform. This goes against Military Regulation FM 27-14, which says that Soldiers can only attend political functions if they are in civilian clothes and off duty.
If you don’t live in Michigan, you may not have heard of Bruce Fealk. But you might have read his diary in which he mentioned in a recent newspaper article that he said of Congressman Joe Knollenberg (MI-09): "Knollenberg should atone for his sins" – meaning his refusal to back Democratic-sponsored legislation to set timetables for removing the troops – "like a good Catholic."
As it turns out, conservatives really don’t like discussing religion-when it’s used against them. Knollenberg was pissed beyond belief, even going so far as to call on our Governor to reprimand him. The RCCC, in a blatant show of hypocrisy, said "Religious smears have no place in political discourse."
Last fall in Jena, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."
I’ve bought a lot of great T-shirts from Tshirthell.com. One of my personal favorites says "According to the latest Presidential approval polls, nearly 1/3 of Americans are fucking idiots."
I just found out T-shirt hell doesn’t sell that shirt anymore, and probably with good reason. They’d have to change it to 1/4.
According to the latest Newsweek poll, Bush’s approval rating has tanked to 26%.
"The peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: Our country -- when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right."-Carl Schurz
Last year I wrote a piece about what it means to be a patriot. It was a short piece, filled with one-liners and was intended to be used as an email that you copy and paste and forward to 600 people that outside of forwarded emails, you probably haven't had much contact with.
So this Fourth of July I decided to write another post on patriotism. In short: Patriotism is hard.
A future post from The New York Times, date October 2nd, 2007:
Bush Decides "I’m Doing Whatever I Want"
After months of Congressional Democrats doing absolutely nothing about the abuse of power coming from The White House, President Bush today has declared, in his own words: "I just don’t give a f*ck".
When asked by a White House press reporter if Bush had gone insane, he replied:
"You know what? Last time you said that, I was kinda trippin', right? But now, you're right. I am crazy. And you know what else? I don't give a f*ck. I don't give a f*ck about you. I don't give a f*ck about America. I don't give a f*ck about the law, either. I don't give a f*ck about myself. Look, I ain't s*it. And you less of a man than me, so as soon as I figure you ain't gonna be s*it, pow! So be it. You remember that, motherf*cker. 'Cause I'm the one you need to be looking out for."
Disclaimer: If you take life way too seriously, or are easily offended, you may not want to read this diary.
A few days ago, fake consultant wrote a diary asking for advice on funny war movies, as her godson was going away to Iraq and decided that laughter should be the best medicine to help her cope.
I thought it was a great idea, and copied a few YouTube videos that were popular with my fellow Soldiers and I while we were deployed to Iraq. Back then the videos were hard to find on the internet, as YouTube didn’t exist until about 6 months into our deployment.
Now, in the spirit of fake consultants request, I’ve decided to compile my own YouTube collage for our military families. Laughter really is the best medicine when you’re thinking about your family member serving overseas, whether it be Iraq, Afghanistan, or other places. They’re filled with funny Army moments, military humor, and the occasional song (warning, lots of great YouTube videos lie ahead):
Dealers at Bally's Atlantic City, the largest casino in Atlantic City, N.J., voted June 2-3 for representation by the United Auto Workers.
On June 3, security officers at the same casino voted for representation by the International Union of Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America, marking the first casino security officers organized in Atlantic City.
It’s very rare that I write a diary in response to someone else’s. In fact, this is the first time I’ve done it.
But I have to respond to a recent Diary that said Toyota was "bitch-slapping" The Big Three. What can I say? I work at a GM plant. I’m biased:).
Last year, GM unveiled a concept car called The Volt at the Detroit International Auto Show. The car was considered to be one of the highlights of the event, as it advertised that it could get over 150 miles per gallon.
Boston, MA. Texas-based Clear Channel Outdoor chose the week of Memorial Day to tell striking billboard workers, including a significant number of U.S. Military veterans employed by the company, that they no longer had jobs. Members of Sign Local #391 have been on strike in Eastern Massachusetts since March 19th.
The striking workers including U.S. Army and U.S. Marine veterans met with U.S. Senator John Kerry to ask for his support and assistance in settling the strike.
SACRAMENTO, CA (May 29, 2007. 3:00 pm) – An Iraq War veteran – who insists on remaining anonymous as "only a representative" of his fallen comrades – began walking laps around the state capitol building yesterday morning at 8:00 am. Thirty-thirty hours later, he is still walking. Although some on the scene are now summing up his condition as a "health crisis" due in large part to weather extremes, he has told supporters he will not rest until he has finished walking laps for every U.S. serviceperson killed in Iraq.
