Sex, war and moral outrage... or not

Here's a little something to keep you busy while we get caught up around here... from David Sirota's blog.

D.C. Elites: Lies About Sex More Important Than Lies About War

Atrios posts a 1998 story about the Washington, D.C. Establishment's outrage at Bill Clinton for his lying about the Monica Lewinsky scandal. What is truly nauseating is not the corrupt and cliquey insiderism - it is the outrage over lying about sex, and the subsequent silence we've all experienced from the media/political Establishment when it has come to the current administration's lying about war .

Here are some choice comments from the 1998 article:

"There has to be a functional trust by reporters of the person they're covering. Clinton lies knowing that you know he's lying. It's brutal and it subjugates the person who's being lied to. I resent deeply being constantly lied to." – Hardball's Chris Matthews

"The deep and searing violation took place when he not only lied to the country, but co-opted his friends and lied to them." – Reagan/Clinton adviser David Gergen

"What is troubling is the deceit, the failure to own up to it. Before this is over the truth must be told." – Sen. Joe Lieberman (who hasn't owned up to his own pre-war role pushing Bush administration lies about Iraq)

"The judgment is harsher in Washington. We don't like being lied to." - Washington Post columnist David Broder

"When you lie to the country, you are using your authority to undermine the presidency." – Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin (who, by the way, had no problem subsequently plagiarizing work and then lying about it ).

Where is the outrage from these Beltway Establishment figures over the Bush administration's blatant lies about Iraq ? Oh sure, you can find a scant example here and there, but generally, it's nowhere, especially considering the purported anger that D.C. elites claim to feel about being lied to.

If ever there was proof that these people are completely and totally out of touch with the rest of the country, this is it. And it will only get worse - the Washington Post is apparently going to run two "jumbo" stories on the Clinton lies , while continuing to relegate Iraq to the back pages. Because to insulated Beltway elites, lying about a personal sex scandal is more offensive than American troops dying for a pack of lies in Iraq.

Lost...

We have taken a bit of a vacation here at Fun for America! Did we miss anything?

Democrats, are you taking notes?

First off, my apologies for the site down time. We are still working out some issues, but the blog should not be affected. Secondly, I feel like I missed a great deal, so this may be old news to lots of you, but...

Ameriblog has a great post today about the Senate hearings on the U.N. oil-for-food "scandal." The hearings featured a battle of wits between a feisty, antiwar member of the British Parliament, George Galloway, and a shamefully unarmed Republican committee chair Norm Coleman of Minnesota.

Follow the link to watch the video or read the entire transcript... or read below for a taste.

"Now I know that standards have slipped in the last few years in Washington, but for a lawyer you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice. I am here today but last week you already found me guilty. You traduced my name around the world without ever having asked me a single question, without ever having contacted me, without ever written to me or telephoned me, without any attempt to contact me whatsoever. And you call that justice.

"Now I want to deal with the pages that relate to me in this dossier and I want to point out areas where there are - let's be charitable and say errors. Then I want to put this in the context where I believe it ought to be. On the very first page of your document about me you assert that I have had 'many meetings' with Saddam Hussein. This is false.

"I have had two meetings with Saddam Hussein, once in 1994 and once in August of 2002. By no stretch of the English language can that be described as "many meetings" with Saddam Hussein.

"As a matter of fact, I have met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns. I met him to try and bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war....

“I told the world that Iraq, contrary to your claims did not have weapons of mass destruction. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to al-Qaeda. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to the atrocity on 9/11 2001. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that the Iraqi people would resist a British and American invasion of their country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.

"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 people paid with their lives; 1600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies.

He must not get American TV.

More news you won't find in the news

You might remember a few weeks back we told you about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez thumbing his nose at our President's administration. Well, apparently he's done worse than that.

Saw this on Eschaton.

You know, I don't remember reading in The Newspapers of Record that Hugo Chavez had called George Bush a dickhead.

I've worked with dickheads. I know dickheads. Dickheads are friends of mine. Mr. Chavez, Bush is no dickhead.

Something rotten in the fourth estate

I'm new to Center for American Progress Fellow and Al Franken Show regular David Sirota's blog, but I'm hooked. Here's a snippet of something he found, click on his name for his comments...

ABC News: We're Not Interested in Covering the Iraq War

Why do Americans think journalism is a complete and total joke? Maybe because news organizations treat the most serious, somber news as a a complete and total joke. Just look at this from ABC News's "The Note" today:

"Brides gotta run, planes gotta stray, and cable news networks gotta find a way to fill a lot of programming hours as cheaply as possible...We say with all the genuine apolitical and non-partisan human concern that we can muster that the death and carnage in Iraq is truly staggering. And/but we are sort of resigned to the Notion that it simply isn't going to break through to American news organizations, or, for the most part, Americans...What is hands down the biggest story every day in the world will get almost no coverage. "

Yes, ABC News... giving you all the news you want to hear. Plus, daily coverage of the Michael Jackson trial!

So little has changed in 50 years

Came across an interesting quote on Daily Kos... by way of David Sirota.

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54

James Baker to the rescue!

How many conservatives does it take to whitewash a nominee for the UN Ambassador post?Two thirds... James A. Baker III and Edwin Meese III to be exact. The dynamic duo cowrote an opinion piece in the NY Times today extolling the virtues of John "Rock 'em Sock 'em" Bolton.

You know you're in trouble when James Baker is called out of his cryogenic chamber to defend you.

And, here is how it is done: deny then put someone more palatable's words in his mouth. Brilliant!

While we cannot speak to the truthfulness of the specific allegations by his former colleagues, we can speak to what we know.

....................

Mr. Bolton's political principles are not shaped by circumstances or by appeals to the conventional wisdom. He knows, as Abraham Lincoln once put it, that "important principles may and must be inflexible." He also knows that those principles often have to be fought for with vigor.

What they didn't say was that he also knows that sometimes you gotta throw things at people to get their attention... especially those damned lesbians.

For those seeking a quick fix in Iraq

From Uncle Sam via This Modern World...

Coming to an SUV near you!

Do you believe God belongs in government?
Do you believe President Bush is doing The Lord's Work?
If so, then show your love for God & the USA!"

That's right, folks! This magnet, brought to you by Bushfish.org, beautifully [and quite fittingly] depects our president swallowed by a Jesus fish. The Jesus fish, of course, is the universal symbol [and the bumpersticker icon of choice] for good, old-fashioned, God-fearing dullards throughout the country.

So basically, it's a warning label... the occupants of this vehicle are slow-witted and easily provoked. If an altercation arises, point and say, "Oh my God! Is that Jesus?" and then run to the nearest library. They will surely not follow you inside.

War, what is it good for?

There is a very good article in today's Washington Post about the ongoing drug war. Yes, the war on drugs... the $35 billion a year quagmire that makes Vietnam look like the Bay of Pigs.

The good news is that the focus has shifted from hard drugs to marijuana, because... let's face it... these guys are just easier to catch.

Our president's administration, of course, thinks differently.

Bush administration officials attribute the rise in marijuana arrests to a variety of factors: increased use among teenagers during parts of the 1990s; efforts by local police departments to focus more on street-level offenses; and growing concerns over the danger posed by modern, more potent versions of marijuana. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy released a study yesterday showing that youth who use marijuana are more likely to develop serious mental health problems, including depression and schizophrenia.

"This is not Cheech and Chong marijuana," said David Murray, a policy analyst for the anti-drug office. "It's a qualitatively different drug, and that's reflected in the numbers."

If anyone understands that statement, please drop me a comment and explain.

For further reading on this topic, the conservative American Enterprise Institute published a report in March titled "Are We Losing the War on Drugs?" Its authors argue that, among other things, "criminal punishment of marijuana use does not appear to be justified.

Funny Ha Ha

Our First Lady was cracking them up at the White House Correspondent's Dinner. This piece in the NY Times tells all about it.

For those not willing to make the leap, here's a taste...

George's answer to any problem at the ranch is to cut it down with a chain saw, which I think is why he and Cheney and Rumsfeld get along so well.

The amazing thing is that George and I were just meant to be. I was a librarian who spent 12 hours a day in the library, yet somehow I met George.

It's always very interesting to see how the ranch air invigorates people when they come down from Washington. Recently, when Vice President Cheney was down, he got up early one morning, he put on his hiking boots and he went on a brisk 20- to 30-foot walk.

George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you're going to have to stay up later.

Who knew her speechwriters were so funny... and so brave.

Chavez: Hey, Emperor, why you so naked?

Were your ears burning Friday? 'Cause Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was talking about us. Ok, you've no doubt seen this already, but Chavez [while visiting his new chum, Castro] pointed out why he's not been back to the U.S.

"I have not returned, nor do I think about returning again, until the people of the United States liberate that nation," said Chavez, saying that Americans are "oppressed" by their government and U.S. media.

Uh-oh... sounds like there's political unrest in another oil-rich country.