licentious radio

Thursday, August 14, 2003
[3:40:45 PM]

Reader mail:

"Why do you keep harping on Arnold Gropenator's character issues, rather than substantive issues?" --Lisa of Davis, California

You have to remember that the attacks on Davis are all either character-based, or irrelevant. If Davis has been governor during a time when the economy sank like a rock, let's recall that it is Bush's economic policies that torpedoed us.

Davis did his best to defend Californians from Bush-crony thievery. Except for Davis' successful, hard work, Kenny Boy & Co. might have turned the lights out in California for days on end, stealing hundreds of billions of dollars, not just the $45 billion they got away with. Davis is a freaking *hero*.

The recall is all irrelevant attack on Davis. Arnold will take advantage of the character assassination, while desperately avoiding any specific personal attacks. Nor will he set out any realistic plans for the future. That's because all you can do is cut spending and raise taxes, and hope that eventually Bush is forced out of office so a Democrat can put the national economy back on track -- like Clinton did.

The recall is political mass destruction. It's dangerous territory, because even though it might drain attention and money from fighting Bush's evil policies, the recall could fail and/or be used against Bush in the next election.

[1:20:44 PM]
"You can fool all of the people some of the time, and those are the ones you need to concentrate on." --George W. Bush

More evil than dim?

[11:07:52 AM]
Elite Force Action Bush doll....

From our heroes: MediaWhoresOnline:

"We proudly introduce the latest issue in our Elite Force series of authentic and historically accurate 12-inch figures, George W. Bush in Phillips Andover Head Cheerleader uniform. Exacting in detail and fully equipped with authentic gear including pom-poms and megaphone, this limited-edition action figure is a meticulous 1:6 scale recreation of the Cheerleader-in-Chief leading his squad in cheering the Andover Varsity Boys' Volleyball Team on to a championship victory. A peppy Bush participated in a death defying 6-man pyramid stunt, then thrilled the crowd with a series of courtside cartwheels."

[10:57:48 AM]
Our "Recall Arnold" scheme is gaining traction.

The good news is a federal judge is likely to put off the whole thing until California has reasonable voting processes everywhere. The bad news is that an extra five months of comapaigning isn't going to do much good for the California economy, if the Republicans in the legislature continue their scorched-earth policy of destroying California to get power.

The other problem is the money and attention the recall will take from the national election. Unless the Democrats are clever enough to use the Rove-inspired recall and Bush-backed Gropenator candidacy as national issues -- which they are.

[10:39:01 AM]
The good news for Democrats is that Bush won't let the UN take over most of the work in Iraq. Bush will probably be toast by election time.

The bad news for all of us is that a lot of people are going to die because Bush wants all the money for his cronies.

There's one highway from Jordan to Baghdad. It's completely unacceptable that convoys are robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight. It doesn't take a lot of tanks to prevent that sort of thing, but it takes a lot of soldiers.

Policing Iraq well would take 500,000 troops. The UN might be able to put together a force approaching the size that is needed -- a lot of Indian soldiers, plus groups from Eastern Europe and Africa for numbers, and NATO countries for firepower.

When the US gives up Iraq to the UN, most of the resistance will go away. Iraq has a history of resisting occupation. The people there know it when they see it. When the UN takes over, they'll know that they really are on track to getting their country back. With fewer US soldiers shooting innocent by-standers in cold blood, peace is likely to spread like wildfire.

It is, of course, too late for a smooth transition. Bush has already taunted would-be terrorists to attack American soldiers in Iraq. The terrorist wanna-bes are already on the way. Bush has created a significant, unnecessary problem for the future civilian administration, but the answer is to bring more troops in as soon as possible, by giving over the primary administration to the UN. A lot of the terrorists will just go back home, and the Iraqis will help the UN drive out the rest.

[8:39:30 AM]
See? Arnold molesting women is no big deal. At least not compared to his campaign consultant's history of beating his wives. We should just be glad that Arnold doesn't beat all the women he has affairs with. I mean, how would it look for the governor of California to have a string of adulterous affairs and be caught beating the women?

[8:20:49 AM]
"About 3,000 demonstrators gathered around a telecommunications tower in Sadr City where they said American forces in a helicopter had tried to tear down an Islamic banner. A US military spokesman said it appeared to have been blown down by rotor wash from a helicopter.

"Amateur video footage obtained by Associated Press Television News showed a Black Hawk helicopter hovering a few feet from the top of the tower and apparently trying to tear down the banner.

"US forces opened fire after stones, gunfire and one rocket-propelled grenade were directed at soldiers driving by the area. No soldiers were hit in the incident, a US military spokesman said."

What nitwit is sending helicopters around to blow banners down?

Are Iraqis supposed to think that is their new freedom? Is this what democracy looks like under Bush?

Update: It's plausible the helicopter wasn't trying to blow down the banner. If it was an accident -- no one here has any reason to believe the army's denials after its propaganda lies about napalm, cluster bombs, and WMD discoveries -- it would only make the story worse: that would mean our soldiers shot somebody dead because of an accidental provocation. That would mean Iraq is out of control, and we have failed as an occupation force to make a reasonably peaceful post-war environment.

[8:15:58 AM]
Follow the money.

Someone should get a list of every government worker who received a bonus, and figure out what it was for.

A bureaucrat who ignored his intelligence experts and went with Bush & Co.'s lies about Iraqi nukes got $20k. A bureaucrat who kept the FBI from stopping the September 11 attacks got $100k+, and a White House citation. (We can only hope that was hush money, not a reward for a job well done.)