11 September 2006

Watch where you're stepping!!!


Georgie. Georgie. Georgie...

Watch where you're putting your steppers my friend. I know you're not that bright, and probably don't look down where you're walking, but I would definitely have one of your aides' ass for this one. They let you walk out, and walk all over the American flag. Word on the street is that he did this because he has already walked all over the Constitution, might as well use the flag to wipe 'yer feet on George. Jesus Mary and Joseph. Talk about a total sense of dis-respect for the symbol of our country. Now, I'm actually willing to give the Shrub here a little bit of a break on this one. Sure he walked over the flag, technically, but someone had to put that mat out there in the first place. Whose idea was that? Wherever it came from, it was indeed just a bad idea, someone must have been wearing their bad idea jeans to work that day. I can see it now.

"OK, and what we'll do is have a floor mat made with a flag on it, and September 11th, and we'll put it down in front of the President of the United States. Jeesh, what if he walks on it? Nah, he won't, he's smarter than that."

OK, maybe he isn't. Well, we know he isn't. I'm sure he didn't mean to do it, but he did, and it makes him look even dumber than he really is, and it just makes him look bad, and if there is one day out of his entire Presidency where I don't wish him to look bad, it is on the 5th anniversary of September the 11th, when he has to look Presidential, and say some words, and have the world really watching him. Instead, he looks like the chowder head that he is. I can't wait for this ass clown to get out of office, and maybe somebody, anybody can come in and start cleaning up the mess he has made. Don't know who that is going to be, but hell, I'd take anyone with a brain at this point in time. Even the good old days of Ross Perot aren't looking too bad right now. Even though that guy did look like Frank Purdue a little bit.

Then with have good old Dick Cheney this weekend on Meet The Press. The man essentially, no, not essentially, he does come out and says that the debate that is going on within the country right now about the war in Iraq is giving into the strategy of the terrorists. So let me get this straight, Dick... Debate in a democratic free country is bad. Trusting your leaders when they've time and again proven that they can't be trusted is good? Wait a minute. I think you're trying to say that if we're not on your side, and don't march lock step with you and your sock puppet W about the war in Iraq that we're on the side of the terrorists. Guess what ass-face? A majority of the country no longer sides with you. Yes indeed. It took 6 long years, but alas, finally, they're starting to catch on to your little charade. Let me put it to you this way Cheney-meister. When the administration starting cracking down on security in this country, started ignoring the Constitution, and we had to start giving up our freedoms in the name of security; that's how the terrorists have won. They're taken this victory actually, because we are now a more frightened society as a whole, and that's due in large part to the fear mongering present within the current administration (in case you forgot Dick, that's you). We're constantly being told, hey, we're safer now than we were 5 years ago, but we're still not out of the woods yet. Terrorists can come and kill you at any point in time now, and by all means, don't let the democrats run anything, because then we'll get attacked again for sure. And what is the Bush administration's "proof" that we're safer now? They keep saying, over and over again, that we haven't been attacked since 9/11, so things must be working. Well, again, you're wrong. Take a look back in history. The first time the World Trade Center was bombed was in 1993. Now I may not know how to add, or use additions tricky cousin subtraction, but from 1993 to 2001 was a span of 8 years in which we didn't have a foreign terrorist, or terrorists for that matter, cause harm on American soil. Umm, it's only been 5 years since 9/11. Before the current administration goes off touting how good their national security policies have been working, let's let them work a little longer, and see what happens. Now, it is entirely possible that there may never be another attack on American soil, and this is honestly what I'm hoping for, but the fatalist in me says that this is not likely. When you have a group of people who are this radical, and this driven to cause you harm, and to kill your people, you're not going to stop them every single time. It's sad, but true. At some point in time, we'll get attacked again, and we'll have more suffering. Unfortunately, that's the way it is in the world today. When you have a person, or persons who are intent on giving up their lives to take yours... That's a hard force of nature to stop.

The question has been asked a lot lately though. Are we safer? I'd say, absolutely not. Why? Here's my take on it.

For years on end, the more radical people of the Muslim belief have been telling their followers for years on end that America is the "great Satan", and that we want to subjugate people of the Islamic belief to our Christian ways. Back in 1991, this was partially "proven" out during Gulf War I when we, and a rather large coalition force of many nations, combined to rid Kuwait of Saddam and the Iraqi invading and occupying army. Now, for the Kuwaiti people, this was a great thing that we, and other nations did for them. For others in the area, it was seen as sacrilegious to allow US and other foreign troops who were NOT Muslim to be based in Saudi Arabia, and in other Islamic nations. This pissed a lot of people off, namely one Osama Bin Laden. OBL wanted to come to the aid of Kuwait by raising a grand Mujahedein and to rid Kuwait of the Iraqis. The Saudi Arabian government told him rightly so to get a grip, we'll get it done with the Americans and the others. To allow the "infidels (that was us and other non-Muslim countries)" into Saudi Arabia where the holiest of holy Muslim shrines are, was tantamount to the coalition forces being an invading army.

Flash forward to 2003. We invade Iraq. And now, now for the negative nilly's who have been preaching against the US for years on end about the whole stupid great Satan thing, we have proven them right in the eyes of their followers. We have invaded an Islamic nation, and are occupying it. Not only are we doing that, but we're currently building permanent bases in Iraq, and we're not leaving for a long time to come. As in, never. We're setting up shop there for the foreseeable future. Now, we have holy warriors of Islam declaring a Jihad on us because of it. And now, now we've provided terrorists with the best training grounds possible. Yes, an entire country filled with American soldiers for terrorists to bomb, shoot at, maim, and kill. We've fufilled the crazy rantings and ravings of radical Muslim clerics.

World opinion of what the US has been doing in Iraq has been negative from day one, and let's face it, it's not getting any better. Terrorist attacks are up over 400% since we invaded Iraq in 2003. And increasing as we speak. Many American soldiers have been killed invading and occupying a nation that posed no significant threat to the United States' national security. Many more innocent people have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Doin' a heck of a job Bushie! Heck of a job... Look, you're still more likely to die walking across a busy road than you are from a terrorist attack. You're also more likely to die taking an overdose of aspirin or Tylenol, but we don't see the Bush administration trying to scare us with those facts. Oh no, they're turning the country into a bunch of crazed people who think that terrorists are hiding in every town, on every corner, waiting to get you. Damn they suck. Our once free and open society is increasingly being closed down. Our civil liberties are slowly being taken away. In the name of what? Security they say. You know, I've thought about this on and off for a long time now. I'd much rather be killed by a terrorist bombing than to give up ANY of my civil liberties and freedoms. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks like that, and we're being hijacked by the people who are supposed to be protecting those freedoms and liberties.

And remember, as Thomas Jefferson once said, "Opposition to tyranny is patriotic."

01 September 2006

Click, click... BOOM!!!

That was roughly the noise heard today during the Vuelta Espana today when the group split, and Tom Danielson, who has been endlessly promoted as the next big thing in US cycling, exploded when the going got tough. 7 stages into this race, and Mr. Danielson is done, done, done-sky my friends. Yes, the man once promoted as the Lance replacement for Discovery has again blown up, and will not be a factor for the rest of this race, unless he pulls a "Landis" tomorrow, and makes up the 4+ minutes he's behind some of the guys who are supposed to win this race. But, we all know what happened to Landis after that memorable day during le Tour de France. The big revelation though, was the youngster on Disco, the Slovenian, Janez Brajkovic.

He flew out of the group when the final selection was made, and most thought it might be Triki Beltran, or maybe even Danielson finally coming to the fore, but alas, it was Brajkovic, the 22 year old, going up the road with the big hitters. What was the result of this kid's effort? At least one day in gold for him. Yes, he's wearing the leader's jersey of the Vuelta, and now, Danielson is going to be fetching bottles again for a new team leader, because he's just been demoted. Look, when you're Danielson, and you're supposed to be this big bad ass climber, and Stijn Devolder beats you by several minutes on a climb... Man, it's time for you to go and look in the mirror, really close, and decide there and then. Are you going to race your bike or what? Jesus man. We've been waiting for you to get out there and kick some ass, and here we are again, you getting dropped. I'm disappointed. I like the guy. He seems nice. He seems genuine, and seems to have some talent for going uphill, unless it's during a race that matters. Sure, he won Georgia and a few hillclimbs here and there, but it's time to put up or shut up. If I were Johan (his Director Sportif), I'd be having a talk with Mr. Danielson after this year's Vuelta, and it would go a little something like this. "Tom. If you're not going to get results, you're going to have to find a new team to ride for. You're not riding even close to our expectations. You've got one year to get some sort of a result, and then it's the road chief." Maybe he can come back and ride domestically again, or maybe he could take up mountain bike racing again, although, he didn't do all that great at that either. This guy needs to ride, and needs to race his bike. The time for excuses for him is long over. Back when Fassa Bortolo picked him up, they were going to bring him along slowly. And then, end of the season, he got the boot. Wonder why? Then Postal picked him up so he could learn from Lance. And, they were going to bring him along slowly. And now a few years later, they're still bringing him along slowly. Damn man, by the time he's ready to race a bike, he's gonna be 40, and retired. Any slower, and the tortoise is going to pass him up. Maybe he can race the non-sanctioned hillclimb circuit with Tyler Hamilton?

Now, if his young teammate loses out, and doesn't do well for the rest of this race, hey, he's 22. He'll have another year to get better, or actually, a lot more years. Danielson on the other hand. I sure hope he's saving his money. 7 stages into this year's race, and he's done already.

And of course, now, we have this guy. President Bush. He's on the road again, trying to sell the Iraq war to an ever increasing disgruntled public. Now, don't tell me that this guy doesn't look at polling numbers. He's looking, or his handlers are, and they're not liking what they're seeing. What they're seeing is this guy's numbers going down the tubes, and the water is circling the drain ever faster. Pretty much, there are a ton of people in the US now that don't trust this guy. At all. Since we do have mid term elections approaching, he's on the road. Preaching about the terrorists, and how they're coming to get us. How we're fighting them "over there, so we don't have to fight them over here." As if there is some large scale terrorist invasion of the US planned. Hell, if that happened, there are enough rednecks in this country to repel any invaders, I have some faith in that. There are a whole lot of guys with pick up trucks and gun racks who would not let that happen. We wouldn't even have to rely on the Armed Forces for that. Just let the NRA members have at them. Christ almighty, hasn't anyone ever seen Red Dawn? Need I say more? I think not. Anyway, he's back out on the road, trying to scare people into voting republican again in the next election. The way that he's preaching things, once again, you elect some democrats to office, the bad "brown people" also known as terrorists, are going to GET YOU!! Well, still not likely to happen really. But hey, if you want to believe this raving asshat, go ahead. And I never know what he's thinking when he says, "We're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here." Who are we fighting "over there?" The Iraqis? Because, last time I checked, or looked at it, we have never been attacked by Iraqi terrorists? Never. Now, our time might have been better spent taking out Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, England, and a few other countries where the terrorists who attacked the US actually came from (I guess we could toss in Jordan, the UAE, and a few others, but amazingly, Iraq didn't factor into this). This administration is constantly trying to latch Iraq to 9/11, and no matter how hard they try, that's not fact. Although, they have alluded to it enough that there are lots of people in the US who do believe that Iraq was partially, or completely responsible for 9/11. Sad misinformation coming from our own government.

And here we have him comparing terrorism to Nazi-ism, and once again, trying to draw comparisons between the war we're fighting against terrorists with the big one. Yeah, WWII. They don't even compare. We have a loose group of semi organized lunatics (the terrorists) who are trying to inflict a little bit of harm and death to people to scare them into doing something or, to not do something. We don't have a united national power (like we did with Germany and Japan and Italy) trying to take over the world. The practitioners of radical Islam indeed do want to take over the world, but their numbers aren't nearly large enough for this to even ever come close to happening. Never. Aside from that, there are enough nations and countries in the world who don't want to see this happen, who would completely squash them if they ever really raised an army to try and invade a country, let alone the world. Our President is trying to exert his power by scaring the populace, and I'm happy to say that more and more, it's not working. Unfortunately, I wish that people would have been paying more attention back in 2004 and this jackass wouldn't have gotten re-elected, but hey, he did, and now he's really messing things up. Is everyone paying attention now? I would hope so really. I'm so tired of hearing the same speech fall from his mouth everytime he talks about Iraq. It frustrates me to no end. Because instead of actually hunting down the guy who was most responsible for attacking the US on 9/11 (Bin Laden, remember him?), he's busy invading countries that had nothing to do with it. And now, he's out selling it again. Essentially, here is what is happening. He's comparing the "bad guys" to Nazis. And in turn, this means that if you oppose what he's saying, this must mean that, indeed, you are a Nazi/terrorist sympathizer. And of course, this also makes you un-Patriotic as well. Ah, hell, I don't know anymore, it just makes me nuts basically. I am hoping that indeed, the democrats take over Congress in November, for the only reason that during the last couple years of Bush's tenure in the White House, they can make it ridiculously tough for him to get anything done. Then he might actually have to become a uniter and not a divider, as he once claimed to be.