Walking clusterf&^#, with a capital W

The long and short of why this guy is the Worst. President. Ever.
No justice means more pain.

J and Not So Silent Rollah wish you and your families a healthy, happy, safe and prosperous 2009!

a little closer to home

Finally, an easily-identifiable level of Highpocrisy on a topic I actually know something about.

sign of the times

A backup catcher for the Oakland A's, a guy who hit under .200 last year, can make half a MILLION dollars. A handful of Senators (!) -- each making six figures -- can toy with the fate of entire companies, affecting MILLIONS of U.S. workers and their families, for political reasons only! I can think of a lot of words other than HIGHpocrisy for how whacked this country is; most start with the same 4 letters.

Blago, please!

I may have borrowed from Bill Maher's Real-Time, but since he's off until February, I'm hoping he doesn't mind. I don't really have anything to contribute to this topic, I just like the title.

And when I wrote below about not having anything new to find in the world of hypocrisy? Of course, there is. There will always be material: 'wars', recession, civil rights, and those are the high-level items. We can't go too far too often, but we also have to make sure we don't blur the fine lines between hypocrisy, irony, and our ol' standby, cynicism. Like I said below, it's the holidays. Peace on Earth, good will toward man. And to all, a good night. And G-d bless us, everyone! Suck on that cup of cheer, Blago, you greedy, ignorant bastard.

not much new

I discovered that Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, one of our favorite writers, started blogging in October. He has about 13 posts. So we have him beat by about 1 month, and many more articles. Of course, he gets paid for his blog. And he's really good. I've added to the list of followed blogs at bottom of the page. Not much has raised my ire enough to seek the hypocrisy... I must still be in post-Obama election space. Holidays are also a time for being more positive, hopeful, wishful, and we'll keep that going. I suppose I'll have to post about Wal-mart and the stampede soon.

Highpocrisy, Bon Jovi edition

As in, "Joe gives Dems a bad name, bad name..." He probably doesn't give Jews a bad name, but I don't know. So, what to make of all this LIEbertool stuff?

We have a camp that says, 'Obama knows more than we do, is really smart and a great politician. So, if he wanted LIEberman to stay, he must have a reason, so give peace a chance.' But we also have another camp that says, 'What LIEberman did was so awful, there's no way to justify keeping him.' [I do like the Traitor Joe pic]. Then, we have the competence argument, that his performance as HS Comm. Chair was pathetic, a complete waste, and thus, he should be tossed. But then we also have Lawrence O'Donnell on Rachel Maddow on Monday night saying none of these chairmanships are ever judged on performance. And that's all just this week!

It can be very confusing whether we drill down to the wonk-level or not. I'm not, since I'm in the visceral camp. I likes me the crime and punishment. So here's the thing that bugs me: the politics!!! 1st a quote from Howard Dean, posted among the many blogs, but within the last of the 3 links above:

"But I would line up with Barack. I don't think you were told to go screw yourselves at all. I think he has got to now practice what he preaches during two years of campaigns if he wants to bring America together and as objectionable as Joe's behavior was, and frankly unprincipled, I don't think that this is the thing that should divide us. And I don't think it's about his votes for FISA or anything else. I think it's about what kind of a tone do we want to send..."

Tone? Look, we can all be -- and likely have been -- moved by Obama's words over the past 2 years. The guy has earned his shot. But actions carry weight too, Gov. Dean. The FISA vote counted. The 'no-grudges' tour now means something. You can't preach 'tone' if you're tone-deaf to consequences. That's why this matters. It matters because ordinary people have done extraordinary things to help Obama become President-elect. So if Harry Reid's feelings are hurt, tough too bads. But you can't dismiss the hurt feelings of other citizens simply because they're not Senate Majority Leaders. You have to acknowledge WHY they might feel the way they do, and THEN, you can look to resolve. I must be liberal, I'm so sensitive. [Frankly, with all the Dem-caving history, with their wussiness on display at every turn, how can one not get a sense of deja vu?]

I'd like to believe in the promised change, the hope, the appeal to our better selves; that Obama really is that different. The cynic in me is just not sure that hope deserves another chance. It would be so much easier if Obama just came out and said, 'Ya know what, Joe, I'm going to get two dogs for my girls in the White House: a new puppy, and you!' Maybe he said that in private, that would be cool. While there's another Bon Jovi song called 'Joey', the more appropriate one to end with is, 'Good guys don't always wear white.'

When Harry met a Lying POS

Oh Harry, you vamp. Does anyone believe you when you speak anymore? I don't. You remember that game 'Hungry Hungry Hippo'? Well, in honor of your latest exploration into the depths of depravity and insult, you can have a new game named after you: Harry Harry Hypocrite. You can't start hypocrisy without an H.

And for 1st initial-only insight, J still knows more than most. Apparently not as much as our Senate 'leaders'. Here's what appeared in an article 9/8/05 in the business section of the San Jose Mercury News (I could not find in their Archives online), regarding leadership characteristics: leaders are globalists, know themselves, are coaches, influence others, manage change, are strategic, and must be managers, too. But the money quote: "...accountability overrides all other attributes..." Ta-da. When accountability is restored in politics, in life, then the Harry Reids can be leaders again. I doubt he makes it that long. Until then, there are just words in a yellowing piece of paper stuck on an office wall somewhere.

So, does that mean the great thing about blogging is that no one will really ever read this? We can all just sit behind our anonymous IDs, protected by these series of tubes, and pretend that venting makes us all feel better. I was about as low and depressed as one could feel when the Dems brought up FISA in June; and Obama supported it. I was about as high and happy when Obama won. See if you can guess, after today's LIEbertool shenanigans, where I am now?

Update: 1 comment that I posted to Bob Cesca's blog, summing up why I can't let go yet: Bad behavior should never be rewarded, PERIOD!