WYFP? Iraq War Anniversary Edition (Rated R for Language)

[TayTay]

I am just in a pissed off, rotten, no-good, foul and unpleasant mood lately. I think I need to rant. As I am liberal-minded, I decided to inflict my suffering on as many people as possible, in the interests of getting them to either agree with me or become hopeless, despondent and likely to blindly strike out and attack those people who like and support them because being liberal means never having to say you're sorry. (There are always people suffering somewhere in the world, so why should we worry about sorry when the world is full of misery and stuff. Oh and your taste in liberal pols sucks,get me a friggin scone. Ranting makes me hungry.)

Anyway, Congress sucks. They not only suck, they redefine the word suck for all future generations to come. (Honestly, some day the world will look up 'suck' in the dictionary and find the entry: "see 109th (Weasel) Congress.) The entire Rethug Senate reminds me of the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with Bill Frist as Nurse Ratchett. (Frist/Ratchett: "Take your medicine people and don't forget that thorazine. It's how I get through the day, after all.") The inmates are running the asylum and it's not a pretty picture.

The friggin war is so completely fucking awful that it makes me crazy just to even think about it. It drives me nuts. There are no solutions, Bush is a friggin idiot and Cheney is a creepy fucking Renfield wannabee from the Dracula movies. (I bet he eats bugs too.) Rumsfeld should have been thrown off the bus long ago, preferably to roll down a long, long hill, bump his head, get permanent amnesia and take up goat-herding for a living, cuz I don't think he can hurt anyone if he's goat-herder. (Well, maybe the goats, but, he's wicked old. Maybe not.)

I want this whole bunch of incompetent fucking moron bastards to get out of my country and go back to what they do best: sitting around the pool and talking about the time they screwed the maid and how much fun life was before they married Muffy: The Self-Esteem Slayer. I hope we have a friggin country left to take over in the coming years. I wouldn't be surprised some day to wake up and find out that we had sold Massachusetts to the French, because, well, they offered the most money. (I know Bush goes to bed at night thinking about how he can sell off New York, California and the other liberal states. Don't be surprised when this happens. I just got the Berlitz dvd, so I can practice my French. That day is coming, I'm telling ya! Okay, maybe Spain will re-purchase California, but I think I have to learn French.)

Okay, I feel better. Anyone else feel the need to purge?

[wisteria]

1. Nothing to add, other than I liked your rant very much. I could feel

my anger subsiding as I read it.

[globalvillage]

2. Sometimes it helps to pray

Bush's Psalm

"Bush is my shepherd, I shall be in want. He leadeth me beside the still factories, He maketh me to lie down on park benches, He restoreth my doubts about the Republican party, He guideth me onto the paths of unemployment for the party's sake. I do fear the evildoers, for thou talkst about them constantly. Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy deficit spending They do discomfort me. Thou anointeth me with never-ending debt, And my savings and assets shall soon be gone. Surely poverty and hard living shall follow me, And my jobless children shall dwell in my basement forever."

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljokebushpsalm.htm

But not always.
:cry:

[TayTay]

3. That is great!

I am going to print that out and give it to my brother, the Rethug. It perfectly shows all the things that Bush has caused to come to pass.

Well, okay, it goes with the Kennedy sticker I am putting on his car. I have a mean streak. (Ahm, I am not peeling the sticker, I just want him to see the Kennedy sticker and the posters: Kennedy for Women, Kennedy for Labor. It friggin gives him indigestion. I love it.)

[Island Blue]

4. Nothing soothes the soul quite as well as a rant

filled with words that begin with the letter "F"!

[TayTay]

5. So true, so true!

I friggin hate those fickle damn bastards who are constantly asking, "What have YOU done for me lately." I especially hate it when said friggin damn bastards were all over themselves congratulating certain people (including certain Senators) for their courageous stands just TWO FUCKING MONTHS AGO!!!!!!

Honestly, liberals make me crazy. If it wasn't for the fact that I really fucking hate the other guys and can't leave my country in the hands of a bunch of retarded war-mongering, education loan-cutting, social security privitizing bastards, I might just give it up. Honestly, sometimes I just want to retire and go knit sweaters in Iceland or something. (I wonder how much they make in a year? I wonder if they offer introductory knitting classes in Iceland?)

One last thing, not aimed at anyone in particular, it just goes with the whole last ten days: Motherfuckers! Bite me you retard bastards! (Again, I feel better.)

[globalvillage]

6. You need more bad jokes.

A man walked into a cowboy bar and ordered a beer just as President Bush appeared on the television. After a few sips, he looked up at the television and mumbled, "Now, there's the biggest horse's ass I've ever seen." A customer at the end of the bar quickly stood up, walked over to him, and decked him. A few minutes later, as the man was finishing his beer, Mrs. Bush appeared on the television. "She's a horse's ass too," the man. This time, a customer at the other end of the bar quickly stood up, walked over to him, and knocked him off his stool. "Damn it!" the man said, climbing back up to the bar. "This must be Bush country!" "Nope," the bartender replied. "Horse country!"

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljokebushcountry.htm

[Island Blue]

9. I've got a better idear.

Why don't we make the friggin' bastids go knit sweaters in Iceland?

[TayTay]

12. I like that ideer, but it wouldn't work.

They all have appointments IN HELL when they get done with this Admin. Satan is not going to give them time off for bad behavior. They have to serve all eternity washing the devil's hoofs and cleaning out the men's room toilets. (IN HELL!)

Ah, I feel better now. Didn't this last ten days just suck? Any time period that begins with an interview with George Allen on TV and goes downhill from there is really, really bad. I am so glad Congress went on recess. I hope they decide that they are exhausted from screwing people over and simply can't make it back until May. That would be nice.

[karynnj]

7. Being sold to France wouldn't be all bad for MA

The new country would be more liberal. The food would be great. There would be no red states to deal with. Kerry could run for leader of the new country - mentioning the French ties his family has and the "He looks French" would be a compliment to his style, grace and manners. He already speaks French and with practice it would be less rusty and for the part that was previously MA, his English, accent and eloquence are perfect.

It would be bad for any of us left behind.

More seriously, it is increasingly difficult to focus on the real state of the union. Bush really did a heck of a job - and unlike Brownie - he had multiple areas to impact.

[ProSense]

8. Excellent!

I'm so riled by these assholes. Now all the Democrats lie. Fuck off!

[TayTay]

10. And I am sick of these stupid polls too!

We already had a poll parody tonight but really, if I never see another poll that basically says:

Who would you vote for

1: The reasonable and intelligent and wonderful and sane and incredibly courageous person that I like and am hoping will hire me or
2: the bastards who are only in it for themselves and to bring down the Dem Party and who screw chickens in their spare time?

Honestly. (I feel so much better now. My rant is nearly spent.)

[SuzyC]

11. Far out!

Now THIS is a rant! I love the Cuckoo's Nest comparison! You go, girl!:evilgrin:

[TayTay]

14. George Allen is the Danny DeVito character, Martini

In every way, except for the height:

(the inmates are playing cards and betting with cigarettes)
Martini: (rips a cigarette in half) I bet a nickel.
McMurphy: Dime's the limit, Martini.
Martini: I bet a dime.
(Puts the two halves onto the table)
McMurphy: This is not a dime, Martini. This is a dime.
(shows a whole cigarette)
McMurphy: If you break it in half, you don't get two nickels, you get shit. Try and smoke it. You understand?
Martini: Yes.
McMurphy: You don't understand.

Seriously, that is George Allen. The Martini of the Senate.

[sandnsea]

15. roflmao

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Oh man, that one came right up from my toes.

You don't understand. That is George Allen.


:rofl:

You do not know how much I needed this thread.

[TayTay]

17. Honey, me too!

I think there is something in the air and water because everyone seems jumpy, hypersensitive and hypercritical these days. (And, of course, this pertains to the wider world, not just certain parts of GD.) I needed a rant. Or spring. Or maybe a spring-time rant.

Honestly, is anyone else feeling this lately or is it just me?

[muse]

13. Love your rant

Make it a habit to do it more often, OK? And, post it right here, I mean. Cheers me up to know I'm not the only one ranting and mumbling the same things to myself.

These people are crazy, lunatics. AND, don't forget - unattractive.

[ginnyinWI]

16. I've got a few bees in my bonnet, too!

The first one: seeing a clip of Cheney from Sunday where he's trying to scare people saying that Ted Kennedy would destroy foreign policy if he were in charge!

The second is seeing a short clip of the chimp himself at that Q&A where someone asks him about the debunked reasons for going into Iraq, and he gets all pissy and his eyes get even beadier and he spits out that the WHOLE WORLD thought there were WMDs so he's not to blame for it!

The third one: I had Larry King on in the background while reading a book, and some former repub congressman was doing a back-and-forth with Barbara Boxer, both by remote, and he kept interrupting her and being totally RUDE--she had the class not to respond in kind, but I think he thought she was totally worthless, being both a woman and a Democrat!

Ok that feels better. :rant:

[TayTay]

18. I hear you Ginny!

There was an editorial in the BGlobe today of Cheney vs. Kennedy. Ahm, they think that it's hard to imagine someone wrecking American foreign policy more than Big Dick Cheney did. If I were Teddy I would just send Cheney a note that said: "Hey, I wasn't the one who blew through $251 billion dollars and wound up making Iraq worse than when I started. That was you dickweed. Bite me."

Did you see That Friggin Idiot attempting to think on stage when the woman asked him if the 9/11 attack and the war in IRaq were signs of the Apocalypse? I really thought he was going to shout back at the woman, "Hey, you broke the rules. We don't discuss our bat-shit crazy theories in public. Apocalypse stuff is for the Republican fund-raisers, not Q&A's shown in public on the librul media. Guards, take miss Loose Lips over here away."

I feel so much better now.

[babylonsister]

19. Love it, Tay, and I have a bone to pick as well.

Why oh why are our elected pols off yet again? I know they manage to mess stuff up while physically in Congress, but perhaps if they spent more time there they'd get something positive accomplished, or mend some fences.
Can you imagine having a job like that? What exactly are they doing to earn the salaries they are making? (There are exceptions (JK!), but for the most part they seem like a bunch of slackers.)
I find this very frustrating and something needs to change. It seems they're more concerned with raising money for their next campaign than actually doing the work they were elected to do. :grr: :grr:

[karynnj]

20. Having paid more attention to what Senators - or at least

a certain one actually does, I really think that this often made charge is bogus. I'm amazed how much they do on the days they are there. The hours of hearings and votes alone take much of the days they are there. I know that they have staffs who are experts on the subject matters covered in their committees - but the Senators themselves need to learn the issues and work with their staff so they can function at the hearings.

When you consider that they have to have at least some presence in their state and they need to raise money for their elections - being a Senator is enormously prestigious but a very hard job. To do it well, it seems you almost have to be the type of "knowledge sponge" that Kerry is. What is clear is that he obviously worked very hard to get to the level of knowledge he has on foreign affairs, technology and commerce. Kerry is not typical - but most Senators seem to work very hard to do the best job they can. (then there are Allen, Coleman, Burns and the 2 Oklahoma guys.)

[TayTay]

21. I agree, but Bablylonsister's point is well taken

The House is going to sit for just 97 days this year. This is a new low in attendance in Congress. On the one hand, I am grateful that this band of morons won't be able to inflict more damage on the American people by passing more idiotic legislation that screws over the average American, but on the other, 97 days? Can you imagine if the average American worker said, I want to work 97 days and get full pay?

Of course, Sens and Cong. people are working during 'recess.' They are supposed to be taking the temperature of the home folks and talking to people and stuff. But still, this country has real problems and it would be nice to have Congress pick up about 20 days or so to sit in session. (Maybe on one of those Intelligence Hearings or something. Or maybe get Condiliar back to talk to the House and Senate about what the hell is going on in the world. Sigh!)

Look at the Senate Schedule. They are out this week, then back for two weeks, then out for two weeks, then back for a month and then out again.

They will adjourn for the year on Oct. 6th. For the year. Damn. Let's hope that when the 110th Congress comes in they are ready to do some actual work.

[babylonsister]

22. Here's a comment/article on the absentee congress:

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/03/the_absentee_co.html

snip//
Ornstein said the emerging "part-time" Congress features lawmakers who do a shoddier job at legislating. These are the same people who don't mind cursing Detroit for doing a bad job making cars or find fault with American competitiveness and quality of our work. Yet they pass bills without knowing what is in them, and they yield much power to their leaders. One could get the impression they really don't like Washington and the job they were elected to do here.

The job is growing increasingly complicated. Congress has a full plate ahead in coming weeks, months and years. The Social Security system is going to run out of money, Medicare is far too costly, the war is costing more than anyone ever expected, the retirement system of Americans is in bad need of repair, and keeping our country secure is even more urgent. Doing a good job on these and other fronts will require more than 97 days out of the year.

Congress appears to have a different kind of Potomac Fever. Members get sick when they come here. So constituents, do you know where your representative or senator is at this moment? The law of averages says it's not Washington.

There are SOME that work hard and deserve the time off, and Senator Kerry definitely falls into this category. He wasn't celebrating Christmas w/his family but off visiting troops and offering American goodwill.
But there are some that could be invisible for all we see of them; as long as they're there to vote the party line (when Congress is in session-not often enough IMO), no one seems to care.
This isn't how elected politicians should act and their constituents should get a clue.

Edit to add: from what I see on CSPAN, they spend so much time arguing, not much gets accomplished at all (except for those middle-of-the-night votes we aren't privy to), and I am fully sick of it!

[karynnj]

23. I concede

Obviously, as all on this group, I read mostly about things that involve Kerry. I am shocked how hard the man works. I should be smart enough not to take an outlier and make inferences on the rest of the Congress. I do think a lot does go on out of sight though. One of th efirst Senate hearings I saw in 2005 was the SFRC - each of the Senators had gone somewhere as part of their job during the recess. In addition to the trip I assume they needed to research current issues for their area before they went. (well, even research wouldn't help Allen and Coleman)

I hadn't know the Congress was only 97 days - that's less than half of most jobs. I really don't know that my cogressman works anywhere near 100 days when they're not in session.

[TayTay]

25. I actually do think that there are a lot of conscientious

people up on the hill who are smart and who work very hard to stay current on their committee work and to know a little bit of everything that comes up for consideration on the floor. (Including certain Senators who made better floor speeches against Alito than the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee did and who nailed all the real issues in that debate.) There are also very, very hard working staffers around who are putting in long and amazing hours to make sure that they have the info when the boss needs it. I applaud them for this.

I also think there are some slackers. Did you see Tom Cuburn doing crossword puzzles during the Roberts Confirmation hearings? He is a disgrace. He has only a couple of things on his plate; work to get rid of anything that, in any way, might make unmarried, non-procreative sex look good. And try to get special deals out of the Senate Rules committee to let himself keep working as a Doctor. What a friggin piece of work that one is. He is a mean and vindictive little Puritan bastard who endangers the life of my kids with his idiotic beliefs on pre-marital sex, creationism, lesbianism running rampant in OK schools and so forth. (This guy is a real fire-breathing nutjob. He is, easily, the most extremist RW whackjob in Congress.)

[ProSense]

27. It is hard to say.

With the Repub crooks it doesn't matter whether they are in session or not, they disguise vacations as official business.

For others, it depends on how the time is split between Congress and work in their home state. If they divide the time equally, about 200-210 days with half the time spent in their home state, that would be about 100 to 105 days in session. If they are only required to spend a third of the time in their home state, then they would need to spend about 140 days in Washington, which means 97 doesn't cut it. Some of them do work on recess, so the key is knowing if they are actually on a working recess or a vacation.

[Mass]

24. I agree - Actually, a reform of the Congress is overdue.

Somebody should propose a bill that offer public financing of Congress elections AND increase the number of days the Congress works.

May be we will be able to have people debating bills on the record (not with 5 mn by amendment as it was the case for the budget), and they would be able to work on real reforms.

But it is true that the need for fundraising is the main reason why the Congress is open so rarely. They need the rest of the time to find money.

[Blaukraut]

26. May I add a bit of a rant of my own?

As you may, or may not have noticed; I have stepped away again for a few days. It's what keeps me sane and from being depressed about things that are so far out of control.
I can't add anything more to your point of view, but here's mine;
It makes me sick to see a country I chose to live in and hopefully become a citizen of be ruined by its greedy government and its lethargic citizens.
Yes! I lay blame squarely at the feet of those who can't be bothered to give a shit! Those who can't find just five minutes to wake out of their cable teevee, fast food, consumerism-keeping-up-with-the-Joneses STUPOR to pay attention!
Those who allow themselves to be lulled into lalaland, where it's ok that their freedoms and civil liberties are taken away in the name of security - "nah, I'm not doing anything wrong, so I have nothing to worry about" Fuck you! Read up on the beginnings of Nazi Germany.
I, as a German, was raised with a sense of guilt, a sense of responsibility to the ENTIRE world, to never allow another Nazi Germany- no matter where.
It makes me want to kick their complacent asses and scream at them for taking for granted what they were given as a gift; to be born as citizens of a wonderful country! Not just take it for granted, but to be too fucking blind, and too busy living up to the image that has now taken hold abroad;
The ugly, arrogant American.
I'm tired of explaining to my friends and relatives overseas that, 'no - we're not all like that. Half of us didn't vote for Bush and out of that half, many of us are actively fighting the good fight to right what was put wrong.'
That's just it, though.....many out of one half is not nearly enough. What is it going to take to wake up the citizens? How much more do we have to let them get away with before people will take to the streets by the hundreds of thousands, not just hundreds OR thousands?
I'm tired and I lose hope many times. I want to go home, to Germany, where I feel free and represented - but there is this; my American husband - though he also wants to go to Germany because he is ready to give up on his country, my American daughters who would stay behind if we left, and finally that sense of responsibility that was given to me as I was growing up; Never allow what happened in Germany to happen again - No matter where! So we stay and we fight.

[TayTay]

28. Great, great rant LK. Simply awesome.

I agree with you. We have a Republic, as long as we can keep it, as Benjamin Franklin noted all those years ago. This takes work, attention and education. Another point that was made at the DCI thing I went to 2 1/2 weeks ago was that kids are not taught Civics in High School anymore because of budget cuts. (In Massachusetts we have a state-wide standards test that emphasizes Math and English. If it isn't math or English related, then it's not a priority to teach. Sigh!)

My husband is about to commit political suicide. The budget numbers have come in for the town and the ed budget is being cut, again. (Not level funded, but cut.) This will mean the loss of about 25 teachers and class sizes of around 28-30 students to teachers per class. This is nuts. My husband has been rounding up support for his proposal to cut all sports and extra curricular activities from the budget so the money can go to teacher salaries and the library. The town will revolt on this. (We have a large support system for sports and fundraisers and such for them. There is no equivalent org for academic programs. Sigh!)

This move is meant to wake the town up to what is going on. Everytime you bring up the budget and the need for the voters to pass a special tax override on property tax valuations, the people vote it down, saying cut the fat instead. Well, little town that has won it's division in so many sports for so many years, that is the fat this year. Suck on it.

Sometimes it takes shock therapy to wake people up. It really does. Katrina was that kind of shock therapy and Iraq had been a slow-drip wake-up for that last three years. Sometimes a person in denial has to hit bottom before they can begin to go back up. This is one of those times in American history.

[Blaukraut]

29. good for your hubby!

It seems like every town does the same thing; time to save money? Cut the education budget. Is it any wonder that American schools are dropping in status in comparison with the rest of the world? But goodness forbid you cut out the jock activities! You just provided another fine example of nearsighted thinking. I hope your hubby succeeds in his effort, Tay.
I think you're right about the shock therapy. I wonder sometimes if people are inately selfish and don't give a rat's ass until they can see how national- and world tragedy affects them personally.

[TayTay]

30. Sadly, yes. It's a fundamental flaw in democracy

People do get complacent. We don't teach Civics and we don't inform citizens of how government works and how it touches their lives. They hear the bashing that goes on and the constant drumbeat that government wastes money. The disconnect is awful.

Bad illustrative joke: Man writes his local newspaper to complain about changes to Medicare:
Tell the government to keep their greedy little hands off my Medicare.


Sigh, sad but true. (And some Freepers heads explode when you tell them that Teddy Kennedy helped design the highly efficient Medicare system back in '65.)

[ProSense]

31. Split hairs

Frigthening, terrorizing, killing, the Iraq war is out of control:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=722814&mesg_id=722814