July 04, 2008
Happy Independence Day
So what does Brother Barack have to say about rights and liberty? Any bets on the FISA vote?
Yes, progressives are again marginalized by a presidential candidate. What do you want for nothing – a rubber biscuit? For the purist
Quit crying a river and do something, and stop depending on politicians to carry your banner. Also, don’t start carrying on about Clinton because her mad dash to the center would already have been complete.
Posted by Captain Kroc at 02:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 06, 2008
This man owes $105 million dollars
A judge reduced the award of $10 million to a family who was harassed by the Nutters Phelps to $5million. Apparently, the church doesn't have the $10million, but they do have the $5million. Which is great because I'd love nothing more than to see them scrubbed out of existence.
How you feel about the war is irrelevant. Respect the men and women fighting it. Period.
Posted by mcblogger at 10:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 20, 2007
Do you know your rights?
Via Grits comes this super cool quiz on your rights while dealing with the police. If you're stopped, do YOU know what they can and can't do?
I got 6 out of 8 which is 75%. Which means I'm an upper-end moron. You'll probably do better than me. It's because you're a nerd and all.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 31, 2007
Praying for Molly
Annatopia at TexasKaos has a post up about Molly Ivins who is apparently taking a turn for the worse. Y'all keep her in your prayers! For those of you that don't pray (heathens!) please keep her in your thoughts and wish her a speedy recovery.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 29, 2006
From the cheap seats
Since I lack class and decorum, I’ll be the jerk to give a different take on Gerald Ford.
By pardoning Nixon, he stopped a much needed public debate to define appropriate presidential power, and the process to set clear legal standards by increasing transparency and accountability of all government. I don’t buy into the idea that Ford’s action healed a nation, stopped divisiveness, and restored confidence in our government. Considering what has transpired over the last 30 years, that pardon worked well, didn’t it?
Personally, I think the man was manipulated to pardon Nixon. With Cheney, Rumsfield, Greenspan, and Kissinger playing significant roles in his presidency, and with people like John Mitchell advising him the few years before he was elevated to Vice-President, Ford was probably constantly bombarded by a political ideology that cared little for moderation and bipartisanship.
The result of the bloodletting of the 1974 midterm election that saw vast numbers of Republicans voted out because of the pardon was a party purged of many who might have pushed back against the coming Glorious Reagan Revolution. No doubt, Reaganites wanted Nixon to be a faded memory by 1980. Having investigations that constantly kept Nixon and Republicans in the hot seat would have diminished Reagan and brought certain party operatives missed by Watergate out in the open. It would have halted the nascent neo-conservative movement.
Let’s not forget Ford’s conservative bona fides. He was a fierce partisan and protector of conservatism. He voted against public housing, the minimum wage, and repeal of the right-to-work law provision of the Taft-Hartley Act. He also led the failed effort to impeach Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. The reason? Because Douglas’s liberal leanings were an impeachable offense. He supported going into Laos and Cambodia, and the bombing of North Vietnam. Yes, he voted for the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, but the handwriting was already on the wall. How would his western Michigan constituents have reacted to a representative labeled as a bigot and racist? His ramblings about how his vetoes of spending bills would improve the economy were baloney.
Ford knew and practiced hard ball politics. You don’t become House leader of your party by putting on ice cream socials. As for presidential campaigning, he used the same methods as Reagan, the current doofus, and others by staying the high road and letting his VP nominee attack his opponent. Bob Dole said as much.
Though I don’t believe that there was any deal between him and Nixon, I do believe he thought what he was doing was best for conservatism. Instead of restoring confidence, he made it acceptable to bury our heads in the sand.
But considering the douche that was voted president in 1980, Ford did come across as a caring man of reason.
Posted by Captain Kroc at 08:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 20, 2006
Can these bones live?
A year after Katrina, the not-so-Rude Pundit offers a travelogue of the Crescent City.
Everywhere a sign
The Lakeview Water Line
The Lifeless Lower Ninth
A Brief Conversation With a Garden District Resident
Outside the Renaissance
Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 02:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
