Happy Black Friday Eve

My grade school history is a little fuzzy but I think anthropologists trace the origin of Thanksgiving back to the 17th century when a bunch of Euro religious nuts came over here and brought an angry white god, slavery, and syphilis to the Native Americans. I am not sure how a day set aside for overindulgence and family quarreling is an appropriate way to mark the occasion but hey, who am I to buck tradition?

Just don't overdo it. You have a big day tomorrow.

3709

What the hell have we done?

Christ.

Behold, a Stance

The dividing line between political savvy and fence riding is a thin one. Consider Senator Barack Obama:

In June, Obama voted against both the McConnell and Feingold-Kerry amendments to S.2766, FY2007 Military Appropriations Bill. McConnell’s amendment would have set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq by the end of this year and the Feingold-Kerry amendment would have called for redeployment by July 2007.

Obama defended his votes by saying, “I share their frustrations but continue to be concerned about a date certain for a pullout.” Obama added that he didn’t want to limit the flexibility of Generals and Diplomats if we were “moving in the right direction.”

Then along came a mid-term election.

Obama now finds himself firmly entrenched in the “go home” camp. In a speech in Chicago on Monday Obama took aim at John McCain (and possibly signaled his intent to become a player in the ‘08 presidential election) saying, “While some have proposed escalating this war by adding thousands of more troops, there is little reason to believe that this will achieve [victory]."

"It's not clear that these troop levels are sustainable for a significant period of time, and according to our commanders on the ground, adding American forces will only relieve the Iraqis from doing more on their own."

Obama made the case for a phased redeployment to, “...send a clear message to the Iraqi factions that the U.S. is not going to hold together this country indefinitely -- that it will be up to them to form a viable government that can effectively run and secure Iraq."

"There have been too many speeches. There have been too many excuses. There have been too many flag-draped coffins, and there have been too many heartbroken families," he added.

And there have been too many gutless politicians. Thank you voters. Again.

Sorry, Charlie

Charles Rangel is again calling for reinstating the draft, arguing that “The Army has failed to meet its recruiting goals in successive months since last February, despite increasing enlistment bonuses to $30,000 and enlarging the corps of recruiters, among whom there have been widespread reports of fraud committed under the pressure of meeting their monthly quotas.”

He adds, "Everyone knows that we went into this war with an insufficient number of troops, but the problem now is filling the ranks of those units that are already on the ground, we are only able to keep troops in field by extending deployments, calling back veterans who have previously served in combat and placing an unsustainable burden on the Reserves, who typically were attracted by the extra income they could earn after serving on active duty.”

"These practices have devastated the troops' morale, made life more difficult for military families, and in many cases caused the loss of civilian jobs, homes and even marriages."

Rangel speaks from personal experience, having earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in action during the Korean War, and while his credentials (including a 92% rating from the ACLU and 8% from the Christian Coalition – very good marks for this voter) require one to give special consideration to any proposal of his, instituting the draft at this point in time remains a terrible idea.

Those serving in Iraq today shoulder the burden of what may arguably be the worst foreign policy decision making in modern times. It is an unwinnable war, a war based upon lies and greed, started and led by a corrupt and incompetent administration. No American should be forced to die for such a cause and no amount of American deaths can redress the crimes Bush and company have committed there.

Forget it, Chuck. Not this war. Get us the hell out instead.

Labor Blotter

30-40 migrant workers for Ag-Mart, the Florida-based tomato supplier for McDonald’s, were found living in a vermin-infested former nightclub without hot water or a shower. The workers were placed there by a contracted labor supervisor responsible for hiring and housing of employees.

The Northwest Airlines Mechanics strike appears to be all but over, according to an aviation consultant. The Minneapolis-based carrier has replaced most of the striking mechanics, cleaners, and custodians and has rehired some of the strikers at 2/3 of their former salaries.

Wal-Mart has been fined $78.5 million in Pennsylvania for forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock. The world’s largest retailer settled a similar suit for $50 million in Colorado and has appealed a $172 million ruling in California.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, following in the footsteps of the Presbyterian Church, United Church of Christ, and National Council of Churches, issued a statement calling on McDonald’s to, “...insist your produce suppliers meet the highest ethical standards in how they treat their employees...”

The Bush-appointed Federal Labor Relations Board voted recently to redefine the term “supervisor,” opening the door for employers to reclassify millions of employees as such. Federal labor laws prohibit supervisors from forming unions.

Treason or Compassion: You Decide

Sensationalists, propagandists, or treasonists, say what you want about FOX News but I’m inclined to think that any corporation willing to cough up $2 mil to spare the lives of a couple of its low-level employees may actually be a good employer –- a rare thing indeed these days.

More Moore

Michael Moore offers up his vision of utopia while taking a not-so-subtle swipe at the right. My thoughts are in parenthesis:



To: Conservatives and Republicans
I, and my fellow signatories, hereby make these promises to you:

1. We will always respect you for your conservative beliefs. We will never, ever, call you "unpatriotic" simply because you disagree with us. In fact, we encourage you to dissent and disagree with us.
(Can I still call them “morons?”)

2. We will let you marry whomever you want, even when some of us consider your behavior to be "different" or "immoral." Who you marry is none of our business. Love and be in love -- it's a wonderful gift.
(For those from my former neck of the woods, the south, this is not a license to marry your sister or favorite farm animal.)

3. We will not spend your grandchildren's money on our personal whims or to enrich our friends. It's your checkbook, too, and we will balance it for you.
(The end of pork? Uh-huh.)

4. When we soon bring our sons and daughters home from Iraq, we will bring your sons and daughters home, too. They deserve to live. We promise never to send your kids off to war based on either a mistake or a lie.
(...until the next one.)

5. When we make America the last Western democracy to have universal health coverage, and all Americans are able to get help when they fall ill, we promise that you, too, will be able to see a doctor, regardless of your ability to pay. And when stem cell research delivers treatments and cures for diseases that affect you and your loved ones, we'll make sure those advances are available to you and your family, too.
(...if the pharmaceutical giants will let us.)

6. Even though you have opposed environmental regulation, when we clean up our air and water, we, the Democratic majority, will let you, too, breathe the cleaner air and drink the purer water.
(...if they serve water in Hell.)

7. Should a mass murderer ever kill 3,000 people on our soil, we will devote every single resource to tracking him down and bringing him to justice. Immediately. We will protect you.
(Sadly, I suppose this technically doesn’t apply to Bush.)

8. We will never stick our nose in your bedroom or your womb. What you do there as consenting adults is your business. We will continue to count your age from the moment you were born, not the moment you were conceived.
(Southerners see #2)

9. We will not take away your hunting guns. If you need an automatic weapon or a handgun to kill a bird or a deer, then you really aren't much of a hunter and you should, perhaps, pick up another sport. We will make our streets and schools as free as we can from these weapons and we will protect your children just as we would protect ours.
(Whoa there big fella. The gun thing is a loser for the dems. Give it up.)

10. When we raise the minimum wage, we will pay you -- and your employees -- that new wage, too. When women are finally paid what men make, we will pay conservative women that wage, too.
(Can we bring back labor unions? Pretty please?)

11. We will respect your religious beliefs, even when you don't put those beliefs into practice. In fact, we will actively seek to promote your most radical religious beliefs ("Blessed are the poor," "Blessed are the peacemakers," "Love your enemies," "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God," and "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."). We will let people in other countries know that God doesn't just bless America, he blesses everyone. We will discourage religious intolerance and fanaticism -- starting with the fanaticism here at home, thus setting a good example for the rest of the world.
(...and, with any luck, take away their tax-exempt status!)

12. We will not tolerate politicians who are corrupt and who are bought and paid for by the rich. We will go after any elected leader who puts him or herself ahead of the people. And we promise you we will go after the corrupt politicians on our side FIRST. If we fail to do this, we need you to call us on it. Simply because we are in power does not give us the right to turn our heads the other way when our party goes astray. Please perform this important duty as the loyal opposition.
(Without corrupt politicians who would be left to run the country?)

I promise all of the above to you because this is your country, too. You are every bit as American as we are. We are all in this together. We sink or swim as one. Thank you for your years of service to this country and for giving us the opportunity to see if we can make things a bit better for our 300 million fellow Americans -- and for the rest of the world.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned


With apologies for my skepticism and mild streak of libertarianism. I signed the damned thing anyway.

Onward Pagan Soldiers

On September 25th 2005, Army National Guardsman Sgt. Patrick Stewart, a member of the 113th Aviation Regiment from Stead, Nevada, died when his CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed after being damaged by surface to air fire near Deh Chopan, Afghanistan. Sgt. Stewart, a mechanic from Fernley, Nevada, was a decorated eleven-year veteran of the National Guard, having served in Korea and during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq.

Sgt. Stewart was also one of a growing number of Wiccans serving in the armed forces.

While the military has taken steps to recognize and accommodate pagan beliefs within its ranks, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been downright hostile. Since the mid-1990s, the National Cemetery Administration branch of the VA has routinely denied requests from families of eligible veterans to have a symbol of their faith–the pentacle–placed on a headstone or marker, citing a list of 38 “approved emblems of belief.” Most of the symbols on the list are of various Christian sects though some middle and far eastern based religions are represented. Even the flaming martini from my own UUA made the cut.

I submit that the sole reason for the VA’s denying recognition to pagan veterans is simply that of Christian bias. Without going into a rant on their inherent bigotry against homosexuals, women, earth-based religions, Hollywood, humanists, scientists, academia, the Teletubbies, or any other group or organization suspected of the crime of independent thought, our own American Taliban grit their teeth in righteous indignation at the thought of a pentacle appearing on the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.

It’s something the Christian right will ultimately have to get used to, however. The ACLU filed suit in separate cases in September, stating, “The government has no business picking and choosing which personal religious beliefs may be expressed. All veterans, regardless of their religion, deserve to have their faith recognized on an equal basis.”

Sgt. Stewart, a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom – including that of religion – will ultimately be accorded the honor due him despite the hypocrisy of the nation that sent him to war.

Remembering John Bolton

“No. Think of it this way: I know a lot of people had positions and old views about John Bolton, but in the spirit of trying to take a fresh look at things and trying to be fair-minded, it's probably worth reviewing his record as United Nations Ambassador, which has been highly successful...So, again, the President believes that John Bolton has done an exemplary job, and if people fairly will examine his record -- his real accomplishments, his record at the United Nations -- that he not only will have earned confirmation, but will receive it.”

--Tony Snow, FOX News hack turned White House propagandist, upon being asked during the November 10 briefing, “Do you consider the (U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.) John Bolton nomination dead?”

Some notable Bolton accomplishments:

• Opposed the UN Millennial Development Goals program aimed at reducing poverty and hunger in third world countries
• Voted against the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council, one of only four countries to do so
• Lobbied for human rights stalwarts Russia and China to get a seat on the HRC
• Attempted to withhold UN dues
• Skipped a security council mission to war-torn Darfur for a speaking engagement at a right wing think tank, the only high-ranking member of the council absent

Nice knowin' ya.

It Depends on What Your Definition of "Disaster" is

"This could be a true disaster for the Iraqi people."

--White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, upon hearing that the dems have begun calling for a phased withdrawal of American and, presumably, allied troops from Iraq within four to six months.

Curious. And the 600,000 or so dead Iraqis since their "liberation" doesn't qualify?

Pledge This

As if the neocons don’t have enough to whine about at the moment, it seems another community college in California has decided that the Pledge of Allegiance is no longer required at school functions.

Nothing, I’ve found, gets a self-proclaimed patriot’s blood boiling like issues involving the flag. In a recent exchange on our union “members only” bulletin board, yours truly provoked the furor of flag worshipers by suggesting that “...it is a bit over marketed these days,” and “If I’m not a patriot because I don’t walk around in a state of ecstasy from all this exposure, so be it.”

It’s extremely difficult for me to get excited about our flag when, during one thirty minute commute a few weeks ago, I counted 51 flags, or representations thereof, including some notable locations such as a car wash, campaign signs, a truck stop, a dumpster, and a trailer hitch cover between two naked lady mud flaps. Old Glory even graced the parking lot of our local Wal-Mart where, once inside, one could purchase a miniature flag at the checkout stand (made in a Chinese sweatshop, of course). It’s all a little weird.

Back to the Pledge. If flag overexposure hasn’t dampened your enthusiasm, the phrase “under God” just might. Some of us don’t exactly subscribe to the whole god thing and in fact may actually resent the idea of being “under” the gods of this man or that man.

Want to save the Pledge of Allegiance? Remove the offensive language and restore the flag to its former glory, then we’ll talk.

...And the Laughs Just Keep on Coming

"The profile of corruption in the exit polls was bigger than I'd expected."