Iraq

We are all dismayed over the events in Iraq. Here's why I am:

1.The cost to our soldiers- physical, mental, emotional. Families who will never see their loved ones in the same way again- or at all.
2. The ginning up of lunacy by neocons who never served a fucking day in their lives. You've seen the list. I don't have to put it out there again.
3. The divisions within our own society that war causes; the very notion that because we're one of the leaders of the world, we can decide to physically invade another country on what seems to be a string of lies or at the very least, mistruths. There is a difference.
4. That the people who caused this death and mayhem get libraries built in their honor, go on talk shows and command huge speaking fees to defend their indefensible actions. And never seem to lose sleep over the fact that they beat this drum and continue to do so to this day.
5. Billions of dollars that have never been offset by anything to restore the monies to our national treasury.
6. Enough blame for all of the above to be spread to both political parties.
7. The political naivete that we would build a nation whose religious and cultural schisms go back thousands of years- biblical times- into a democracy??!!
8. That politicians try to score political points to blame their opponents for what did and didn't happen.
9. That we would collaterally affect the lives of millions of others who never asked for us to liberate them. 
10. That we have have cheerleaders and pundits in this country that speak of "American Exceptionalism" like it's a hamburger that we sell to the world to prove how stupid and bad for the natural rhythms of this planet we can be.

And worst of all, we practice the true definition of insanity by continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.

Fuck it. No quarter given today. We are led by people who don't listen to us. And we ought to throw them the fuck out.

Sorry to be a grump today. But unlike John McCain, I'm angry but I DO know why. I don't flip flop and cluck like a little chicken shit. War sucks and I'm tired of it. If you don't agree with me, that's your right. I sit down to express my feelings and that's what I did today.

#pissedoffbywar

Greetings,

Still happy about Eric Cantor's loss. A sobering postscript to it, though is the news that Bakersfield's own Kevin McCarthy is a shoo-in to replace Cantor, who is stepping down in July. McCarthy is one of the so called "Young Guns" who have been instrumental in carrying out Eric the shithead's obstructionist tactics during virtually the entire Obama Presidency. 

So, with that news, I offer today's humstle, The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again. Lyrics at the end are particular in their description of McCarthy: "Meet the New Boss. Same as the Old Boss"

Enjoy your day.

Bye Eric

A pretty amazing thing happened in the world of politics last night. The House majority leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia's 7th congressional district lost by 11% to an economics professor from Randoph-Macon College of Ashland, Virginia. David Brat* is a tea party candidate who hammered Cantor on a hot button issue, sure to be the bedevilment of many other congress people facing primary or general election challenges. He, incorrectly charged Cantor with being in favor of amnesty in the ongoing immigration reform debate and hammered him on a daily basis. Cantor's internal polls showed him with a 62-28 likely result in the race, so to say the least, the campaign admitted that they never saw this coming. I saw Cantor getting screamed at by teabagging leatherlungers at a recent town hall meeting. I am delighted with the result and not very surprised. 

By the way, don't worry about Cantor. He'll be getting paid nicely by Fox News within a year. He does however, have to face the fact that he was rejected. That is the finality of elections. Al Gore is still not over it. Nor is John McCain or Mitt Romney. So, today's humstle is Led Zeppelin's, Your Time Is Gonna Come.

Eric, you invented the "Young Guns " back in 2008. I'm not sad to see you go. You're a weasel and a shithead and I hope you steep yourself in the teabag of misery you created for yourself. I only hope that far right wing guys keep getting beat downs from more radical people. Then this country can get back to being collegial and just might function better than it does now.

* If anyone is interested, especially voters in the 7th CD, please remember that Dave Brat will vote to shut down the government if the caucus he will join doesn't get their way.

I am very impressed with the Los Angeles Kings and have made that pretty clear lately. Yet I hope the New York Rangers can make a series of this tonight, because I want to watch hockey for a little longer. Have a great day, folks and enjoy the great vibe on the day after a real dick lost his congressional seat.

Long time

It's certainly been a while. I'm going to have to ease back into writing. Don't get me wrong, I love doing it, but sometimes, life really gets in the way of what I'd rather be doing- writing for one- so a hearty hello to you all. I missed you.

Today's humstle is Steely Dan's With A Gun.  There seems to be a shooting nearly every day. and people are getting sick of reading and hearing about a systemic problem that our society cannot seem to solve. When it involves angry school children shooting their own, it is even more difficult to fathom. 

Our society is a bit hateful. We don't like each other. We are stirred up against each other and with the tools of social networking and biased media feeding us, nobody should be particularly surprised. So, even though today's death toll is 2 (thank heavens not more-- but two is 2 too many), we will watch as the media unravels the anger that today's shooter had and why. Then there will be the obligatory comments by Wayne LaPierre, in response to the cries of outrage by elected officials who fear his organization and are afraid they won't win an election if the NRA decides their career is over. Then we'll all buy flowers and put them on the curb outside Reynolds High. Then we'll have a candlelight vigil. The President will come out and be consoler in chief. And all this won't change a thing. And we'll bear witness to another shooting very soon. We elect people who don't listen to us.

Tomorrow's humstle  will be Simon and Garfunkel's 59th Street Bridge Song. The song itself is pretty corny, I know but it evokes memories for me when life wasn't as hateful, the work week wasn't as long and our children were encouraged to stand quietly and stare at nothing. Over worked, underpaid, over scheduled, too many lies and the liars that tell those lies and for heaven's sake, too many guns. And I could go on. You get it.

What's it going to take? I really don't know. If I think of something, I'll let you know.
Yikes, how good are the LA Kings?


See you soon.