This stuff has happened before. And it’ll happen again. Happy Fourth of July.

Tonite on Larry King (please don’t ask why I was watching Larry King) I watched Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R - Texas) say she wouldn’t, “be in a position” to to accept an offer for the position of McCain’s Vice President. The only thing funnier than her running away from McCain as fast as he ran away from Hagee was that the day after the effective beginning of the General Election season Ari fucking Fleischer shows up in the very next segment shilling for McCain. Ya, that Ari Fleischer. Bagman and habitually compulsive lair. Bushist. Oh, but we use “McSame” too much.

• Why I Will No Longer Support John McCain For President
• Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition
• McCain, who missed critical vote on GI bill that he and Bush oppose, attacked Obama, who supports the troops and did vote

Somebody just put their foot in it:

Today, John McCain was one of only three Senators who failed to show up for the debate and vote on Sen. Jim Webb’s improved GI Bill. (Ted Kennedy is in the hospital, and Tom Coburn was at a funeral. McCain was at a couple of big-ticket fundraising events.) But McCain had made it clear that he opposed the Webb proposal because he shares the concern of the top brass that improved GI Bill benefits would lead to an increased rate of exit from the enlisted ranks.

Barack Obama, after acknowledging McCain’s service, criticized him for opposing the bill. Obama was too polite, and too wise, to say what he could have said: that McCain, the son and grandson of Admirals and the husband of a multi-millionaire beer baron’s daughter, never had to rely on the GI Bill for an education or the VA hospital system for his health care, and that McCain’s opposition to the Webb bill reflected his constitutional incapacity for empathy with anyone less fortunate than he is.

-Thanks a whole lot, Johnny boy. True colors and all that…

Staging an ancient Greek play:

Attending a tragedy or comedy in 5th century BC Athens was in many ways a different experience than attending a play in the United States in the 20th century. To name a few differences, Greek plays were performed in an outdoor theater, used masks, and were almost always performed by a chorus and three actors (no matter how many speaking characters there were in the play, only three actors were used; the actors would go back stage after playing one character, switch masks and costumes, and reappear as another character). Greek plays were performed as part of religious festivals in honor of the god Dionysus, and unless later revived, were performed only once. Plays were funded by the polis, and always presented in competition with other plays, and were voted either the first, second, or third (last) place. Tragedies almost exclusively dealt with stories from the mythic past (there was no “contemporary” tragedy), comedies almost exclusively with contemporary figures and problems.

…

Deal with defeat
by Jerome Armstrong,
Sat May 10, 2008 at 02:05:25 AM EST

I’d humbly suggest, to all the Obama supporters that join us here on this blog, that if you can’t stand the heat of the West Virginia primary, you stay out of the kitchen. While I’m at it, I also suggest that you refrain from accusations against West Virginians as being racist, or you’ll join the other 6 previous users here, whose offensive comments were deleted on Friday, and that were themselves banned from the site. This is a political junkie website, we thrive on primary and election coverage. When Obama blew out Clinton in Wyoming, it was blogged excessively here, both in the run-up and the day of the event coverage, and it’ll be the same way with West Virginia. You don’t like that? Fine, its a big wide blogosphere, go find a blog that has its head in the sand. Are the ground rules understood?

…

May 10, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Seeds of Destruction
By BOB HERBERT

The Clintons have never understood how to exit the stage gracefully.

Their repertoire has always been deficient in grace and class. So there was Hillary Clinton cold-bloodedly asserting to USA Today that she was the candidate favored by “hard-working Americans, white Americans,” and that her opponent, Barack Obama, the black candidate, just can’t cut it with that crowd.

“There’s a pattern emerging here,” said Mrs. Clinton.

There is, indeed. There was a name for it when the Republicans were using that kind of lousy rhetoric to good effect: it was called the Southern strategy, although it was hardly limited to the South. Now the Clintons, in their desperation to find some way — any way — back to the White House, have leapt aboard that sorry train.

He can’t win! Don’t you understand? He’s black! He’s black!

The Clintons have been trying to embed that gruesomely destructive message in the brains of white voters and superdelegates for the longest time. It’s a grotesque insult to African-Americans, who have given so much support to both Bill and Hillary over the years.

(Representative Charles Rangel of New York, who is black and has been an absolutely unwavering supporter of Senator Clinton’s White House quest, told The Daily News: “I can’t believe Senator Clinton would say anything that dumb.”)

But it’s an insult to white voters as well, including white working-class voters. It’s true that there are some whites who will not vote for a black candidate under any circumstance. But the United States is in a much better place now than it was when people like Richard Nixon, George Wallace and many others could make political hay by appealing to the very worst in people, using the kind of poisonous rhetoric that Senator Clinton is using now.

-All the worlds a stage…

The Occasional Restatement of Principles

You know, most Americans are imperialists. One of the reasons–the reason–that it so amuses me to find the occasional commenter here ask me why I offer no practical solutions to “our” problems, why the closest I ever come to advocating for direct action is to propose minor acts of cultural vandalism. Being an anti-imperialist in America is like being a Zionist in the Third Reich. I am a fringe radical. If you agree with even a tenth of what you read on this site, you too are a fringe radical. Your beliefs and opinions are not reflective of those of your countrymen. The question, “How do we stop being imperialists?” bears as much practical import as, “How do we live without breathing?” We don’t. The United States of America is an empire. Maybe you think it’s on the downhill slide? I certainly hope so. But it is what it is, nevertheless. The notions that within the body of empire lurks the heart of an egalitarian, constitutional republic, or a libertarian minarchy, or a parliamentary social democracy are the purest forms of political self-flattery. The subjects here may be largely political, but the program is purely perceptual. I am not a reformist.

What more can I add? I’ve been trying to tell myself I have an answer why I no longer feel protesting the war in Iraq is worthwhile. I’ve been trying to explain, when questioned, why I feel the way I feel. The quoted paragraph above comes close. Maybe even more so the following passage critiqued at Whiskey Fire:

I find it fascinating that liberals have no problem advocating “redistribution of wealth” but are blind to the real wealth –that biologically underpins and motivates all the other kinds of competition/ wealth aquiring[sic].

Now, Whiskey Fire is a fine blog, as far as the Progglesphere goes. And they rightly call out the preceding text prior to the part I sited as idiotic. But it was that little bit at the end that caught me as more than ringing with a little truth. You can’t escape it. This is what it comes down to. Human nature. Everyone is trying to build their nest. Even if it means with your bones. You are too.

John McCain, John Hagee, Pope Benedict, President Bush. I googled these guys and couldn’t find anything recent with all their names in the same article… so here it is, my search engine flanking maneuver.

Were you made to suffer as I was:

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The economy, absolutely. And we didn’t really hear anything new on that front. But of course, anything the president says is going to be intertwined with the current campaign season. Of course, the general election just months away.

Mindful of that, the president today pushed back a notion that the economy is in or headed towards a recession. The president used the word slowdown in describing the economic picture here in the United States. And he touted the $150 billion economic stimulus package as an example really that the politicians here in Washington, the leadership here in Washington, is, in fact, taking steps to try to address their concerns.

Now, at the same time, foreign policy entered into the picture here as well. The president being asked about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom members of the administration criticized for crackdowns on democracy. Now, at the same time, the president understanding that the United States and Russia have not always seen eye to eye defended that relationship with Vladimir Putin. Let’s take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES: As you know Putin’s a straightforward, pretty touchy character when it comes to his interests. Well, so am I. And you know we’ve had some head butts. Diplomatic head butts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Diplomatic head butts. What’s interesting to note, though, the president walked a very fine line, asked essentially about an issue out on the campaign trail and that is how, in fact, foreign leaders should be dealt with, foreign leaders who are not necessarily on the same page when it comes to the U.S.

Interesting because the president very passionately said, look, you shouldn’t sit down with dictators, he talked about Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s brother. You shouldn’t necessarily have your picture taken with them because that will elevate them in stature. And yet the president today didn’t hear it but the president today also maintained that when it comes to Russia and specifically Russian President Vladimir Putin, he thinks it’s very important to maintain a personal relationship even though leaders don’t always see eye to eye. It was interesting to see that fine line he was walking today.

COLLINS: Yeah, a very fine line indeed. All right, CNN’s White House correspondent Elaine Quijano. Thanks, Elaine.

Sometimes I can’t believe my fucking ears. 10,000 Kafka’s are dancing on the head of a pin…

• Hillary Clinton Votes for War Again
• McCain Shows Up… But Only to Flip Flop
• Obama linked to Rezko indictment

As for me, I’ve found Hillary Clinton completely lacking when it come to the content of her character. But that goes for John McCain, and to a lesser extent, Barack Obama, as well. Irregardless, that makes me a misogynist. And racist. And ageist to boot.

Update: On the flip side…