Mitt the Twit

What a maroon:



The Guardian has compiled all the blunders.

Mission Accomplished: Smelling Like a Rose

"Bush Jesus": 
Notice the halo effect produced by the radar dome behind his head.

The canonization process of St. George of Guantanamo has begun.  Read and weep:

Justice drops inquiry into destruction of torture videos

Miami Herald:  The former director of the CIA's secret operations branch won't be charged with the destruction of 92 videotapes showing the use of waterboarding and other controversial interrogation techniques, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. . . .

In interview, Bush defends Iraq war and waterboarding

Washington Post:  In his first major interview since leaving office, former president George W. Bush defended the most controversial aspects of his tenure - including the use of waterboarding against terrorism suspects and the invasion of Iraq. . . .

George Bush's torture admission is a dismal moment for democracy

The Guardian:  Although it comes as no surprise, George Bush's straight admission that he personally authorised waterboarding – an act of torture and a crime under US and international law – marks a dismal moment for western democracies and the rule of law. When again will the US be able to direct others to meet their human rights standards? Certainly not before it takes steps to bring its own house in order.

Unlike the UK's coalition government, which has announced a judicial inquiry on allegations of British involvement in torture, Barack Obama's administration has apparently ended the practice – but has done nothing to investigate the circumstances in which it was used by the Bush administration.

Bush claims that the use of waterboarding on Abu Zubaydah "saved lives", including British ones. There is not a shred of evidence to support that claim, one that falls into the same category as the bogus intelligence relied on to justify war in Iraq.

Indeed, waterboarding and Iraq appear to be interconnected, as torture-induced information was relied upon to justify the invasion. Torture may produce information, but it doesn't produce reliable information, as every experienced interrogator I have spoken with repeatedly tells me – on both sides of the Atlantic. It produces the information that the subject believes the interrogator wants to hear. . . .

He would do better to take on board those with first-hand experience of what the embrace of torture might mean for Americans abroad, who recognise that its use by the US will justify its use against the US.

Hundreds leave Bush book-signing in Dallas empty-handed

Fort Worth Star-Telegram:  Hundreds of people left the bookstore in North Dallas where former President George W. Bush was autographing copies of his book, Decision Points, without getting a signed book Tuesday. Borders books officials by 10 a.m. had told those in the back of the line that they likely wouldn't be able to see the 43rd president, and get a signed copy of his book, but many stayed just in case.

Tricia Ditmore, 49, of Grand Prairie was among those who left empty-handed. "I wanted to see him and shake his hand," she said, as tears welled up in her eyes. "I wanted to tell him that we supported him - that he was loved and supported. I don't know if he knows. I hope other people told him that."

About 1,000 people were able to meet the former president, and take home signed copies of his book. Among the lucky ones were Terry and Tammy Jones of Justin. They were first in line, having camped out at the store in Preston Royal since about 2 p.m. Monday. After they bought four books autographed by Bush, and briefly met the former president, they couldn't stop smiling. "He shook my hand and he kissed Tammy's hand," Terry Jones said.

Said Tammy Jones: "I waited 18 hours for two seconds and a kiss on my hand. I'm never washing this hand again."


No comment from your Head Trucker.  What can any decent person say?

Bullshit Alert: Who Would Jesus Tax?

I know you guys are thinking I must be queer for Andrew Sullivan, because I quote him so often - even though he is sometimes a real dickhead on certain subjects.  Okay, okay, I'll admit, he's not exactly my type, but at the right place and time, I wouldn't turn him down; push him down more likely.  Grin. 

But this one is too good not to quote, and besides it's about a real gen-u-wine Texas fuckhead.  The kind I'm surrounded by out here.  Don't get me wrong, boys - Texas really is a great and beautiful place to live for lots of reasons, if only you could deport all the Republican fundamentalists.  But then it would only have the population of Rhode Island.

Anyway, here goes:

"Now, after someone dies and someone comes in and steals from them, we consider that in most society reprehensible. … But when the government comes in, because we have the power to pass laws and legalize theft that otherwise would be considered reprehensible, it’s okay. But it is not okay. … Jesus never advocated the government go steal. He said ‘you do it. Do it with your own money, don’t steal it from somebody else.’ And that is why this should not pass," - Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX), opposing a 45% tax on estates valued at more than $3.5 million ($7 million for a couple).

I seem to recall Jesus urging his followers to pay Caesar what was due to him - and never to confuse that with anything to do with God. I also seem to recall his saying quite clearly that only by giving away one's entire wealth to the poor could one enter the kingdom of heaven.

Yup.  You see how these Christianists are total, undiluted hypocrites?  They stand on every single word of the Bible when it comes to teh gayz; but when it comes to themselves - and especially their pocketbooks - hell, they can't even remember the most basic teachings.  And they just make shit up.

Just like they have made up their straight, white, male, heterosexual God.  I haven't abandoned my Christian faith; but I have abandoned that terrible, hateful, homophobic false god I was lied to about in church, that narrow, nasty little god that nearly destroyed me.

Bonus:  I love this observation by a commenter on Think Progress, where Sullivan got the story from:

Jesus provided free health care to everyone, fed the masses, and even supplied free wine from time-to-time.

Amen, brother. 

Geez, guys - when you stop and think about it, it does sound like Jesus was some sort of (horrified pause) . . . radical (gasp) . . . Frenchified . . . (big stage whisper) SOCIALIST.  I tell you what.  And not a family man at all.

Ain't that a helluva note?

Memo to Adam Lambert

You're not helping, shithead.



Look.At.Yourself.

 

Every mother's nightmare of what the horrible gays would be like if unloosed from their pen.  Thanks a lot, fucker.

You have a tremendous talent, and you're a fantastic showman.  And somewhere beneath the glitter and the mascara is a handsome man.  But all you can think to do is doll yourself up like a creep from a nighmare freak show, and be as gross as possible on nationwide television.

If you were doing a stage act in a gay nightclub, that might be different, though I wouldn't pay to watch you.  I prefer my porn straight out of the bottle and undiluted, thank you.

There's millions of people out there in big cities and small towns who also have talent but will never, ever get the breaks you've gotten.  And there's millions more people who would love to have a truly stellar example of gay talent to look up to and point to.  But little boy, you're just peeing on the carpet because you can.  I don't know who your daddy is, but he ought to set you down for a good talking - and a swift kick in the ass.

You would do well to man up and put that enormous talent to better use.  All you really need on stage is a white shirt, blue jeans, and microphone - and you could have the whole damn world at your feet every time you open your mouth and sing.  But you don't have the guts to do that.

Because the dirty little secret you think nobody knows is that you don't have enough confidence in your own talent - you think you have to use sex to sell yourself.  Buddy, you are so wrong, and I hope you find that out real quick.

Because if you want to end up as another hopelessly fucked-up, dead-early tragedy like others we could name - you're succeeding, big time.

Just an old country boy's thoughts - somebody who would like to admire you.  But doesn't.

Russ

Proud to Be an American

From this week's "tea party" tax protest. You realize, of course, the only reason the sign says "Kenyan" is that she didn't think she could get away with the n-word in public?

(Pam's House Blend via Joe.My.God.)


As this picture shows, it's really not about taxes at all; it's about projecting their own ignorant, hardcore fascist beliefs onto someone they hate.

(HuffPo via Joe.My.God.)

WTF: Whose Side Are You On?

From the Minnesota Independent:

State Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, told KLKS on Friday that he will not vote for the Marriage and Family Protection Act, a bill that would make Minnesota’s marriage laws gender-neutral, allowing same-sex couples many of the rights currently denied by Minnesota statute. Koering, who is gay and a Republican, said he would vote against it because the state faces bigger problems.

Koering came out in 2005 after voting against a constitutional amendment to ban civil unions and same-sex marriage pushed by then-State Sen. Michele Bachmann. He is one of very few openly gay elected Republicans in the United States and was re-elected by his conservative Brainerd-area constituents in 2006, despite a hard push by religious right activists to defeat him for his votes on gay rights.

When he came out in 2005, he was cautious about pushing hard for same-sex marriage, a position he still appears to hold.

“I think some of the gay activists will be upset with me for this, but sometimes I think an agenda is pushed so far and so fast that people have no alternative but to push back,” Koering told Raw Story at the time. “And I think that sometimes you have to move slowly.”

There's a reason why so few gay Republicans get elected. Can you say asshole?

Tanks in My Memory

A last farewell to W. It's definitely NSFW, but priceless.

(Honk to Joe.My.God.)

Afternoon Drive: The End of Bush

A few years back, I heard an acquaintance of mine, an old cowboy and a lifelong Democrat, say about Bush: "Hell, he's not a Texan, he's just from Texas."

Just thought I'd let you boys know that not everyone in the Lone Star State has been making that mistake all these years. Some of us do know the difference between the front end of a horse and the other end.

In tribute to the eminent departure of the 43rd President from the national scene, thought I'd play you one of my all-time favorites: "Baby, Things Change" by Dwight Yoakam. Seems real fitting, don't it.

Myself, I can't wait for Tuesday - and CHANGE - to get here. I 'spect you feel the same way. Y'all have a good one now.