Redneck down, but not out. Liberals are nuts, says right wing nut.

A quick update, I'm back home and I hope to be posting again soon. I seem to be having to relearn some basic stuff.

I'm pretty doped up right now and am about to hit the hay. But first, I have to mention the doctors, nurses and everyone I had the pleasure to meet at the OKC V.A. Hospital.

Veterans in Oklahoma are incredibly lucky, both our hospitals have dedicated, caring people who are generally just fun to be around. I wouldn't trade either for any civilian hospital. One big difference between OKC and Muskogee is the food. If you have to go to OKC, pack your own food.

Someday I'll tell you the story of DeBakey V.A. Hospital in Houston and how they let me lay in bed with peritonitis for 24 hours. That was 24 hours after I started telling them that I was pretty sure I had peritonitis.

So now I'm going to enjoy my pain pills and my own bed and tomorrow I'll try to get caught up on what's been happening while I was away.

Later.







I'll be gone for a while.

Operation on neck bones, OKC V.A. Hospital, Tuesday morning.

I say I'll be home in three days, doctors say no. Looks like a battle of wills.

But before I go, I'll leave you with something that you should find amusing.

WASHINGTON – Just when liberals thought it was safe to start identifying themselves as such, an acclaimed, veteran psychiatrist is making the case that the ideology motivating them is actually a mental disorder.

"Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness." "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

But then, the denizens of Right Wing Fantasyland have been a little ticked off ever since a real study showed what makes conservatives tick. We still don't know what makes them cruise public restrooms.

BERKELEY – Politically conservative agendas may range from supporting the
Vietnam War to upholding traditional moral and religious values to opposing
welfare. But are there consistent underlying motivations?

Four researchers who culled through 50 years of research literature
about the psychology of conservatism report that at the core of political
conservatism is the resistance to change and a tolerance for inequality, and
that some of the common psychological factors linked to political conservatism
include:

Fear and aggression

Dogmatism and intolerance of
ambiguity

Uncertainty avoidance

Need for cognitive closure

Terror
management

Sounds 'bout right to me.

Still liberal, still proud and now, according to the Right, psychotic.

Later

Fantasyland Humor: Craig R. Smith and Abuse of the Presidency.

Our resident right winger over at Stumpburners posted this article titled Abuse of the presidency. It was published by WorldNetDaily. That's a place that right wingers go to get their strange beliefs validated. It was written by Craig R. Smith. It was the first time I'd heard of him, but he's apparently very big in Right Wing Fantasyland.

Now you may be wondering why I would be putting an obviously right wing article, from an obviously right wing source here. Because it's unintentionally funny as hell.

Mr. Smith's article will be in bold.

For the benefit of our country, I hope and pray respect for the office of the president returns with the new president in 2009. The abuse the presidency of George Bush was forced to tolerate has been nothing short of obscene.

Yeah, poor little rich kid George W. Bush has been obscenely abused by the evil left and now may be traumatized for life.

I guess Mr. Smith feels that we should follow his example on respect for the office of president. This is from a 2006 article at, you guessed it, WND.

Make no mistake about it. Jimmy Carter is not an American citizen. He is a
citizen of the world. His views are so misguided that he would be relegated
to a
spot next to Michael Moore or Cindy Sheehan had he not been president
of the
United States. My God in heaven, what were we thinking at the time to
elect a
nut case like this in the first place?

The man just oozes respect.

Just last week, someone referred to the president as "that bastard Bush." The former first lady, senator and presidential candidate gently nodded her head in approval and answered the foul mouth with, "Well, there is a lot of truth in that."

While it's true that an elderly lady did say "Bush the bastard" at a Hillary town hall meeting, Hillary did not say, "Well, there is a lot of truth in that". Here's the real story.

BRIDGETON, Mo. -- An elderly lady in the audience at Hillary Clinton's town
hall outside of St. Louis prefaced a question about a rumored U.S.-Mexico-Canada
economic union this morning by saying "Bush the bastard..."

Hillary smiled, head bobbing slightly, and didn't say a word in
dissent. The crowd roared in approval.

The woman, speaking during a question-and-answer session focused on
trade competition and pocketbook issues, asked about a widely-circulated
conspiracy theory that President Bush was pushing for the creation of a North
American "Amero" currency that would replace the greenback dollar.

"He has this all planned for 2010," the questioner said of Bush.

"Let me say that I've heard that story and there's not a lot of truth
to it," Clinton responded, adding that if it was real she would kill it in a
"bird-dog minute."

This is what passes as journalistic excellence in Right Wing Fantasyland.

For years now Mr. Bush has been called a liar, betrayer, dummy, bastard, fear monger, murderer … just to name a few. The Democratic Party has spent the last seven years attacking the man and the office. Now the next president will attempt to sit in the Oval Office and command respect. Be it Democrat or Republican … good luck!

Well, you've got to admit that Bush is a liar and he has betrayed this country by lying his way into Iraq. Dummy? I prefer idiot, but dummy is certainly apt. While not a bastard by birth, he managed to grow into one. (an offensive or disagreeable person) Fear monger? Since 9/11, his whole presidency has been based on fear mongering. Murderer? Hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians are proof enough for me.

"Command respect", until the righties manage to turn this into the Fascist States of America, a president will continue to have to earn respect.

I wonder if the Democrats have ever taken a moment out of hating George Bush to consider the long-term damage they will have inflicted on the presidency by attacking everything President Bush said or did. They made a cottage industry of these attacks two years into a war talking about how the "dummy" duped them into it. Who is the idiot in that equation? Being duped by a dummy is nothing I would list on my resume if I were applying for the job as leader of the free world.

Well let's just change history here. What I've seen is most Democrats doing is rolling over for George W. Bush. Any damage to the presidency is self-inflected.

And it's pretty obvious here who's been duped by a dummy.

I can only imagine the outcome if the attacks Mr. Bush has weathered had been leveled on George Washington while fighting the British prior to becoming our first president? Could you see Mr. Lincoln being called a liar and a crook during the Civil War? How effective would FDR have been fighting the Nazis if Charles Curtis was screaming, "He betrayed us. He played on our fears," as Al Gore did?

History is extremely malleable in Right Wing Fantasyland.

The contrast between Washington's record and
Gates's brilliant victory was one factor that led to the so-called Conway
Cabal--an intrigue by some members of Congress and army officers to replace
Washington with a more successful commander, probably Gates.

The Radical Republicans were furious with Lincoln's decision. On
5th August, Wade and Henry Winter Davis published an attack on Lincoln
in the New York Tribune. In what became known as the Wade-Davis
Manifesto, the men argued that Lincoln's actions had been taken "at the
dictation of his personal ambition" and accused him of "dictatorial usurpation".
They added that: "he must realize that our support is of a cause and not of a
man."

As World War II began, Roosevelt was among those concerned at the growing
strength of the Axis Powers, and he found ways to help Great Britain, the
Chinese Nationalists, and later the Soviet Union in their struggle against them.
This prompted several ambiguous isolationist leaders,
including air hero Charles Lindbergh, to criticize
him as a warmonger who was trying to push America into war with Nazi
Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan. This criticism was largely silenced
in the public arena after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but was
occasionally replaced by the private belief that FDR knew of the attack
beforehand.

Ever since we invaded Iraq, the Right has tried to place in in the same context as just wars. Unfortunately Iraq would be more accurately compared to the Mexican American War, the Spanish American War and Granada.

There is a better-than-equal chance there will be a Democrat sitting in the Oval Office as our 44th president. Should that president be treated in the same manner George Bush was treated during a time of war? Will the Democrat leader of the Senate talk about losing the war after the president sends troops to fight in foreign lands?

You know if the Iraq War was thrust upon us, as WWII was, there might be some merit to this. But since what actually happened was, Bush lied his way into this war for no actual national security reasons, there is no merit in it.

And I can assure you that any Democrat president will recieve the same treatment, by those of us on the Left, if he does anything even close to as stupid as what George W. Bush has done.

I am all for free speech, and I love a country that embraces dissent. But when we elevate dissent to ad hominem attacks on the president with troops in harm's way, we are treading on very treacherous ground.

First of all, telling the truth is hardly "ad hominem attacts", except in Right Wing Fantasyland.

Second, criticism of Bush has very little effect on the troops whose biggest concern is survival, since they're not too crazy about Bush anyway.

When people in America were claiming Bill Clinton ordered air strikes to deflect the Lewinsky scandal, I was very vocal with my criticism. Pundits were all singing the "Wag the Dog" song. The leaders of the Republican Party were not part of the choir.

Considering that the Clinton "Wag the Dog" drama was nothing more than right wing myth, it's hardly surprising that the leaders of the Republican party didn't want to jump in the middle of it.

In fact, a lot of Republican leaders backed Clinton.

"A parade of Republican Senators — including John McCain of Arizona, Richard G.
Lugar of Indiana, John W. Warner of Virginia and Jesse Helms of North Carolina —
voiced support for the President's decision to strike now. All are prominent
party spokesmen on defense and foreign policy matters."

The time for debate is prior to a presidential or congressional decision. There will always be plenty of time to analyze, criticize and attack after the fact; but not during. Once the order is given, we only lessen the chance of success when the very folks who gave the authority to make the decision attack the motive.

What this all comes down to is whatever is convenient at the time, to push the Right's agenda, will be used. Check this out, AT LEAST TEN REASONS TO OPPOSE INITIATION OF WAR ON IRAQ.

Funny how things suddenly changed with a Republican president. And don't give me that 9/11 changed everything garbage. It didn't change the fact that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

Decorum has been thrown out the window by a power hungry Democratic Party that will sacrifice anything to regain power. Even if the presidency, military and ultimately the country are the offering. It's as if Democrats suffer from Munchausen by Proxy syndrome. If they destroy the presidency, military and the country they will have something to fix once they take up residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

As you can see, in Fantasyland, it's the Democrats destroying the military, the presidency and the country. Granted, there's plenty of Democrats who share the blame. But that's because they were gutless and backed Mr' Smith's idiot president, who ultimately sholders the responsibility for the mess we're in now.

It is bad enough when Moveon.org or Cindy Sheehan is hammering the president. I understand the idiots like Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon attacking the Bush Oval Office. Calls for impeachment from future Secretary of the Dept. of Peace Kucinich are a certainty. Hugo Chavez, Michael Moore and Ahmadinejad attacks should be expected. But former presidents? Former vice presidents? The Senate majority leader? The speaker of the House? Have we lost any sense of decorum in politics today? Has it truly become a no-holds-barred approach?

Decorum? In politics? What a sheltered life Mr. Smith must lead. Politics, by nature, is a cutthroat pursuit.

The real problem in politics today is that the Democrats won't get down in the mud with the republicans and stand up for what's right and in the process we get screwed.

I applaud Mr. Bush for not lowering the presidency to the level of attacks he has had to endure. I appreciate the respect he still holds for the office. He will not return attack for attack. He will continue to do his job as he sees fit. Right or wrong. And for that I have a tremendous respect for the man.

Only in Fantasyland could someone have tremendous respect for a man, that has so far, done everything wrong.

Poor delicate, flower that is President Bush thrust into the fetid sewer of American politics. How come I feel no sympathy for him?

Mr. Bush has clearly made a number of mistakes, and I am confident history will deal with each one in the proper way. He has however made the safety of this nation his top priority for the last seven years. I only hope it will be the priority of all future presidents.

Have you ever noticed how concerned the Right is with their safety? You might say obsessed. They certainly put their safety above the Constitution. We know that they are willing to give up their rights and ours to feel safe. But what do you expect when greed and paranoia are the prime motivations in your life.

The next president will be faced with very serious problems. That is without question. I just hope the Democratic damage inflicted on the office does not diminish the ability of the office and its resident to lead us going forward. Hindsight may be very painful to the Democrats in what their Bush-hating folly produces for the long-term image of our country.

OK, make that greed, paranoia and hypocrisy.

One thing I can assure you: You won't see Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney acting like Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton or Al Gore. That is for sure. The Bush administration has too much respect for itself and the country for that to happen.

OK, make that hypocrisy, greed and paranoia.

We know what Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney will be doing after they leave office, selling themselves to the highest bidder.

I just want to leave you with this.

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we
are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and
servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
Theodore Roosevelt

Later.

Conservative Political Action Conference, Dick Cheney, Ann Coulter and Grand Delusions.

Vice President Dick Cheney gave a speech Thursday morning to the Conservative Political Action Conference.

The Conservative Political Action Conference is a get together for thousands of like-minded people who share a natural aversion to the truth. Indeed, they generally think that the truth is just a satan inspired, liberal conspiracy to make them look and feel foolish. Like they need our help.

It's put on by American Conservative Union along with sponsors Human Events and the Young America's Foundation. Here is a list of their cosponsors this year, a Who's Who of who wants to screw you.

At the bottom there's a link to a video by Max Blumenthal of the inside of last years Conservative Political Action Conference.

Dick Cheney, speaking this morning, was a big hit with the crowd, whereas John McCain, speaking later, was booed. Hardly surprising, since Cheney is the embodiment of the Right's Great American Hero mythology. While poor John McCain reminds most of them of what they're not. A man.

In a break with tradition this year, Ann Coulter was not invited to spout inanities. These have always been a big hit in the past. I guess the organizers figured she was just getting too soft on liberals. But Dick Cheney would fill her empty shoes, and probably her bra, nicely.

Then Vice President Dick Cheney stood for a resounding standing ovation at this
35th annual assembly organized by the American Conservative Union – Cheney
called the crowd of many young as well as older people filling a Washington
hotel ballroom “the heart and soul of the conservative community.’’

"Heart and soul of the conservative communnity", Cheney's words, not mine. Be sure to check out Max Blumenthal's video to get an idea of the conservative community's "heart and soul".

Cheney went on to say a lot of goofy things and I'll repeat all I can. Example, last year in office.

“We’re not going to waste a moment of it,’’ Cheney told an adoring crowd here.
“We’re going to revitalize America’s economy at a time of challenge, and we’re
going to stay on the offensive in the war on terror.’’

I'm sure that we're all relieved that Bush and Cheney are going to revitalize the economy. But the only economic measures this administration have ever taken are tax cuts for those who already have all the money.

While keeping up the offensive on terrorism may be great news to a room full of paranoids, the rest of us know that it just means more domestic spying and less rights. Damn, I miss the Constitution.

Don't believe me? Check it out.

The vice president made a pitch for making the president’s tax cuts
permanent: “Letting the Bush tax cuts expire would be one of the largest
government money grabs in American history, and we must not let it happen,’’
Cheney said.

And he made a pitch for the war.

“Guiding this nation through a time of peril is a very tough job, and the
right man is in it,’’ the vice president said. “The absence of another 9/11 is
not an accident. It is an achievement.’’

The crowd rose to its feet cheering Cheney on this.

“As the president has made clear many times, we are dealing with a
strategic threat to the United States,’’ Cheney said.

He also made a pitch for the modernization of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, including the administration’s demand of legal immunity for
telecommunications companies assisting the government in surveillance of
suspected terrorists.“Those who act in good faith to defend this country… should
not be hassled by lawsuits and trial lawyers,’’ Cheney said.

He went on to talk about taking human rights seriously. And he does, if those humans are white, conservative, straight and extremely gullible. Oh, and we don't do no torture. And any troop reduction will only be done by the commanders on the ground in Iraq, whose careers depend on keeping a childlike president happy.

Since the best joke is saved for last, here's the finale.

Cheney also offered a personal testament to the courage and determination of
the president whom he has served for seven years.

“I have been proud to stand by him,’’ said Cheney, citing decisions which
Bush has made as president. “And would I support those same decisions today?
You’re damn right I would.

“When the last chapter is written,’’ Cheney predicted, “it will be said that
our nation became more prosperous and more secure because George Bush was the
president of the United States.’’

And the crowd applauded the C in CPAC.

Isn't it just amazing that people can still function in society and be so distanced from reality?

Max Blumenthal's CPAC 2007: The Unauthorized Documentary.

Enjoy your Friday.

Later.

Right Wing Fantasyland: Bush is Lincoln, Limbaugh's a Hero and McCain's a Liberal, Jesus Wants War and All Democrats are Gutless.

In Right Wing Fantasyland George W. Bush is now Lincolnesque. Where else could this be possible?

But if they can turn Ronald Reagan into an avenging angel sent from Heaven to smite the evil liberals, then turning a vacuous wimp into a real man should be a snap. Especially, since the inhabitants of Right Wing Fantasyland are there because of their fear of the truth.

This must be a Karl Rove scheme, he is pushing it and he, probably better than anyone else, knows just how gullible the people who make up the Right are.

Rove was a deputy chief of staff for Bush. Rove says Bush's ability to get to
the nub of the thing" was similar to Abraham Lincoln's.

Of course, the folks at Myths r Us are doing their part too. Check out the video at Crooks and Liars.

You know, I think I really learned a lot from this propaganda documentary from
Pravda Fox News. I really don’t know how it is that I hadn’t noticed previously
how much George Bush is just like Abraham Lincoln, the founder of
the Republican Party, or that Bush is already known for giving “some of the
most eloquent and visionary speeches ever delivered by an American President,”
just like the Gettysburg Address!

Gullible is probably not a strong enough word.

Eloquent? George W. Bush? They have very low standards in Right Wing Fantasyland. And where else can visionary and delusional be interchangeable.

This could only happen in Right Wing Fantasyland. It's the only place that a lying, draft dodging, drug addicted, girlie man can mock a certified war hero. This is from 2004.

“So we are nearly two days into the latest regurgitation of the National Guard
flap and CBS hatchet job on George W. Bush, and McCain is nowhere to be seen.
Where is he? Where is he condemning this exposé into George Bush’s “honorable
service,” quote, unquote? He hasn’t been seen since that Monday at the
convention. I’m wondering if McCain’s been taken prisoner and being held as a
POW by the Kerry camp, in the Kerry Hilton, somewhere in the basement of the
DNC. The McAwful Hilton [an apparent reference to DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe].
I mean, where is McCain? Really. I mean, the question is — to me — is serious.”

I found this quote even more telling.

Everybody seems to hate Romney. I think they're just jealous, you know,
when that kind of hatred comes up. I think in McCain's case he hates him because
he runs ads that tell the truth about McCain's record, but more interesting to
me, why all these types love McCain. I figure it's gotta be the POW story,
they find that honorable, but I also think that they hate Bush, and McCain hates
Bush, or McCain's opposed Bush in a whole lot of things.

Please allow me to answer for us.

Nancy boy, you finally got something right, we do honor John McCain for his service in the military and his time spent as a POW. Fortunately, McCain didn't have a pimple on his butt to use for an excuse for not serving his country. I wouldn't vote for McCain, but I'll be damned before I made light of his military service to this country. Something that you have no concept of.

In Right Wing Fantasyland they've even managed to turn the words of Jesus into a call for war.

These are busy days for Christian Zionists. While President Bush recently
returned from his trip to the Middle East "optimistic" that a peace agreement
between the Israelis and Palestinians could be reached by the end of the year,
Pastor John Hagee's Christian United for Israel (CUFI) is setting forth plans to
put the kibosh -- if not on the entire peace process -- on any agreement that
would sanction the division of Jerusalem. And Dr. Mike Evans has launched a
"Save Jerusalem Campaign" while Joel C. Rosenberg's Joshua Fund is planning a
major celebration in Jerusalem in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary.

I hate to say anything bad about anyone's religious beliefs, but these people are nuts.

Now we'll leave Right Wing Fantasyland and return to the real world to get some idea of how Right Wing Fantasyland became such a popular spot to relocate.

Our Democrat leaders won't contradict them. Here's Grover Norquist's explanation of the Democrat party in Congress. It's accurate.

When the Republicans won in 2004, conservative movement leader Grover Norquist made a famous statement:

"Once the minority of House and Senate are comfortable in their minority status,
they will have no problem socializing with the Republicans. Any farmer will tell
you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they've been
fixed, then they are happy and sedate. They are contented and cheerful. They
don't go around peeing on the furniture and such."

Any real Democrat would be peeing on Norquist's leg.

Later.

Redneck for Barack Obama.

Since, thanks to the stupid early primaries and the media, the choices have been whittled down to two for the so-called Super Tuesday, I'll glady vote for Obama.

If you find it incongruous that a redneck would vote for an African-American or if it causes you to doubt my redneck credentials, I'll be happy to explain myself.

First, what exactly is a redneck? Everybody has their own opinion, but I'll rely on Merriam-Webster.

Main Entry:
red·neck

Pronunciation:
\ˈred-ˌnek\
Function:
noun
Date:
1830
1 sometimes disparaging : a white member of the Southern rural laboring class

I guess I'm considered white, I was adopted so who knows. Personally, I like to think that I'm like most Americans and am a mixture of a little bit of everything.

Some may argue that Oklahoma is not part of the South. But let me remind you that the last Confederate general to surrender was Cherokee Chief and Brigadier General Stand Watie, from and in Indian Territory, that's Oklahoma.

Rural laboring class? I grew up on a small ranch and my Dad owned hay trucks. Once I was big enough to pick up a bale of hay I spent my summers on the back of those trucks. Trust me, labor is not a strong enough word. Hell, I even went back to hauling hay after I got out of the Army, 'cause Dad was having a hard time finding hayhands.

Now that you've got my C.V., we'll get down to the bone in this meat.

Just because a person is brought up ignorant is no excuse for staying that way. Let alone to be wallowing in ignorance and actually being proud of it.

I'm certainly not ashamed to be a redneck, in fact it comes in kind of handy when debating politics, rednecks tend not to have a lot of backdown in them. When the debate gets to the point of the other side calling names, they always do when you debunk their crap, the redneck thick skin helps too.

Almost all the Conservatives have left the local discussion boards, they've started their own and won't let any of us in. But I miss the good old days of being called traitor,communist, etc.. That was back before most of the rest of the country started realizing that Bush was little more than a lying idiot.

Anyway, I took the long way around to saying this, I'm a white Southern, redneck, male and I'm voting for Barack Obama to be the Democrat candidate and again to be President of the United States.

I don't care what color, what sex, what sexual preference, what religion or lack thereof, I'm going with the person who I think will stand up for the regular Americans. After all, they're what makes this country great. Well, them and the Constitution.

Get out and vote!

Later.