Don't know whether to laugh or cry? Fafblog weighs in on the question of whether America should legalize the practice of "extraordinary rendition" — that is, on whether we should tear up the Bill of Rights and just start torturing people. Dennis Hastert says yes, Fafblog says… well, read for yourself.
On a related note, the Onion reports on startling new findings about Bush's service records.
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 10:47 am. comments.
The Presidential Debate Drinking Game. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: An American flag, a $1 bill, you, your friends, and plenty of drinks.
| Every time Bush says… | You… |
|---|---|
| "nu-kyu-lar" |
smack your forehead and take 1 drink |
| "Iraq" or "Saddam" |
shout "yee-hah!" and take 1 drink |
| "weapons of mass destruction" |
look for them under the table — if you don't find any, take 1 drink |
| "terror" or "terrorists" |
scream in terror and take 1 drink |
| "America is safer" |
cough the word "bullsh*t" and take 1 drink |
| "tax cuts" |
buy another round and put it on your credit card |
| "Dick Cheney" |
sing "Hail to the Chief" and take 2 drinks |
| "North Korea" or "Iran" |
shout "you're next!" and take 1 drink |
| "September 11th" |
wrap yourself in the flag and take 2 drinks |
| blames Congress or Clinton |
pass the buck one person to the right |
| admits a mistake |
duck to avoid the flying pigs |
| Every time Kerry says... | You... |
|---|---|
| "Osama bin Laden" | look around the room — if you find him, tell Bush where he is; if not, take 1 drink |
| "two Americas" |
sing "This Land is Your Land" and take 2 drinks |
| "unilateral" |
whoever has the $1 bill takes a drink |
| "allies" or "NATO" |
shake hands with someone and take 1 drink |
| "Vietnam" |
salute "reporting for duty!" and take 1 drink |
| "wealthiest one percent" |
buy another round and pay for it in cash |
| "outsourcing" |
buy a round of foreign beers |
| hints or says Bush is not telling the truth |
gasp "noo!" in shock and take 1 drink |
| "health care" |
check your pulse and take 1 drink |
| "John Edwards" |
swoon or cheer (your choice) and take 2 drinks |
| "America can do better" |
wave the flag and take 1 drink |
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 12:37 pm. comments.
Meanwhile, back in the Sixties… Weezil, another American blogging from Down Under (One of us! One of us! One of us!), notes a new video game coming soon:
Move over Lara Croft. Say hello to Lt. John Kerry, action video game hero.
Later this month the presidential candidate's service in Vietnam — the subject of ongoing controversy — receives the full video game treatment with "John Kerry and the men of Swift Boat PCF-94."
Available for download from kumawar.com as a free seven-day trial, the game will put players in the combat boots of a 25-year-old Lt. Kerry on Feb. 28, 1969, the date he earned his Silver Star citation.
I think the game based on Bush's record will continue to be more popular, though.
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 11:32 am. comments.
The Two Iraqs. Part of the art of running for President is coming up with sound bites — short, memorable phrases that define your campaign or your opponent. Of all the Democratic candidates, John Edwards and his "two Americas" stump speech produced the best and most effective message of the primaries. Dick Gephardt's "miserable failure" was more pointed, and Howard Dean's "I want my country back!" was more passionate… but Edwards took a complex issue — the widening gap between rich and poor in America, and its impact on our society — and found a two-word phrase to express it. Talking about the "shrinking middle class" doesn't catch the audience's attention; talking about Two Americas, one for the wealthy and one for the rest of us, does.
John Kerry needs a sound bite to describe our situation in Iraq right now. It can't be the plain and simple truth — that Bush's colossal series of mistakes are costing us the peace — because Bush will respond by blowing sunshine, portraying himself as the optimistic candidate, and doing everything possible to plant positive Iraq stories in sympathetic media outlets. No, the sound bite needs to capture the truth about the war and take note of Bush's duplicity; it needs to shine a light on both Bush's distorted message on Iraq and the actual message that's coming from the country.
Kerry needs to start talking about the Two Iraqs.
In Bush's Iraq, it's all rainbows and flowers: The schools are being painted, the country is on its way to democracy, Saddam is locked up, and we're killing more evil-doers than you can count. It's hard work, says Bush, but we're proud of our troops and the job they've done.
In the other Iraq, we're on the brink of a civil war. Coalition forces can't even guarantee security in the Green Zone, much less provide law and order outside the gates; the Iraqi people live in a constant state of danger, and fear the foreign troops in their country as bringers of death and destruction.
Bush's Iraq may sound more pleasant, but self-delusion has no place in the Oval Office — and Bush's Two Iraqs contain one self-delusion after another. In Bush's imaginary Iraq, Saddam had WMDs on the launch pad. In Bush's imaginary Iraq, he was within a year of having nukes; and in Bush's imaginary Iraq, Saddam was working hand-in-hand with Osama. In the real Iraq, Saddam was a tyrant and a murderer — but he wasn't responsible for September 11th, and the threat he posed to American interests was far less urgent than the threat we face from Osama bin Laden.
Today, no matter what really happens, things are going well in Bush's Iraq. And things will keep going well in Bush's Iraq, no matter how many of our young soldiers are quietly brought home in coffins, or disabled for life by crippling wounds. It's an open-ended mission that will always be accomplished — always — because that's what George Bush wants you to hear.
John Kerry and John Edwards will put an end to the Two Iraqs, and level with the American people about what needs to be done to stabilize Iraq and bring an end to the occupation. America must be made stronger and safer against the terrorist threat that we faced on September 11th — but there is no safety in retreating to Bush's dream world, where Iraq is at peace and America is safer because that's the way we wished it would be.
America can do better.
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 5:05 am. comments.
Fair and balanced, part II: Okay, now I have more right-of-center reading material than I know what to do with, in part thanks to Donald Sensing and his readers. Here are the blogs that people suggested to balance out my reading list, along with my first impressions of each:
If I had to choose today, it's between Belmont Club and Winds of Change. Of course the second prize in this contest should be two links in my blogroll, and there's no rule that says I can't start reading more than one new blog — except for the limits on my available time, which are unfortunately vast and numerous.
Nonetheless, this has been a fun and interesting exercise to expand my reading horizons. Thanks again to everyone who offered a suggestion; it's good to know there's a variety of non-rabid right-wing blogs to choose from.
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 10:19 am. comments.
Fair and balanced. Now that the USS Clueless has gone offline with some sort of warp core breach, my blogroll is skewing too far to the left. I try to at least maintain some degree of even-handedness in my online reading, if only to keep from falling into groupthink — and I find it rewarding to read thoughtful challenges to many of the opinions I hold.
Steven Den Beste will never be accused of brevity, and his articles often brought new meaning to the phrase "going off on a tangent" — but sometimes he came back from the deep end with an interesting analogy or a thought-provoking metaphor. He also kept one foot in reality and understood the difference between fact and opinion, which is a distressingly rare trait these days among people I disagree with.
(It's a problem for some people I agree with, too… but not as frequently. I made the observation the other day that most right-wingers go from "I want to believe X is true" to "X has been proven" without even taking any intermediate steps; Jeanne d'Arc said the same thing, but much more eloquently, here.)
So with Steven on hiatus, I'm shopping around for some insightful right-of-center blogging to wrestle with in his absence — and I'm having trouble finding a blog that fits the bill. I suspect part of my problem is that we're close to the election, which is driving many bloggers deeper into their respective camps; blogs like One Hand Clapping are more openly partisan than they were a year ago, and the right-of-center ground has emptied out.
So, I'll make this appeal to all five of my readers — help me find a blog that will balance out my reading list. A few criteria:
So. Any suggestions or recommendations?
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 1:44 pm. comments.
Interesting times. On the first anniversary of 9/11, we were still in mourning: The emotions were too raw to talk about, the anger and grief too close to the surface. There were formal ceremonies and solemn remembrances, but little in the way of catharsis.
On the second anniversary of 9/11, a little more time had passed; we gained a bit more perspective, more distance between us and a day that altered the course of history. People talked about what they did, where they were, how they felt, and shared stories.
On the third anniversary of 9/11, we're one step further removed. For a precious few of us, December 7th, 1941 is still within living memory — but for most it's an event we read about in history books, rather than experiencing ourselves. Time heals these wounds, by marching on with our without us; we'll never stop remembering, and we'll tell our children and grandchildren the stories of that day… but, eventually, 9/11 will cease to be the central theme of the American story.
My grandparents lived through the Great Depression, and some of the lessons they learned from that time stayed with them through the rest of their days. My parents remember the Kennedy assassination. In the words of the ancient Chinese curse, we live in interesting times — and in a time of historic blunders, there's always the danger that 9/11 will be replaced in our thoughts by something even worse.
History will remember these last four years as a time of missed opportunities — failures to prevent, failures to act, failures of strategy, and failures of competence — but I'm optimistic that we can do better.
We have to do better.
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 1:53 am. comments.
Turnabout. Demonstrating once again that The Road to Surfdom is A Yank in Oz's evil twin, Tim Dunlop posts these directions for expat Australians who want to vote from overseas.
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 10:05 am. comments.
So many links, so little time. Busy, busy week — the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot from overseas varies by state, but if you haven't sent your request in already then you're cutting it pretty fine. We're making an all-out effort to find the other 99,000 U.S. expats in Australia and get their forms in the mail.
Meanwhile, here's a few random funnies:
We'll have a voter registration booth (or an absentee ballot request booth, depending on how you look at it) up and running in downtown Sydney all next week, in the mornings near the Martin Place rail station; look for someone dressed as Uncle Sam (no, not me) and some helpful people with Kerry buttons.
- Posted by Scott Forbes at 9:53 am. comments.
