The Garlic: 11/08/2009

Friday, November 13, 2009

Top Ten Cloves: New Jobs Being Considered By Lou Dobbs

News Item: Lou Dobbs Leaves CNN to Pursue Activist Role

10. Become a Vampire Novelist

9. Front a buy of an NFL team for his buddy, Rushbo

8. Plans on stalking Howard Dean

7. Devote the rest of his life to curing leprosy

6. Launch Moon.Com, and start the franchise for Moon water

5. Become front man for Liz Cheney's group 'Keep America Safe'

4. Devote the rest of his life to digging out President Obama's birth certificate

3. Rumor is Lou off to Taco Bell, to be the straight man for the little dog

2. Team up with Lady Gaga, for a duo act

1. Just go out and build the cotton-pickin' border fence himself!

Bonus Lou Dobbs Riffs

CAP News: Lou Dobbs To Host Immigration Reality Show

Paul Krugman: Lou Dobbs

Will Bunch - Attytood: It's "Taps" for Dobbs

Joe Sudbay: CNN's on-air racist, Lou Dobbs, is gone after tonight's show

Thers - Late Night: Lou Dobbs Likely to Annoy Nation in New Capacity

No Doubt, Lou Dobbs Will Go Absolut-ely Apocalyptic

This Date ... On The Garlic

13 November 2008... On The Garlic

Autumn Leaves

13 November 2007... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Unexpected Things That Could Happen When You Pray For Rain

13 November 2006... On The Garlic

Breaking News! Iraq Study Group: Iraq Do-Over To Come Before 2008 Race and Vote; Baker-Hamilton To Say “Start Over”; Reinstall Saddam And Retake Country, This Time With Plans; First Step Is To Reconstruct Baghdad To Pre-2003 Invasion Look; “Maintain a public front of “victory in Iraq”

Chopped Garlic: Retro Bolton

Thursday, November 12, 2009

This Date ... On The Garlic

12 November 2008... On The Garlic

Morning Joke Follow-Up ... Let's Roll The Dice ... Seven! ... We Got A Winner!

YES THEY CAN! ... Yes Men Strike Again!

12 November 2007... On The Garlic

Jeff Gannon's Still Copying-and-Pasting!

Top Ten Cloves: Possible Reasons Peyton Manning Threw Six Interceptions Last Evening

12 November 2006... On The Garlic

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves

Of Things Said, and Just What Type Of Math Are You Using There, Mr. Rove? ... The Results - The Garlic's Weekly Poll

Okay Vanna, Let's Turn Them All Over And See What We Have ... The Garlic's Election Endorsements

12 November 2005... On The Garlic

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves 12 November 2005

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Happy Veterans Day ... At Some Point

Wouldn't it have been major kick-ass today, Veterans Day, for President Obama to deal out a little of the "Change We Can Believe In" stuff, show some audacity, put a little shine on that Nobel Prize, and use the day to announce - not hedge, not double-talk - that he will not escalate troops in Flintstoneville (aka Afghanistan).

Maybe, even do it as a stake-in-the-ground, a benchmark, of the beginning of the dismantling, money-bag-by-money-bag, the Military Industrial Complex.

Now, that would be a Veterans Day to shoot off fireworks, one to celebrate, unabashedly.

And, hey, with two breaking stories tonight, a guy can dream;

U.S. ambassador dissents on Afghan troop increase ...Strongly worded cables urge a pause until Kabul government shifts course

AP: Obama Rejects All Afghanistan War Options

We'll have to wait, and see.

Or, we will have to come around again next year, and bemoan the sentiments of two gifted, exceptional writers (both you should bookmark, and/or, RSS follow), this year;

Juan Cole, over on Informed Comment;

The most patriotic way to honor future veterans of foreign wars is not to create any unnecessarily.

And, Barry Crimmins;

This country would rather create veterans than care for them

Crimmins also has a powerful essay up today - Drone Destroyed, Pentagon Dodges Bullet - on the execution of DC Sniper John Muhammad, a veteran;

Muhammad died reviled and despised, just as the USA itself is reviled and despised in so many lands where the murder of innocents seems to Americans, who even bother to consider such such things, as nothing more than a necessary byproduct of the efficient infliction of a long-range plan. Nevertheless, the plan is both crazy and doomed to failure. It drains our country of vital resources urgently needed to sustain life. It mass produces righteously indignant enemies all over the globe. It visits brutality upon our own people as we exist as, and among, those who have lived to almost never talk about it.

And so Mr. Muhammad was put to death as the perfectly secret embodiment of what Veterans Day is not allowed to represent. His soul rotted away after he had participated in the infliction of violence upon nearly defenseless people. When he came home, he saw no reason to abandon what he had learned as a soldier.

And, digressing for a moment, Joe Sudbay, on AmericaBlog, rings in on the Death Penalty;

As with any execution, there's been extensive discussion about the pros and cons of the death penalty. To me, that is not the act of a truly civilized society. An article in today's Washington Post looked at the death penalty's "'closure' myth":

Stanford University psychiatrist David Spiegel believes that the theory that executions provide closure is "naive, unfounded, pop-psychology." Contrary to expectations, Spiegel says, witnessing executions not only fails to provide closure but also often causes symptoms of acute stress. "Witnessing trauma," he says, "is not far removed from experiencing it."

Spiegel has concluded that "true closure is achieved only through extensive grief work." This process requires families to acknowledge and bear their loss as well as to put it into perspective. It necessitates a network of support systems: counselors who will sit with, listen to and work with survivors; work environments flexible enough to accommodate counseling sessions and the down time that is a natural result of grief and stress; and victim assistance programs that make sure those things happen.

It just seems craven for politicians to promise "closure" from the death penalty when it's not true. It also seems barbaric.

It was "craven" and "barbaric" for The Commander Guy to launch two wars like he didn't know whether to piss, or wind his wrist watch, thereby, producing hundreds-of-thousands of new veterans, to be used as props in jingoistic parades, and file footage to run in the background of two idiot-talking-heads, arguing about more war.

It sure would be nice for Obama to show some cojones with his upcoming decision.

Maybe, just maybe, we can next year, or, in the immediate future Veterans Days, count, and herald, the number of veterans (and Gold Star Mothers) we didn't produce.

This Date ... On The Garlic

11 November 2008... On The Garlic

Good Post Alert - Sunday Reading - Young Man with a Gift: Connor Gifford is a unique historian

To A Happy, and Peaceful, Veterans Day

11 November 2007... On The Garlic

Dick Cheney's Not Darth Vader ... He's Harry Caul!

Something Rudy II ... Endorsements, Plugs, Unplugs and An Accolade (of sorts)

In The Glass-Half-Full Thing, Good News, Foreign Diplomats, You Now Have Choices ... The Results - The Garlic's Weekly Poll

11 November 2005... On The Garlic

Happy Veterans Day!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Today's Ignorant Dolt - Pat Robertson

In some way, we have to thank the certifiable loony tune head of the 700 Club.

With the week we've had, struggling to get time to read, let alone post, searching everywhere for some mojo, he hands us, virtually gift-wrapped, his (official, see the Bonus Links) induction into The Garlic roster of Ignorant Dolts.

Now, with the Right Wing Freak Show all but calling for "open season" on Muslim hunting, following the Fort Hood shooting, Mr. 700 Club polished up his orange vest and Elmer Fudd cap;

Pat Robertson on Ft. Hood: Islam is ‘not a religion’ and Muslims should be treated like ‘some fascist group.’

On his 700 Club TV show yesterday, Pat Robertson claimed that Islam is “not a religion,” but “a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination”:

ROBERTSON: That is the ultimate aim. And they talk about infidels and all this, but the truth is that’s what the game is. So you are dealing with not a religion. You’re dealing with a political system. And I think we should treat it as such and treat its adherences as such as we would members of the Communist Party or members of some fascist group. Well, it’s a tragedy. Our hearts go out to the families who suffered. But those in the Army should be held on account for the fact they let this man loose.

Hmmm ...

I wonder if Robertson would include the "political system" in this country, that shoots doctors who perform abortions?

Should we treat them with "adherences" as members of Communist or fascist groups?

MediaMatters has the video that welcomes the 700 Club chieftain onto the roster of Ignorant Dolts.

Eli, over on Firedoglake, helps us on on the PR front, hailing Robertson as a "xenophobic ignoramus."

While Melissa, over on Shakesville thinks Robertson may be on to something;

Being an atheist, I'm more than happy to treat every religion as its own political ideology. Let's start with charging a religious organization the same taxes that, say, a feminist blog gets charged for doing business.

Somehow, I'm guessing P-Rob won't be on board with that idea, once it includes him.

P-Rob (we like that), drop by anytime to pick up your inglorious Ignorant Dolt Crown and Sceptre

Bonus Links

(Editor Note: As we referenced above, this will be Robertson's "official" Ignorant Dolt induction, for, as you will see below, he's had a hall pass, and visa, that has been continually renewed.)

Robertson To Ballmer: "I've Got Your Back" ...Looking to Strike Deal With Microsoft Chief For Help With Offing Chavez

White House Meets With Robertson; Plan Video Blitz ...Controversial Minister To Produce Al Qaeda-type Videos, Promising Death and Destruction, To Counter Bin Laden's

Robertson May Have, Inadvertently, Caused Hajj Stampede Deaths; Was Working On New Material For Bush Video Blitz, Testing New Curses and Condemnations

Breaking News! Robertson Held For Questioning In Falwell Death ...Threats Against Chavez, Sharon Make 700 Club Founder 'Person of Interest'

This Date ... On The Garlic

10 November 2008... On The Garlic

Another Legend Gone ... Miriam Makeba

Retro Garlic: It Is Your Dad's PNAC!

Morning Joke Teaches Thousands of Kids To Swear! ... Or: Blame It On The Cheetos, Joe ...

10 November 2007... On The Garlic

Bernie Kerik ... This Is Your Life!

10 November 2006... On The Garlic

Bush Said To Be “Invigorated”. Ready To Tackle Issues; Post Election, Staying With New Policy, Bush Pushes Old Agenda; Says Voters Sounded Mandate to Press Lame Duck Congress To Approve Bolton And Sanction Wiretapping

10 November 2005... On The Garlic

Lobbyist Sought $15M To Introduce Bush To Cheney

Top Ten Cloves: How Oil Company Executives Justified High Prices At Senate Hearing Yesterday

Monday, November 09, 2009

1965 Blackout Anniversary

Forty-four years ago, this evening, panic swept through the Northeast, beginning around 5:30PM, as what became known as the Great Blackout, began

Power Failure Snarls Northeast; 800,000 Are Caught in Subways Here; Autos Tied Up; City Gropes In Dark

The largest power failure in history blacked out nearly all of New York City, parts of nine Northeastern states and two provinces of southeastern Canada last night. Some 80,000 square miles, in which perhaps 25 million people live and work, were affected.

Imagine something of this scale happening today.

No Twitter ... No Facebook ...

And the Right Wing Freak Show conspiracy theories ...

Asked whether there was any belief that sabotage might have been involved, Bill D. Moyers, the President's Press Secretary, would say only that "all of the resources of the Government" were being invoked in the investigation.

Later Mr. Johnson was advised that utility officials were "pretty well agreed upon the belief that there is substantially no chance of sabotage." Mr. Moyers said one theory was that the failure had been in automatic frequency control equipment.

If it occurred today, obviously, it would be some grand plot of the Obama Administration, to take over the electric grids, and dictate what people can do in their own homes.

Back then, we only got some innocuous UFO reports.

And, no doubt, some Ignorant Dolt of a PartyofNoican would probably use it to seek dissing woman, and ban abortion in this country.

More on Wikipedia - Northeast Blackout of 1965

Or, The Blackout History Project