old Satire Shmatire

The Resurrection

2007-10-04T14:53:00.000-04:00

Yep been dormant for almost 2 years. Stay tuned and I'll be back shortly (maybe) ;-)

Scooter's Indictment

2005-10-30T21:20:00.000-05:00

This is a great day for the Bush Administration, they've gotten rid of high official called "Scooter." I mean at least they don't have to suffer the indignities of such a ridiculous name.

Harriet We Hardly Knew Ya

2005-10-27T18:17:00.000-04:00

Harriet Miers the embattled Supreme Court nominee withdraws! Not a great surprise given the forces lining up against her.
The amusing part of it all is that she is going to help vet the next nominee...doh!

Ahhh to Dream

2005-10-25T17:38:00.000-04:00

2000 Dead, 15000 Wounded

2005-10-25T17:28:00.000-04:00

Not a damn thing funny 'bout this - the US officially surpasses 2000 dead, and over 15000 wounded in the Iraq War.

Imminent Indictments?

2005-10-24T19:24:00.000-04:00

I haven't been this breathless with anticipation since the Supreme Court gave the election to Dubya. It's indictment time!
Maybe.
Patrick Fitzgerald the Special Council in the Office of Special Council at the Department of Justice supposedly is going to wrap up his investigation as early as this week.

President Bush praised Fitzgerald a few weeks ago for running a very dignified investigation. This week it's all "no comment". The excitement is building, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

The right wing-nuts are already spinning the news about indictments before they happen. Things like: "it's just legal technicalities", "the criminalization of politics", "not indictments of the crimes but just about lies". A cool site aiming to keep the record straight is at ThinkProgress where they list the spin and the facts.

Libby, Rove and Lies Oh My!

Jesus for Harriet

2005-10-15T11:35:00.000-04:00

Apparently nominations to the Supreme Court now must pass the "religion litmus test". Harriet Miers views on religion are becoming a key factor in her nomination. That and the "trust me" Bush factor.

Obviously the Republicans, or maybe the Democrats since it's the right wing-nuts that are the most incensed, need to start a "Who would Jesus Nominate" campaign.

Oops Nevermind

2005-10-11T17:58:00.000-04:00

Remember Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live, playing that spinster Emily Litella...she usually ended her shtick with "nevermind". We've just been treated to NY City's finest edition of the same shtick as officials now say nevermind the "source" that claimed the subway system was about to be attacked was lying. I'm sure glad I don't have to make those judgments, but there's only so many times you can Cry Wolf.

All this activity is also lots cheaper for Bloomberg then running actual campaign commercials.

Top Ten Rumblings on the Right

2005-10-07T19:32:00.000-04:00

These are trying days for the ruling Rights.

Out top ten list includes:

10. Number 2, deputy attorney general nominated for Justice withdraws.

9. Karl Rove testifying again, and in danger of indictment for leaking a CIA operative

8. Tom Delay under 2 count 'em 2 indictments and loses leadership post

7. The right wing-nuts are apoplectic over the supreme court nomination.

6. Chief procurement official is arrested.

5. Katrina continues to cast a long shadow and FEMA is still quite incompetent.

4. Hey a spy in the White House.

3. Torture really isn't good...so says Congress.

2. Iraq body count nears 2000

1. Public support for the Iraq war is waning.

Coincidence or Orchestration

2005-10-06T21:50:00.000-04:00

Item 1: Bush baits the press with a "major" speech about the ongoing "War on Terrorism" revealing among other things that the Administration has disrupted 10 major Al Qaeda plots (cross his heart).

Item 2: New York goes on extra extra double orange alert because of a credible specific threat to the Subway system. Listening to CNN they said the FBI discounted the viability of the threat several days ago, but it's true you can't be too careful these days. Are you scared yet?

Item 3: NBC reports a rift on Al Qaeda reporting on an intercepted communique between the top dogs in Iraq and the #2 man holed up with Osama. Great to know these guys are feuding amongst themselves and raising the whole specter of "big" Al Qaeda plans.

Sooooo what do you think of the timing of all these things? One of the time tested proven ways of maintaining support for the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq is to continue to link it to terrorists (now true!, was false) and keep on scaring the crap out of the public.

Ya gotta wonder coincidence or orchestration!

Extreme Laura

2005-10-02T20:59:00.000-04:00

It's hard to stop watching the do-gooder show Extreme Home Makeover. What's not to love about this crew of much too good looking designers picking people in need and building them new homes, or remaking (usually in its entirety) their existing homes. The stories about the deserving people are often heartwarming and heartwrenching for people with too many problems in their lives.

As aptly pointed out in an LA Times article, there is also something quite crass about the weekly parade of deserving families. Shows like this help people and make sure to tell you they help them.

Finally the Bush administration in an attempt to make up for the continuing Katrina response failures, is bringing out the big guns. Laura Bush is going to be appearing on the show helping victims of the hurricane in Biloxi, Miss. I suppose its politics as usual but that word crass just seems so right. I particularly like the descriptions of the event in Biloxi where the producers told all the victims to act surprised when she appeared to hand out water.

This aid brought to you by Sears, Craftsman, ABC, the Whitehouse, and so on and so on.

FCC Could Nix Your Software

2005-09-28T21:12:00.000-04:00

There they go again. CNET reports a frightening new development. The FCC just released a "Policy Statement" that says:

To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement.

Subject to the needs of law enforcement? What does that mean? Obviously it means the FCC and whoever is pulling their strings doesn't want you to run Skype or Kazaa or other P2P technologies that don't provide backdoors for law enforcement. I thought software was ruled as a type of free speech a long time ago.

Ah well you don't really want to run whatever software you like?

What Goes Around...

2005-09-28T17:38:00.000-04:00

Tom (the Hammer) DeLay has been Indicted in a criminal conspiracy. He's had to relinquish his leadership post.

Who says there's no justice.

Is it Gravity or Rubber Bands on Our Feet?

2005-09-27T22:37:00.000-04:00

As the trial in Dover PA about teaching Intelligent Design in science classes, gets underway it's instructive to look at some of the press from overseas. This article from the UK's Guardian quotes one participant saying:

You can dress up intelligent design and make it look like science, but it just doesn't pass muster. In science class, you don't say to the students, 'Is there gravity, or do you think we have rubber bands on our feet?

Love the Brits sense of style.

In addition I have to point out that if it is rules that Intelligent Design is not primarily a religious philosophy disguised as science then the theories of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster must also be taught.

Oh please...Benator?

2005-09-27T05:36:00.000-04:00

Yes the Dems are really reaching for the stars, according to the Washington Post Ben (J Lo's Ex) Affleck is rumored to be considering a run for the Virginia Senate! This has got to be wishful thinking for the Dems who are desperately seeking someone to challenge Senator George Allen.

Stick to your day job Ben.

Hey Kids, FEMA's Brown Is Still in Charge!

2005-09-25T19:36:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the eagle eyed reporting of Wonkette, I've discovered that FEMA has a site for kids...whoopee!
You can even get FEMA stuff like coloring books, brochures about Tsunami's and more...beat still my heart.

Best of all the page about who's in charge still points to info about the dearly departed Mike (Brownie) Brown.

Hurry up and check it out while it lasts!

Protests and Books

2005-09-25T12:12:00.000-04:00

The antiwar protests on the national Mall saw upwards of 300,000 people (according to protest organizers) and it was just like the 60s all over again! Amusingly this was also the weekend for the National Book Festival. Amidst the protestors the quiet complementation of folks looking to peruse some books and see some authors all sharing space on the Mall.

Is this a great country or what!

Bush the Unleader

2005-09-24T11:03:00.000-04:00

So there I was on the treadmill (doesn't seem to be working) trying to get a little exercise and watching TV, when all of a sudden up comes Dubya for his weekly radio address. It really struck me listening to this 707 word piece of literary pablum that Bush is losing any of the leadership abilities he had. The tone was flat, the text was simply list of things the "federal government" was going to do for the "American people", the assets in place and basically a list of things to prevent anyone from accusing them (this time) from being lax.

Where is the empathy! There was not one mention of the trouble and heartache that the evacuees faced sitting in 100 mile car backups and their struggle to get out. I'm not suggesting that he point out all of those difficulties, simply that he express some modicum of understanding and empathy for the trials and tribulations all those folks just are going through. That would be a sign of a true leader. Yes yes silly thought I know.

Katrina and Rita

2005-09-23T20:20:00.000-04:00

I just new Rita was going to be a big problem as soon as I heard of it. Rita and Katrina rhyme too well.

All kidding aside let's hope all the "officials" in charge get it right this time. Looks like the new Hurricane cycle of increased activity is going to give them lots of opportunity to practice.

Let's all thing positive now!

Bush Secretly Working for Daily Show!

2005-09-20T18:01:00.000-04:00

According to the NY Times, "President Bush has named Frances Fragos Townsend, his domestic security adviser, to lead an internal White House inquiry into the administration's performance in handling Hurricane Katrina, Scott McClellan, Mr. Bush's spokesman, said Monday"

To be clear Ms Townsend is Bush's advisor on homeland security, and she is going to investigate the failures in the response to Katrina, makes sense, right? I have it on good authority that this is actually an effort by Bush to win favor with the Emmy winning Daily Show on Comedy Central.

The material just writes itself!

Is America Wising Up...Lowest Bush Approval

2005-09-14T19:37:00.000-04:00

According to the latest NBC / Wall Street Journal poll, Bush's approval rating is at the lowest point in his Presidency.

According to the poll, Bush�s job approval has plummeted to 40 percent, an all-time low for the president. That�s a drop of 6 points from the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll taken in July, and it�s consistent with results from other recent national surveys.

One has to wonder if after the fabulous success of the Iraq War (ahem), the location of WMDs, the reorganization of the entire federal government to focus on terrorism and disasters resulting in the response to Katrina, if the American public is finally getting Bush's number.

Probably not...but I can dream ;-)

Bush takes Responsibility?

2005-09-13T18:47:00.000-04:00

The headlines on CNN, the NY Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post and others declared "Bush Takes Responsibility" or "Bush Accepts Blame" for the problems of the response to Katrina. Specifically he said: "To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."

This extraordinary admission is only extraordinary because this President has until now been incapable of admitting mistakes. Remember the famous non-answer during the last debates?

The real issue is that since FEMA and lord knows now many other agencies have been stacked with political hacks, what is the President going to do to act on this new found responsibility.

Let's Play find the Scapegoat

2005-09-06T20:39:00.000-04:00

It's little more then a week since Katrina hit the Gulf coast and one thing is clear...all levels of government officials screwed up BIG TIME! I heard today then Bangladesh (no I'm not kidding) was offering aid.

All we hear from Dubya is that it's not time to play the blame game, he wants to save lives. Golly gee ya think! Perhaps filling the post of FEMA as a reward for political patronage wasn't quite such a good idea. Or perhaps systems to help people get connected with people could have been set up and coordinated ahead of time. The Red Cross and FEMA both have systems to register people and they (of course) don't talk to each other. This is not rocket science, it's exactly the type of systems that one would think could be planned.

Fingers are being pointed at the Mayor of New Orleans. Yep they certainly should have had better plans but they clearly don't have the resources. More fingers are being pointed at the Governor of Louisiana, yep she was clearly overwhelmed, not all that surprising it was an overwhelming event. So let's talk about FEMA, it's the reason for their existence! Yes this was an unbelievably (although predicted, many times) event where's the leadership. Why didn't FEMA take charge? Where they waiting for a gold leaf invitation from the Governor? Wasn't the point of reorganizing the government since 9/11 to be able to respond effectively to disasters either man made (terrorism) of natural?

So Bush is all ready to investigate the problems (when the time is appropriate). I can't wait. Heard a great comment on the tube today: "Having Bush investigate problems with Katrina is like having Ken Lay investigate Enron."

There's just no way around it Dubya has screwed it up big time, and the stench of rotting bodies floating in New Orleans is on his hands. Bush is no scapegoat he's supposed to be where the buck stops, it's called responsibility.

Katrina ;-(

2005-08-31T16:46:00.000-04:00

Links to reputable charities:

Red Cross

Network for Good

American Jewish World Service

Catholic Charities USA

Look Ma it's an Energy Bill

2005-08-08T19:55:00.000-04:00

Bush Signs Energy Bill which gives approximately $14.5 billion to good ole' energy companies. You know the ones like ExxonMobile, Shell, all those poor companies that are going out of business I assume, why else would they be getting these massive tax breaks?

Oh by the way, a barrel of oil cost almost $64 today, a new record.