September 11th Remembered

September 11th marks a dark day for democracy

A day when a democratic country was attacked.

Attacked by a conspiracy of internal tyrannical thugs - allied with the devious plot of a foreign government.

This attack resulted in the death of nearly 3,000 people,
with the injury & "disappearances" of thousands more.

September 11, 1973
That country: Chile
The tyrannical thugs: Augusto Pinochet's coup d'état of the democratically elected Allende government
The foreign government: The US under Nixon/Kissinger.

With the natural death of the thug Augusto Pinochet on December 10, 2006 (Human Rights day - ironically), may we now learn from history instead of repeating it again: No natural death for tyrants.

Sic semper tyrannis

People to Bush: "No, We're the Decider!"

Since I first became politically aware/active, I would from time to time talk with folks who believed their vote counted for nothing. And I totally empathize - for a significant period of time, I felt the same. I still voted, but I never believed it really mattered.

The events this week will serve as a history lesson plan & template to squash the futile belief that your vote doesn't matter. The events this week were a clear message to our leaders: You do not rule us - we are YOUR employers. We can, will, do, & did say "You're FIRED".

Don't believe me? Just take a look at this sequence of the events this week:
November 2, 2006
"Bush Says Rumsfeld Should Stay in Office Until the End of His Presidency"

November 7th, 2006
Democrats sweep House, Senate hangs in balance

November 8th, 2006
Rumsfeld Resigns as Defense Secretary

Message Heard
Message Understood
Message Acknowledged
HOOOOOAH!

Think about it. This is a major foreign policy shift, during a war (albeit undeclared), in a government sector that is notoriously numb to public pressure (The Pentagon) - the equivalant of a tit mouse pushing an elephant. All precipitated by the events of November 7th, 2006 - the tit-mouse that roared.

Behold: the raw power of voting.
Now get out there and do it again.

Senator Santorum (R-PA) compares America to "The Land of Sorrow"

Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), decided to exhibit a fine case of hoof/mouth disease:

"As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else," Santorum said, describing the tool the evil Lord Sauron used in search of the magical ring that would consolidate his power over Middle-earth.

"It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S." Santorum continued. "You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States"

For proper analysis of Santorum's hoof/mouth, it's obvious that several things must be promptly shunted off the table.

First off, Time and Space go bye-bye due to the fact that Bush's Real Iraq Adventure-turned-quagmire started in 2003, whereas Tolkien wrote his Fantasy books in 1954,

Secondly, we also have to say adios to JRR Tolkien's thoughts on his own work:
"As for any inner meaning or 'message', it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical."
~JRR Tolkien, Forward, Lord of the Rings

But okay, Santorum has decided to live in his own fantasyland. You know, the same fantasyland that argues "Staying the course" will lead to "victory", without defining either "the course" or "victory". For the sake of Illuvatar-knows-what, let's just set aside time/space and Tolkien's post-humous "fuck you", and endulge Herr Santorum with his analogy.

The first part seems pretty straight forward:

The Army at the gates of Mordor as a distraction for the Eye of Sauron
-is to-
US military in Iraq as a distraction to "terrorism"

Seems fairly straight forward. But distracting The Eye of Sauron (terrorism) from what? As you can see, from this point on Santorum's comparison falls apart exponentially... or maybe not? Taking the comparison to it's proper fruition:

The Eye of Sauron (Terrorism) is being distracted by the army marching toward at The Black Gate (Iraq). Because of this distraction, the Eye of Sauron (Terrorism) is focused away from MORDOR (America) .
DOH!!! (or hmmmmmmmm....).

Perhaps we should just set-aside Time/Space or Tolkien's grave-rolling and post-humous fuck you's & just take Santorum at his word. C'mon ABCNews, grow some minerals and run with this headline:

"Senator Santorum Compares America to Mordor"
(ie, The Black Land/Land of Sorrow)

Alright don't then, you cowards - but I will.

Note: A few other blogerrific individuals have been hard at work mining this story...
Blogger Allyn properly connects Santorum's logic - noting the the army in LOTR was being sent on a complete suicide mission. Santorum forgets of course that the US(Mordor) owns no magic rings.(???)
On a lighter note, photo funster Kvatch has fun with Santorum (ie, The Mouth of Sauron).

Note 2: For shits-n-giggles, do a google search of "Santorum" and hit "I'm feeling lucky". You google-bombing pranksters/geniuses, you!

GOP Fear-card hits wall

As mentioned here: "GOP vs. Everything we hold dear", the not-so-bright-wing is on a full-court press to scare the bajeezers out of everyone right before the midterm election. Unfortunately for them, all intelligence is working against them (not that intelligence ever worked for them):

Intel: War has Worsened Terror Threat
"The report found that the war has helped create a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks."

Lesson learned: We are not safer after Bush's Iraq adventure
Lesson for the not-so-bright-wing: Thrust fingers farther in ears & add decibels singing

Checking my political tea-leaves/entrails. I see another heavy pandering to the Fundio-fascists - dusting off the ol' reliable Abortio-fag card. Hmmmmmm... this knotted lower intestine here indicates a possible Presidential "emergency trip" to the bedside of a lobotomized vegetable...

Stay tuned...

Looking back, and Looking forward

5 years later - Are we safer?

One state sure is. A state with three times more cattle than people.

On the record: Wyoming chief of homeland security

Tired of Bush mentioning 9-11?

Alright, it's our turn: Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, the least populous state in the entire US - has recieved the largest per capita chunk of Homeland Security cash - $27.80 per person. Thats TWICE as much as New York - center of the 9-11 attacks (THREE TIMES as much as California - I can only imagine what Seattle/Washington received. ).
Note: Wyoming is Dick Cheney's home state. Coincidence?

Let's put this all into perspective. When Bush says he has made us safer, what he's really saying is that cows are now safer than the citizens of New York - where on September 11 2001, 2,801 human beings perished.

Yes, we have enemies that want to harm us. But make no mistake, those enemies are not targeting sagebrush, not targeting rattlesnakes, not targeting livestock, and not targeting dirtclods.

Our enemies are thrilled that a giant porky bureaucracy is being built over a tiny, unpopulated, land-locked state. Our enemies are thrilled that New York & California - our most vulnerable metropolitan & port areas - are receiving nothing.

In giving Wyoming the lionshare of Homeland Security dough, Bush is giving aid and comfort to the enemy. This November, let's bring is all to a screeching hault.

Mission Accomplished

I just love restrospectives, don't you?

June 5th, 2003
Bush to troops: Mission accomplished



February 23rd, 2006
Dozens killed as Iraq slides towards civil war