What does President Bush have to apologize for? Let's see. Taking the country to war on the basis of what he knew were lies? Check. Distorting and lying about WMD intelligence to goad the country into war? Check. Having no plan for what to do in Iraq after Baghdad fell? Check. Lying about how badly things were going in Iraq because he couldn't face the truth and thus letting hundreds or thousands or American military personnel die? Check. Mmmm. Lying to the country about al Qaida being tied to Iraq, resulting in hundreds or thousands of American deaths? Check. Got any more? [Sure ... he later notes Bush is saying that if we vote for Dems, we are helping the terrorists.]
-- TPM
Seriously, along with gay marriage decision, some Republicans (including John McCain, long past shameless hypocrisy) drooled when they heard Kerry (I'm sick of seeing him in campaign photos shown in the papers ... do the candidates welcome this selection?) -- who isn't running -- said. Ooohhhh! We can, with the help of the media, change the subject. [This requires twisting what we know he meant, but hey, honesty is not our m.o. anyhow.] The media can read this btw and note how some suggest my use of "we" means that I am talking about myself, especially with some selective editing.
And, you know, hope the public is soooo stupid to think, "Well, sure, the Republicans totally f-ed things up, but well, we have to vote for them now!" The contempt, though expected, is rather glaring. But, alas, they have to cover their own rear. Thus, previously loyalists share sentiments like these:
And it makes me mad. I still think of myself as a Republican- but I think the whole party has been hijacked by frauds and religionists and crooks and liars and corporate shills, and it frustrates me to no end to see my former friends enabling them, and I wonder "Why can't they see what I see?" I don't think I am crazy, I don’t think my beliefs have changed radically, and I don't think I have been (as suggested by others) brainwashed by my commentariat.
Which is nice and all, but people like myself are of the mind, "what the heck took you so long?" Seriously, did it take you to the Terri Schiavo mess (hello! impeachment for lying about a b.j.) to realize what was happening? Deciding to read a book to school children when a plane flew into a major U.S. building not enough for you? Only the self-deceiving is shocked, just shocked, at Rovian tactics that did not begin c. 2005. I'm not claiming prophet-like powers here ... I read Molly Ivins' (sure, she's a libbie, but a trustworthy sort) book Shrub in mid-2000.
It's all there. The difference was just the possible degree. There's a few lists of liberal principles out there, some flawed, some better.* I'm a mutt, but will take the label with pride, unlike that moron Kerry who ran away from it like the plague ("I don't like labels") in 2004. Liberal is one of my names (they are legion, to quote the New Testament).
But, hey, I'm with those who do not really care for the label. Fine enough. Support the other people. OTOH, this horror at what the party has become just took so bloody long. Deny a stolen election -- sorry, the facts are there in 2000. Deny the fact the Christian Right twisted your party's principles long before now. Deny Bush was ever just a tool not fit for the job, the hope being he would surround himself with talented ones. After awhile, you look like major dupes. Still, happy you finally got a f-ing clue.
Enough of the electorate apparently has already, even one skewered by gerrymandering, equal Senate votes (which Madison and company didn't originally want) that favor conservative states with a minority of the population, and so forth. At least, in one House of the Congress. The "people's house" ... and this shit isn't going to stop them from voting that way. The Dixie Chicks are now signing "I hope."
Well, me too. BTW, I know it's just a diversion, but I am sick of John Kerry. People go on and on how the Republicans would find a way to smear the Lord himself if it was necessary (and, in effect, they do given how they twist Christian doctrine), but some people just help them a bit too much. And, pictures make it look like he' some guy who is wearing a Kerry mask.
Not that whenever I see Bush's face on my AOL screen that I could avoid a little shiver. Sigh.
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* The latter has principles such as:
Liberals believe government must protect the safety and security of the people, for without such protection liberalism is impossible. This, of course, is less a tenet of liberalism than a reply to those who attack liberalism. The accusation that liberals are unwilling to protect the nation from internal and external dangers is false. Because liberals respect competing values, such as procedural fairness and individual dignity, they weigh more carefully particular exercises of government power (such as the use of secret evidence, hearsay and torture), but they are no less willing to use government authority in other forms (such as expanded police forces and international diplomacy) to protect the nation and its citizens.