The Natives Have Finally Become Restless

In today's SF Chronicle, the day after the 100th anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake, columnist Mark Morford writes about another potential catastrophe waiting to happen. But this one is due less to natural causes and more to immoral ones. Morford, using a gambling metaphor, really tells it like it is. It's a powerful piece, and just one of many newfound and loud voices expressing anger and protest over what's become of the Bush presidency and its impact on our country.

Describing Bush's insane threat of using nuclear weapons against Iran, Morford writes:

His pile of betting capital is down to a tiny lump, nothing like back when he had the table rigged and all the pit bosses worked for him and the pile was as big as a roomful of Texas cow pies. But now, fortune is frowning. In fact, fortune is white-hot furious at being so viciously molested, spit upon, raped lo these many years. The truth is coming out: Bush has now lost far, far more bets than he ever won.

What's to be done? Why, do what any grumbling, furious, confused, underqualified alcoholic gambler does: reach down deep and say, "To hell with the nation and to hell with the odds and to hell with the rest of the planet," and pull out one more desperate, crumpled war from deep in your pants, slap it on the table and hear the world moan.

Read the entire piece here.

Slow To Anger?

On this Sunday's political shows, Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman, tried out a new talking point to disparage Hillary Clinton as being "too angry" to lead the American public. You can see this feeble effort here at MyDD.

But the Tavern Guy finds it a bit disingenuous to be ratting out Hillary's anger management issue when the boss has time and again shown his true colors in the form of temper tantrums. I know it's hard to believe that Junior would lash out in such an immature fashion, but you can find evidence of such poor behavior here, and here, and here. And here (see paragraph nine).

At least Hillary has reason to be angry, given this Administration's continued display of ineptitude. As for Bushie, he's just upset that nobody will play with him anymore.

Hitting Bottom

"Dateline Los Angeles, Yahoo! News -- Very sad-sack story of Paris Hilton in this weekend's news cycle. Apparently, she's been robbed of some personal items and documents that are undoubtedly damaging to herself and others if uncovered. Coincidentally, there's a guy in Phoenix, Arizona who is willing to "protect" Paris by selling to her the said stolen goods for only $20mil. Oh, and this guy's day job is that of a "celebrity porn broker."

It seems to me that Paris is in the process of getting an old fashioned shakedown. I'm sure there's not a lack of motivated people (i.e., former "friends") wishing harm on poor Paris. Could this be a wake-up call?

From the article:

"The possibility that many people would be reading her journal is really disquieting," Mintz told Reuters. "She's feeling a combination of anger, certainly confusion, and just tremendous sadness."

From the Tavern Guy's perspective, I think she should also be feeling a little twitch, a slight itch in an area of her brain that had previously been asleep or otherwise debilitated. So hopefully, somewhere between anger, confusion and sadness, poor Paris is also feeling a little remorse.

Got An Alibi I Can Borrow?

Wow. It's not often that I agree with Patrick Buchanan, but in this essay, he is spot on. Bush has often said that he doesn't pay any mind to focus groups or his standings in the polls. But when an avowed conservative publicly states that you've run out of alibis, maybe it's time to change course.

Connect The Dots, La-La-La!

George Jr. (aka Pee-Wee), is fond of saying that the illegal surveillance he has ordered helps the US to connect the dots and find evildoers before they can do evil.

It occurred to me from a couple of recent news stories that connecting the dots is indeed an effective method for uncovering otherwise discreet patterns.

As you know by now, Cindy Sheehan was ousted from the gallery at the State of the Union address for wearing a T-shirt that had an anti-war message printed on the front. After much public outcry, the Capitol police force acknowledged their mistake and apologized.

Meanwhile, the day after Bush's State of the Union address, on the other side of the country in San Francisco, the American Civil Liberties Union has taken action to request Defense Department records of surveillance conducted on university campuses. This domestic spying program was implemented to monitor peace rallys and anti-war protests, with the sole rationale being that such demonstrations were "credible threats to national security."

Now it's time to connect the dots. In both instances, the unifying theme is that there was a concerted effort to suppress freedom of speech and to squelch dissent. It's sadly ironic that the president's zeal for spreading freedom and democracy around the world has resulted in the erosion of both values here at home.

If you're not outraged yet, what are you waiting for?

--The Tavern Guy

Rock Star

Bill Clinton is the only ex-president that is still president in the eyes of the rest of the world. He once again spun his magic at Davos.

Man, it was a great feeling when the US was truly Numero Uno as opposed to the target that it has become under the misdirection of the Bush Administration.

I Didn't Say Think Tank. I Said I Think I'll Get Tanked!

George W. Bush, who has adamantly and consistently said that he doesn't care about his legacy, has apparently started to do so. It's not a flip-flop, because he doesn't do that. I mean, Bush would never state that he isn't concerned about, say, Osama Bin Laden, then say that he takes Osama very seriously. Would he?

But I digress. Bush is now considering what his legacy will be after he leaves office. And in order to burnish his (already permanantly stained) image, W is considering the creation of a think tank. As he mentioned on Face the Nation, Bush stated, "I’d like to leave behind a legacy — or a think tank, a place for people to talk about freedom and liberty and the DeTocqueville model of what DeTocqueville saw in America.”

Now, I remember reading "Democracy In America" by Alexis DeTocqueville in 8th grade Civics class, and then again in Political Science class in college. Points to George Jr. for referencing this great work. But, as Think Progress reports, there are dangers within a democracy that DeTocqueville foresees and warns against that are actually happening under this Administration.

A good friend of mine once said "it's better to be drinking in a think tank, than to be thinking in a drunk tank."

I think George Jr. is planning on doing the former. Or perhaps both.


-The Tavern Guy

Thanks to Lisa over at All Hat No Cattle.net for the great graphic.

Oh No You Didn't!

If it's true that "war is hell," and that "hell hath no fury as a woman scorned," then what happens when both conditions are met?

It may be no coincidence that more women are being taken hostage by Iraqi insurgents. This seems to be quite the slippery slope we're falling into.

The State of the Union - Take Five

To provide a little warm-up for the upcoming State of the Union address on January 31, please check out this recap of Bush's four previous addresses. Talk about being "on message."

I think there's a drinking game in there somewhere. But be careful -- a shot for every time the word "jobs" is said will kill you.

Thanks yet again to Think Progress for a job (drink up!) well done.

Quick! A loser says what?

The dishonesty of the Bush Administration has been pervasive. From Hurricane Katrina ("I don't think anyone anticipated the breaching of the levees." - GWB) to warrantless wiretapping ("Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order." - GWB), the Administration's spinmeisters have worked tirelessly to conceal what the government's really doing.

But in this exchange between George Bush and a college sophomore, the lying is not only becoming blatant, it's also getting sloppy.

I guess all that relentless spinning ultimately makes one very dizzy.

Thanks to Think Progress for providing the bandwidth.