Two-Man Race in Calif. Recall? (washingtonpost.com)

I have a hard time taking all of this seriously. The recall is a great democratic and progressive tool, but this seems wrong. Using it to go after someone you don't like is not exactly the law's intent, imho.

Now, as for Arnold, this is really starting to bug me. Here is someone who has no qualifications for this race beyond his fame. His comments about women are truly disgusting--especially his comment to Adrianna Huffington about having a part in mind for her in Terminator 4. This obvious reference to shoving her into a toilet bowl is just too rude. I think Adrianna was being rude to him as well, but that is unacceptable.

But I am not going to worry about Governor Arnold. I suspect that he will be both less problematic and less successful than people think.

Still a major jerk.

Salon.com News | War is peace!: "Advertising is blatant manipulation. If there were ads on our TV trying to convince us that Osama bin Laden's ideology and religion were really wonderful, it would be just as ridiculous as these ads Charlotte Beers was trying to run in Muslim countries. "

Interesting story on the failed PR campaign to make Muslims like America. The authors of a new book "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War in Iraq" argue that PR techniques, while very effective at selling cars and Victoria Secret are not good at convincing a hostile audience to like something they hate. Charlotte Beers, the Madison Avenue ad genius ran ads that included women running in shorts--something so offensive to Muslims that the ads were not allowed to run in most Arab countries. That is the level of ignorance, arrogance, and just plain stupidity behind this effort. As the authors suggest, if we want to make real inroads in Arab countries, we have to actually talk to them. Really talk. Not just try to tell them we are great.

Salon.com News | Bush abandons troop-protection plan: "No president in recent memory has been a fiercer ally of men and women in uniform. 'We will not cut corners when it comes to the defense of our great land,' Bush said last year. Even Ronald Reagan, one of the most forceful proponents of a strong military ever to inhabit the White House, never donned a flight suit and flew onto the deck of an aircraft carrier aboard a Navy plane. "

I find this statement highly suspect. This administration has tried to 1) cut benefits for veterans, and 2) cut danger pay for soldiers in the field and now is cutting money to defend transports from missiles. This administration is not pro-military.

Yahoo! News - Bush Aides Say They'll Cooperate With Probe Into Intelligence Leak

Sorry for the delay between my last posting. Spent some time in Austin listening to great music at the Austin City Limits music festival, ane then have been busy otherwise.

This story, however, is pulling me out of my lethargy. It amazes me that it is taking so long for the story to have legs. I have known about it for some time. Someone in the Bush administration actually leaked the identity of a CIA operative. Why? Evidently to intimidate Joseph Wilson who refused to give the White House the analysis they wanted. Who did it? My money is somewhere in the VP's office. He is the one who sent Wilson to Niger to investigate the uranium story, and the one who was most likely displeased by the former Ambassador's report. Now, if only someone will actually investigate this.

My previous post about Roy Moore speaks to a growing problem with Americans and their history. I noticed this around the 4th of July, when I heard many conservative Christians talking about the Constitution and Declaration as if they were the same thing. Or perhaps, the Declaration as preface to the Constitution. But the Declaration needs to be understood as a propaganda piece. A beautifully written propaganda piece to justify a revolution against England. But it is not the law of the land. I am sure that many conflate the two because the Declaration mentions God while the Constitution does not. Perhaps that is on purpose......

CBN News - Judge Roy Moore: On the Battle to Ban God from Government: "PAT ROBERTSON: With us here in the studio is the man at the center of this controversy. He's the Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. And Mr. Chief Justice, once again we welcome you to 'The 700 Club.' Thank you for being here. According to the Constitution, what is the law of the land?

ROY MOORE: The Constitution is the law of the land. The First Amendment represents that, that the acknowledgment of God is not prohibited the Constitution, indeed the only purpose of the First Amendment is to allow the acknowledgment of God. You know, the first thing that Congress did on September 25th, 1789, after it approved the final words of the First Amendment, was to ask the President to direct a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer to Almighty God for the peaceful manner in which the Constitution was formed. So the very purpose of the First Amendment was to allow the acknowledgment of God.


And you ask what the law of the land is--it's contained in the organic law of our country, The Declaration of Independence, which acknowledges that God gave us our life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness. And government's only role was to secure those rights for us."

Excuse me? The law of the land is the Declaration?

President Asks for Expanded Patriot Act (washingtonpost.com): "Hailing the passage of the 2001 USA Patriot Act, which expanded federal police powers, Bush said those changes did not go far enough. He called for empowering authorities in terrorist investigations to issue subpoenas without going to grand juries, to hold suspects without bail and to pursue the death penalty in more cases. "

That's right. The first one didn't go far enough. America, it seems, has been woefully ignorant to believe in due process all these years.

Ariz. to Fight Decision On Death Sentences (washingtonpost.com): "'It's just going to cost the taxpayers more money, more mistakes are going to be made and I just think it's just a waste. Obviously these guys did something bad to get there,' he said. 'Some of the things criminals do are so heinous that they need not enjoy life anymore. I think they should just let things stay how they are. Why should they get another chance?' "

Streak thinks this is why the death penalty is so heinous. People don't really care whether the process is fair; or if innocent people might be executed or anything. The death penalty makes people feel like there is justice. Even if there isn't.

Streak's friend M wanted to call attention to the fact that the Democratic debate from New Mexico will air on Oklahoma's PBS tonight at 10.

In other news, we went to a Dean Meet-Up last night in Norman, Oklahoma. No singing of "Oklahoma" but some rousing anti-Bush rhetoric. One thing that tickled Streak, was the wide range of age groups represented. My parents tried to tell me that only young people are liberal and that as you age, you get more conservative. I saw a lot of evidence to the contrary.

CNN.com - Judicial nominee Estrada withdraws his name - Sep. 4, 2003


Bush and GOP decry politically partisan minority holding up nominations. They must mean politically "liberal" partisan minority.