Month: July 2007

American Family Association Spreading Hindu Hate

Buck Banks

From the folks who brought you homophobia on a national scale comes this latest — Hinduphobia. Unrelenting wingnut Donald “Wildman” Wildmon has got his panties in a twist because a Hindu — you know, the folks with the dots on their forehead — is giving the opening invocation in the Senate tomorrow. So he is enlisting his legions of zombie-like followers in the American Family Association to pester their senators into putting the kibosh on the cow worshipper.

Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nev., is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. According to Wildmon (which I could not confirm) Zed told the Las Vegas Sun that he will likely include in his prayer references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards [sic], and Bhagavard-Gita [sic]. Wildmon also alleges that unnamed historians say it will be the first Hindu prayer read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.

So Wildmon trots out the president of — get this — Wallbuilders (as opposed to, say, Bridgebuilders) to justify opposing Zed’s prayer:

‘What is the message, and why is the message needed? And will it actually communicate anything other than engender with folks like me a lot of questions?’
– David Barton

WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto “One Nation Under God.”

“In Hindu, you have not one God, but many, many, many, many, many gods,” the Christian historian explains. “And certainly that was never in the minds of those who did the Constitution, did the Declaration [of Independence] when they talked about Creator — that’s not one that fits here because we don’t know which creator we’re talking about within the Hindu religion.”

Huh? OK, so Barton reasons (if we can call it that) that if ignorance of the Hindu religion is not enough, Zed’s prayer should be prevented because Hindus are such a tiny minority in America:

Barton says given the fact that Hindus are a tiny constituency of the American public, he questions the motivation of Senate leaders. “This is not a religion that has produced great things in the world,” he observes.

And while Barton acknowledges there is not constitutional problem with a Hindu prayer in the Senate, he wonders about the political side of it. “One definitely wonders about the pragmatic side of it,” he says. “What is the message, and why is the message needed? And will it actually communicate anything other than engender with folks like me a lot of questions?”

Besides Barton’s obvious inability to use English in a consistent, coherent manner, his message of ignorance and jingoism is a dangerous one. He seems to actually believe that the Constitution will be harmed and the Senate chambers will be permanently slimed by some kind of Hindu mojo, which encourages Wildmon’s attempt to gin up grass roots opposition to some foreign guy saying a prayer to anybody but Jesus.

Let’s just hope that the AFA’s foray into Hindu hatred fares as well as its ineffectual boycott of Ford Motor Co., and Rajan Zed gets to pray to Krishna in front of all those rich white people in the Senate.

Serial Adulterer Giuliani Is Disappointed That Sen. Vitter Had Sex with Hooker

Jon Ponder

Presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani’s reaction today to news that one of his supporters, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) admitted he procured at least one prostitute from the so-called D.C. Madam six years ago, has raised the bar in Republican hypocrisy about adultery:

“I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”
— Wendy Vitter

On Vitter, Giuliani … emphasized “this is a personal issue” and highlighted that he couldn’t have achieved so much in the campaign and during his years as mayor without the good character of his staffers and supporters. “But,” Giuliani added, “Some people disappoint you.”

While he was mayor of New York, Giuliani had at least two affairs outside his marriage to Donna Hanover. He made headlines when Hanover learned that Rudy planned to divorce her when he announced it at a news conference.

Vitter serves as a regional chairman of Giuliani’s campaign in the South. Recently, Giuliani’s South Carolina finance chair, Tom Ravenel, quit the campaign after it was announced he had been indicted on federal cocaine distribution charges.

Vitter was elected to the House in 1999, filling the seat vacated by Rep. Bob Livingston, the would-be Speaker of the House who was ousted at the eleventh hour when porn purveyor Larry Flynt obtained evidence about Livingston’s kinky extramarital sex life.

(Livingston was taking over the speakership from Newt Gingrich, who was removed from the leadership when it was revealed he was having an affair with a staffer. In the background of all this, Gingrich, Livingston and the House GOP were busy impeaching Pres. Bill Clinton over a sex lie.)

As regards Vitter, it turns out that this is not the first time he has been caught paying for sex:

…Vitter was accused of an extramarital affair in 1999 with a New Orleans prostitute, Wendy Cortez. Wendy Cortez contacted former Governor Treen’s office during the 2002 campaign for governor that year, because she was unhappy he was claiming to be a family values candidate and cheating on his wife with her.

He says it’s all behind him now, which sounds like a good idea, considering this quote from his wife:

“I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary,” Wendy Vitter told Newhouse News. “If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”

“I think fear is a very good motivating factor in a marriage,” she added. “Don’t put fear down.”

Lorena Bobbitt, you may recall (and I was fuzzy on the details, which Trish pointed out), cut off her husband’s offending member after he cheated on her and repeatedly assaulted her:

In the years following their 1989 marriage, the relationship between John Wayne Bobbitt, 26, and his Ecuadorian wife, Lorena, 24, grew increasingly strained. Their marital problems allegedly stemmed from a combination of the couple’s financial troubles, John’s extramarital affairs and his intensifying emotional and physical abuse of his wife. Their troubles peaked on June 23, 1993 when John came home to their Manassas, Va., apartment intoxicated after a night of partying and allegedly forced his wife to have sex, Lorena later testified during a 1994 court hearing.

Better watch out, Senator.

Can Peace in the Middle East Be Far Behind?

Buck Banks

One wonders: The Israeli government has issued a press release stating that by autumn its embassies in the United States will switch to hybrid-electric vehicles:

“Reducing oil dependence and protecting the environment are key factors in improving international security,” Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Sallai Meridor said. “We are proud to be among the first countries to take this small but symbolic step. Our hope is that many small steps taken together will lead to major policy action around the world that will address one of the most critical strategic and environmental issues facing our common future.”

How about addressing the problem of the environmental impact of rockets and air strikes on Lebanon ….

White House in Panic Mode as Iraqi Leaders Urge Citizens to Arm and Republicans Do the Same

Trish

You know it’s serious when Bush finally takes note. The last time something contrary to his dignitudish certitude penetrated the concrete and barbed wire around his shrunken brain was when Americans took Congressional control from Republicans in last year’s elections.

If he thinks he took a whuppin’ then, look out. Iraq’s chaos and Republicans’ inability to keep denying it have reached critical mass.

After a weekend that left hundreds dead and wounded, there’s one thing Iraq’s leaders agree on: their security forces are outgunned. They now suggest civilians take up the slack.

Isn’t the A.A. definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing and expect different results? We are like, so there.

Prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians called on Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves after a weekend of violence that claimed more than 220 lives, including 60 who died today in a surge of bombings and shootings around Baghdad.

The calls reflect growing frustration with the inability of Iraqi security forces to prevent extremist attacks.

Things are so bad that some in Iraq are ready to stop pretending that what they have is a government.

Another prominent Sunni lawmaker, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had failed to provide services and security but he stopped short of saying his followers would seek to topple the Shiite-led government.

“The situation has become terribly bad,” al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press. “All options are open for us. We are going to study the situation thoroughly, and we are going to look into the possible measures which go with the interests of the Iraqi people. We will also consider whether to keep on with the government or not.”

Republicans in Congress are finally catching on. And they’re not happy.

ABC News has been told the White House is in “panic mode” over the recent defections of Republican senators on the president’s stay-the-course policy in Iraq…

The Republican defections are seen as “a crack in the dike,” according to the senior White House official, and National Security Adviser Steven Hadley is most concerned…

The source of all this concern is the reckoning about to come later this week, when Bush has to acknowledge just how bad things are, and how, even without Rumsfeld to blame, Bush just can’t get his Iraq act together.

A senior White House official told ABC News the report will be “mixed.” The White House does believe there has been progress on the security front in Iraq, but the political progress is obviously very bad.

One official familiar with the report said there are some bizarre categories under benchmark that say “satisfactory, nonsatisfactory and unsatisfactory”.

And yet, even with classifications like subsatisfactory, dissatisfactory, and freakin-bad-anti-satisfactory, Bush is unwilling to do anything different. Isn’t that the A.A. definition of insanity? To keep doing the same thing and expect different results? We are like, so there.

Despite the report’s mixed conclusions about the president’s policy, senior White House officials told ABC News not to expect Bush to announce any kind of changes or new strategy.

Poll: Little Support for Bush and His Libby Commute, But Growing Support for Impeachmnent

Buck Banks

There’s some speculation that George Bush’s dismally low approval rating made it all that much easier for him to commute Scooter Libby’s sentence because, well, what did he have to lose? His vaunted “political capital?”

As Time’s Richard Lacayo sees it, it’s just another Bush promise that seemed to be broken — or was it?

George W. Bush once promised that anyone in his Administration who broke the law would “be taken care of.” At the time, he appeared to mean they would face the consequences of their actions. Then he took care of I. Lewis Libby, and all at once, his words assumed a somewhat different tone.

Semantics aside, National Journal’s PollTrack surveyed the surveys, and found that Scooter’s Get Out of Jail Card did not play with most Americans:

A 54-percent majority said they wanted to see the House move to impeach the vice president.

Just 31 percent of American Research Group respondents said they supported Bush’s move to commute Libby’s sentence. About double that number (64 percent) said they disapproved.

A full pardon would have been even less popular. Just 11 percent of respondents said they supported a “complete presidential pardon” for Libby; 84 percent opposed one. Seven in 10 Republicans said they were against a pardon; 82 percent of Democrats and a whopping 97 percent of independents said the same.

Earlier polls didn’t show much support for a pardon, either. Just two in 10 told FOX News/Opinion Dynamics pollsters two weeks ago that Bush should let Libby off the hook. Polls from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation and Gallup taken soon after the March 6 verdict found similarly low numbers.

Are we, as a nation, fed up enough with Bush and Cheney’s antics to demand they be impeached? Maybe:

The ARG survey also shows that some Americans want to put their disapproval of Bush into action. Forty-five percent of the total sample said they support the House starting impeachment proceedings against the president, including half of all self-described independents. Overall, 46 percent opposed it. Cheney’s numbers were even worse: A 54-percent majority said they wanted to see the House move to impeach the vice president, and four in 10 said they did not.

Nobody Wants to Join Bush’s Army

Trish

Like Bush’s poll numbers, the mystery is not why Army recruiting numbers are so low but how they manage to score at all. Who would sign on to this catastrophe?

Summer is traditionally the peak recruiting season. Army officials are now worried that July and August will be difficult as well, raising the possibility that the Army will miss its annual goal of 80,000 new recruits for fiscal year 2007

ABC News has learned the Army missed its recruiting goal in June for the second month in a row. It’s the first time in more than two years that the Army has missed recruiting goals for two consecutive months.

The figures are especially worrisome because the summer is traditionally the peak recruiting season. Army officials are now worried that July and August will be difficult as well, raising the possibility that the Army will miss its annual goal of 80,000 new recruits for fiscal year 2007, which ends on September 30…

The Army will officially release its June recruiting figures on Tuesday, but Pentagon officials tell ABC News the numbers are similar to May, when the Army recruited only 93 percent of its goal of signing up 5500 new recruits. The goal for June was 8,400. The last time the Army missed back-to-back monthly goals was April and May 2005.

The numbers will only get more difficult in the months ahead; to meet its annual recruiting goal, the Army will need to sign up more than 30,000 new recruits over the next three months.

Why Won’t Cindy Sheehan Just Shut Up and Go Away?

Buck Banks

Two months ago we thought we were rid of Cindy Sheehan, whose well-intentioned anti-war activities were rendered virtually meaningless by her own personality and her poorly chosen associations. In May Sheehan said she was quitting the peace movement and retreating from public life to mend her health and personal life.

Unfortunately, she’s back and yacking at the media again.

Now, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq is threatening to challenge the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2008 elections unless Nancy Pelosi files articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush within the next two weeks. Ooh, I’ll bet Nancy’s just quaking in her Prada heels.

“I think all politicians should be held accountable,” Sheehan told The Associated Press on Sunday. “Democrats and Americans feel betrayed by the Democratic leadership. We hired them to bring an end to the war.”

While Sheehan does have a point that the Democratic leadership has rendered the term “Democratic leadership” an oxymoron, the thought of Sheehan running for Pelosi’s seat in Congress is absurd. Granted, Pelosi has had her blond moments since becoming House speaker, but she has a track record that trumps Sheehan’s “name recognition,” which Sheehan says is her strong suit.

While I would never belittle Sheehan’s loss of her son or deny her right to protest against the war in Iraq, I think she would be doing the peace movement, the impeachment movement and all of us a favor if she would just quietly fade away. And stay away.