The Downfall Of A Would-Be Empire

America is definitely decaying fast. Yes; although both big parties have been fucking about since Reagan, thinking politics first and country(perhaps) second, the Republicans are to be blamed by far the most, with their idiotic hate-speeches, their tea-parties, their death-panel hoaxes and so on. Not to mention putting a complete political nobody, an empty head like Sarah Palin right smack into the middle of national politics. Also; one would think that after eight years of 'Compassionate Conservative' G.W. Bush in the White House, the Republicans would have learned some humility. Not so!

The Republicans have turned renaming and rebranding stuff they don't like into a high art form. 'Anti-abortion' became 'Pro-Life', trying to restrict the ownership of weapons of course became 'Constitutional Infringement', 'Creationism' became 'Intelligent Design', 'Government Healthcare Plan' became 'Socialism', 'Fascism' 'Communism' and 'Nazism' at the same time(quite an accomplishment!), etcetera etcetera.

Oh! And Barack Obama is a Kenyan-born muslim socialist as well as the Anti-Christ who has illegally usurped the presidency... Such idiocy makes european politics pale by comparison.

What I feared for some time now is coming true fast, which is that at some point-of-no-return, part of the american public will actually start to believe these republican fables and fantasies. And that is the moment that you will lose control Mr. and Mrs. Republican. That is the moment that you will become Pontius Pilate, washing your hands in innocence while your raging idiot-followers burn down the house and threaten children.


Coffin placed on Carnahan's lawn

A coffin was placed on a Missouri Democrat’s lawn, another in a string of incidents against lawmakers after their vote Sunday on a health care overhaul.
Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) had a coffin placed “near his home,” a spokesman said Wednesday evening. This came after Rep. Tom Perriello’s (D-Va.) brother’s gas lines were cut, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) received death threats and Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) received a message saying snipers were being deployed to kill children of those who voted for health care overhaul.

Several other Democrats have had threats leveled against them, prompting a closed-door briefing of Democratic members by the FBI, Capitol Police and the House Sergeant at Arms.

"Carnahan appreciates thoughtful feedback received both in favor and opposition of health insurance reform,” Carnahan spokesman Jim Hubbard told POLITICO Wednesday evening “We can disagree on important issues facing our country without resorting to this kind of thing. Russ Carnahan isn’t going to shy away from the importance of reform when 45,000 fellow Americans died last year due to a lack of health insurance.”

When a population goes after its own children it is only a matter of time before the house comes crashing down. This may only be a threat, but just wait; once an idea has been floating around there will ultimately be some ungodly asshole to turn it into a reality.

Cowardly Republicans With A Big Mouth - Episode 219b

Perhaps you have followed American Politics under George Bush. In that case you may have heard of John Bolton. Bolton was Bush's candidate for the post of United States Permanent Representative at the United Nations. He did not survive all the criticism so after he filled the Permanent post Temporarily(...) he left the job before the Senate could throw him out.

As somewhat informed people know, the US government/Obama has decided to put the 9/11 mastermind(Khalid Sheikh Mohammed) on trial in New York. This has resulted in a lot of criticism from the Republicans(of all people!). They think that it is not wise to put a foreign moslim terrorist on trial in the US. The reasoning behind this criticism is that the trial may be the/a reason for other extremists to strike again.

I find it utterly ridiculous that the same political group that started the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq now crawls under their tables out of fear for more attacks.  These people are the bloodspitting over-the-top militaristic warmongers of 6 years ago yet they come up with 'security-reasons' to prevent terrorists from being tried in the US.

Anyway : I found this article about John Bolton's hypocrisy. It is just as valid for a Hell of a lot of Republicans.

Host Melanie Morgan: Given the nature and danger of bringing these terrorists to American soil, where do you think is the most safe place to be when they get here and this trial begins? Where would you put your family?

John Bolton: Well, not New York City, I'm afraid to say. This is part of the callousness and the really, lack of professionalism and judgment to put them on trial anywhere in the United States in civilian courts.

Declaring that you are 'afraid' of trials in the US is downright cowardly. Terrorists have already been on trial in Germany, the UK, Spain, etcetera. I guess the people in those countries do take their responsibilities.

The US Republicans apparently don't have the stamina to go through with this. Instead, they are organizing 'Tea-parties'. As Marie Antoinette said : "Let them eat cake".

Update : As an  extra : one of the sublinks in the article goes to this German site. 

In Paris, the headlines and the political talk I heard and read did not focus on our president or our prospects, but on the selection of a new — and no longer merely symbolic — leader for a United Europe. Europeans were talking to each other directly; Americans were not, as far as I could tell, very much a part of the conversation.

The narcissism of the 'American Elite' is indeed strikingly misplaced. For once I fully agree with the German(s) :

Look, man, the fact that your mom and your dad happened to conceive your pasty white ass on the hunk of soil known as the United States of America doesn’t make you Luke Skywalker. Grow up and get real.

Indeed.

Alaskan Politics - The Quagmire

People who know me also know that I am very interested in the circus that is American Politics. In this respect, last year was obviously a year in Heaven. Now that the US Elections have come and gone, most people are focusing on the economical crisis, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and of course the new Health Insurance System that Obama wants to set up. It seems to me that - especially outside the US - interest for the major players is limited to Obama, Hillary Clinton and one or two former members of the Bush Administration. And all the while there is the enigma that is called Sarah Palin...

Sarah Palin is dividing the US as few others have done before her. It is not so much 'The Woman Palin' who is the cause of this; it is more a matter of Rightwing Christian America having found a poster-girl for bringing religion into politics. Even America's founding fathers knew that this is a recipe for disaster but apparently those wise insights are now lost on a large part of the american population.

I vividly remember the TV Evangelists of the 80ies with their unspeakably absurd 'church services'(remember Genesis spoofing them in 'Jesus He Knows Me'? "And The Lord Said Get Me Eighteen Millon Dollars By The Weekend!!!"). These people, the Jim Bakers, the Pat Robertsons, the Jimmy Falwells etcetera, used to be limited by laws that forbade the mixing of politics and religion. Any religious entity that was found to be mixing the church with politics would by law be prosecuted and their tax-exempt status would be revoked. Clearly this made the religious far right cautious when engaging in politics nevertheless.

What is happening now is - in my opinion - far worse : after 25 years of influencing politicians behind closed doors, the Religious Right is now working in the open more and more, and hardly anyone is screaming murder; Keith Olberman perhaps is, but he suffers from the stigma of being seen as a far left tv commentator and is therefore put in 'The Liberal Corner' with all the consequences that this has. He basically 'criticized' himself out of a general audience in order to win a pretty much left wing fanbase. The only name on tv that comes to mind is Jon Stewart. At the moment he is seen by the audience as the most trusted news achor on tv in the US. But wait a minute! Jon Stewart is a comedian! So the person most people trust to give them proper information is a tv comedian?


Anyway; just like I followed the idiocy around Michael Jackson for some time some years ago, I am now keeping an eye on the backwaters of American Politics. Not so much the new Obama-plan or an attempted republican filibuster, but more about the people behind the current stage, waiting - no dying - for their moment in the spotlights. And one of those people is most definitely Sarah Palin. I found below article in Vanity Fair, a magazine I am starting to appreciate more and more lately. What were they thinking in the McCain Campaign? Well, they probably weren't...


It Came From Wasilla


May Heaven and Earth help us if she ever gets to the real top of american politics. We'll need all the help we can get.