World War III Is Going To Be Hilarious
Your president giggled and grinned while discussing World War III today.
"But this -- we got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding [grinning] World War III [end grinning], it seems like you [begin giggling] ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge [end giggling] necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
Hahahaha! Yeah! Zinger! That's funny shit. For the record, here's his expression while saying the words "World War Three":
To the rest of the known world, however, World War III a scary thing. It's just below abortion and above rape on the list of the all time unfunniest topics.
Let's break it down.
1. Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon, and if they ever developed one, they'd be smart enough to know (despite how we caricaturize Ahmadinejad) that using it would invite their own destruction a thousand times over. Thus, there is no Iranian nuclear threat.
2. Yet the administration is drawing up plans to illegally and preemptively attack anyway, based on the lie that Iran is a nuclear threat.
3. Congress, despite the president's 24-percent approval rating, won't stop the White House because of, 1) The Fear, and 2) because Congress has allowed the president and vice president to seize unprecedented power which almost entirely circumvents Article I of the Constitution (among other things).
4. Meanwhile, if we do attack, it appears as if Pooty-Poot might bring Russia in on the Iranian side.
5. And there you go. Knee slapping boners all around. Milk just came out of my nose.
They're marketing Iran with more psychotic voracity than Michelle Malkin attacking an injured baby -- and no one can stop them.
As near as I can tell, there doesn't appear to be a governing body or citizen group who can stop them from carrying this out. Congress won't and, honestly, they can't. Last night's Frontline episode, "Cheney's Law," underscored what we've all been worried about: Congress has been rendered ineffectual against the current power madness of the executive.
For example, has Congress clamped down on the president's rampant use of torture? Sure. (Torture is number five on the unfunny syllabus.) The Republican controlled Congress did this, but the president rendered the law pointless with a signing statement.
Ah yes. Torture. Not to digress too far into this thing, but you know how the president can look us in the eye and say, "we don't torture," as he did in today's press conference? He can say this with impunity because the administration has authored its own definition of torture which is so narrow that anything else -- anything you and I would consider to be torture -- isn't.
If it don't cause organ failure, it ain't torture, Stretchy McStretch-o-rama-funny-pants. In a sense, the president isn't lying when he says "we don't torture." It depends on what your definition of torture is.
This excuse, of course, is the same excuse future enemies will use when they torture... us.
Republican cowards who demand security at the expense of liberty/honor/law have facilitated the Bush executive branch with extraordinary power. Now we're trapped in the shadow of the White House's unprecedented strength, and there doesn't appear to be any conceivable way to stop these people. If Cheney wrangles the military hardware to attack Iran, the air strikes will commence with lightning zealotry. Bet on it. Congress can try to stop him, but they don't have the power any more. According to the Bush administration, Article II is Article II and the Commander in Chief rules.
It's as simple as that. Just try telling him he's wrong on this. You could be the most conservative wingnut ever and you'd lose that debate -- not for a lack of rational arguments either.
Is it any wonder why we occasionally succumb to outrage fatigue: that deflated, windless sense of numbing futility we feel when confronted with the illogical and the absurd? We've only begun to dig into the upper strata of lawlessness this regime has perpetrated over the last seven years. And now, in this desperate dying twilight of their existence -- now that they're gravely unpopular and on their way out the door -- reckless and without anything to lose -- why shouldn't they do all the crazy shit they've talked about? Bomb Tehran? Yeah, that'll be awesome and hilarious. More war means more war powers. If you thought the administration's war powers were crazy huge, just imagine their World War powers. Score!
The president always says that history will vindicate him. 15 months from now, he'll be done. Pretending to be a cowboy down there -- raising melanomas in the harsh Crawford sunshine, laughing at the third hilarious war he started all by himself.
Once he's done, by his twisted reasoning, it's someone else's problem. By "someone else" he naturally means "everyone else."
Just like so many powerful men, he appears to be able to switch off his conscience (if one exists in the first place). It's the same switch that allows him to say "we don't torture," or to smirk and laugh while discussing Iraq casualties and World War III. "Everyone else" won't include him because he'll always be safe. He'll always have Crawford and the twins; his fake accent and his delusional view of history; his nicknames and his eh-eh-eh laugh.
The rest of us -- unless we can find a way to stop this Iran drumbeat -- won't be laughing so much.
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Somebody has just asserted that Bush speaks Spanish.
It's a pity he hasn't learnt to speak english. Mind you, language at all is meaningless if you're just a vapour cloud.
And judging from what Spanish I've heard coming from his lips, he speaks it as well as he does English, which is not very well at all! LOL
24%... TWENTY (expletive deleted) FOUR PERCENT!!!
That's the extent of his support. Yet, the congress seems unwilling to stand up to him for fear of losing their jobs. They don't get it!
Dems out raise Reps 3-to-1 in political contributions. When Move-on got attacked, they raised even more money. I don't see what the congress is waiting for. We, the people, have done everything we can to demonstrate our support of a new direction and our lack of support for the right-wing whacko's, yet the congress will not move.
Forget "1984", we are seeing the realization of "Network". Who will dare to engage the wrath of the supreme powers that be? Who will stand for us?
Obviously 76% of Congress support Bush and his policies. They feed at the same trough. Oink.
The bottom line is Russia, not the United States , is the most powerful country in the world. Putin will make this painfully clear to the world in the months ahead. They are the largest producer and possesors of energy by far, and energy is the name of the game. A draft is on it's way, they just need to enact a law that says none of thier children are required to serve.
I don't know if I agree that Russia is the most powerful, I'd vote for China. But the Rusians are more powerful than us at the moment, and that should make us pause in our insanity. It won't of course, because most Americans are so caught up in a sense of superiority to the rest of the world. We have Regan to thank for that.
My brother lives in Moscow, is married to a Russian woman, and travels the globe where ever his job takes him. He would tell you in a heartbeat, that Russia is a fledgling nation that is just now learning how to live in a capitalist system. They aren't nearly as powerfull as the Soviet Union used to be.
Keep a watchfull eye on China.
Okay...whe
No matter how Christians say Christians should act, we are seeing what really happens when a conservative Born-Again Christian becomes president. No matter how you spin it, this is what REALLY HAPPENS, sorry.
by their fruits you will know them.
Truer words Kendo.....
how genius is NETWORK?
I'm not sure Russia and China are "taking Iran's side" as much they realize what most of us already know by now - that the current Administration is out of control, period.
War, especially a large-scale war, ONLY benefits the current Administration and their buddys. It will greatly harm the trade and economies of most ALL other countries, as they generally thrive on peace and stability.
They must keep Bush on a tight leash, since our own Congress will not. That's why you will be hearing more threats from Putin and Hu in the coming months.
peace!
Are you kidding me, Russia and China together could collapse us in a minute, so don't fool yourself. Our dollar is worth nothing. All China has to do is not loan us any more money and stop all cheap Wal-mart crap coming to the U.S., Russia & China both have extreme Military might. With our Military all in Iraq, including equipment, where do you think that leaves us at home.
Another War will benefit no one, anywhere, and especially here. I think the World is about fed up with the U.S. and this Texas Bully at the Pulpit, in the White House. Reagan bankrupted Russia, do you not think there might some blow-back. We have ticked off China by having a huge oil company in Burma, trying to control the oil in African Countries, and now the Dahli Lama Award yesterday.
Nuclear War is a bad thing for humans
(most of us, perhaps ALL of us, will die, probably horrible and gruesome deaths).
But Nuclear War is a WONDERFUL THING
for Planet Earth.
Trust me on this,
2 or 3 million years
after the War, the Earth will be a
pristine GARDEN once again.
There will be no humans in sight, and perhaps not even any vertebrates (except rodents, maybe). Probably lots of insects. And flowers-- many, many flowers and beautiful green plants.
And clean air and sparkling water.
It will be a beautiful garden, with none of those stupid, messy, dirty, destructive humans anywhere.
Talk about HEAVEN!
Unfortunately, without people, the rest of creation is simply utilitarian. It struggles to exist in a highly competative world where there is constant competition for resources. Without humans to enjoy it, there is no beauty, only hard work and a like-death cycle that is meaninless to its inhabitants.
If you believe the beauty has value, then you have to find a way to preserve the human race.
Hello, humans are no more or less than the insects that will replace us. Get over yourself.
It is sad to think of the loss of such treasures as the music of Mozart, the paintings of Picasso, the achievements of great figures like Locke, Rousseau, and our own Founding Fathers, Jefferson, Franklin, etc etc
But the consolation prize is knowing that they DID indeed exist, and WE HERE had the opportunity to be enriched by them (even if many chose not to).
Also, GOD knows they existed.
God will rmemember it as part of the Legacy
of the Universe he created.
That's got to be worth SOMETHING, right?
(But only to those who actually believe in God, which is a actually lot fewer people than those masses who loudly claim to).
jswan your description sounds a lot like the world I see developing around me for the 80% or so not in Bush's base. We are becoming beasts of burden for the superior race of good capitalists.
I'm with you Bob, all except for one thing: you recognize that Bush and Cheney don't respect any laws except the ones they make up, so what on earth makes you think they're going to give up power in fifteen months? They've set the stage with signing statements and executive orders to be able to declare martial law and suspend the Constitution in the event of a "national emergency" and those of us who have been awake and paying attention already realize they staged the 9/11 attacks, so what's to stop them from staging another "terrorist" event? It doesn't even have to be in this country, a dirty bomb attack on an American military base in Europe might qualify as a "national emergency".
Stage an attack, declare martial law in response effectively suspending the Consitution, hell what do we need an election for? Not until we're through dealing with the emergency, right?
I just don't believe that after all the effort and risk the Bush-Cheney junta has put into getting where they are now, with literally hundreds of billions of dollars flowing to their war profiteer buddies and the lure in the deluded neocon mind of global militaray domination, that they are going to just stroll out of the White House and give it all up next Inauguration Day. So much simpler to just not have the next Inauguration Day, n'est-ce pas?
Unfortunately, DancesWithFascists, I agree with every word you said. They have no intention of leaving. They never did. But, apparently Impeachment is too much of a distraction. God help us all.
I ALWAYS LOOKED FORWARD TO READ THE DAILY BRIEF. TODAY MY STOMACH IS IN A KNOT WITH FEAR AND DESPAIR AND MY HEART IS RACING. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR NATION? WHAT CAN WE DO? WE ARE SO POWERLESS! PLEASE, ALL OF YOU WHO MAY HAVE POWER, DO SOMETHING.
Gotta get the mainstream media on board! Before the madmen shut off the internet, I mean. Clearly.
Write to the biggies CNN etc and tell them that THIS is the MOST relevant news. The only relevant news, really.
Until mainstream media covers it- we're just a bunch of (fill in the blank with standard easy-to-repeat slogan).
Much of the public
a) does not hear this news
b) does not connect the dots
c) doesnt believe it because it sounds SO insane
d) thinks they are 'the only one' who thinks this
We need the mainstream media in order to convince people that they are not alone.
You are joking right? That's the whole point!
Main Stream Media has been bought and sold, lock, stock and barrel! No one will save us
but us!! As Thomas Jefferson said: " All tyranny needs to gain a foothold, is for people of good conscience to remain silent!
I share your fear as do so many others. But I must admit I'm losing heart. Writing doesn't seem to get us anywhere. Hardly ever get a response. SOMEONE has got to put a stop to this madman. I truly believe he's unstable.
As far as Iraq goes, I wish the military would declare a five-day cease fire, go relax in their tents and just see what happens. Maybe some of those poor Iraqis could actually walk down the street and get out of their hiding places. And maybe everyone would decide they liked it better than blowing each other up.
Bush, the adolescent, enjoys lying to the American people. That is about the only kick he has left. Only a fool would still support these funny Fascist's!
Where's the Constitutional Police when you need them?
Where is the Dept of FoFF's (fact or fiction finders)?
Why are elected 'Liarticians', entrusted to protect our rights, allowed to routinely lie, steal & misrepresent us?
Why is it that Gov't & Religion DO NOT find your Right to Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness to be self-evident?
Why do you allow self serving criminals to rule your world... I Don't!
There is a coalition of interest groups currently raising millions to fund an advertising campaign that will spread anti-Iran propaganda. One of the main players? Christians in Support of Israel. Rapture, here we come!!
The Christian Zionists don't give a flying fig about Jews in Israel or in the Diaspora other than as stepping stones to their own corrupt agenda. We are to be tossed to the nuclear holocaust their actions may precipitate. Come to think of it, they don't care about the Arabs, either. They want what they want. Jesus will return not in glory but in fallout.
It is debatable if Jesus ever existed. It might all have been propaganda from a Roman Emperor. Good story culled from earlier myths.
The closer the timeline gets to the 2008 primaries and general elections, the less opportunity we have for impeachment. Obama couldn't even find the time to be in Washington to vote on the last "Iran/Terrorism" bill. There is also the issue of who to impeach, and who to impeach first. Do we want a President Rice? What do we really know about the new proposed Attorney General? It's depressing, but realistically, I think we're hosed. We only have ourselves to blame, by not changing the status quo in 2004. Let's hope that the change of leadership in Congress and subsequent lack of effort won't kill the next election. If we have massive voter turnout in 2008, hopefully there will be an increase of reasonable voices in Congress, as well as the White House. Then perhaps, things will get done.
Ummm... how exactly would Rice become president? If Darth Cheney and the Shrub get impeached, Pelosi becomes President.
You're right- my bad. I'm remembering when Reagan was shot- his Secretary of State made the same mistake, and assumed he was in charge! OOps! But gee, can you imagine a Pres. Pelosi? OMG! Anyway, if impeachment hearings started, Bush would just enact or create some bizzare trumped up law about executive privileges in times of war to protect himself, since he seems to have no regard for the Constitution. Did you hear his comment about looking into doing the same thing as Putin is considering, and creating a new office for himself? THAT was really scary!
dshwa;
There you go, maybe that's what Pelosi is so afraid of; the Republicans would call it a power grab....he
Gramma Rose
Chaney first, then Bush. Pelosi would not want to
take over as President, and that would put Condi
next in line. Pelosi doesn't want the job of
Speaker, apparently.
Third in line is Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi then President Pro Temp of the Senate, Robert C. Byrd. After that we get into the Cabinet. So let's impeach both the bastards at once.That would be a nice "first", wouldn't it? Of course no impeachment has yet led to the conviction and removal of a sitting president so I figure the chances of getting just one of them out by that route is a little less than 17%. Not so good a bet.
Its time to shut the government down. No deals just demands. It has been said elsewhere that Congress cannot override a veto in its current configuration, but Bush can't veto a bill that doesn't pass. All funding is done by the House of Representatives. The founders set it up that way so the "king" couldn't bankrupt us on a whim. Unmet demands = no money.
we went to war we lost our rights, who cares?
This happened as we watched. The majority of the people, liberal and conservative, didn't pay attention, but called those who did "bummers" and "alarmists". Congress voted our freedom away. We aren't going to get anywhere when, as soon as someone with enough passion to actually work in our favor gets elected they get publicly mocked, torn to bits, and called everything crappy by their own people, the "you suck" squad. apocalyptic stinky heads get their chance for world destruction, and we let them. I refuse to live in fear of someone else's myth. Anyone else would have impeached by now, but thanks to the media, the strong arm tactics of the republican regime, the lack of backbone for these self proclaimed guards of the freedom of all, and all the people who sit around saying "this sucks let's drink more beer" etc...wait
Wow. amazing post. I feel your pain; and your passion.
Can't we see...? Impeachment isn't about Bush. It's about our very way of life. We have gone from the framers' Constitution of checks and balances..
No, this is no longer about Bush. We are in a desperate struggle to get our very Country BACK. We'd better find a way to snap out of this hypnotized catatonia that we find ourselves in soon, because it is no longer politics as usual.... and we'd better stop pretending.
Exactly. The way I've seen things happen over the last 10-15 years is the great American dream is dying a fast death and there has been NOTHING the people can do or say that will stop it. We don't have any elected officials in Wash. or the states to fix anything. We thought we might have a chance with the Dems. but we all know where that's went. We all should know why by now also. They have the money and power and they are going to keep it!!! Plain and simple. We have all done the petitions and thousands have marched all for what? Nothing!!!! Nothing!!!!! It's going to take another tea party and does the American people of today have the balls for it? I doubt it!!! Who's going to be our leader? Al Gore? I doubt it. We need a leader and then we need to protect that leader to keep them alive. They will kill them. This isn't a low poker game we're talking about.
Paige, you have put your finger on the problem: leadership. The Republicans have figured out how to destroy the leadership on the left, in a long, sometimes bloody learning process. In the beginning of this, in the sixties, it was murder: J. Kennedy, R. Kennedy, Evers, King, a number of others. Then they figured out how to put them in prison, on oft-times trumped up charges, e.g. the Black Panthers. Then they evolved to character assassination, which occasionally led to death (Foster). Their first great victory here was Hart, who's dalliance with the wrong woman kept him from being president.
This leads to a dearth of leadership on the left. There is a glimmer of hope: the internet. You don't need leadership so much when we can all communicate directly, rather than relying on our leadership to communicate for us. Keep the faith, we are here, and here we stay.
What is the political version of annulment?
I would think it should repeal everything that happened.
We need a billionaire lawyer who could take this on.
Annulment by reason of insanity and fraud.
Al? If ya don't want to be president, maybe you'd consider doing at least this for us?
Bravo...
My thoughts exactly. Undo what can be undone, up to and including the two newest Supremes.
I just fast-forwarded thru 2 hours of CNN- every story TOTALLY irrelevant compared to this issue.
Oh-and cleverly distracting. Most of America will be worried about catching some overblown (and possibly planted) 'superbug', while the few of us who actually bother to find out what is going on see what is coming.
There is no news more relevant than an insane man who is president who wants to bomb everyone, have complete control, has NO LIMITS to his power and NOBODY powerful enough to stop him.
What he can do in ONE DAY, any day, possibly today, maybe tomorrow FAR outweighs anything that is being shown to the mass majority of citizens, on the mass media.
We HAVE to get mass media to start doing real journalism again.
We are so screwed. Every day that goes by gets scarier.
princessofnowt,
Very good post.
A shout out to princess,
Remember swine flu, Lyme disease, mad cow, and the bird flu? Fabricated distractions.
Gramma Rose
Joe Lieberman must be grinning like a hyena.
He always does.
And Karl Rove must be just absolutely hysterical with laughter by now as well. Especially since the Dem's seem hell bent on nominating "Bush In A Skirt."
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