From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Santorum links Casey to wrong al-JazeerahPicture the TV commercial, a deep voice delivering this ominous message, in a slow, deliberate cadence: "Even al-Jazeera endorsed Democrat Bobby Casey Jr. Whose side is he on, anyway?"
It's hard not to think that was partly why Republican blogs and aides to U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) sounded giddy last week as they passed around a commentary from a Web site, www.Al-Jazeerah.info.
"Don't ask Santorum to 'apologize,' folks. Vote Democratic," stated the commentary, which denounced the senator's July 20 speech describing the United States as fighting a war on Islamic fascism, not terror.
Santorum referenced it himself Thursday on Fox's O'Reilly Factor.
But there was one little wrinkle.
The Web site was not related to the Arabic TV network based in the Middle East - spelled al-Jazeera, no h.
The goal of al-Jazeerah, according to its Web site, is to "promote cross-cultural understanding between people all over the world." It's based in Dalton, Ga., not Qatar."Rick Santorum has reached a new low in gutter politics by trying to ridiculously link Bob Casey to terrorists," Casey spokesman Larry Smar said.
Santorum's spokeswoman, Virginia Davis, said it doesn't make a difference. "We thought we should share these kind of sentiments."
It doesn't make a difference? This is typical of the arrogance in the GOP these days. First DeWine shows an ad with doctored photos of 9/11 (more smoke added digitally to make the destruction look "better,") and now this. Would it be so hard for Santorum to apologize and say, "Sorry, my mistake. Anyone could see how this might happen."
And the GOP says that the war on terror should not be politicized.
Oy vey.
WARNING: THERE IS LANGUAGE IN THIS POST SOME MAY FIND OFFENSIVE.
Onto doing what I love most: trashing Ann Coulter!
Recently, she expressed an opinion (as is her right) that President Clinton displayed behavior that could be interpreted as "latent homosexuality."
Wait, it gets better. When on "Hardball," and asked to explain her comments, this is what she said:
"I don’t know if he’s gay. But Al Gore — total fag."
Let us disect.
Ann, if you want to express your opinion on someone's sexuality, go nuts. I almost am willing to concede it was said tongue in cheek. It's a free country, blah blah blah. Here is where I have a problem:
"Fag" is short for "faggot." "Faggot" is a derogatory term for a gay person. It is insulting and often venomous. If anyone else who appears in the press or TV as often as she does called a black person a "nigger" or a jewish person a "kike"- on the air, no less- their career would be over. To say nothing of the fact that there is no proof that Al Gore is gay.
Ann also seems to think it is ok to use sexuality and sexual preference to insult someone. In our society, unfortunately, calling someone a "faggot" or something "gay" is often used as a general insult. I see it all the the time. Whereas people (especially men) used to say "You idiot!" or "You asshole!" or even "You fuckin' asshole!", now the preffered insult is "You faggot!"
I leave you with a quote from the great sage Lisa Simpson. I believe it is Ann Coulter's mantre:
"You can never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator..."
How ironic!
When I mentioned Ken Lay in my last post, it would be the last time I wrote about him while he was alive.
There's somewhat of a custom in our culture not to say anything bad about anyone who has recently passed away. Well, I think that's not one of our best customs. Because it often forces people to be untruthful when evaluating character. For example, the BBC had a headline that read "Ken Lay Leaves a Mixed Legacy."
Mixed legacy? Maybe some view his legacy as mixed because he gave to charity, or because he had an affable personality. Yet Ken Lay was, in my opinion, a dispicable human being. There, I said it.
There are many levels of dispicable, of course. He's not up there with bin Laden or Jeffrey Dahmer. But he ranks pretty high. He destroyed the lives of thousands of people he was responsible to, his employees and his stockholders.
His employees did not just lose their jobs when Enron went bust. They lost health insurance, 401 (k) accounts, and more. Imagine you're a 41-year old mother of two, and both you and your husband work for Enron. Nice home in the Houston suburbs. You have breast cancer, but because you and your doctor caught it early, you are being treated at a great facility and have a good chance of beating this demon.
Enron goes bust. You now have no health insurance. Bye bye chemo. (Not having health insurance when you are unemployed in America is a whole separate topic, for another time). No income. Bye bye house. No 401 (k) because the stock is worthless and you were not allowed to diversify your portfolio. Bye bye retirement at 65. Bye bye retirement at 75, for that matter. College for the kids? A difficult proposition at best.
True story. Gee, thanks Ken! (You too, Jeff!)
Lay plead ignorance, saying he played no role in the collapse. He didn't know the grifting was so rampant, he claims. Well, he's either a) lying, or b) a piss-poor CEO, because the buck stops with him. The CEO doesn't need to know the name of every stock boy or the details of every trade, but when billions of dollars are disapearing, the CEO should be up to speed. Because he has a responsibility, legal and fiduciary. Lay shirked it.
I have a friend who was in the Navy. One day on his ship, he had the conn. There was a bad accident on the deck. He claimed it wasn't his fault. Well, the Navy didn't see it that way. You have the conn, it's your ship. Something goes wrong, it's your fault. Others may be to blame as well, but you will pay the piper if it happened on your watch.
Ken, you had the conn. You blew it. You escaped paying the piper here on earth. There may be another one to pay real soon.
Proverbs 13:22- A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
Psalm 49- "6": They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
"7": None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
"8": (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
"9": That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
"10": For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.
"11": Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
"12": Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
"13": This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.
"14": Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
"15": But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
"16": Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
"17": For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.
