Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts

Friday, October 2, 2009

Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood


Almost a month ago I posted on this blog a comment originally published on Sonoran Alliance. I didn't write the words of that comment, but the name appearing with that comment caused me pause. Bruce Ash. It struck me as a vile little work certainly beneath Mr. Ash. Sadly, I may be mistaken.

When another post, this time at Ted Prezelski's Rum, Romanism and Rebellion received a comment from someone calling themselves Bruce Ash I thought I should seize the opportunity. I asked if that Mr. Ash was aware of some of the words attributed to the other Mr. Ash. Then I wrote something snarky, but seriously, by my standards it was mild. And I love my readers, all of you, but let's face it, we could all fit around just about any table available at Sam Levitz. So I went where the eyes are and....

....the Mr. Ash who responded on Tedski's blog really let me have it! Boy. Ouch.

He didn't, however, address any of my questions. Now, in the rough-and-tumble world of partisan politics one could, perhaps should, assume the non-response is a, "yes." In fact one of my favorite commentators, Eli_Blake, did just that and then shared what I found to be a sensible and heartfelt reason why Nazi and fascist comparisons shouldn't be tossed around casually by anyone...it cheapens the suffering.

I remember my first visit to Drinking Liberally, when a left-wing nut job tossed out a, "he's a nazi" at some Republican like it was a sneeze. I winced, you would have, too. And then I spoke the first words I ever spoke at DL. I don't remember the actual words but I basically stated that those comparisons are out of line for anyone, the description is a term of art. My Grandfather did not spend all those years in North Africa and Europe fighting people with whom he had a political disagreement, so don't cheapen his sacrifice.

So, this whole "Nazi and/or fascist" attack on our President REALLY FUCKING PISSES ME OFF.

Back to the comment posted at Sonoran Alliance; it all began with a video of celebrities and such taking a pledge to help our newly elected President by taking personal responsibility for something said celebrity could control. Why am I explaining this? Roll tape:



Yeah, I don't know why she did that to her hair either. All of them. But back to the pledges. I don't see what the big deal is, yeah it's wordy, but most of these star type peoples get script approval so whatta ya gonna do? And it looks like Ashton was directing because it had that edgy 'Punk'd' feel to it, good luck with that. But that's all it is, some adults who get way too much attention for too little reason.

It seems to me, Mr. Ash, you were offended by a sense of fealty in the video. Me? Not so much, but I can see how someone else might. I mean, what if they tried to make children in school listen to President Obama talk about personal responsibility? That might make people really freak out! Yes, I'm still working on an ironic voice for my writing. Maybe you and I can agree on this video, you see it goes one step further by making small....oh, I forgot....roll tape!



Dude, seriously? We put up with that shit? Oh, now I remember. If we didn't put up with that...uh, stuff, we got called un-american and people tried to ruin other people's career (Dixie Chicks, Valerie Plame, a slew of US attorney's).

Back to you, Mr. Ash. You are a big deal. You are a member of the Republican National Committee! I know that because it says so on your blog, Ash for Arizona, just beneath your name emblazoned over an homage to our state flag. I know it's not a reproduction of our state flag because that would be tacky and it's stretched out so Senator Kyl's head can fit on your banner.

Anyway, YOU, Mr. Ash are a big deal. Here's a secret, I have always felt that those like you, who rise to responsibility within our political party's not only have ability but a sense of duty to our country. I mean why else would you donate almost $40,000 to Republicans in the last five years? It's your ability and patriotism that allowed you to rise to leadership within your party. And the $40,000 ish is really just for the years 2004-2008, but still! As a leader of your party you must sometimes deal with those who, although a part of your "coalition" you may not have much anything else in common but because you are a leader you appeal to the "better angels of their nature," or something like that.



That's what leaders do, and barring that, people who have websites that sound like campaign slogans can do that too!

You are right my friend, there are a bunch of angry folks out there who want their country back, but just between you and me, Mr. Ash, do you think they want you and me in it?
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Monday, September 21, 2009

Real Clear it's Politics

{{w|Gabrielle Giffords}}, U.S. Congresswoman.Image via Wikipedia

Gabrielle Giffords is kinda a big deal. She's a successful Democratic Congresswoman in a red district. She is so successful, in fact, that it's unlikely anyone of consequence will mount a challenge to her in the foreseeable future. None have announced as of now.

While Congress is in session there are often fundraisers back east, and Rep. Giffords was toasted by some good folks back in Delaware including Vice-President Biden. See? She is a big deal! When the VP shows up so do the press. One of the outlets at this event is the opinion blog from right-of-center, Real Clear Politics.

But something must have happened during the translation of the article in Real Clear Politics (RCP) to a Twitter on behalf of the Southern Arizona blog Gila Courier. Gila Courier made it sound like Gabby said something she wasn't quoted as saying. Shocking, right?

Here's the deal, in RCP Gabby is quoted describing the August of Crazy Town Hall fiascoes in Southern Arizona as being "nuts."

Here's the RCP quote:

Giffords referred to the town hall debates of August in her district as "totally nuts."


Here's how it appeared in the Gila Courier's tweet:

At her fundraiser hosted by VP Joe Biden, Giffords says voters "totally nuts." http://bit.ly/kZirw
Mon 21 Sep 20:13 via web


See what they did there? How cute! Gila Courier implied that Giffords thinks the voters are crazy except she didn't say that. How did "Southern Arizona's Leading Conservative Blog" get that so wrong? Could it be that a leading teabagger outfit is so desperate to lay something on Gabby that they made up a quote? Maybe it's simply not being able to read with comprehension? What about all the Twitter teabaggerz who simply RT (retweet) without bothering to read the RCP article in question? It's like they don't care if what they repeat is accurate or not, just so it adds up to what they want to be true. Gosh.



And about that piece in RCP; Rep. Giffords is married to Mark Kelly. He's an astronaut, an active duty naval aviator. His last name is not Giffords as it states in your sorry-ass effort, you big-timey bloggy outfit. Who told you that Congresswoman Giffords' husbands last name is Giffords? Who edited your article? Is there anything is this attempted hit-and-run that is accurate? Ace reporting there, you guys back east are AWESOME!

For those who find this post incredible here are the screen shots:

RCP (with

and the shot of the Gila twot




Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Sunday Fun day Activities

 Polls in Germany close at 9:00 AM Tucson time. Sipping a Kaffee watching these results come in. Also, the Swiss (!) are voting on a marria...