Ghettoberry

It's the Accountability, Stupid

Here's a real simple way to figure out if Bush is doing a good job as our CEO:

1. 9/11 - I don't weight this one too heavily, lots of 20/20 hindsight
2. Failure to apprehend or kill Osama bin Laden
3. Failure to adequately plan and prepare for the post-hostilities phase of Iraq

Three catastrophic failures that have happened during Bush's term. He is not 100% responsible for them, personally or otherwise.

Who has been fired? Who has been held accountable? Where has this administration ever acknowledged that they fucked up? If the CEO of a company doesn't hold its employees accountable for their actions, if he doesn't hold himself accountable, then the company fails. Period. End of story.

President Bush does not hold himself or anyone in his administration accountable for anything. He's had ample opportunity to do so, given the number of crises that have happened on his watch.

My number one reason for voting for Kerry will be that the current President is not personally accountable for the actions of his administration nor does he hold members of his administration accountable. A vote for the current asshole is a vote for leaders who trade more in excuses than results.

 

100 Miles and Runnin'

Friday night, President Bush strained to remind us that Senator Kerry can run but he can't hide from his voting record.

It's not credible, it just isn't. It's not credible.

Each time Bush hacked away along this tangent, Kerry should have replied "The President says I can run but that I cannot hide. I'm about as worried by his threats as Osama bin Laden. I'm pretty sure as long as I don't head over into Iraq, the President will soon lose focus and forget about me."

If Osama bin Laden can run and hide from the murders of thousands of innocents, I don't see why Kerry can pull a John Crier in Hiding Out on a few votes if he wants to.

Why does Kerry whiff so much? Why is Rumsfeld as hard as it gets?

 

Animals in Pajamas

It just struck me yesterday, why the fuck do reputable news outlets keep showing the ever-proliferating videos of bloodthirsty kidnappers standing behind their hostage(s)? Isn't this just like showing video of the streaker running across the field/pitch?

Why give these animals their 15 seconds of attention, is there anything actually newsworthy about showing the imagery? We all know what it looks like now, at some point Al Jazeera, Reuters, CNN, BBC, FOX--whomever, you're all different shades of the same stink right now to me--aren't you just giving promotional airtime to these cowardly little roaches?

Heartbreak Ridge

The disclosure than Al Qaeda is/was targeting several institutions in NYC and DC was pretty chilling for a number of reasons.

Work takes me to one of the named Al Qaeda NYC targets a number of times a week, which is probably less of a concern than the fact that I within a solid bomb radius of another. Of course this scary. But it's been pretty much a foregone conclusion in my mind that they were going to attack here again, there's really nowhere else in this country besides DC to make a point like you can in New York. In terms of economic targets, where else do you go to find densely-packed, publically-accessible single structures? It's going probably to happen here.

That's the bad news. The less bad news is that, statistically speaking, the odds are still pretty manageable (for now, at least until we get into the realm of NBC attacks). And that's how I deal with things.

Now, the fucking frightening part isn't AL Qaeda basically sending a telegram to Tom Ridge saying meet me outside the IMF at high noon. The frightening part is statements like these:

Al Qaeda is long known to have undertaken surveillance of its potential targets. But intelligence officials said they were struck by the detail in recently uncovered evidence, showing Al Qaeda to be focused, patient, disciplined and committed in its desire to attack prominent American targets. (NYT, requires reg.)

The AP writeup contained what's probably a related detail:

Examples of the detail the official cited: midweek pedestrian traffic counts of 14 people per minute on each side of the street for a total of 28 people. The official said he had not seen such extraordinary detail in his 24 years in intelligence work. (AP)

This is the point where I really don't see any alternative to completely losing my shit.

If there is a single person in our intelligence community who is fucking struck by the fact that Al Qaeda is focused, patient, disciplined, detail-oriented and determined to strike prominent American targets, then maybe we ought to consider offshoring our entire intelligence operation to India, China or wherver--any place will do really, I'm just hunting for places where people don't have their head impacted 8/10's of the way up their ass.

I hope this is an issue of editorial word choice, but I don't think it is. I'm not an intelligence analyst, but very little of what's come to light since 9/11 is surprising and revelations about Al Qaeda's current operational state aren't either.

If Al Qaeda's recently details plans were even moderately surprising to anyone working in intelligence, they should feel obligated to resign today in order to better protect this country.

Results matter.

On a different bent, the pre-emptive disclosure angle is also interesting. I like the fact that the government is trying different approaches. At the same time, doesn't this just send them scurrying back under their rocks to fight again another day?

I guess it does, but more time equals more time to catch up to them (hopefully). So it seems like the right strategy even if it have an extremely chilling effect among average New York assholes like myself.

If you could have stopped 9/11 by announcing Zacarias Moussaou's and given the 19 other animals another chance at a different time, I think it's clear you do that and don't think twice.

It must be nice living in Iowa or Missouri and not worrying about this shit when you drive around in your SUV and advocate razing Fallujah.

Yada yada yada, help on the way

I like John Kerry, I want to like him more. I think he's vastly closer to the kind of leader this country needs.

That said, the Democrats look a lot like the Washington Generals to the GOP's Globetrotters. And, yes, I realize this involves the willingful juxtaposition of something fun like those zany Harlem Globetrotters with something odious like the GOP, but go with it.

Sad truth is that, as bankrupt as their self-indulgent view of the world is, the Republicans at least know how to avoid inserting their head squarely into their ass every 18 minutes.

This is a skill lost on the Democratic wing of the Democratic party (which, if I'm not mistaken is really just the whole damn thing, especially since it was later revealed that Howard Dean is a few scant chromosomes away from being a flesh-eating serial killer).

Who the fuck greenlights Sharpton for the main stage?

Don't get me wrong, Al's a decent show, I'm a New Yorker, I've ridden in an elevator with him multiple times (don't ask). In short, I have a larger than average amount of forbearance for Reverend Al. That said, some undecided lutefisk eating farmer in Minnesota sees the Sharpton guy who Leno makes fun of weekly up on stage, he probably doesn't get that warm, credible feeling Kerry and crew are trying to cultivate.

I'm all for showcasing the party's diversity (anything's diverse compared to nearly 100% homogeneity). You can't tell me we can't find a more laudable person to put on the stage in Al's place.

Same fucking thing for Capt. Chappaquiddick. My Dad in the Phoenix sees his bloated boozeface on the tube and it validates his misguided love of the Action Hero President (soon to be followed by the Last Action Hero President? God, no...).

This is rookie shit, I don't know how the DNC couldn't put a more credible and more inspiration face on this whole affair.

In any event, I watched Kerry's speech. It was the only part I watched live and really the only part I watched in full. Good speech, decent delivery. Probably does what it needed to.

He makes some good points and sets up some nice strategic challenges for the Bush Clan. If we were electing a president to fight the growing threat of Viet Nam, I would assuredly vote for Kerry. (I understand he doesn't have carrier landing rights so he has to hammer home is warrior cred verbally, and this is a function of repetition and more of the same. But just stop. You had me at "I brought death to Charlie's doorstep" for fuck's sake.)

The numbers don't work. That's the sad part.

Kerry's the better man, I think anyone who learned how to share and not shit their little pants by the time the left pre-school knows that. But the electoral numbers are working against him.

We either need a groundswell of turnout, more bitterness at the booth than the polls are tracking or some other unforeseen twist to get him into office.

Spam I Get

I use a Yahoo mail account to sign up for anything that requires and email address. I get some amazing spam in there.

As I was wondering what would happen and what it would mean if I actually tried to view the contents of a message with the subject "Enormous dark schlong!", I can't help but wonder something deeper: Who the fuck is actually buying viagra and cialis as a result of received spam?

Theoretically, spamming someone to buy wiener meds has worked--at least once. Theoretically.

But I'm having a hard time believing it. If you or someone you love or hate has bought stiff little pills as a result of spam, do chime in, you randy little dumbass.

Perchance it's all just a big MLM where actual sales don't matter. It reminds me of "Tips for Tit" in a way. A jocky college friend used to, upon arriving at a toll booth staffed by a female, say "tips for tit". The general intent and concept is self-explanatory, but my amusement was always centered on the fact that he believed that, through sheer faith and diligence, one day he would get a free boob shot at a toll booth.

Let's not dwell on the presumptive quality of said boob shot.

Let's focus on the fact that this mythical notion was predicated on the notional truth that this practice had been successful somewhere, someplace. Essentially, "tips for tit" had actually worked once.

Shamen-like it, this one successful instance had been passed down by some jocky oral tradition (and no, that's not the one my gayer friends fantasize about) until, one day it reached my friends ears.

So strong was its message, that logic had no bearing, results were unimportant. Just the high concept alone was enough to ensure it's continued practice. This, to me is what spam for varied erection elixirs is all about.

Protecting Marriage

Not so many years ago, a lot of President Bush's party predecessors were also working to protect marriage. Specifically, protecting the sanctity of marriage against debasement at the hands of interracial marriage. Black, gay, what's the big difference in a Repug's world. Not much if you've got access to a way-back machine.

No More Wired Clothing

This story about the dumb flying skank with an electric jacket seems to focus more on the reaction and aftermath--how the fuck are people with wires in their clothes still getting on planes? Isn't that the problem here, not the fact that a heated fucking jacket is throwing false positives?

I think we can limit our liberties enough so that wearing electric clothing on a flight goes the way of the airborne fingernail trim.

I can't hit post just yet: WHO THE FUCK IS WEARING ELECTRICALLY HEATED JACKETS?

Call Me If There's a Video

Who gives a shit that Britney got married for a day? CNN ogles:

On Saturday, the question for Britney Spears was, "Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Today, the question is likely to be, "What were you thinking?"

Incorrecto.

Today the question is how much of a hack are you and why the fuck does anyone care if she gets married for 10 minutes or 10 years. Back to the story about the neo-black man who bangs besotten boys in his theme park please, much more scandalous.

Sly, Like a Hammer

While catching up on goings-on in Fond Du Lac, I had to applaud what has to be one of the most spurious legal actions ever.

In fact, for all his laziness, I am inspired by the level of spuriousness.

Truth be told, I just liked the fact that heinous threat made involved the shark-infested waters of Wisconsin.