I've been glued to the news this morning, looking for any information about Hurricane Dolly. No, it's not a secret that I harbor an intense dislike for Texas, but it's not like I hold any ill will toward the people there. Having been through a couple of hurricanes and several tropical storms myself, both in Texas and Florida, I know full well that a hurricane can destroy homes, property, and in some cases lives.
Dolly has a special significance for me. My ex-wife and I spent our honeymoon on South Padre Island, and we spent a lot of time exploring Port Isabel, Brownsville, and Matamoros. None of these areas are particularly well-prepared for a hurricane, particularly Matomoros. Then again, preparing for a hurricane is something of an oxymoron. At some point, you just have to board up what you can, leave, and hope for the best.
I imagine the Houston area, being several hours to the northeast along the Gulf Coast, is probably OK. It looks like that area is due for a lot of rain and, hopefully, not much else. Hurrincanes make for great stand-up opportunities for reporters, but there's nothing comical or even remotely amusing about what a hurricane or a tropical storm can do to an area. While there's some amazing about being surrounded by the awesome force and power of a hurricane, it's certainly not a game. People die in these things, after all.s
So, to all y'all along the Texas Gulf Coast...I may not be a fan of living there, and I may no longer be there, but my thoughts are with those of you who do. Hang in there....
Last week, Media Matters caught right-wing radio talker Michael Savage claiming that autism is a "fraud" and "a racket" where "99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out." Parents of autistic children are outraged, saying Savage's comments were "way, way, way over the line and cruel." But Savage refuses to apologize. On Larry King Live last night, he told guest host Glenn Beck that he had simply been "taken out of context" by "men who specialize in hating families and children, namely Media Matters."
The beautiful thing about being Michael Savage, I suppose, is not just the absolute certainty of conviction that makes him one smug son of a bitch. It's not just the complete lack of class and compassion he displays in just about every manner imaginable...and a few that aren't. It's not just the bile and unadulterated hatred he spews in the direction of those with the temerity to disagree with him. No, it's so much more than all of that. It's the willingness to display his overarching ignorance and venality in a manner both highly offensive and just plain mean-spirited. Michael Savage has unrepentantly built a career on vitriol, ignorance, and bombast. How the man can look himself in the mirror without being ashamed is beyond me. Then again, when you're a dick....
Most people would at least have the decency to apologize for causing offense. Then again, most people wouldn't egregiously and gratuitously insult and demean children suffering from an insidious, poorly understood, and currently incurable disease. Were he to walk a mile in the shoes of the parent of an autistic child, he's understand the 24/7 commitment required to care for and love that child, while simultaneously sacrificing most of their own dreams, desires, and aspirations. No, it's far easier to destroy something than to find a way to build it up. Savage could have chosen to use his position and his soapbox to build awareness and raise money for autism research. He could have chose to take positive steps towards furthering our understanding of autism. When you're a dick, though, it's all about you and your outsized ego. If you happen to trample some sensibilities along the way...well, as long as ratings and advertsing rates are up....
Of course, it's so much easier to tear something down than to build something up...and if there's one things that Michael Savage excels at, it's tearing things down. I detest the term "shock jock", because there's nothing positive or redeemable about gratuitous, mean-spirited insults and harangues against people, lifestyles, and beliefs one knows little- and cares even less- about. At best, Michael Savage is a miserable excuse for a human being, who should be thanking his lucky stars that he lives in a country that values free speech. At worst, Savage is the lowest example of hateful human scum, someone who adds nothing to the human condition and frankly deserves to be slapped down. Of course, given that Savage is engaging constitutionally-guaranteed free speech, even I have to recognize a sad reality. As I've often said before, free speech can be, and quite often is, objectionable and offensive speech. Frankly, human scum don't come much more objectionable and offensive than Michael Savage.
CBS COVERS UP MCCAIN'S FALSE IRAQ ASSERTION: So, you can complain about the media favoring Barack Obama AND remain silent when they cover up your gaffes? Have you no shame? Oh, of course not; you're a Republican. WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA??
Richardson to McCain: Stop whining about editorial: So a candidates writes an editorial piece. Does that obligate a newspaper to print whatever it is he writes if that paper determines he's offer nothing of value? Since when is a newspaper in the business of providing what amounts to free advertising? (Memeorandum discussion)
MCCAIN CAMP "FRUSTRATED" WITH OBAMA'S TRIP: OK, so let me see if I have this straight: John McCain ridicules Obama for not visiting Iraq...and then when Obama does, McCain whines about the fawning coverage that Obama has been receiving? Uh...someone really oughta tell McCain to stop his whining...because he really can't have it both ways. (Memeorandum discussion)
McCain gaffes pile up; critics pile on: Hey, it's not like the guy's the sharpest tool in the shed to begin with. He finished...what, 894th out of 899 in his class at the US Naval Academy? It's a wonder the man can tie is shoelaces. (Memeorandum discussion)
On Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY): "She is like the stereotypical -- excuse the expression, but this is the way to -- she's the stereotypical bitch, you know what I mean?"
On African-Americans: "I don't have a lot of African-American friends, and I think part of it is because I'm afraid that I would be in an open conversation, and I would say something that somebody would take wrong, and then it would be a nightmare."
On 9/11 victims' families: "I wonder if I'm alone in this -- you know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families? Took me about a year."
So how is it that this (&^%$#@ troll has a high-paying gig on CNN...and a seemingly ever-growing presence as a (distressingly empty and mean-spirited) talking head? Does the man have ANYTHING to offer besides, ignorance, insults, racism, and misogyny?? And how is he able to build a career on the soft sand of ignorance and wingnuttery?
Looking at this picture reminds of yet another reason why I don't even begin to miss Texas. If you've been through a hurricane or a tropical storm, you'll understand what I'm talking about. The high winds, the heavy rain, the flooding...yeah, you can have it. While my first experiences with hurricane season were pretty amazing (12 inches of rain in less than 12 hours really IS rather impressive), eventually it just becomes more of the same- more wind, more heavy rain, more flooding, more destruction.
Of course, looking at this photo, it strikes me that I just might end up in Texas whether I want to be there or not. If things get to be bad enough, I could get an email ordering me to be on a plane within 24 hours...and it just might that I'm heading back to Texas in the middle of hurricane season. Yee frickin' haw....
(CNN) -- Former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic has been arrested after more than a decade in hiding, a U.N. war crimes tribunal announced Monday. Karadzic, 63, is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the law of war. He was the Bosnian Serb political leader during the 1992-1995 war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina's secession from Yugoslavia -- the time of the Srebrenica massacre and siege of Sarajevo. He was last seen in public in 1996. Former U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke blamed Karadzic for all the deaths in the three-year war in Bosnia, which had the bloodiest of the Balkan conflicts that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia.... "Without Radovan Karadzic, this thing wouldn't have happened," Holbrooke told CNN.
Karadzic' whereabouts had to be an open secret throughout Serbia. My experience with the Serbian police is that there isn't much that escapes their attention. Hey, the country used to be- and in many respects still is- a police state. Official repression was not just habit; it was policy. To say that the Serbian government and it's police spent the past 13 years ignorant of Karadzic' whereabouts strains credibility. They knew; they just didn't want to do anything that would piss off the nutjob Right-wing nationalists that seemed to be everywhere when I was there.
Karadzic was captured in Belgrade...which only tells me that the Serbian government was complicit in his flight from justice. It's not as if he was hiding in a remote mountain village. No, he was hiding in plain sight in Serbia's capitol city- one of the most recognizable Serb war criminals hiding amongst those who think as he does and consider him to be a hero...and most Serbs do.
Remember, it's not paranoia if they really ARE out to get you...and most Serbs firmly believe that the world has it out for them.
Karadzic deserves to be tried, convicted, and executed quickly. If there's any justice in this world, his execution will come at the hands of those whom he subjected to mistreatment and oppression simply because they weren't fortunate enough to be born Serb. I hope that his execution will be a slow and excruciatingly painful one. A war criminal completely devoid of humanity and compassion hardly deserves to be treated with the very humanity and compassion he denied to so many.
Thirteen years later...and Evil is still Evil. Now, where the Hell is Ratko Mladic?
You know, if someone had done this sort of thing to John McCain, the hue and cry and weeping and gnashing of teeth would be heard long and loud, and from coast to coast. So why, then, is it acceptable to subject Barack Obama to such egregious disrespect and character assassination? Why is it considered legitimate political discourse to slander Obama in such an ignorant and insulting manner, when a similar effort directed at McCain would bring howls of righteous indignation?
What double standard, you say? Well, take it as a sign that the Right knows they can't compete and win on the issues. That being the case, they'll undoubtedly be more than willing to settle for character assassination, slander, and innuendo. Hey, it's all about winning, remember? You can't take care of your rich and influential friends if you don't win.
Anyone- Republican or anything else- who traffics in this sort of slander because it's "funny" should be ashamed of themselves. Then again, when's the last time you saw the word "shame" and "Republican" used in the same sentence...that is, when Larry Craig and/or David Vitter wasn't the subject? The sad reality is that most Republicans neither know nor recognize shame. For these folks, winning isn't everything. It's the ONLY thing...and they'll do whatever it takes.
I've been glued to the news this morning, looking for any information about Hurricane Dolly. No, it's not a secret that I harbor an intense dislike for Texas, but it's not like I hold any ill will toward the people there. Having been through a couple of hurricanes and several tropical storms myself, both in Texas and Florida, I know full well that a hurricane can destroy homes, property, and in some cases lives.
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