James Baker on appeasement

I'm still pretty angry over what Bush said about appeasement in front of the Knesset, the Israeli Legislature, some days ago. I know, it may seem like old news to some of you, but I don't share that view. Just because our agenda-setting gatekeepers in our corporate media no longer deem it news, doesn't mean it isn't. In addition, there are some developments along this front that I'll get to in a minute.

Anyway, the footage above is former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, appearing on Hannity & Colmes to talk about appeasement. I wish I could find a longer clip of this - a seasoned and respected diplomat explaining to the uneducated Hannity and the shrinking violet Holmes what diplomacy actually entails.

However, even this minute-long footage is a good example of Baker not towing the neocon line that "talking to our enemies is appeasement." And I also love it how Hannity seems to be swallowing his tongue - the guy just doesn't know what to say.

It's also not surprising that President Bush doesn't know the meaning of the word diplomacy, either. What I found particularly amusing (and tragic) was that Bush was willing to roll the dice in front of the whole world, saying in no uncertain terms that talking to our enemies is not a good idea. He made himself look like the imbecile he truly is.

Whether Baker meant to or not (I'm guessing he did), he pretty much blew Bush's assertion out of the water about not talking to our enemies. While Baker has obviously never been president, it's pretty clear that his pinkie knows more about diplomacy than Bush's entire body. In fact, what Bush knows about diplomacy you could fit on the head of a needle and still have room for the yellow pages.

What's more, in recent days, Israel and Syria have sat down for talks at the peace table. No truth the the rumor that Bush will re-appear before the Knesset to call Israel's leaders appeasers.

Here's wondering if deep down, Baker doesn't regret his intervention (at the behest of Bush 41) in the whole Florida mess in the fall of 2000, which ultimately paved the way for the Supreme Court to anoint Bush president. If Baker could go Back to the Future. ...

Coulter on H&C, whining about McSame

I dare you to try and get through most of this claptrap without pulling your hair out - it's Ann Coulter whining and complaining and John McCain being "a Democrat" and saying how "I'll probably just vote for Ronald Reagan" because she doesn't want to give Clinton or Obama "a mandate," as if her vote will do that for either candidate.

I got a laugh out of Sean Hannity betting Coulter a dinner, too; hit on her off the air, Sean - your show is nauseating enough. At least if those two were to ever unite, one of them would have a college education. Then again, having a college education doesn't necessarily make you smart, either; listening to her call Obama a "dime store Mein Kampf" proves that point without necessity for further elaboration.

This is what's so disgusting about Fox News - the hosts can't easily get away with calling Obama a racist, so they just have on hacks like Coulter to spew their talking points for them. Pretty pathetic.

I guess this is another reason everyone on Fox Noise Channel hates media outlets like Media Matters - because in six months, when Coulter tries to deny that she ever called Obama a racist, all anyone has to do is look up the footage.

h/t Media Matters for the footage

Dumb & Dumber: Miller & BOR on WMD

Check out Beavis & Butt-head discussing WMDs in Iraq. Bill O'Reilly and Dennis Miller - I can think of no higher authority to discuss WMDs and what's in Syria than these two. Call me crazy, but didn't we bury the WMD issue about three years ago? (Or longer?) I would have thought this topic died with the defeat of former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. But, I guess if you look under enough rocks or in enough caves, you can find a few conservatives who cling to the hope that the Bush administration can salvage some credibility and dignity by finding something, ANYTHING that resembles WMD in Iraq.

Fat chance.

It's good to see that Miller, the liberal turned neo-con, hasn't lost his penchant for the stupid analogy, either - Pavarotti's colander? I love it when Miller gets down verbally - nothing like entertaining yourself, Dennis.

I think Miller would be a great fit on Hannity and Colmes. He could add his mindless commentary to Hannity's inane neocon patter. One thing's for sure - he couldn't make the show any worse.

Where does Fox find these people?

I got a kick out of this one - author Thomas Sowell predicting a U.S. military coup to fix what's wrong with our country. Scary, mindless, and stupid. I swear, Fox producers must dream up outrageous statements, then go find a guest who will say it on the air. That network is becoming more and more like the Jerry Springer Show every day.

I also got a laugh at Sean Insanity saying that a Giuliani/Gingrich GOP ticket in '08 would be a "good ticket." If that is the best that Republicans can do next year, I've got three words that President Bush is very familiar with: BRING IT ON.

Newt drops a beaut

Ahh, the party of tolerance strikes again. Really, I got nothin' on this one - I'll just let the clip speak for itself.

Here's a portion of the Associated Press story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich equated bilingual education Saturday with "the language of living in a ghetto" and mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages.

"The government should quit mandating that various documents be printed in any one of 700 languages depending on who randomly shows up" to vote, said Gingrich, who is considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. He made the comments in a speech to the National Federation of Republican Women.

"The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. ... We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto," Gingrich said to cheers from the crowd of more than 100.

"Citizenship requires passing a test on American history in English. If that's true, then we do not have to create ballots in any language except English," he said.

Peter Zamora, co-chair of the Washington-based Hispanic Education Coalition, which supports bilingual education, said, "The tone of his comments was very hateful. Spanish is spoken by many individuals who do not live in the ghetto."

He later went on Hannity & Colmes to clarify his remarks. I don't think he does a very good job. From the transcript:

COLMES: You spoke over the weekend to the National Federation of Republican Women. You’re quoted as having said, The American people believe English should be the official language. And then you went on to say that people should learn the language of the country and not the language of living in a ghetto, referring to Spanish. Is that your definitive comment or was that a misquote? Were you not properly quoted?

GINGRICH: Well, that did not refer to Spanish. The point I made was that we ought to have a program of intensive education so that every person who comes to America learns English as rapidly as possible. And I’ve talked to experts who believe that an intensive program, young people could learn to be relatively fluent in four to six months, and older people could learn in a year.

COLMES: What do you mean language in the ghetto?

GINGRICH: What I meant is very clearly, Alan. I’ll let you pick the right word for me. We should not have a program which traps people into not being able to speak English by failing to teach them the language that is the prominent language of prosperity, the dominant language of government, the dominant language of politics. Now, I’ll let you pick — frankly, ghetto, historically had referred as a Jewish reference originally. I did not mention Hispanics, and I certainly do not want anybody who speaks Spanish to think I’m in any way less than respectful of Spanish or any other language spoken by people who come to the United States.

Click on Think Progress to read more, and to watch Gingrich's appearance on H&C.

I really do tire of the whole "English is the official language of the United States" debate. Gingrich is right on one thing - people who come to America should learn the language. But, passing a law saying that English is "the official language of the US" accomplishes little, other than alienating the many immigrants who come to our country every year. People lose sight of the fact that at one time or another, almost all of our ancestors were immigrants in this country, unless you are 100 percent Native American.

My point, and my pipe dream, is this - I'd love to see America adopt Spanish as a second language some day, but it's doubtful it will happen in my lifetime, unless I live one long life. Hispanics and Latinos now make up 13.5 percent of our population, and growing. The harm in having Spanish as a second language would be what, exactly?

Too many Americans, a vast majority, in fact, wouldn't know the meaning of bilingual if it bit them in the face. I count myself among this unfortunate majority. Most other first-world countries in the world have a much higher rate of bilingualism than America does. There are many reasons for this, but I don't feel this fact reflects very many good things about America. In fact, it speaks to our arrogance and hubris when it comes to matters of language and culture.

I know full well that some conservatives would jump all over my comments above, wrap themselves in an American flag, and shout, "You hate America!" These rubes, Gingrich among them, aren't to be scorned - they're to be pitied.

Please run, Newt. Your brand of conservative intolerance is just what Democrats need to not only recapture the White House, but to widen control in both Houses of Congress. Your 15 minutes were up in 1998.

I realize that there is a certain percentage on the right who believe that the existing presidential candidates are not "conservative enough" for their liking. I'm not sure whether that's true, but if they look to Gingrich for a more conservative candidate, they surly are courting disaster.

Run, Newt, run.

Kerry grills major SBVT donor

Well, this came nearly three years too late, but better late than never, I guess.

Sam Fox, the Bush Administration's nominee for ambassador to Belgium, had to face the fire recently from the man he helped slander, defame and attempted to politically destroy - John Kerry, the Massachusetts Senator and 2004 Democratic Presidential Nominee. Fox donated $50,000 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), a tax-exempt 527 founded in 2004 by long-time Republican benefactor John O'Neill. (More on O'Neill in a bit.)

I got a particular kick out of Fox's blatant ass kissing of Kerry toward the end of the video clip in the face of Kerry's steady, unyielding questioning. Kerry wouldn't let him off, and Fox had nowhere to go. Evidently, Fox at one point called Kerry "a hero," but it's not in this clip.

Unbelievable.

There's no freakin' question that Fox was lying through his teeth - who would donate $50,000 and not remember where it went? Anyone who donated that much to the SBVT certainly was very aware of what that organization was saying about Kerry. Clearly, he supported the lies and slander that were being spread (truth be damned), or he wouldn't have donated the $50,000.

There were some left-leaning 527s in the 2004 campaign as well, most notably MoveOn.org. MoveOn aired some anti-Bush ads and were working against Republicans and the Bush campaign, no question, but there were no established ties between the Kerry campaign and MoveOn that I've read about, anyway, and I've done a fair amount of reading on the subject.

Anyway, the bottom line is that MoveOn and the SBVT paid whompin' fines last December for campaign finance violations. The SBVT paid the highest fine, which was around $300,000.

The founder of the SBVT, John O'Neill, is human garbage who can't seem to let go of the fact that Kerry has been a success despite the '04 campaign. He has long ties to the Bush family (as does Sam Fox) and is a regular contributor to Insanity and Colmes.

Following Fox's testimony and grilling by Kerry on the Hill a little over a week ago, O'Neill, of course, appeared on Insanity and Colmes. Just a tidbit:

HANNITY: So are you wondering if Senator Kerry is bitter? Joining us now is the man who created the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, John O'Neill is back with us.

John, first of all, your reaction to the overreaction and this real bitterness of Senator Kerry?

JOHN O'NEILL, SWIFT BOAT VETERANS FOR TRUTH: Sean, he just won't let it go. You know, he spent 37 years obsessed with three-and-a-half months in Vietnam. Everybody else went about their business, had jobs, you know, did other things. Our kids didn't even know we were there. You can see it again the same way.

But the retaliation by Kerry follows a very — a pattern that's gone on ever since the election. They went and picketed my home during my daughter's wedding.

Kerry's commanding officer in Vietnam was a Captain George Elliott. Immediately before — while his wife had cancer, he received an e-mail, she did, wishing, hoping that she died. She did die three weeks later. He really should be ashamed for what he's done.

HANNITY: Well, I want to ask you this, because you talk about the politics of personal destruction. Clearly, you're the victim of this here.

More importantly, you know, here's a guy that's up for a position. He has a different political point of view. Now, my take is that, if the real liar the person that really smeared individuals, well, that was John Kerry. John Kerry smeared the good character, the good name of Vietnam vets like yourself, and he lied about them, and he made accusations that they were murderers, and that they were terrorizing people, and cutting off head and arms and limbs, etc.

We don't have to rehash all of it here, but it seems to me it's John Kerry. But the important question is here, because somebody dared to disagree with him, donate money to a campaign that was against him from president, he now is using his position, or misusing his position, to take revenge. Is that what you saw in this?

[...]

COLMES: Mr. Fox, by the way, who John Kerry was questioning, just referred to John Kerry as a hero. Do you agree with your contributor, Mr. Fox, who said that?

O'NEILL: Mr. Fox and 155,000 other people, but, no, the great heroes we had, Alan, are all back in Vietnam. They all died there. I think if you talk to the people in our unit, you would find that we believe those are the great heroes we had. And I think you'd find also that most of us don't live on our experience there like Kerry does.

HANNITY: I don't know if George Bush would have won re-election but for you guys telling the truth. And as far as I'm concerned, you're all heroes. John O'Neill, you're a great American. Thank you for being with us.

O'NEILL: Thank you, Sean.

Oh, what the hell - take a look at the Insanity and Colmes video - here it is - see for yourself. I'm warning you though, anger is sure to follow.



This video clip just enrages me, although I know it shouldn't. Hannity is a gutless, uneducated, soulless person who does or says anything to advance the cause of Fox News and his hero, President Bush. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Insanity say to O'Neill, "Clearly, you are the victim here." I'll let that one stand on its own.

Does anyone really believe that John Kerry, or someone in John Kerry's stead, really e-mailed a dying wife and wished death on her? O'Neill is the lowest form of human filth who will say or do anything to smear Kerry. It's well documented that part of O'Neill's animosity toward Kerry stems from Kerry's anti-war activities once he returned from Vietnam. Never mind the fact that Kerry was exercising his constitutional right to speak out against a war that he felt was immoral and unjust. (Score Kerry right on both counts.)

O'Neill has a long and storied history with the Republican Party, going all the way back to the Nixon White House, who recruited him to combat Kerry in the court of public opinion. Kerry's Congressional testimony and anti-war activities infuriated Nixon.

Secondly, college drop-out Insanity calling O'Neill a hero is about what I'd expect from a right-wing ideologue who would spin President Bush murdering someone into it somehow being the Democrats' fault (and if he could tie in Bill Clinton somehow, all the better). If I were to ever meet Insanity, I'd have a hard time controlling my absolute, right-down-to-my-bones hatred for him.

It's not a stretch to say that the SBVT played a pretty significant role in Kerry's defeat in 2004. In a close election decided by less than four million votes, it could have made the difference. It's just too bad that Kerry waited nearly three years too long to aggressively combat the SBVT's lies, slander and falsehoods. O'Neill and his band of liars did have an impact, and I witnessed some of it personally - a few of my Republican best friends bought into the SBVT's lies and distortions hook, line and sinker.

Now in his early sixties, Kerry has probably missed his chance to ever be president. For what it's worth, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for Kerry and his wife, Theresa Heinz Kerry, despite the campaign Kerry ran in '04 that was beleaguered by poor decisions and even worse advice from incompetent advisers. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, enough people bought into the SBVT's b.s. to have an impact on the election.

Score another phony Mission Accomplished for President Bush.

Cindy Sheehan up for Peace Prize

I bet Stephanie Miller won't be on Fox News anytime soon. And I bet she doesn't give a shit, either, nor should she.

It seems that Cindy Sheehan has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. If I had a say, she'd certainly get my vote. I defy you to name one other person in America who has done more to promote the idea of peace this past year. Yea, I can't think of anyone else, either.

I don't always agree with Sheehan's methods or choice of words (more on that in a minute), but it's easy for me to say I disagree with her methods; I didn't lose a child in this misguided, dishonest war - she did. And she's not taking her loss lying down, nor is she lost in a cloud of self pity. To that I say bravo. She's suffered an incomprehensible loss, and she's proof positive that our losses in Iraq don't have to be for nothing - out of terrible suffering and loss can come some good.

Earlier I referred to her methods - to say that she wishes she could go back in time and kill President Bush is despicable - I don't support using that kind of language under any circumstances. Hey, we're Americans, but we're supposed to be a decent, rational people, even when we fervently disagree. Here, she clearly crosses a line.

In the Fox piece above, Stephanie Miller reasons that the whole sentence/clip wasn't played, and that Sheehan goes on to say that she wouldn't kill anybody. Okay, fair enough, if that's true. But, Sheehan should know better. When she goes off irrationally like that, she takes away from her very poignant message and she loses her credibility.

Keep fighting, Cindy, but for heaven's sake, no more talk (even if hypothetical) of harming the president- it makes you sound like a heretical lunatic.

More Coulter: I just had to

Boy, someone shut up in a hurry? Where did Ann Coulter go? Unfortuately, not to hell, yet. But, her cake hole has been notably silent since her book was exposed as a plagiarized steaming turd. I love how Hannity and Coulter trip over each other trying to attack the Democratic strategist. I gotta give credit here to a man who deserves so little - Alan Colmes. He actually takes Ann to task here on some stuff, and notice how she doesn't answer his question about her comment on John Murtha?

For those of you who don't know, Ann said that Murtha is "The reason soldiers invented fragging."

A bit on Murtha, courtesy Wikipedia:

In 1959, Murtha, then a captain, took command of the 34th Special Infantry Company, Marine Corps Reserves, in Johnstown. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for service in the Vietnam War, serving from 1966 to 1967, serving as a battalion staff officer (S-2 Intelligence Section), receiving the Bronze Star with Valor device, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He retired from the Reserves as a colonel in 1990, receiving the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

What's the message here? If you are a war hero, don't run for public office. Just like Max Cleland and John Kerry before him, Murtha is latest victim in the long line of Swiftboat Attacks.

And the part in the beginning of the above video about liberals apologizing about WMDs is a riot.