Fixed the server so it’s no longer so PAINFULLY GODDAMN SLOW. Go me! ^.^

Let’s set the stage here. From HuffPo “Lieberman Tells Reid To His Face: I’ll Vote Against Current Health Care Bill:”

Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in a face-to-face meeting on Sunday that he will vote against a health care bill that includes a public option or a provision that would expand Medicare, a Democratic Senate aide tells the Huffington Post.

…

The pledge by Lieberman to oppose the bill represents a potentially huge setback for reform proponents, many of who saw the latest round of policy compromises as the last true chance to corral the needed votes. That said, leadership has several fallback options (none of them promising) should Lieberman follow through on the threat.

The first is to convince the senator to support Democrats in breaking a Republican filibuster before casting a vote against the bill. This would allow for the legislation to pass with Lieberman still registering his opposition. Lieberman, however, has said he considers the procedural vote to cut off debate to be of the same significance as a vote on the bill itself.

Emphasis mine. Just wanted you to see that part.

Now remember a guy named Alito? Black robes, hangs around with 8 other people who wear the same thing? Supreme Court Justice? Good.

As it turns out, Lieberman – in what I feel was one of the most important and telling votes of his career, violated that principle stated up there that I bolded. During Alito’s confirmation hearing, he voted to end debate and then voted against Alito’s confirmation (along with 19 other Democrats). He ALSO voted for the military commissions bill (unfortunately there was no filibuster in place for him to make a “principled stand” about in front of a TV camera on that piece of legislative crap). And they say Schumer is a media hound? Feh.

Senator Lieberman has one operating principle: Lieberman for Lieberman.

I received a flyer about a week or so ago claiming that Bob McDonnell, as Governor of Virginia, would keep terrorists (from Guantanamo Bay) out of Northern Virginia.

This would be where the Pentagon, the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, Fort Belvoir (Army), Quantico (USMC), DynCorp (one of the largest security contractors in the world), the CIA, and one of the best SWAT teams in the country (Fairfax County) reside.

I seem to remember something about smoking guns and mushroom clouds from another Republican who wanted us to not worry our pretty little heads about the details so he could take care of us:

Bob McDonnell thinks we’re stupid, and if he’s going to treat us like scared children when he’s campaigning, you can be damn sure he’s going to do it if or when he’s elected.

Just take a look at this lovely little gem, because words just fail me (zip file, 1.19MB).

For added lulz, I present the talk page for the Conservative Bible Project.

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Update: It seems that this effort has grown out of an earlier “Bible Retranslation Project” at Conservapedia which died around the time that the Conservative Bible Project was formed – “died” meaning that the only updates on that page are essentially footnotes to the emerging Conservative project.

I’ve been doing subversive things in video. Right now three parts of the series are up, and I’m working on four and five. The bad news? It’s going to take twenty parts or more. The good news? I’m all about it. Those of you who may remember when I was full-bore on writing the book, this is that same project in a different direction – and it’s helping me get feedback and clarify my thoughts, and making the writing easier. Sort of a roundabout way of doing it, but it certainly is getting the job done!

In any case, allow me to present to you, “My Godless Morality,” a work in progress (warning, it is by definition irreverent and has an occasional sprinkling of profane language in a very few of the images):

If YouTube is being cranky, please try this link to go directly to the playlist in a new browser window.

For the curious, my YouTube channel is here.

If you have a YouTube account, I would be grateful if you would comment, rate, and/or subscribe!

Despite the sturm und drang about the possibility of a Democratic President speaking to The Children (never mind that both Ronnie Reagan and Poppy Bush did the same thing), there is an active campaign going on in Texas to “balance” moderate and progressive voices in history with some of the farthest right-leaning conservative icons proposed as mandatory parts of the curriculum (yes, it includes Joe McCarthy):

While Republicans are busy gnashing their teeth over President Obama’s imminent indoctrination of the nation’s schoolchildren, there’s an education story bubbling up in Texas that could have considerably more far-reaching consequences.

The GOP-controlled State Board of Education is working on a new set of statewide textbook standards for, among other subjects, U.S. History Studies Since Reconstruction. And it turns out what the board decides may end up having implications far beyond the Lone Star State.

The first draft of the standards, released at the end of July, is a doozy. It lays out a kind of Human Events version of U.S. history.

Approved textbooks, the standards say, must teach the Texan student to “identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, and the Moral Majority.” No analogous liberal figures or groups are required, prompting protests from some legislators and committee members. (Read an excerpt here.)

The standards on Nixon: “describe Richard M. Nixon’s role in the normalization of relations with China and the policy of detente.”

On Reagan: “describe Ronald Reagan’s role in restoring national confidence, such as Reaganomics and Peace with Strength.” (That’s it.)

The Cold War section is rendered as “U.S. responses to Soviet aggression after World War II … ”

…

Next to a noncontroversial seeming item requiring students to “describe how McCarthyism, the arms race, and the space race increased Cold War tensions” is the note:

“MV[Multiple Views]: One member thinks that if McCarthyism is noted, then the Venona papers need to be explained that exonerates him.”

A bullet point on “women and minority employment” as an economic effect of World II caused “one member” to gripe “there is too much emphasis on multiculturalism.”

And “one member” deemed a section on “effective leadership” a perfect place to bring to students’ attention Charlton Heston’s celebrated (among right-wingers) culture war speech.

Now I’m all about balance, but the very American tradition of whitewashing our nut-jobs has now reached its logical conclusion, and shows no signs of stopping. Can we maybe lean back towards sanity now?

Then again, she’s writing in an op-ed in the WSJ (since she’s on the editorial board, and all), so this shouldn’t be too surprising. In this case, she is presenting Panetta as a stalwart worthy (which he may very well be to one degree or another) who according to her “has officially become the president’s designated fall guy.” She reserves special vitriol for AG Holder, who she describes as “giving the term ‘ideological purity’ new meaning.” Speaker Pelosi is also singled out for special contempt here:

Then came House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s full-frontal assault [SB: interesting choice of image by KS], claiming the agency had lied to her about waterboarding. This would have been an excellent time for some “vigorous” protection of the CIA, since agency documents flatly contradict the speaker. But with his domestic agenda in the hands of Congress, the White House was mum. It showed equal interest in defending Mr. Panetta against the threat of congressional investigations.

She is subtly disingenuous is where she indirectly outsources the assumption that torture is a good thing, by letting the (presumably paraphrased) words of Sen. Bond do the talking:

Sen. Bond notes that the Obama moves are “reopening old wounds” after years of effort to tear down walls within the intelligence community. Arguably the high point of cooperation was the work Justice and CIA did together in devising the interrogation program, which has yielded invaluable information. Now, the Missouri Republican tells me, “instead of the CIA viewing the Department of Justice as their lawyer, they view them as their prosecutor.”

Just for the record: nowhere does she express the slightest concern that some of this conduct may have been illegal, immoral, or (yet another) threat to what little remains intact of our Constitutional system of government. Nor does she justify the argument that this is somehow an attack on Panetta, rather than the interrogation program (and other abuses both past and current).

I almost wish I could lie so freely, and with such little regard for reality – if only for the rewards. Then I remember that I cherish the ability to sleep well at night.

Ted Kennedy’s passing leaves a large hole in the political landscape of our country. He was not a stranger to political compromise (all politics being both local and irrational), but he did have goals that he consistently fought for – good goals, for the benefit of both individuals and the nation as a whole. That he continued to work towards them even after it was conclusively demonstrated that crazy people were willing to kill members of his family who stuck their necks out, and despite the controversies both within and created around his life, is a testament to his tenacity and conviction.

I’m doubtful that the Democratic party will step up and fill the void with anything more substantial than their fetish for appearances over substance, but I can hope that the citizens of Massachusetts will kick some tail and get a genuine Liberal in their vacant Senate seat – whether now or later.

Updated: YouTube pulled the video, here it is from another source:

Here is the story behind the making of the PSA.

This is brutal – and necessarily so. There are some things that require a powerful emotional argument in order to be truly understood, and this is one of them.

The blog is back on a webserver I directly control, and the old content is available again (YAY).

In other news, I’ve joined Tweet Progress, and posted a new video on YouTube, titled “I Believe.”

It’s already prompted some interesting (if sometimes tense) discussions with friends, and given me a great deal of insight into morality and belief in general. While I am happy this is fodder for more videos, what REALLY makes me happy is that this forced me to examine and defend my thoughts in clear, coherent language, as well as giving me a greater understanding of other points of view.

Learning is gewd.