more yelling

I'm not sure how the discussion came around to dead jews and slavery...according to one lady, we have a choice. Yay!

Yup. "Nobody likes war, but sometimes it's necessary." I'd like this gentleman to explain why, exactly, this particular war in Iraq is "necessary."

And then Bush has the nerve to say we still--still--need to be patient, and he needs $200 billion to fund more "necessary" war...yet there's not enough money for the SCHIP program? He's a fucking lunatic! Can't we just...coup, or something?

Ok, I've effectively raised my blood pressure for the day.

this is what democracy looks like

Boo and I took the train to DC; his first trip on a “real” train. We hoofed it to the Capitol and then to the Mall. I didn’t think to look online to find out exactly where the anti-war protest march would be. I thought, hey, it’s DC. There’s the Mall. Where else would it be?

So we saw some folks gathered around a stage, flags flying…but there were only maybe 200 or so. THIS didn’t look like some grand protest march! My heart sank. Then I looked closer and saw the Harley jackets, the gnarly, mostly middle age white men milling about, and heard a faint whiff of country music, then I knew: it was a protest to protest the protest march!

We hightailed it from there to Lafayette Park, in front of the White House, where many more people had assembled, somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 altogether. I felt tingly—no kidding, I got goose bumps—when I saw the signs. It was electric. People of all ages, colors, religions, political leanings, galaxies, genders (two, possibly three), and species (dogs and children) had gathered to protest the war and the Bush administration. Spontaneous chants of “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Bush and Cheney have got to go!” and “Impeach!” and “Shame!” filled the air.























If you can't read it, the Hitler button quote is: What good fortune for governments that the people do not think.

This is what it felt like when I was in DC for the Million Mom March several years ago. That electricity you feel when you’re part of a large group with a common bond. And you're all pissed.

We listened to Ralph Nader (who was actually quite good), Cindy Sheehan, and some Iraq war vets, who were, to me anyway, the most moving. These guys are not only courageous, but are taking a risk by speaking out. They’ve frigging been there; they KNOW what it’s like, unlike our Chimp-in-Chief. They led the way as we moved along Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol.



…to be continued. Maybe with video!

shake that fascist groove thing

There's a post on HuffPo by Robert Guttman here, assailing Bush for being the worst president ever (and as a commenter added, the worst president possible.) Guttman's no slouch; his bio says he is director of the Center on Politics & Foreign Relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

I get so angry thinking that Bush is the president. I mean, how the hell did THAT happen? But after six years, I'm also exhausted thinking about it, and I admire those who are politically active, who attend the rallies and the meetings and write the blogs and work to get the rest of us fired up. People with passion.

In fact, it's really only been since Bush's election that my interest in politics has developed and now unfortunately I waste a lot of time reading left-leaning political blogs. Before that, my first interest in anything presidential was when Nixon was elected.

I was in sixth grade, and as I recall, he started out being a pretty popular president. I wrote him a letter to tell him how great it was he was president.

I received a reply, with a photo of him and his family, including Tricia and Julie. They reminded me of Betty and Veronica, if Veronica were the blonde one. Or maybe more Marianne and Ginger. If Ginger were the blonde one.

When Bush was elected, I was reminded of a song I liked in the the 80s when Reagan was elected: "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing" by Heaven 17. It was banned by the BBC. The lyrics are quite prescient:

Have you heard it on the news
About this fascist groove thang
Evil men with racist views
Spreading all across the land
Don't just sit there on your ass
Unlock that funky chaindance
Brothers, sisters shoot your best
We don't need this fascist groove thang

Chorus:Brothers, sisters, we don't need this fascist groove thang

History will repeat itself
Crisis point we're near the hour
Counterforce will do no good
Hot you ass I feel your power
Hitler proves that funky stuff
Is not for you and me girl
Europe's an unhappy land
They've had their fascist groove thang

Chorus

Democrats are out of power
Across that great wide ocean
Reagan's president elect
Fascist god in motion
Generals tell him what to do
Stop your good time dancing
Train their guns on me and you
Fascist thang advancing

Chorus

Sisters, brothers lend a hand
Increase our population
Grab that groove thang by the throat
And throw it in the ocean
You're real tonight you move my soul
Let's cruise out of the dance war
Come out your house and dance your dance
Shake that fascist groove thang(Shake it!)

I'm not sure what "Hot you ass" means; I think whoever transcribed the lyrics from the song made it up. Like "scuse me while I kiss this guy."

But anyway, it's kinda scary that British fop refugees from Human League penned something that applies to our current administration nearly 25 years later.

J's bush opinion

I'll enjoy watching Bush twitch and spin in the refreshing democratic breeze that just blew in.

I was explaining yesterday to J about Rumpsfeld's resignation and how Bush has relied on his father's aging cronies to point him in the wrong direction. He weighed in with his own opinion about Bush:

"He's lousy and he's drunk and he can't walk around!"

Now, I don't know where he got that opinion. I've never actually summed up Bush's many shortcomings quite like that.



J's picture of Bush from 2 years ago still hangs in my kitchen, and will stay there until we get a new president. My mother recently visited, took one withering glance at the picture, and scolded:

"You're teaching him all wrong."

"What? I didn't tell him to draw that. He did it on his own."

"Yeah, sure he did."

"Sure! He doesn't like Bush. Lots of people don't like Bush. Is it so unseemly for a 7-year-old to create a picture depicting Bush as the devil? At least he didn't draw him as a big pile of shit."

She stormed off after that.

To be fair, here's J's picture of Dick.