A lot of court rulings in the news today, and it’s fascinating to hear local talk radio (ie, conservative talk) responding. When the court throws out Tim Eyman’s I-747, because, you know, it violated the Constitution, we get outrage, absolute outrage. And not just at the court, but at the legislature and the governor, who had nothing to do with ruling. (Because that’s the cynical purpose of the outrage, spinning some political advantage for 2008.)
Yet when a federal court throws out the state Pharmacy Board rule requiring pharmacists to fill prescriptions…? [audio:http://horsesass.org/wp-content/uploads/crickets.mp3]
What this tells me is that the folks on the right believe in the rule of law, except when the court rulings don’t go their way, prompting folks like my friend Dori to start talking about an armed tax revolt. Of course, he was only joking. The type of joke that would get a liberal like me labeled a hate talker, or possibly even jailed. But then, we’re the ones with all the guns, so I can understand the distinction.
Speaking of the rule of law, it looks like Lt. Ehrin Watada dodged a bullet — metaphorically this time — when a federal court ruled that military attorneys so totally fucked up his court martial, it would subject Watada to double jeopardy to be tried again. Of course, they could have just discharged Watada for refusing to go to Iraq, say, the way they would a qualified gay soldier who actually believes in this war and wants to fight it, but no, they had to try to make an example of an officer who boldly took a principled stand, whatever the consequences. I’d say the military’s execution of their case against Watada is an apt metaphor for the Bush administration’s execution of it’s war in Iraq: immoral and incompetent.
And nearly as incompetent as the army’s efforts against Watada in the court of law is NBA commissioner David Stern’s efforts on behalf of the Sonics in the court of public opinion:
“If the team moves, there’s not going to be another team there, not in any conceivable future plan that I could envision, and that would be too bad.”
Oh yeah, now that’s going to win you public support. Some rich white guy buys the team and attempts to blackmail local taxpayers out of half a billion dollars… and then you threaten the loyal fans who faithfully supported the team and the league for 40 years? And after one of the team’s Oklahoma City based owners publicly admitted that they never planned to keep the team in Seattle in the first place? Oh, well in that case, here’s your new arena.
Jesus… has Stern bothered to even read our local papers? This is a region where taxpayers refuse to pay for the things they need let alone the things they want, and he’s blaming Frank Chopp? This has nothing to do with Seattle — Clay Bennett and his buddies wanted an NBA team in Oklahoma City, so they went out an bought ours — and if Stern is happy swapping a big market for a little one, that’s up to him. But don’t come back and threaten us that we’ll never get another team because we refused to play ball with a blackmailer.
What an asshole.
I’m curious as why Howard Schultz and his ownership group don’t get more media coverage. I’m under the impression that the Ackerley’s gave Howie a discount price on at least an unspoken commitment to keeping the team here.
Goldy playing the race card said…
Nice job race hustler. The only reason to mention he was white was to play the race card. Kudos, jessie and al would be proud of your liberal white guilt.
Too bad the US Army doesn’t use the old procedure of “drumming” Watada out of the service. In front of the assembled troops, he (in uniform) would be stripped of all rank, badges, medals AND buttons that have US symbols on them; endure a yellow stripe painted down his back and then he would be frog-marched off the base with his Dishonorable DIscharge. Fuck him and his supporters.
“……….The type of joke that would get a liberal like me labeled a hate talker, or possibly even jailed……”
Jailed? Not in this state…it’s run by the party of tolerance, remember?
But then again, they DO like their taxes and liberal tolerance only applies to whomever agrees with them.
The military is wrestling with a growing problem of soldiers who realize once they’re in the middle of Bush’s half-assed war that they have a problem with killing and torturing other human beings for no justifiable purpose. With an “all-volunteer” military, this is a different problem from the one we had in the Vietnam days with people refusing to be drafted. They’re stuck with the dilemma of court martialling these folks to try to make examples of them within the service, while trying to prevent the general public from knowing about it.
1 it might be noted that the original founders of Starbuck’s Coffee have publicly expressed their displeasure with the way Howard Schultz is running the company. Not that he’s likely to care–a friend of mine once remarked that he’s “one of those people who are so rich they can pay someone else to masturbate for them”. Clay Bennett and David Stern certainly fit into that category as well.
Bigger than Watergate? Yesterday, NPR reported that Hillary Butch Clinton stiffed a waitress in Iowa. Then the Little Rock Mafia went to work, working over NPR. Butch left a tip, they said, on her cridit card for the comped meal she graciously paid for. Then the restaurant replied that their credit carders don’t fold in gratuities. Then the waitress reaffirmed that she never received a tip from Butch or the Mafia, but will probably vote for them anyway. Probably because the waitress and Butch (so they say) both have vaginas.
Rush Limbaugh’s crap/content ratio has been upside down for a long time. For more than a decade the excellent Rush Morning Update of 1-2 minutes has carried more information than three hours of show and profit time-outs.
Yesterday Rush did a huge on-air screw-up, and suspended himself from today’s show so he could get in nine holes with OJ while seeking the real killer. Jason Lewis from Minneapolis took over. As usual, Lewis presented more useful information in three seconds than what’s-his-name emits in three hours, referenced above, on a rare good day.
Time for Rushbo to hang up his jock next to Goldstein’s. They can both shuffle off into the sunset of their years. Goldy can keep shuffling until he comes back around to Philadelphia, where his red diaper trust fund lives.
Bigger than Watergate? Yesterday, NPR reported that Hillary Butch Clinton stiffed a waitress in Iowa. Then the Little Rock Mafia went to work, working over NPR. Butch left a tip, they said, on her cridit card for the comped meal she graciously paid for. Then the restaurant replied that their credit carders don’t fold in gratuities. Then the waitress reaffirmed that she never received a tip from Butch or the Mafia, but will probably vote for them anyway. Probably because the waitress and Butch (so they say) both have vaginas.
Translated into English:
NPR screwed up and ran a story it hadn’t fully investigated. The Clinton campaign set the record straight. The person who posted this illiterate screed can’t accept that.
“one of those people who are so rich they can pay someone else to masturbate for them”. Clay Bennett and David Stern certainly fit into that category as well.
LOL! But in Stern’s case, the someone else doesn’t cum!
@3 Typical unthinking rightwing knee-jerk crap. Watada is neither a deserter nor a coward. He volunteered to serve in Afghanistan, a combat zone every bit as dangerous as Iraq. Meanwhile, the “commander guy” volunteered to not serve out his safe, secure National Guard assignment during wartime — how about “drumming” him out of the C-in-C job? He’s the coward and welsher who violated his oath of service, not Watada.
You wouldn’t know what “dishonor” is if it bit you in the balls … what’s honorable about sending good soldiers to die in a useless war run by incompetents?
As a Vietnam Veteran to a wingnut asswipe, allow me to say, “Go fuck yourself.”
The truth is, thousands of troops (including officers) have DESERTED from the military because they’re fed up with the endless rotations to Iraq, and the conditions they serve under in Iraq, and with their general treatment. And the Pentagon has quietly let them leave — if they leave quietly. Watada wasn’t prosecuted for refusing to deploy to Iraq. He was prosecuted for publicly criticizing the war. And I understand that. He could trigger a revolt in the ranks, a mass refusal to serve, a collapse of the Bushevik’s authority over the military. Be afraid, wingnuts, be very afraid. Your grip on power is weak and fading fast. Power that is abused gets taken away, if not at the ballot box, then by masses of citizens turning their backs on authority figures and “drumming out” what little legitimacy they still might have.
@6 Investors are walking away from Howard Schulz. Starbucks stock is down almost 50% in the last 12 months.
@7 That whirring sound you hear is the WingNut (TM) Hate Machine (SM) spinning its wheels against the coming Blue Deluge (R).
@2 Betcha the fact Watada is Asian had something to do with the Rich White Guys Party deciding to make an example out of him.
MS @ 2
“the folks on the right believe in the rule of law, except when the court rulings don’t go their way”
They never graduated from the Toddler level of maturity.
MS @ 2; We sure as hell didn’t see any rich black guys buying the team.
John @ 3; “Drumming” went out with the introduction of the “Uniform Code of Military Justice”. While you are at it, remind us how much time Scooter did after he was convicted.
@8 So Goldy had a temper tantrum over Prop. 1’s defeat. So what? One little two-day temper tantrum. That’s nothing compared to the eye-bulging, mouth-foaming, blood-vessel-bursting, 4-year-long tantrum that WingNuts (TM) have thrown over Rossi’s defeat. Which, in turn, was puny compared to the 15-years-and-counting tantrum Republicans threw over Clinton get elected — twice. Republicans personify poor sportsmanship, bad behavior, whining, and sore losing. Fuck ’em. They’re the last people who have any right to complain about Goldy.
@13: Upstuff it Woger Wabbit- I’ve seen bullets fly and good men die. I also found out that a fucking kid with an AK47 can kill you just as dead as a 32 year old can.
If you really and truly ever served in the American armed forces then you know you don’t get a chance to pick and choose. Unless of course, you were one of those fucking REMFs!!
2nd Amendment @18- I make no defense for Scooter. But, since you asked- I believe he’s been hurt more than Sandy “Burglar” who stole National Defense information. Let’s see -he’s now a campaign advisor to Hillary…
Arthur Bremer was released from prison this morning.
@20 “Upstuff it Woger Wabbit- I’ve seen bullets fly and good men die.”
Uh-huh. So have I. And this is an argument for what? Firing squads? If you want to shoot deserters, start with Bush, you fucking hypocrite. At least Clinton was honest enough to admit he didn’t want to fight in Vietnam, while Bush pretended to be a fighter pilot — when real fighter pilots were getting shot down at the rate of 2 a day.
“I also found out that a fucking kid with an AK47 can kill you just as dead as a 32 year old can.”
Really? You seem pretty lively for a dead guy. And this is an argument for what? Shooting kids? Is that what you did in The Nam? I never saw a kid with an AK47. Did you? I doubt you ever saw an AK47, because if you got close enough to see it, you weren’t around later to talk about it. The only AK-47s I ever saw were collected off dead bodies, and none of them were taken from kids.
“If you really and truly ever served in the American armed forces then you know you don’t get a chance to pick and choose.”
Actually, I did get to pick and choose. You see, I was a volunteer. So I chose to go or not go, and I picked my branch of service — not Navy, not Air Force, not Coast Guard, not a safe billet in the Indiana National Guard (Quayle) or Texas Air National Guard (Bush), but an Army combat unit, on the ground, in Vietnam. I wanted to go there. Not because I like war — I don’t, I hate war — and not because I wanted to get killed — I didn’t, I like living — but because other good men went, and I figured if they could do it, I could do it too. A few good men and one good rabbit, you know — that kind of stuff. I’m not sorry that I served. It was a rotten experience, but I carried my share of the freight. That’s what it was all about — shouldering my share of the freight and carrying it. Walk the talk, you see.
“Unless of course, you were one of those fucking REMFs!!”
Of course I was a REMF!! Think they’ll let a 30-inch-tall rabbit near the front lines? But I didn’t stay on the base for long. I got ahold of a 12-gauge and rode shotgun for the truck drivers carrying fuel and supplies. Same thing that gets G.I.s shot and blown up in Iraq. We got shot and blown up doing that, too. Or, I should say, some of us did, but I was lucky. That’s because I’m a rabbit, and rabbit have lucky feet, not to mention fast feet. Let me tell you how lucky I am. One time, I had the good fortune to be riding shotgun for the driver who was in the point vehicle. That happened to be the day we drove through an NVA ambush. I’m sure you know how those work. They let the point vehicle through the kick the shit out of the column behind them. That’s what happened to us. Me and my driver, we were luckier than shit that day, and merely because we were the first vehicle in the convoy. Luck of the draw. But it wasn’t a coincidence. Rabbits are naturally lucky, and that’s why you always want the rabbit riding shotgun for you, if you have to drive a supply truck in a shithole like Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan.
Now go fuck yourself and pet the armadillo you rode in on. Band of brothers, my ass! There is no band of brothers. You rightwing fuckers disbanded it when you decided to swiftboat Kerry and every other veteran who doesn’t agree with your bloodthirsty, immoral, murderous warmongering. Republicans are nazis.
@21 What “national defense information” did Berger steal? All he did was make photocopies of low-classification documents he had already seen in the course of his official duties for the purpose of writing an accurate historical account of the administration he served in — without, of course, disclosing classified information. Berger was writing a fucking book. Libby was starting a war.
The myopic hypocrisy of these WingNuts (TM) is stunning.
Ah, the moonbat rideth his horseshit and calls himself a wabbit. Leftover hippie thinking where he hopes that using words like Nazi and “fuck” will drown out the insanity of his own position.
Hey, Wabbit- even Wikipedia says Berger was a liar. Even the sentencing judge thought so and criticized the prosecution for going light on him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Berger
And the Bible-quoting hypocrite ain’t worthy of the sweat off of Jesus’ balls.
Wow. A lot of little fascist boys don’t work on Fridays. That’s the problem with young Republicans. Without a credible, confiscatory inheritance tax, you can’t get ’em to work a lick.
Howsa About a Sonic Initiative:
Washington State will not allow any funds raised by the state or any municipality to go toward the maintainence of support of a profession sport team unless said team is able to make a rolling commitment to not move out of state without a minimum of five year’s notice. The commitment must be renewed annually so that there is never less than a five year time before a team may leave.
GO GO YOU SONICS … just leave th Sasquatch constume and the Storm.
@27 “Hey, Wabbit- even Wikipedia says Berger was a liar. Even the sentencing judge thought so and criticized the prosecution for going light on him.”
So what? Every Republican in the country is a liar. How about prosecuting them for a change?
The prosecution of Berger was a partisan witchhunt.
@29 Why should they? Why should anyone? Why in hell should ANYONE work in a country that taxes the shit out of wages and lets people who inherit $1.5 million pay no taxes at all? There’s no incentive to work. Work is punished in this country.
Hey Roger,
Guess what happens to people who don’t work in a country with a historically low tolerance for social spending?
They starve.
Yay for capitalism! It brought me my bread, gas, cigarettes, and beer for tonight!
@34 What country are you talking about? Not America. We have tons of social spending. We spend 5 times as much on corporate subsidies as we do on individual welfare. Every single member of Bush’s cabinet is a former CEO, and not a single one of them ever ran a company that competed in a free market without government subsidies, tax breaks, or contracts. We have social spending all over the place, mostly for the already-rich. Starve? You jest. When was the last time the idle rich starved in this country? Or, for that matter, a poor person? Nobody starves in America. And pretty soon nobody will work in America, either. Why should we? The Republicans who own most of this country pay us shit, treat us like dirt, and make workers pay all the taxes while they lollygag on their yachts or at their vacation homes. Fuck that! I don’t work for those guys anymore. In fact, I don’t work at all anymore. I worked for 45 years, and that’s enough!
I’m a capitalist now. Capitalists don’t do any work. They live off other people’s work. But then, I’m sure you already know that.
Roger Rabbit says:
@3 Typical unthinking rightwing knee-jerk crap. Watada is neither a deserter nor a coward.
Hey Rabbit what’s up? You can now read minds? Maybe you got shit for brains, because the troops who were supposed to go to Iraq with them may have a different opinion than you do today. He have orders to show up in Iraq not Afghanistan that makes him a deserter. Now a coward you might have a point there maybe he forgot the oath he took when he became an officer. Some folks due have a conflict after they raise their hand and swore to defend their country. I believe you had that problem after you went to Viet Nam Roger.
He volunteered to serve in Afghanistan, a combat zone every bit as dangerous as Iraq.
Roger I volunteered to go anywhere including Viet Nam, but they sent me to other places where they need my skills sets. Yep you don’t always get what you want Roger so you live with what you get. I went into the desert you went into the jungles, lucky you.
Meanwhile, the “commander guy” volunteered to not serve out his safe, secure National Guard assignment during wartime — how about “drumming” him out of the C-in-C job?
Roger you got an anger management problem, get over it. Bill Clinton never went into the military and he had us bombing aspirin factories in Chad. WOW he even had us bombing folks in Yugoslavia just to get his sorry ass off the front pages over the word “is”.
He’s the coward and welsher who violated his oath of service, not Watada.
Now you are really stretching the truth Roger. Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard flying an F102 fighter that had a short life in Viet Nam. Kind of hard to fly a jet that had no guns and most of the dog fights were not using missiles. Don’t believe he received a dishonorable discharge from the Guard. You friend LBJ also wouldn’t send Guard units into the battle field during Viet Nam which relieved them from being called cowards.
You wouldn’t know what “dishonor” is if it bit you in the balls … what’s honorable about sending good soldiers to die in a useless war run by incompetents?
So Roger you are calling JFK and LBJ incompetents for sending troops to Viet Nam? Maybe you can post your opinion about Jimmy Carter and his debuted in Iran. Hell how about Bill Clinton and Yugoslavia?
As a Vietnam Veteran to a wingnut asswipe, allow me to say, “Go fuck yourself.”
Silly Rabbit you are not the only one who use their military career to justify their stupid remarks. Severing your country in the military or the Peace Core can validate what you are saying. So go hump yourself Rabbit.
Why should you work under a system like this:
Schedule of Tax Exemptions:
Person who works for wages: About $9,000
Person who inherits a shitload of money: $1,500,000
klake is a nazi
FUCK THE NBA.
Seattle Sounders will enter MLS in 2009. Say what you will about soccer, but a league that WANTS to have a presence in Seattle is welcome in my book.
If you’re jonesing that badly for basketball, watch the Huskies or Cougs, or Seattle U, now that they’ve decided to move back up to D1 hoops. Or watch your local HS team. Or better yet, get off your lazy ass and go shoot hoops down at the park, gym, YMCA, whatever.
FUCK THE NBA – FUCK THE CARPETBAGGERS – FUCK CLAYBOY