The Paranoid Defenders of the Playground-bully Pissident
I'm guessing anyone finding themselves in this obscure backwater is sufficiently savvy that there is no need for a full breakdown of the plain-speaking by Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA, for the record) during the S-CHIP debate this week. Yes, the dumb-bunny machine on the right is howling. Yes, Pelosi felt she had to do some wrist-slap with a feather or something.
No mas. I felt it was a terrific move, up there with Senator Dodd's promise of a hold and/or filibuster on the concept of immunity for felonious influence-buying telecommunications mega-corporations.
And I shared my enthusiasm for his words with Congressman Stark, just as I communicated my enthusiasm for Dodd's position with Dodd, and demanded support for him from Murray/Cantwell (my senators), and Feingold/Wyden (the only two senators who, on the losing end, voted No in committee on the telecom bill).
On the off-chance you need a little jump-start on this, here's easy access to the House of Your Representatives and Your Elected Senators . Typically each "law-maker" has their own website, with opportunity to send them a message one of the first things that you come across. And why not - they are supposed to answer to you. While the lobbying and semi-legal bribery by large corporations obviously influence them, plentiful input from constituents can also have an effect. Hint. Hint. Make them work for You.
Here's a bit more on the Stark business:
CNN is reporting that 88% of those voting in their Friday morning online poll say there is no reason Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) should apologize for remarks blasting President Bush on the floor of the House of Representatives.
In the course of debate on expanding SCHIP funding, Stark told Congressional Republicans "You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people, if we could get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their head's blown off for the president's amusement."
House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner quickly issued a statement demanding a retraction and apology, in which he said, "Our troops in Iraq are fighting against al-Qaeda and other radical jihadists hellbent on killing the people we are sent here to represent. Congressman Stark’s statement dishonors not only the Commander-in-Chief, but the thousands of courageous men and women of America’s armed forces who believe in their mission and are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and security."
There has predictably been support for Stark on the left, along with endorsements of Boehner's outrage on the right. A thread at the liberal Democratic Underground site asked members to "DU this CNN poll!" but also expressed amusement that the sentiment in favor of Stark was already running at 87% to 13%. One commenter suggested that "the poll has been Freeped, it was 89% before, now it's 87%," to which another replied "amazing what consitutes freeping these daze."
"Freeping" is a reference to the practice initiated at the conservative Free Republic message board some years ago of sending members to overwhelm online polls with indications of support for right-wing policies and politicians. Liberal sites like Democratic Underground and Daily Kos then began countering this strategy with similar exhortations of their own.
The lopsided result of the CNN poll is striking, especially since the mainstream consensus seems to be that even if Stark was just shooting his mouth off, as he has many times in the past, he may have crossed a line of bad taste in suggesting that the president actively enjoys seeing American soldiers' heads blown off.
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Ahem. When did "bad taste" (as if it was, see below) become a basis for giving a pass for causing the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, more-or-less destroying their country, and, not incidentally leading to the death of thousands of Americans and the life-destroying disability of at least tens of thousands of other Americans. "Bad Taste?"
Let us not forget that presidential stunt of pretending to hunt for WMDs in the corners of the room while on camera. Tee-hee. That was Ever-so-Funny mister pissident who never served and was never elected according to conventional election law. Anything to amuse your puerile little mind - i.e. the one that gives every evidence of full-on narcissistic personality disorder.
No mas. I felt it was a terrific move, up there with Senator Dodd's promise of a hold and/or filibuster on the concept of immunity for felonious influence-buying telecommunications mega-corporations.
And I shared my enthusiasm for his words with Congressman Stark, just as I communicated my enthusiasm for Dodd's position with Dodd, and demanded support for him from Murray/Cantwell (my senators), and Feingold/Wyden (the only two senators who, on the losing end, voted No in committee on the telecom bill).
On the off-chance you need a little jump-start on this, here's easy access to the House of Your Representatives and Your Elected Senators . Typically each "law-maker" has their own website, with opportunity to send them a message one of the first things that you come across. And why not - they are supposed to answer to you. While the lobbying and semi-legal bribery by large corporations obviously influence them, plentiful input from constituents can also have an effect. Hint. Hint. Make them work for You.
Here's a bit more on the Stark business:
CNN is reporting that 88% of those voting in their Friday morning online poll say there is no reason Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) should apologize for remarks blasting President Bush on the floor of the House of Representatives.
In the course of debate on expanding SCHIP funding, Stark told Congressional Republicans "You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people, if we could get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their head's blown off for the president's amusement."
House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner quickly issued a statement demanding a retraction and apology, in which he said, "Our troops in Iraq are fighting against al-Qaeda and other radical jihadists hellbent on killing the people we are sent here to represent. Congressman Stark’s statement dishonors not only the Commander-in-Chief, but the thousands of courageous men and women of America’s armed forces who believe in their mission and are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and security."
There has predictably been support for Stark on the left, along with endorsements of Boehner's outrage on the right. A thread at the liberal Democratic Underground site asked members to "DU this CNN poll!" but also expressed amusement that the sentiment in favor of Stark was already running at 87% to 13%. One commenter suggested that "the poll has been Freeped, it was 89% before, now it's 87%," to which another replied "amazing what consitutes freeping these daze."
"Freeping" is a reference to the practice initiated at the conservative Free Republic message board some years ago of sending members to overwhelm online polls with indications of support for right-wing policies and politicians. Liberal sites like Democratic Underground and Daily Kos then began countering this strategy with similar exhortations of their own.
The lopsided result of the CNN poll is striking, especially since the mainstream consensus seems to be that even if Stark was just shooting his mouth off, as he has many times in the past, he may have crossed a line of bad taste in suggesting that the president actively enjoys seeing American soldiers' heads blown off.
-clip-
Ahem. When did "bad taste" (as if it was, see below) become a basis for giving a pass for causing the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, more-or-less destroying their country, and, not incidentally leading to the death of thousands of Americans and the life-destroying disability of at least tens of thousands of other Americans. "Bad Taste?"
Let us not forget that presidential stunt of pretending to hunt for WMDs in the corners of the room while on camera. Tee-hee. That was Ever-so-Funny mister pissident who never served and was never elected according to conventional election law. Anything to amuse your puerile little mind - i.e. the one that gives every evidence of full-on narcissistic personality disorder.
posted by Sir Gumbo at 10:33 PM
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