Arkansas Blog

GOP memo to America: Shut up
and stand in the corner. You
have the right to remain silent and/or
agree with everything we say or
do.

Stalin would be so proud. I'll have
some Mao on that sandwich.

This is no surprise. If the Republicans were interested in upholding the constitution, we'd have seen evidence of that by now.

A couple of relevant quotes from "1984":

"...one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended."

"She had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan, and there was no imbecility, absolutely none, that she was not capable of swallowing if the Party handed it out to her."

"The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism.

"...the consciousness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival."

"But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."

Thanks for the reminder, Dentay. Here's another--the chilling (to me, when I read it in 1958) opening line ...

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen..."

Resonances between Orwell's 1940's vision of the future and daily current events have been occurring steadily throughout my life. Maybe that's why I'm always depressed. I'm sure it's why I'm a liberal--that, and my understanding of Christianity.

Yes, the clocks are striking thirteen every day now. When will the alarm finally go off?

We can always rely on Jay Leno to put things in the right prospective.!

?President Bush is so angry at the New York Times he said today he's not even going to pretend to read it anymore.? --

We can always rely on Jay Leno to put things in the right prospective.!

?President Bush is so angry at the New York Times he said today he's not even going to pretend to read it anymore.? --

You liberals and Democrats are so afraid of success in the war on terror that you do everything to telegraph our war strategies to the enemy. How many soldiers will needlessly die because idiot liberals in the press insist on giving away any advantage we have? You guys are pathetic.

You liberals and Democrats are so afraid of success in the war on terror that you do everything to telegraph our war strategies to the enemy. How many soldiers will needlessly die because idiot liberals in the press insist on giving away any advantage we have? You guys are pathetic.

See Quote No. 2 from "1984," above.

Amen George...Idiot Liberals would like the war on terror to be fought in the streets of Little Rock (only not in Hillcrest or Quapaw).

How many soldiers will needlessly die? If you're keeping score, more have died from bush & co's idiocies than from any putative "compromise" in the "idiot liberal press". Is George trying to beat the Vietnam score?

As DBI pointed out recently, this is not a football game. It's Life and Death. Grow up and get a grip.

Does anyone doubt that "George" and "Anonymous 8:18" are the same person? How much are they paying you? Is it more than minimum wage? If so, you are overpaid.

To me the issues is not whether the monitoring of bank transactions was warranted, but why can't this administration go through the proper channels and procedures? Work with Congress, and the courts, get the proper approval, you know, checks and balances. Bush comes across as a person that does not care anything about our constitution and laws. In my option, he has done more harm to the way others perceive America and what true democracy is all about. I know we have always had a cloak and dagger way of doing things, but when that is all controlled by one very small group of people, that is when things truly become scary to me. We cannot continue down this path or we are surly destined to go the way of the Romans, British, etc.

Using your football analogy, it is like the New York Times giving away the play to the defense prior to each snap. The terrorists will alter their strategy thanks to the New York Times. Sadly American soldiers will needlessly die because of another liberal give away of intelligence.

George...two words:

Judy

Miller

I trust the New York Times way more than I trust the administation.

In fact, I think that newspaper editors are likely to have higher than average intelligence. Therefore, our country would be better off we we replaced Bush with a randomly selected newspaper editor.

George, why don't you read and think a little bit. It seems only you and the other dolts hadn't figured out by September 13, 2001, that the US would not be monitoring banking transactions. President Clinton did so twice under the authority of a 1977 international law. So they now transfer funds the old hawala way. What the NYTimes revealed again, is an incompetent administration doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. That's a textbook definition of insanity! [No wonder you support it.]
Likewise, Al Quada and company long ago figured out their phones would be monitored -- after all how did Clinton know where to send the Cruise Missiles back in the late 1990's?
You and the unthinking public like you are being manipulated by fear. Our troops are dying and being maimed for a perverse policy of aggressive capitalism without roots in law or morality. For those of you who do not understand this, you will forever be stuck in Orwell's 1984.

You liberals are so clouded by your hatred of President Bush, that you don't see any problem in aiding and abetting the enemy. Pathetic.

"As DBI pointed out recently"

If you are quoting DBI, then you obviously can't think for yourself. He's the most long winded idiot on this blog.

we are surly destined to go the way of the Romans, British, etc.
Posted by: My Name is Earl

Having had the pleasure to spend time in both Italy and the British Isles in recent years, I can tell you that they are doing quite well, thank you. When America goes their way instead of trying to be the bullyboys of the world, we'll have calmer, happier, more prosperous lives.

Does anyone doubt that "George" and "Anonymous 8:18" are the same person?

Nope.

The Bushies are the most un-patriotic, anti-America, mean-spirited, greedy and hypocritical gang I've ever come across.

They are what's wrong with America.

the most impenetrable fortress is
a closed mind.

"Let the people know the facts and
the country will be safe."

Abraham Lincoln

Mr. Get a life -- Hold it right there. DBI is not an idiot and you should apologize for even suggesting such a thing. Do you agree with him and his progressive political philosophy? Obviously you do. But he is NOT an idiot. He is thoughtful, intelligent, well read and he writes well. I think you have chosen to attack the individual, rather than his thoughts or deeds. Shame on you. I enjoy reading DBI's rants and look forward to reading them in the future.

I guess we better include President Bush and the official White House web site in the list of those who "telegraph our war strategies to the enemy".

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010924-4.html

Gee...thanks for the kind words. What George is missing is what Keith Olbermann and Jon Daily pointed out in letters as big as the Hollywood sign out in California. Of course George doesn't watch those shows, but if he did he would have seen the 5 or 6 clips of Bush announcing to the world that the US is monitoring the terrorist money and doing all they can to goof it up.

He would have also seen the company that is performing this job for our government, their website detailing the work they do and the MAGAZINE they publish showing them hard at work at tracking down terrorist money.

Those public facts squash all the crap Bush & Cheney are putting out about those traitors at the NY Times. How can the media be the bad guy when Bush has used the media since 9-11 to talk about monitoring the bad guy's money? It's another smoke and mirrors trick, it's another chance to make the backward among us think the media is the devil. Surely everyone able to find this blog is smart enough to figure that out?

I'm sure the next shoe that will drop is that Bush has been sniffing in OUR bank accounts. You know they are........as sure as we're sitting here. All they'll find going thru my bank records are big checks made out to the grocery stores, utility companies, gas stations and taxes. I don't even buy Juggs magazines any more because money is so tight. I have to get my jollies from watching the all night Girls Gone Wild commercials on TV.

And while on that subject, if you wingnuts want to take a rest from flag burning and gays, why don't you use your power to get the nasty, embarrassing Girls Gone Wild commercials off the air. My God....the last thing I am is a prude, but having 2 teenage daughters, it's terribly embarrassing to be in the same room with them when that 4 hour commercial comes on showing drunk girls their age ramming their tongues done each other's throats with their hands in what little clothes they have on. When you can out-slime me, you've really gone too far.

Get Bill Frist to go after GGW and get it off the air if you're looking to bash the media. Oh Lord, I've lived too long!

I watched the Keith Olberman clip here http://www.crooksandliars.com/posts/2006/06/28/keith-strikes-back-against-nyt-bashers/ and counted 10 times ( I may have mis-counted) where Bush himself said we are going after the terrorists finances, etc.

Again, prior to the "treasonous" Times articles, The Terrorists already knew that we were eavesdropping on their international calls and monitoring their banking transactions -- because that information was previously, and repeatedly, put into the public domain, often by the Bush administration and President Bush himself. What the Times revealed is the lack of oversight and checks on these intelligence-gathering activities, not the existence of the activities themselves, which were already well known.

The reason Bush and Co. are screaming treason is not because they don't want the terrorists to know about these programs, because they already do, it's because they don't the American people to know they're snooping around our bank accounts and phone records.

"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and be carrying a cross."
Sinclair Lewis

It's already here.

You liberals and Democrats are so afraid of success in the war on terror that you do everything to telegraph our war strategies to the enemy. How many soldiers will needlessly die because idiot liberals in the press insist on giving away any advantage we have? You guys are pathetic.

Posted by: George

I found a picture of this guy using the same IP tracking software that the Bush administration uses to track terror suspects.

From all comments....you idiots have not read the newspaper article in question. You are just spewing from spin. Another deluge of "1984" .

The fact that George and those who think like him exist is the greatest challenge to my theory. Apparently the feeble-and-narrow minded may also survive. Thus, survival of the fittest as a theory needs re-working. Sorry folks. I'll do better next time.

Mike Ross should be ashamed of his vote. America was founded on a free press. One of the first things the Nazis and the Communists did when they took power was stifle the freedom of the press.

Ross and all of you fascist lapdogs for the current administration should refresh your memory of the Constitution of the United States, First Amendment, which says Congress shall "make no law abridging the freedom of the press."

If you truly are a "strict constructionist" then you'd agree that the government has no business trying to tell the press what to publish. A free press is one of the hallmarks of a free society. If you'd have had your way, Watergate never would have been broken because Woodward and Bernstein would have been prosecuted for publishing "government secrets."

Hey, DBI. GGW is also on that evil Gore invention called the Internet.
Its only a matter of time before Frist and crew give recognition to Gore and start blaming and prosecuting dems for this evil.

You know what would help? Phone call after phone call to your congressional minions (they work for you, remember?) to let them know what you think. E-mail is never read or read late. Don't bother to write because all the mail is processed through terra-sniffing machinery and is late getting to them. We nearly all have some free cell phone time and it doesn't matter if you call all night. CALL! Light up those switchboards and urge the senators and congressmen to act on principle in this matter. Call early, call often and leave your name. They all have answering machines. You know, let the People speak. It's our job and still, by FDR, our privilege to do so freely. Condemn the press? Bite my ass. Encourage them.

From all comments....you idiots have not read the newspaper article in question. You are just spewing from spin. Another deluge of "1984" .

What a wrong-minded generalization...must be an ass...of the assuming kind.

if you wingnuts want to take a rest from flag burning and gays, why don't you use your power to get the nasty, embarrassing Girls Gone Wild commercials off the air. Posted by: Deathbyinches

Though I've said some critical things about the Republicans in the past, it's only words.

But if they get Girls Gone Wild commercials taken off TV, then I'll really be mad. I'll take to the streets.

Really, I guess it's a bit strange, but it's a fact, that the only two things that will stop me dead in my tracks and get my full attention are a speech by Rep. Barney Frank or a Girls Gone Wild commercial.

I'm disappointed to see that Vic Snyder did not join this. What is he thinking? Good people want terrorists stopped at the BANK, not at the border and not at the Empire State Building (or World Trade Center).

Think Vic - or give your seat to Andy Mayberry.

You know what would help? Phone call after phone call to your congressional minions (they work for you, remember?) to let them know what you think. E-mail is never read or read late. Don't bother to write because all the mail is processed through terra-sniffing machinery and is late getting to them. We nearly all have some free cell phone time and it doesn't matter if you call all night. CALL! Light up those switchboards and urge the senators and congressmen to act on principle in this matter. Call early, call often and leave your name. They all have answering machines. You know, let the People speak. It's our job and still, by FDR, our privilege to do so freely. Condemn the press? Bite my ass. Encourage them.

You know what would help? Phone call after phone call to your congressional minions (they work for you, remember?) to let them know what you think. E-mail is never read or read late. Don't bother to write because all the mail is processed through terra-sniffing machinery and is late getting to them. We nearly all have some free cell phone time and it doesn't matter if you call all night. CALL! Light up those switchboards and urge the senators and congressmen to act on principle in this matter. Call early, call often and leave your name. They all have answering machines. You know, let the People speak. It's our job and still, by FDR, our privilege to do so freely. Condemn the press? Bite my ass. Encourage them.