Freepers Want to Hurt Journalist

Um, are these the red-staters we're supposed to establish a dialog with? People who advocate this while getting upset at a naked back on Monday Night Football right before the beer ads and Viagra commercials?

From Media Matters:

The discussion board at FreeRepublic.com, a prominent right-wing online forum, contains numerous posts from members advocating violence against NBC News correspondent Kevin Sites, who recorded and reported the close-range shooting by a U.S. Marine of an unarmed and wounded Iraqi insurgent.

Comments about Sites on Free Republic include:

"Turn Sites over to the terrorist."
"Fragamundo."
"No need for anything overt. Unfortunate things happen in combat zones, and if the reporter fails to hear someone yell 'Sniper!!', well, c'est la guerre" [French for "that is war"].

The War on Women

Damn them.

From The Times:

House and Senate negotiators have tucked a potentially far-reaching anti-abortion provision into a $388 billion must-pass spending bill, complicating plans for Congress to wrap up its business and adjourn for the year.

The provision may be an early indication of the growing political muscle of social conservatives who provided crucial support for Republican candidates, including President Bush, in the election.

Federal law now says that hospitals and health care providers who receive taxpayer money must offer abortion counseling to women who ask about it. Catholic hospitals are now exempt from the law; the provision in the spending bill would allow all hospitals and health care providers to refuse to comply.

The language would also allow hospitals and health care providers to opt out of state and local laws that require them to provide abortions, abortion counseling or referrals.

Well, let's see the Red State women get pregnant while everyone's unemployed.

Rendered Mute

I have to admit that I feel a little like I'm going through shell shock, and part of the reason I haven't posted.

Bush's new cabinet in which he promoted friends and incompetents who should have had their asses fired rather than their lips kissed (what was that with all the Bush kissing this week? I don't recall him ever kissing Ashcroft on the lips).

The religious right wants all abortion stopped; they don't want to "dialog". Hell, I think most of us would like to see abortion end, as in no unwanted pregnancies. But these are the same people who want to teach faith-based pregnancy prevention based on abstinence and ignorance. No contraception. No choice. Funny, I don't hear these men (and they're mostly men) suggesting the fathers of such babies should be pressed to contribute.

We're now making noise about Iran that sounds word for word like our talk about Iraq. Having Colin Powell come out today to cite the danger only reminded me of his "killer" report before the U.N. Security Council that turned out to be lies and spin.

Margaret Hassan's incredibly unnecessary death - a woman who opposed our sanctions, opposed our war, and yet still was put to death.

Congress happily raising the debt limit to record levels while also making certain that Tom DeLay can run everything even when he's consigned to hell.

Imus and company calling the Palestinians pigs and animals.

Oh yeah, and there are still a lot of questions about the election. Not that most seem to care.

How Many Ways Can it Get Worse?

Condi Rice as Secretary of State? A woman who's spent four years doing a much better job of defending her "husb... er.. president" than in defending the country? Who - as Jon Stewart says - is best at giving the "stink eyes" to anyone who spoke against this president's vision.

I just wish his vision didn't involve destroying America as we know it.

The choice of Condi as SoS is his latest of saying, "fuck you" to the rest of the world. There's no other way to describe it.