as we all know by now, president bush has broken a major law. he went around FISA (the secret court put in place by jimmy carter that authorizes warrants for wiretapping) in order to spy on americans. he did so without the consent of this secret court (that has granted over 10,000 warrants and denied only 4 in 20+ years. he, also, did not inform congress in toto. no dorothy jokes there, please. and no changing inform to perform. civility, people.
so, here's my version of bush's various versions of the defense:
1. No, I didn't.
2. I'm not going to discuss sensitive military programs.
3. No, I didn't. Yeah, I did. Forgettaboutit.
4. Yeah. I did. So what?
5. It's not so much what I did as what they didn't tell me I couldn't do.
6. Clinton and Carter did it.
7. We're investigating the leak, because it's federal crime to leak this sort of thing.
8. No comment.
9. Iraqi elections. Good stuff. Bought a well there once.
10. I have this book I like to read called My Pet Goat.
and that was it. thankyouthankyouthankyou. and if you're into Half Knackered Harry Holimas as much as I am, then finish that beer and get me another. and we shall toast to ourselves and all who love us. and to all who don't...enjoy the canape.
(9:20 pm) added note:
the rain is falling like beach rain. a heavy drizzle with some mist. if you stand in it too long you will get very wet. but to watch? oh so cool. wetto is very, very confused. but she got all new cat litter. amazing how many times they go use it when they hang inside all of the time. those poor bushes back at my last place...and it would explain my problem getting bulbs to grow.
#312 from Reasons To Hate Cats: They won't fertilize for you. In fact, they crap where they crap on purpose.
whether it's to intentionally kill all living organisms within a two foot radius is up to debate. the fact that it does is not. if i could just teach her to shit in the woods.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Because I said So
coming down buckets up here today. basically, a solid week or more of rain. it's making up for the two weeks of dryness before. i'm coming on to a cold so all harry holimas plans are on hold. but it was bound to happen. a bug was flying around the office and peeing in one coffee cup after another, puking up on keyboards and mouses (love them little mousies, mousies what i love to eat...), rubbing its bum on telephone mouthpieces and the like. so, cali-boy takes one in the shorts as he was too busy forcing his body to adjust to a new climate. i've called in sick to work and tried to get some sleep, but Wetto (my cat) has cabin fever and is modifying her daily freakout schedule. normally, it's a once-a-day thing. now, it's every hour. i've gained a new appreciation for the cartoon strip called "get fuzzy".
but my copy of the 11th book in the robert jordan "wheel of time" series arrived yesterday and i've been happily devouring that in between naps.
another joyful thing is the sound i hear a few times a day. now, in fresno i would hear the (taped) bells of st. therese every hour. what a wonderful, relaxing thing. up here in this ship repair town the sound is that of foghorns as ships pull in and ships pull out and work shifts end. it's much too far away to rattle the good china (speaking of which, has anyone ever put out the bad china?), but it's a gentle reminder of the fact that i am surrounded by water. and the shipyard has grand fireworks shows when it finishes a job. there was an aircraft carrier parked here and when the work was finished they held a 45 minute show to celebrate. i could see most of it from my front window. too bad i didn't get a photo of it before it left. ah well. my digital camera will arrive soon and then i can bore you all with how ugly it is up here.
by the way, i wouldn't be doing my duty if i didn't remind everyone that they should research the articles of impeachment, because that is what's going to happen to bush if i have my way...though definately not before next year's congressional elections. democraps need to pull even with or overtake the republithugs in order to make it happen. oh, and the dems need to grow a spine. sometimes, it's more important to take a stand and risk public failure than it is to not and ensure re-election. these so-called public servants are not so much. on either side of the aisle. when they're voted out or they retire they go right into lobbying business and begin earning 10-20 times what they were as "public servants". so, for most of them this whole elected gig is just one rung on a ladder that keeps going up. it's resume fodder. it's glitz and glam and gary glitter. and every season we look to the rookies, hoping they will provide the shock and awe so desparately needed to infuse conscience and moral fiber back into that cesspool we call washinton, d.c. but then we get pissed if they don't line up with everything we stand for. no wonder they become so jaded so fast.
some of my friends like to blame the current climate solely on bush and his bedfellows (he did get a man date after all). but really it's us. we vote them in. or we don't vote at all. either way we bitch when things don't go our way. and, yes, politics is as broken as the california welfare and child support systems. but defending our way of life as a democracy does not mean going to the polls when asked to and then ignoring it after that. and it doesn't mean banging a gong and screaming about crypto-facism and then not voting at all. voting is not a privilege. it is a duty. the pols are supposed to work for us, but as long as they know or feel we're sheep who will do what we're told they will continue to walk all over us. on both sides of the aisle.
maybe it's time for someone to buy two hours of airtime on all of the major network stations and run "network" so no matter which channel you turn to...there it is.
but my copy of the 11th book in the robert jordan "wheel of time" series arrived yesterday and i've been happily devouring that in between naps.
another joyful thing is the sound i hear a few times a day. now, in fresno i would hear the (taped) bells of st. therese every hour. what a wonderful, relaxing thing. up here in this ship repair town the sound is that of foghorns as ships pull in and ships pull out and work shifts end. it's much too far away to rattle the good china (speaking of which, has anyone ever put out the bad china?), but it's a gentle reminder of the fact that i am surrounded by water. and the shipyard has grand fireworks shows when it finishes a job. there was an aircraft carrier parked here and when the work was finished they held a 45 minute show to celebrate. i could see most of it from my front window. too bad i didn't get a photo of it before it left. ah well. my digital camera will arrive soon and then i can bore you all with how ugly it is up here.
by the way, i wouldn't be doing my duty if i didn't remind everyone that they should research the articles of impeachment, because that is what's going to happen to bush if i have my way...though definately not before next year's congressional elections. democraps need to pull even with or overtake the republithugs in order to make it happen. oh, and the dems need to grow a spine. sometimes, it's more important to take a stand and risk public failure than it is to not and ensure re-election. these so-called public servants are not so much. on either side of the aisle. when they're voted out or they retire they go right into lobbying business and begin earning 10-20 times what they were as "public servants". so, for most of them this whole elected gig is just one rung on a ladder that keeps going up. it's resume fodder. it's glitz and glam and gary glitter. and every season we look to the rookies, hoping they will provide the shock and awe so desparately needed to infuse conscience and moral fiber back into that cesspool we call washinton, d.c. but then we get pissed if they don't line up with everything we stand for. no wonder they become so jaded so fast.
some of my friends like to blame the current climate solely on bush and his bedfellows (he did get a man date after all). but really it's us. we vote them in. or we don't vote at all. either way we bitch when things don't go our way. and, yes, politics is as broken as the california welfare and child support systems. but defending our way of life as a democracy does not mean going to the polls when asked to and then ignoring it after that. and it doesn't mean banging a gong and screaming about crypto-facism and then not voting at all. voting is not a privilege. it is a duty. the pols are supposed to work for us, but as long as they know or feel we're sheep who will do what we're told they will continue to walk all over us. on both sides of the aisle.
maybe it's time for someone to buy two hours of airtime on all of the major network stations and run "network" so no matter which channel you turn to...there it is.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Godzilla VS Meganaire
okay. wait a minute.so, yeah, here i am suggesting impeachment upon president bush. but i haven't thought about the ramifications of it. if bush is booted then cheney assumes the mantle. and cheney is vastly more intelligent, machiavellian, inhuman and driven. this wouldn't be nixon/ford. this would be...worse. much worse. there would be no waffling. there would be plundering and raping at a meteoric pace.
as a liberal democrat i should be loudly cheering bush's latest gaffe that actually qualifies a major crime. you know? finally, something that no one can deny. but yet...
i begin to wonder who leaked that bit of news to the papers. have you noticed that the white house has not announced an investigation on any paper's page one? bush condemned the leak. he even went so far as to say that that information was top-secret. and he couldn't believe that someone would leak it? think back to valerie plame and compare these two. with plame they promised an investigation and bush said that anyone involved in the leak would not be working for the white house anymore. then he amended that to anyone arrested. then he watered it down to anyone found guilty. eventually (in one speech) he changed it to convicted. this time there's nothing. and to me the question now becomes "is this the house of cards that was supposed to fall a long time ago and somehow hasn't yet?".
so, we boot bush and in comes cheney. and that scares the hell out of me. he's been running the show. so, who leaked the info? why do we always think it must be a person of conscience? i think there's a pony's chance of the leaker being someone greedier. someone more like cheney.
and suddenly i wonder if keeping bush in might be better than allowing cheney full access. what're the fucking odds on this one?
but i'm also the guy who stands in the drizzle up here and yells "piss harder". so maybe i'm not the proper barrister. and maybe sometimes a piss is just a piss.
as a liberal democrat i should be loudly cheering bush's latest gaffe that actually qualifies a major crime. you know? finally, something that no one can deny. but yet...
i begin to wonder who leaked that bit of news to the papers. have you noticed that the white house has not announced an investigation on any paper's page one? bush condemned the leak. he even went so far as to say that that information was top-secret. and he couldn't believe that someone would leak it? think back to valerie plame and compare these two. with plame they promised an investigation and bush said that anyone involved in the leak would not be working for the white house anymore. then he amended that to anyone arrested. then he watered it down to anyone found guilty. eventually (in one speech) he changed it to convicted. this time there's nothing. and to me the question now becomes "is this the house of cards that was supposed to fall a long time ago and somehow hasn't yet?".
so, we boot bush and in comes cheney. and that scares the hell out of me. he's been running the show. so, who leaked the info? why do we always think it must be a person of conscience? i think there's a pony's chance of the leaker being someone greedier. someone more like cheney.
and suddenly i wonder if keeping bush in might be better than allowing cheney full access. what're the fucking odds on this one?
but i'm also the guy who stands in the drizzle up here and yells "piss harder". so maybe i'm not the proper barrister. and maybe sometimes a piss is just a piss.
Has Bush Created Such A Mess That Impeachment Can't Be An Option?
From the White House website itself in April 2004 is the transcript of one of his speeches. Below is a portion. Click here to view the entire piece. It speaks for itself. Bush broke the very law he claimed he was upholding and would uphold. He lied. Plain and simple to the people in the audience and to the nation. This is much, much worse than a blowjob. Remember that as he was speaking these words he had already reauthorized warrantless wiretapping multiple times. This should be considered a treasonable action:
(italics are mine)
"Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.
But a roving wiretap means -- it was primarily used for drug lords. A guy, a pretty intelligence drug lord would have a phone, and in old days they could just get a tap on that phone. So guess what he'd do? He'd get him another phone, particularly with the advent of the cell phones. And so he'd start changing cell phones, which made it hard for our DEA types to listen, to run down these guys polluting our streets. And that changed, the law changed on -- roving wiretaps were available for chasing down drug lords. They weren't available for chasing down terrorists, see? And that didn't make any sense in the post-9/11 era. If we couldn't use a tool that we're using against mobsters on terrorists, something needed to happen.
The Patriot Act changed that. So with court order, law enforcement officials can now use what's called roving wiretaps, which will prevent a terrorist from switching cell phones in order to get a message out to one of his buddies.
Thirdly, to give you an example of what we're talking about, there's something called delayed notification warrants. Those are very important. I see some people, first responders nodding their heads about what they mean. These are a common tool used to catch mobsters. In other words, it allows people to collect data before everybody is aware of what's going on. It requires a court order. It requires protection under the law. We couldn't use these against terrorists, but we could use against gangs.
(italics are mine)
"Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.
But a roving wiretap means -- it was primarily used for drug lords. A guy, a pretty intelligence drug lord would have a phone, and in old days they could just get a tap on that phone. So guess what he'd do? He'd get him another phone, particularly with the advent of the cell phones. And so he'd start changing cell phones, which made it hard for our DEA types to listen, to run down these guys polluting our streets. And that changed, the law changed on -- roving wiretaps were available for chasing down drug lords. They weren't available for chasing down terrorists, see? And that didn't make any sense in the post-9/11 era. If we couldn't use a tool that we're using against mobsters on terrorists, something needed to happen.
The Patriot Act changed that. So with court order, law enforcement officials can now use what's called roving wiretaps, which will prevent a terrorist from switching cell phones in order to get a message out to one of his buddies.
Thirdly, to give you an example of what we're talking about, there's something called delayed notification warrants. Those are very important. I see some people, first responders nodding their heads about what they mean. These are a common tool used to catch mobsters. In other words, it allows people to collect data before everybody is aware of what's going on. It requires a court order. It requires protection under the law. We couldn't use these against terrorists, but we could use against gangs.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Harry Holimus
so, "dr. germ" and "mrs. anthrax"---two leading scientists in saddam hussein's bio-warfare department--- were released today from U.S. custody. evidently, their story that all bio-weapons had been destroyed before our dirty little war began is true. we, on the other hand, are merely saying that they represent no threat to us. we are not saying, "oopsie. whaddya know? that goldurned saddam wasn't shittin' us. maybe we shouldn't have forced out those UN inspectors right before we started bombing. um, i mean we shouldn't have bombed. um, i mean it's all about the democracy, ya know? don't be a defeatist. defeatism sucks and takes away from analyzing history...later on."
wait a minute. hold the phone. wasn't it dick cheney who claimed that saddam kicked the UN out that last time? why, i think it was. not us. no sir. we did not tell the UN we could no longer vouch for the inspectors' safety, because we were about to begin taking out biblically important sites (evidently, oil rigs and financial centers aren't). even though those inspectors had completely unfettered access to any and all sites and the saddam regime was no longer slowing them down. not ONE WMD. nowhere. nada. nights. niente. zip. zilcho. null set. absent. did saddam have them? well, you bet. who did he get them from? well, democracy and freedom. back when iran was the axis of evil. so to speak. wait, it still is. funny how the enemies of your enemies are your frineds until they're not and your enemies still are. kind of makes a person wonder if the shenanigans are worth it in the long run. unless, of course, democracy and freedom for a people who don't know what the hell you're talking about are on the line. then, it's an imperative. until it's not. or until the military/industrial complex whispers that its backers (read: manufacturers) aren't making a big enough profit from the annual "blow everything up so all of our military budgets can be renewed for the same or higher level". did you know that? before each year fiscally ends for the military there is a mass movement to explode as many armaments as possible. why? because if you don't then the government decides in its infinite wisdom that your branch of the military must not need as much money the next year. the military would have us believe that these armaments have a very short safe life expectancy, but that's not true. we're using artillery in iraq right now that have been stockpiled for years. but to keep even with the other military branches each branch feels the need (no, knows the need) to rid itself of as much artillery as possible. this is "rising to the highest level of one's incompetence" as possible. our government will slash funding for groups that prove they can operate within their boundaries. militarily, that is. why doesn't it, instead, reward for fiscal responsibility? ironic, too, that it is cutting funding on the very domestic and social groups that need more and complaining that they don't do enough oversight and rein in their spending (even as these groups watch their funding diminish each and every year). so, simple government math. overfunded military + needless spending = more. underfunded domestic/social programs + need = no more free handouts you lazy welfare queens and useless commoners.
how i got to this from iraq i don't know. but if you'd been on the receiving end of my phone call with my boss 30 minutes ago about something i have no control over, you wouldn't know or care.
Harry Holimus!
wait a minute. hold the phone. wasn't it dick cheney who claimed that saddam kicked the UN out that last time? why, i think it was. not us. no sir. we did not tell the UN we could no longer vouch for the inspectors' safety, because we were about to begin taking out biblically important sites (evidently, oil rigs and financial centers aren't). even though those inspectors had completely unfettered access to any and all sites and the saddam regime was no longer slowing them down. not ONE WMD. nowhere. nada. nights. niente. zip. zilcho. null set. absent. did saddam have them? well, you bet. who did he get them from? well, democracy and freedom. back when iran was the axis of evil. so to speak. wait, it still is. funny how the enemies of your enemies are your frineds until they're not and your enemies still are. kind of makes a person wonder if the shenanigans are worth it in the long run. unless, of course, democracy and freedom for a people who don't know what the hell you're talking about are on the line. then, it's an imperative. until it's not. or until the military/industrial complex whispers that its backers (read: manufacturers) aren't making a big enough profit from the annual "blow everything up so all of our military budgets can be renewed for the same or higher level". did you know that? before each year fiscally ends for the military there is a mass movement to explode as many armaments as possible. why? because if you don't then the government decides in its infinite wisdom that your branch of the military must not need as much money the next year. the military would have us believe that these armaments have a very short safe life expectancy, but that's not true. we're using artillery in iraq right now that have been stockpiled for years. but to keep even with the other military branches each branch feels the need (no, knows the need) to rid itself of as much artillery as possible. this is "rising to the highest level of one's incompetence" as possible. our government will slash funding for groups that prove they can operate within their boundaries. militarily, that is. why doesn't it, instead, reward for fiscal responsibility? ironic, too, that it is cutting funding on the very domestic and social groups that need more and complaining that they don't do enough oversight and rein in their spending (even as these groups watch their funding diminish each and every year). so, simple government math. overfunded military + needless spending = more. underfunded domestic/social programs + need = no more free handouts you lazy welfare queens and useless commoners.
how i got to this from iraq i don't know. but if you'd been on the receiving end of my phone call with my boss 30 minutes ago about something i have no control over, you wouldn't know or care.
Harry Holimus!
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Bush Tried To Snow Us This Weekend And The Weather Up Here Shows Him How It's Really Done
hey, it's snowing a bit tonight. it probably won't stick around (it won't get cold enough). but still, whoo hoo! it looks great falling through the streetlights.
and that reminds me: as we all should know by now, president bush broke the law by authorizing spying on US citizens without first getting warrants as proscribed by judicial system. thinkprogress.com has dug up some of alberto gonzalez's testimony before congress when he was being nominated to attorney general. oopsie...he flat-out said bush was not above the law and that he would inform congress if illegalities were commited by the Chimp. go here for more.
and that reminds me: as we all should know by now, president bush broke the law by authorizing spying on US citizens without first getting warrants as proscribed by judicial system. thinkprogress.com has dug up some of alberto gonzalez's testimony before congress when he was being nominated to attorney general. oopsie...he flat-out said bush was not above the law and that he would inform congress if illegalities were commited by the Chimp. go here for more.
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