American commanders-in-chief apparently tend to have extremely small penises. I’m obviously in no position to know for sure (though perhaps Michaele Salahi is), but how else can you explain presidents’ unending need to prove their manhood through meaningless and ultimately counterproductive warfare?

Maybe it’s guilt, since recent presidents also have been “men” who managed to avoid military service themselves. Or maybe they feel shame because of their common inability to produce male offspring who might carry on the family name (or, in the case of George H. W. Bush, shame because of the males who will carry it on).

Whatever the reason, presidents do love their toy soldiers. And those soldiers generally remain willing to risk life, limb and marriage, guided by a combination of patriotism, presidential lies, and a lack of economic options (thanks in part to an economy hampered by war spending).

Instead of pulling his Johnson, so to speak, to turn Afghanistan into another Vietnam, Obama should be pulling troops out of that unwinnable conflict. Through withdrawal he could be the first president since Jimmy Carter not to go out of his way to kill people to prove he’s a tough guy, and maybe in the process avoid being a one-term president. Of course we all know what a wuss Amy’s dad was.

Markos Moulitsas exposes former Rep. Tom Tancredo’s (R-CO) chickenhawk hypocrisy; Tancredo walks off the set.

Paul Sheldon Foote

October 23, 2009

Mitt Romney’s “Iran: Biggest Threat Since Soviets” (October 22, 2009) provides evidence that he is not only a RINO (Republican In Name Only) but also is brainwashed by Zionists. [1]

In 1966, while a member of The University of Michigan College Republican Club, I organized a student rally for Mitt Romney’s father, George Romney, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  I spoke with Mitt Romney’s parents at Republican campaign events.  After Governor George Romney’s trip to Vietnam, he blundered in 1967 in his presidential campaign by saying that the military had brainwashed him. [2]

While I volunteered and served in the American Army in Vietnam, Mitt Romney, a chickenhawk, obtained draft deferments as a Mormon minister of religion serving in France. [3]

In “A Special Place in Hell: Mitt Romney, blood libel, and that old time Jew hate”, an Israeli newspaper attacked Mitt Romney for announcing his candidacy for President at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.  The complaint about Henry Ford was:

“Named for America’s greatest anti-Semite. “

“Named for a man revered by Adolf Hitler, who awarded him the Grand Service Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle. Named for the U.S. publisher of the ‘Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’ and ‘The International Jew: the World’s foremost problem.’” [4]

To pay for his sins, Mitt Romney lies for the Zionists.  America’s defense budget dwarfs the military spending of the world.  Iran’s size and military strength is tiny compared with that of the former Soviet Union.

Mitt Romney lies, too, about Holocaust deniers.  When Iran hosted a conference on the Holocaust, its television stations showed interviews of Jewish speakers who went to Iran for the conference and who explained on television about their relatives who had been killed during the Holocaust.

Now, Mitt Romney needs to pay for his sins against the hundreds of millions of Christians and others murdered or had their lives destroyed by the communists.  [5]

He can start by reading about Moses Hess (“Communist Rabbi”), who worked with Karl Marx on drafts of The Communist Manifesto, who wrote his own book on Zionism in 1862, and who is buried in Israel.  [6]

Then, he can research about the tens of millions of Christians murdered by Zionists in the Soviet Union. [7]

Mitt Romney is unfit to serve as a President of the United States.  While I supported his father, I did not vote for Mitt Romney in the 2008 Republican Presidential Primary Election and will never vote for him.

[1] http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34061

[2] http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/08/13/the_lessons_of_the_father/

[3] http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/articles/part1_side_2/?page=1

[4] http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/825372.html

[5] The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Book-Communism-Crimes-Repression/dp/0674076087/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256329384&sr=1-1

[6] Moses Hess: Prophet of Communism and Zionism

http://www.amazon.com/Moses-Hess-Prophet-Communism-Zionism/dp/0814705871/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256330104&sr=1-5

[7] “Stalin’s Jews”

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3342999,00.html

Excelente video, la banda esta decente no es mi estilo pero tocan bien y la música va muy bien con el video.

The blog Eschaton has a post which looks to be from last year about Tom Friedman of “Friedman unit” fame and Richard Cohen, whose writings disgrace the Washington Post.

You would think that advocating indiscriminate killing of people in some Middle Eastern country – any country will do! – just “because we could” would be the kind of thing which would cause people to respond with disgust and revlusion, and perhaps revoke your NYT columnist card. But, as we’ve learned so many times over the years, there’s really nothing you can say or write about the awesomeness of killing Arabs for random reasons which will stop your cocktail party invitations from coming. Friedman, I suppose, was at least not quite as narcissistic as Richard Cohen, who thought killing people in Iraq was a good idea because it would be “therapeutic” for our country. Dead innocent people so Cohen could save a bit on his shrink bill.

But the problem with Tom Friedman is that he’s very serious and taken very seriously. Unlike Maureen Dowd whose gibberish has lost its influence over the years, Tommy “Suck On This” Friedman is still The Most Serious Foreign Affairs Man In America. When Tom Friedman speaks, people listen, even as his metaphors become as bad as his advice.

So on Suck On This Day we should do our part to convince as many people as we can that Tom Friedman is a blithering idiot and a moral monster. Suck On This Tommy!

I haven’t figured out yet what day is Suck on This Day, but it seems to be in May.

And here’s the video:

“‘…well, suck. on. this.’ That, Charlie, is what this war was about. We could have hit Saudi Arabia, it was part of that bubble. Could’ve hit Pakistan. We hit Iraq because we could. That’s the real truth.”

Explanation of Friedman unit from Wikipedia:

The Friedman, or Friedman Unit (F.U.), is a tongue-in-cheek neologism coined by blogger Atrios (Duncan Black) on May 21, 2006.[1]

A Friedman is a unit of time equal to six months in the future.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The Huffington Post cited it as the “Best New Phrase” of 2006.[9]

The term is in reference to a May 16, 2006 article by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) detailing journalist Thomas Friedman’s repeated use[10] of “the next six months” as the period in which, according to Friedman, “we’re going to find out…whether a decent outcome is possible” in the Iraq War. As documented by FAIR, Friedman had been making such six-month predictions for a period of two and a half years, on at least fourteen different occasions, starting with a column in the November 30, 2003 edition of The New York Times, in which he stated: “The next six months in Iraq—which will determine the prospects for democracy-building there—are the most important six months in U.S. foreign policy in a long, long time.”[11]

The term has been used in general to describe any pronouncement of a critical period for the U.S. occupation of Iraq.[12][7] Such pronouncements have been made by numerous politicians and military officials involved in the war.[13][14][15]

Daddy’s little girl is all growed up and ready to start illegal wars in countries that didn’t attack us.

The Washington Times reports that Liz Cheney, daughter and primary defender of former Vice President and lying scumbag Darth Dick Cheney, has been making noises about running for political office sometime in the future.  Read on:

“It’s something I very well may do,” said Elizabeth “Liz” Cheney, a lawyer and State Department appointee who has worked on two Republican presidential campaigns.

Ms. Cheney, 44, has emerged as one of the strongest defenders of the effectiveness and legality of Bush-Cheney policies on enhanced interrogation methods. More recently, she and her father have become two of the most outspoken critics of President Obama’s position on terrorism and other national security issues, which has led Republicans to consider her a strong candidate for national political office.

Ms. Cheney told The Washington Times’ “America’s Morning News” that recent new reports that her father ordered the CIA to hide information from Congress and that a government probe could follow appears like political cover for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats who have accused agency Director Leon Panetta of lying.

“It gets more and more appalling every day,” she said. “I think they’re very worried about Speaker Pelosi.”

Oh, please.  This woman is even more detached from reality than her dickhead father is.  Anyone who thinks waterboarding isn’t torture and that the CIA tells the truth to Congress and the American people, is an idiot.

I hope she does run for office.  I hope she gets her ass handed to her.  I hope the weight of her father’s crimes and scandals comes crashing down on her head like a ton of shit.  I hope the entire Cheney family gets indicted for war crimes and sent to the gulag their supreme patriarch created.

Turn and Face The Cougar…

Help support the show by making a purchase from the new Visitronix Store at http://blog.visitronix.com/product or donating via paypal to visitronix@gmail.com. Thanks!

Yet another volume of rock and roll factoids, jam-packed full of information you just can’t get with yer wikipedias and yer allmusics. Does your average fansite speculate on the true meaning of Chrome’s wah-pedal fetish or explain Wes Borland’s misshapen head and career-ending gig with Limp Bizkit, the band you knew he’d leave as soon as his pockets were full?

I think not.

Previous versions include:
the Original
the Second
the Third
the Fourth
the Fifth

Chris Martin counts noses before the band heads back to the tour bus

Coldplay
Gwyneth Paltrow’s vanity project, featuring “kept man” Chris Martin tickling the ivories and singing his heart out. When she’s not busy dabbling in the music biz, Paltrow takes time out from her hectic mirror-gazing schedule to dole out sickeningly sweet platitudes at her website, GOOP. Most posts are about as pleasant as being on the receiving end of candy that has been in someone’s pockets all day.

Coldplay has been in the news recently due to the fact that they ripped off both Joe Satriani and Cat Stevens in the same song. Martin has issued a statement saying: “If we’re going to rip anyone off, it’s Ben Folds and U2. Perhaps a dash of pretension from Radiohead. That’s it. Maybe a little of the House of Love.”

The most subtle thing about the album was the cover

Consolidated
Basically a stream of slogans hitched to a drum machine, Consolidated with all the subtlety of an ELF-ordained mob beating. Despite “entertaining” their audience with deep political conversations both pre and post-show, Consolidated somehow failed to achieve long-lasting mainstream success. Fans noted that “while it’s nice to be preached at now and again, at some point you just want to yell, ‘Enough! We’re converted already!’”

The members of Consolidated, while not working various odd jobs, gather at their communal flat to swim through the vast vault of ideals and dogma, much like Scrooge McDuck does with actual, useful money.

The Cranberries pose for band photo pose #31: lead singer, look to your left; the rest of you, eyes on me...

the Cranberries
Much like their namesake, the Cranberries are a bittersweet band, best consumed in small doses, preferably once a year during family holidays involving thankfulness. Sure, you have a little with the turkey dinner, but you’ll never find yourself wandering the aisles of the local food jobber and grabbing a can or two as an impulse purchase.

Maybe it’s the lyrics, which strain for gravitas, much like Keanu Reeves in any costume drama. Maybe it’s lead singer O’Riordan’s brogueish wail, which reminds everyone why they can’t stand Sinead O’Connor. Whatever it is, you’ll put the Cranberries back on the shelf and ask yourself why you even put up with this shit once a year.

Man, these mariachis sure say "fuck" a lot...

the Violent Femmes
There are at least two things wrong with this band’s name, especially the violent part. These three non-femmes, with their acoustic guitar, bass and trap set, resemble not so much the punk outshoot they are supposed to be, but rather a psycho-sexually charged pack of profane buskers.

Largely more tolerable than the Arcade Fire (and twice as compact), a band that sounds nothing like them, but has been known to spend a lonely night or two grabbing their instruments in a public park, subway, petting zoo, etc.

A clear indication that your band has crossed the disappear-up-your-own-ass pretension threshold: Someone asks if anyone feels like busking and more than half the band says yes. It evokes the forced emotions of the musical theater, especially “spontaneous” celebratory songs featuring the entire cast.

Perhaps still known best for their debut album (featuring the best summer song the Beach Boys never wrote: Blister in the Sun), which is OK is you’ve only been in existence for five or so years. Not so much if you’ve been together for nearly 30 years.

After viewing the photo, Danzig fired the band member on the far left

Danzig
Fronted by the only Spinal Tap member who wasn’t mortified by the Stonehenge set, Danzing features the Morrison-esque bellowing (Jim “Van” Morrison, not Alanis) of Glenn “MOOOOOOTHERRRRRRfucking” Danzig, the Tom Cruise of rock and roll. Strutting around the stage like Foghorn Leghorn’s charge in search of a chicken, Danzig belts out black metal with all the subtlety of leftover Meatloaf, his semi-contemporary.

Apparently “awesome” live, you really owe it to yourself to check them out. Get seats near the front if you wish to see anything other than his backup band (whom he has replaced several times with either shorter musicians or hired guns willing to stand in strategically places “stageholes”).

Because Glenn Danzig is short.

Experts aren't sure exactly when Everclear began sucking, but they theorize it was some point before the tambourine became a featured part of the act

Everclear
Fronted by Portland, OR’s Kurt Cobain, Everclear made a promising start with kickass single Santa Monica. They then proceeded to take the road heavily travelled, producing watery, half-assed rock like so many formerly great bands before them. (I’m looking at you Filter, Goo Goo Dolls and Soul Asylum.)

The only reason to have any Everclear in your music collection at this point would also be the only reason to keep Everclear in your liquor cabinet: to separate less-discerning young women from their underwear.

AM Radio = Take A Picture = Iris = Misery = Jungle juice-powered FAILboat filled with streetdumb amateur hookers.

The all-new Moody Blues, featuring Kenny Rogers and his two illegitimate sons, both of whom are illusionists

Moody Blues
I said “Fuck off.” *disgusted sigh*

The battle of the sexes now has a soundtrack

Girls Against Boys
The oldest rivalry in the books, dating back to the Garden of Eden, when Eve said to Adam, “Hey, big guy. Want an apple?”
Adam responded with, “I’m watching the game.”
“Come on, Adam. All the talking snakes are doing it. They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, whatever the hell that means.”
Adam returned to the game. “Well, it certainly seems to be working in Canada.”

After a few more hours, Adam relented and downed the apple, which was spiked with the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve both realized (at the same time, OMG!) that they were naked and extremely self-conscious about their figures. Adam said, “Jesus, woman. Isn’t the laundry done yet?”

Of course God, like all mad scientists, was extremely irritated to find his creations had become sentient. He booted them from the Garden of Eden with, “Well, you’re the world’s problem now,” figuring they would survive “two weeks, tops” in the wild and He would soon be able to sweep the whole fiasco under the rug.

Unfortunately, they lived for years and inbred up a storm, turning their back on God, thus beginning the world’s second longest rivalry: us vs. them. (See also: Pink Floyd)

I've been making a man, with blonde hair and a tan...

Nelson
The twin sons of Ricky Nelson, conceived in-vitro using Nova-IVF’spatented “Rock & Roll Stud” baby blend, which features the “contributions” of Edgar Winter and Fabio. The Nelson twins were born without fully-functioning autoimmune systems and were raised in a protective bubble and fed a special diet consisting of wheatgrass shakes and adult contemporary music.

Later in life, when doctors declared the boys “adequately healthy,” the Nelsons formed their own band, diluting the shallow end of the rock pool from 1990-1992. After several VH1 specials failed to raise public interest above “Who Gives a Shit,” the beautifully hideous twins sank into obscurity, surfacing briefly to finish each other’s sentences in Grit magazine interviews and battle the Proclaimers in low-level wrestling matches.

-CLT

Hey, kids!  Let’s have some fun with right-wing jackass and Faux Noise stuffed suit Sean Hannity!  It’s been nearly two months since he said he’d volunteer to be waterboarded “for charity”.  He still hasn’t done it, despite the fact that his colleague and friend Erich “Mancow” Muller did, and decided from his experience that it is, in fact, torture.

I’m not entirely sure why Hannity hasn’t done it yet, but I have a theory.  You see, like every other right-wing asshat who defends the so-called “enhanced interrogation methods” employed by Dick “Torquemada” Cheney, Hannity is a pussy.

He’s a yellow-bellied, lily-livered, asslicking, lying buffoon.

And next week will be the two-month anniversary of his pussyhood.  Let’s all have some fun and send him a pussy to help him celebrate it!  Here’s a picture of a nice, wet one that I’m sure he’ll appreciate:

See, it’s even got a yellow background, just like Sean himself!  Just download it, copy it, or whatever, and send it with your comments to hannity@foxnews.com.  Or send one of your own pictures if you prefer.  Please, no pornography though, tempting as it may be.  I don’t want to give him any more talking points.  Keep it humourous.

….on Fox News Sunday – a great way to start your day:  scrambled  eggs, bacon, home fries, coffee and a slice of delusional thinking:   FULL STORY.  In case you never knew, before becoming a syndicated columnist and media pundit, Krauthammer was a practicing psychiatrist —- and this one time cheerleader for the Iraq War still can’t cure himself of “Obsessive Chickenhawk Disorder”

One thing that’s been firmly established about Dick Cheney is that he’s a liar.  Another is a that he’s a coward.  He’s a lying coward who’s more than willing to sacrifice other men and women to serve his worthless causes, but lacks the courage to put his own sorry ass on the line for them.  So when this little nugget came up on Faux News’ “On the Record” with Greta Van Sycophant, I had to wonder if someone had accidentally slipped truth serum in his daily serving of human blood:

“On the question of whether or not Iraq was involved in 9-11, there was never any evidence to prove that,” he told the “On The Record” host in a joint interview with his daughter Liz. “There was “some reporting early on … but that was never borne out,” Cheney said.

This brief bout with, erm… reality?  Conscience?  Truth? … didn’t stop him from throwing his former puppet boss under the bus, however:

“George … did say and did testify that there was an ongoing relationship between al-Qaeda and Iraq, but no proof that Iraq was involved in 9-11.”

Interesting.  The Dark Lord of the Sith seems to be realizing that he won’t get away with it forever.  Next he’ll be telling us that KSM and others were waterboarded at Gitmo in order to create a false link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda.

As if we didn’t already know that.

Former vice president Cheney, who sought and won five draft deferments in the Vietnam era because he “had other priorities” than fighting in a war in which he supported others being killed, is speaking now on national television. He is promulgating more misinformation about his administration and the current one. No surprise there.

One of the most glaring was his claim that, after 9/11, his administration attacked nations that “had the capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction.” Does that sound familiar? It’s not what he and the other administration lackeys were peddling in the run up to the invasion of Iraq. At that time, they were speaking in certainties about the indisputable fact that Iraq not only had all kinds of weapons of mass destruction, but that they were just days, hours, minutes away from launching wmd filled drones and killing us all. Especially your family.

You don’t want terrorists to kill your family, do you? Then shut up and let us invade Iraq.

But they didn’t only lie about Iraq having wmd. They also lied about a connection between Iraq and al-qeada, Iraq involvement in 9/11and a slew of other fantasies.

Of course, when enough people realized the lies, it was too late and we are now stuck in Iraq for who knows how long. This was what this man’s sage advice brought us before.

And, of course, he completely glosses over how he and everyone else in the administration ignored intelligence before 9/11 that al qeada was planning attacks in the US.

And now, for some strange reason, the Republican party, the American Enterprise Institute and the media villagers think we should still listen to this man’s opinion about world affairs. I wouldn’t listen to his opinion about the color of orange juice.

Here’s a reminder of some of the lies and bullshit he and his cronies have spouted before:

Five deferment Dick makes his first appearance at 2:16. At 3:54, Bush does his hilarious bit about not being able to find wmd at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner — you know, the one that was classy and had all the villagers rolling in the aisles, unlike Stephen Colbert’s unwelcome snark or Wanda Sykes’ meanness. And at 4:57, an off camera passer by tells five deferment Dick during an interview what the vast majority of Americans think of him.

Jesse “The Body” Ventura brings the pain to Sean “The Pussy” Hannity, on Hannity’s own show:

It’s a beautiful thing.  I was waiting for Jesse to ask when Hannity is planning on living up to his offer to be waterboarded for charity, but no such luck.

To commemorate the first seven days of Sean Hannity showing his true colors (yellow), I’m proud to introduce my latest line of bumper stickers.  I’m sure you’ll appreciate the clean, simple design and clear message:

Click on the pic and check it out!

Right-Wing bloviator and subhuman waste of flesh Sean Hannity must be regretting last week’s moment of stupidity.  You’ll recall (hell, it’s only two posts ago) that Mr. Hannity offered to allow himself to be waterboarded “for the troops’ families”.  Well, that night Keith Olbermann called his bluff publicly, offering $1000 per second, if he actually goes through with it.  Last night Olbermann found a volunteer to actually do it…

But we all know Hannity won’t do it.  He’s a coward and a clueless chickenhawk.

That’s how many times the illegal, unethical, immoral and unjustified “harsh interrogation method” known as waterboarding was used “sparingly” by agents of the CIA under the authorization of the Bush administration.

That’s how many times it was used on two men, both al-Qaeda operatives, AFTER they’d already given up any useful information they had.

This was not interrogation.  It was revenge.  It was punishment.  It was torture.

And it was wrong.  The men who wrote the memos authorizing it should be condemned, prosecuted and put in prison for a very long time.  The men who did the torture must be brought to justice.  And the so-called “leaders” who still, against all available evidence, insist it was necessary we do this to protect our national security should be held accountable to their crimes.

And maybe they should be waterboarded, but that’s not for me to say.  I doubt Cheney or Bush would survive even the first five waterboardings, much less 266.  Perhaps 266 years in prison for each of them, one year for each time this act of vicious revenge was committed, would suffice.

266.  Six times a day for a month for Khalid Shayk Mohammed.

266.  That’s what Bush & Cheney thought was “justified.”

266.  The new Number of the Beast.  Further proof, if we needed it, that neither of them have any morals whatsoever.  This was not about protecting America.  This was nothing more than abuse.  This was torture.

266.

Talk about tortured logic.  O’l Rushbo can’t get enough of the taste of his own feet these days.  Take this utterly ridiculous statement from a recent broadcast:

LIMBAUGH: The idea that torture doesn’t work- that’s been put out from John McCain on down- You know, for the longest time McCain said torture doesn’t work then he admitted in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last summer that he was broken by North Vietnamese. So what are we to think here?

As reported by ThinkProgress.org, Limbaugh once again took a statement completely out of context and twisted it to suit his own needs.  While McCain did, in fact, say that the VC “broke” him during a torture session, you need to dig a little deeper to find the truth.  I’ll let McCain’s own words speak for themselves:

Eventually, I gave them my ship’s name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant. Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron. When asked to identify future targets, I simply recited the names of a number of North Vietnamese cities that had already been bombed. – Faith of My Fathers

And this quote from a 2005 Newsweek interview sums it up nicely:

“In my experience, abuse of prisoners often produces bad intelligence because under torture a person will say anything he thinks his captors want to hear — whether it is true or false — if he believes it will relieve his suffering.”

In other words, torture doesn’t work.

So, in answer to Rush’s question, what are we to think here?  How about “Rush, you’re a fat, lying, puffed-up, egotistical, narcissistic jackass and a coward.”  How about “Rush, you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about and should keep your fat pie-hole shut.”  Or how about just “Rush, fuck off and die, you useless coward.”

And that, my friends, is what we’re to think.

]]> http://mekonsmusings.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/an-hoa-combat-base/ Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:25:34 +0000 themekon http://mekonsmusings.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/an-hoa-combat-base/

Currently reading ‘13 cent killers’ by John J. Culbertson about snipers in Vietnam. It’s ok, not great as not particuarly heavy on the description of events, but still an interesting read. ‘Chickenhawk’ by Rober Mason is still my favourite read by far..

Was interesting looking at his maps then using google maps to get a better look.

His hand drawn maps looked pretty accurate, and it looks like the An Hoa combat base is still visible..

will try and start doing this for some other books, Chickenhawk, Sniper One, Tunnels of Cu Chi..

interesting.

Pity the Fat Bastard.  He hasn’t been having a good time of it lately, what with his party’s credibility and image in the toilet, and his own image suffering from, well, his own words.  And then there was this recent on-the-air exchange from a veteran, wherein said veteran takes the pill-popping jackass to school, hands his fat ass to him, and proceeds to wipe the floor with him rhetorically.  The Eric Cartman of the airwaves didn’t appreciate his beat-down.  I’ll let the transcript speak for itself, courtesy of MediaMatters.org:

LIMBAUGH: We’re going to go to Chicago. This is Charles. Charles, thank you for waiting and for calling. Great to have you here. Hello.

CALLER: Thanks, Rush. Rush, listen, I voted Republican, and I didn’t — really didn’t want to see Obama get in office. But, you know, Rush, you’re one reason to blame for this election, for the Republicans losing.

First of all, you kept harping about voting for Hillary. The second big issue is the — was the torture issue. I’m a veteran. We’re not supposed to be torturing these people. This is not Nazi Germany, Red China, or North Korea. There’s other ways of interrogating people, and you kept harping about it — “It’s OK,” or “It’s not really torture.” And it was just more than waterboarding. Some of these prisoners were killed under torture.

And it just — it was crazy for you to keep going on and on like Levin and Hannity and Hewitt. It’s like you’re all brainwashed.

And my last comment is, no matter what Obama does, you will still criticize him because I believe you’re brainwashed. You’re just — and I hate to say it — but I think you’re a brainwashed Nazi. Anyone who could believe in torture just has got to be – there’s got to be something wrong with them.

LIMBAUGH: You know –

CALLER: And I know Bush wanted to keep us safe and all of that, but we’re not supposed to be torturing these people.

LIMBAUGH: Charles, if anybody is admitting that they’re brainwashed it would be you.

CALLER: No, no, no, Rush. I don’t think so.

LIMBAUGH: Charles. Charles, Charles –

CALLER: You, Hannity, Hewitt, and Levin are all brainwashed and you know it.

LIMBAUGH: — you said — you said at the beginning of your phone call –

CALLER: Yeah.

LIMBAUGH: — that you didn’t want Obama in there –

CALLER: That’s right.

LIMBAUGH: — but you voted for him because of me.

CALLER: I didn’t vote for him. I voted for McCain. I voted Republican.

LIMBAUGH: Oh, so –

CALLER: I voted Republican.

LIMBAUGH: — you’re saying I turned people off to –

CALLER: You turned people off with all your — all this “vote for Hillary” and all this BS, because you must think people are really stupid.

LIMBAUGH: That was Operation Chaos. That was to keep the –

CALLER: You — no. It didn’t work.

LIMBAUGH: — chaos in the [unintelligible] of the Democrat primaries.

CALLER: It didn’t work. And now what we have with you Hannity, Levin, and Hewitt: sour grapes. That’s all we have. And believe me, I’m not — I’m more to the right than I am to the left.

LIMBAUGH: Oh, of course, you are.

CALLER: I am, and that’s –

LIMBAUGH: Of course, you are. You wouldn’t be calling here with all these sour grapes if you weren’t.

CALLER: Well, I’m so tired of listening to you –

LIMBAUGH: Oh, of course, you are.

CALLER: — go on and on with this — you’ve been brainwashed.

LIMBAUGH: I don’t know of anybody who died from torture. I do not ever –

CALLER: We are not supposed to torture people.

LIMBAUGH: I do not ever –

CALLER: Do you remember World War II, the Nazis? The Nuremberg Trials?

LIMBAUGH: I –

CALLER: Do you remember the Nuremberg Trials?

LIMBAUGH: Charles –

CALLER: Klaus Barbie?

LIMBAUGH: Charles, let me say –

CALLER: Huh?

LIMBAUGH: Barack Obama –

CALLER: What’s the matter with you?

LIMBAUGH: Barack –

CALLER: You never even served in a military.

LIMBAUGH: Barack Obama is –

CALLER: I served in the Marine Corps and the Army.

LIMBAUGH: Charles, Barack Obama is president of the United States today because of stupid, ignorant people who think like you do. You pose — you and your ignorance are the most expensive commodity this country has. You think you know everything. You don’t know diddly-squat.

You call me a Nazi? You call me somebody who supports torture and you want credibility on this program? You know, you’re just plain embarrassing and ludicrous. But it doesn’t surprise me that you’re the kind of Republican that our last candidate attracted. Because you’re no Republican at all based on what the hell you’ve said here.

Well, Rush, you really showed him.  Since you hung up on the caller before he really had the chance to give you the thorough tongue-lashing you deserve, I’ll say right now what he was too much of a gentleman to say.

Rush, you’re a fucking coward.  You’re nothing but a lily-livered, yellow-bellied chickenshit who ducked your chance to serve your country when it was your time.  Oh, I’ve heard the excuses and frankly, I don’t believe them.  Because you’re also a liar and a fraud.  You’ve done nothing for this country.  NOTHING.  You lacked the courage to serve, and yet you support sending other people’s children off to die in a war that never should have been started.  And worse, you have the nerve to criticize a true patriot?  You need to understand something, you fat, ugly, worthless piece of human filth.

Veterans stick together.  We may rib each other from time to time, and take shots at the other services, but when you attack one, you attack us all.  We don’t take shit from civilian cowards like you.

You are a brainwashed Nazi.  You and all your worthless, chickenshit pals on the extreme right – Hannity, Bachmann, Coulter, Malkin, Beck, Gingrich and all the rest.  Not one of you is a patriot in any sense of the word.  The caller was right on all counts, and the reason you cut him off is because, as per usual, you couldn’t refute any of his charges without getting your ass handed to you.

On the other hand, keep up the good work – you and the others I mentioned are the best gift the Republicans have given the Democrats in a long, long time.  Every time one of you opens your mouth, you remind me of why I voted for Obama last year.

A report from the International Committee for the Red Cross on CIA detentions and torture, recently released to the public, has shed the white light of truth on the previous administration’s darkest secrets.

It reads like something from the Nuremberg Trials or the Vietnam era.  It describes the ordeals of fourteen “high value detainees” who were subjected to some of the worst treatment the CIA “interrogators” gave to their prisoners.  In one example, detainee Abu Zubaydah described a fairly standard transfer flight:

“The detainee would be made to wear a diaper and dressed in a tracksuit.  Earphones would be placed over his ears, through which music would sometimes be played.  He would be blindfolded with at least a cloth tied around the head and black goggles. … He does not know how long the transfer took but, prior to the transfer, he reported being told by his detaining authorities that he would be going on a journey that would last twenty-four to thirty hours.

“The detainee … would usually be transported in a reclined sitting position with his hands shackled in front. …The detainee was not allowed to go to the toilet and if necessary was obliged to urinate and defecate into the diaper.” (ICRC Report, page 7)

Lovely.  I’ve always said that the acid test for whether a given action is torture or not is if we’d put someone on trial for doing it to our people.  This stuff sounds like the worst of the stories from forced-labor camps in Soviet Russia.  And as usual, it’s not the worst.  No, what’s worse is the way the CIA, under the direction of the Bush administration, corrupted the function of doctors in support of its heinous crimes.

“During the course of their detention, detainees described three principal roles for health personnel whom they encountered.  Firstly, there was a direct role in monitoring the ongoing ill-treatment which, in some circumstances, involved the health personnel directly participating while certain methods were used.  Secondly, there was a role in performing a medical check just prior to, and just after, each transfer.  Finally, there was the provision of healthcare, to treat both the direct consequences of ill-treatment detailed in previous sections, and to treat any natural ailments that arose during the prolonged periods of detention.

“… In some cases it was alleged that, based on their assessments, health personnel gave instructions to interrogators to continue, to adjust or to stop particular methods.” (ICRC report, pp. 21-22)

In one case a detainee was told by a doctor, “I look after your body only because we need you for information.”

And you thought Cheney and Bush couldn’t sink any lower.  This almost precisely mirrors the way medical personnel were used by the North Vietnamese on our soldiers.

Don’t give me any shit about “they were trying to kill us” or “those people are the worst of the worst”.  Nothing justifies this – NOTHING.  It offends me as a veteran, and it should offend the honor and morality of every American citizen.  Bush and Cheney led us down the path of immorality, and they need to pay for it.

We should bring them up on charges of war crimes and torture, before someone else does, just to show the world that WE DON’T TOLERATE THIS.

Read the full report here.

I remember the little chickenhawk guy from the old Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, and for some reason this little bird that I found trapped in the cardboard kinda reminds me of him.  More cheery perhaps, but the same little dude.

Red graphite on postal cardboard.  Stay tuned to see what other objects I can unlock that are hidden in the little pieces of scrap paper.  ( insert diabolical laughter here… just kidding )