Thursday, January 10, 2008

Truth or consequences
















"Think we should let him out?"
"Why not. Let bygones be bygones, I always say!"

The following is a prime example of why I really don't fucking feel like subscribing to the progressive and humanist ideal of finding some common ground with those on the other side of the proverbial aisle at the moment. Which seems to be happening more often every day. Why? Because for a lot of them, and the entire administration itself, this doesn't bother them in the least.

Suddenly, on that May day in 2005, the copter dropped CS gas, a riot-control substance the American military in Iraq can use only under the strictest conditions and with the approval of top military commanders. An armored vehicle on the ground also released the gas, temporarily blinding drivers, passers-by and at least 10 American soldiers operating the checkpoint.

“This was decidedly uncool and very, very dangerous,” Capt. Kincy Clark of the Army, the senior officer at the scene, wrote later that day. “It’s not a good thing to cause soldiers who are standing guard against car bombs, snipers and suicide bombers to cover their faces, choke, cough and otherwise degrade our awareness.”
Yeah, uncool might not be my first fucking choice of word.

Golly gee, Beav, who might have been the perpetrator?
Both the helicopter and the vehicle involved in the incident at the Assassins’ Gate checkpoint were not from the United States military, but were part of a convoy operated by Blackwater Worldwide, the private security contractor that is under scrutiny for its role in a series of violent episodes in Iraq, including a September shooting in downtown Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead.
Blackwater. Being paid by your tax dollars.

Pissed off yet?
“You run into this issue time and again with Blackwater, where the rules that apply to the U.S. military don’t seem to apply to Blackwater,” said Scott L. Silliman, the executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at the Duke University School of Law.
Is this your United States of America?
Blackwater says it was permitted to carry CS gas under its contract at the time with the State Department. According to a State Department official, the contract did not specifically authorize Blackwater personnel to carry or use CS, but it did not prohibit it.
Yes.
Army Staff Sgt. Kenny Mattingly also was puzzled. “We saw the Little Bird (Blackwater helicopter) come and hover right in front of the gate, and I saw one of the guys dropping a canister,” Sergeant Mattingly said in an interview. “There was no reason for dropping the CS gas. We didn’t hear any gunfire or anything. There was no incident under way.”
Chimp and Darth, we should listen to the army, right? Listen to that.

All of you fuckers on the right who support this either tacitly or openly, civilian or administration can fuck off and I hope your life turns into abject misery. I have nothing in common with you. Nothing. You are a poor excuse for a human being and if you dropped dead right now, the world would be better off. And all of you on the left who think the Democratic leadership is a viable alternative, let me know when the first high-ranking official associated with these fuckers is frogmarched off to jail. Henry Waxman can't fucking do it all by himself. But please, fucking save your change is slow/we don't have the votes/we're trying to win an election/they're trying the best they can/you're so naive/just have faith bullshit, because I've fucking heard it all before. The Reagan administration got away with fucking treason on a consistent basis only to be cowardly bailed out first by technicalities then by Bush. And now a new batch of fuckers runs the show, even more insidious than the psychopaths under Tricky Dick and the Saint, many of whom have returned to gorge with renewed greed on the living flesh of a fresh batch of humans both home and abroad.

Evil men will do evil things until they are prevented from doing them.

So how about you let me know when crime no longer pays.

And if by some miracle of miracles, a Democrat gains the White House, it's only temporary until the next Republican gets in, when the cycle will begin anew. And once more, after yet another slate of pardons for war criminals and traitors, that'll be the end of it and we'll be told that what the nation needs is healing. As we were told in 1974 and 1992.

Oh, by the way, any of you fuckers out there jonesing to get your rape on, apply for a job with KBR, also paid by your tax dollars. Apparently, there are no consequences. Noticing a theme?

I'm sick of healing. Aren't you?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damnit Dude! I just woke up, commented on a yellow coat, and *poof* there's crazy hair freak on my screen. Have a little mercy.

Swinebread said...

They won't investigate a rape?! Are we in the fucking dark ages?

This piece of shit company is getting our tax dollars. grrr

Candace said...

Hey Randal, go over to mah blog and look at the cute puppy for a while, okay?

I'll wait.

Now then, I'll try to put my thoughts into words that make sense (not always easy for me) about the "healing message" of some candidates. Well, okay, about Obama. You're right, the cycle will begin anew, as it always has, when some rightwing fucker(s) gets control of the country. You know why? Because we let them. We don't let them on purpose. We let them because we're not organized.

We should take a good look at the neocons' organization. THAT's how they do it. If the fuckers in charge didn't have the support of a large, rich, vocal group of other fuckers who vote, then they couldn't get away with half of what they've done.

The only way to stop them is to get behind our own people. Obama says this over and over: Change will only happen if we make it happen. W

It worked for the neocons. It could work for us. The neocons got behind their candidates, got organized, got vocal, pushed on their local representatives to do their bidding, replacing their representatives if necessary. We need to do the same. We must hold our representatives' feet to the fire.

We don't do that, at least, not enough of us do. We should be out there by the millions on the streets protesting every fucking outrage over the past seven years, not in the tens or hundreds or thousands.

The Obama phenomenon resonated in Iowa and New Hampshire because we realized we had to have a leader who could unite us, and by "us" I mean us moderates AND those who lean just slightly to the right and left of center. If that many of us stand behind this guy and stay active behind him, we can rid this country of lobbyist-driven politics. "Yes, we can," to quote the Obama campaign phrase. Yes, we can. If we only will.

[stepping off soapbox now...]

Candace said...

Oh crap. There's an extraneous "W" at the end of one of my paragraphs. It's not a political statement. Just a typo. Sorry.

P.S. want a puppy?

Randal Graves said...

Colleen, sometimes I just like to fuck with people.

Swinebread, yes, we're in the Dark Ages. Didn't you get the memo? 12th century my friend, woo!

Candace, hey, stop putting the buzzkill on my angry rant with your reasoned thinking! I cannot disagree with anything you said, but I have zero faith in the American people. Which is why I would never run for office or ever attempt to shave and clean myself up to try to land any political leadership position of any sort. (Plus, I'd have less time to write and sulk!)

We should be marching to the tune of millions. We aren't, and never will. I understand the whole 'hope' thing is part and parcel of every political campaign, but JUST ONCE I would like these motherfuckers punished. No more turning over new leaves or moving forward and promising to never make the same mistakes.

Unfortunately, part of the existing process keeps us hamstrung: presidential pardons. They shouldn't exist, except for fucking cheap ass shit like drug offenses or traffic tickets. If you are an accessory to TREASON, then no, you cannot fucking be pardoned. Unfortunately, no one, not Republican, nor Democrat, would ever ever ever support a constitutional amendment to eliminate such bullshit.

Sorry if this sounded like I'm yelling at you, which I'm certainly not. I'm just angry today.

And my kids would LOVE a puppy. I hate noise, so I'm strictly a cat person. ;-)

dguzman said...

Hey now, Randal, it was "DECIDEDLY uncool," okay? Definitely my first choice of phrasing when I'm bombed with fucking tear gas poison. Then I probably follow that up with "What a drag, man. Tra la la, another day in Chimpy's military. Love it!"

Fucking morons. I can't believe they're not looking into the rape, or the CIA's destruction of the videotapes, or vote fraud, or... you get the idea.

Randal Graves said...

"Dude, that attack was most ungroovy, daddy-o."

Oh, I can believe it. Why rock the boat. The problem is that too many elected Dems are closer to Feinstein than Waxman.

pissed off patricia said...

"Pissed off yet?"

Dude, I've been pissed off since the night my friend told me his group had been called up and they were being sent to Iraq at the beginning of this fucking war. Nothing since that day has un-pissed me.

Blackwater seems to be some sort of country unto itself and no rules apply to them...but we keep them on our payroll. Your's and mine.

Randal Graves said...

And it's for a fucking waste, for no good reason except for those fucks to line their pockets even further so the scraps they can toss to soulless fucks like Neidermeyer and his Blackwater pricks.

Candace said...

Randal, no it didn't sound like you were yelling at me :) - I was just having a hard time getting my thoughts across because ever since I signed up with the Obama campaign, I've had a certain concept in mind about it all, but had never tried to put it into words before. We have blogs and emails on his site, and the feeling all along has been - hey, we've finally got a chance now to actually change things, and it's been tremendously exciting. That's why people have been sending in money in as little as $5 at a time. That's amazing!

I was LOL-ing at DGUZMAN's comment- "it was DECIDEDLY uncool." I can't believe those asswipes actually said that. Oh wait, yes I can.

Rock on.

Fran said...

Simple- this just verified that the US military is not viable.

Even the army gets outsourced.

Mary Ellen said...

Maybe Blackwater just thought they were dropping off a can of peanuts? How did they know they grabbed the wrong cannister?

Randal Graves said...

Candace, I think it boils down to the fact that you're more optimistic about the future than I am. Not that much, though, heh heh.

And I have never, ever heard anyone put 'decidedly' in front of 'uncool.' Who talks like that? ;-)

Fran, I think the army simply doesn't love their country as much as Blackwater. If they did, and fought harder, we wouldn't need mercenaries. Right? Right!

ME, "dude, you dropped the wrong canisters! Those are for the DNC convention! You were supposed to drop the one with deodorant and nudie mags!"