Thursday, September 15, 2005

Burt Who?

For those of you old enough to remember himanother Heavyweight - Burt Bacharach has weighed in.

My favorite comment from that site:

I'm sure the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Watch Center
would like to tap Burt's brain to figure out how he knew and where he read so
many months ago that New Orleans would be hit by such a massive hurricane!

He is obviously so much smarter than the rest of us in that he knows about
global weather patterns, global warming, domestic and defense funding and, most
likely, even judicial nominations. President Bush should resign immediately
and ask Burt to be president.

When Burt takes office, I'll bet Osama, Zarqawi, and Iran would immediately
give up their quests for a world caliphate under Islamo-fascist rule, sue for
peace and then ask their new friend, ol' President Burt Bacarach, to accompany
them as they sit around a blazing fireplace in Hollywood (he could ask Barbra,
Sean Penn, Alec or one of the other 'It Takes a Village' idiots that inhabit
Hollywood) and sing "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" or some other mindless
ditty. Funny thing, however, I don't think God (or 'Mother Nature' if you
don't believe in God) will join in the sing-a-long . . . .

Burt just needs to go back to writing songs that nobody cares to listen to
anymore and then slink back under his "peace shield" with Cindy Sheehan so the
"Bad Bush Boys and Girls" won't hurt them anymore! Burt, a word of
advice--just grow up and realize we're in a war with people who want to kill
us. The weather doesn't discriminate and neither do terrorists!

What A Terrible Disappointment

The Globe and Mail carries an interview with Gwynneth Paltrow that alas gives us too little of her keen insight into world affairs. With her posh high school degree, I am sure it would have been terribly enlightening.

Anyone want to make a wager?

I am willing to wager a Krispy Kreme Doughnut that
Byron Brown's car was parked illegally at the time. This is so typical of these entrenched Politicians who believe they are so above the law that they do not have to live with the daily hassles that confound us mortals. The first person to tell me I am wrong (and prove it) will get the doughnut. The fact is, I have seen his car (NY State Senate License Plates) parked illegally in front of the convention center on numerous occasions.

Incidentally - this is a perfect story for Kevin Helfer to make hay. The Buffalo Civic Auto Ramps constantly have to contend with politicians and reporters like Donn Esmonde who get to park anywhere they feel like it, or in Esmonde's case, in free parking adjacent to their office. Brown is clearly a member of the sheltered political elite and is the poster child for the status quo.

Text of Story

A car registered to State Sen. Byron W. Brown suffered damage to its front bumper and right headlight in what Central District police are labeling a case of criminal mischief.
Brown told police that the car was parked on Court Street, near his legislative office, from 10 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. Thursday, when the damage was discovered.
The car, which bears a New York State legislator's license plate, sustained more than $250 damage, according to police reports.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Monday, September 12, 2005

This May Be a Good Thing . . .

but this man's level of incompetence was no greater than the Governor, the Mayor or any of a score of local officials. clearly would not end the drumbeat until this guy stepped down.

Shameless

What is it with people like Schumer who try to spin gold from other's misfortune? They certainly seem less focused on helping those in need than in feathering their own nest.

Me & My Pen Pal Michael Moore

To Mike:

Sup Dawg!? Hope they are treating you ok at the fat farm. I think it's great that people may not be able to call you a big fat liar anymore. "Big liar" doesn't have the same flair.

The anniversary of 9/11 is a day of remembrance for many, and it stirs up passions. It seems odd that in some people it stirs up a feeling of patriotism and support for those men and women who protect us every day. In others it seems to stir up contempt for those same people, disguised as reasoned rhetoric.


I spent a little time on your website today searching for references to Michael Brown, the head of Fema. Although I was able to find recent vitriol, I found nothing that preceded Katrina. I did not see any outrage at the Democrat controlled Senate as they voted to confirm Mr. Brown. In fact his hearing lasted just 42 minutes, and was attended by just four senators. I don't see any mention anywhere about the fact that Mr. Brown was Deputy Director at FEMA prior to becoming Director, or that he was General Counsel before that. It must have slipped your mind given your current location (A different twist on the "Twinkie Defense"?)

Throughout the rest of your rant you mix acute observations with equal amounts of pure delusion. While your comments about being the laughing stock of the world merit no response, your observations about the education system do. While you decry the sad state of affairs that is our "education system", I can't see anything in your past writings that commend or support any of the efforts where education is succeeding (Private, parochial and charter schools for example). Nowhere do you seem to take to task "Big Education" the way you have taken to task "Big Oil", Big Business", etc.

Mike - you are clearly a guy who is passionate and who seems to have an underlying love for America. At the same time, you seem to share with the terrorists a hatred , yes hatred for Americans - at least the majority of them. As your leftist friends would say, Move On. An election was held and your side lost. Big time. IN fact, your side never really made it to the finals - you just hopped on the "Anybody but the Yankees" bandwagon. A natural disaster has struck our country and you are trying to spin gold from the devastation. Get a life. If you want to help, there are plenty of people who could live for a year on what I am guessing you are spending to do what simple willpower could do for you. Make your contributions and say your prayers for those who have been affected. Come to terms with your hatred so that every time you open your mouth we cannot detect the bile in your throat.

Later

Dan
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To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:

On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?

How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?

That's right. Horse shows.

I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.

I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.

Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?

When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?

When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?

Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?

Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?

With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?

Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.

That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.

It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the widow at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"

My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?

And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?

Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.

Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?

I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?

I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.

Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com