Green Eagle

 "Study: Mouse heart re-grows when cut"

Wolfowitz today: " Saudi Arabia doesn't treat its - its subjects as trash. It doesn't kill them, brutalize them and threaten to take them back to the Stone Age." I doesn't threaten to take them back to the stone age?  That's only because they're still in the stone age.

I went to the pro-labor demonstration at L.A. City Hall on Saturday.  As I have reported on so many teabag rallies, I'd like to make a couple of comments on this one. First of all, I counted the attendance at 2000-2100.  That corresponds with the L.A. Times estimate of 2000.  This isn't a huge crowd, but I want to point out that it is well over twice the size of any of the L.A. area tea parties I attended.  Here's a picture taken from the best vantage point I could get: I want to make another point about this demonstration, which is very hard to sense from photos or news reports.  I was at dozens of protests, from small ones to huge marches with hundreds of thousands, during the Vietnam war period.  That movement has been, for me, the standard of a successful popular uprising. At the tea parties I went to, I was always struck by the lack of affect and real emotion that I sensed.  As I say, this is very hard to convey if you weren't there.  Ho...

Al Jazeera keeps us informed again: "The Egyptian army has used force to disperse activists gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand the removal of Hosni Mubarak loyalists from the interim cabinet. Egyptian soldiers fired in the air and used batons in the early hours of Saturday to disperse the crowd, the Reuters news agency reported. " The army of a third world dictator, behaving exactly as Governor Scott Walker has promised to respond to protesters in Wisconsin.  Well, not quite the same: "The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the ruling military council, later apologised for the military's response and said the situation "wasn't intentional". In a statement, the council promised such confrontations would not happen again." When the Republicans set the military loose on protesters, I wouldn't advise you to hold your breath until the Republicans apologize and promise not to do it again. That's right- a military junta ...

It's been hard for me to face these lunatics lately, but here's my latest selection of the finest of the finest: Glenn Beck:  "Are you willing to roll the dice on an entire region flipping to some blind, unnamed democracy with an unknown outcome?" Oh my God! If there's one thing we need to be afraid of in this world, it's an unnamed democracy!  I wish I could chalk this one up to idiocy, but I'm afraid this is how right wingers really think.  For evidence, just take a look at Madison, Wisconsin. Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit:  "Nice… Wisconsin Protesters Play Football Inside State Capitol...Disgusting. " While the Wisconsin governor plans to shoot them down.  Well, I for one just hope they get a little enjoyment out of their last days. Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit:  "AWOL WISCONSIN DEMS LOCATED- Heritage Inn & Suites in Harvard, IL" Well, at least they went to Harvard.  Their mothers must be so proud. Indiana Republican Deputy. At...

Or perhaps just grew worse.  I hate to harp on these people, but my God, the Catholic Church is supposed to be one of the moral pillars of the earth.  Here is the newest chapter in their sickening saga: "Vatican confirms report of sexual abuse and rape of nuns by priests in 23 countries The Catholic Church in Rome made the extraordinary admission yesterday that it is aware priests from at least 23 countries have been sexually abusing nuns. Most of the abuse has occurred in Africa, where priests vowed to celibacy, who previously sought out prostitutes, have preyed on nuns to avoid contracting the Aids virus. The reports, some of which are recent and some of which have been in circulation for at least seven years, said that such priests had demanded sex in exchange for favours, such as certification to work in a given diocese. In extreme instances, the priests had made nuns pregnant and then encouraged them to have abortions." Seven years.  Now I know there is...

Here, unfortunately, is another example of the insistence on the part of the mainstream media on holding both parties responsible for the malignant behavior of Republicans.  I first saw this article by Ron Brownstein in the L.A. Times yesterday; the link is from the National Journal, where it was also published. Here's the title of the article: "Republican governors are leading a frontal assault on President Obama’s agenda." The article continues for several hundred words in the following vein: "In Washington, Obama is already colliding with a conservative GOP House majority determined to slash spending and regulation. But the president also faces multiplying conflicts with Republican governors. The breadth and intensity of these confrontations dwarfs the level of tension between Bill Clinton and a previous generation of conservative GOP governors in the 1990s. Indeed, it’s difficult to think of another president who faced as much resistance on as m...

You just know they are going to sink to this sort of thing before they are done: "Newt Gingrich floats impeachment over Obama's DOMA decision" Yes indeed, the nauseating criminal who, above all others, was responsible for the vicious partisan impeachment of Bill Clinton has added his voice to the cries of the most degenerate wingnuts. If Obama continues as President and if the Republicans maintain control of the House, they will impeach Obama on whatever ludicrous pretext they can find.  I said this when he was elected.  They would have tried to do the same with Gore or Kerry if the last two elections had been fair.  Apparently, every Democratic president from now until Doomsday is going to face impeachment at the hands of the Republicans.  That's democracy Republican style:  When they win, elections have consequences; when the Democrats win, anything is fair to destroy their attempts to govern, no matter what the cost to the country. To be a Republican t...

As revealed in this story: "PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers are proposing a sweeping package of immigration restrictions that might make the controversial measures the state approved last year, which the Obama administration went to court to block, look mild. Illegal immigrants would be barred from driving in the state, enrolling in school or receiving most public benefits. Their children would receive special birth certificates that would make clear that the state does not consider them Arizona citizens." I'm just going to ignore the fifty or sixty thousanth example of Republican racism and viciousness.  I'm so sick of talking about it.  What I want to point out here is something that most of us learned in fourth grade or so:  People are citizens of the United States.  They are not "citizens" of states, they are residents.  These ignorant jerks don't know the first thing about our laws, and could care less, but they spout their opinions of the constitu...

I guess this won't surprise you very much: "Fox News Chief, Roger Ailes, Urged Employee to Lie, Records Show" And in a somewhat related story: "Scientists Are Cleared of Misuse of Data An inquiry by a federal watchdog agency found no evidence that scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration manipulated climate data to buttress the evidence in support of global warming, officials said on Thursday." And this: "Poll: Barely Half Of Americans Know Health Care Law Hasn't Been Repealed" Republicans may not have a clue on earth about how to govern responsibly, but they sure are good at spreading lies, aren't they?

Courtesy of Al Jazeera, a recent picture of Moammar Ghadaffi: Honestly, no one should be expected to live under a guy who looks like this.  Enough is enough.  I do think, however, that he could make a good living playing a stupid Arab terrorist in teen comedies.

As if the two stories below aren't enough to upset your stomach, try this one on for size: "Indiana Dep. AG: Use 'Live Ammunition' Against Wisconsin Protesters" Is that explicit enough for you, Republicans, or are you not going to be happy until the shooting actually starts?

Take a moment to take a look at this story from Daily Kos, in which Fox News flipped the results of a Gallup poll in order to claim that the majority of Americans supported union busting. ...Just in case you wonder why right wingers are so ignorant of the truth.

Have we had a nationally prominent figure speaking like this since Father Coughlin? Speaking about reform Judaism, Glenn Beck has this to say: "It's almost like Islam, radicalized Islam in a way … radicalized Islam is less about religion than it is about politics … When you look at the Reform Judaism, it is more about politics." So reform Judaism, the most inoffensive religion conceivable, is now the same as Jihadists that want to subject the world to their will.  It's the same as a faction that Beck and his ilk have consigned to elimination from the earth.  And this is apparently now within the bounds of legitimate political discourse. Now we have open attacks on Jews to add to the threat in recent days to use troops to put down protesters, and government attempts to destroy the rights of workers.  When, oh when, Conservatives, are you going to finally figure out who that is similar to?  Do you have to wait until the "militias" are parading around ...

This: "As government shutdown looms, Reid and Schumer accuse GOP of bad faith"

So, right wingers are so worried that the still unionized public workers have a better deal than private sector employees, whose unions have pretty much all been destroyed? Well, here's an answer that's so far-fetched that no one seems to have thought of it yet: How about if, instead of screwing the public employees out of what they won through a hundred years of struggle, maybe we should bring the unions back to the rest of American workers? How's that for an idea?  And if businesses can't exist paying decent wages to Americans, and they want to take their manufacturing to other countries, how about taxing the hell out of them with tariffs to let them know how we feel about their destroying our lives?  And while we are at it, here's another idea that I have been pushing for a couple of decades:  How about if we take about a third of our useless military budget and devote it to promoting unions in third world countries, so their people can make a decent living a...

After a few days in a near political coma, I've finally been able to plumb the depths of stupidity where what passes for right wing thought is stored.  And here's the result: Let's start with the paranoid delusion of the day: Katie Pavlich, Town Hall:  "Hezbollah Working With Mexican Drug Cartels Along Southern Border" And what are Katie Pavlich's qualifications to have access to this information?  She is a college Republican at the University of Arizona.    So we are expected to just swallow her absolutely evidenceless charge.  Be my guest, if you think that would be a good idea. Bruce Bialosky, Town Hall:  "The Feds’ Destruction of Our Home Values" Yes, it was the feds who issued all of those corrupt bad loans.  They must have infiltrated the banks and mortgage lenders en masse in order to pull that off.  And who says the feds can't do anything right?  Of all those thousands of loan officers out there, Bruce can't find a...

Here's a story that wasn't interesting enough to get as much media coverage as Lady Gaga's egg: "The U.S. Justice Department has ended a criminal investigation of former Countrywide Financial Corp. Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo and won’t bring charges, a person familiar with the investigation said." Mozillo's greed and deceit played a key part in causing the greatest financial collapse since the Great Depression and robbed Americans of trillions of dollars of accumulated wealth.  But he won't be tried for anything.  And you know why he won't be tried?  Because he's not guilty of breaking any laws! And the courts are right- he's not! In a (sort of) related story: "Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is taking a hard line approach against protesters, wanting jail time for dozens of people arrested during recent political demonstrations." Yes, jail time for protesters who showed up in such numbers that the...

While we are transfixed by Wisconsin's Republican governor and his attempt to ape Adolf Hitler's labor policies (all of it, of course, except the full employment part*) the Wisconsin Republicans are brewing another horror for us, as described here: "If this isn't the best summary of the goals of modern conservatism, I don't know what is. It's like a highlight reel of all of the tomahawk dunks of neo-Gilded Age corporatism: privatization, no-bid contracts, deregulation, and naked cronyism. Extra bonus points for the explicit effort to legally redefine the term "public interest" as "whatever the energy industry lobbyists we appoint to these unelected bureaucratic positions say it is." And you know who those "energy industry lobbyists" are.  Yes. it's the very same people who paid to bus in "counter protesters" to demonstrate their support for having their free speech rights stripped from them, the same "...

Said perfectly at Daily Kos: "The outlawing of independent unions is the clearest and most consistent marker of despotism around the world." That's what the American people are up against.  Here's one more person who has figured it out, but they too are just another hippie blogger, so no one "serious" is going to pay any more attention than they did when the same bloggers claimed the Iraq war was based on lies, or that allowing rich people to engage in whatever criminality they want was not going to come to a good end for the rest of us. The people who didn't give a damn about elections when a Democrat was elected to the White House and Democrats were elected to control both houses of Congress, have now decided that elections give them a perfect right to dismantle the most basic foundations of democracy.  The people who railed against the overthrow of Mubarak for (assumed) fear that new elections would produce a win by an antidemocratic group of r...

Here's a comment from Robert Kraig, Director of Citizens' Action Wisconsin: "Robert Kraig: Walker’s National Guard comments a thinly veiled threat against workers" I'm sorry to harp on this situation, but this is a perfect example of the typical mealy-mouthed, weak liberal response to right wing outrages.  What in the name of God is veiled, thinly or otherwise, about a threat to use troops to put down workers? This is an open, unapologetic attack on the basic human and Constitutional rights of American citizens.  Governor Walker, and the large majority of the Republican party who love his behavior, are attempting to destroy the welfare of the vast majority of the American people.  And that is a "thinly veiled threat?"  When are Democrats going to grow up and face reality?

If they didn't have the example set by the Egyptians?  When you want to get really depressed, consider the fact that a bunch of "Mooslums" apparently care more about democracy than the patriotic, freedom loving people of the United States.  And without Egyptians and Tunisians and Jordanians and Yemenis taking the lead, there's a pretty good chance that Americans would just sit back and voluntarily accept their new role as proles in a police state.

I must confess that I have had a really hard time writing what I am about to say, which has kept me from posting anything for a couple of days. I first began fearing that, in order to accomplish their goals, the hyper-rich and their bought-and-paid-for tools in the Republican party would start openly working to turn the country into a fascist dictatorship, sometime in the Reagan administration. Virtually no one else saw what I thought I saw, and people I talked to thought I was way off the deep end. My fears escalated during the Gingrich era, after the collapse of the malicious "Contract with America," when Republicans made it clear that, as they were unable to convince the American people to go along with their program, they would do whatever it took to get their way, including using corrupt Supreme Court justices to steal the Presidency and turn it over to a man who was little more than a crook.  Even his presiding over a plundering of our national resources than left t...

Cleveland Cavaliers 104 Los Angeles Lakers 99

Remembe r "Curveball," the guy whose testimony formed such a big part of the Bush Administration's case for attacking Iraq?  Well: "Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed "Curveball" by German and American intelligence officials, now admits he made up tales of mobile biological weapons trucks and clandestine weapons factories in Iraq, information that was used by the Bush White House to press the case for war. He also says he'd do it again.  "Maybe I was right, maybe I was not right," Janabi told The Guardian . "They gave me this chance. I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime. I and my sons are proud of that..." Proud.  Perhaps the way that Marshall Petain and Vidkun Quisling were proud of helping an invader crush their country and murder their fellow citizens.   A lot to be proud of there, and it is a "pride" that many in this country can share.

We've had a little surgery in the family, so it's slowed Green Eagle down a little.  Enjoy it while it lasts. In the meantime, here's some news for you: "...among the two-thirds of likely Republican primary voters with a favorable opinion of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, 83% said Obama was not born in the U.S. Yet among the minority who viewed Palin negatively, 52% said they thought Obama was born in America." Not really surprising, really, that thinking Obama was born in Kenya correlates so highly with thinking that Sarah Palin is capable of handling any kind of government job at all.

Readers of Wingnut Wrapup may remember the following item from a few days ago: Drew Zahn, World Net Daily:  "A mysterious, pale green figure seen in televised news coverage of the Egyptian riots has prompted some viewers to ask, "Could this be the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse?" Yes, over at World Net Daily, they were actually speculating about the possibility that a character from the Book of Revelations had decided to take a trot through the demonstrations in Egypt.  Well, that was World Net Daily- nothing that surprising, right?  Well, take a look at this: Yes, indeed, one of our nation's major "news" outlets, which reaches millions of people daily, is now giving credence to this lunatic religious fantasy.  How in the name of God are the American people supposed to react reasonably to what is going on around them, when they are force-fed this kind of malicious nonsense? The right in this country has totally taken leave of its senses, and ...

Just so Green Eagle can't be accused of missing the big stories while he is thinking about Egypt, etc, let me bring you this headline from Yahoo: "Lady Gaga Arrives at Grammys in Giant Egg" I know none of us would have wanted to miss that news.

It's important to take a few minutes every now and then to remind ourselves that, as vicious as they are, they are just as stupid.  Here's the evidence for today. Lets start with some maundering idiocy from the mainstream "press," just to remind ourselves that you don't have to be consigned to wingnut world to spread their idiocy: Michael Gerson, Washington Post:  "Do Egypt's protests mean American decline?...The protesters, one article complained, didn't even bother to burn our flag. " The nerve of them, not burning our flag.  They have no business changing their government without making it clear to the world that it's all about us. This belligerent loon continues: "People in Holland or Costa Rica do not celebrate or decry their lack of sway in Egyptian politics. Only Americans feel vindication or guilt at the limits of their power." That's because people in Holland or Costa Rica are sane, Michael. Now, on to the...

If Americans persist in voting for Republicans.  I was led to the following two articles by a post at Daily Kos, which I am unashamedly plundering, because this is such an important story. First, this: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Thursday that he will propose removing nearly all public employee collective bargaining rights to help plug a $3.6 billion budget hole. Under Walker's immediate plan, all collective bargaining rights would be removed for state and local public employees starting July 1, except when it comes to wages. But any salary increase they seek could be no more than the consumer price index, unless voters in the affected jurisdiction approved a higher raise. Contracts would be limited to one year and wages would be frozen until the next contract is settled. Public employers would be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units would not be required to pay dues. The ...

A new bill introduced in the Arizona legislature contains the following: " BEFORE A HOSPITAL ADMITS A PERSON FOR NONEMERGENCY CARE, A HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS OFFICER MUST CONFIRM THAT THE PERSON IS A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, A LEGAL RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OR LAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES. "  I just thought I'd let you know about this.  I don't have anything to say about it.

So Mubarak is gone.  Everyone is cheering, but what has really happened? As Al Jazeera puts it: "Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address on Friday that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces." Waiving his office.  Al Jazeera at least had the decency to put the word in quotes.  And he " handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces." This isn't democracy, it's a military coup.   All they've done is forced out one very unpopular leader.  They still hold all the governmental power.  We'll see where this all leads, but I'll have to see a lot more progress before I believe that anything has really changed in Egypt.

I noticed a couple of days ago that it was the anniversary of Colin Powell's disingenuous speech to the United Nations, laying out the Bush Administration's grounds for "believing" that Saddam Hussein was engaged in producing biological weapons. I can still remember the point at which I realized that the content of this speech could not be trusted.  Actually, it isn't hard for me to remember, because it was during the speech itself.  Here are a couple of things that tipped me off, and which should have tipped off anyone with an IQ above 60: First, let's look at a graphic which Mr. Powell presented: Yes, this is a cartoon.  The Bush administration, via Powell, claimed the right to attack another country based on a cartoon.  This particular cartoon shows how, allegedly, a biological weapons production facility could be fitted inside a truck or a railroad car, if the facility consisted of a few featureless tanks and not much else. What in the name of God wa...

It's happened again.  Republican conservative congressman Christopher Lee, shown here: has had his political career brought to a screeching halt, after the married congressman was discovered sending the photo on the right to women he contacted on Craig's list. You know, this thing isn't even about sex.  It's about the fact that Republicans have awarded themselves the right to do any damned thing they please, just like the rich people who own them.  And yet their supposedly moral followers will not make a whimper when the ones who get caught are replaced with equally sickening people who just haven't gotten caught yet. Well, get ready for about nine thousand posts on right wing blogs in the next few days about Bill Clinton's blow job and John Edwards' affair, since Republicans' only answer to getting endlessly caught in situations like this, is to claim that Democrats are worse.  Too bad these guys couldn't copyright their libidos, the way Sara...

There is no end to the duplicity and dishonesty of Repubicans.  And here's one more big example.  Remember all of the promises they made before election day to cut the budget?  And notice that they are still blabbing away about it every day?  Well, here, from Daily Kos, is a partial list of what the Republicans intend to do in the way of budget cutting:           Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies   -$30M ·         Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy   -$899M ·         Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability   -$49M ·         Strategic Petroleum Reserve   -$15M ·         Energy Information Administration   -$34M ·         Office of Science under the Energy an...

From this: Americablog, which found this screen capture, comments: " And yes, we do think we're better than her and her mother." Amen, brother.  What in the name of God would make someone so malicious as to even propose saddling the country with this ignorant, stupid, worthless human being in any capacity whatever?  And her mother, who is just as ignorant and stupid, and a self-serving, lying demagogue on top of it, is even worse.

With the onslaught of incessant terrorist incidents patently provoked by right wing leaders, Conservatives have been desperate to try to "prove" (in their usual fashion of just making things up) that the left is just as bad. A recent example of this is to be found on the right the last couple of days- the claims that both Sarah Palin and George W. Bush have had to cancel speaking engagements because of left wing threats. Let's deal with Sarah first.  She claimed that she had to back out of an appearance at a Colorado fundraiser for military families because of the imminent danger of violence against her.  Well, here's a statement from the police: "We've had no problems," Glendale, Colorado Police Chief Victor Ross told The Denver Post. "We are not aware of any specific threats." On Friday, The Sharon K Pacheco Foundation re-announced that Palin would keynote its Patriots & Warriors Gala on May 2 in Glendale -- and that ticket pric...

Othewise the United States would be the dumbest developed country on earth: Graph of belief in evolution, by country: Once again, Conservatives show who is really on the same side as Islamic fundamentalists.

Green Eagle is pitching an idea for a great new show, to be on the A&E network, or maybe the Military Channel.  He wants to let his readers in on the big scoop, so here it is: Green Eagle is convinced that it is going to be a huge cable hit.  What do you think?

Well, if we're going down, let's try to go down laughing: Joel Mowbray, Town Hall:  "To Fix Middle East, Obama Must Ignore "Experts" Well, the conservative solution to everything involves ignoring the experts, so why should this be any different? Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post:  "Every Democrat in the Senate is on record as supporting the health-spending bill" Of course every Republican in the Senate is on record as favoring kicking millions of children off of their parents' health insurance.  By the way, don't you love it that the bill is now the "health-spending" bill?  I guess it isn't even about medical care any more, just about spending money for the hell of it. Claudia Rosett, Pajamas Media:  "UN and U.S. Double Standards: Egypt vs. Iran" Because the fact that they are two different countries in two different situations doesn't mean we should treat them differently.  They are all Muslims, after all. ...

Well, I happen to be reading a book by Robert K. Massie, entitled Dreadnought, which is about the Britain and Germany in the period from the late 19th century to the coming of World War I.  I found an account of a parliamentary election called by the Conservative ruling party in 1900, when British troops, sent to South Africa for the Boer war were still on African soil.  I found a couple of Massie's comments very illuminating: "...only one issue -the war- was put before the public.  Unionist sloganeering had convinced the electorate that, with British troops still in the field, only an experienced government could be trusted to carry through its policy and win peace. (The Conservatives') theme became "A vote for the Liberals is a vote for the Boers!"  The charge was shouted from platforms, proclaimed by billboards and placards.  Posters depicted prominent liberals kneeling in tribute to President Kruger (the leader of the Boers,)  helping him to haul do...

It has been very frustrating lately trying to find anything meaningful to say about what is going on in our country.  Well, as the Democrats pretty much stand by silently, here is what the Republican party and their followers are up to lately: You may have heard about the latest in a recently developed Republican tactic:  the fake video.  Remember the pimp-and-ho guy from Breitbart's organization who smeared ACORN out of existence?  Well, an associate of his sent people into a whole bunch of Planned Parenthood offices posing as operators of child sex rings, and asking for abortions for their child prostitutes.  The results, which were known before any of the tapes were released, were that no one from Planned Parenthood collaborated in any way with them, and they were immediately reported to the government.  Nevertheless, a doctored tape was released which showed absolutely nothing improper happening, except for the answer to one question.  Within hou...