From You
Daily's Thanks
originally published November 29, 2006
The Daily Groceries Board of Directors would like to thank Gordon Bryant for his years of dedicated and loyal service as grocery manager. For the past three years, Gordon has been there working beside many members and employees of the Daily. During his tenure, he has been in large part responsible for a steady growth in sales. Following the departure of a previous manager as well as a transitional period this summer, Gordon was able to keep the store together in times of personal struggles without much time to rest. The whole of the Athens community will continue to embrace Gordon for his compassionate and loving commitment to all, for which Daily Groceries stands.
The Right Ain't Right
originally published November 29, 2006
One hears a lot of late regarding the losing of the war on Iraq by the Republican troika of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. In the opinion of this writer, they have not lost the war; they are in fact reaching all their real objectives, i.e., the opening of the public purse, the pouring of its contents into Iraq, and the catching of the contents by the corporate friends of the troika. Need they be named? Allright: Halliburton and Bechtel come to mind, as well as all the carpetbaggers associated with waging a modern war. Literally billions of dollars have been gobbled up by the hole in the Middle East into which the Republican power structure and their handlers are pouring our gold.
It is a profiteer’s dream to fight a cost-plus war: nothing can prevent making a profit except giving up. If your vehicle breaks down, don’t repair it, which might net a few hundred dollars gain; instead junk it or blow it up, and get the cost of a new vehicle plus your profit margin. The more expensive the vehicle, the higher the amount of profit; it doesn’t take a Harvard MBA to figure that one out.
We are mired up to our national neck, and there is little hope of success in winning this war of aggression. The international court at the Hague should seriously consider the troika as war criminals. Are they not that, and more? Advocates, yeah, providers of encouragement for torture and the trashing of the Geneva Convention need to be held to a high degree of accountability for their action (or inaction).
The soul of our nation, and our past hope for raising the moral level of the world by introducing them to democracy and capitalism are seriously jeopardized by allowing war crimes and acts of inhumanity to be committed from our shores, and by our own public officials who have acted against the constraints of the very Constitution they swore to uphold. There is a relative closeness of the words vow, vote and vowel. A vowel is an empty sound surrounded by pursed lips. Check the dictionary on the other words and see their close connection.
This President has been very silent, refusing opportunities for press conferences. Until the recent victory of the Democratic Party against the right-wing steamroller of the past six years, you could not get the Prez to speak. Now you can’t shut him up; turn on a news show and chances are he will be spinning to save his ass. Spin, spin, spin, that is all this fascist affront to our rights has done. Now it has become a fight for survival, theirs. The power structure does not want to appear to have been as they really have been. They will re-write history if given a chance, and will erase as much of their attacks on our individual freedoms as they can get away with. Our sacred responsibility is to see they do not succeed; the lives given by both our troops and the citizens of Iraq must not have been in vain.
We must also contain the damage done to us. We need to roll back the tax cuts given by Bush and company to their super rich friends. We need to take a serious look at the so-called Patriot Act, and see it for what it is: an underhanded attempt to quash all of our rights under the Constitution and Bill of Rights. This business of allowing the Prez to use the NSA (and God only knows what other organizations) to spy on us, the people who should be in control of our own country, is another criminal act of aggression against the nation. All of the incompetents placed through favoritism and political rewarding by this administration need to have their heads roll. Look at what this low-life form of politics did to New Orleans.
We have a lot to be thankful for today. The darkest days of the Republic’s short history have just been endured. We can see some light at the end of the tunnel. We now know that the “Reds” do not own this country as they were to have us believe. Despots can be brought in check, and right can once again have its laudable meaning instead of indicating the side of government and religion that would steal all our liberties from us. Now we know that right is not “right.”
Beware The She-Donkey
originally published November 29, 2006
Hellllllllllll in a handbasket. Never walk behind a donkey, and be especially careful when its black billy club is lifted, like after a windfall election…. They will host al kyduh operatives at honoraree lunchuns for Noel Chompskee… they will chacha with Chavez, tango with Ortega, and snort coke with (no) Morales - and stress our fine Christian President into addiction again. They will take 98.8 percent of your money when you die, and convert your hard-earned house to a heroine recovery center. They will draft your brightest daughters to co-ed socialist work kommunes where they serve morning-after pills with every breakfast’s milk and fly giant inflated condom efferjees under the flag. They will replace the red and white stripes with the secret homosexual rainbow. They will import Cuban organik vejetables. They will legalize polygamee and group and/ or animal marriage. They will take your guns and reduce hunting to a one week sling-shot opening. They will swear on the kooran and change the Pledge of Allegiance to include “might or might not” after “I,” and God/ Moohammed/ Goddess after “under.” They will replace the Supreme Court with an ACLU Advisory Board. They will make WalMart make something in America if it says “Made in America,” and we will no longer be able keep shoes on our grandchildren. They will name Andrew Weil Surgeon General, and Pastor Ted national Chaplain…
I have seen the devil, my friends, and he is a wicked she-donkey. Brace yourselves… a pinko sun sets, and Armegiddyon has finally come to our good soil.
Mission Accomplished?
originally published November 29, 2006
On Nov. 7, the American people sent this message to their elected representatives: “We the people decide the direction this country should go.” I truly hope those leaving public service and those taking their place were listening.
While the Democrats continue to celebrate, the policies of the Bush administration persist. The election did nothing for the soldiers who will die in Iraq today or tomorrow. The election will do nothing for people being tortured and illegally detained in our secret prisons. The election did not stop the surveillance of American citizens without warrants or due cause. The election will not stop the corporate hold on power. The very next day, I heard the Democrats and Republicans say, “Let’s work together,” and “Let’s put the past behind us.” These statements sound positive, but the past should not be swept under the rug.
George Bush and his administration are guilty of crimes that should not be forgotten. Half a million people are dead, their voices never to be heard again. Torture and intimidation are now the law of the land. America is now looked upon as an empire, not the admired and respected model of freedom we once were. George Bush lied and deceived us, not because he had bad information, but because he thought he was above the law. Unlike the end of a great western movie, he and his gang of criminals should not be allowed to ride off into the sunset.
Am I happy about the election results? Yes! Is it a step in the right direction? Yes! But we can not stand in front of the “Mission Accomplished” banner until the people responsible for the policies of the last six years are held accountable. If George Bush really heard us, he, Cheney and others would follow Rumsfeld out the door. If the newly elected Congress really heard us, they would not forgive and forget the Bush administration’s crimes. These crimes need to be investigated. Only then can we truly say… Mission Accomplished!
Flamingo Theft
originally published November 29, 2006
Evidently I’m not the only person in the area who heard the NPR piece saying that the U.S. pink flamingo factory is closing and in the future they’ll be made in China. It ran over and over, emphasizing that the ones now in existence will become collectors’ items, etc., etc., not taking into account, of course, that they fade, become brittle, and disintegrate over time. The thief who stole the two faded Wal-Mart ones given to me for my birthday this summer must have heard it, too - the thief who stole them the day before Thanksgiving while I was at a funeral. I certainly hope the person was able to parlay them at least into $15 or $20 to buy a turkey for the poor starving family of a thief. It’s damned depressing, not to mention disgusting, to realize that, first on the Fourth of July and now at Thanksgiving, some jerk is traipsing up and down Navy School area streets through private neighborhood yards stealing.
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