Also Spracht Robertson

Robertson: God guiding Bush to a big win By The Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said yesterday he believes God has told him that President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in November.

"I think George Bush is going to win in a walk," Robertson said on his "700 Club" program on the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way."

"The Lord has just blessed him," Robertson said of Bush. "I mean, he could make terrible mistakes and comes out of it. It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad, God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him."

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and a frequent critic of Robertson, said "Maybe Pat got a message from Karl Rove and thought it was from God."

A few questions:
1. Does God think that George Bush is the only current Presidential candidate who is "a man of prayer"?
2. How does God feel about a Presidential candidate who is "a woman of prayer"?
3. Am I the only one who detected admissions that Dubya has made terrible mistakes and does bad. I've re-read it several times, and that's what I get out of Pat's remarks.

Hourly Rates:

I'm considering modifying the rates for my computer services.
from lowest hourly rate to highest hourly rate....
Shop rate
On-site rate +20%
If you tried to fix it yourself rate +40%
If it's a Gateway, HP, or Compaq +50%
If it's an e-Machine +75% plus medications and county dump fee
Grumble, grumble.

That reminds me: Black Box - Computer tips for the flummoxed.

and on a personal note

Flag-wrapper strikes again

The wacko mentioned in the "prune-faced relic of the 60's" [ post of 12/31/2003] issued another great one.

The context is that it was - and remains - a mistake to divert scarce resources from capturing Osama Bin Laden and neutralizing Al Qaeda. The most positive outcome of the Iraq dalliance was to capture one of 6 billion people who had nothing whatsoever to do with 9-11, and had nothing to do with any terrorist threat against the USA.

His statement:
"You know we can't sent troops en-masse to Pakistan or Iran just to look for a fugitive."

My response:
"Note to self: the hunt for Osama Bin Laden is 'just to look for a fugitive'. Bob said so."

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that that whopper was the hangover talking, and not the real you. Even YOU aren't that stupid, although I'm beginning to wonder"

OK, I was condescending. Sue me.

I suspect that his attitude came from the same farrightwingnut propaganda machine that continues to claim that
- lies that lead to war
- lies about dealing arms (including WMDs) with terrorist nations
are worse than lies about adultery.

Yup. That is the same propaganda machine that implies that THEIR politicians are the only politicians that don't lie at all.

At least the world is safer now that Saddam is in custody

Another 12-Step Program

It's for people who talk too much: call it "Onandon."

Burger King Special

Why didn't Tom DeLay serve in the military during Viet Nam days?

" 'He and [ Dan ] Quayle', DeLay explained to the assembled media in New Orleans, 'were victims of an unusual phenomenon back in the days of the undeclared Southeast Asian war. So many minority youths had volunteered for the well-paying military positions to escape poverty and the ghetto that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like himself. Satisfied with the pronouncement, which dumbfounded more than a few of his listeners who had lived the sixties, DeLay marched off to the convention'."

Other Burger King Awards:
Bill Clinton, for "I did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
Susan Smith, who tearfully told the world that a black man had hijacked her car with her children in it. It seems she got a few details wrong - the ones where she strapped her 3 children into their car seats and launched the car into the lake.

C'mon folks, who saw those on TV and DIDN'T say "S/he's lying"? I have a bridge to sell you.

Oh, and Honorary Side of Fries for Newt Gingrich, who blamed the Smith murders on "the Democrats".

Why "Burger King"? Where else can you get Whoppers like these?

OK, not including Presidential speeches.

The figures don't lie, but liars figure

I report, you decide.

The headline: New Jobless Claims Lowest of Bush Tenure.
"The Labor Department (news - web sites) reported Wednesday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 15,000 to 339,000 for the week ending Dec. 27."

The reality: ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report:
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 516,501 in the week ending Dec. 27, an increase of 91,785 from the previous week."

Shamelessly lifted from Seeing The Forest

"You are nothing more than an old prune-faced relic of the 60's"

I'm not making this up. In a USENET discussion, a guy wrapped himself in the flag and said that about me.... and by extension, about these folks:

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
-- Teddy Roosevelt.

"Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels--men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."
-- Dwight David Eisenhower, May 31, 1954

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Criticism in a time of war is essential to the maintenance of any kind of democratic government."
-- Robert Taft, Past Senate GOP Leader

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it."
-- Edward R. Murrow

"And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?"

"The man who loves his country...can never refuse to come forward when he finds that she is engaged in dangers which he has the means of warding off."

"The people are the ultimate guardians of their own liberties. In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy. Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone."
--Thomas Jefferson

Bush Administration raises taxes again

No, really! There ARE taxes other than federal income taxes, you know. If you need an explanation of the Bush Tax, look here.

The Patriot Act in action

The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning.

In a bulletin sent Christmas Eve to about 18,000 police organizations, the FBI said terrorists may use almanacs "to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning."

It urged officers to watch during searches, traffic stops and other investigations for anyone carrying almanacs, especially if the books are annotated in suspicious ways.

The FBI noted that use of almanacs or maps may be innocent, "the product of legitimate recreational or commercial activities."

As Dave Barry would say, "I'm not making this up."