Stumble it!This is not my country: The ’spring is in the air’ edition
posted in Carnivals, Politics, TINMC by themaiden |April 1, 2008. (Well… Ok. Its actually April 5th. Let’s just say that April 1 is the nominal date.) Spring is in the air. I’m not all that happy about it, but such is the way it is. Here at the the ‘This Is Not My Country Carnival’ we’ve got a new set of post on an old set of topics. But those topics recur because they are important.
Presidents Past and Future :
First the blessed past.
Nasty, brutish, and short… that’s why we have government right? So we can have those things? Or is that backwards? I can’t remember. Its so hard to keep those things straight. Holly Ord presents George Bush Thinks Poverty, Death and Abuse are Blessings of Freedom posted at Menstrual Poetry.
But what with all that ‘people wanting to put him jail’ stuff, can you blame him for painting a pretty picture? CapeTownDissentator presents On Silencing Dissent: National Awareness and Dismissing the Idea of Impeachment posted at We Op-Ed, saying, “45% of Americans favor impeachment hearings for President Bush and 54% favor hearings for Vice President Cheney. Yet, you hear little if anything about this in major newspapers or on cable and network news. Here’s a level-headed examination of the issue.”
But as long as the white guy keeps dancing we’re all okay though. blue skelton presents George Bush Tap Dancing posted at Blue Skelton Publications, saying, “Here is a viral video of George Bush Tap Dancing. I usually don’t post funny videos but I had to in this case. I came across this video on YouTube of George Bush Tap Dancing. This is the funniest thing that I have seen in an awhile. Not only can he President with Dignitude, he can also dance.”
And then the future.
Hillary has the female vote? Well, obviously. Holly Ord presents Voting for Hillary Just Because She’s a Woman? posted at Menstrual Poetry, saying, “Some women believe that they must vote for Hillary just because she’s a woman and that is bullshit.”
Carole G. McKay presents Hilary, Bill and Noah Webster posted at McKay Today, saying, “A candid look at how we lie to ourselves and each other and the price we pay for looking the other way.”
Allen in Fort Worth presents Hillary Clinton, Bosnia, Serbia, Sniper Fire, My Friend Igor, Taking Your Daughter To War Zones, and other stuff like that posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, “I got a little worked over this. Sorry.”
Normally, I like Madeleine’s pieces but “Periodically?” and “Feeling down?” are sexist terms? You’ve got to be joking? Oh shit! Maybe ‘I like Madeleine’s pieces’ is sexist too. Damn. Oh the horror! Madeleine Begun Kane presents Hysterical Lefty Bloggers Whine For Clinton To Leave Obama Alone posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
I tend to favor Obama in this presidential race. He strikes me as the best of the bunch, or, depending upon how you look at it the worst of them, except for all the others to steal and mutilate a turn of phrase. Still, Doug Ragan has thoughts worth worrying about on the topic. Doug Ragan presents Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, and Racism in America posted at I’m A Pundit Too, saying, “On the question “Is America ready for a Black President?” I think we need to first ask if Black America is ready for a Black President.”
Madeleine Begun Kane is back with Ode To “Foreign Policy Maven” McCain posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
Getting from here to there.
A.C. Chase presents Streamline, Modernize the Primaries posted at Alexander the Atheist.
Shaheen Lakhan presents Elderly Patients Face Tough Barriers When Voting posted at GNIF Brain Blogger.
Death and Taxes :
Death.
David Gross presents Human Shields posted at The Picket Line, saying, “Have U.S. army units adopted a policy of using Iraqi children as human shields? A Wall Street Journal article from 2004 seemed to say so. But one of the platoon leaders now says this is an incorrect conclusion to draw from what he said.”
And just what does it cost to kill of those people? Leon Gettler presents The true cost of the Iraq war: a business analysis posted at Sox First, saying, “What’s the true cost of the war in Iraq? Here is a business analysis and it looks a lot worse than people think.”
DWSUWF presents It’s still the war, stupid. posted at Divided We Stand United We Fall, saying, “Two grim milestones - a five year anniversary and 4,000 American lives. Since 70% of Americans supported the war, many of us have reason to reflect on our personal acquiescence in the decision to invade and occupy Iraq.”
I can’t decide if this actually belongs in the carnival, but it is powerful. Sidhusaaheb presents My father’s memories of November 1984 posted at I, Me, Myself.
Maybe more death. NotYourDaddy presents Nuclear Terrorism — Coming Soon posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, “Iran has a proven track record as a world leader in the funding and training of radical Islamic terrorists. Why would anybody be gullible enough to believe that this terrorist nation is amassing all the means to build nuclear weapons “for purely industrial purposes?””
Taxes.
David Gross presents Taxpaying as Complicity posted at The Picket Line, saying, “If the government is causing problems, and you’re contributing to the government, are you contributing to the problems? Or is it that once you’ve “rendered unto Caesar” then Caesar takes the blame for what happens next? This has been debated for hundreds of years, in arguments that remain interesting and relevant today.”
Wenchypoo demonstrates the profound power of name calling in adult debate. Why should we limit it to grade school playgrounds? Good question I say. Wenchypoo also demonstrates the effectiveness of hyperbole, of vague generalization, of straw man presentation of an issue, and of leaving out relevant information, or underplaying relevant information, like say that the Fair Tax plan eliminates current Federal income taxes thus offsetting the sales tax it creates. Brilliant, Wenchy. Pure genius. Wenchypoo presents Update: The FairTax Crafter Finally Answers Me posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “This is what happens when people drink the Socialist Koolaid and become Obama-zombies and members of Huck’s Army–we become deluded into thinking things like the FairTax plan will actually save us.”
Raymond of Money Blue Book brings us two on taxes, The Difference Between Legal Tax Avoidance and Illegal Tax Evasion and The IRS Economic Stimulus Notice Letter Is A Waste Of Taxpayer Money.
The Rule of Law :
Raymond already has two in the carnival and I tend to start cutting people off at that figure to avoid too much clutter in the carnival and to give other people a chance, but Raymond earned three with this one. Raymond presents Living In A Litigious American Society Obsessed With Filing Lawsuits posted at Money Blue Book. I’d like to quote from the article: “While I agree that our population has evolved into a society a bit too obsessed and even paranoid about lawyers and lawsuits, I think the passionate furor and lemming-like disdain of litigation beguiles its importance as one of the key cornerstones of what makes our country so democratic and free.”
Still we are not free of problems. JT presents 1 in 100 americans are incarcerated ~ 1 in 250 a ?terrorist? posted at ~LUKLI~, saying, “The U.S. is the unchallenged leader in mass incarceration, with the largest Gulag on the planet. The Black and brown U.S. prisoner population, alone, roughly equals that of China’s - a nation with four times the population of the U.S.”
Healthcare.
No one really likes the idea of abortion. Honestly, we’d all like– pro-choice and pro-life alike– for abortions rates to be 0. So lets do something rational that moves in that direction. Tracee Sioux presents Stop Abortion Vote Healthcare! posted at Blog Fabulous, saying, “With healthcare for disenfranchised women on the table, those who rank abortion as a number 1 concern should jump on the opportunity to drastically reduce the abortion rate by voting for a healthcare candidate.”
The Environment.
NotYourDaddy presents Alternative Energy and the Law of Unintended Consequences posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, “Biofuels were supposed to be the ultimate panacea that solved everything from global warming to war in the Middle East. After all, they’re natural, renewable, and, best of all, green! Yet, from both a social and environmental perspective, biofuel production is turning out to be one of the biggest disasters of all.”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of this is not my country using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
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