CMoore.com

Anyone else remember this duhbya speech from the trail?

I will change the tone of Washington. I’ll bring good people to our nation’s Capitol, and surround myself with a strong team of capable leaders.

I sent a clear signal of my intentions when I named a great citizen to be my running mate: Dick Cheney.

It would be presumptuous for me to name other names before the people have spoken, but I have great respect for the man who introduced me today — and I hope his greatest days of service to his country might still lie ahead.

Should I earn your confidence, I intend to work with Republicans and Democrats to get things done for the American people that both parties represent.

We won’t always agree, but I’ll work to keep our disagreements respectful and I’ll work to find common ground. I will do everything I can to restore civility to our national politics – a respect for honest differences, and decent regard for one another.

I know you can’t take the politics out of politics. I’m a realist. But I’m convinced our government can show more courage in confronting hard problems; more good will toward the other side; more integrity in the exercise of power.

This isn’t always easy, but it is always important. It is what people expect of their leaders, and what leaders must require of themselves. My administration will provide responsible leadership.

Finally, a leader upholds the dignity and honor of his office. In my administration, we will ask not only what is legal, but also what is right – not just what the lawyers allow, but what the public deserves.

In my administration we will make it clear there is the controlling authority of conscience. We will make people proud again – so that Americans who love their country can once again respect their government.

Boy, called that one wrong, eh, Georgie? Where I come from, we call that there a big fuckin lie. Huge. Stupendously disingenuous. What’s worse is that anyone who was paying attention knew this was a false construct completely at odds with reality and the temperament of Bush at the time these words were spoken. And the cabal got their preznit anyway.

Amazing. Amazing and terrible.

Computer expert testifies elctions in Florida were fixed

Computer programmer Clinton Curtis testified at the December 13th, 2004 Congressional hearing in Columbus, Ohio naming Republican Congressman Tom Feeney as the person who hired him to prepare vote-rigging software.

The programmer claims that he designed and built a “vote rigging” software program at the behest of then Florida Congressman, now U.S. Congressman, Republican Tom Feeney of Florida’s 24th Congressional District.
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Curtis says that Feeney “was very specific in the design and specifications required for this program.”

“He detailed, in his own words, that; (a) the program needed to be touch-screen capable (b) the user should be able to trigger the program without any additional equipment (c) the programming to accomplish this needed to stay hidden even if the source code was inspected.”

Though there was no problem with the first two requirements, Curtis explained to the Congressman that it would be “virtually impossible to hide such code written to change the voting results if anyone is able to review the uncompiled source code”

You want electronic voting? Fine. Provide a paper trail and open the source code to audited inspections.

This guy is testifying, so I tend to believe him. However, you would think he might have secreted away a copy of the code that could then be used to check the voting machines, no?

For being a flipper…. flipper…. king of the seeeeaaaaaa

No frog march for the stool pigeon?!? Say it ain’t so! Unless we’re getting Cheney, in which case – OK.

Then again, maybe not (4 indictments tomorrow, Libby, Rove, 2 others, Rove offered deal and rejected).

I’m not saying this is likely, but it’s possible. Remember – neither be anxious nor annoyed. Just be in the moment. Calm. Gathered. Centered. And let the totally fucking awesome criminal indictments come to you, baby! woooooo!

Update: indictments may be announced today. Note: Richard Sale is a paleocon with a longstanding track record of insite and accuracy. He’s on fire today.

An automated library thingee for the obsessive geek in all of us. Now, if only I had a Mac (full review at Ars Technica).

There’s also the web-based community Library Thing, but that looks like a bunch o’ manual labor to me. I mean, it looks cool and has a ton of features that DM doesn’t, but still … buncha work to input. Particularly when you’ve got as many books as I do.

No indictments will be announced today. Bummer.

(yeah, yeah, it’s actually like hypocrite post 3000, but I lost count somewhere so I’m sticking to today)

firedoglake has a great collection of quotes to warm the cockles of your cold, cold heart. Here are some of the highlights:

Bill Frist (R-TN)

To not remove President Clinton for grand jury perjury lowers uniquely the Constitution’s removal standard, and thus requires less of the man who appoints all federal judges than we require of those judges themselves.

I will have no part in the creation of a constitutional double-standard to benefit the President. He is not above the law. If an ordinary citizen committed these crimes, he would go to jail.

Henry Hyde (R-IL):

But when circumstances require you to participate in a formal court proceeding and under oath mislead the parties and the court by lying, that is a public act and deserves public sanction. Perjury is a crime with a five-year penalty.

Chuck Hagel (R-NE):

There can be no shading of right and wrong. The complicated currents that have coursed through this impeachment process are many. But after stripping away the underbrush of legal technicalities and nuance, I find that the President abused his sacred power by lying and obstructing justice. How can parents instill values and morality in their children? How can educators teach our children? How can the rule of law for every American be applied equally if we have two standards of justice in America–one for the powerful and the other for the rest of us?

*sniff* *sniff* … anyone else smell an ADA claim coming? Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut Employee Benefit Costs

An internal memo sent to Wal-Mart’s board of directors proposes numerous ways to hold down spending on health care and other benefits while seeking to minimize damage to the retailer’s reputation. Among the recommendations are hiring more part-time workers and discouraging unhealthy people from working at Wal-Mart.

In the memorandum, M. Susan Chambers, Wal-Mart’s executive vice president for benefits, also recommends reducing 401(k) contributions and wooing younger, and presumably healthier, workers by offering education benefits. The memo voices concern that workers with seven years’ seniority earn more than workers with one year’s seniority, but are no more productive.

Hahahhah. Read the memo, it’s hilarious… in a sociopathic inhuman sort of way. Here’s the part that will get them in ADA trouble:

To discourage unhealthy job applicants, Ms. Chambers suggests that Wal-Mart arrange for “all jobs to include some physical activity (e.g., all cashiers do some cart-gathering).”

Real classy, those Wal-Mart people. Reaaaaal classy. Other suggestions to decrease Wal-Mart costs include decreasing coverage for spouses (by increasing the costs charged to the employees) and reducing the amounts contributed to the 401(k) plans.

Of course, if this pushes Wal-Mart to support a national healthcare system, then I’m all for it. I can’t believe we don’t have one. Our country is seriously retarded in certain key areas, this being one of them.

from the Keyboard Kommando Komix

I’m wondering if all the GOoPers are getting whiplash going from perjury == HIGH CRIME AGAINST THE STATE, IMPEACH!!!!!!11!1!!1! to perjury == trivial little white lie, no biggie.

Today’s wanker (via Atrios): Assrocket

Assrocket then:

“Like many others, we have been frustrated by the apparent inability of much of the American public to take the Clinton scandals seriously. “It’s not about sex,” we have patiently repeated to our benighted friends. “It’s about perjury. It’s about obstruction of justice. The sex is only incidental. At most it was the motive for the crimes. You wouldn’t think murder was unimportant just because the motive for the murder was sex, would you?” So goes our argument.”

Assrocket now:

Tomorrow may bring indictments of Karl Rove and Scooter Libby on charges that can charitably be described as trivial. Tonight, one of our readers urged us to link to President Bush’s great speech to the Joint Armed Forces Officers’ Wives’ group rather than being distracted by the minutiae of the day. Good suggestion.

the worst leaders almost never get it right (Iraq has weapons of of mass destruction, social security is not a federal program, Brazil is a European country, Brownie is doing a great job etc).

Check out the new Harriet Miers Attack Ad.

Ah, yes, the GOP didn’t nominate a total idiot for preznit. He has only made ONE mistake. Just ONE….count them. Harriet Miers, Harriet Miers, Harriet Miers.

Nixon toady, Robert Bork, the man that had the love of country and moral courage to fire Watergate special prosecutor Arcibald Cox after two lessor Republicans (Attorney General Elliot Richardson, Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus ) gave up their jobs rather than give blind loyalty to a criminal President, has this to say about about Miers:

I don’t think she’s qualified. The Miers’ nomination is a disaster on every level

I have to accept this as one of the most informed opinions on Supreme Court qualifications. After all, the U.S. Senate decided that Bork was not qualified to sit on the Supreme Court so what better legal mind to pass judgement on the qualificaitons necessary for the high court.

Some fat ugly Putz named Rush Limbaugh has this to add:

I am totally behind the president … but I disagree with this nomination

Speaking of behind, I wonder if he still has that huge boil on his that kept him from going early in the draft.

Its interesting to note that 50% of the authoritative arguments that the wingnuts can muster for this attack ad come from a talk show host, who spent one year in college, and dropped out after flunking many of his classes. But his daddy was a judge, so he knows what he takes to be a supreme court justice.

Although, I agree that Miers is not a good choice, the notion that this is W’s ONLY mistake is laughable. Administrative decisions are not his strong point. He picked Brownie to head up FEMA for God’s sake. He picked a fight with a dictator and sacrificed the lives of 2,000 Americans (and counting) to protect us all from WMDs that did not exist.

Come to think of it, that’s 2,000 Mistakes right there.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore – 4/5

First, Christopher Moore has to usurp my name. Then he has to go and compound this transgression with evidence of actual talent and tremendous humor.

Bitch.

Whether or not you believe in Joshua of Nazareth’s existence, this is one of the better myths about his life. Biff (real name: Levi, “biff” is the sound a fist makes when it hits him upside the head) is Josh’s smartass pal. Joshua’s moral anticompass, really.

Biff tells the Gospel (he’s resurrected in modern day and stuck in a hotel with Raziel the angel, who is addicted to soaps and wrestling shows) of him and jesus. Together, they get into scrapes, fall in love with the same girl (Mary of Magdala, well, Josh loves everyone) and go on a trek so Josh can learn how to be the Messiah. Along the way they meet the three magi, learn Chinese, Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, the Divine Spark, meet a Yeti, meet a demon or three, learn about sin, go to Afghanistan and India, and learn kung fu. Among other things.

To give an example of the humore of this author, kung fu is too violent for Joshua and he refuses to strike anyone. So they come up with a new form that uses the opponents own energy against them. It’s called “Jew-do”.

Yeah, yeah, groan away, but that’s the kind of humor I love. Weird that this CMo would be just like me in the witty wordplay department. Weird, I say. It would be really weird if I wrote a novel, because then you’d have competing CMo’s in similar genres with similar styles and that would… well, he’s just going to have to get a psuedoname, that’s all there is to it.

In sum, they go do a bunch of things, you’ll laugh out loud multiple times, and Joshua gets crucified. I hope that didn’t spoil the ending for anybody. Heartily recommended.

Dillinger – 2/5

This 1945 biography/noir is … not very good. There’s no getting around it, the move just feels like a Sunday morning special, with the acting, lighting, and story to match. I know it’s hard to do a good biography – one that’s compelling and worthwhile – but this one simply fails. The intro is tacked on and jarring, the story haphazard, and the cinematography mundane. This is worse than a B movie. More like a C-level.

Dillinger introduced legendary tough guy Lawrence Tierney as the the title character (you may remember him as Joe Cabot/The Thing from Reservoir Dogs, most known for his temper, getting stabbed, and being mean as a snake). Dillinger, the character, is almost completely unlikable; he’s a homocidal maniac with no redeeming features. The interesting thing is that Dillinger was known for not being bloodthirsty; there is only one death even likely to have been caused by him, and no evidence that he was the one who pulled the trigger.

Anne Jeffries is the femme fatale, and quite the hubba hubba fatale at that. Unlike today’s B-level starlets, Jeffries was actually talented (a triple threat, actually) and is probably best known for starring in the sitcom version of Topper (the ghostest with the mostest).

If you were stuck on a desert island and this was the only movie you had, I think sharpening the edges and slitting your wrists with the disc may be the best option.

But then we have…

The Narrow Margin – 4/5

Ahhhh, much better. The Narrow Margin is one of the classic noir movies, and probably the premier B noir. The pacing is relentless, the plot engaging, the acting is superb. They probably filmed this entire thing in 15 days, but it stands the test of time very well. It may be my second favorite noir movie ever (behind Maltese Falcon, at least).

The plot revolves around a cop on a train trying to protect a passenger with inside information from getting whacked by the mob before they get to their destination. Charles McGraw is the protagonist, and I’m sure you’ve seen him around (he was in about 80 films). He’s got the great craggy noir face – good for black and white – and the 3-pack a day smoker voice to go along with it. The bette noir is Marie Windsor – another great actress. She was a former Miss Utah/cigarette girl who became one of the greatest B movie femmes ever. She’s tall (5’9) and has bedroom eyes (sort of a mix between Ileana Douglas and Uma Thurman), yet retains that everywoman quality necessary for a successful noir/B actress. The rest of the cast (with the possible exception of Ann Sinclair) is excellent in their stock roles.

The movie is probably best known for one of the first uses of a handheld camera (to film the fight between McGraw and Peter Virgo). The rest is an extremely constricted, claustrophobic set (a train), and Fleisher’s direction. A quality movie, recommended without qualification.

Is there any possible way they could spell it out more directly? Why aren’t the sheeple more up in arms about this? This is amazing and appalling stuff, enough to make any moral individual sick to their stomach. Sieg heil, motherfuckers.

The proposal, which two sources said Vice President Cheney handed last Thursday to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the company of CIA Director Porter J. Goss, states that the measure barring inhumane treatment shall not apply to counterterrorism operations conducted abroad or to operations conducted by “an element of the United States government” other than the Defense Department.

BMPAA brings out the big guns in China

Chan Nai-ming was found guilty of copyright infringement for distributing three Hollywood blockbusters using BitTorrent, said a court official.
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He had been charged in April for uploading three Hollywood blockbusters to the net – Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss Congeniality.

Of all the things to get busted for, to get taken in for Daredevil, Red Planet, and Miss Congeniality… ye gods.

I ain’t going out like that. If I’m going down, it’ll be for something good, rather than that crap. Like Billy Madison-level good. Or Ishtar.

Now we torture prisoners to death

Autopsy reports on 44 prisoners who died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan indicate that 21 were victims of homicide, including eight who appear to have been fatally abused by their captors, the American Civil Liberties Union reported Monday.

The abuse involved cases in which detainees were smothered, beaten or exposed to the elements, sometimes during interrogation. Many of these cases had been brought to light previously but now have been confirmed through U.S. military autopsies. Some of the deaths followed abusive interrogations by elite Navy SEALs, military intelligence officers and the CIA, the ACLU said.

Thanks, busheviks!