The Official Blog of PCPB

House Republicans are introducing a resolution to condemn an ad that MoveOn.org ran in The New York Times, referring to General David Petraeus as "General Betray Us" and accusing him of playing politics with his statistics regarding the surge. The ad was frequently referred to by Republican members at yesterday's committee hearing with the general.

"The despicable attack MoveOn.org launched against General Petraeus today should be condemned by all Members of Congress, including the Democratic leadership," said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH). "I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to join in support of this resolution so the House speaks with one voice rejecting the character assassination tactics employed by this extremist group."

// posted by catsagainstbush @ 8:46 PM 2 comments

I am arguing that it doesn’t matter that Bush is bothered by the fact that the people really do hate him. Once his advisors confirm it, it only reinforces his belief that he is a religious figure, he is the Man of God sent by God to do His will, which is supposedly to bring democracy to the Middle East, I mean to fill the bottomless pockets of Halliburton and other corporate cronies. After all, Supply-side Jesus smiles upon him and brings him great blessings of corporate donations and the comforting knowledge that at least Big Oil is on his side with its obscene profits.

Bush clearly has a delusion of grandeur. David Corn touched upon this so-called Mission from God when he noted that Bush believes that his mission is to “free people," much as Christians believe that Jesus came to the world to free humanity from sin. Don’t forget how Bush said, "There is a higher father that I appeal to." Let this article from Raw Story speak for itself.

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Notice how he’s turning himself into a martyr figure. Much like how the crowds who sang Hosanna when Jesus entered into Jerusalem turned on Jesus a few days later, he sees himself fallen from high above when he enjoyed 90% approval ratings in the days after 9/11 to now where only the hard-core base made up of the corporate and financial elites and the sheep who blindly follow him because he is a Man of God or because he is a Republican who would protect humanity from the evil scourge known as the homosexuals.

To some, "Bush seems alone, isolated by events beyond his control, with trusted advisers taking their leave and erstwhile friends turning on him."

I am sure that the Biblical scene in which Jesus after praying in the garden goes back to his devoted apostles and is grieved to see them sleeping is going through Bush’s delusional head. I’m sure he sees himself just as abandoned by his friends and us the American people as Jesus felt when he was walking up to Calvary, accompanied by no one except those closest to him, which was about three people including his mother. I’m sure Bush sees himself going to his own crucifixion with the jeering crowds spitting on him and heckling him as he stumbles to the ground and in the polls with that overwhelming cross to bear.

It doesn’t matter that he’s only at 26% or 31% depending on which poll you believe. The more he perceives the people hate him, the more the belief that he is a latter-day Jesus sent by God to save the American people from the Satanic terrorists who want to overthrow the American government and from those damn homosexuals who want to seduce our children into participating in the unholy Bacchanalia that is sure to come when gay marriage is legalized, is reinforced. Since he is a religious figure, he cannot bend to the polls like most politicians who pander to the whims of the American people. No, he is above that. He is a Man of God whose mission is to obey God who votes Republican and supports war in the name of corporate profits, who supports sacrificing our young men and women to the Almighty Dollar. He cannot abandon his Surge in Iraq because this is God’s will and more importantly, he like Jesus must be patient with us ignorant followers much like how Jesus was patient with the disciples who must have frustrated him with their stubbornness and naivety.

Realize how dangerous this rhetoric really is. Realize how dangerous this is when a faux president installed by a junta of robed activist judges believes himself to be infallible in the face of undeniable failure in Iraq. It doesn’t matter how many lives are to be sacrificed in his Holy War to transform the Middle East and possibly bring about so-called Biblical prophecy. It doesn’t matter that the world has turned against America who has lost any moral high ground she claimed with torture and rendition flights. It doesn’t matter that torture is against the Geneva Conventions, because that is earthly law and that does not apply to Bush.

This is not the only example, but this infamous incident shows how much the Religious Right which claims to be the only legitimate moral arbiter of America has been corrupted by its ties to the GOP.

Do you remember when Tom Delay was going on every news channel to proclaim that the liberals like Hitler were using the Big Lie to “persecute” him? Do you remember that scene which made us spew forth the bile in our throats when the Reverend Rick Scarborough put his hand around Tom Delay and said these infamous, blasphemous words?

"God always does his best work right after a crucifixion."

Yes, who can forget one of the most corrupt figures in American politics being compared to his own Savior, being made into one who was being martyred by the Democrats who did not know that Republicans were infallible gods whose motives should not and cannot be questioned?

If I offend some of you with the religious language and all the Jesus talk, I am doing this to illustrate a point and to show that this article further shines a light in the dark abysses of Bush’s soul.

I did a paper once on Creon and his hubris in proclaiming himself to be above divine law when he insisted on refusing Polynices burial, even after the blind prophet Tiresias basically gave him a choice of following the sanction of the gods or facing a fall greater than any man or woman could bear. Except that Creon mocked the power of Hades and even Zeus, showing contempt for Death. I see the same mentality in Bush in that he sees himself above the law and above our standards of justice, except that instead of just believing that divine law does not apply to him, he believes that he is a god himself, or at least the god’s prophet sent to save this land from evil. He doesn't outright say it, but he mocks his god by betraying the principles of his supposed favorite philosopher, Jesus, whether it's through his lies and deceptions or by perverting justice. It doesn’t matter that commuting Libby’s sentence was obstruction of justice, because Bush is a godly figure who dispenses justice. Always quick to be those who would cast the first stone especially against minorities on death row convicted after dubious trials in which their lawyers did virtually nothing, Bush suddenly becomes the merciful Jesus who would rather spare the guilty than to harm a hair on her head?

I leave you with this quote from Antigone.

Let us be the city or in our case the nation that casts out the man who has lost all sense of humanity in the delusional belief that he is a god, not subject to earthly law or that damn piece of paper, the Constitution.

Labels: blasphemy, Bush administration, delusions of grandeur, hubris, Messiah complex

// posted by catsagainstbush @ 1:16 AM 0 comments

CNN IS SAYING that this “avoids the political aspects of the situation.”

NO FUCK THAT! The Democrats should NOT let Bush get away with this one. They should treat the situation as if Bush had pardoned Libby instead of just commuting the prison sentence. The fine is just a slap in the face. How much do you want to bet that the Libby defense fund will pay it?

The rule of law does not apply to Republicans, so sayeth the Litterbox. What does this tell you about law and order conservatives who always cry about the law when it’s anyone except them. They should just drop the act already.

John Aravosis over at AmericaBLOG notes that the Bush talk about letting justice run its course is all a bunch of bushit. Of course he is right, but also, Bush’s idea of justice is allowing Republicans to commit their crimes with impunity while his administration goes after Democrats on trumped-up charges such as those against ACORN, brought upon them by a partisan GOP HACK. Bush’s idea of justice works on the principle that Republicans are above the law, they are like gods whose motives we must never question, much less challenge in the court of law. It doesn’t matter that there is no evidence of a left-wing conspiracy to compromise our elections by committing massive voter fraud on a scale Republicans claim has never been seen before. It doesn’t matter that there is more evidence that Republicans sought to use their powers to suppress the vote.

This is a culmination of the GOP mantra that everything is a liberal conspiracy against them and that they are truly the victims and oppressed of the society. Our so-called resident-in-thief was only dispensing justice for that poor, downtrodden Republican who was dreading prison so much that he must have been praying like a good conservative Christian would.

"The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged," Bush said. "His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant and private citizen will be long-lasting."

// posted by catsagainstbush @ 3:00 PM 3 comments

Labels: anti-war, dehumanization, empathy deficit, Iraq, peace, racism

// posted by catsagainstbush @ 12:18 AM 2 comments

Why is peace so reviled these days? Why is the very notion of peace enough to have the rabid, wingnut right froth at the mouth with self-righteous anger? I had blogged about how peace is now even being equated with Satan as a homeowner’s association in Colorado had ordered a wreath in the shape of the international peace sign taken down. Some members had claimed it was a Satanic symbol, even Nero’s Cross supposedly even though the evidence that Nero used it was rather thin. It is the absurd claims that we rightfully laugh at and roll our eyes at that are the very tactics of demagogues who seek to rile up our basest emotions. It is these absurd claims that could turn around a noble word like peace and make it into something to be rejected, because it is a left-wing or even Satanic conspiracy to bring our country down. Is peace considered a feminine trait by those who follow the hyper-masculinity ethos? Must everything be settled with fists and bombs?

Our National Litterbox, (I refuse to just call him president) says Jesus is his favorite philosopher. Yet, like the GodMen of Tennessee who want a more masculine Christianity, Bush must have only read the part where Jesus drives the moneychangers from the temple in a not so peaceful display of power. Bush who is so concerned about national security that he does not investigate his administration’s outing of a COVERT CIA agent who was tracking the movement of weapons of mass destruction, whose Covert front company uncovered evidence that the WMDs were being moved into Iraq from Turkey likely so that the Litterbox could claim that WMD HAD been found in Iraq. This is no better than Hitler dressing up prisoners in Polish uniforms and shooting them, leaving their bodies in German territory so that he could claim that Poland invaded Germany. Yes, I made the comparison and rightfully so. No man of peace, no Man of God as his administration and the countless numbers of mindless uncritically-thinking Bush supporters claim Bush to be would start a war on false pretenses and then plant the evidence to fool the American people into believing that Saddam was about to nuke New York City.

Must everything be a war? We have conjurations of faux and real wars designed to appeal to the men in us. Is this why the military is so afraid of having gay men and women serve in the military openly, because they supposedly go counter against the image of a masculine army trained in the arts of war? Even the media, mainly Faux made up a fictional War on Christmas so that Christian men could claim to be fighting on the sidelines safe in America against the godless Liberals who sought to infect our country with atheism and secular humanism…

Does this administration even care that our wounded veterans had to suffer through urine-soaked mattresses, belly-up cockroaches, mice droppings in their living quarters? Could this administration not spend money to fund treatment for our wounded vets coming home? Of course not, this is considered to be nurturing and caring, traits traditionally considered feminine in nature. The hyper-masculine ethos states that money should not be going into social programs designed to give a hand up to those stuck in poverty but to huge weapons, nuclear bombs, bunker-busters, new fighter jets, etc.

We have money to spend on new weapons that are not needed in this new so-called “War on TERROR” yet we cannot spend money to fund VA hospitals and to provide psychological treatment to the wounded. We cannot deal with Post-traumatic stress Disorder as the military brass with the consent of this administration wants to send our troops back into combat without any treatment. After all, a MAN should suck it up and ignore his wounds so that he could fight for the freedom of his country. Those who are expressing concerns about PTSD and their families are being unpatriotic and un-American. It is more of the cult of hyper-masculinity that Glenn Greenwald depicts in this excellent article. After all, if our Litterbox can land a fighter jet at 150 mph on an airplane carrier, then these men should seek to emulate the masculinity of our “Fearless leader.”

Peace should not be a masculine or feminine value...it should be one we hold common whether we are male or female. By assigning it a gender, we cheapen its value and risk having our society which tends to prefer "masculine traits" over "feminine traits" glorify the death and carnage of war. Indeed, the GodMen video from ABCNews talks about how men love blowing things up. While that may be fine in Monster Truck rallies, let us not make blowing things up in war a spectacle much like the ones held in ancient Rome, where even naumachiae or mock naval battles produced casualties.

Labels: anti-war, Glenn Greenwald, hypermasculinity ethos, Iraq, Litterbox Administration, peace

// posted by catsagainstbush @ 1:18 PM 0 comments

Labels: 300, Battle of Thermopylae, Classics, Frank Miller, Herodotus, movie, Persians, Xerxes

// posted by catsagainstbush @ 1:54 AM 0 comments