Remember all of those bumper stickers demanding that we never forget that 2,998 3,017 people died? I'm thinking about making some that say "3-19-03 NEVER FORGET". Wonder how many people would even know what it meant?

Let's take a look back: (viked from DailyKos)

"Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof---the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."
-George W. Bush, 10/7/02

"We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators."
-Dick Cheney, 3/16/03

"There's a certain amount of pop psychology in America that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular."
-Bill Kristol, 4/1/03

"It's amazing that more than two weeks into the liberation of Iraq---as residents in Basra are cheering British forces and Americans occupy Baghdad's airport and Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace---the antiwar crowd is still spinning a doomsday scenario. But it's getting harder and harder to take seriously the claim that freeing Iraq will make it harder to win the war on terrorism. Indeed, there's plenty of evidence to the contrary. [...] Who said war never solved anything?"
-Brendan Miniter, The Wall Street Journal, 4/8/03

"The only people who think this wasn't a victory are Upper Westside liberals."
-Charles Krauthammer, 4/19/03

Ted Koppel: [Y]ou’re not suggesting that the rebuilding of Iraq is going to be done for $1.7 billion?
Andrew Natsios [Agency for International Development]: Well, in terms of the American taxpayer's contribution, I do. This is it for the U.S.
-4/23/03

[Liberals] can't deny that President Bush has won his two wars, and won them resoundingly.
-Paul Mirengoff, Powerline, 4/26/03

"The three-week swing through Iraq has utterly shattered skeptics' complaints."
-Tony Snow, Fox News, 4/27/03

-pb

Something I've been mulling recently is the slogan "God Bless America". I'm typically personally offended by bumper sticker policians. I mean, I take it personally in a way that I probably shouldn't, but I do. It has less to do with the actual message, and more to do with the use of the English Language. I'll be the first to admit that my grammar isn't always 100%, and I make the occasional spelling error, but I TRY VERY HARD to maintain a high level of adherence to the often insane laws of our language, and I am easily offended when other people don't.

Back to the subject. "Vote For [candidate]". This is a command. A direct, unapologetic command. If they read "Please Vote For [candidate]", then it would be a request. "Kerry/Edwards" and "W04" are shows of support, and don't offend me. But I swear, I would be offended if I saw a "VOTE KUCINICH" or "ELECT PENNACCHIO" sticker, because even though I cast my vote for Dennis and intend to do the same for Chuck, YOU DON'T FUCKING TELL ME TO DO IT. It's my choice, not yours.

And this brings me to the "God Bless America". Who is so arrogant as to command the diety they claim to fear and worship? That's insane! These people think that they are somehow more pious because they are demanding that their god bless their country. This is beyong fervor, this is beyond nationalism, this is downright insanity. I would never dream of using the slogan "Herne Bless America", because I don't want to tempt the wrath of a diety who would more than likely not appreciate being ordered about by a mortal.

So, one of these days, I'm going to design a bumper sticker that says "I'm not arrogant enough to demand that God bless my country. He will if we deserve it."

And that's the real point that offends me. "God Bless America". Are you kidding me? America takes money from the poor and gives it to the rich. America ignores the masses huddled in the path of a hurricane. America starts wars of aggression on lies and kills innocent men, women and children. America tortures people. America supports regimes that brutally rape and kill people. America supports policies that foster the spread of disease. America defends all this by pointing to the few other country that are worse and saying "they're worse". The god that I'm told is all-loving and all-caring about humanity wouldn't bless this country if it were the last one on Earth. And he certainly won't do so at the behest of people who, by and large, support the politicians who make all that possible.

-pb

Walking on the boardwalk on Sunday (9/11), I couldn't help but notice a plethora of people wearing 9/11-related clothing. One, in particular, pissed me off. Pissed off victoria_fusion even more, what with her actually being from NYC:

"I (heart) NY even MORE now!"

No, fuck you. Here's what your tshirt should say:

"Some unelected fuckhead presided over the worst intellegence failure in our nation's history, we bombed a few unrelated countries in response, and all I got was this lousy tshirt.

Oh, and I'm not even from an area that was affected."

The general "OMFG WE WERE ATTACKED BY TEH TERRORISTS BUSH WILL SAVE US" mentality of these people is appalling. I mean, hello? Let's look at the cities affected, shall we? Four planes, all departing from DC or Boston, headed for LA. Attacks took place in NYC and DC. One plane went down in PA, no ground casualties.

Who was directly affected? PEOPLE WHO OVERWHELMINGLY VOTED FOR JOHN KERRY. So fuck your tshirt jingoism. Fuck your sad-sap survivor merchandise. And to all you people out there who have shit that says "9/11 - We Will Never Forget"? Tell that to the thousands of bloated corpses down in the Delta right now. I'm sure they'd be glad to hear all about it. Asshole.

-pb

Teacher Screams at Students for Not Standing During National Anthem (video)

A teacher in New Jersey loudly berated his class for not standing for the Star-Spangled Banner after alledgedly yanking the chair out from underneath a sitting student. Another student caught the incident on his camera phone.

Now, I'm not big on cellphones in schools, because it's a distraction, and with camera phones, it's insanely easy for students to cheat. This time, though, it caught something worth having evidence of.

Last time I checked, students didn't give up their rights when they walked into a school, and this teacher went well above and beyond in demanding that students stand for the national anthem.

-pb

Score one for The First Amendment in PA

No more compulsory oaths of fealty to the state! (It's ok if you still want to, but they won't force you now.)

-pb