Two things that are finished

My friends, we are all POWs now.

Sorry, but we’re not POWs, we’re unlawful enemy combatants. No silly Geneva Convention protections for us.

He just meant the live audience; not all of us. What’d you think? People show up for his appearances voluntarily?

Simple mistake…

Here is another thought experiment:

A young man, inspired by his leaders, carries out bombing raids against an enemy. Even though his leaders have told him his targets are legitimate for the conflict they are fighting, most of the casualties of these raids are civilians going about their daily lives. During one of these raids, the young man is captured. His captors subject him to brutal torture, but he does not break or reveal any information about his fellow fighters and attacks his leaders have planned.

Who is acting heroically? The young man because he obeys the orders of his leaders and keeps his code under brutal torture, or his captors because they believe that they can save the lives of their fellow country men by extracting information from the young man by any means?

Think about it.

Jay

Just Jay … ain’t that the bitch of it? I mean, all these right wing knobs justifying the use of torture because it might save lives. Isn’t that what the North Vietnamese thought?

Sends a chill down my spine.

I’ve been curious to hear PJ O’Rourke’s insight into the events of the last few weeks, and then realized we haven’t heard from him in quite a while. I went looking and found this:

“Furthermore, I am a logical, sensible, pragmatic Republican, and my diagnosis came just weeks after Teddy Kennedy’s. That he should have cancer of the brain, and I should have cancer of the ass … well, I’ll say a rosary for him and hope he has a laugh at me. After all, what would I do, ask God for a more dignified cancer? Pancreatic? Liver? Lung?”

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-orourke28-2008sep28,0,331711 4.story

Sorry to hear he’s not well, and hope for the best for him & his family.

I worked late and had car trouble last night–missed the debate. I’ll watch the Sunday rerun on local PBS. I can’t salute my fave flippant fanap comment until then. So far faves:
1st debate, Harold, Hill. V. f. O “must. . .not. . .look. . .at. . .hypno. . .tie”
Biden-Palin, Chris H “. . .windbag full of poop and snakes.”
I must say Just Jay’s challenge is perfectly worded.
One of my wishes is coming true! (sort of) A few posts back I wished that the real Maverick family, a small but outstanding dynasty in Texas liberalism, would run ads to counter the libel on their family name. No ads, but a Reuters dispatch is out there with Maury Sr.’s daughter waxing disgusted, and a grandson has created a little webpage about defending the family name. Related note, the Token Liberal blog has posted a ’shopped tribute to Sen. Bidens’ convention speech comparison. Apologies to Gabby and Roy, but Mr. Mutant contributed it, and I love it.
Aunt Sam, I am appalled by the news of our fave righty, PJ’s, illness. But Terry Jones, one of the funniest lefties ever, seems to have overcome what he called bum cancer. So may we all hope that in the funny is the strength.
Egad, I run on; guess my Achilles heel is that I’m passionate.

Just Jay, that’s an excellent thought experiment. There’s just one problem. John Sidney McCain III was never tortured. He may have been subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques,” but he was never tortured. Just ask John Woo, Alberto Gonzales, or George W. Bush.

Chris, thank you. Trying to decide which version of that I should have rolling around in my head and I’m thinking Aaron Neville’s for now.

And so sorry to hear about P.J., but from reading the article it sounds like he’s going to do just fine. I look forward to his return to WWDTM, and I’m sure he’d appreciate a nice, soft cushion on his chair.

PJ O’Rourke is my portal into the dark side. I think he may be a little like Samuel, embedded in enemy territory and reporting on the hijinks going on there. I’ve read his articles and stories for many, many years now. The man is a genius, though politically unhinged. Be that as it may, he’s someone I’d like to have a beer with. Be well, PJ.

If anyone would like to view an interactive map showing the effects of the million pound financial hammer on this planet - by country, click the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page.

http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/creditcrisis

And to think, this whole thing started because Negros lusted for houses they couldn’t afford. It must be true, because all the Republicans are saying it.

Well, I feel a little sheepish, jpH. There you are, right at #4. I blame it on my daughters- they stole my ability to retain any information longer than about 5 minutes. Adam should make all the funny he can now, before Baz eats his brain.

The kids there are lucky to have you. I wonder how it would have been reported had they been electrocuted in their own showers? IED? Friendly fire?

I’ll be voting next Tuesday, October 14th. Thinking about making afore-mentioned daughters come with me, even though their eyes will probably roll right out of their heads.

Has everyone read the Rolling Stone article about McCain yet? Pretty disgusting. He not only broke during torture (full disclosure: I totally would have), he volunteered that his dad was a navy admiral in order to get medical treatment for his serious injuries. It’s not that he was worse than others, it’s that he wasn’t at all heroic—contrary to the stories.

My favorite bit:

In its broad strokes, McCain’s life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At each step, with the aid of their fathers’ powerful friends, both failed upward. And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives’ evangelical churches.

In one vital respect, however, the comparison is deeply unfair to the current president: George W. Bush was a much better pilot.

just plain Hussein, you reminded me of “Catch22″! Stay safe.

gillian, if you’re going to be the Queen of Comedy, be the Queen of Comedy. Don’t be all “but I need to get “Lanced” right now” when there’s yucks to be spread around and sh!t.

http://www.236.com/video/2008/get_your_war_on_the_debate_9461.php

Just so you know, the threat level today is yellow indicating an elevated level of terrorist activity. Sleep well, citizens.

Ann, that was so my fave part of the RS article it’s the only part I read it out loud to Mr. Mutant. I was patient enough to let him read the rest to himself.

Ann #25: I haven’t read the RS article - I’m not sure I can stand to read an entire story about John McCain - but the excerpt and facts you mention are disgusting but not surprising. I would hope that the Obama campaign would use them but it might backfire on him - maybe the blogosphere needs to step up here and spread the news. Mind you: I don’t judge him harshly for breaking under torture. Like you, Ann, I totally would have too. I judge him harshly for lying about it and then swanking about the lie.

I disagree with the suggestion the George W. Bush was the better pilot. I’ve never seen any evidence that he showed up and got in a plane. Maybe it’s in the RS article.

Just plain Hussein #18, God bless you and stay safe. You and PJ O’Rourke, if you can stand the comparison.

Oh, and I strongly recommend NPR’s Planet Money blog for anyone who wants to know what’s really going on here. As much that’s possible. The blog team is doing some fabulous reporting.

No, I think they’re planning on simply encouraging the rabble to riot if/when Obama wins. Have you seen or heard the violence they’re inciting against him? It’s truly terrifying.

Hey Aunt Sam, I’ll show my daughter your kid’s fine redux when I get her back tomorrow. I’ll pass along what she says.

Another note: I just spent half an hour scrutinizing Rush Limbaugh’s site, trying to make sense of the paranoid hatred that seems to be brewing, and it is freaky the way things have ratcheted up, and paranoid–or maybe psychotic–really does seem to be the word for what’s happening out there. Rush, Fox, et al, are raging like they are cranked up on crystal. Or got rabies. I saw stuff on Fox the other day that made its usually biased programing seem tame and reasonable. There were Obama documentaries narrated by Hanity that have to be libelous, though they are so preposterous that its hard to believe that anyone could take them seriously. All of energy generated by the fear of the market meltdown is being focused on Obama. He’s made to look like Farakahn’s puppet. Ayers, Acorn, Fannie and Freddie. Its just this screamfest of lies: really transparent lies. And stupid lies–I mean, to hear the bitching about OBama’s nebulous ties to Fannie and Freddie when McCain’s Campaign Manager has been a mid to low six figure advisor to those companies for the better part of a decade is… is… insane. And to hear some of Rick Davis’ quotes? He makes Carl Rove look like a gentleman. Not that either are.

Junk yard dogs, yes? So maybe it is rabies.

I laughed. Knock wood it is true.

I’m sure this was just an honest mistake…

http://www.crooksandliars.com/john-amato/barack-osama-absentee-ballots

Oh yes, thank you! I am completely enchanted by Helen’s attitude!

gillian must be sleeping off the latest love-a-thon, so I’ll pick up the slack - again.

http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2008/10/14/tomo/

hmm, my comment was not posted or was deleted. was it because i said something about the WWDTM taping?

Fannie is a fickle, whimsical, and arbitrary roborat. Try breaking up your comment into chunks posted at three minute intervals, or whatever the mandatory waiting period is. This way you’ll be able to identify which part offended the guardian beast.

With particularly long comments, I’ve taken to writing them offline in a text editor first so they don’t get lost if Fannie chooses to eat them.