Bush's colonoscopy

The headlines on CNN.com read:

"June 28, 2002
"Bush to have colonoscopy under anesthesia"

Was he planning to have it some place else?
Also, while the doctors are in there, maybe they can hunt around and look for his head.

I'm sure it's in there, somewhere.....

Good or Weavel, you decider.....

The Washington press reports that Pres. Bush has had a steady stream of ministers and theologians visiting the White House. Bush has invited them to discuss "Good and Evil." While I applaude Pres. Bush's efforts to try to figure out which is which, I think I can save everyone some time here.

Short Answer:

Invading another country, without provocation, and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people is Evil with a big "E"

Long Answer:

I am becoming more and more convinced that there are a lot of people out there who simply don't understand "Good and Evil." Most of us ordinary people are born with a basic notion that we should not do harm to others. But that still leaves a lot of people out there who just don't seem to get it. It's like they have fetal-alcohol syndrome or some other congenital condition that confuses their "moral compass." Essentially, they are morally disfunctional.

Ironically, the same people who have no moral compass also tend to develop a curiousity about all this "Good and Evil" stuff that people talk about. And many of these people, lacking a moral compass, decide to become ministers, priests and theologians.

We see the same phenomenon in Psychology, as many people who become counselors and psychologists have, themselves, severe psychological problems. They, in effect, become psychologists in an effort to cure themselves ("Physician heal thyself")

The same thing is true with people who have no moral compass. They study religion and ethics and try to figure out what "Good" is and what "Evil" is. They always put good and evil into capital letters because, to them, these are abstract concepts, not actual behaviors. All that they understand about good and evil is what other people tell them. And once they become "experts" they are ready to start telling everyone else what to do (and not to do). They become incredible bores and arrogant bullies, always blovating about how "Evil" Clinton was to get a bj from a young woman and "Good" Bush is to kill thousands of muslims.

William J. "Bill" Bennett, the former Sect. of Education, is a good example of this kind of blovator. He even wrote a book about his "moral compass" though he still seems to be unable to find his. Maybe it's under the sofa... or maybe it fell behind the buffet.....

Or maybe he lost it at the race track.

More corruption & scandal

This has been a difficult week for institutional corruption. The Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles has committed to paying out $660 million dollars to victims of sexual abuse. This is the largest amount paid out ... so far.

Meanwhile US Senator David Vitter has finally come out of hiding (unless you count hiding behind his wife's skirts) and admitted that he was involved with prostitutes in two cities. Vitter is the same creep who said that Pres. Clinton should be impeached for violating his marriage vows (Clinton's, not Vitter's). Now his bizarre right-wing pronouncements have come back to bite him (you know where).

There are various news reports that Vitter paid upwards of $300 for the services of these prostitutes. I think this alone is reason to censure him. How can the voters of Louisiana trust him with their tax money if he is willing to overpay for services? Can you imagine if Vitter were on a Senate committee and an Air Force General said they needed to spend $200 on a toilet seat for a B-52. Vitter would say (to himself) "Well, that's less than I spent on that hooker last night ... must be a pretty good deal!" See, we just can't trust Sen. Vitter to give the taxpayers real value for their hard-earned money. Vitter has to know that no one in Louisiana pays more than $150 for a hooker, even in the best neighborhoods of New Orleans.

On the other hand, we have Florida Republican State Representative Bob Allen. Allen was arrested by police in Florida after he approached an undercover cop and offered to give him a blow-job for $25. Now here is a congressman who really understands giving good value. I think that Bob Allen should be elected to the US Senate, because he knows the value of a dollar. If some General asks Bob for $200 for a toilet seat, Bob would demand that they go to Home Depot, or maybe even Big Lots and buy a cheap seat for $29.95 -- just like the rest of us do.

What's Wrong with Scooter?

George W. Bush has commuted the sentence of "Scooter" Libby. Libby no longer has to go to jail, but he does have to pay a $250,000 fine. Of course he is not actually going to pay the fine out of his own pocket. The Right Wingers have already rased millions of dollars in a fund-raising campaign, much as they did for Ollie North.

They have already sent out the mass mailings and made the phone calls, as thousands of poor and middle-class conservatives were asked--once again--to contribute to keeping another criminal out of jail. Meanwhile the really deep pockets are busy contributing to Presidential campaigns where it will go to buy even more influence and power.

Perhaps some jail time would have helped Scooter straighten out his priorities. But of course if Libby goes to jail there is always the chance he will rat out his boss, Karl Rove. Bush can't afford to take the chance that Libby will turn on his masters and start talking about the high crimes of his bosses in the White House.

It's amazing that the Right Wing pundits have compared this commutation to Clinton's last minute pardons in 2000. Clinton didn't pardon anyone on the White House staff in order to cover up his own actions. Libby, on the other hand, probably knows where all the bodies are buried, and neither Bush nor Cheney can afford to have him start talking to prosecutors.