Picking My Brain 06-11-03

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My "son", Tippy, wrote today's opening for me. He's not a good speller, so I wish he wouldn't step on the keyboard while I'm writing this.
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Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better. - George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sep. 24, 2001

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When we debate whether to use some particuar prisoner interrogation technique (such as "waterboarding"), we often hit back at its supporters with, "Well if this were being done to an American held in an overseas prison, would you be okay with it?" Maybe we should ask them, "Just what interrogation techniques are you willing to accept on Americans held in an overseas prison? Just how much physical contact are you okay with? Why don't YOU tell US how far you will allow foreign interrogators to go with American citizens in their custody, then, and only then, can you talk about what you'll allow our people to do to others. Then we should do nothing worse than exactly the same thing. Now, still want to waterboard? It has already been condemned by the rest of the world as 'torture'."

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I like Michael J. Fox. Not only did he have a great comedic film career, but he has handled this whole Rush Limbaugh flap with incredible dignity, grace and class. And as he reminded Anderson Cooper last night, what Rush said and did is minor compared to what he's trying to do. He is going to go state to state if he has to trying to get people elected who will support all forms of stem cell research. Many, and I do mean many, of the opponents of embryonic stem cell research do so for some of the most ignorant reasons, chief among them that it would mean the destruction of the embryos. What they fail to acknowledge or understand is that the embryos upon which we would like to have research federally funded (so its results are by law available to everyone) would and could be destroyed at any time by the biological parents, and often are once a successful pregnancy (or the last one they want) has been achieved. Yet they aren't screaming to have that made illegal as loudly as they oppose the potentially life-saving, life-extending medicine that could be achieved. To date, every single argument against any kind of stem cell research that I have heard is either deceitful, fallacious or hypocritical. ANd besides, another thing they're forgetting to remind people is that they know what they know about this research because it's going on right now! Just because it's not federally funded, doesn;t mean it's not being done somewhere in the world. Other countries are years ahead of our scientists because their governments had the foresight tosee the vast potential this research holds. They're not going to let a bunch of religious zealots with no desire to live outside their anachronistic thinking dictate everyone else's lives. It's time we did the same thing in this country.

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Why are these conservative dipshits complaining about "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report"? They're comedies for crying out loud! They are not real news, and they make sure their viewers know that as often as possible. And if you haven't figured that out yet, you've got no business criticizing them. Why am I saying this to you? If you're reading this, two things: 1) You probably watch those shows and enjoy them as I do, and, 2) If not, who are you and what brought you here?

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I'm getting nervous. It's coming down to the wire. Election Day (which ought to be a federal holiday when federal offials are being elected) is just days away. Time for the infamous "72-hour strategy". This is supposed to be a well-timed operation. So why is President Bush going out and publicly saying that as long as he has a job, Rumsfeld has a job. (Did you hear that, Mr. Conyers?) How many votes was this ploy supposed to garner from the "undecideds"? And does this have anything to do with Rove's strategy, or did a highball glass shatter in his hand when the president announced that? So what will the "October in November Surprise" be?

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Lots to do today. I'll see if I can slip in over the weekend to post something, otherwise once I leave the office later day, I might not have anything until Monday. But do think long and hard about which candidates will better represent you in Congress. And you know what? If that candidate is not a Democrat or Republican, then you should consider that candidate even more. Gorwing up I used to hear in school about how great America was because we had "a two-party system." As I've gotten older, I've learned that the two major parties are teh ones who want it that way, not the people. The people want a diversity of opinion in Congress in order to produce the best ideas. The Dems and Repubs want to control things as much as possible by making every vote predictable. Don't fall into their trap. Find a candidate who is not from one of the two major parties and vote for him or her. The two major political aprties have not been working for you, so stop voting for them.