Glenn Beck praises the Dark Knight

Just listened to Glenn Beck praise the Dark Knight. How ironic that conservatives are praising a comic book movie, considering how comics were nearly destroyed by a previous generation of politicians.

1984 Comparison to modern society -- Part VI

- War and Peace chapter by Goldstein
-- The psuedo-paradox that is doublethink
-- LME (Lazy Man's Ethics) as a guiding principle for warfare
-- A civilized nation with extensive knowledge of other cultures should not engage in warfare lightly or for political purposes. Such acts bring us within the realm of the 1984 universe.
-- It is better to enforce the law unanimously than to sweep in and make changes, ala The Authority comic book, with a divided world watching and unwilling to support those actions politically or monetarily.
-- Proxy nations used by superpowers to wage war against one another.
-- Opposing political parties arguing with one another in an infantile manner, while legitimate societal problems within government's influence remain unsolved.

What If...? Bush prevented 9/11?

Warning: I am not "pro-Bush". I just want you to THINK.

Earth Second-guess

President Bush acts on the August 6th Memo:

It is my belief that the threat of Osama bin Laden and his Al-Quaida organization hijacking
a plane is too great to ignore ... We must get more information, but we must also act ... I have decided today to close all airports for the next two weeks. During those two weeks, we will be working with the airline industry to ban all Middle Eastern visitors in our country from flights. We need the two weeks to gather and collate the data.

"We understand the impact that this will have on the economy. We know that many of the people that will be banned are innocent in this matter. I apologize to all of you who will be affected by this decision. Unfortunately, our hand has been forced by forces outside of our country -- forces that would seek to harm this country.

"We cannot afford to have a hijacking. The risk to the lives of those people must be prevented. And Osama bin Laden must know this: we will not yield to threats, and no man will be released from prison because of his action."

--President Bush, August 8th, 2001

Newspaper headlines:
"HE'S A MADMAN AND A FASCIST!" Senator Kennedy speaks out

BUSH APPROVAL RATINGS DROP BELOW 10% -- LOWEST IN HISTORY OF POLLING

SENATOR DASCHLE CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS

AIRLINE INDUSTRY SEES SALES PLUMMETS; THREATEN MASSIVE LAYOFFS

GORE TEAM RENEWS CALL FOR RECOUNT


October, 2001
LETTER TO SENATOR LOTT CONTAINS ANTHRAX

The fourth Anthrax letter has been discovered -- this time in the office of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.

"It is clear that terrorists are attempting to shake our resolve in this time of crisis. With massive unemployment and the strong possibility of a hijacking, we are facing the time of our greatest tribulation," stated Senator Lott from the steps of Capitol Hill.

The other letters that contained Anthrax were sent to the home of Rush Limbaugh, Rupert Murdoch, and the White House.

Senator Lott has been one of the few Republicans to remain faithful to the President, as the majority of Republican and Democrat congressmen have moved quickly to impeach.


December, 2001
PLANE CRASHES INTO THE ATLANTIC: NO SURVIVORS

... The FAA has already admitted that finding the cause of the crash will be "pretty much impossible."

"It will take months to dredge up what we can ... and there is a very real possibility we will never find the black box," stated an FAA official.


December 25, 2001
MERRY CHRISTMAS, BUSH. YOU'RE IMPEACHED!


JANUARY, 2002
BUSH FINALLY BACKS DOWN

"It is with a heavy heart that I have ordered airlines to resume business as it was prior to August 8th, 2001.

"Despite our best efforts, we were unable to discover the true nature of the plot that Osama bin Laden had in mind. We have not yet found the operatives that live here in the United States, nor when or where the hijacking may occur.

"Because of this, I would ask all airline pilots, stewards and stewardesses, and anyone else aboard a flight, remain vigilant. If you see anything suspicious, do not be afraid to let the crew know. Until we can get to the bottom of this murky plot, we ask you, the American people, to keep your eyes open and remain alert."


Newspaper headlines:
EDITORIAL: WHO CAN AFFORD TO FLY, BUSH?

NO MONEY=FEW FLIGHTS

GREENSPAN EXPRESSES OPTIMISM FOR FUTURE ECONOMIC RECOVERY

UNEMPLOYMENT REACHES 15%

BUSH RESIGNS IN DISGRACE


January 31, 2002

AMERICA ATTACKED

The nation is reeling after today's apparent terrorist attack that occurred in New York City, Washington D.C., and San Francisco.

The attack started at 8:15am, when a plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers in downtown Manhattan. Twenty minutes later, horrified bystanders watched a second plane narrowly miss the other Tower, and crash into the Hudson River Highway.

Within five minutes, reports came in that a third plane had crashed into the White House, and a fourth plane had slammed into the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The bridge collapsed an hour after the initial impact, just as the sun rose over the Pacific Ocean.

At 9:45am, as firefighters rushed to help evacuate the World Trade Center building 1, the impacted Tower fell, leaving a massive cloud of dust and debris in its wake. It's unknown at this time how many people were in the building, or at the White House or San Francisco. There were approximately 400 people combined on the four planes that crashed....

Hilary Clinton proposes minimum wage raise to $.10/minute

Hilary Clinton proposes minimum wage raise to $.10/minute

M.O.T. (Ministry of Truth) News

Tampa, Fla -- Democratic Presidential candidate Hilary R. Clinton announced today that she would ask Congress to raise the minimum wage to $.10 per minute if he were elected President. The current minimum is $.0833333 per minute. Her proposal calls for the raise to occur in 2009.

"This is what Americans need, and this is what Americans want," said Clinton to a cheering crowd of supporters outside the University of South Florida. "Americans cannot survive on less than $.09 per minute. You can't raise a family on that. You can't pay a mortgage with that. With my proposal, the poorest Americans will get the boost they need. They've been ignored for too long, and if you elect me President, I'll see to it that they are ignored no more!"

Dr. Richard Hoffman, political analyst for the Animalgram Institute in Washington D.C., scoffed at Clinton's proposal. "We are truly slaves. Truly. How paying anyone $.10 per minute for an honest 60 seconds of work can be considered a 'boost' is beyond me. It's more like a slap in the face, if you ask me.

"Modern athletes get paid thousands of dollars per minute to play a game, and Clinton is offering a penny to America's service industry employees? These people clean toilets, flip burgers ... Performing menial tasks that an illegal immigrant wouldn't even do, and for what? Just to receive a dollar every ten minutes? We should just end this charade and announce that slavery of every person, regardless of race, is now the law of the land."

Democratic opponent Barrack H. Obama has yet to comment on the proposed minimum wage increase.

Ronald Reagan

Remembering the 80's President

by a child of the 80's



I'm not even sure I should be writing this. I don't know anyone personally who loved Ronald Reagan, other than my parents who voted for him twice -- the only people who seem to have anything nice to say about the man are the voices I hear on the radio, in some far-off studio, or MEDIA anchors who are biting their tongues.

I've always felt embarrassed about admitting that I liked him as a President. Whenever his name would come up, friends or other family members would say stuff like, "Oh, he's such an actor! That's why he's so good at fooling people!" or "He didn't do anything in his second term -- Nancy ran the show!"

And it's almost like his announcement of his having Alzheimer's in 1994 was a seal of approval for those who thought he was old and incompetent. "See? He's probably had it for years."

This week, I have heard and seen another side to the Reagan story. I have heard of a man who was likable, and humorous. A man who had the courage to take on the Communists. A man who prayed.

I heard about a President who loved to write! He would answer 30 letters a month personally ... and sometimes he would go out of his way to help a person, even making phone calls to various government departments to get things done, for John Q. Citizen.

I think one reason I like President Reagan is because he came from the same generation as my father. They both came from humble roots. My father, as an immigrant, gave up a successful business in [censored DailySkew] to come here. Reagan could easily have played it safe and continued being an actor; instead, he got into politics, ran for office, and changed the world.

My father didn't change the world, but he impacted my world. And, in President Reagan, I saw someone who had similar ideals as my dad. He was a Christian. He had conviction. He was honest. And he was wise.

Hearing his speeches this week gave me goose bumps. Finding out he was an economics major in college, after hearing from THE MEDIA in the 1980's that Reaganomics was a stupid creation of a senile Hollywood actor ... well, that was absolutely shocking. I had no idea that our 40th President was a learned expert in economics -- I felt betrayed by the pundits and talking heads of my childhood, who conveniently left that fact out when belittling the President.

Reagan's optimism reminded me of my own optimism, which has proven annoying at times, quite frankly. I have a tendency to see the best in people, and to give them a free pass, and believe that they can overcome their problems. I have tendency to have too much faith in people. Over the years, I have learned to temper this with realism. Still, I think optimism, properly focused on something achievable, is a powerful tool. Reagan's accomplishments are proof of this.

I wasn't sure if I should write this when I started out, and now I'm not sure how to finish. I'm sure when I proofread and edit, I will delete things that you will never see, move things around so they make more sense, and generally clear up my ideas. I guess to sum up, there was a quote from Reagan that had to do with choosing sides. He said, paraphrasing, that by blaming both sides of a conflict you separate yourself from the moral battle taking place. He was referring to those who pointed the finger at both America and the USSR for the arms race (thank you, Dan Rather, for those nightly charts showing how many missiles each side had pointed at each other. You made stories like Dark Knight Returns realistic).

He basically said that you have to choose a side, and fight. That is something I have a hard time with, these days. I try to see everyone's point of view -- I think the 90's political correctness invaded my brain at some point and has grown into a forest of vacillation. I think this website, at times, is an exercise in destroying that part of me. Somehow, I know it's wrong not to choose a side and stick with it. I hate bandwagon jumpers in sports ... but somehow, I get embarrassed and take it personal when it comes to politics, so I just avoid the whole thing.

I think I'm going to change that. Let me look up that quote, and memorize it. I think that'll do me some good.