Don't Bash Bush in Denver

Three Were Told to Leave Bush Town Meeting
By Jim VandeHei
The Washington Post

Wednesday 30 March 2005

Three Denver residents yesterday charged that they were forcibly removed from one of President Bush's town meetings on Social Security because they displayed a bumper sticker on their car condemning the administration's Middle East policies.

The three, all self-described progressives who oppose Bush's Social Security plan, said an unidentified official at an event in Denver last week forced them to leave before the president started to speak, even though they had done nothing disruptive, said their attorney, Dan Recht.

Initially, the three believed Secret Service agents had grabbed them and ushered them out of the auditorium, Recht said. But he said that Lon Garner, the Secret Service agent in charge of the Denver office, told them the service investigated the matter and found it was a "Republican staffer" who removed them because they had a "No More Blood for Oil" bumper sticker on their car.

Garner said yesterday that he was told by headquarters not to comment on the matter, and referred calls to Washington.

Jim Mackin, a spokesman for the Secret Service here, said he could not discuss the allegations that a Republican staff member was involved. "We will continue to look into it," he said. Mackin said a preliminary inquiry found that the Secret Service was not involved in the incident, which was first reported by the Associated Press.

Scott McClellan, Bush's press secretary, said it was a volunteer who asked them to leave "out of concern they might try to disrupt the event." He said the White House welcomes a variety of voices into events but discourages people from coming to heckle the president or disrupt town hall forums. "If someone is coming to try to disrupt it, then obviously that person would be asked to leave," he said. "There is plenty of opportunity outside of the event to express their views."

This is not the first time people have complained about heavy-handed monitoring of who can attend -- and speak at -- Bush's events promoting his Social Security plan. A newspaper in Fargo, N.D., reported that when Bush came to the city on Feb. 3, more than 40 residents were barred from attending the event.

The president has held Social Security rallies in more than a dozen states this year. The crowds are closely monitored for possible disruptions, and protesters are quickly escorted away.

Protesters often stand out because the crowds are packed with Bush supporters, who have been invited by a local GOP House member or organization. Those onstage at most of the town hall meetings are carefully screened people from the area who agree with the president's Social Security proposal. The participants typically rehearse what they will say with members of the president's advance team and rarely, if ever, say anything critical about his plan for private accounts.

In this case, Alex Young, 25; Karen Bauer, 38; and Leslie Weise, 39, said they were forced out even though they said nothing and did not sport T-shirts or signs criticizing the president or his policies. Young told the Associated Press that the three wore T-shirts under their business attire that read "Stop the Lies" and had discussed exposing them during Bush's visit, but decided not to. Recht, who is representing the three pro bono, said his clients consider themselves progressives.

The three were invited to the event by Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.). Jordan Stoick, spokesman for Beauprez, said the congressman's office distributed the tickets at the behest of the White House to constituents, including many Democrats. He said Beauprez is "definitely" concerned about the charges but is declining to comment on whether he believes them to be true. "He strongly supports free speech," Stoick said.

As described by Recht, a man in a blue suit told the three they had to leave and "in a physical, forcible way" escorted them out, refusing to explain why. Mackin said local law enforcement is in charge of policing civil disobedience at such events, although the Bush advance team is often seen asking disruptive people to leave.

"They believe their constitutional rights were violated, as do I, and that's the stuff lawsuits are made of," Recht said. "When you are punished by not being allowed to listen to your president speak because of speech you have on your bumper sticker, that is a classic First Amendment issue." Recht said he has not decided whether to file a lawsuit.

Pictures Don't Lie

Check this out. You gotta love it. http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/3/29/184242/299

Juggling for Jesus

A man stands outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo is dying. He is juggling balls. He looks into the news camera and says, “I’m juggling for Jesus!” I think he might be serious, more to the point, I get the feeling that the “liberal” media is doing the same these days: juggling for Jesus, or at least for his market share. Take CNN and Time for example. They have it bad for JC.


Over the last two years, Jesus and his pals have dominated the cover of Time with such features as, “The Secrets of the Nativity,” “The God Gene,” “Faith, God and the Oval Office,” “The Bible and the Apocalypse,” “Why Did Jesus Have to Die?”, “What Jesus Saw,” and a couple others. I haven't read too many of these articles, and I especially need to ask one of my Evangelical friends who have had Jesus over for dinner recently what exactly Jesus saw.

I usually turn to CNN for my news. I’ve always disagreed with those who say it is a liberal outlet. Now I really disagree. CNN evidently stands for the Christian News Network because every time I tune in, there is yet another story about Christianity, in particular, the Evangelicals. As usual, if the media would stop calling so much attention to a particular issue, it wouldn't be such a big deal.

I’m starting to feel like I'm back in Mississippi, and am forced to listen to my high school home-room teacher lead us in prayer. When I turn on my news or pick up a news magazine, I want to know where the latest suicide bomber has attacked, or what civil rights the Republicans have taken away this time. I don't want religion. If I wanted that, I'd listen to one of W's speeches.

Where’s Auntie Mame When We Need Her?

Everyone is talking about Terri Schiavo’s right to live, but all I can think about is Auntie Mame. What would this vibrant, passionate, fun-loving character say about all this? Well, her most famous quote would not be appropriate. “Life is a banquet and most poor sucker’s are starving.” That’s not by Terri’s choice. Or is it? We really don’t know. The only thing for certain is that no media event has been this crazed since OJ.


Someone has put a contract out on Michael Schiavo’s life, in retaliation for Schiavo presumably murdering his wife. This guy, Richard Alan Meywes, probably got this bounty idea from that pesky “eye for an eye” passage from the bible. The same passage that makes people shoot doctors who perform abortions.

All right. I have to say it. What the hell?

Meywes is from North Carolina (of course, he’s Southern) He tried to be her hero and Michael’s judge by sentencing him for a crime that is no crime and is legal. What he’s done is raise the Circus factor on this whole nasty situation. Everyone is committing crimes over Terri. Kids are getting arrested (13 year old twin girls! Sounds like a pervert’s jail fantasy), a 10-year old boy who is not afraid because God is with him. Isn’t God a bit tied up with the people in Iraq, little fella? And now, a contract on Michael Schiavo’s life

I am in the mood to torture myself, so I’ve turned on Fox News. As I type this post, I’m watching protesters outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo is living out her last days possibly. Two old ladies are holding 8.5 x 11 pieces of pink paper that simply says Terri. Actually, it says Terry, with a Y. Isn’t her name spelled with a I? No matter. Next to her, someone has a poster board saying the now famous mantra of the Schindler Supporters: She’s not disabled, She’s not ill, She’s responsive. Her choice?

Okay, the person who wrote that needs a professional marketing person to bullet-point their ideas into a clearer message.

Fox cuts away to a commercial, and their teaser shows two men in the protester pit arguing. A big brut type says, “All we want is for the court’s to hear both sides.” The other guy, who fits the short/bearded/academic stereotype, rebuts with, “but the courts have heard both sides. Twenty times they’ve heard both sides. Twenty times.”

I don’t know how many times this case has been heard. Five or twenty or fifty. I don’t know that Terri is responsive. This is what the protesters say. They are wrong about one thing. She IS ill. She’s brain dead for God’s sake, what doctor would call that healthy? Auntie Mame wouldn’t want to exist that way, that’s for damn sure.

Terri’s lying there in bed, can’t talk, can’t enjoy life, can’t write a blog post, can’t eat a nice thick juicy steak, can’t enjoy a glass of pinot noir, can’t even shop at the Gap. I’m sorry, that isn’t living. That’s called being a Muslim woman.

This is a very gray area situation. I don’t know what is right or wrong, but I do know that if I were in Terri’s place, I would want to die. Hell, I’d want to be put down like a dog, with a nice shot of something strong. Hopefully, my life won’t come to that, and to celebrate the here and now. As Auntie Mame would say, I want to live! Live! Live! And by that, she didn’t mean with a feeding tube inserted into her belly.

Evil Child Attacks Easter Bunny

More proof that kids are getting more and more evil, and I’m sure it’s due to lackadaisical parents. A 12-year old boy in Bay City, Michigan beat up the Easter Bunny. What’s next? Teens involded in a drive-by shooting of Santa? Toddlers mugging the Tooth Fairy?

The Easter Bunny is going to press charges. Good for him. It warms my cold heart and restores my faith a bit in humanity. Kids who commit acts of violence should be punished the same as adults. Best of all, it’s really embarrassing for their parents, which may shame Mommy and Daddy into learning how to parent.

William Meyers Hates Puppies

Actually, that is (probably) not true. But now that I have your attention, if you are so inclinded, please go to the League of Conservation Voters website . The senate is set to vote on the nomination of Meyers as a Senior Federal Judge. His environmental record is as bad as, well, most of W's other cronies. Thanks.

Did the W House Ruin Rather’s Career?

Is having your own personal fake journalist not enough anymore? According to a piece in the New York Observer (hey, it’s La Blogda, what did you want, a link to the New York Times?) by writer Joe Hagan, the White House gave CBS the cold shoulder until Rather stepped down. Then things started to be hunky dory again (or hunky dorky since W is involved.)

Hagan reports that Adam Levine, the assistant White House secretary in charge of television news until January 2004 (and who remains close to W) said CBS News still had “a lot of work to do.”

Levin suggested a scale of one to 100 to measure the relative credibility of news networks with press officials at the White House. He ranked Fox News at 90, NBC News at 80 and CBS News at “about 10.”

Fox News at 90? If that doesn’t lead credence to the notion of the conservative press, nothing does. Please, in the last election Fox declared W the winner as soon as the results from the first state came in.

Beats Reading La Blogda

If you don’t know about Bill Clinton’s Daily Diary, then please, please, visit the site. Whoever is behind this is really brilliant and quite funny. One entry that should not be missed is the post for July 14th , where the former President goes to a gay bar in London with Kevin Spacey. Hilarity ensues on the dance floor.

Girls, Guys, and a 5 Year-Old Gone Wild

Hubby and I took a trip to Mexico this weekend, down to the lovely little fishing village of San Felipe on the Baja peninsula. The things we do for tequila. Leave it to us to pick the same weekend that the college kids from San Diego come down for spring break.

Talk about hobags and drunk frat boys. For the record, there is no correlation between being educated and dressing like Britney Spears. I expected Abercrombie and Fitch, but got Rampage instead. It was cold, but the college kids of San Diego U didn't get that memo. They were drunk. They were loud. And they were half-naked.

Note to drunken people: you don't need to yell WOOHOO in public to have a good time. It's annoying to those less drunk than you.

I had a real Baja moment that was perfect from start to finish: We are sitting in a cafe across from the beach. I'm by the fireplace, drinking a mango margarita, watching a yellow cat make its ways across the tile floor, begging from table to table. A mariachi band plays ten feet away. I’m eating octopus ceviche, fresh from the sea. Life is good. A little girl walks up to us. She’s about three feet talk and carries a black felt board filled with beaded jewelry.

“Dos,” she says, pointing to the beads. Two dollars.

My husband asks her in Spanish how old she is. “Cinco,” she says.

“Como se dice child labor laws en Espanol?” I quip. She looks at me and blinks. “No hay de que,” I say, which is probably not the correct response, but my Spanish is limited.

“Habla ingles?” I ask.

She blinks again and says, “George Bush bad.”

True story. God, I love Mexico.

Must be a Red State

Here's a good reason to move out of South Dakota, as if the winters are not reason enough.

Oil and Wildlife Don't Mix

Can wildlife refuge and oil development coexist? Sometimes I feed my cat, Sammy Davis, Jr., a little olive oil to make his coat sleek. It's good for him. But only in moderation:I once caught Sammy in the turkey pan one Thanksgiving, licking up the drippings and greasy juices. He reminded me of the way a seagull caught in an oil slick looks. He was soaked with grease from his whiskers to his tail. His dining adventure ended with a tub full of warm bath water and claw marks all over my arms. I'm thinking oil and animals just don't mix.

Environmentalists for years have fought the development of the Artic National Wildlife Reserve, contending it would lead to a network of drilling platforms, pipelines and roads that would adversely impact the calving grounds of caribou, polar bears and migratory birds along the refuge's coastal plain. Not to mention what it does to the land.

John Kerry, the man who could have been our president if a bunch of dumbasses hadn't voted wrong (and they know they voted wrong evidently according to the spate of "buyers remorse" stories), said it clear and plain: "The fact is it's going to be destructive." Yesterday, democrats fell two votes short of the 51 needed to defeat ANWR drilling.

The GOP-speak trying to justify ANWR oil redevelopment has been that it's "a long process" before a final drilling measure clears Congress. Lawmakers must agree on the final budget, something they failed to do last year.

What's a neocon to do? Here's a thought: energy conservation! It could work a lot more effectively than further damaging the cause of conservation by threatening a place that is considered America's Serengeti. In case you're not clear on the subject, the animal habitat will be impacted if oil companies are allowed to come and put roads and equipment in their midst. For those who ask that famous GOP anti-environmentalist question, "but what's more important animals or people?" frankly there is nothing conclusive that says ANWR drilling will be a significant relief to American motorist. Some opponents say it will provide as little as six months relief. What's really weird about this is that The New York Times reported last month major oil companies are not that interested in drilling in ANWR. Their attitude is that there are bigger and better oil fields to drill.

Doesn't matter. W doesn't like inconvenient facts, nor do his minions. After all, these are the ilk of people who took the conserve out of conservation.

Fairy Tales

Hold on to your Miata’s, it’s not enough that Tinky Winky and Sponge Bob Square Pants have a queer eye for cartoon guys, now Snow White’s posse has been outed. During the 2004 holiday season, Marshall Field’s employed a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs theme, but the Chicago-born retailer received some complaints that it was promoting the homosexual lifestyle, an executive said recently.

The concerned citizens believed that there was a "hidden gay agenda" in Field's theme "because seven men were living together," Gregory Clark, vice president of creative services for Field's in Minneapolis, told an audience recently at a Retail Advertising & Marketing Association conference in Chicago.

Does this mean "The Monkees," that fab show from the sixties, were gay because they lived together? Do shows like “The Apprentice” promote a gay lifestyle because they force the guys to room with the guys and the gals with the other gals? Are the three little pigs gay? Fortunately, there are good Christian groups everywhere to out everyone from gay cartoon characters to childhood bedtime stories. I need to run now to do some research on two more suspicious characters: Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. What’s up doc? Sounds like a gay pick-up line to me.

Bad Day for Homophobes, Good Day for Everyone Else

A judge ruled today that California cannot ban gay marriage. This must be driving the Rapture Ready Index off the charts.

Meanwhile, Rosie O'Donnell has a blog that is an interesting read.

It’s Time for Your Close-up, Mr. President

Not one for spontaneity, the Bush Administration is utilizing an old PR trick, the video news release, a carefully crafted and scripted clip that looks like real live news. Corporations use it all the time to get their message out in a newsy way.

This should come as no surprise to anyone. Remember my fave topic of two weeks ago, Guckert/Gannon? This is just more of the same, without the homosexual hooking. It’s perfectly okay for corporations to use this method, that’s what marketing people like me get paid to do: come up with ways to manipulate people like you. But for our government to do it? It clearly sends a message to those smart enough to get it that W’s administration has no faith in the American people, that they will fall hook, line and news reel for whatever mojo they are selling. “Thank God for America,” says an Iraqi into the camera, as if the news team just pulled up and he just had to share his gratitude for the war. Somewhere in Mississippi, a woman is watching Fox News and munching on Cheetos and thinking, “God, this is a great country. Thank God W spent billions of dollars, cleared the surplus, tripled the deficit and donated thousands of lives so that we could liberate those people.” Meanwhile, in the Sudan . . .

I guess on the upside, Bush has done a good job of building up patriotism (though 9/11 sure did its share for awhile). What this administration is doing, however, smacks less of savvy PR and more of old-fashion propaganda. What’s next, liberal cleansing?

I swear to God, if this country turns fascist and we all have to start wearing red, white and blue uniforms, I am really never going to forgive you Republicans out there. I’m going to demand a written apology from each and every one of you who voted for Karl Rove.

Or, I’ll just ask that you go to http://www.StopFakeNews.org and ask the FCC and US Justice Department to stop fake news.

Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Ho-bags

What is it with teen-age girls who have a deep-set need to expose their bellies and wear uber-low jeans in public? The weather is warm again in Vegas, and like every spring when the flowers bud, the flowering girls shed their clothes and go to the mall. Or in our case, they go to the Cheescake Factory.

Yesterday was the first nice Saturday we had since the fall. Hubby and I wanted to go to Kona Grill and sit at the outside bar and have a nice glass of wine and a salad. But no. Everyone else had the same idea. By the time we got there the place was jammed, so we walked down the block to the Cheesecake Factory, which is more of a family place. Every female under 18 was dressed for mating season. You would see less bellies at the beach. Maybe it’s Vegas, but not only do the girls wear less clothes here, but the clothes they do wear look like they are bought straight from the MTV catalogue, “Dressing Like a Ho-Bag.” Teenage fashion here is a weird blend of hippy chic, ghetto girl funk, and signature prostitute. We’re talking tall platforms, cleavage (both breast and butt) and, of course, bellies.

Either these girls have way too much self-esteem, or not enough, and whatever amount of esteem they may have is linked closely with their fashion. Are they proud of their bodies and want to show them off? Or do they understand that this is a way to attract young boys. If so, it’s sad that they need to be so overt. Can’t they just torture their objects of desires the way the generations before did, by acting aloof and tossing our shiny hair all about? Of course, you can’t blame the kids. Their parents are buying them the clothes.

“Here, Tiffany, here’s a g-string. Don’t forget, the style is to make sure the strap sticks out of the top of your jeans,” says Mom.

“Don’t you look hot,” says Dad.

Ugh, I don’t want to go there.

Girls, here’s a piece of advice. When you get out in the real world, and you go on your first job interview, if you must dress like a ho-bag, wear black. It says Professional.

Play Misty For Me

In Hyderabad, India, tax evaders are facing the music as city authorities have hired drummers to play non-stop outside their homes until they pay what they owe. Imagine if the US tried similar tactics and tax-evaders of every ilk were given a punishment offensive to their sentiments.

April 15th, 2010: Evangelicals are forced to watch looped video of Janet Jackson’s breast popping out at the Superbowl. Republicans are exiled to the Mission District of San Francisco. Preferred clients of Neiman Marcus are imprisoned in Walmarts. Vegetarian tax-evaders have to work in slaughterhouses. Former President W is forced to read the newspaper and on the hour every hour admit he was wrong about a lot of things. And every single tax-evader, no matter their race, sexual preference, political party or religious belief is forced to read La Blogda.

Boeing Affair Doesn't Fly

Boeing said it fired Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher after he had an affair with an executive that broke company rules, saying his leadership abilities had been damaged. ”

"As we explored the circumstances we felt there were some issues of poor judgment that would impair his ability to lead," Chairman Lewis Platt said to the press, then he said, "It's not the fact that he was having an affair." Well then if it's not the affair, what is it? As my pal Dave wondered, did he piss W off? Will Boeing lose government contracts?

Stonecipher had been credited with an aggressive marketing strategy that had seen a revival in their commercial jet orders. He came out of retirement in December 2003 to takeover after Boeing came under scrutiny for its hiring of a former Air Force official. You know, that was a problem because they are a major defense contractor. That's kind of a big deal. Nookie on the side? Not so shocking. Ask just about any CEO.

Do I condone what Stonecipher did? No. If my husband had an affair, he'd be in so much trouble, but should he get fired from his job? Hell no. How would we pay the Neiman Marcus bill?

Jesus and Firearms?

We saw Bill Maher perform last night at the House of Blues here in Vegas. Bill had his usual anger and bite-to-the-marrow remarks about W, which the audience loved (no Red State people there). He said something, though, that is so obvious I wonder why no one has brought this up before: Why do Republicans lump Jesus and firearms together? It’s not like he carried one. It doesn’t say in the Bible, “And, thus, Jesus shot a buck between the eyes and declared it good.”

Maher made a lot of good points. For example, fundamentalists take the Bible, literally, right? So a woman was created from a man’s rib. We had poisonous apples and a global flood, plus some dude lived to 900. Then there were the three pigs and the wolf. Wait, that one is a fairy tale. No one believes in fairy tales. Maher’s point is that the Bible is one big fairy tale, yet grown adults believe it. The world was created in seven days, it’s true, but there is no Santa Claus. So if you want to win the lottery, just ask Jesus. He’ll help you out.

As an aside to all this, after the show finished, we went to a nearby restaurant to have a drink with our friends. Halfway through my cosmo I looked up and there was Bill Maher walking in with a very beautiful woman dressed like a high-class hooker (she had on an orange mini-dress. Only two kinds of women can pull that look off, hookers or Paris Hilton types). I don’t care if she was a hooker or a nun. It’s none of my business, which reminds me of Bill’s riff on gay marriages, and how Republicans moan that it threatens the sanctity of marriage. “Who’s marriage?” he asked.

One last thing: Maher pointed out that no one was held responsible in this country for 9/11, and the only person to get fired over it was him.

The world would be a better place if the media called a rabbit a rabbit like Maher does. Not being an evangelical, I can’t claim a personal relationship with Jesus, but if we were buds, I think we’d go out in the woods and fire our guns in a noisy, redneck salute to Mr. Maher.

Even the dead hate W

Yesterday, I had a visit with a psychic. Before you judge, just let me say, it’s not like I went to some back alley psychic, where in a few years illegal abortion clinics will move in next door after W has his way. A coworker’s mom happens to be a psychic, and she called work to speak to her daughter, and during the course of the conversation, asked to talk to me. She told me that my parents, who had “crossed over,” were with me often and were very happy with my life and proud of me. If this is true, it can only mean one thing. Even the dead hate W.

My parents were staunch Republicans. When they were alive, we’d get into huge fights over which party was actually the evil choice: Republicans or Democrats. My father, in particular, hated Democrats. Daddy was a southern racist. It really bugged him that blacks got the right to vote, and he blamed the dems for this, despite the fact that Lincoln had much more to do with it than anyone else. If George Wallace could have been president, Daddy would have been happy about that, wheelchair and all -- it worked for FDR, but then again, he was on the “dark side,” so bad analogy.

A few years before my father died, during Clinton’s administration, the federal government forced a reorganization of Mississippi’s voting precincts, so that blacks had a chance to elect a candidate of their choice, as opposed to Big Bubba’s choice. I love Clinton, but I think with that decision, he may have killed Daddy. When he died, I think he channeled his hatred of Democrats to Mama, who already hated Democrats enough. I think Clinton’s re-election did her in.

But now they are in heaven or that great big Republican Country Club in the sky, (the psychic said Mama has grown her hair long and Daddy is smoking cigars again), watching down on me and feeling proud that their baby daughter has a blog where she bashes W. It’s not just the dead that hate W. It’s the dead Republicans, too. Remember, in the afterlife, we’re supposed to be much smarter.

I asked the psychic to tell my parents that, finally, they realized I was right. She said, “they know.”

Why are we so stupid?

I say this often, but maybe it's just Vegas.

People are really stupid here. I lived in San Francisco 18 years and I don't remember the same level of stupidity. Perhaps I'm romanticizing the city.

People's stupidity is manifested most visibly in the way they drive and in the way they handle their kids publicly. In this blog site, I've talked much about children behaving badly while the parents watch on adoringly. I've complained about the red light runners in this town, the people who leap frog in traffic only to hit the same red light as everyone else.

I had a conversation with my husband this morning, as we made our way through the Friday morning traffic, that he doesn't remember people always being so stupid. He has a service-oriented business and he gets phone calls from prospects asking really dumb questions, like, can I get this service for free, I don't have any money.

Mainly though, like me, he's sees the stupidity reveal its true depth in people's driving habits. People rush around, not caring that they are reckless, in fact, I've heard reckless drivers BRAG about their poor ability. "Watch out for me, I'm a speed demon." "Red lights are a suggestion." "The only rule at a stop signs is who hits the pedal first." "If you're going slow I'll ride your ass."

How about, "Sorry I ran that red light and totaled your car and severed your spine."

More to Roger's point that people are more stupid: I haven't seen any research that validates this. If anything, we should be getting smarter. And I don't think I can say it's a Vegas phenomenon, since everyone moves to Vegas from somewhere else. We're the dumping ground in this country for people pursuing their dreams. But anyone who drives in Vegas traffic, or maybe any traffic anywhere urban, sees people behaving badly at their most profound. I guess the real question is, are we getting more stupid or more callous?

Whatever. Give me time, I'll find a reason to link this behavior to George W. Bush and the evangelicals.