My name is Joy McCann. If I ever become brain-damaged or severely injured, I'd like my husband to make all decisions regarding my care.

Even if he's had kids with another woman. Especially if he's had kids with another woman: I think that would make him a little bit more objective than the 'rents. Ya know?

Posted by: Attila at 10:55 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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There was never a more industrious inquiry, than in the Schiavo case, into the matter of rights formal and inchoate. It is simply wrong, whatever is felt about the eventual abandonment of her by her husband, to use the killing language. She was kept alive for fifteen years, underwent a hundred medical ministrations, all of them in service of an abstraction, which was that she wanted to stay alive. There are laws against force-feeding, and no one will know whether, if she had had the means to convey her will in the matter, she too would have said, Enough.

That's right. We'll never know for sure one way or the other. In theory, we should err on the side of life. But after a decade and a half, it begins to look like we as a society are trying to prove something: that no matter how ridiculous it might seem, we will not give up hope. We will leave no stone unturned. We will leave nothing undone. We are good people. We are a good nation.

Is God testing us? Are we afraid we will have failed that test if this one woman is allowed to die in peace?

And how much are we willing to give up to get there? What if the price tag is States' rights? The Republican Party? The next election? Another attack on American soil?

How far are you willing to take this? I want to know—and I don't.

Via Beautiful Atrocities.

Posted by: Attila at 10:38 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Cassandra would like us all to take a valium, do our yoga—basically, to calm down with respect to the Federal Election Commission, and the possibility that it will try to regulate speech on the internet:

It does begin to seem that the B-sphere may be getting their collective knickers in a twist for naught. Because while there are aspects of blogging that legitimately fall under the purview of McCain-Feingold, they are narrow in scope and don't apply to the vast majority of independent bloggers. I continue to believe the FEC would be insane (and indeed has no authority) to regulate independent bloggers absent some financial involvement with political campaigns. It's that simple: keep your nose clean and your powder dry, and you've nothing to worry about.

She points out that several of the Commissioners are on record as saying electronic speech should be protected for individual bloggers, as long as large amounts of money are not changing hands.

Maybe. Nonetheless, I'm not against reminding the government exactly where its powers come from, and just how interesting life will be if it gets both the Leftosphere and the Rightosphere (along with the Libertarianosphere and the Greenosphere, for that matter) united against it.

And I don't care if the FEC thinks I'm a kook, so long as it acknowledges that the Constitution gives me the right to yammer on to my heart's content about politics.

These people don't know what trouble looks like. They really don't. But I hope they sense it on some level.

From the "have you noticed?" file: Cassandra lives up to her name . . . well, about as well as I live up to mine. She is, quite simply, the best, and we differ here more on strategic issues than philosophy.

Via Pirate's Cove.

Posted by: Attila at 08:58 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I really think they do understand that, AG. And I have no problem with reminding them - I've always been more of a 'trust, but verify' sort, myself. Hasen's piece (today) was very interesting - just goes to show you that committees don't draft 47-page regs overnite. I just felt the B-sphere was being manipulated by Brad Smith for his own reasons and didn't much care for it. But I've already said all that, so I'll shut up now Thanks for the link!

Posted by: Cassandra at March 25, 2005 08:05 AM (289B8)

2 I blame the Barry Bonds and the media. I'm sure the Pirate would agree

Posted by: William Teach at March 25, 2005 12:15 PM (cuTsc)

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. . . is listening.

Via The Daou Report at Salon.

Posted by: Attila at 08:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Over at Armies of Liberation, Jane threatens the Yemeni government with some badass bad publicity if they don't free the journalist they jailed for criticizing their President (who is also head of the judiciary: efficient, huh?).

She has 600 signatures she will send to the Yemenis on Monday, and they are from all over the world.

If you still haven't signed the letter, I'd do it, like, now. I'm sure she'll be spending the weekend checking the document over and preparing the hard copies, so I'd move on it today if you want to be included. It could be the most important thing you do for the cause of freedom. (Unless you're in the U.S./Aussie/British military, in which case . . . never mind. But still sign it, please.) It'll take you less than a minute.

A man's freedom is at stake. And so it the principle that even the most authoritarian ruler needs to account for himself to the world. We can make a difference, here.

Posted by: Attila at 01:28 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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It's on, Baby. So-cons vs. South Park Republicans. Over at Goldstein's place.

Bring your black leather jacket, and your dancing shoes.

Posted by: Attila at 12:02 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The President, in his Party Boy days, smoked weed.

I'm going to need to be alone for a while.

Posted by: Attila at 05:50 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 No WAY! Who KNEW? Karl ROVE must have MADE him do it! WATEVER shall we do?

Posted by: RW at February 22, 2005 06:19 PM (GGtnr)

2 He never inhaled. I bet it was more like a kid trying a cigarette. Couple puffs, then never again.

Posted by: William Teach at February 22, 2005 07:22 PM (HxpPK)

3 Teach, George aint that sort of fellow. No obfuscating for him. He smoked, he inhaled, he got the munchies. Now he doesn't, and that makes all the difference. I can see a day when the President does smoke. Right about the time the Surgeon General releases a report saying that pot smoking causes cancer. Pot smoking: Gives you cancer, but you don't care.

Posted by: Alan Kellogg at February 23, 2005 06:54 AM (gy/JT)

4 That's it for me. No way I'm voting for him in '08.

Posted by: Kingslasher at February 24, 2005 09:53 AM (SOfML)

5 Back in the Day, everybody smoked - well a few dweebs didn't, so you can console yourself, your parents were never that cool.... Getting caught with smoke, was like getting a traffic ticket, several cities had basically decriminalized pot, and more were on the way. But the government - not learning the lesson from the 1920's prohibition - decided prohibition was the way to go, and Nancy Reagan said, "Just Say No," and we got the War On Drugs - fantastic success it has been! If look up some brand names, like Acapulco Gold, and Mexican Red, you will find that they are held - but not used - by various tobacco companies. They were getting ready for the day we realize "prohibition today, prohibition forever" probably won't work any better this time around. And you really shouldn't be shocked, GW has always said that when he was ypung and irresponsible, he was young and irresponsible.

Posted by: Zendo Deb at February 24, 2005 04:22 PM (S417T)

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. . . takes on the prospect of a Hillary candidacy in '08. Writing in Dean's World, he maintains that she won't run.

I think she will.

Posted by: Attila at 04:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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CalTechGirl is making book on the true identity of Deep Throat, which we are apparently about to find out.

I love a good mystery, and CTG has links to some of the juiciest speculation.

Unfortunately, we have the "unfair advantage" of knowing that one of the reasons we're about to find out is that DT is very ill right now, so that gives us another angle to look at. Almost ruins the puzzle. Almost.

Posted by: Attila at 02:39 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Can't we handle this in a different way? In this day and age, it seems profoundly unwise to plan an event that places, in one building:

The President of the United States;
His entire cabinet;
The Vice President, and the Speaker of the House.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff;
The entire Supreme Court
and both chambers of the legislature.

All it would take would be one very successful strike, and AQ could knock out our government more effectively than they planned to do on 9/11.

There would be no one left to rebuild the rest: we'd have to elect new everything from scratch. It makes no sense. It's unwise.

Posted by: Attila at 02:11 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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John Kerry didn't seem to be in the greatest mood. Wonder why.

Posted by: Attila at 01:50 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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. . . really hates this shit. I think that to him the public part of his job is the most burdensome. He's like a mirror-image of the average VP: he is an actual advisor and helper to the President, but he dispises the ceremonial aspect of his job.

He's not just the classic VP who sits around and waits for the President to die.

Posted by: Attila at 01:46 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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. . . that the boy has learned to speak in public. He kept that smirk on a short leash, and almost never stumbled over his words.

And he dug it when people yelled "no" while he made assertions about Social Security; he couldn't hide that. He likes conflict. He enjoys this process because he's pretty sure he's going to win the fight.

For an illiterate business major, he has big brass balls; they've got to clank when he walks.

And if you have any sympathy for his goals, it's hard not to like him.

Okay. I'm going to forgive the O'Shaughnessy incident. Let's never speak of it again.

Posted by: Attila at 01:41 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I mean, this is what you get when you vote a business major in as President of the United States. Mangled references from famous poems.

I'm all better now, really.

Where the fuck, by the way, were his speechwriters? Did none of them major in English?

Where were the fact-checkers? Drunk again?

Anyone in the West Wing have a bookcase in their office?

I'll be fine, though, really.

Posted by: Attila at 01:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ode

We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world's great cities
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion an empire's glory:
One man, with a dream, at pleasure,
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song's measure
Can trample an empire down.

We in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself with our mirth;
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.

—Arthur O'Shaughnessy
(who was not Franklin Roosevelt at any time)

I guess it's too late to take my vote back, huh?

Posted by: Attila at 01:16 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I can't get enough of that so-so impression of Bush the Jibjab people specialize in. Just in time for the inaugeration, here's their latest—one that appears to call out for a yee-haw!

Posted by: Attila at 01:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And, BTW, that's "Dr. Rice" to you.

In a few weeks, it'll be Secretary Rice.

In several years, it might well be President Rice.

Sleep tight.

Posted by: Attila at 08:04 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Remember how I've been reminding everyone that we—meaning Libertarians and Realio-Trulio Conservatives—were about to start squabbling in earnest, and implored everyone to be civil and respectful?

Well, it's started. And I'm having trouble finding civil or respectful on the menu.

I've got a Glock .40, and I don't want to sit the other right-wing bloggers down and make them sing "Kumbayah" like schoolchildren in "enlightened" classrooms.

But I will if I have to.

Posted by: Attila at 01:10 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 I think the debate remained very civil, for the most part.

Posted by: Jeff G at January 08, 2005 01:47 AM (EiRj3)

2 I wasn't clear enough: your readers were polite. The comments you imported from Malkin's discussion gave me the impression that her readers weren't equally respectful. My bad.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 08, 2005 09:30 AM (8TapF)

3 Just so we have that straight. This rightwingblogger packs heat too you know...;-)

Posted by: Rightwingsparkle at January 08, 2005 02:35 PM (bsmsM)

4 Somehow I pictured you as an MP5-SD type of girl. Nothing like a 9mm assault rifle with an integrated silencer and a collaspsible stock. Could go for the 10mm version, but, it doesn't have the 3 shot selector. Maybe the .45 cal? Not quite as quite, but packs a wallop. Have to take it to SF with you

Posted by: William Teach at January 09, 2005 05:53 PM (HxpPK)

5 I think it helps to hash these things out. What doesn't destroy us only makes us stronger. We get so accustomed to using hyperbole and extreme rhetoric when dispatching the left, it doesn't hurt us to (re-)learn how to disagree civilly within our own camp.

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 09, 2005 08:31 PM (c8BHE)

6 Right. Again, the quotes from the discussion over at Malkin's place were a little disturbing—especially the implied notion that libertarianism is some sort of cancer that has to be cut out of the party. But, of course, that was two quotes (both of which appear in the Protein Wisdom entry I link above), and they represent only two people's thoughts. William, I like a good rifle, but for close quarters nothing beats a nice handgun—and I have a 30-round mag for my Glock.

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 09, 2005 10:15 PM (RjyQ5)

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Andrea Harris at Twisted Spinster:

Bridget Johnson wonders why there has been no outcry from the Hollywood crowd against the murder of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by Islamic terrorists. Just off the top of my head I’d say that unlike disgruntled Christians, Republicans, and law-abiding gun owners, Islamic terrorists will actually kill you if you piss them off, and for all their spouting about “free speech” and the “chilling effect” on Tinseltown of four more years of Bushitler, actors and screenwriters and so on are simply afraid of dying. Of course since their mere existence has already pegged them in fanatical Muslim eyes for the Big Sleep they are in a sense living on borrowed time, so the only solution to Hollywood’s buttheaded insular assurance that Appeasement Is the Only Way is to sit back and wait for the killings to begin. After a few big name celebrities are sent to kingdom come by exploding limosines and the like maybe we’ll see some changes in perspective.

Nah. TheyÂ’ll just screech that itÂ’s all Hitler McChimpyÂ’s fault for not protecting them better. TheyÂ’re hopeless.

So there's two depressing thoughts in a row.

Posted by: Attila at 09:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Via Michael J. Totten comes this picture of Rudy G in drag:

Micheal would love to see him as the GOP nominee in '08—enough to register GOP and vote in the primaries.

I still like Condi, because I think she'd energize the Republican base a little bit better. OTOH, Giuliani comes with automatic crossover (and crossdressing) appeal.

That would be a tough choice for me, really, if they both ran in the primary. Very tough. Michael:

James Dobson, Pat Buchanan, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Fallwell would finally, at long last, get the political nightmare they've deserved for a long time - a cosmopolitan socially liberal Republican president. IÂ’d love to see them form their own party where they can talk to themselves about how godless, decadent, and depraved everyone else is.

Yes. Ditto.

Giuliani is neither red nor blue. HeÂ’s purple, like most of America. I canÂ’t think of anyone (except perhaps for Barack Obama or John McCain) who would be better able to rally the country. Unlike George W. Bush he really is a uniter.

I'm not sure whether Bush's failure to "unite" the country has everything to do with his policies or actions; some of it is just the fact that he's continually demonized.

And John McCain? He never met a civil liberty he didn't want to abridge. If he were running I'd break my arm to make sure I didn't vote for him by accident. Between his temperament and his troubled relationship with the Bill of Rights, he's got to be the worst possible choice. I'd rather vote for a roast beef sandwich.

Posted by: Attila at 10:28 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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