Dancing with Myself

Stop it! Everyone, just stop it!

I've been trying to keep an open mind through this election cycle.  That means I have to actually listen to the candidates when they're asked stupid questions by even stupider questioners.  I have now reached a saturation point with the candidates speaking in the royal "We." 

Barack Obama was being interviewed by one of the faces on early morning TV the other day.  He did not once use the words "I" or "my" or "me."  It was "we" and "our."  You'd have thought he was fucking pregnant, and I don't even like it when expectant mothers say "we."  By no means is he alone, but so far he has been the worst offender. 

We know it's unbridled egomania that drives most of the people who are running for President.  Jeez, how many times has McCain run?  This is off point, but don't you think if McCain were motivated by love of country he might have had a few more things to say about how badly Bush & Co. fucked us over?  I'm just saying, that's all.  What a disaster that creep would be as President.  Four more years of increased belligerancy in the world, yeah, that's what we need.  For sure!

This past week as I watched the slugfest between the Clinton and Obama campaigns, I voted for someone else.  I voted for John Edwards.  He has consistently given voice to more liberal and more Democratic ideas.  He'd be a real president, not someone who is a Democratic version of Reagan, only lite.  My second choice at this point in time is Hillary Clinton.  Let's get something straight.  If Obama were to be nominated and subsequently elected, what's he going to do, ask the Republicans to make nice in the Rodney King manner "Can't we all get along?"

No, it's going to be some bruising battles.  Assholes don't give up their power quickly.  It's going to take both Clintons to fight the Repugs if we hope to see any of the changes the American people are demanding.  Anyone who thinks that Republicans are going to do anything about delivering health care are delusional.

Outrage!

Cruising around this morning, on Duncan Black's blog, Eschaton, I came across this long quote from a story about the death and subsequent cover up of the details by the Army, ending with a quote from Pat Tillman's sister.

In a transcript of his interview with Brig. Gen. Gary Jones during a November 2004 investigation, Kauzlarich said he'd learned Kevin Tillman, Pat's brother and fellow Army Ranger who was a part of the battle the night Pat Tillman died, objected to the presence of a chaplain and the saying of prayers during a repatriation ceremony in Germany before his brother's body was returned to the United States.

Kauzlarich, now a battalion commanding officer at Fort Riley in Kansas, further suggested the Tillman family's unhappiness with the findings of past investigations might be because of the absence of a Christian faith in their lives.

In an interview with ESPN.com, Kauzlarich said: "When you die, I mean, there is supposedly a better life, right? Well, if you are an atheist and you don't believe in anything, if you die, what is there to go to? Nothing. You are worm dirt. So for their son to die for nothing, and now he is no more — that is pretty hard to get your head around that. So I don't know how an atheist thinks. I can only imagine that that would be pretty tough."

Asked by ESPN.com whether the Tillmans' religious beliefs are a factor in the ongoing investigation, Kauzlarich said, "I think so. There is not a whole lot of trust in the system or faith in the system [by the Tillmans]. So that is my personal opinion, knowing what I know."

Asked what might finally placate the family, Kauzlarich said, "You know what? I don't think anything will make them happy, quite honestly. I don't know. Maybe they want to see somebody's head on a platter. But will that really make them happy? No, because they can't bring their son back."

Kauzlarich, now 40, was the Ranger regiment executive officer in Afghanistan, who played a role in writing the recommendation for Tillman's posthumous Silver Star. And finally, with his fingerprints already all over many of the hot-button issues, including the question of who ordered the platoon to be split as it dragged a disabled Humvee through the mountains, Kauzlarich conducted the first official Army investigation into Tillman's death.

That investigation is among the inquiries that didn't satisfy the Tillman family.

"Well, this guy makes disparaging remarks about the fact that we're not Christians, and the reason that we can't put Pat to rest is because we're not Christians," Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, said in an interview with ESPN.com. Mary Tillman casts the family as spiritual, though she said it does not believe in many of the fundamental aspects of organized religion.

"Oh, it has nothing to do with the fact that this whole thing is shady," she said sarcastically, "But it is because we are not Christians."

After a pause, her voice full with emotion, she added, "Pat may not have been what you call a Christian. He was about the best person I ever knew. I mean, he was just a good guy. He didn't lie. He was very honest. He was very generous. He was very humble. I mean, he had an ego, but it was a healthy ego. It is like, everything those [people] are, he wasn't."

Yep, if Tillman's family could only put aside their personal loss and realize that like all American Christian martyrs, Pat Tillman went straight-a-way to heaven.  I was touched by Pat Tillman's life as a result of his death.  I especially remember his younger brother saying  "Pat isn't with God,'' he said. "He's fucking dead. He wasn't religious. So thank you for your thoughts, but he's fucking dead.''

I think some of those ol' boys in the military need to get hip to the fact that a lot of us don't believe there's a notion of heaven as a reward for stupidity.  This is not a fucking Christian nation.  Go ahead and believe in some silly notion of a skye fairie who rules a mythological kingdom populated by old dead people.  That's as idiotic as the several dozen virgins for idiots who blow themselves up. 

Read the entire article.  It's very well written.

Pat Tillman's legacy for serving his country should not be cheapened by a dim-witted Christianist mouthing platitudes as the Army covers its tracks with shit and the smell of propaganda.

Wow, I feel so much better getting that out of my system. 

Impeach Cheney and Bush!  American needs intervention, now! 

Going Postal

I just spent an hour and a half in vain.  First I went to the Sala Burton Federal Building in San Francisco with the intention of mailing two packages.  They have a tiny post office in the basement there.  I didn't get through security.  This being the main federal building with all of the branches of government and several branches of the federal court, they maintain a high threshold of security.  They wanted me to take off my shoes.  I refuse to take my shoes off to go to the post office.  Not a problem, I'm thinking.  There's another, regular post office two blocks away on Market Street, so I head there.

At that post office, there are over 40 people in line, and only two clerks working out of a possible four.  Within five minutes, one of those two quits taking customers, leaving only one clerk.  About five minutes later, a second clerk shows up and proceeds to set up his work station.  Ten minutes later, he's still setting up his work station. 

Now get this:  they have a Wal-Mart type greeter working the line of increasingly agitated customers.  When she asked me a question, I told her she'd be a lot more helpful if she went and opened up one of the service windows.  After about twenty minutes of waiting in line, fifteen of those minutes with only one clerk working, I went to the Manager's Office and banged on her door.  A few minutes later a woman comes out and asks what I want.  "Do you know you only have one clerk working with over 40 people in line for service," I asks?  She must have thought me stupid, because she points to the second clerk who is still not working and corrects me and says there are two clerks working.  I told her that the second clerk actually had to be helping customers before she could count him. 

I decided I would rather do almost anything else rather than wait another hour to an hour and a half in a non-moving line being serviced by nasty and snarly post office workers.  As I was leaving, the people at the end of the line wanted to know what the manager had said to me.  I told them she said they could all go fuck themselves. 

I got out of there.  Staying put would probably have ended me in jail.  I am not known to suffer quietly in the face of incredible stupidity.

Ford Motor Co. -UPDATED

Ford has capitulated.  I take back everything I said.

Only losers drive Fords.  Only losers ride in Fords.  Only losers work at Ford.  Do I make myself clear? 

Ford has decided to not advertise in Gay-themed publications because such publications "promote" homosexuality.  Actually Ford has caved in to religious extremists who threatened a boycott.  If you feel aggrieved by Ford's decision, please call someone who cares:

Contact: Rosemary Mariniello, Jaguar Land Rover North America, (201) 818-8010
Contact: Jim Cain, Ford Division, (313) 248-6288
Contact: Sara Tatchio, Lincoln and Mercury, (313) 594-3744
Contact: Roger Ormisher, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc., (800) 970-0888
Contact: George Pipas, Ford Motor Company, (313) 323-9216
Contact: Dan Bedore, Ford Division, (313) 323-7045

Remember, when we say "Ford" we mean as well, Jaguar, Lincoln, Volvo and Land Rover.  Just say no to religious fundamentalism and extremism.  Just say no to Ford.

Shut up, O'Reilly

Someone asked if I was going to comment about Bill O'Reilly's latest episode where he calls on Al Qaeda to blow up Coit Tower. The only reaction I have is "who the fuck cares?"   Mark Morford sums it up quite nicely in this morning's San Francisco Chronicle.

He's too easy a target, really, Bill O'Reilly of the casually toxic Fox News, too bloviated and too silly and too undercooked, and no one whose opinion you truly value or with an IQ higher than their waist size actually watches him with anything resembling intellectual honesty or takes anything he says the slightest bit seriously.

I certainly don't--take him seriously, that is.  He's a prime asshole and a bully to boot.  I wouldn't walk across the street to piss on him if he was on fire.

winding road in urban area

Link: winding road in urban area.  Another reason I hate Texas.  This one is filed under Justice, Texas Style. 

I Hate Insurance Companies

A few weeks ago I left my bag with two digital cameras in it at the bar of the Sheraton Hotel in Sacramento. Today I filed a claim for the cameras. I was immediately told that my sister's camera would not be covered because although I had control of it, it was not mine. She is supposed to file a claim for her camera with her insurance company. That way, although there was only one incident of theft, we get to pay two deductibles amounting to $500 rather than just $250. God I love getting fucked by insurance companies. And you know something, they don't care. They have us by the short hairs and there ain't nothing we can do about it. I find it especially galling since I have never filed an insurance claim in my entire adult life.

Okay, so I spent over 30 minutes ranting and raving about geting screwed. The phone just rang. It's Ed from my insurance company. "Mr. Bridges, your cameras were recovered and are with Security at the Sheraton. Mark, the security guy, says he called you two weeks ago and left you a voice message." I did have a missed call from the Sheraton late one Friday night, but no message. When I returned the call, it was the main switchboard. Knowing no one else, I asked for security. They rang me through but I didn't get an answer nor was I directed to voice mail. I hung up thinking who ever it was would call me back. Now my anger is directed at the Sheraton rather than my insurance company.

My record of never filing a claim against my insurance is in tact, but I'm a lot more sophisticated about the claims process now than I was two hours ago. I'll never be that naive again. Next time I talk to an attorney even before I talk to my agent. Those insurance companies didn't get that rich by writing checks, now did they?