David 2's Brutally Honest Random Thoughts

I am proud to announce that the Brutally Honest website is now officially up and operating for 2006.

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-brutallyhonest

For those of you who still use the old address, please change your bookmarks accordingly, as the Mindspring address will be shut down in the next month or so. In fact, there's nothing there right now except for a simple static pagetelling people to go to the new location.

The new article for 2006 starts off with an interesting subject, and one that I'm sure some of you have at least thought about in the past month or so: abuseof power.

A new addition to the website is a special section for my ongoing "Target: Moralism" series, which will come in handy as I have two new segments for the series that I will be loading to the website in the next few weeks. It is my hope that in the near future, people will view moralism in the 21st century inthe same light as the did for racism in the latter half of the 20th century.

This week will also mark the return of the weekly audio rants, which will be not only recorded on Wednesday nights, but will also be UPLOADED on that night as well. In fact, I have a brand new promo for the audio rants up right now.Please feel free to listen in and let me know what you think of it.

As always, you can post your comments at the Blog Page.
http://d2brutallyhonest.blogspot.com

While I'm on the subject of blog pages, don't forget to check out the Brutally Tech blog at http://d2brutallytech.blogspot.com. This is where you can find some of my thoughts on the subject of technology, including a few words about the next generation of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

I look forward to your thoughts on the new look and the new home for Brutally Honest.

People are making hay about how Bush Junior wanted to bomb Al Jazeera… hey, given that they seem to be the preferred messenger service for terrorists around the world, I’D want to bomb them too! Especially after their latest “courier” message from Osama bin PigBastard.

Dead-Terrorist-Hiding is claiming that the only reason why there haven’t been any more terrorist attacks in America is because they haven’t had time to plan for one… yeah, right. Oh, but he’d be more than willing to offer a “truce” so that HIS people could rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.

I’m sorry, but this guy needs to die in the worst possible way. I don’t mean capture, tried, and executed. I mean DIE. Horribly, dishonorably, and then have his body buried in salt mixed with pig’s blood. This guy forfeited his life the moment he claimed credit for 9/11, and the longer that he continues to run and hide like the cockroach that he is only prolongs his fate and makes the call for his death that much stronger.

And I find it to be a little TOO much of a coincidence that this recording should come up NOW… when the PATRIOT Act needs to be renewed and when there has been some serious talk about cutting down on the forces in Iraq. Because you know what the Bush Imperium’s reaction to that kind of talk is going to be… it’s going to basically validate everything they’ve been harping on. Osama bin PigBastard’s little “talk” is basically the biggest talking point the Imperium could ever wish for! It actually JUSTIFIES us sending even MORE troops into Iraq and Afghanistan. It actually JUSTIFIES renewing the PATRIOT Act and pushing for even more restrictive, repressive, tyrannical, anti-American measures. It even JUSTIFIES the illegal and unconstitutional abuses of power that the Imperium has been committing through the NSA. Bush Junior doesn’t have to come up with any more reasons. All he has to do is point to the tape and say “THAT’S why!”

So yeah, Osama needs to die. Every effort should be made to find this guy, hunt him down, pull him out of whatever spider-hole or cave or caravan that he’s in, and kill him.

But I just don’t see that happening right now… because he’s just too convenient a villain for the White House.

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin just pulled a Robertson.

Nagin, who got tremendous media attention and sympathy over the destruction of his city through Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said on Monday that New Orleans needs to be a "chocolate" city again and that these storms are a sign that "“God is mad at America."

Now remember when Pat Robertson said something similar after Hurricane Katrina went through? He said that God was PUNISHING New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We called him a flake. We wanted to slap him upside the head and walk him to the old fart's home.

So why is it that when Robertson says something outlandish and kooky that he'’s rightly called a flake, while Ray Nagin says something similar and he'’s "“respected"” for it? That'’s called HYPOCRISY! You can'’t get around that kind of double standard!

Ray Nagin, you blew it! You flaked out. You just pissed away any kind of credibility you might have with the people who would help you rebuild the city. Why should any community want to help out New Orleans now?

He should have stuck with the things that have worked for the city... the cruel and senseless victimization of the city by the storm and by the government. He should have focused on the challenges that still need to be overcome, and challenged the people to do more for themselves, so they can in turn come back to the city and be better people because of it. Instead, he pulled a Robertson.

What a waste!

Update (01/17): Nagin issued an appology about his comments, claiming that he was simply trying to energize the black community... oh, and some of the stuff he was talking about MAY have been taken "out of context".

In other words, he pulled another Robertson!

Well folks, the groundwork has been set for the NEW home of the Brutally Honest website.

There's not much up right now, but here's the new address:

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-brutallyhonest

Yes, yes, I know, I still have to look into getting a domain name for this site. All in good time.

I've already got the first two week's of columns done and I'll be working on the new design this week.

Stay tuned for more updates.

I really didn’t want to talk about this self-righteous jackass so soon… because obviously he didn’t GO AWAY like I wished last year that he would. But Pat Robertson found a way to stick his foot in his mouth YET AGAIN, and this time – FINALLY – it cost him!

You see, while most people were praying for the recovery of Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after experiencing a massive stroke, Robertson was pulling out some obscure biblical chapter to claim that Sharon’s stroke was the “wrath of God” for wanting to give parts of Israel to the Palestinians.

As usual, the conservatives were smacking their foreheads over this uncalled-for comment. The Bush Imperium had to distance themselves from Robertson’s quip. The media had a field day, as usual, over this comment. The liberals were quick to lump this in with the rest of the dirty dealings with the conservatives and the GOP in general. It was all pretty much par for the course… which is why this commentator found it not even worth mentioning.

But then Israel dropped a bombshell on Pat. They cut off his money train!

You see, most people see Pat Robertson as a televangelist. And right now that’s the view that cons and neo-cons want us to see. They want us to see him as just a senile old man who’s spewing mindless garbage for the media. They don’t want us to see the other facet of Robertson’s little empire. Pat Robertson has his finger (usually the middle one) on the pulse of the conservatives in Washington through groups like the Christian Coalition, which he founded. He’s busy making sure that HIS WILL gets imposed through government, no matter if it’s local elections or the confirmation of Supreme Court justices.

But more than anything, Pat Robertson is a BUSINESSMAN. You ever check out his “700 Club” show? Hidden amidst the prayers and biblical quotes are very subtle sales pitches for his books and videos. Robertson loves to talk about the righteousness of God, but away from the cameras, he’s got his hand in businesses around the world.

And ONE of those little ventures involved the construction of the Christian Heritage Center in Israel, a massive tourist facility complete with its own television studio and broadcasting facilities, expected to bring in MILLIONS of Christian tourists and rake in BILLIONS of dollars.

Oh, the venture is still on, because there are plenty of investors in this little project, but Israel just told Robertson that he and his money are no longer welcomed.

Oops!

Now Pat is BEGGING for forgiveness. Oh, he didn’t mean to wish Sharon ill! No, it was all just a little misunderstanding. Well, he didn’t come out and say it on camera like he did for his little gaffe, but he sent a letter to the Prime Minster’s son, so that’s sorta-kinda similar, right? All is forgiven, right? He can go back to making money off Israel and all of those Christian tourists expected to show up, right?

You know, I really, REALLY hope that the Israelis don’t play into his con game! They did the right thing by showing Robertson that his words DO have consequences, and the minute they bring him back, that lesson will be pissed away. Robertson has survived this long because he’s been able to insult people, insult organizations, and then BEG for forgiveness only when those words come back to haunt him, just so he can play this game over and over and over again.

Here’s a little lesson in Christian theology: when people asked Jesus for forgiveness, Jesus didn’t say, “hey, it’s cool… no harm, no foul.” He told the people he forgave to “go and sin no more.” Now when you ask for forgiveness and then go on and commit the same sin over and over and over again, you make a mockery of your redemption. You mock the very God that you claim to worship and praise. You insult his generosity. You abuse his forgiving nature and you EXPECT him to continually bail you out just because you ASKED for his help. You’re not “learning your lesson” when you do that. You’re just compounding your sin, not to mention that you also insult those who have forgiven you.

Pat Robertson needs to learn his lesson, and if the people of Israel feel that this lesson should be forever turning away Robertson and his money from the Holy Land, then so be it. If it’s good enough for Moses, then it’s certainly good enough for someone who carries himself like he's in the same league.

Have a few little random thoughts.

Issue One: the AP is reporting that "most Americans" want someone other than Republicans in control of Congress. I say "most Americans", because this is just a poll, and polls have a way of being manipulated to give you the results you want.

The real problem, though, is that the public doesn't get to elect political parties. They only get to elect THEIR representatives and senators. And that's what really screws it up for people, because while they may want the GOP to be out of power in Congress, they don't want to be the ones to get rid of THEIR personal politicians, because then they get screwed out of seniority and pork. The ones who stick around in Congress are the ones who get the lion's share of pork.

I do think it's time for the GOP to be humbled in November, but I know that the Democrats don't have it within them yet to be the better alternatives. They need to come up with a serious and definitive reason for people to vote for them other than just being AN alternative. How about offering something that Republicans can only TALK about, such as REAL FREEDOM?

Speaking of polls, the AP is also reporting that "most Americans" think that the government should get a judicial warrant BEFORE conducting wiretaps on American citizens. Yeah, right. The Bush Imperium has no respect for the US Constitution to begin with. The President of the United States calls it a "goddamned piece of paper"! He invokes Article II, which he somehow believes gives him carte blanche to do whatever he wants to as long as he also invokes "9/11". Does that SOUND like someone that would give a crap about following the law? Besides, he's on his second term, so he doesn't have to give a crap about polls anyway.

By the way, how many of these "most Americans" will stay home this November? I'm guessing not many.

Issue Two: Tom DeLay has "officially" given up his House Majority Leader job. Well, actually he HAD to give up his job for real the minute his sorry ass was indicted, but he basically gave up the idea that this was just a temporary thing.

And he put out this BIG grandiose egocentric display about it! That's the thing that bothers me. He's pretending that he's doing this "for the good of the party". "Oh pity me! I'm making a martyr of myself so the GOP will survive!" Give me a freaking BREAK! Truth is, he's doing this because there's no chance in hell that he'll get out of the Jack Abramoff scandal! You know there's another indictment brewing over that mess, and he won't be able to weasel out of that one.

Speaking of which, I caught this quick blurb over on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's "Vent" column...

"I tried to buy a congressman on eBay, but Jack Abramoff outbid me."

Issue Three: The American Civil Liberties Union recently put out an ad that compared Bush Junior to "Tricky Dick" Nixon. The ACLU says it's "scandalous", the Imperium ass-kissers say it's uncalled for, but I say that it's fair game. I did the same thing eight years ago, comparing Bubba Clinton's activities to Nixon. (I also compared Hillary's jowls to Nixon's.)

Like it or not, EVERY president is measured up to and compared with those who came before him, and Bush Junior is no exception. How he handled the Iraq War is measured to his father's failure to bring Saddam to justice. How the Imperium handles the energy problem is measured against the Carter White House. How the Imperium handles downsizing government (or their blatant failure to do so in this case) is measured against the Reagan White House. How they violate the US Constitution under the banner of war is measured against Lincoln's and FDR's abuses.

You may not like the comparisons, but they ARE fair game. If the Bush Junior wants people to believe that he's better than his predecessors, then he NEEDS to learn the lessons from their examples, not to ressurect them so people can remember why they were wrong in the first place.

That and get rid of Darth Rove.

Issue Four: The BIG thing over at the Consumer Electronics Show this year is media. High-speed broadband access is allowing the inevitable merging of television and the Internet to happen and the companies are JUST NOW seeing the possibilities. We're talking TV shows available on demand 24-7 with the versatility of a DVD, allowing people to pause, rewind, and fast-forward with a press of their remote. Theatre quality widescreen video, mind-numbing digital audio... and with all of the parental controls and digital rights in place so that parents can do their jobs and producers won't worry about seeing their programs sold on the black market.

It sounds perfect, doesn't it?

There's only ONE thing that can get in the way of that glorious future. THE GOVERNMENT!

You remember the FCC, don't you? The Federalist Christian Censors, OWNED in every way except financially by the bible-thumping freedom-hating moralists. You remember Congress, don't you? The same members of Congress that were bought and paid for by people like Jack Abramoff. THESE people want that digital future firmly under THEIR bought and paid for thumbs. And once they do that, they get to control the content based on what THEY want, not what YOU want!

So, yeah, you can have 100,000 "channels" available 24-7 over the Internet with all of the bells and whistles you want. but if we don't neuter the government first, those 100,000 "channels" will be filled with nothing but sterile conformist mush that NOBODY wants to watch or listen to. And that's something that really needs to be discussed at these shows and brought up with every news account of these shows, because if we don't bring it up, then the freedom-haters will do it behind our backs, and then we're all screwed!

So I’m watching the Jack Abramoff soap opera, and now this guy is the number one best buddy of prosecutors. Abramoff was the biggest player on K-Street, worming his way through various politicians in power and getting things done on behalf of his "friends" (or anyone willing to hire him).

For the past year or so, this guy was considered public poison. He was under investigation for various frauds and even connected in some way to a murder. Just being connected to him drew immediate Saint Peter-like denials. "Abramoff? Never heard of him."

But, you know, funny thing… these politicians still accepted his money. They still shook his hand, they still showed up with him at his fancy junkets, they still smiled for the cameras, and they still cashed his checks and added his money to their generous campaign coffers. Oh, publicly they were saying, "Jack who?" But privately they were all calling him "best buddy" and a "great American".

And those allegations against him? "Oh those MUST be false! You know how those prosecutors are… always going after some bigwig just to make a name for themselves. It’s nothing! Just another day at work for someone so successful and dedicated as Jack Abramoff!" (Yeah, right... and if you believe that then I'll tell you another one..)

Well now Abramoff is going before the courts and saying that some of those allegations ARE true. HE IS the bad guy here! He DID do some of those things… AND in order to cut down his projected prison time, he’s going to help the prosecutors go after all of his "good friends" in the government.

I’m sure all of his "good friends" are calling him something other than a "great American" right now.

And the members of the media, and several liberal voices, are all ecstatic about this! They’re overjoyed at the news of Abramoff helping to go after some of the bigwigs in Washington! They think that this will be their chance to FINALLY get some of these conservative power-mongers like Tom DeLay and Dennis Hastert.

Well I wouldn’t get too excited about this yet. These politicians are slick sons-of-bitches. They wouldn’t have made it that far in the political world if they could be brought down by one lobbyist, no matter who that person is. Remember that DeLay and company CREATED K Street. They’re not going to get done in by their own creation.

So I say "SHOW ME THE CONVICTIONS!" I won’t be happy until these corrupt bastards are not just indicted, not just doing a perp walk (which won’t happen anyway), but are actually CONVICTED and hauled away kicking and screaming.

Meanwhile the politicians have developed a sure-fire way to weasel out of this embarrassing situation… just give back the money.

Never mind that they accepted it with a wink and a smile. Never mind that they used it to help fatten their campaign coffers and to put them in office or to keep them in office. No, just give it all back and everything will be okay… no harm, no foul.

Has Washington become Antonio Bay all of a sudden? Do they really think that if they "give back the gold" that the prosecuting "ghosts" will not come back to haunt them? That seems to be the implication here, and everyone up and down Pennsylvania Avenue seem to be doing just that.

You know, if Abramoff started singing last year over his role in this scandal, then "giving back the gold" would make sense. But it’s been two years since the last election, and probably two years since Abramoff’s checks were cashed and deposited in the campaign coffers. That’s a lot of time for some quid pro quo to be carried out. Abramoff probably already got what he was looking for with it anyway, so giving back the money is really a meaningless gesture when you think about it.

(Whoops! There I go again with that nasty little word "think"!)

2005 is over and 2006 has begun, and here are just a few quick notes…

Glad to see Dick Clark back hosting the New Year’s Eve show, but you can tell that he wasn’t up to snuff. He tried, though. You gotta give him credit for trying. The person I really feel sorry for is Regis Philburn. He was hosting the party over on Fox, and when Mariah Carey did her “live” performance on ABC, you could hear it on Fox. Regis couldn’t even do his interview inside the studio because of Mariah’s performance. Oops! Sorry Regis. I guess you can tell who won that little annual competition.

Speaking of the veteran New Year’s Eve announcer, move on the part of ABC to catch a quick peek of Dick getting a 2006 tongue-kiss with his wife. That was just bad taste.

Mariah’s performance… Nice dress! I was hoping for a wardrobe malfunction, but she must have dunked her puppies in superglue to keep them in that dress. Oh, and Mariah? You got some serious CURVES! Your ex-husband was a FOOL to drop you. As for the music? Well, the prefab medley of your “Emancipation of Mimi” album combined with the rap performances was a big turn-off for me. You’re a big girl, Mariah, you don’t need to have rap stars leaching off your music to give you cred.

By the way, what the hell is up with fireworks on New Year’s Eve? It’s bad enough to have drunks partying about on midnight, but to have them shooting off bottle rockets and firecrackers too? Well, at least I didn’t spend New Year’s Eve on the roads.

Okay, on to some more important stuff…

2006 marks an important milestone for me. TEN YEARS of doing online commentary in one form or another! Ten years! That’s a lot of columns. And believe me, the retooled website in it’s new home will reflect that milestone.

Speaking of online commentary, I’m planning on mixing a brand new theme song that I’m sure you’ll recognize. The “Eye is Watching You” tagline from Powerman 5000 has been great, and certainly appropriate given whose in the White House, but it’s time to retire it. And obviously I can’t call this song “Real American Remix” because I’m not mixing in the old Rick Derringer song anymore. But I think you’ll like the new lead-in music.

The key dates to bear in mind: the NEW Brutally Honest columns for 2006 will be up in its NEW home on January 22nd, with the first recording of the new audio rants on January 25th. Stay tuned to this blog site for more details.

Oh, and please don't forget to take part in my blog poll: MP3 or Real Audio. Which audio format would you prefer to hear?

For many years now I've been doing audio rants in Real Audio format, and some folks have been able to download the file and listen to them instead of streaming them. But with everyone going to MP3 formats for podcasting, I'mseriously considering making the jump.

So here's my question, and I really would like to have as many people who read my blogs sound off on this...

Would you listen to my audio rants more if they were in MP3 format or would you still listen to them in Real Audio?

Please sound off in the comments section. You don't have to give long detailed explinations. Just a simple "MP3" or "RA" will suffice if you so choose. Your answers will help me decide if I should follow the trend or stay with the "ThirdParty" format.