"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Joe Barton and Other Things You Find Under Rocks

Unless you've been hiding under a rock yourself, you'll recognize Rep. Joe Barton (R-British Petroleum) as the one who apologized to BP for the president negotiating with them to establish a $20 billion escrow account to handle claims from the Gulf oil spill. Even Republicans have backed away from that one -- Republican office-holders, anyway. But the Republican media is jumping aboard:

The focus has been on Barton, but he's only the convenient face of a larger Republican meme. Media Matters did a nice round up of how the right wing media has continued to use the "shakedown" rhetoric while keeping everyone focused on Barton.

You see, the "official" Republicans don't have to support Barton.  Their shills in the corporate media are doing it for them.

It sort of gives you a good take on the "conservative" mindset when you realize that the outcry is because a corporation is being forced to take responsibility for its negligence and what may very well be criminal actions.

I've got to stop turning over rocks.  This one's even worse -- Gen. John Sheehan (USMC, ret., thank God), he of "Srebrenica happened because gays were allowed to serve openly in the Dutch military" fame, has put his foot in it again.  He's partnered with Tony Perkins for an OpEd at Politico.

In addition, the medical implications of Obama's proposal are compelling. According to data released last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gay and bisexual men are 50 times more likely to have HIV than heterosexual men.  This would be devastating for military resources already stretched thin, and it has pronounced implications for battlefield blood transfusions.

That's one of the great whoppers of the age.  Anyone who knows anything about enlistment in the U.S. armed forces knows that all candidates are routinely screened for HIV; if you test positive, you're not allowed to enlist.  And if you test positive after enlistment, you won't be deployed overseas.  This has been in place for years, and Sheehan should know it.  It's nothing more than a deliberate lie.  I suppose,  considering his co-author -- whose career is founded on dishonesty -- I shouldn't be surprised.

Sheehan is a disgrace to the Marines and a betrayal of everything they stand for.

And now you have an idea on why I haven't been posting lately -- aside from burn-out, the news has been too much of this.



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