There's good evidence that the Bush administration didn't get the information that could have prevented 9/11 (though 9/11 could have been prevented anyway had ). Now it comes to light that the intelligence community and military experts tried to warn the Bush administration that we were't sending enough troops to Iraq but the men who are actually running the country didn't listen. It just seems like Bush's handlers are all too arrogant to listen to anybody, which makes me doubt the validity that anything they do is meant to protect my security.

A U.S. representative from California defended his call for U.S. agencies rebuilding Iraq after the current war to use Code Division Multiple Access instead of a popular mobile technology used in the Middle East, saying that U.S. companies should benefit from the rebuilding effort. (My emphasis)

What did I tell you? The War in Iraq is about liberating an oppressed people from an evil regime. This is a mission for the freedom and safety of Iraqis and American. It has nothing to do with money.

So much for fair and balanced: The news ticker rimming Fox's headquarters on Sixth Avenue wasn't carrying war updates as the protest began. Instead, it poked fun at the demonstrators, chiding them.

Seriously, what can you possibly do with a 10-year-old accused of murder and sexual assault? It's mind boggling.

Like I have to remind you, but the US is lying to you.

Normally, this blog is simply a place for me to vent my outrage about what is occurring in our world today. I don't get that personal, really. Even when something personal has happened in my life that compels me to write here, I try to write in such a way that it is universal and expresses a social viewpoint. This blog has helped me to view the world more third-person.

Sure, only two people have voted on the future of this site, and one of those votes is mine, but that's okay. As much as I would like people to read this, I write it for me.

Today, I do have to share a personal experience. It happened to me last night, and the profundity of it has not completely sunk in.

I left a friend's house last night at about 10:30 and I'm standing on the train platform to head home. I'm at Thorndale in the Edgewater neighborhood here in Chicago; I feel safe there -- used to live up there -- but it's still fairly urban with some empty, run down storefronts and such.

I see no one else on the platform. It's not cold, but chilly enough for me to thrust my hands in my coat pockets. In my right pocket, I find a matchbook with three matches. So I get a bright idea -- I'll light a match and warm my hands. I do so, and meanwhile I'm looking at the other two matches.

I'm not afraid to admit it: Even though I'm 28 years old, I like fire. I light matches all the time, play with lighters, drip candle wax on stuff. Yes, it's a juvenile and primitive, but it's not destructive.

I light the other two matches with the lit match and watch it burn, book and all. Now that I've satisfied my boyhood instinct, I throw the burning matchbook down and stomp on it, effectively quashing the fire.

Just as I begin the momentum to bend over to pick up the remnants of my pyromania, a man walks up to me, 6' 3", 220 pounds or so, wearing a black hoodie and carrying a green backpack. I'm not far from the Loyola University campus, so I'm thinking this is a college student. He saw me light something, drop it on the ground, and stomp on it, so perhaps he's looking for a cigarette.

"Hey, what's up?" the man says to me, as he unzips his hoodie to reveal a badge. Another cop in a green parka comes around into my view; he looks no older than me.

In Chicago, it's illegal to smoke on the train platforms. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to light matches, too. Yes, I was stupid and I had probably broken the law, so I cooperated. I presented my ID when he asked for it. I happily answered his question when he asked me why I was burning the matches. As soon as the answer came out of my mouth -- "My hands were cold" -- I knew it sounded like a lie. What kind of a lame ass excuse is "My hands were cold" when a cop asks you why you were burning matches on an El platform?

He starts searching my pockets, asks me if I had any dope. No. Why did I have the matches? I'm a smoker, but I don't have any cigarettes with me right now. Do I have any pipes? No, sir. He finds my disk-on-key right after asking me if I had any pipes, and I had to explain three times what it is before he got it. "Does the FBI know you have this?" I laugh nervously as he gives me my keys back. He asks me one more time why I was burning the matches, and I answer the question with more verbosity. Yes, my hands were cold, but I was bored and I lit the last two matches. I put them out and had every intention of throwing them away. I meant no harm.

As I'm explaining my more honest answer, he's doing a quick search through my bag while I'm wearing it. The other cop says to me, "Dude, you can put your hands down." I didn't even notice I had put them up. The casualness tells me that I'm fine, that there won't be any problem.

Then it changed.

The officer searching me closes my bag after his quick, perfunctory search and sees my button. It reads, "I love my country but I fear my government."

The officer reads the button out loud and adds, "So, am I a part of the government?"

My response was, "No, you're simply ensuring the safety of this train platform." I didn't say it with any malice or pithiness. It was an honest answer.

"Why don't you take that bag off so I can get a better look through it?"

I now get the full search. I'm asked two more times if I have drugs or paraphernalia. The green parka-clad officer takes everything out of my bag, examines my PDA, rifles through all of the pockets, opens the cases of every CD and MiniDV tape in there. The other cop is frisking me, removing everything from my pockets.

I knew that the only reason this was happening was due to my viewpoint. I looked around for a witness, but everyone else was all the way on the other end of the platform, no one close enough to see what was happening. I thought to protest and ask for a badge number, but decided against it. Then it really started to hit me. If I ask for a badge number, I'll get harassed more. If I protest, I'll get the ticket for lighting the matches. If I complain about being thoroughly searched because of my beliefs, I'll be arrested. No matter what the situation, even one as silly and innocuous as mine was, police always have the upper hand, and too many officers are all too willing to abuse it.

I also thought that it could have been worse. I was wearing my work clothes and a clean leather coat, and I had a fancy disk-on-key and a PDA -- the cop in the hoodie at one point said, "We got a gadget-head here." If I had looked like a pot smoker or anything less than middle class, it could have been worse. If I had been African American, or worse yet Arab American, it could have really been worse.

At the end of it when they found nothing, they handed me back all of my stuff in the condition I gave it to them. I apologized for my actions, and they walked away, leaving me with a warning. They were courteous at the end, but it was pretty obvious that they wanted to rattle me because of my political stance. I wasn't detained or roughed up, I didn't resist, and I suppressed my fear as best I could. I was a "good citizen" during the whole event because the consequences of objecting could have been worse. Yes, officer, you win.

Today, I'm wrestling with the significance of it all. It hardly registers on the scale of abusive police actions. I can't stop thinking, however, of what it means. I don't qualify as a victim -- Rodney King was a victim. Was it an orange alert thing? Was it simply ideologies butting heads? I lit a match and had a dumb excuse for it -- is that enough probable cause to search for drugs? And does having a button that expresses an oppositional viewpoint make me an enemy combatant? My mind is spinning, and I'm not sure if what happened last night will ever totally make sense to me.

I'm not filing a report or anything. No harm was done, and the whole event was at most insipid. It does demonstrate something, only I'm not sure what that is yet.

By the way, the matchbook was still on the ground after they walked way. They could have given me a ticket for littering.

Look, I'm just going to quote this verbatim and give credit to Atrios for pointing it out first.

To follow is House Resolution 153. Even if you boil everything down past the oil, past the economics, and past the vengeance, perhaps we'll find nothing more than the millenia-old struggle between Judeo-christian fundamentalism and Islamic fundamentalism.

When the Bill of Rights was originally drafted, the Senate version of the First Amendment read, ''Congress shall make no law establishing articles of faith, or a mode of worship, or prohibiting the free exercise of religion, . . ." (source). Would this resolution be possible if that particular language was in the Constitution?

But no matter what, this resolution certainly shows that our Bill of Rights is under attack by our increasingly fascist government. (Yes, fascist.)

H. RES. 153

Recognizing the public need for fasting and prayer in order to secure the blessings and protection of Providence for the people of the United States and our Armed Forces during the conflict in Iraq and under the threat of terrorism at home.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 20, 2003

Mr. AKIN (for himself, Mr. GOODE, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. HAYES, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. PITTS, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. TERRY, and Mr. SOUDER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform

RESOLUTION

Recognizing the public need for fasting and prayer in order to secure the blessings and protection of Providence for the people of the United States and our Armed Forces during the conflict in Iraq and under the threat of terrorism at home.

Whereas the United States is currently engaged in a war on terrorism in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001;

Whereas the Armed Forces of the United States are currently engaged in a campaign to disarm the regime of Saddam Hussein and liberate the people of Iraq;

Whereas, on June 1, 1774, the Virginia House of Burgesses called for a day of fasting and prayer as an expression of solidarity with the people of Boston who were under siege by the enemy;

Whereas, on March 16, 1776, the Continental Congress, recognizing that the `Liberties of America are imminently endangered' and the need `to acknowledge the overruling Providence of God', called for a day of `Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer' ;

Whereas, on June 28, 1787, during the debate of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin, convinced of God's intimate involvement in human affairs, implored the Congress to seek the assistance of Heaven in all its dealings;

Whereas, on March 30, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, at the bequest of the Senate, and himself recognizing the need of the Nation to humble itself before God in repentance for its national sins, proclaimed a day of fasting , prayer and humiliation;

Whereas all of the various faiths of the people of the United States have recognized, in our religious traditions, the need for fasting and humble supplication before
Providence;

Whereas humility, fasting , and prayer in times of danger have long been rooted in our essential national convictions and have been a means of producing unity and solidarity among all the diverse people of this Nation as well as procuring the enduring grace and benevolence of God;

Whereas, through prayer , fasting , and self-reflection, we may better recognize our own faults and shortcomings and submit to the wisdom and love of God in order that we may have guidance and strength in those daily actions and decisions we must take; and

Whereas dangers and threats to our Nation persist and, in this time of peril, it is appropriate that the people of the United States, leaders and citizens alike, seek guidance, strength, and resolve through prayer and fasting : Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should issue a proclamation--

(1) designating a day for humility, prayer , and fasting for all people of the United States; and

(2) calling on all people of the United States--

(A) to observe the day as a time of prayer and fasting ;

(B) to seek guidance from God to achieve a greater understanding of our own failings and to learn how we can do better in our everyday activities; and

(C) to gain resolve in meeting the challenges that confront our Nation.

The sorts of stories that get overlooked during the 24-hour, real-time coverage of Operation Iraqi Misdirection:

U.S. Lifts FBI Criminal Database Checks
North Korea Halts Contacts With UN Command
Metamaterials -- Where Physics and Metaphysics Meet
4 Top Officers at Air Force Academy Are Replaced

Oh, and my poll is still up about the future of this site since only two people have voted, and one of those votes is my own. Encouraging.

Tom Tomorrow is linking to some good articles about Iraqi reactions to the war, including a doctor who was all for it until he started pulling civilians out of bombed buildings. Tom Tomorrow then makes a very interesting point: "We took a lot of lessons from 9/11, but it occurs to me that there's one we might have overlooked--when you attack a nation, people tend to rally around their leader, even if they hate him."

This is very bad.

Considering the outrage overload that I and many others are feeling right now, I thought you could use a laugh. Perhaps you've heard the story that Al Gore has joined the board of Apple Computer. The following Onion-like article was posted on Crazy Apple Rumors, and to make things even funnier, is actually linked to on Apple's own news page.

Bush Demands Recount In Gore's Board Election.

In the wake of Apple's announcement late yesterday that former Vice President Al Gore was elected to the company's board of directors, President George Bush announced this morning that he would demand a recount.

"I am sure that when the votes are tallied again," Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer said, "Apple will find that President Bush was, in fact, named to the board, not Mr. Gore."

Apple CEO Steve Jobs weighed in on the developing controversy by saying "I'm not sure what the heck he's talking about. It was a unanimous vote. I can read it back to you. Jobs: yea. Campbell: yea. Drexler: yea..."

Adding to the confusion, MacNN had reported earlier in the day that Bush had, in fact, been elected to the board rather than Gore, but later retracted the story.

"Our exit polling was way off," admitted MacNN news editor Nick Aziz. "I mean, apparently Bush wasn't even on the... ballot... thingy... or whatever they use in board rooms.

"And, in retrospect, asking people coming out of a Promise Keepers meeting who they would have voted for was probably a mistake because, well, they're not on the Apple board and are probably pretty heavily skewed toward Bush.

"I don't know what we were thinking when we decided to do that."

Several sources within Apple indicate that Gore may have been added to the board in an effort to make Jobs "look loose."

"Steve has a reputation for being rather focused and megalomaniacal," a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. "And Gore has a reputation for being focused and rather wooden.

"I dunno. Maybe that's a wash."

Apple's press release described Gore as "an avid Mac user" who "does his own video editing in Final Cut Pro." Gore's wife Tipper is also described as a Mac user, one who "uses audio editing software to take the dirty words out of hard core hip hop and heavy metal songs."

Other sources pointed out that Gore is a white male and therefore a perfect fit to the demographic of the Apple board.

The Bush administration indicated that if a recount was not successful, they would take the matter to the Supreme Court.

Apple Senior Vice President and General Counsel Nancy Heinen said that was fine because the Supreme Court has no real jurisdiction over Apple's internal board policy.

"Just... just... leave it alone already," Jobs said. "Jeez, you'd think the guy didn't have enough to do right now."

I, for one, think this is good news, as it shows people are caring. "War" has surpassed "sex" as the most popular search term.

And last night, here in my home town of Chicago, protesters disrupted rush hour traffic. I found this quote disturbing: "A protest organizer with a bullhorn challenged police to try to shun the image they gained from the 1968 protests. Police waded into the crowd to grab the protester." I'm not sure exactly what that protester yelled, but whatever he said pissed off the cops. Nothing's changed in 35 years, eh?

Like you really care, but this blog is now six months old.

No, not the oil!

Some good news: Senate rejects oil drilling in Alaskan refuge.

Baghdad says civilians hit. But can we believe the report? We're not even sure if that was actually Saddam talking last night.

There's so much going on right now that blogging will probably continue to be in short bursts just so I can get all the info out there that I need to.

In case you hadn't noticed, there's still a war in Afghanistan going on. In fact, and the military says it's just a coincidence, last night we unleashed an attack on some Afghan villages. The US government and media have been working so hard at making us pay attention to Iraq that news like this is relegated to the MSNBC ticker. I didn't even see it last night on the Fox News ticker. Here's a quote from the above linked Guardian article:

Attacks on Afghan government posts in the south of the country have increased in recent weeks, with authorities blaming remnants of the Taliban, al-Qaida and loyalists of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a renegade rebel commander labelled a terrorist by the US.

Taliban soldiers ambushed an Afghan government post in the south and killed three Afghan soldiers, a security official said on Thursday. The soldiers were ambushed early on Wednesday and had their throats cut. Five Taliban attackers were arrested.

Excuse me, but if Bush Senior's good buddy is still running around trying to destabilize the new government in Afghanistan and we're still fighting there, perhaps the media should report that so we all know instead of disseminating the same disinformation that the government wants us to believe.

I apologize to all two of you who read this site (according to the current poll results) for the delay in posts. Blogger kept giving me errors that I couldn't fix, so the past three posts, which I actually posted yesterday, are finally here. I guess the other reason I want to move this site to a different model is because Blogger, despite all of its power and simplicity, can really suck your ass.

The war has started.

"If the nation escalates to 'red alert,' which is the highest in the color-coded readiness against terror, you will be assumed by authorities to be the enemy if you so much as venture outside your home."

Screw Bush's speech. The real speech worth hearing Monday was Robin Cook's resignation to Parliament. If you haven't heard this, you must. It's hardly within Parliamentary protocol to applaud. The link requires Real Player.

Protestors Gone Wild!

The only "news" from the speech:

1) Saddam has 48 hours.
2) For God's sake, don't touch the oil.

I'm at school right now. I think I should stop at the Jewel on my way home to horde canned goods.

Help decide the future of this site!

As this blog has developed, it's become more and more about passing on important news articles that rarely make the front page, one of the most valuable opportunities we have as Internet users. For example, the FBI siezed a FedEx between two journalists, a serious violation of Freedom of the Press.

Considering we are days, if not hours, away from dropping bombs on Iraq so we can have our "hand on the spigot", I'm feeling that this site, of which I've become very proud, perhaps needs to become even more. A place where folks who love our country but fear our government can discuss the issues and share their concerns.

Thus, I'm opening up discussion on turning likeyoureallycare.com into an interactive news portal based on the Slashcode model used at sites like Slashdot and Plastic. I feel like I have a responsibility to society to make this site more than something my friends visit occasionally. This site needs to be a forum for spreading the message that everything that made this country an unprecedented benevolent superpower in the days of FDR and Truman is on its way out the door thanks to rising imperialist desires.

I think the bloggosphere phenomenon is extrodinary, and I applaud folks like Tom Tomorrow, Atrios, and Neal "President Bush is a faggot who likes to fuck babies up the ass" Pollack for having the wherewithall to pass on stories and commentary with more vigor and frequency than I can. However, moving to Slashcode (or PHP-Nuke) would make my humble site a dialogue instead of a monologue.

Moving to such a model would mean I could still post my "vituperative horseshit," but I can also post yours. It would also mean you could point me in the direction of articles like the ones I've offered here. And each item posted would have discussion around it.

Discussions are moderated, which I think is important. You can't moderate unless you participate. Enthusiastic voices, no matter what the viewpoint, rise to the top. (Slashdot's explanation of moderation)

Unfortunately, this plan would cost me money, and though I don't think $10 per month for hosting over at PHP Web Hosting and $30/year to renew the domain name will break the bank, I will have to offset that cost, probably with annoying banner ads and/or selling t-shirts through Cafe Press. Which is why I'm asking you if this is a good idea. I've created a poll where you can vote about your interest in this type of site and so I can decide whether or not I should spend the money. There is also a forum so you can express your ideas and chime in on the future of this site.

Thank you for visiting my page, and I hope you take the time to vote on the future of this site. No matter how this vote turns out, this site will still exist in some capacity. I simply want to see if taking it to the next level is a viable option.

VOTE NOW! The poll will close a week from today, March 24.

The bombs start dropping tonight, I guess.

Yesterday in the Azores, President Bush claimed the UN would have a role in a post-Saddam Iraq. In an incredible Newsweek article titled "The Arrogant Empire", the writer asks, "Were Washington to move to an entirely ad hoc approach, why would the rest of the world agree to clean up its messes?" The article shows how the Bush regime's diplomacy strategies have fueled international fear of America's might. Yeah, it just gets worse.

On another note, why did the chubby girl from the Dixie Chicks have to apologize? To save her career? I'm sorry exercising your right as an American to speak your mind interferes with your right as an American to be a filthy-rich celebrity.

By now we've all heard the "kill my dad" line. Well, your highness, now your own father is saying publically that you're acting too hastily.

George Bush, Sr., may have been an ineffective president domestically -- he tried to combat the problems Reaganomics introduced with more Reaganomics, not to mention his dirty hands from that whole Iran/Contra thing -- but he was a damn good diplomat. Even if the first Gulf War was about protecting oil interests, Iraq did attack Kuwait (provocation is debatable), and Kuwait never hurt anybody. Bush Sr. was able to get a whole heckuva lot of countries together to force Saddam back into Iraq and plunge their country into even more poverty. Means 1, results 0.

Unfortunately, now that his son is the President, Daddy can't give his son a time out or call in a favor from a judge. Junior gonna go screw up the balances of power in the economy and our society for financial gain. Sad.

On another note, if you're going door to door collecting donations for a human rights campaign, even if it is a noble cause, it's probably not in your best interest to say to a total stranger within 5 minutes of the conversation, "Sorry, some guys down the street had a one-hitter and I'm totally stoned right now."

"Firm linked to Cheney wins oil-field contract"

See, I told you the war wasn't about oil.

Remember the whole "hydrogen-powered car" business from the State of the Union address? Personally, I think the president was deflecting the criticism that he'd put Iraqi crude oil on his Aunt Jemima pancakes if he could. However, the use of hydrogen as a fuel source is probably the most important issue facing our nation today. No, not racism or terrorism or taxes. Hydrogen.

There are hurdles to using hydrogen. You need power to generate it, and what else do we have but already lambasted sources like coal, petroleum, and nuclear power? How to we convert gas stations to hydrogen stations? How do we increase demand when there's no supply? And what will Bike Week be like without the trademark "pop-pop" of Harley-Davidsons?

These changes, though, are worth it for cleaner air, independence from foreign oil, and lower fuel costs.

"But as an American citizen, I have a right to drive my SUV." No, you don't have a right to choose to drive a vehicle that gets terrible gas mileage. It's destablizing the world and polluting the air we all have to breath. If what you do only affects you, fine. It should be your right. If your actions affects me and everyone else in the world adversely, then it is not your right.

Read this. If we are to assume that Bush really wants $15 billion to go to hydrogen-powered cars, then this article is there to say that's not enough. If, after reading this article, you don't think changing our economy from one based on oil to one based on hydrogen is the most significant change this country could make, then you're a fucking Republican. Hell, you're a fucking Libertarian.

(Say, Arlo, how does a fuel cell work? Like this.)

Pete Townshend gets a warning.

It was one thing when a North Carolinian restauranteur does it, but elected officials? Now two republican congressmen are changing the congressional cafeterias menus to feature freedom fries and freedom toast.

This is news?

As un-liberal as it may be for me to say, yes, I agree that TV violence is bad for children. The article does state, "The analysis argued against the idea that aggressive children seek out TV violence, or that the findings were due to the participants' socioeconomic status or intelligence, or their parents' childrearing practices." However, it also does not state that those things were taken into account. Perhaps they were, but if parents aren't working to help their children to understand what they're watching and to place it in context, then you can't systematically blame the TV.

The problem, to me, with the disinformation about Gulf War II: Electric Boogaloo is that most people are getting their information from television news -- I mean "news" -- and Lord knows the Fox News Channel isn't going to touch this: Ends up that one of the key pieces of evidence for the US and Britian is a forgery. Whether the forgery was created by the US or not is for the conspiracy theorists to concoct.

I won't accept the argument that Miguel Estrada is not Hispanic enough. At the same time, I will not accept the Republican's argument that Estrada should be appointed a judge simply because he's Hispanic. Either way, race is being used to further a political agenda that has nothing to do with race, and yet again, the Dems lose no matter what they do.

Will the Republican assertion that the filibuster of Estrada's confirmation leave a bad taste in the mouths of voters prove true? Unfortunately, yes, it will. Estrada is qualified for the job and has the support of the Bar. Democrats haven't presented a single good reason not to appoint him. They're asking for evidence that is priviledged. Instead of debating the war in Iraq, Medicare, and those ridiculous hydrogen-powered cars, the Democrats spent all their time filibustering. Yet again, Tom Dachle leads a squadron to battle a windmill.

Don't get me wrong -- there are plenty of reasons not to vote for Estrada. He kept a tight lip during his hearing with the Judicial Committee, especially when asked about his position on abortion or gay rights. He doesn't support many human rights and environmental groups, including legal defense and education funds for Hispanics. Even his former supervisor won't even give him a good reference. (source)

The Democrats have screwed up so much in the past year that anything they do in opposition to the President makes them look bad. The nomination of Estrada was a cunning tactic by King George -- they won't vote him in, and I'll appeal for sympathy from Hispanics -- and the Democrats not only played into it but exacerbated the tactic's effect. The Democrats have to come up on the offensive if they are ever going to gain some headway against Bush and think about how the increasingly right-wing media is going to report what the Dems are doing.

"While clever trading games did drive up prices, Saltmarsh and other lawyers said the biggest gouging came through a much simpler method: power generators turned off power plants to create artificial shortages." Yeah, let's see if Ashcroft will get the feds involved with prosecuting this. (Doubtful at best.)

Like you really care, but here's my $0.02 on The Lysistrata Project.

First of all, if the theatre community (of which I'm a member), really cared, they wouldn't do it on an off-night.

Second, the Arab countries we want to protect from American imperialism burn effigies and storm the streets when they protest something. Doing a reading of an ancient Greek play is the pussiest form a protest I've ever seen.

Third, who's coming to the readings? The people who are already on your side. Take it to the streets, dammit.

Now, I may not be one to talk -- I haven't marched yet due to my school schedule. However, I've written my congressman, I've maintained this Web site, and I've let forth as much as I can to whomever I meet who is for a war in Iraq. I sure as Hell think reading a play to other liberals is too pretentious and self-righteous to be a worthy form of protest.

In other news, over at Howard Dean's Web site, there's a transcript of his speech to the Democratic National Committee. Choice quote: "I am Howard Dean. And I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Dean is the only Democratic candidate worth a Goddamn, and if this speech doesn't prove it to you, you're a fucking Republican.