O.K., how many "Bye-bye, Birdbrain" parties are being planned for the night Dumbya's "presidency" officially ends? (I was going to say, "Bye-bye, Dickhead", but, of course, that's for the Veep) I'm thinking champagne, caviar, big bands...oh, wait - Dumbya saw to it that no one can afford that kind of thing, didn't he? Man, that guy is evil to the very end!

And, by the by, are the British a wonderful people, or what?

We're baa-aa-ck.

So, the file name for this shot is "wake up". Darned appropriate in this election season, wouldn't you say? To begin...

Americans - any of you thinking even slightly of voting for John McBush - wake the fuck up! Your country, thanks to Bush and his fellow Republican cretins, is in the toilet. Monetarily, morally, and any other way you want to look at it. These creeps have gotten as close to destroying your country as it's possible to get without actually doing it. And, trust me, the data's not all in yet on that - it's just possible that they have, in fact, destroyed America. Worried about Osama? Get a grip. He's got nothing on these weasels.

Meanwhile, here in Canada, my home and native land, the situation's almost as dire. People are actually thinking about voting Ref......er.....Canadian Allia......damn!....Conservative. Talk about cretins! These doofuses can't even come up with a creepy plan of their own - they have to imitate Republicans. Life sentences for 14 year olds! Who's dimwit idea was that? Global warming isn't real! Yep, they've got the finest "scientific" minds available working for them. And I particularly love this! The party has realized that their own leader is such a vile slug that they're advising him to shut up totally between now and the election. Yep, that's what you want in a nation's leader - a guy too stupid, or slimey, or whatever it is his own party thinks is his problem, to allow him to speak in public.

Golly, I feel much better being back at this.

Here lie the remains of George W. Bush. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Meanwhile, wouldn't you hate to be Joe Biden? He's doomed on Thursday night. I mean, how does an intelligent, experienced human being debate a cretin? How can he possibly avoid squashing her like the tiny mammal she is without looking cruel? McBush tossing her in front of Biden is like any one of us tossing a paralysed 'possum in front of a speeding Peterbilt. The 'possum, cute as it may be (and ain't Sary just the cutest little thang?), is going to be flattened. The laws of physics will ensure that. Sprinting across a field of raw eggs in track spikes while carrying an SUV (hey - they're all-American, right?) without cracking a single shell would be easier than debating Sary without making her look stupid. I mean, after all, she is stupid. Poor Joe.

Have I mentioned lately how stupefyingly glad I am not to own a television?

An interesting article on the total intellectual bankruptcy of the Republican party (and, yes, I know - "intellectual" is a bad word among Republicans. They much prefer "dumb", "vapid", "Barbie", "hockey mom", and, of course, "money").

And have you noticed (of course you have) how Dumbya's milking the big Gustav vs. New Orleans smackdown? Gotta love the guy - he just won't admit that he's a fuck-up of historical dimensions. You'd think the fact that he won't be showing his face in St. Paul ('cause his own party told him to "Go away!"?) in support of his party's candidate, Bush II, might give him a clue. But, then again, has he ever had a clue? Ever? Why should he change now?

And while we're on the subject of bankruptcy... It'd be funny if it weren't so tragically stupid. I especially love this quote from Dumbya: "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century." Do you think his head actually spins around three or four times when he says things like that?

Man, I'm not sure I'm a fan of being prescient, but, what did I say yesterday? That it wouldn't surprise me if Obama suddenly seemed less than eager to end the war in Iraq? And... Funnily enough, on this point I'm in agreement with him. The first place I ever saw a sign saying, "If you break it, you've bought it", was in a store in the States. Well, kids, you broke it and you've darn well bought it. You let Dumbya stampede you into a stupid (and, just for emphasis, let me repeat that - STUPID) war and now you're stuck with the moral obligation to re-stabilize what was once a stable (albeit corrupt, dictatorial) country. Yep. You can't go blowing a country to smithereens just because the corrupt dictator you put in power in the first place is no longer cooperative. America (and, therefore, Americans) owe it to the people of Iraq to stay there until the country is safe again. Will that happen anytime soon? Not on your life. Does that mean more Americans will die there? You betcha. Is that the Iraqis' fault? Not really. America fucked up (thanks to the Meatball-in-Chief and his henchmen) big time. And America is morally obligated to put things right. Sad, but true.

These women finished in first and second place, as you see them, in the Category 4 women's bicycle race Tuesday. This is relatively early in the race. By the time it was over, the woman in front was pretty much a lap ahead of her pursuer. Which means she had also totally annihilated the rest of the field (what was left of it after the first lap crash, that is). Just a tad fit.

But, how depressing for the woman in second place. She had hopes, right? (Can you hear it coming?) Absolutely. Just like we all did for Obama. And, just like Ms. Second-place, those hopes have been pretty much dashed. Let's see - Bush: favours death penalty. Barack? Favours death penalty. Bush - favours increasing involvement of religion in government. Barack? Favours increasing involvement of religion in government (memo to Bary: a Founding Principle of democracy - separation of church and state. In case you'd forgotten). Bush - favours wire-tapping Americans' phones. Barack? Favours wire-tapping Americans' phones. I swear, if there's a story in the news tomorrow that says that Bary's decided the Iraq war is O.K. by him, I won't be surprised. Talk about a neck-snapping total turn-around!

I've filed this photo under the title "lap 1, turn 1". Yep, titling serendipity has struck again, folks. Obama's surely only on lap one and already he's crashed. First he comes out in favour of capital punishment, now he's come out in favour of expanding the role of religion in government. Well, sure, why not? It's worked so well in Iran, Iraq, and Israel. And, hey - Georgie likes it, right? I mean, he started it after all. So, why not replace Dumb George with Baffling Bary?

Is it too late to put in a call to Hillary? "Kidding! Hills! Babe! We were kidding. You're the nominee - honest!"

Oh, and, just in case you give some thought to sending Bary an email expressing your concerns on these matters, don't bother. I sent him one (remember?) regarding capital punishment and all it's gotten me is a pile of spampaign ads asking me to send Bary money. And, yes, I did mention in my email that I'm Canadian and therefore ineligible to vote in the U.S.

Which reminds me - Happy Canada Day, my fellow Canuckleheads!

Well, a good news/bad news/business-as-usual news kind of day. I'd ask which you'd like first, but...

We'll start with some of the business-as-usual news. At least, it's business as usual for the criminal conspiracy currently referred to as the "Bush administration". In every civilized country in the world, efforts are made to ensure that the judiciary is as apolitical as possible (an exception, recently, being my own - see yesterday's post). Not so in the Kingdom of the Shrub. Evidently, rational people need not apply.

And now, in the spirit of Faux News (fair and balanced, as long as you're a right-wing conservative god-fearing nitwit), some good news. At least, I hope it's good news. Given that it's coming out of Florida and is in relation to conservation, I'm a little leery. This is a state that declares an area a "nature preserve", then converts it to housing subdivisions, so, the notion that they seem to be doing something that's good for "nature"...well, it's just hard to accept at face value. But, what the heck, I'll just go all Pollyanna and believe they're actually doing right for a change. Go, Charlie!

Last, but not least, and not good, this little story from the McCain campaign. Yep, these are the kind of people I'd want running my country. "Yeah, we'd spike the numbers big-time if only some lunatic would blow up a couple thousand American citizens. Johnny'd be a shoo-in!" Gotta love Republicans. They're nothing if not consistent. Too bad their consistency is largely in the area of stupidity.

One more thing - I've added a new link over there in the sidebar. It's to "The Landscapist" (a.k.a. Mark Hobson). Some of his stuff is a tad cute - "picturing" instead of "photographing", for example - but he's a thoughtful guy and a damn good photographer, so his site is worth visiting. I especially love his entry for June 23rd. Couldn't have said it better myself. Nor with any less zeal.

Another day with nothing particularly snarky to say. What's the world coming to?

Wait! How's this - the fate of this curtain pull is too good for Dumbya! Does that work for you? Works for me. And it's ever-so Texan, happy home of hangin'. I mean, come on - how many dead Americans is he responsible for so far? Multiply that figure by....20?....30?....50?....for the dead Iraqis. Case seems pretty clear to me.

Why is it that Republicans (you know - the "law and order" party?) are the first to toss American law overboard whenever it suits them? Dumbya really got the ball rolling in a big way - tapping Americans' phones, locking people up without charges or a right to a lawyer or a fair trial - and now his little buddy, John McBush, is voicing his support for those same crimes. All in the name of "fighting terror", of course. Too bad that the terror fighters are showing themselves to be terrorists as well. I wonder if there's any chance anyone will ever arrest them. And, will anyone in America still buy the notion that their rights need to be sacrificed in the name of - yes, you guessed it - NINE-ELEVEN! Surely, by now, that's taken on the same meaning that "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" did for Chicken Little (which, given most of those pinheads' service records - excepting McBush - is a pretty apt metaphor).

Meanwhile, over on the "environment" side, McBush tries to continue the Dumbya tradition while slapping on a coat of green paint. I love the phrase "...free the United States from its dependence on foreign oil". Right. It's the dependence on foreign oil that's the big problem. Not the fact that burning it in vast quantities has created an environmental emergency. Heck, no.

And you've got to love his solutions. Yep - let's go drilling all over America's remaining wilderness, and up and down its coasts (No hazard I can think of there. How 'bout you?). And, failing that, let's build more nuclear power plants! Nuclear waste? No more harmful than tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere (now that's brilliant thinking).

Surely no one's going to vote for this boob in November.

Somehow, I don't think so. On the other hand, evidently the Republican party's nominee for President (not to mention the current Bonehead in Chief) disagree. This is a vision?!? A nightmare, maybe, but - a vision? In who's version of hell? How many more Iraqis will die in the 4 years McStupid is willing to wait after he gets elected president? (I'd also wonder about how many more young Americans will die, but, get a grip, Iraqi deaths are in the tens of thousands. American deaths total a piddly (unless you're their parents, of course) 4,000.) Yep, leadership is what the Republican party is all about.

The key word here is "Notice". Now, it's easy to poke fun at American politics - people are going without proper medical care and the big news there is whether or not the Democrats' presidential candidates are sufficiently "in touch" with their religion. What I can't figure out is why no one's asked them how they feel about Santa Claus. At least he delivers!

But, up here in the Great White North, things are just as bad. Following the Bushian example, our own Smirkin' Steve is doing his damnedest to dodge questions of human rights. Are all conservatives moral cretins? Or is it just these guys?

As you've probably guessed, this is a reflection. In water. A puddle, to be precise. So, you can imagine how many associations I can make between it and this story from the New York Times. But, of course, it's more fun for you to it yourself, right? (O.K., I can't resist giving hints. Try working with "reflection", "illusion", "ephemeral" - you get the idea) I mean, Bush comes out and says (again), "Hey, torture's the American way!" and this guy interprets it as Bush cementing his legacy of fighting for strong executive powers?!?

There was, by the way, a good article in the New Yorker a week or so ago discussing America's use of waterboarding during their little contretemps in the Philippines early in the 20th century, for all you history buffs out there. Conservative motto: "If it was good enough for my granddaddy, it's good enough for me."

Now, that's aerodynamic riding!

Say, speaking of Chinatown (that's where this was taken), next week begins the year of the Rat in the Chinese calendar. Now, I was going to make a joke about how it's also Dumbya's last year in office, so, just for a little information on what, exactly, the year of the Rat might involve, I decided I'd better check Wikipedia. Honest, I ain't makin' this up. Here's a direct quote: "Rat is associated with aggression, wealth, charm, and order, yet also associated with death, war, the occult, pestilence, and atrocities." Gees! Maybe there's something to this Chinese horoscope stuff after all!

And speaking of being in a corner of decrepitude......did you notice that Rockin' Rudy Giuliani has been endorsed by Pat Robertson? And, believe it or not, Rudy actually wanted Pat's endorsement. Of course, this is the same Rockin' Rudy who figures Bouncin' Bernie Kerik's an O.K. guy. Evidently Rudy's former colleagues, the Feds, aren't as convinced of Bernie's charms. Vote Rudy - he's the friend of religious loons/bigots and soon-to-be-convicted felons! Yessirree - true Presidential material in the great Bush tradition.

Good to see that Dumbya's pick for "America's Lawyer in Chief" is unafraid to admit that Dumbya is, in fact, above the law. I especially like these bits:

"He suggested that both the administration’s program of eavesdropping without warrants and its use of “enhanced” interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects, including waterboarding, might be acceptable under the Constitution even if they went beyond what the law technically allowed. Mr. Mukasey said the president’s authority as commander in chief might allow him to supersede laws written by Congress. "

"In the case of the eavesdropping program, Mr. Mukasey suggested that the president might have acted appropriately under his constitutional powers in ordering the surveillance without court approval even if federal law would appear to require a warrant. "

Yep, so, even if it's against the law, it isn't as long as Dumbya's the one committing the crime.

But, you know?, Dumbya's going to finish out his term. He's going to go into retirement with no price to pay for...um...gees, where to begin? Impeach? Ha! Fat chance. Arrest him once he's out of office? Riiiiigghhhht.

Well, at least O.J.'s number seems finally to be up.

Which is, of course, what Dumbya said to America's poor today. Well, this and, basically, "Fuck you. The health insurance industry'll pay me more in the first year of my post-presidency coffer-refilling than all of you losers could ever dream of scraping together in your combined lifetimes. Take your sickly little runts and drown 'em, for all I care."

If you get the feeling that I hate this creep with a passion, well, you're right. The fact that he's going to get away with it all just sends me up the wall.

Trapped again in that abandoned library.

And (oh, what the hell - it's like shooting fish in a barrel, but...), how do you define "compassionate conservatism"? Do like George does - screw the kids! Why not? It's not like they'll be able to help "...refill the ol' coffers...", after all.

I'm just curious - can someone explain to me exactly why this man isn't in jail? Come on - somebody? (Imagine - George and O.J. in the same cell. Is that a picture, or what?)

Doesn't the semi-subterranean life look charming? Nice little patio to lounge on. Wait till tomorrow, though.

O.K., a few hours later and I've just finished watching the 1962, original version of "The Manchurian Candidate". Want to see the Bush administration in action? Got a crazy urge to see Angela Lansbury in the role of Karl Rove? Not to mention character actor James Gregory doing a dead-on George Bush? Rent the movie. Trust me.