April Showers Bring Exposure of Hypocrisy and Lies

What a fuckin' wonderful month! Bush's approval rating hit an all-time low while oil prices hit an all-time high (for my thoughts on that, refer to a previous blog entry of mine). But first, that crook Tom DeLay resigned because he's under investigation for receiving illegal funds. What's he got to say? "I'm in God's hands now." Hahaha! Then the next fucking day the Bush Administration is found to have a pedophile in their midst! Then came "Scooter" Libby's testimony (before a federal jury no less!) that his orders to out CIA agent Valerie Plame came from Cheney and Bush themselves! Jackpot!

Let's pause on that last one for a second and take a look at the picture that's being painted here: in the months leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson wrote a few op-ed pieces calling bullshit on the Bush Administration's "rationale" for war. As we now know (thanks to the smoking gun the American press loves to ignore, the Downing Street Memo), Wilson was right and the Bush Administration was lying -- not misled, not exaggerating, but fucking lying. So Bush basically then gave Cheney (who then gave Libby) permission to disclose classified information to dissuade his political enemies (Wilson), so Libby went ahead and outed Wilson's wife Valerie Plame as a undercover CIA agent to GOP lapdog Judy Miller, thus endangering national security and both Wilson and Plame's lives. Nice.

I cannot stress enough what a dangerous prick our "president" is: in addition to the uplifting tale above, there is ample evidence he used the plot from the movie Black Sheep to rig not one, but two elections, and with his recent admission of authorization of the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program, he became the first president in history to admit to breaking the law in office. Under him, we arrest and detain suspected terrorists indefinitely, without being charged with anything, without access to lawyers, without outside contact from anyone and without access to any legal recourse, then fly said suspects over international airspace to secret CIA-run gulags on foreign soil, torturing them all the way. There is a laundry list of international treaties and domestic acts he has repealed and rejected, with potentially disastrous impact on our international relations, environment and economy. The wage gap in our country is now wider than the Grand-fucking-Canyon. American cultural, economic and military imperialism is gradually increasing around the world, while Executive power and one-party rule are vastly expanding here at home. Please understand, it really is that bad.

But back to the good news: April 10th was the "National Day Of Action For Immigrant Justice" and it was a massive success which stunned the nation, especially here in Salt Lake City, where between 20,000 and 40,000 turned out to march from Washington Square to the Capitol Building on April 9th alone. Check out the website for highlights. By the way, most "undocumented" immigrants pay taxes, via a tax ID number issued by the IRS (who's policy it is to not communicate with the FBI, INS and/or Homeland Security). If there's taxable income out there, you better believe the IRS is gonna be all over that shit. Most also have legitimate jobs with taxes deducted from their paychecks (meaning they're paying into Social Security, though they'll never see any return from it). Many have U.S. high school diplomas and many young male "illegals" are in the Selective Service program due to financial aid programs, which automatically enroll you in the draft (and make you eligible for jury duty).

Anyway, last Tuesday NOFX released their new full-length, Wolves in Wolves' Clothing! These motherfuckers just get better with age! Fewer songs about Bush, more songs about Jesus, and all of it fucking awesome!

Speaking of Jesus, I'll leave you with something to really turn your fucking stomach: Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini (who nearly became pope last year) has taken the outlandish position of saying that it might be okay to use a condom -- but only with your spouse, only if your spouse has AIDS and only if you haven't caught the disease yet. Note that the Cardinal's comments are in no way representative of the Vatican's official stance that rubbers NEVER be used; in fact, the Church is so furiously anti-prophylactic that it runs a global disinformation campaign to try to convince people that condoms offer no protection against sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Also note that the Catholic Church has a well-documented reputation of full-on fabricating shit, such as its rule that priests be celibate and "over" any homosexual "urges," and that Mary Magdalene, Bride of Christ and Apostle to the Apostles, was actually a prostitute. Can I get an "amen" for misogyny and heterosexism as forms of control?