Lady Liberal

Musings on life in America as seen from the perspective of a feminist Roman Catholic, pro-choice, Mom in middle America.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

hunting accidents

If I hear one more republican say (IRL) that Cheney shooting his hunting buddy was no big deal and that things like that *happen all the time*, I may scream.

I was raised in a family of hunters. They hunted to supplement their food, in order to have meat in the winter. Hunting was and is a way of life...deer hunting, gun and bow, turkey hunting (I was grown and married before I ever had a store bough turkey for thanksgiving dinner), quail squirrel, rabbit..you name it, if it was a game animal in missouri...they hunt(ed) it.

My cousins, uncles, etc are descendants of mountain people...meaning they are a bit crazy..but you know what?...never ever, not once have they ever *accidentally* shot a hunting partner. Never, nada, zilch. In fact there are not even any stories of this occurring in family legends...which to blunt do contain some doozy of a story stories....

And then for Cheney not to immediately admit and report what happened? Just one more example of the veil of secrecy this administration operates under...the contempt they have both for the press and the american people.


Cheney's Got a Gun
Cheney's Got a Gun
Cheney's Got a Gun
Everybody's on the Run
"Keep going, we'll come back for him later, he's fine."
"Um. Sir. Mr. Vice President, he's kinda just laying there."
"Shhhhhh!!!! He's a lawyer. You want him to sue?...Harry? You OK? Harry? See? He's fine. This is just part of the administration's new tort reform package."
"Sir, he's not moving."
"He's just sleeping it off.Hand me another round. I'm going to get me some quail."
"I think he's hurt sir. He's bleeding."
"You think he's hurt. Are you a doctor?"
"Yes. I'm your doctor. I travel with you all the time."
"Ah yes. The Jew. I didn't recognize you without the rib spreader."
"I think we need to call one of your ambulances."
"Aw, now why do you want to go and do something like that? If Antonin hears about this he won't come duck hunting next time there's an important case before the Supreme Court that I need him to rule on."
"Sir. I'm doing the best to stop the bleeding, but we're out in the middle of nowhere. No equipment. No sanitation. This is a far cry from George Washington University Hospital."
"Yeah, it's more like the County Hospital right next door to it. Well, do your best."
"I'm stanching the blood flow."
"No you idiot. I meant do your best to make it look self-inflicted."
Jerry and Joe Long imagined this statement from the veep on huffingtonpost.com: "Since the days of Aaron Burr, under our constitution, the vice president has the implied authority to shoot whomever the hell he pleases. … In a time of war, it would be inappropriate to comment further on how and under what circumstances a 78-year-old man underwent a minor pellet infusion."
Political comedian Andy Borowitz offered this press release on his site: Cheney Says Shooting of Fellow Hunter Was Based on Faulty Intelligence Believed Shooting Victim Was Zawahiri, Veep Says
"I believed I had credible intelligence that al-Zawahiri had infiltrated my hunting party in disguise with the intent of spraying me with pellets," Mr. Cheney told reporters. "Only after I shot Harry in the face and he shouted 'Cheney, you bastard' did I realize that this intelligence was faulty."

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Just ask

Basically the only reason Congress is upset that the President is spying on american citizens is because he didn't ask their permission. However if asks Congress then they will pass a bill giving him unlimitted power over American citizens w/no system of checks and balances.

Our founding fathers must literally be rolling in their graves.

Why are Americans so ready to give up their civil liberties? Why are they so naive that they believe that if they aren't doing anything wrong then they have nothing to worry about from the government.

Have Americans learned nothing from history.

If history has one thing to teach us it is that Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Where Did America Go

If you have been paying attention it shouldn't come as a surprise that the bush government would arrest someone for wearing a t-shirt that called attention to their lies. Somehow though, for some reason it does still surprise and shock me.

My first instinct is to think, *there has to be more to the story*. I mean this is america, freedom of speech, freedom to have dissenting opinions, land of liberty, land of freedom. You can't be arrested in the US for simply wearing a T-shirt the government doesn't like or approve of, or disagree with....

But apparently in the Brave New Bush World...that is exactly what the government can and will do. Think like us or be arrested. How outrageous that more people are not outraged about this.

So what is the *official* story?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Tuesday in the House gallery after refusing to cover up a T-shirt bearing an anti-war slogan before President Bush's State of the Union address.
According to a blog post on Michael Moore's Web site attributed to Sheehan, the T-shirt said, "2,245 Dead. How many more?" -- a reference to the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq.
"She was asked to cover it up. She did not," said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman.
Schneider said Sheehan was arrested around 8:30 p.m. on charges of unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail.
She was handcuffed and held in the Capitol building until she was driven to the Capitol Police headquarters for booking. According to her blog, she was released about four hours after being arrested. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/31/sheehan.arrest/index.html

and for those of you who only believe the Fox spin zone: WASHINGTON — Cindy Sheehan finally got her invitation to see President Bush again, but before she set eyes on him at the State of the Union address, Capitol Police removed her from the gallery overlooking the House chamber.
The offense: her shirt, bearing an anti-war message and other "unlawful conduct," police said.
Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier in Iraq who reinvigorated the anti-war movement, was handcuffed and charged with unlawful conduct, according to Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider. The charge was a misdemeanor and Sheehan was being released on her own recognizance, Schneider said.
Schneider said Sheehan had worn a T-shirt with an anti-war slogan to Tuesday night's speech and covered it up until she took her seat. Police warned her that such displays were not allowed in the House chamber, but she did not respond, the spokeswoman said. (somehow there version doesn't sound much better does it?) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,183392,00.html


You can read Cindy Sheehans letter giving her version of events at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=594

No matter whose version you believe it all comes down to the same thing. Under the rule of the tyrant..any tyrant..civil liberties and freedom only apply to those who agree with the tyrant and everyone else is expendable and unimportant collateral damage.