THE INSANITY THAT PASSED FOR NEWS THIS WEEK

-by Mags

There is just no point in doing the Good News Bad News column this week. Instead, it is more fitting to remain flexible... roll with the punches. The news this week has been beyond good and bad. It is downright insane.

Let's take a look. The breaking story of the week is about Ted Haggard, Evangelical leader and Pastor at New Life Church in Colorado. Ted Haggard outspoken activist against the civil rights of gay and lesbians with regard to marriage has been accused of soliciting sex and drugs from a well known gay hooker by the name of Mike Jones. As of Friday, Haggard admits to buying crystal meth from Mr. Jones, but has insisted he threw it away. Like Jesus, he was tempted, but over came evil in his dark hour. When asked how he came to know Mike Jones he answered that he was referred to him for massages by the hotel where he sometimes stays.

Let me get this straight, Mr. Jesus Camp did not inhale, right? And, even though he is guilty of getting a massage, he denies getting a happy ending. Ok. Sure.

***Note, the church where Mr. Haggard was Pastor just asked him to resign. BUSTED! What a nut case. Gayle (Haggard's wife), call me. I have some advice for you.

Ok, pretty crazy right? But, get a load of this, Tucker Carlson defended hypocrisy to Joe Scarborough saying that if you could live up to your own standards, then your standards were not high enough. Say what? Yep, you read that right. In Tucker's mind, it is completely acceptable to say one thing and to do another. I don't know about you, but that explains a lot to me.

And, one more twist to the Haggard Story, as if these weren't enough. The White House is now saying that those weekly calls that George and Ted were having where Teddy was all about being George's spiritual advisor were not really happening and if they did, Haggard was not the main guy... in short, Bush don't know him. He doesn't know Abramoff. He doesn't know Gannon. He for sure didn't know Ken Lay-- nor where he is now. And, you can bet your sweet bippie, he never laid eyes on Ted Haggard. Ok, I gotta stop there. I am getting dizzy.

Early in the week Senator John Kerry flubs the punch line of his joke criticizing President Bush, and the right twists his words to make it look like Kerry is critical of the troops. The White House immediately demanded an apology for an insult that did not occur, and if it did occur, it was inadvertent due to one missing word... the word "us." What John Kerry clearly meant to say was if you did not study you might be so incompetent as to get "us" stuck in Iraq. Two little letters.

The insanity was taken up a notch as the White House continued to demand an apology even after Kerry had apologized for being misunderstood. The Dems once again scurried to blame John Kerry rather than to laugh it off. And, the gaffe King, George W. Bush escapes media attention for calling Democrats traitors. Simultaneously, John Boehner gets away with blaming the failure in Iraq, (failure...no surely not), on the generals on the ground. You know, the ones George Bush never listened to the whole time he said he was listening to them.

Not even Tony Snow could be pressed to say he believed that John Kerry was guilty of insulting the troops. It was obviously a pathetic desperate attempt to have someone besides George Bush guilty of backstabbing the troops. But, of course it was momentary since George really is the number #1 "stick it to the troops" guy.

George Allen's goons rough up a Virginia constituent asking controversial questions. It is caught on film. But, according to Allen this is the fault of... Jim Webb. Just how Jim Webb was able to get Allen's "security" to grab the man and wrestle him to the ground remains unanswered. But, one must wonder if any Republican is ever responsible for their actions.

****Note, Mike Stark the same person wrestled to the ground at the event mentioned above now arrested after a George Allen supporter at a different rally purposefully took a dive and accused Stark of pushing him down. George Allen offers the lame excuse that his daughter was at the event and he called for the arrest of the man to protect his daughter. This proves that there is no limit on lame excuses within the Republican Party.

Blaming others for their actions continued on an even grander scale when the government was forced to remove from the web, the documents from Iraq that explained how to make a nuclear bomb. Pete Hoekstra and Pat Roberts insisted that Bush post these documents despite the opposition of intelligence agencies.

Where to begin. First of all, if it takes an army of right wing pajama wearing bloggers to prove whether or not Saddam had WMDs then, the nation is in serious trouble, and George Bush's plans for security really need an intense once over. Didn't Bush himself admit that there were no WMDs? It is downright impossible to keep up with these people.

It is hard to blame the right wing faithful at times; to be fair, the information they are getting is all lies, but since they believe them lock stock and barrel their points of reference for reality are already skewed. Maybe this is the definition of insanity.

And, if they are still trying to prove Saddam had WMD, then what is the reason the United States of America invaded Iraq? By using the rationale of searching for proof, they admit that we were taken to war under false pretenses. Anybody over there on the right get that? God, it makes my head hurt.

Andy Card blames the New York Times. However, the information was not removed from the government site until Thursday night when the New York Times began their inquiry.
The Republicans are spinning this that indeed Saddam had the information. And, that he most certainly would have shared it with Iran, something which the Bush Administration has now certainly done. Christ, how can we get a do over? Oh, wait, this is real life, there are no do- overs!

The insanity here is that daily these howlers are on what one would suppose are news segments and they are interviewed by what passes for professional journalists these days. What is truly amazing is that crazy seems almost sane when repeated over and over again in monotonic syllables by people who hold a title and wear a suit. But, don't be fooled. Crazy is still crazy.


And, last but not least Saddam Hussein has been found guilty and sentenced to hang. Don't worry. He does have an appeal coming to him. So he is not going to be swinging in the breeze just yet. No, this is simply the Karl Rove scheduled verdict meant to remind us why we went into Iraq in the first place. You know... Saddam is a very bad man and all that. But, the verdict is really the spotlight here, and now commences another legal procedure which will be downplayed as much as the trial. Why? Well, the trial is a sham, silly-- just like everything else this administration has been behind.

An internet friend of mine at the outset offered a prediction, that Saddam Hussein would one day be put back in power in Iraq in order to bring the country back under control. That is still a long shot, but it is looking more possible everyday. Don't let the guilty verdict fool you.

Well, folks. That wraps up the insanity they call news this week. See you next week as we return to good new and bad news. And, the way the polls are going, I am thinking there might just be a whole lot of good news to report.

Vote and take someone with you to vote. And, after the votes are tallied, stand strong if it looks they were stupid enough to try to steal it. This is Independence Day all over again. Make your declaration. Seriously, it is the rebirth of a nation. A nation chided by the experience of being brought to the very brink of despotism. You know what to do.