There is a nut job named Fred W. Phelps. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Mr. Phelps calls himself a reverend; though I think his only connection with Christ would be similar to that of the Kane character in Poltergeist 2. The man, to put it succinctly, is a carbuncle on the ass of life. He and his tiny crowd of dentally challenged, venom spewing ‘church’ members attack the families of fallen soldiers – haunting their graves like ghouls – feeding on misery. I always thought the publicity he got was for the zoo value (what's that monkey doing, mommy?). But seriously - is this guy a ‘fade away into obscurity’ wierdsmobile, or an – ‘oh no, it’s Waco’ type? I’m afraid the latter - and I’ll tell you why. It has to do with evolution; the evolution of violence and how that manifests itself within the confines of a twisted mind. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First let me catch you up on what our Mr. Phelps has been doing of late. Oh – you’re gonna love this. It’s a real doozy.
Phelps has taken on the country of Sweden. You heard me right – Sweden: as in lutefisk, fjords and ABBA - saving his most virulent rhetoric for the Swedish royal family. He even has a website dedicated to this latest obsession – “God Hates Sweden”. Hear any Twilight Zone music in the background? I do. This story evokes that old adage, “Only in America”; because only in America is this brand of insanity actually encouraged. I mean – think about what Phelps has to say in general. First, he operates a website called, “God Hates Fags”. That’s bad enough; but now it seems god hates Swedish people too (at least according to Phelps). Wow - I cannot even begin to answer such rampant stupidity. You all know that bat-boy here is certifiable – right? Yet he’s often been given a national platform from which to spew his insane and violent ramblings (though not recently, I’m happy to say). Most agree that what he says is past offensive (that’s a given); but the way that he says it (especially lately) touches upon an even deeper problem, in my mind. Phelps parrots what can loosely be called ‘his betters’ – Falwell, Dobson. Each of them has said similar things. Well – maybe not called down a jihad against Sweden. That particular perversion is uniquely Phelpian – but the ‘moral majority’ hates homosexuals with the kinds of fervor usually attributed to Inquisition torturers. But Phelps – Phelps takes what other, more ‘mainstream’ religio-fanatics say and makes their fantasies real.
How does he do this? By acting upon his beliefs. Where Falwell might sit in a chair and opine that, in his narrow view of the world, god does indeed hate homosexuals – Phelps feels the need to get out of that chair and take his hatred into the streets. He and his merry band have been known to assault people with their home-made (and badly spelled) signage. If you watch video of the man – you can see his jaw clenched and his hands twitching. He can barely restrain himself from strangling whoever it is disagreeing. I half expect to see Will Sampson out there, medicine bag in hand, chanting away. Only Phelps isn’t likely to dissolve into the rock leaving a gooey skeleton behind. No amount of prayer will banish this poltergeist – he’s in it for the long haul. And that scares me, folks. Why? Because it has become OK to act out violent fantasies in America these days. Twenty-odd years ago Phelps behaviors would not have even been tolerated. Take a look at how society as a whole marginalized the KKK as a primer. They had all but faded into the woodwork – and then the neocon take-over of America occurred and all bets were off. The ‘talk’ quotient ratcheted itself up. I won’t waste your time tracking this – but there’s a clear line between bellicose bellyaching and ‘lets all go burn down the castle’.
Enter Phelps into the latter phase. He looks around and sees his betters coddled and promoted by the mainstream media. A light bulb briefly brightens that sewer he calls a mind. I can get away with this, he thinks. It’s allowed. I can say anything I damn well please – especially against homosexuals, the neocon substitution for Jews in Nazi Germany. Think Phelps is too nutty to either attract or personally promote actual acts of violence? May I once again draw your attention to my KKK analogy? Twenty years ago I thought they were merely cartoon figures milling about smartly within the confines of my TV. Then they staged a march right down the middle of my street, and I discovered different. Right now all Phelps does is send filthy faxes and bash the occasional anti-protestor on the head with a sign. I’m afraid that will change – especially as he is now garnering more media attention with this Sweden thing.
How do I suggest we respond to Phelps? Well – watching him like a hawk would be a nice start. Not taking him on in any forum for discussion is another. The man loves to make Coulter-worthy charges. The mere act of answering such base and scurrilous accusations lends them credence (visual media please take note). All one person has to do is respond, and it immediately grants legitimacy to the attacker AND their inflammatory statements. You see - if you begin to explain why something is, or is not - you have already lost the debate. This man has carved out a bully pulpit by the sheer dint of his delusion-laden rhetoric. Attacks of the sort Phelps indulges in are driven by fear, or, as is more likely, prompted by some kind of clinical insanity. If fear - then his fear comes from a lack of certitude – about himself, his beliefs - the very existence of a soul. This lack of certitude lies at the core of Falwell and Dobson’s venom as well, in my opinion. Such overkill usually means that somewhere, deep inside, that person is mortally afraid. Perhaps, just perhaps, their truth may not stand alone in its righteousness. Maybe their gods aren’t the only gods – and folks - that can be a really scary thought to someone desperate to convince himself that heaven takes appointments.
In addition - let us not forget the very real possibility of true mental imbalance here. Fred Phelps may rightly be full-goose bozo. That, in my opinion, is what makes this man truly frightening. And because he cloaks his instability in religious euphemisms, the powers that be (hello FBI!) are ignoring what could be a very real danger. Brutal words lead to vicious action - as has been proved time and time again, throughout recorded history. Violence may indeed be the last resort of the feeble-minded, but it is always the first choice for any who believe they personally have replaced God. Anyone in this mans crosshairs had better damn well watch their back.
Prophetic, that. It’s as if Graham Nash had a window into the future – a window of hope. I wasn’t old enough back then to participate in those changes – but I was aware of them – of what human beings can do when sufficiently motivated. Those who saved the world from Hitler may have been the greatest generation – but those who Graham Nash called to arms were its most prescient. They opened their eyes, looked at their world, saw the potential for utter devastation and cried out in a single voice, HOLD! ENOUGH! We will not walk down that path into darkness. Mordor will not win the day. We chose the light. And so the world changed.
You see – I believe it IS possible to change the world – right here, right now. Why? Because I believe. That may sound simplistic – but it is not. Belief is the first step towards any change. Belief in salvation is essential – without it, no change is even practicable. And what exactly do I believe? I believe that we as a people really CAN transform America. All it takes is the commitment to do so.
Well I have found my commitment – my cause célèbre. I am so excited to finally tell you - I have agreed to serve as Creative Media Director for our own Kelley Wenzlaff and her campaign to win a seat in the Ohio State Legislature. Kelley’s motto is Mom for the House – the Ohio State House, that is. Come January of 2009 she plans to be sworn in as the first Democratic woman elected by the people of Delaware County – and by gum, it’s my job to see that she gets there!
No – this is not about being senator or president; but we will speak to national issues. Washington isn’t the only place where laws that affect America become enacted, you know. If you think states have little to do with which way our country blows – I ask you to consider South Dakota. Kelley did. She became energized when asked to testify before the Ohio Legislature on behalf of a woman’s right to choose. Ohio was teetering on the edge of madness – sentencing a woman to hell should she ever become the victim of rape or incest. Kelley soon realized in order to make any substantive difference she had to be in a position to influence those laws. I could not agree more. This is a soapbox issue for me. Before you can change America proper, you have to try changing your own neighborhood first.
So - this is where I’ve been all these weeks – where all my energies, thoughts and passions have been directed. This is why my postings have been a mite sparse; why I haven’t been adding my two cents to any of your blogs. Don’t think I haven’t been reading them through, though; listening, learning – following lines of thought, mulling over attitudes and ideas. And not just from the women; though the core of Kelley’s campaign is about women finding and using their voice. All women, by the way. We are quite ecumenical in that respect. We stand for a woman’s right to be where and do whatsoever she so chooses. After all - a woman’s place IS in the House – the House of Representatives that is; and boy howdy are we planning on arriving there in style! Welcome, my friends to the Elect Kelly Kelley Wenzlaff – “Mom” for the House! Campaign.
Want to help? You can right now. We are brainstorming ideas for the perfect M.O.M. acronym. Don’t be shy - send us your ideas. Together we form such a creative group - I am sure we can come up with a real zinger if you all pitch in to help. Any and all opinions or suggestions will be gratefully received. You see – Kelley is only getting minimal help from the Ohio Democratic Party – and I mean this both logistically and financially. She is, for all intents and purposes, essentially on her own. They may step in at the very end and offer up some money for commercials – but we’ve been told not to count on it. It’s not that they don’t support her; they just don’t have the resources to attack such a staunch Republican stronghold. We have done the research however - and we know we can get the votes IF we can find a creative way to get her message out. So talk about our campaign to your friends. Relay information. Post about it and link to the website: Mom for the House. Give her a holler by sending a dollar! SPREAD THE WORD! We need publicity and lots of it.
Only 15% of the elected officials in The Ohio Legislature are women, and the numbers are similar all over the country. If we stand together, we can change that - right here, and right now. Kelley has said, “I respect women who claim to cast their votes on issues, not gender. I feel the same way, but really, is it possible only 15% of women candidates are worthy of their vote? Clearly, there are other forces at play. We must find a way to unite women’s voices and values. Women must be heard in the legislature. The health of our democracy depends on it.”
I have written much more about this and my involvement with Kelley’s campaign over at The Fat Lady Sings. Please stop by and let me know what you all think about this. We CAN change the world, you know. And we WILL re-arrange it. We will do it by inspiring women all over this country to embrace our democracy on the local, State and Federal level. So hold on to your hats, my friends. That rumble you hear in the distance is the Mom for the House tornado – and it is going to lift you up as we storm the gates!
JonBenet Ramsey. I find the media's obsession with this case bordering on pornographic. Every damn day for the last two weeks whenever I’d try and listen for real news I have been force-fed reality-show details of John Mark Karr's sleazy pedophilic life. By the way - notice that they always use all three names whenever referring to him? John Mark Karr. As if he's already been granted celebrity status. And for all intents and purposes - he has. His family hired an entertainment lawyer – did you know that? Wanted to make sure they squeezed every damn dime out of the situation. Now they are making noises about suing the Colorado DA – because their ‘good’ name was dragged through the mud! Their ‘good’ name – what a fucking joke! Keep in mind - this same family sold pictures and video tapes of Karr to any and every news outlet and yellow-sheet rag that would pony up enough cash. And did those round-the-clocker’s eat that shit up! They mainlined it – jabbering on about light fixtures and underpants as if each new item were the Holy Grail. Now that Karr’s been uncovered for the slimy fraud that he is – the sharks are circling – taking a bite out of anything that moves, disappointed to be deprived of their anticipated frenzy.
What to do now with all the carefully edited research, photoshopped pictures and suitably breathless blonds? All that prep time wasted. And time really is money in the media biz. So – they are desperate to keep it alive – and one way to do that is to shift the blame. I heard one of those shaggy blonds talking to Patsy Ramsey’s sister this morning – doing her level best to re-focus the blame for JonBenet‘s death back onto the family. This bimbet actually implied that the Ramsey family was somehow complicit in foisting Karr off on the DA’s office. The balls on that bitch! When that didn’t work – she dredged up ten year old baseless accusations – anything to get Patsy’s sister to bite. It was shameless. Other equally deprived talking heads spent their morning attempting to whip up frenzy over the DA’s supposed ‘incompetence’ – putting it on a political footing. They had Colorado’s governor to help with that. Hey – gotta make those political points! Who cares if it’s off the back of a dead six year old. What took the cake though – was MSNBC’s fruitless efforts to continue convicting Karr in the court of public opinion – trying to get their stable of ‘experts’ to say that DNA evidence wasn’t really crucial to the case. That Karr could still be prosecuted for the crime. Please. The bastard didn’t do it. Get over it and move on. Want to turn back the hands of time and re-do everything to fit your premise? Try using a pair of ruby slippers. I hear that and a bump on the head will get you home free.
Maintenance. Oh how I hate that word! TypePad uses it with impunity - anywhere, any time - shut everything down and say it's for 'Maintenance'. The truth is actually much darker. Once again the Time Gremlins have infiltrated TypePad and forced it's servers to go offline (I dunno – sounded good at the time). It’s all an Al-Qaeda plot, of course; or French, or Iranian - or whoever it is we're all supposed to hate this week. Surely there’s someone to blame. TypePad couldn't have thought this up all by themselves. Why they'd have to be EVIL........Wait a minute - they are evil! I stand corrected.
in the proper context.. it aint such a bad thing..
| by El Serracho! | 7:14 PM |
i started, for a moment, to write how much i hate typepad cus it's down, and they have a "maintenance" sign up. which is a lie. maintenance is what you do to PREVENT the sites going down. however, then i realized that if i can't post then neither can protein wisdom or ocblog so maybe we'd all be better of it went down permanently. there's no way the goodness and love produced by my blogging outweighs the bile and ignorance of theirs.
I’ve been listening to Tony Snow dance around the administrations reaction to today’s Supreme Court smack down of the whole Gitmo bullshit - and I just can’t take it any more. The upshot is - they are actively looking for a way to circumvent a ruling of the Supreme Court. Christ! You should have heard Bush today – saying with one breath he has no intention of changing a god-damned thing and with the other that he’ll ‘abide by the ruling’. Bullshit, in any fucking language. Then Snow gets up there and say they have a phalanx of lawyers parsing each and every word – so they will ‘know what it really says’. It says you broke the law you dim-witted amadán! But no, says Tony the oh so weasely. Look here – each judge wrote an opinion – whose opinion do we follow? Do we follow Thomas and Scalia who dissented? Or do we follow Breyer who was in the majority but highlights certain areas he thought were the most important? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm? Why this could take some time! After all – we want to ‘abide by the ruling’.
But what of the prisoners, some enterprising reporter asks? What happens to them in the meantime? Why nothing – dear Tony looked astonished that she’d ask – after all, as he so famously told Helen Thomas – he’s The Teacher. Just like his boss is The Decider – That makes Tony Snow the Kommissar of information. The reporter tried to follow up – but don’t you have to respect the Supreme Court Ruling? You were admonished by the court to follow Geneva Convention rules. Don’t you have to change how the prisoners are treated? Of course not – says Tony – I don’t know that we need to change anything – that’s for the lawyers to decide (ah – now lawyers are The Deciders). But what about Congress she asks (this lady tried – I’ll give her that – not another one of her colleagues looked like they even gave a damn). Ah – Congress! Tony’s eyes light up – that needs to be gone over too. Some of the Justices mentioned Congress. That will take even more time to figure out. And with that – he moved on. So much for the Supreme Court, so much for the rule of law and so much for the American Constitution.
You know - the lot of ‘em – from Bush on down should just take the damn thing out of the National Archives and piss on it in full public purview. Not that the American public will give a fuck. Hey folks! Yoo-hoo! The President of the United States just stated he intends to disregard a ruling from the Supreme Court – a court he stacked personally, by the way. Plan on doing anything abut it? No? Thought so, you gutless motherfuckers. Well – you get the government you deserve – and you bastards deserve this – we don’t, unfortunately; but that’s the breaks, I guess. The majority could care less – so those precious few of us who’ve been carrying the torch you all seem to have abandoned have something to say. Get. Out. Go start your own fuckin’ country – make it that theocracy you’ve all been salivating for. Don’t even bother with a constitution – just copy Muslim Sharia laws and scream it’s really Christianity. Truth doesn’t matter – remember? Institute the death penalty for – oh, lets see – not attending the national church, failure to invoke god before passing gas – doesn’t matter – anything will serve. Even children can be under the gun – string ‘em up for talking back to their parents. Oh – and don’t forget corporal punishment. Beat those little fuckers till their backs run red. See how much fun you could have with your own country? Just leave America to those of us who think the founding fathers were right. So get out – pack up your shit and get the fuck out of my country – and that that sulpherating little shit Bush with you when you go!
Well - It seems massacring civilians is as American as apple pie. And to think I believed Haditha and Mai Lai to be anomalies! I actually thought doing something this heinous was so antithetical to even being American, the chances of it happening a multiplicity of times were slim and none. After all - Mai Lai and Haditha happened under the ‘leadership’ of two criminal presidents – Nixon and Bush. I thought that played into it. But No Gun Ri occurred on Truman’s watch. The buck stopped with him, as he so famously put it. That means those deaths were on his shoulders. And now Haditha. Once again American servicemen murdered civilians; slaughtered babies in their beds. Excuse me while I throw up.
Chief Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson understands Mai Lai better than most. He had a front seat. If not for his intervention – hundreds more would have been executed. He put his life on the line to save women and children from being slaughtered by Calley and his band of murderers. He was the one who brought this horror to light - testifying to the truth. And he paid dearly for it – threats to his life, threats to his family, the torture and slaughter of his pets. This from ‘supporters’ of the military machine. They thought he should have shut up – helped cover it up; stood by and let it happen - like the Haditha apologists today. I suggest you take time to read his story. Perhaps it might affect your opinions toward the marines in Haditha. At least – I hope it will. This is how Thompson summed up that day:
It was probably one of the saddest days of my life. I just could not believe that people could totally lose control and I've heard people say this happened all the time. I don't believe it. I'm not naive to understand that innocent civilians did get killed in Vietnam. I truly pray to God that My Lai was not an everyday occurrence. I don't know if anybody could keep their sanity if something like that happens all the time. I can see where four or five people get killed, something like that. But that was nothing like that, it was no accident whatsoever. Pure premeditated murder. And we're trained better than that and it's just not something you'd like to do.
Does it seem to you that America circa 2005 is very like that of America exactly 100 years past? Similar themes, you know - what had been a bourgeoning middle class is constantly under threat from an increasingly apathetic corporate elite. Available jobs (i.e. low-paying) are being transferred to a hungry and ever-growing immigrant population. Entire occupations are being exported overseas - for example, America is no longer in the business of manufacturing textiles. Politics and politicians are increasingly available to whoever bids highest, or offers the most palatable positions post-Washington. Not to mention a press who, like Narcissus, have become overly enamored of their own reflexive rectitude. Why, old Teddy Roosevelt himself could be president - only, alas, he is not.
Let me introduce you to a newly endangered species - the middle-class American. When my parents and grandparents immigrated here, they gave their children the gift of upward mobility - a chance to shift circumstances from poverty to at least a semblance of wealth. Now, those who still believe in the American dream have been supplanted by a ruling elite whose only interest is in keeping their golf scores low. Somehow, I don't think that could have happened had old Teddy back then not forced corporate America to stop looking at the world in terms of the wealthy and those who provide them service. Today’s almost insurmountable problems I lay entirely at the Bush administrations extremely dirty feet.
I must say, I really do not understand Bush or his cronies in any way, shape or form. Now Nixon, (whose presidency is the only contemporary one I can reference when looking at Bush), was driven by his passions. The man knew how to hate (a sobriquet he assigned to Mama Bush, by the way). Once you understood that about him, parsing his decisions becomes easy. Vengeance personified - quiding before the pro quo had even dried. That and he wanted a place in history - hell - more than just a place; the man wanted next to Lincoln on Mt. Rushmore!
Side note – my Father worked at Lockheed during the ‘60’s. He was assigned to guide Nixon around the plant during one of his ‘68 campaign stops. Now, I was only a kid, and more interested in what new clothes I could make for Barbie that week, but I never forgot what he told my mother when he came home. He said, ‘no one should EVER treat his wife that way – no one’. It stayed with me; Pop wasn’t big on the condemnation thing – we left all that to my Mother. Later conversations revealed Nixon hadn’t been too kind to dear old Dad, either. I must say, after all that I could never bring myself to trust the man. My Father never explained what prompted his comments and I never asked him about it, though it always made me wonder.
But Bush – the inconsistency and complete lack of credible decision making baffle me. It’s as if all he wanted to do was to get elected. That’s all – just elected - no real work involved. It’s the 7th grade boy who never feeds the dog, the college frat party ethic of ‘we here by pledge to never get up before noon’, the ‘sure I know the garbage has to go out, honey – just wait till I catch these scores’. Puerility, coupled with a total and complete lack of responsibility from day one. This belies the White House’s constant drum beat portraying Bush as some kind of demi-god with omnipotent powers ready to sweep down and provide salvation. What salvation? We have been hit by a disaster proportional to another terrorist attack (one which our government ignored), fuel prices keep rising, major White House officials are under indictment or investigation and Bush himself seems only interested in playing with his cowboy hat.
They say the event makes the man. Well - maybe that was so for Lincoln, or Wilson, or Roosevelt (Teddy or Frank – pick one - you still hit 21). But this man we have as president now – a complete waste of a suit, in my opinion. He continually steps all over his hang-down, and is too stupid to understand why it hurts! I mean, what the hell is wrong with him? He persists in viewing Iraq through prismed lenses, beats the drum against its neighbor and mortal enemy Iran - and why in the name of all that’s holy attempt to smear the wife of a perceived enemy? Especially when it jeopardizes American interests abroad? Valerie Plame’s job was to spy on Iran, for Christ’s sake! I mean, by now, mustn’t he know it isn’t possible to hide that sort of thing? And what about the rest of the inanities! Re-hiring Brown as a FEMA consultant, firing the head of the CIA before a replacement has been approved by Congress, denying an independent commission to investigate the entire Katrina debacle, etc., etc., ad nauseaum, ad infinitum. Does he think we’re not watching? What the hell is going on up there anyway? Are the lunatics running the asylum?
Maybe it’s about time we dropped a house on their ass – a great big one complete with septic tank. And we should do so with cold precision; aided and abetted by all the 'little people' the Bush machine has so thoroughly screwed. If we’re lucky, the lot of ‘em will self-immolate, and we can collectively hand them their hats. I doubt it though. The only person truly capable of slaying that dragon is the one with all the Benjamin's. Point being - old George there and his cracker barrel five won't be considered salvageable if he no longer turns a profit for corporate America. His coterie may be rabid; but the Murdock's of the world only see through their glass darkly. Bush can’t sell soap for them, if no one is watching. The minute ratings/$$$ dip into negative territory – and I’m talking ratings here, not poll numbers - watch and see how quickly every single one of them are sent riding toward Texas on a rail.
I’ve heard people say, ‘Republicans hate America’. Now, I don’t happen to believe that as it applies to the average American; just like saying all Christians think like Pat Robertson, or all Muslims want to destroy the United States. It’s just not true. But I’ve gotta wonder about the group up on Capitol Hill at the moment. They’re like strip miners – whatever’s left over before they leave is not only useless, it’s ugly as well. It’s Bush and his cronies that hate America – and all I have to say about that is, "You knew I was a snake when you picked me up".
Just what is the equivalence of a pat on the head complete with lollipop? Is it the left-handed compliment – ‘well, pretty good, considering you don’t focus solely on politics’. ‘What a nice little blog!’ ‘There’s always room for your sort of thing.’ ‘I’m sure some people will find the information useful.’ Makes you wish they’d not bothered in the first, place, doesn’t it? Make my lollipop cherry, please. Or is it more of a ‘seen but not heard’ kind of thing? ‘If we ignore her long enough, maybe she’ll just go away – we don’t have enough marshmallows to go around, you see.’ ‘She can’t play – she’s a girl!’ ‘Da da da da da da da da da da da – (has she gone yet?) da da da da da da (OK – it’s safe to take your fingers out of your ears, guys – she shut up’).
Of course – one can stake out a niche in the world of feminine and feminist bloggers – women’s issues (lower case, to most of the ‘boys’) are very much in vogue these days, especially those issue’s that have a political flavor. Great to be sure; a generous leavening of the political blogs out there are run by women (and I think the best), but the classification becomes inaccurate if your subject matter strays toward the personal or rhetorical on occasion. And there is the world of diary blogging – chronicling you or your family’s life and times – all worthy to be sure – and all summarily dismissed by ‘the guys’ as not weighty enough; you know what I mean - along with all family related issues diary blogs are usually labeled as lacking in ‘fiber’. Oh, they rarely come right out and say it. Hence employment of the above strategies. But you will get the point – of that you may be sure. Without declaring yourself openly and avowedly political in nature, you might as well pack up your dictionary and go home. Unless you like lollipops, of course; in that case there are plenty to go around (though they’re out of cherry, I’m afraid).
So what’s a girl to do? Smile sweetly and hold some guy’s jacket while he and the ‘boys’ kick around that metaphorical football? Not for me, sister. I’ve never accepted anyone’s labels, and I don’t intend on starting this late in the game. Go marginalize someone else. Think you can pigeonhole me as Mensa-light? I don’t think so. And if you do, then you’ve got another thing coming. There actually are a few men out there who prefer their meals 'spiced'; maybe not enough to keep me in cookbooks – well, not yet anyway. But there are lots of hungry women though – chefs in their own right, capable of sustaining me and mine till hell freezes over, if need be – though I really don’t think it will take that long. In the meantime I will craft my work for me – you’re welcome to the table bucko – but one crack about how I prepared the meal, and I’ll send you on your way, lollipop and all!
You know all that defective body armor our troops have been saddled with? Well - the truth has been uncovered by Liz of BlondSense - and it will curl your hair! Remember David Brooks and his 13 year old daughter's outrageous coming of age party? A cool 10 million spent to entertain the little darling with the likes of 50 Cent and Aerosmith. Well - it looks like that party was paid for with the blood of our countries finest - both on the battlefield and fighting crime on our city streets. David Brooks is none other than the CEO of DHB Industries - maker of all that defective body armor; body armor cited as the leading cause of death and injury amongst American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The same body armor worn by our men and women in blue, by the way; lots of dead and injured police on his conscience as well, it seems. Interceptor by Second Chance, it was called. Second Chance. How fucking ironic. Recalled. Every bit of it. Why? It didn't bloody work!
Soldiers For The Truth has reported extensively on this. In fact, it was they who brought to light the Army's shameful policy of denying survivors benefits to any soldier choosing the better made Pinnacle Dragon Skin (purchased at their own expense, mind you).
Two deploying soldiers and a concerned mother reported Friday afternoon that the U.S. Army appears to be singling out soldiers who have purchased Pinnacle's Dragon Skin Body Armor for special treatment. The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies. The soldiers were told to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action, they said.
Of course, Pinnacle was the choice of all the officers and other high mucky-mucks. God forbid they get blown to smithereens along with the common grunts. You all remember this - right? I sure as hell do. Did you also know David Brooks was a well known big money contributor to The Republican Party? Big fucking surprise, right? How do you think DHB Industries got that body armor contract in the first place? Pissed off? It gets worse. On top of all that, Davey boy managed to rook his stockholders with an Enron style 'pump and dump' scheme that netted him 185 million and left investors without one red cent.
David H. Brooks, CEO of bulletproof vest maker DHB Industries, earned $70 million in 2004, 13,349% more than his 2001 compensation of $525,000. Brooks also sold company stock worth about $186 million last year, spooking investors who drove DHB’s share price from more than $22 to as low as $6.50 [DHB was trading at $4.20 Wednesday]. In May 2005, the U.S. Marines recalled more than 5,000 DHB armored vests after questions were raised about their effectiveness. By that time, Brooks had pocketed over $250 million in war windfalls.
David Brooks – War profiteer extraordinaire. I mean – who gives a flying fuck if teen-agers are coming home in press-board boxes, while their comrades in ‘arms’ arrive having left theirs behind on the battlefield? Brooks was able to educate his daughter on just what conspicuous consumption is all about. Christ! Are you awake yet, America? Listening to the now deafening roar against this administration? Or do you still buy the Lonesome Rhodes, aw shucks God-fearing man swill Bush is slinging at you? David Brooks was allowed to do this by the Republican Cabal infesting The White House. He and Dick Cheney are connected through Halliburton, you know. Really. God’s honest truth. Still not convinced? Well - If you can’t or won’t see what that truth is – then you belong in the same jail cell as Brooks and the rest of those bastards!
