Per Greenwald: “Jonah Goldberg puked up a paragraph last night in the Corner which really captures everything that is rancid and decaying in our country…”

Oh, that’s a beauty!

OK, just ignore that handle…

You know, I think I’ve decided why Jonah pwn3d so much. Well, other than the fact that he’s a gibbering jerk with no real debating skillz.

See, he’s operating under the assumption that he is a Republican operative going forth to slay Democrats on television, where a pithy turn of phrase wins an argument. He’s forgotten that he’s — in reality — working in the blogowebosphere, where arguments can be extended and drawn out, facts have time to get checked and there’s not a biased moderator screaming in your ear.

When the pithy phrase is shot down, there’s little left except an empty suit.

you gotta love these guys who think, “I’m big enough, tough enough and smart enough to take on Wolcott.” Well no, no you’re not. If we’re lucky Fumento will crawl back into the woodwork. If we’re really lucky he’ll try to go another round.

I can’t decide whether Goldberg just doesn’t understand when he’s been horribly eviscerated or whether he drives himself onto it, enjoying the perforation of every nonsensical claim and argument he makes.

We have a culture, a heritage and countless institutions which stand opposed to dictatorship.

By supporting the legal system. See how that works?

-The Rev. Schmitt.

Oh Glenn set him up with the “thoughtful”, Jonah went for the poisoned chalice, then G. dropped a figgen suplex on the squishtard. Wonderful! All we do with Jonah is make veiled jokes about cheeto-lip gloss self-administered hand jobs. We’re so trashy. Glenn Greenwald is a rising star of the the bloggos! More of the same, please!

He should have learned his lesson the first time. Unfortunately, that “think” tank money is too goddamn good…

That’s what irks me. I could probably destroy that idiot in an argument, but because his mother is who she is, he gets a good paying job at a well funded think tank, spewing about the Simpsons and Star Wars.

Here is my main problem with the hysterical bleatings from fanatical “due process” idiotarians*cough* ACLU *cough*:

At what point does the safety and lives of US citizens become less important than the constitutional rights?

A tricky question, to be sure. Let me explain for you the difference between a “criminal” and an “enemy”. A criminal violates the law. An enemy wants to destroy our system of government. Granted that an enemy has to break our laws, but they not criminals.

All of our enemies commit criminal acts, but not all of them should be treated as criminals. You do not try an enemy, you hunt them down and kill them.

If we try to treat an enemy as a criminal, then we will run the risk of losing a lot more lives.

Personally, I would rather be alive instead of dead, but my enemies have appropriate due process and other nonsense.

And this (Perils of Pantloads) is the guy who’s in my grad school’s student paper all the time.

Either K-Lo and the rest of the Cornerites collectively lick his wounds after getting pwn3d, or Jonah gets off on pure masochism, sexual stimulation be damned.

And no, I don’t know which one is worse.

It’s time for Junior Whirl: Sadly, No! Edition!

A criminal violates the law. An enemy wants to destroy our system of government. Granted that an enemy has to break our laws, but they not criminals.
All of our enemies commit criminal acts, but not all of them should be treated as criminals.

Hey kids!
Can YOU spot the logical errors in these statements?
And remember, no fair peeking at the answers!

Peter: OK, but who gets to decide what an “enemy” is? You? The WH?

When they recently criminilized dissent, didn’t that just cloud the hell out of the issue? What about the rights of the dissenters to free speech? Or are they now enemies because they vocally disagree with the war?

And tell me, what about those NSA eavesdropping adventures: The Quakers? PETA? Anti recruitment activists? Criminals or enemies?

Really, explain it to me. I don’t think they are criminals OR enemies, but you might have a different opinion.

Zoink!

Scripps Howard News Service announced Jan. 13 that it’s severing its business relationship with columnist Michael Fumento, who’s also a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute. The move comes after inquiries from BusinessWeek Online about payments Fumento received from agribusiness giant Monsanto (MON ) — a frequent subject of praise in Fumento’s opinion columns and a book.

“A criminal violates the law. An enemy wants to destroy our system of government.”

Spiffy! The Bush White House satisfies both requirements. But are you recommending we kill them? That would be illegal.

Anyone who declares war on our system of government or country as a whole is an enemy.

And tell me, what about those NSA eavesdropping adventures: The Quakers? PETA? Anti recruitment activists? Criminals or enemies?

Really, explain it to me. I don’t think they are criminals OR enemies, but you might have a different opinion.

You are wrong, I do not consider them to be enemies. Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt here at least. Muhadeen, Ansar al-Islam, Al-Queda, OBL and the other Jumpin’ Jihadis who have declared war on our country are enemies, by my definition.

Besides, can you cite a case where any of these groups, even the idiotic “Holocaust on your plate” PETArds were wiretapped?

Well, hell, paranoid fantasies ARE fun after all. Could be no other explanation for their popularity. Apparently you missed how the program was targeting a foreign national on one or both ends of the conversatio which is their frigging job. Or should the Jumpin’ Jihadis be allowed to plot terror and be safe from monitoring if they happen to reside in the US?

Hey kids!
Can YOU spot the logical errors in these statements?
And remember, no fair peeking at the answers!

And LOGICALLY, if the “warrants for terrorists” has failed utterly for decades, shouldn’t we alter our tactics a bit?

So here it is: if y’all hate the way we are combatting terrorism is being handled, then what are your suggestions?

If you cannot give us a good alternative, then you are guilty of feckless bitching. And again, it is fun but not all that productive. I am most welcome to a discussion of alternatives, but this relentless Bush-bashing and all around bitching is getting kinda old.

Peter,

What have you seen pre-9/11 that justifies the stripping of Constitutional rights with respect to the 4th amendment? Most of the issues in not catching the 9/11 attack had more to do with not connecting the dots (analyzing data) as opposed to creating more dots (nonexistent wiretapping checks & balances). People in the FBI suspected an attack was imminent, people in law enforcement weren’t caught unaware (as much as Ms. Rice would like to argue otherwise).

If we want this country to be safer, we need more arabic translators, more analysts. Phishing all of teh internets’ traffic does us no good when there’s no one analyzing the data. This adminstration is doing nothing constructive in making us safer from another attack from our enemies.

You know what, if Peter wants to feel safe more power to him, but he and those who agree this feeling of safety is more important than the law of the land should either go through the legal process to change it by amending the Constitution or go to some other country where the laws more closely approximate their desires.

But what if there was a ticking time bomb….ON THE MOON???

I saw it on 24 AND the E Ring. Oh, Teh, would YOU be able to say Enn Noo to Benny Bratt?

At what point does the safety and lives of US citizens become less important than the constitutional rights?

At what point does fewer constitutional rights equal more safety?

And what the Hell is the point of stopping an enemy from destroying your system of government by destroying your system of government?

-The Rev. Schmitt.

Besides, can you cite a case where any of these groups, even the idiotic “Holocaust on your plate” PETArds were wiretapped?

{{sigh}}

And LOGICALLY, if the “warrants for terrorists” has failed utterly for decades, shouldn’t we alter our tactics a bit?

It’s “failed” because that wasn’t seriously tried…it’s been “bomb first, ask questions someday.”

And before you go “B-b-b-but Clinton,..”, Clinton was an asshat with some elements of policy, as all Presidents were and are; because no one in there is perfect, unless you’re part of that top 1% that “own” them.

So here it is: if y’all hate the way we are combatting terrorism is being handled, then what are your suggestions?

How about stop bombing Iraq, pull out the troops, put in spies/inside people to get inside Osama bin Laden’s organization (wherever it could be “headquartered” now), arrest him, bring him to an International Criminal Court, and put him on trial (since the USA’s evidence is so “compelling” it should be a cinch to get a guilty verdict, you would think?), like some semblence of a sane country…you know, what we were supposed to do in the first place?

But since it doesn’t have groovy explosions, the “other side” suffering, and it’s not a war against a frickin’ nonpersoned NOUN, it’s no fun, so let’s keep bombing our way to “victory,” whatever the hell that is.

Peter said: “You are wrong, I do not consider them* to be enemies. Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt here at least.”

*Quakers, PETA, anti-recruitment activists.

Those where the ones I cited Peter, and I said I did not believe them to be either criminals or enemies. So, does that mean you consider them to be criminals? I’m just trying to get your position here…(I’m gonna guess yes, since you used the oh so cynical PETards meme – BORING). Guess what? They’re entitled to be protected from the big bad enemy too. But the Bush Administration is treating them like they are BOTH criminals and enemies.

I guess George gets to have his cake and eat it too. It’s good to be king…

…BTW, I appreciate you stopping by and sharing your views. I just can’t see how you can support some of this stuff. Really, it’s indefensible.

Jonah sez: “I don’t see anything wrong with what I wrote….”

Truer words were never spoken.

All of our enemies commit criminal acts, but not all of them should be treated as criminals. You do not try an enemy, you hunt them down and kill them.

That’s one opinion. Sun Tzu had another one: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. As nasty as they were to their own people, our CIA-sponsored tyrants didn’t spend any time or money terrorizing Americans. After all, how many Islamo-terra-tacks happened on American soil during the rule of Saddam?

Did you dudes see this? I’m not totally convinced, but it would be irresponsible not to speculate.

Peter says: “If we try to treat an enemy as a criminal, then we will run the risk of losing a lot more lives.”

could you elaborate a bit? this really doesn’t make any sense.

“And LOGICALLY, if the “warrants for terrorists” has failed utterly for decades, shouldn’t we alter our tactics a bit?”

Evidence please? and then you know what? CHANGE THE LAW. Don’t secretly break it and then be all “I am Teh President. I do what I want!”

As nasty as they were to their own people, our CIA-sponsored tyrants didn’t spend any time or money terrorizing Americans.

Really? For example, you can’t think of a single disgruntled mujahideen supported by weapons and funds from the US and snubbed by their home country in favour of US aid?

-The Rev. Schmitt.

Jane Hamsher at FDL notes that the blog’s contributors are reasoned and articulate. Now, having been a writer all my professional life I may be relatively articulate, but reasoned?

Not these days.

Rather I’m frustrated, angry, and depressed. The repeated victories of the moron and his gang of Fascists have elicited in me some very ancient impulses, like, uh, an overwhelming urge to do some serious physical damage to these fat fucks, if ONLY I could get my hands on them.

What in hell does “reason” have to do with anything these days? Yes, there ARE articulate and reasoned people on progressive/liberal blogs, but the bottom line is that we are totally impotent in the face of the Fascists’ well-oiled machine.

One part of the Fascists effectiveness is that they all speak with one voice on a daily basis, and they never depart from the script. One message each day, in short, clear, declarative sentences.

That’s what the pants-pissing, brain dead 45 percent of the American electorate who love the moron need right now.

Here’s what’s so frustrating. To defeat these slimy bastards we would all have to become exactly LIKE THEM. Cynical manipulators, bullshit artists, liars. Criminals.

I don’t have the stomach for it, honest to God. They do. Which is why we’ll never win.

Peter: Here’s a cite to back up the NSA spying on the Quakers:
—
NSA Used City Police to Track Peace Activists
By Douglas Birch
The Baltimore Sun

Friday 13 January 2006

Activists monitored on way to Fort Meade war protest, agency memos show.

The National Security Agency used law enforcement agencies, including the Baltimore Police Department, to track members of a city anti-war group as they prepared for protests outside the sprawling Fort Meade facility, internal NSA documents show.

The target of the clandestine surveillance was the Baltimore Pledge of Resistance, a group loosely affiliated with the local chapter of the American Friends Service Committee, whose members include many veteran city peace activists with a history of nonviolent civil disobedience.

FYI

fanatical “due process” idiotarians*cough* ACLU *cough*:

I know the word has been around for a long time, but for some reason, today is the day I finally want to ask: how is this stupid fucking word “idiotarian” different from just plain old “idiot”?

“As nasty as they were to their own people, our CIA-sponsored tyrants didn’t spend any time or money terrorizing Americans.”

Ronnie Moffitt might disagree, having been blown to smithereens in the middle of Washington DC by Pinochet’s secret agents while traveling in a car with Allende’s former defense minister.

Grendel’s dam, Lucianne, taught her boy Jonah everything he knows about Iraq. That took a minute and a half, with time out for Vichy water.