This really pissed me off. I apologize in advance for the bent feelings of anyone I respect who happens to be Catholic. I've had many friends who were staunchly Catholic without any trouble, but this speaks of a dark past that the Vatican should best not bring back to the fore.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A top Vatican official said Tuesday he felt pity and compassion for Saddam Hussein and criticized the U.S. military for showing video footage of him being treated "like a cow."

Really?

This from the same Vatican that opposed the reigning in of the Serbs love of genocide?

This from the Vatican that turned a blind eye to the rounding up of Jews on "cattle" trucks and packed into trains to be shipped off to death camps?

This from the Vatican with a long history of covering up and defending boy abusing priests?

This from a Vatican that only a couple of years back apologized for the persecution of Galileo? Nice of them since he's only been dead for over five centuries.

"I felt pity to see this man destroyed, (the military) looking at his teeth as if he were a cow. They could have spared us these pictures," he said.

"Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears, I had a sense of compassion for him," he said in answer to questions about Saddam's arrest.

Fuck your pity old man. Save it for yourself.

Save it for the day in which you have to answer to God for why? Why, did you turn your eyes away from the death and destruction, why did you make excuses for it, why did you oppose stopping it, why did you feel compassion for the butcher but not the victims? God's vicars are supposed to represent him on earth, which like a doctor, the first order of business should be, "First, do no harm". You haven't done the worst harm yourself, you've merely held it's coat while it happily murdered and sprayed the blood of millions.
Your fancy cloaks and titles have made you comfortable with standing close to power, yet the power that you and your kind choose to defend is the most horribly shamefull kind. Wether the PLO, the Serbs, the Nazi's or your own ass plundering Priests,....you always pick the wrong side.

Everytime.

Better you should go back to bible school you old fool. Try reading the passages about protecting the meek. I think you'll find there is no part about protecting the meekly caught after thirty years of savagry. No part about sucking up to the worst elements in power just because it's easy.

Turn in your collar old man. The "shoes of the Fisherman" are being poorly served by the likes of you. You forget who you are sworn to serve.

Both in Heaven and on earth.

Mike the Marine threw down a challenge. A tag team fisking, of the 51 reasons to vote for Dean. Semi-intelligent Thoughts picked up the second round, I humbly take up the third.

Anymore volunteers? We need to spread the love. #31-40 and 41-51 are open.

Udate, I missed on the first read that it was CD at Sem-Intelligent thoughts that came up with the idea, It was Mike at From the Halls to the Shores that got it rolling.

21) Despite the privileged background, he and his wife well understand the challenges and sharing necessary to balance a two career marriage successfully, providing time for family and time for those they serve. That is clearly evident in the available articles by reporters who've interviewed his wife.

Really? He's all in tune with working America because the press likes his squeeze? How does that work, she get's possesion of the family strap on on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Maybe heaven forbid, he should have to pick between being late on the gas bill versus the power bill?............Oh, not THAT in tune then.

22) In the last article in that last link, where it speaks of Dean's critique of the press coverage of Bush's children, he displays a belief in something more important than politics, the protection of family, even if the family is his political opponent's. There's something fair and decent and principled in that. I find it very refreshing.

Very nice, but how does that separate him from Bush? You think Dean is the only one who thinks their kids should be off limits? You really need to get out more.

23) Pundits, particularly on the right, love to warn us he could be the next McGovern. You remember McGovern. He was the decorated WW2 bomber pilot whose career in the Senate was spent passing bills that alleviated hunger all over the world, which simultaneously provided a ton of demand for the products of American farmers. He fervently believed hunger in the world could be wiped out completely. And he also was convinced the Vietnam War was wrong and promised to shut it down. His principled position forced Nixon to counter by promising the same thing. Nixon's administration proved to be the most corrupt in history, with many convicted, and both he and his vice-president forced to resign.

Oh yeah, I see the parallels to Dean - and Bush - now. In the scheme of important things in life, McGovern lost the battle, but Nixon lost the war. Several wars, now that I think of it. Dean as the principled McGovern... I like it.

He likes the comparison?......Jesus Christ it doesn't get any easier than this. He likes the guy who lost bigger than Mondale did, the guy who after all those years in the Congress bemoaned the rule he piled on small business's when his went bankrupt. That McGovern? The pied piper of the yippie crowd? The guy who promised to half our military budget at the peak of the cold war, that suckhead? What a retard.

24) Dean is cast as an 'angry liberal' by media pundits who keep trying to box him in with simple definitions. They keep on forgetting to mention his messages of hope and his reminders that the race is not about him, but about all of us. It's a powerful message about hope, but all the pundits can see is anger. This is journalism? Go figure.

I take it this guy hasn't seen the pictures of Dean that his very own supporters wave around? The spittle still flying in the air, .....those pictures. Dean's protrayed as an angry spit talker, because he is an angry spit talker. I bet the press have to wipe off the camera after every interview.

Next stupid statement please.

25) Dean took on politics as a parttime profession, as many positions in Vermont state government are. He wanted to stay a doctor while providing some public service. It was only when he served as Lieutenant-Governor and the Governor died that he was thrust into it fulltime. And he did it so well that he was repeatedly elected by comfortable margins.

Vermont is a one party state, like several old new england states. The dem party could have run a stalk of celery and still won there. That proves nothing. His practicing medicine while in politics has a lot less to do with mercy than money I suspect. State political positions rarely pay as well as celebrity doctor status does. Why all the greed, why the selfish pursuit of manna you capitalist pig?

26) Dean wants to undo the devastation Bush has caused by relaxing rules to permit more pollution and to allow more wilderness to be exploited. Dean understands the damage mercury can do especially to pregnant women and their fetuses. He protects life.

Uh huh, now point out to me the words Bush uttered where he mandates the force feeding of pregnant women with mercury you asshole. As a doctor Dean knows that's a false charge, but he makes it anyway. We are talking about parts per trillion as opposed to parts per billion. The original guidelines were so strict that we get a pennies worth of difference for a grands worth of spending. The money is better spent on buying your kids quality food over the wandering molecule of mercury that may get into a whole friggin lake.

27) Just as Dr. Dean expanded healthcare coverage in his state to cover 91% of the population, he'll do as much or more for all Americans. And unlike the prescriptions of the Bush administration, every gap in coverage will be filled and not by HMOs.

So, that's why everybody is rushing to settle in Vermount right,........(crickets..)

28) Dean knows the healthcare costs problem is not caused by lawsuits for damages caused by medical professionals and doesn't want to arbitrarily legislate limits on damage awards for the pain and suffering caused. He has faith in the courts to provide justice and set their own reasonable limits.

Translation, he's in the employ of the Trial Lawyers Association. He is also in disagreement with virtually every other doctor in the practice of medicine. He doesn't read the AMA's own journal? Struck blind by the campaign money huh? Mustn't speak ill of wealthy liberal attorneys now, they won't hold up bright shiney coin.......Dance little monkey, dance for the pretty penny.

29) Dean knows the healthcare costs are caused by big corporations putting ever higher profits above healthier people.

Oh yeah, the evil McMedicine theory. Silly me, and here I thought that hundred million dollar lawsuits had a widdle to do with it. That the hundreds of accountants and lawyers employed by medical companies for lawsuit protection, the millions spent on research and testing, the perfect outcome or I'll sue your ass off mentality of tort lottery winners?

I take it allllllll back,.........sap.

30) And speaking of higher profits, Dean doesn't think the crony system that lets the Bush administration's friends become war profiteers.

What?

Couldn't finish the sentence? Talk to Gephardt, seems the crony system in Vermont with Enron is alive and well, thank you very much. Seems that Dean isn't all that fussy about where his money comes from after all does it? Dean's an ass, you defender of Dean, are a sucker of ass. Dean's prospects for the White House are seeming as small right now as the size of Saddam's cell. You remember him right?.........The bad guy that your side held up as the uncatchable criminal mastermind, the one who wasn't really our enemy anyway, but as long as he was loose.........Was proof of our "failure"?

That means this is a success right?

I won't hold my breath waiting for that admission. Or for the realization that you have backed a loser.

So, have you considered Canada?

If this turns out to be real, then there are going to be huge amounts of crow force fed to the anti-war types who screamed over and over again,....."Iraq has nothing to do with 9/11, has nothing to do with the war on terror." Instapundit pointed me to this one.

The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad.

In the memo, Habbush reports that Atta "displayed extraordinary effort" and demonstrated his ability to lead the team that would be "responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".

If it pans out as real, it turns the arguement over Iraq on it's head. Bush never said there was a direct connection, not once. His was a more general "drain the swamp" point of view, which I share. But the anti-war types kept on saying that he did make that point, well, now that line of arguement is going to bite them in the ass. Because the majority of American's always suspected he did have at least a partial connection, and if true, this confirms that that gut instinct was correct. Score one for instinct over wasted education.

They opposed us in Afghanistan, saying we had no right to root out the Taliban supporters of Al Quada. They lost that arguement in a devastating manner, even the most dense of fencesitters now give grudging acknowledgement that we have a valid right to pursue this war on terror. Now the anti-war types try to say we can't do Iraq or any single other thing because it detracts from the very same war they opposed, they seem to say it's all unconnected. We know that it's all interwoven. This memo may be the first piece of evidence that proves that terrorism is a Gordian Knot, that it's all connected at some level. That we need to go after all of the safe ground that any country provides, wether they go after Americans or Israeli's, or Turks and Brits, it's the same nest.

Good thing we gots napalm.......huh.

Scottish Socialist Party , ass end of the communist world movement. He claims they made huge strides in the last election, well when you start from zero, anything is better. But in this case, worse than pathetic. In the last parlimentary election they garnered, drumroll please,...............a whopping 1.81% of the vote. The got a whole six seats. Conservatives are a minority there and they got eight times the support these ivory tower commie inbreds got.

Let the laughter begin.

Jeff Jarvis,

: Howard Dean says he'd "break up" media companies. This is the worst of political pandering: Big media companies have been made into the boogeymen du jour and so he announces he'll go after them. No legal basis. No constitutional justification. Just because they're there.

He doesn't LIKE FOX News. Seems having the liberal CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS aren't enough, not even NPR and PBS are enough, no he simply must silence any hint of conservatism from the airwaves. He wraps it in a canard of anti-corparate populism, but it's the same jackboot that progressives always wield when challenged. He's a liar, a hypocrite, smalltime brownshirt aiming for the bigtime and only a fucking moron would believe otherwise.

The problem is, that the left knows exactly what he is, what he intends to do, and they are just fine with it. Sure put him in power, remember what happened the last time a socialist with a disdain for free expression came to power?

Something like this?

For those Dean supporters who find the comparison offensive? I suggest you look at your own behavior first, then go stick your head in an oven.

You asshat Dean supporters can dish it out, but you can't take it.

Well it seems our guys did even better than first reported, 54 "good" baathists now. Must have had to gather arms and legs and divide by four. It was nice of the AP to include this local yahoo.

"No one wants these Americans to enter this holy city. We don't want them to defile (it), and that's why this battle happened," said resident Mawlud Jassim. "Many Iraqis were killed and the Americans sustained big losses in lives and equipment."

First, this town is in the north, Saddam country, second I guess the Iraqi Minister of Disinformation had a cousin. Why tell a small lie, when you can sprinkle pixie dust and make Abrams tanks just disolve on cue, huh Mawlud? Run that last line by me again,....yeah, it sorta shreds your credibility somewhat doesn't it?

This is as absurd as if AP reporters had rushed into Remagen the day after the Allies took it, then lined up the Nazi loyalists for a good bitch session. OOOOh, they only killed civilians, but took loss's dumble the number of men involved doing it............right. Mawlud needs to seek out his brother Qay-luud and take a pill. The whole bottle actually, but I'm just mean.

"American forces opened fire randomly on passersby and on (people) in the marketplace," said Shaker, interviewed Monday at the town's general hospital.

Sure they did, people were just calmly walking by, going to market, just casually meandering by A FRIGGIN TANK BATTLE YOU BRAINLESS MORON! DO YOU THINK THEY DIDN"T NOTICE AND MAYBE LIKE TRY AND TAKE COVER?..........Not according to jerkweed, nope they just milled around waiting for our guys to gun them down. I know that wild exageration is a common arab practice, they don't consider it lying, just the start of a back and forth. But JEEBUS Christ they suck at the propaganda stuff. Little lies they could get away with, but these whoppers have no wieght outside the arab world, unless you are a lefty brain donor type.

Update....

From CNN, this interview with one of our men.

JONES: Well, what they attempted to do -- and we don't know if it's actually civilians. I called them all terrorists. If they're blocking the streets or if they're attempting to block the streets, then obviously they're not a civilian. They're some sort of combatant. They're helping out the terrorist projects with that. I'm a true believer of that. These guys were trying to throw vehicles in the way, taxi cabs, a couple of white pickup trucks and everything, to actually block the roads as we tried to egress out with the convoy.

We did have to -- we did have to ram some vehicles out of the way to get our people out, to get our people out of there safely and securely. But civilians in the area, you know something's going to happen as soon as you get in there and all the civilians basically clear out of the way. So if you go into a street or part of the city that's normally busy and there's nobody around, you'd better get your guns up and ready to go.

Pretty much as I suggested yesterday, the civilians in question had already cleared out and men in civilian attire were putting up barricades to try and trap our people. The Sgt. is quite right, you take an active role in the fight, you are a combatant, and a target. The civilian "witnesses" are never going to admit that they were part of it, that they are lying through their teeth.

So, Jarjar...............go fuck yourself.

When your point of view isn't selling, when you can't win, can't gain followers, can't scrape enough pennies together to buy a clue, you do this.

We are a collective who had considered the shortcomings of the organized resistance to the 2002 World Economic Forum here in New York City, while recognizing the strength of the anti-war demonstrations throughout February and March of this year. We have therefore created this resource to help encourage a decentralized, autogenic mobilization to supplement the marches and rallies that will be organized against this convention. We respect and welcome a diversity of tactics and encourage autonomous groups to use their creativity to subvert this carefully staged affair to reclaim our streets and our lives.

The math is simple, they can'y win, so they intend to trash the events of those they hate. Free speech anyone?...........Oh, sorry, I forgot only these putrid little retards get to have a say, anyone else they just try and trash. They wanna march fine, enjoy the balmy New York weather. But how well would it be recieved do you think if a group of republicans got together and announced they planned to disrupt and subvert the Democratic National Convention? Not the same they say?.......Really, how about anarchists playing at brownshirted thugs? How about dems turning a blind eye to what the more sanity impaired among their followers plan to do?

I actually welcome this, it's George's ticket to a landslide of historic preportions. Because when John and Jane Doe plain American sit down to watch the news what will they see? They'll see these idiots burning flags, throwing red paint, screaming, attacking police, trashing stores and total mayhem. Does anyone think for a second that this is going to make them feel sympathy for this group of asspirates?

Me neither.

Like the spoiled rich kid going to a birthday party for someone else, and throwing the cake on the floor because he just realized he doesn't get to keep the presents. That'll show em............

Is my contempt showing?

I don't like Dean, I believe he's a political hack, a slick wanna be used car salesman of a populist clown. But I never really worked up any anger about him till I read this from Drudge.

Active duty soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are upset over being forced take part in a military repatriation ceremony today for remains believed to be those of the non-military brother of presidential candidate Howard Dean, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
-------------------

During the Vietnam War, Dean's brother and an Australian friend treked into Laos as civilians -- and were captured by the Vietcong and killed.

Military Honors are reserved for those who have actively served their country, wether in uniform or in office. NOT for the dumb as a sack of hammers hippy stoner who stumbled into a war zone and got himself killed by sheer stupidty. When every veteran dies, he has the right to be carried to his rest draped with the flag he defended. He has the right to be Honored by the nation who called him to serve. Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, Federal Judges, among others recieve this Honor.

Dean or his people using the military to put a varnish of repectability on a stupid act that got his brother killed is beneath contempt. This is Bullshit, it cheapens the ceremony, cheapens the value of real service, and he should be ashamed of himself for even contemplating doing it. You want to talk about wrapping yourself in the flag for political gain? Will some Dean supporter please explain in detail why I shouldn't want to kick his ass over this?

I buried my father under such a flag, my wife her grandfather and uncle. I won't allow this to go by without comment. Dean's an asshole.

Only in San Francisco could this be a serious debate. From Instapundit.

Laurel Eby, San Jose
I'm definitely torn, because I obviously don't want any more of our soldiers getting killed, but I also wouldn't mind the quagmire going on just long enough to ruin Bush's re-election chances.

Well my heart is all warm and gushy over the compassion evident here for our people in harm's way. Dead soldiers seem a small enough price to pay for ridding the world of the Bush regime.............

This is the working of an idiot's mind, for whom the deaths of people he doesn't know is merely an abstract. All points on a board to be tallied for political gain. I can bet with confidence he doesn't know ANYONE who is serving in Iraq, I mean to the hard left they're all mercenaries aren't they, so who cares as long as they gain air time and bonus points to use as a weapon.

Is it wrong to hope Eby gets run over and killed by a friggin bus? I'm torn, obviously I don't want anyone to get hurt, but anything that ruins Eby's chances of continueing to pollute the planet with his prescense is good.

That was very rude wasn't it?

The AnalogKid's reference to the "Black Bloc" inspired this bit of fact finding. The awful truth is I couldn't make up anything about these guys that would be worse than what they say about themselves. Take a look at there own posted documents and see if they are worthy of anything except tar and feathering.

Private property--and capitalism, by extension--is intrinsicly violent and repressive and cannot be reformed or mitigated. Whether the power of everyone is concentrated into the hands of a few corporate heads or diverted into a regulatory apparatus charged with mitigating the disasters of the latter, no one can be as free or as powerful as they could be in a non-hierarchical society

Phsyco-babble and bullshit to excuse a public tantrum and vandalism by mouthbtreathing whitetrash just got a day in college morons. I so understand why AK feels as he does.............I so would love a chance to tie a few of these guys into pretzel knots. Touch my stuff, my families stuff, you will pay. Gushing blood and broken bones are the price of admission. These people are utter scum.

So far, the idiot left's protests in London have failed to conjure up any numbers even close to what their math impaired organizers claimed would show up.

At least 50,000 people set off on a march that took almost two hours to clear its starting point at the University of London. They passed parliament and the prime minister's residence on their way to Trafalgar Square where several thousand more protesters gathered ahead of the march.

Oh they were only off by about 50,000, but hey, they got to dress up funny and act the fool so they fulfilled natures purpose for them. The London police estimate was 35,000, as was FOX news's report. So the may have been as much as 65,000 off. Commies can't count fer shit. Explains why they don't understand economics at all doesn't it?

The chief steward of the march, Chris Nineham, had predicted at least 100,000 people would join in, but as darkness fell, it appeared the numbers of protesters participating were far short of this prediction.

Must have been some Benny Hill reruns on or something. Such dedication, my hearts all a flutter..........................As for the bombings in Turkey today targeting British interests? They have an excuse for that too.

"I think it's a disgrace that these people are basically siding with Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida," said one of the three, Londoner Robert Temple. "Where were they when (former Romanian dictator Nicolae) Ceausescu came to town and why aren't they protesting against the people who blew up Turkey today?"

"It wouldn't have happened without Iraq. ... America is creating their own terrorists," said Ziggy Dlabal, a German sociologist who lives in London.

Ziggy?...............A grown man named "Ziggy"? Heh,...........

Well Ziggy's a moron, if America disappeared tomorrow, Al Qaida would simply shift targets, mainly to London instead of Washington. It's a war for power by fanatics, they go after the reigning power and it's friends regardless of politics. Only a complete dufus would ascribe rational arguements of motive and cause to those butchers. Besides the fact that Al Qaida has largely shifted targets to go after MUSLIM targets now, apparently in the hope that they won't lose so many people. Completely indifferent to the number of muslims that they slaughter along the way. That mistake will cost them badly in Turkey, as it has in Saudi Arabia. They are burning the seed corn. Driving away those that "might" have sympathized with them.

When they went after the west, they were cheered in the streets of arab countries. I don't hear any cheering anymore,......................

Sort of like lemmings, with the same suicidal tendencies. The Guardian ever so kindly provides this mental image.

Last night the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, mobilised figures from showbusiness, politics and diplomacy to highlight his opposition to the state visit and the war on Iraq.

Mingling with MPs such as George Galloway were outspoken figures such as Martin Bell, Beryl Bainbridge and the film director Ken Loach. Musician Damon Albarn and playwright Harold Pinter were also invited.

Covic is spelled with a "K" Einstein, it's Ron Kovic. He parties with Galloway? He of the Iraq bank accounts and funny money Galloway? And Pinter?....Drink a cup "o" blood Pinter?....... It's nice they all get along so famously. All that egotistical bile together in one room must have creaked the floorboards. Bet they even stuck their pinkies in the air when they sipped their drinks.

I wonder if they considered this. They opposed us in Kosovo too. Mean old imperialists making war on harmless people. Harmless people like Saddam, Galloway's employer. They turned a blind eye to all of that, ignored it completely. Bush is the greater evil they say.

I'm only asking myself why they haven't run out and taken up arms.

I wish they would.

Vegans, I actually know three vegetarians, decent people who really think they are leading a healthy lifestyle. But they aren't militant vegan animal rights nazi's. Which is why I wish them well in their choices. But Militant vegans? Read this please.

Oh, did I offend you?............

Then maybe this will make it all better!

No,....perhaps this then?

You're so hard to cheer up, how about this?

Sigh...........................There is just no pleasing some people.