the hearing

[benghazi was] "the worst tragedy since 9/11".  wow, what color is the sky in rand paul's world?

does he get the newspaper at his house?  or own a television, or computer?  i guess no one ever told him about the wars that've been killing americans for 12 years, newtown, connecticut, or the hostages killed in algeria this week.

i've never quite been able to wrap my mind around this benghazi "scandal".  our embassy was attacked.  four american diplomats died.  yes, it was a terrible tragedy.  but it happened in the most dangerous part of the world...to people who accepted that as a possible outcome when they signed up for a post in _libya_.

there's a special kind of someone who wants so desperately to see the world become a better place, he's willing to put his life on the line to help birth a new democracy.  someone who wanted to build a democracy in a region that's been ravaged throughout history, and conditioned to fear and even hate a country he loves.  that was christopher stevens.  he didn't want to die.  he didn't want his comprades to die either.  no one did.  and no one meant for this to happen.  it is a terrible tragedy, and a loss to all americans.  and yes, mistakes were made, security was sparse, and the negligence cost four americans their lives, but this witch-hunt by senate republicans is incomprehensible.

this is the same fucking party that bullshit its way into a war with iraq...a war, incidentally, that has cost 4488 american lives.  and now they demand that heads must roll because the declassified talking points provided to the morning-show-stooge (i'm sorry madame ambassador--i don't actually think you a stooge. it's mere wordery) were "misleading".  the effrontery exceeds my comprehension.

like, i don't even know what else to say...

~k

recessing losers

dear congress: i hate your fucking guts. i hope every last one of your stinking asses gets fired this november. 

best regards,

~k

a lesson in etiquette

R.S.V.P. = respondez s'il vous plait, french for "reply please".

it doesn't mean do nothing. it doesn't mean you don't need to respond if you aren't going. it means FUCKING RESPOND!

for folks (like me at the moment) in the throes of planning an event, things like headcount are important. we need to know how much booze to have on hand, our caterers need to know how much food to bring, and we need to know how many cupcakes to have on the fucking dessert tray. and if there's one thing we don't need, it's to have to call your lazy, inconsiderate ass to see if you're coming or not, cuz it's not like we don't already have enough going on.

this has been a big beef for me for a really long time, refreshed anew because my cousin is getting married next weekend, and had to call several members of his own family last week in order to get a final head count to his caterer.

and i realized that in 45 days i too will be getting married, and have no doubt that a few days before i owe my final headcount to my caterer, i will be calling many of the same people to ask the same damn question. thing is, my call will come with a lecture on etiquette, and i'll be a royal bitch about it too.

~k

libya, budgets, and hypocrisy

not that anyone really needs a recap, but for the sake of some context, here some is. libyan rebel forces, inspired by the wave of revolutions across the middle east and the successful overthrows of autocrats to its east and west, have been fighting libya's dictator, colonel mohammar qaddafi, since about mid-february of this year. since the beginning of these protests, qaddafi's response has grown more and more menacing, resorting to air strikes and the bombing of his people. hundreds of libyans have been slaughtered, and each passing day brings qaddafi closer and closer to quelling the unrest.

stateside, republicans and democrats in congress are battling it out over how to balance our budget. completely ignoring (for political gain) the fact that the vast majority of america's imbalance is in the two sacred areas of defense spending and entitlements (a la social security and medicare), the battle is over which parks lose funding or which childcare program gets the hose. it's a typical run-around that goes nowhere and gets nowhere. and here americans sit, subjected to the doomsday scenarios presented by our friends at fox news and the snark coming from the lefties.

and libya. here in the u.s. of a wages a battle over how to help those poor embattled rebels in libya, fighting for their own chance at democracy. and don't get me wrong, i am sympathetic. i am sorry that qaddafi is a ruthless bastard and fights his weaponless people with air strikes and sophisticated weaponry. but - and hear me loud and clear - it is not the responsibility of america to solve that crisis. not on its own anyway.

i don't mean to sound like an isolationist either, as i am most certainly in favor of lending a hand when and where we can. but this country has already lost its credibility in the middle east, and established a reputation as an oil addicted bully willing to go to any length to imperialize the world's oil-rich lands. president obama has been right to wait out the current unrest, to allow the people of the middle east to fight for and bleed for their own democracy (as in, holy shit, someone in america actually did learn that american-style democracy cannot be thrust upon the likes of iraq and afghanistan), and to wait for a signal from the UN or the arab league of nations that it's time to take action against qaddafi.

a signal that's not yet come. by rule of international law (rules americans expect and even demand be followed by the global community), we cannot unilaterally invade a country or assist rebels against its government without UN backing. and whilst one could certainly argue (and successfully, i might add) that america has a history of only following the rules when its in our advantage to do so, i'd like to think those days are gone (or at least on hiatus whilst under the leadership of president obama), and that we are attempting to reside within the confines of our global community instead of being the neighborhood bully.

the thing i don't get in all of this though is that the same people with the doomsday predictions over our budget woes, those campaigning the end of days for america and its coming indentured servitude to its creditors, are the same pushing for an invasion of libya (or a more muted offer of assistance to the rebels). i mean, we can't afford to offer family planning to america's poor and middle class women or funding public radio to rural areas, but we can afford another unliateral and unlimited entanglement in a hostile middle east environment? no. we can't.

~k

p.s. happy st. patrick's day!

choo choo douchebags

i take the subway to work. i love taking the subway to work because i feel like i'm really living up the whole city life thing, and i love the metro etiquette i've found underground.

fer instance, when the train is coming in everyone lines up, and when it stops, the lines move to either side of the doors so that when the doors open, the folks getting off the train have free access onto the platform, then we waiters file on.

so today, i was lined up, the train stopped, and i moved a wee to the right to open up the platform to the exiting people, and some dickface cut in line in front of me (i assume everyone reading this knows me, but in the event you don't, i walk with a cane (long story)). after everyone had exited the train, and we started getting onto the car, said dickface proceeded to ready himself to take the only available seat on the train.

i was like, "excuse me, but do you think maybe i can have that seat?" when i looked around, everyone was staring at him with a "what a fucking douchebag" look on their faces. and boy weren't they right.

~k