She’s Dead. Move On.

Princess Diana Memorial Mural – Houston St. NYC 1997

Originally uploaded by nyctreeman

I am not a fan of royalty, especially the House of Windsor. I simply do not understand what the fan fare over a leggy blonde, who chose to slum with the social pariahs of the 80s. She gave special attention to AIDs patients before they were the cause celeb. Commendable. That does not make her a saint–it makes her progressive. She used her position of power to draw attention to important social issues. For that, she should be remembered kindly–but this outpouring of attention and faux-grief is a bigger waste of time, money and effort than all of my blog posts combined.

She had wealth, power and prestige and she used it to help people. It was her moral obligation to use her power to help the needy. If she did not find causes to support, she’d be a parasite–feeding off the people of the UK while giving them nothing in return. In retrospect she did her goddamn job. She gets a heap of praise for doing what she should do– I call bullshit. She is getting an inordinate amount of attention due to her position as a princesses–a meaningless title denoting an outdated system of governance.

She did good work and her death was a tragic accident. Time to fucking move on. The only people who should still be in mourning are her kids, because they lost their mother. The rest of us should find someone else who needs our support and work with them–not fawn over a Lady Di.

So Diana, I send you, and all your fans, The Finger. Originally, it was from my vacation in Ireland. In the spirit of the every washed up, two-bithack that rededicated a work of art to you, I have since repurposed this ireland picture just for you, and all the pathetic cobags that still mourn you 10 years gone.

Cheers!

Illinois Elvis Says Bend Over

Gov. Blagojevich

Originally uploaded by allison-williams

Currently, every elected official in Illinois is a democrat. Some are progressive (Pat Quinn) some are Elvis loving morons (The gentleman pictured in this blog). We had a chance in 2004 to make a sensible, progressive politics a priority. Blago’s ego, as evidenced by his hair, has gotten in our way.

Instead of grandstanding and bullying the party, Blago should be working with them. Until he gets his head out of his ass, or he gets a glass plate installed in his belly, he gets the finger.

I need a larger middle finger.

I’m afraid that my middle finger isn’t big enough to properly salute these guys. It suddenly feels small and insignificant. So not only are they destroying the environment for a pointless luxury, they’re giving my middle finger a complex. Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Another Finger for Gonzo

Source: NPR : Justice Department Investigators Stay the Course:

Legal Affairs
Justice Department Investigators Stay the Course
by Ari Shapiro

All Things Considered, August 28, 2007 · Congressional committees investigating the politicization of the Justice Department say the resignation of the attorney general makes little difference to their job.

Listen to the link. Little Difference to their investigation. How many aspects of his fuckery most foul are they investigating?

Granted, this is BushCo–they lost their benefit of the doubt years ago. Still, it is nice to hear that some one in Justice is taking their job seriously. Here’s hoping those investigators, like this middle finger, stick out against the back drop of corruption and cronyism

Technorati Tags: >overnment> >ustice>/p>!– technorati tags end –>

Technorati Tags: Government, Justice

The Finger Special After Disaster Special Report

bush_flipping_finger

Originally uploaded by mcclure_s

My Fellow Americans

Last year I was too busy on my vacation in Crawford, Texas, to care about the Hurricane that destroyed New Orleans. What people didn’t realize is that I looked straight into Katrina’s Eye and saw her soul. I saw that she wasn’t coming for my white friends, but for the poor, the hungry and the needy. I prayed to Supply-Side, White Jesus and realized that I didn’t need to do much. I could go play cowboy while New Orleans Drowned.

This year, I’ll just give everyone the finger as I pretend to care.

Fuck you all and God Bless,

George W Bush

Yeah, What She Said

One of my customers had a dentist’s appointment before her store opened yesterday.  She was still in a bit of pain when she called me to check on an order.  While I was tracking it, she booted up her computer and started checking out her news sites.

There came a whoop of joy from her end as Yahoo news loaded, followed by a soft “Ow.”  I’d already heard the news, but she proceeded, through her pain, to read the article on Gonzales’ resignation to me, chuckling the whole time (every laugh punctuated with another “ow.”) 

“I hope he’ll go down in the history books as the sleazy, lying perjurer he is,” she said. 

So do I, ma’am, so do I.

So, if y’all don’t mind, one finger from me, and one from her.

I Never Thought I’d Truly Miss Him

So, who remembers John Ashcroft? Our US Attorney General for five years, author of any number of reactionary absurdities and faithful wolfhound of the Christian right. The fellow who ordered a statue representing Justice to be covered during a public address due to her exposed breast, oh-so-titillating in its pale marble glory. The name that, seven years ago, seemed synonymous with the medieval mindset that formed the power base of this new and unknown administration.

Motherfucker looks good right now. To quote a well-respected philosopher on a similar issue, “Say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, but at least it’s a fucking ethos!” For all the comic value of that statement, there’s something thought-provoking in it. Mr. Ashcroft may have been a humorless, banal ideologue who let superstition and fear guide his decisions on legal policy, but Jesus Christ, he had principles!

Do I find any number of the principles he chose to espouse backwards, unworkable and occasionally reprehensible? Well, yes. But I would much rather pit myself, in terms of the national dialogue, against a foe of principle. I would much rather the nation have leaders, however misguided, who believe they are doing right; who are concerned, in their way, for the state of America’s collective soul.

I see none of that concern in the record of Mr. Ashcroft’s dearly departed successor. Alberto Gonzalez represented perhaps the most despicable facet of this administration – their absolutely mercenary nature. They prey on small minds and small worlds, taking advantage of the credulous core of their base to serve profit and power. They oppose scientific progress and education that could save lives, and I deeply suspect that it has nothing to do with the beliefs they espouse and everything to do with the manipulation of those believers – their value as pieces in the political struggle.

Mr. Gonzalez was a player of that game, or perhaps only a piece – a mouthpiece, the speaker for the Bush Brain Trust on yet another stage, compassing delusion heaped upon abomination in the name of hollow victory. His disengagement from his job, willingness to leap into any breach Cheney shoved before him, and utter fallacious incompetence are swiftly becoming public bywords. In short, our blessedly former Attorney General was an unmitigated ass and we are well shut of him.

There’s a marvelous analogy in the image of the now-infamous Hospital Visit: John Ashcroft, ill and bedridden, burdened with the myriad sicknesses of those past their prime; Alberto Gonzalez, dapper and spry, his eager successor, pushing him to approve an illegal wiretapping program, to aid the administration and nation he served so loyal. Ashcroft resisting, Gonzalez wheedling, using him in his moment of weakness to support a rapacious, power-hungry agenda.

You have to admire that sort of dedication to poetry, you know?

But a good metaphor isn’t enough to save you from Finger Two of the Ten-Finger Salute. Godspeed, Mr. Gonzalez. There is a special place in the hell of John Ashcroft and his ilk, reserved for people like you.

Heckuva Job: A Prelude

How many people received a Heckuva Job from Bush and then had to find a new job?

Alberto, I hope you changed the standard issue jumpsuit for the federal penitentiary system–because orange is not your color.

Gonzo has earned the first 10 Finger Salute from the collective known as TheFinger. Over the next few days, until he leaves on 9/17, keep reading for other installments on Gonzo: The Attorney General Who Couldn’t.

Technorati Tags: Corruption, Government, Justice

You Can’t See Me, But I’m Starting the Wave . . .

Can I get a fuck yeah?

To the Guy on the Subway this morning…

…wearing a shirt that said “Remember Danny Faulkner” on the front. On the back? The large image of a syringe, with the phrase “Execute Mumia, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied.” So if you don’t get that man’s blood AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, justice is denied completely? The death penalty (which has already been written on about here in a much more together way) is permanent. If new evidence comes to light proving someone’s innocence once the sentence has been carried out, or if a mistrial is declared, it’s too late. If you must have blood to remember the life of an innocent person, then you’d better make sure you’re not taking the life of another innocent. I don’t know that much about the Mumia Abu-Jamal case, but I do know that everyone deserves justice. If it takes a little longer than you’d like, that’s just tough. Maybe you’ll just have to buy another t-shirt to fill the time–because that one’s just earned you the Salute. A little advice? Leave the memorial for Danny Faulkner but lose the syringe and vitriol.