South City Mouth

If you're a Molly Ivins reader, you know that's one of her favorite lines. And for good reason. If you're an American who cherishes fair play and justice, there's so much that should piss you off these days, and there's so little space and time to blog about it. And so much of it is that little stuff that maybe doesn't deserve much of my time or yours, but still gets under my skin. So today, let's see how many little things I can rant about today in as short a time as possible. OK, here goes:


A friend sent me a link to a Cal Thomas column calling for an end to the partisan sniping. Cal doesn't really call for an end, so much as he takes pot shots at liberals, then makes excuses for the GOP's meanness campaign that has gone on now for the better part of two decades, then finishes by saying let's move on to more important things like, say, getting to the bottom of why it took so long for Michael Schiavo to call 911 and whether Texas cheerleaders need a law preventing them from shaking their money-makers. Anyway, here's a link to the column:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/welcome.shtml
By the way, no, we can't move on until right-wing pundits learn some manners.


That brings me to the topic of this MoveOn petition calling on all of us to exercise restraint and keep cool heads in response to 9/11. I know that many conservatives find that treasonous. They're having a field day with it, which doesn't surprise me considering that so many conservatives have little grasp of the concepts of restraint and keeping a cool head. The very suggestion that we should restrain ourselves from beating the first dark-complected person we encounter on the street or that we should attempt to separate the good guys from the bad guys before responding with devastating force is a betrayal to everything Godly and American, as many on the right see it. We might as well just sit in a circle and sing communist work songs with a bunch of terrorists, they tell us. Seems to me that cool heads and restraint are the most important attributes separating us from Osama bin Ladn. Ever notice that people who talk loudest about how much they hate the terrorists so badly try to take on some of their characteristics?


Instead of being pissed off, I was actually pleased to hear that Matt Blunt is one of only about five governors pushing for a state law reining in the use of eminent domain for private use, something that's grown out of hand and an abonimable practice the Supreme Court upheld last week. I hope something actually happens here, and it doesn't go the way of the Boy Governor's promise to "study" drug importation from Canada. Have I mentioned that I'm still pissed off that his staff never bothered to return my e-mail?


I was saddened to hear about Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement. While I disagreed with her on many occasions, I respected her intelligence and her common sense. It seemed like she consistently strove to navigate a reasonable middle ground that always managed to infuriate the kooks on both the right and left. If you're infuriating the kooks, you're probably doing a good job. I shudder at the prospect of what kind of radical idealogue Bush plans to nominate for a replacement. I'm sure Bush's choice will leave all reasonable Americans almost nostalgic for Robert Bork.


It's no secret that conservatives are outraged at the Supreme Court these days with murmurings about impeachment. Here's what I find odd. How can they be so unhappy when six out of nine justices were nominated by Republican presidents?


One last word on Cal Thomas. I saw him on Bill O'Reilly several days ago talking about how agrieved he is over this liberal media that we've been hearing is running roughshod over us God-fearing red-staters. As a case in point, he noted that Bill Moyers had only had him on "Now" one time and that he'd never been invited on "Meet the Press." This just proves that the left's pernicious agenda governs the mainstream airwaves, Cal said. To which I say, come now, Cal, is is liberal bias that keeps you off these shows or your utter predicatibility, mediocrity and complete lack of anything to say that's even remotely challenging or provocative? Be honest, Cal, do you really write your own columns or does Scott McClellan?


OK, I admit it. That last item was a little over the top. But it was therapeutic. I feel better already.

And now the mail

Hello, Mouth,

I thought I'd check in. I'm sometimes Left, I'm sometimes Right. I'm always Americian. What bothers me about the Left is that they never seem to step forward with a solution to the problems that the Right has created. I believe that had Kerry done this, he would be president today. What do you think?

Also, I think that the Left should promote for the general population the Thrift Plan that benefits Congress. The Left complains bitterly about Bush's plans for Social Security, but they never offer a good, solvent program such as their own Thrift Plan. The Left also complains bitterly of the energy policy, but they never seem to step forward and say, "we must conserve our way out of this mess." I really believe that if the Left would step up with postiive, productive plans, that the country would be better. What are your ideas on why this never seems to happen?

I think you make an excellent point. It's a matter that really frustrates me. It used to be that liberals had all the ideas, while conservatives sat back and smugly obstructed any initiative, but it seems these roles have reversed in recent years. I know so many centrists and even conservatives who last year told me they so desperately wanted to vote against Bush but justifiably felt that Kerry offered nothing but a choice as the anti-Bush. Feeling they needed something more than just At least I'm not Bush, these folks either stayed home or held their noses and voted for Bush. I suspect Democrats have been so badly beaten up over the last 25 years, that there's not enough organization these days to even generate ideas. I fear liberals and Democrats can expect to lose many more times unless we start thinking out what we ourselves would do with some of these key issues.