1/28/2004

Note to Buzzflash Readers:
Scroll down for the David Kay entry: "The War of the Big Cock (and Bull Story)." But feel free to enjoy all the rudeness.

Kerry Continues To Not Fuck It Up:
Wel, son of a bitch, if John Kerry doesn't seem like he's the once and future nominee. After winning New Hampshire, Kerry is heading to warmer climes (with a nod to snow-covered Delaware) to see if his newfound appeal will play with people whose lives don't revolve around casseroles and ice-removal. What does New Hampshire tell us? Not a whole lot, since Clinton came in second there in 1992, with less votes than this year's also-ran, Howard Dean. Lieberman should have quit three years ago, but for some reason he feels the need to take donations away from Kerry, Dean, Edwards, and Clark. But one thing is going on is that a whole lot of Democrats are interested in winning this year - and that means not many are going to jump on the Nader or Kucinich express to marginalization.

The Rude Pundit is going to say something few have the balls to say: Nader voters were right last time to stand by the Green Party candidate to the bitter end. Had Gore become president, the right wing would have continued to be vicious attack bitches, tearing through any chance Gore would have had to govern. It would have been Clinton redux, sans the blow job. You can sit there at your computers in your underwear and sputter, But, but, Patriot Act, environment, taxx cuts, worker regulations, etc. And the Rude Pundit would answer: You're right. And put on some pants. But the real heart of your heart answer is what you know: Gore fucked it up for Gore. And, with Bush in office, wrecking America as we know it like so many Ghidrahs over Tokyo, the left of this country has coalesced in a way that hasn't been seen since the early 1970s. And it's going mainstream, with the success of Michael Moore, Moveon.org (and its megafunding), and the anti-war movement, and the left is starting to scare the right, which is going to make the right get more extreme, which is going to push moderates away. We welcome them with open arms, right? They're so cute, like bisexuals, free to fuck whoever they want.

And the left needs to be careful here not to fuck it up. The Rude Pundit was listening to Jeremy Scahill doing an O'Reilly on Wesley Clark in a report on Democracy Now. Scahill confronted Clark with NATO's bombing of civilians in Yugoslavia and with the use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium. In the form of gotcha journalism (which the Rude Pundit respects), Scahill attempted to catch Clark off-guard after Clark spoke. The thing is, Clark didn't simply allow his people to get him away. Instead, he turned and answered Scahill, refusing to back down, offering regrets, explanations, and other statements leftist journalists aren't used to getting from those they attempt to embarass. Even when Scahill tried to interrupt Clark, Clark interrupted back: "Now wait a minute, you have to let me finish and then I will let you finish." Here's the deal: say what you will about Clark's politics, about the heinous, barbaric weapons used in war that guarantee maximum casualties, but Clark was pretty impressive - he stood his ground and was willing to talk, pretty extensively, to someone who is used to being dismissed as part of the lunatic left. Scahill isn't, and neither is Democracy Now, which is an actual, honest, honorable (if occasionally amateurish) attempt to provide something to balance the airwaves filthy with right-wing rantings. But in that report and another on the wavering positions of the Democratic candidates on the war, Democacy Now seems to have jumped on the Kucinich train. And that way lies madness. (And, yeah, Kucinich got a raw deal from the media, but he still looks like an undertaker. Brrr. Creepy.)

It's pragmatism. We got to dream with Nader. We all made our little statement and it got us here. No regrets. And the Rude Pundit has said all along that anything that can derail a candidacy should be outed now, in the primary process, before the seething, brooding, craven, cretinous evil that is Karl Rove gets in the game. But let's be careful not to act like ravenous hamsters in a filthy cage and eat our own.

Special note: Right now David Kay is speaking to the Senate Armed Services committee. Tomorrow: how the game of Don't Break the Ice has officially ended. Friday: Dennis Miller needs to be castrated.