Today in "Who's Hitlering"... the quote of the day and why Mike Huckabee is today's biggest asshole

"He will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven"
- President wannabe and all-around gold-medal winning dick Mike Huckabee, on the Iran nuclear deal


So... presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee wins the choots-pah (^TM Michele Bachmann) award for the day. Look Mike, I get that you all think that negotiating with Iran was the END OF THE WORLD. I get that you think we are DOOMED. Just like the US would cease to be the US if we elected that (black) dude. However dickish you want to be about it, feel free. Because you are indeed, a dick. But here's the thing.

Mike Huckabee, you don't get to appropriate my history for your own political gain. What you said... equating a peace deal with the death marches that led Jews to their deaths in the gas chambers and ovens of Nazi Germany's concentration camps? Well that puts you an a whole different plane of dick.

Especially given that I consider you to be one of the worst anti-semites out there. You Hitler all day long in the name of the Jews. But when push comes to shove, you advocate for the US to be a Christian nation. At its heart, that is the ultimate in antisemitism. So stop pretending you are so holy and righteous and just shut up.

Here's what your hypocritical self said in 2008 about Iran, Mike:

The US has "[not] had diplomatic relations with Iran in almost 30 years, and a lot of good it's done. We cannot live with al Qaeda, but we might be able to live with a contained Iran. Iran will not acquire nuclear weapons on my watch. But before I look parents in the eye to explain why I put their son's or daughter's life at risk, I want to do everything possible to avoid conflict. We have substantive issues to discuss with Tehran.

But since a deal happened on the (black dude) "Obama presidency which must never be acknowledged as legitimate", you have to denounce it. I get it. Like I said before, dick move.

Could the deal be better? Sure, it could be. Was it likely that we were going to get anything else? Probably not right now.

Here's the thing. We now have the time to work with Iran to make things better. To foster good will. To make them want to be part of the world community. At one point, Iran was a very westernized nation. At least it was until the US fucked with it.

So yes, it's not the ultimate in everything we wanted. But for the next 10-15 years, your dickish party has a choice: do we work toward making an even better deal for the very long term, or do we say fuck you to not only Iran, but the entirety of the international community and ruin any credibility that Pres Obama has gained back for us in his time in office? If we decide we won't honor the obligations that our President has made, then good luck in your term in office. Nobody in the international community will ever speak to you. And, fyi, Netanyahu won't be in office forever. At some point, Israel's love affair with far right-wing politicians in the US will end. Then you (and Israel) will be fucked, because you burned all your bridges.

I love Israel. That doesn't mean I have to love its political leadership. Because I don't. Just like I love the US. And don't always love its political leadership (looking at YOU, GOP).

Compromise has become such a dirty word. If we don't get our way - our WHOLE way EVERY TIME, we want to pick up our ball and go home. Thank goodness none of you asswipes are actually the actual president of the actual US, because Pres Obama realizes that a good deal that isn't perfect is better than no deal at all. For all of those idiots *TedCruzMikeHuckabeeEveryRepublicanPolitician* who have said "I would have turned this deal down and gone back for a better deal..."

Gee, I bet it never even occurred to John Kerry to try for a better deal! It sure is a sad thing you weren't at the negotiating table. Or running actual Murica. We would OWN the world!

Once the Camp David Accords were signed between Israel and Egypt, President Carter had this to say:

"We must not minimize the obstacles that still lie ahead," Mr. Carter said. "Differences still separate the signatories to this treaty from each other and also from some of their neighbors who fear what they have just done.

"To overcome these differences, to dispel those fears, we must rededicate ourselves to the goal of a broader peace with justice for all who have lived in a state of conflict in the Middle East.

"We have no illusions - we have hopes, dreams, and prayers, yes - but no illusions."

Thank goodness those 3 men were willing to compromise for the bigger vision. That deal wasn't even close to perfect for Israel or for Egypt. In fact, Sadat was assassinated in large part because of it. However, history has proven these men to all be heroes when it comes to the peace agreement. And they were right. Israel and Egypt have been at peace since then. Imagine if none of them were willing to compromise.

I found this, from the Association for Dilomatic Studies and Training, interesting, and a valuable lesson we can learn:

My problem with Camp David is two-fold: one that we gave away too much.... (Ed note: sound familiar?)

My second is this: that then we did not, either under Carter and certainly not under Reagan, take what we had obtained in Camp David and try to develop it into something more meaningful.

Now we can learn from the past (but will we?). We have the luxury of additional time to work on our relationship with Iran and make it into something "more meaningful". We can work to strengthen the deal over time.

But equating a decent deal that we think could have been better, that gives us time to get more conversation going, with deliberate mass extermination of the Jews makes you a real asshole.

And it needs to stop.

Wolves travel in packs, not alone... and other thoughts on hate vs terrorism

Yes, it's been a while. For my sanity, I backed off my blog. But holy hell people, what is happening to us?

I was thinking about posting something about the shootings in S Carolina, then Chatanooga happened. Then I was getting ready to post about that, when Lafayette happened. What the everloving fuck, America?

Also, how many black people have to die in police custody before we are ready to do something about it? When a hashtag #IfIDieInPoliceCustody has to be a thing, we have a very serious problem. And a heartbreaking one. And when the media doesn't even report on it? Yeah, crushing and a very big statement on how we value (or not) certain lives over others in this country.

Speaking of valuing lives, we obviously don't. We obviously place guns above lives. I am sick to fucking death of hearing about the "crazy, mentally ill lone wolves" out there. That pack of wolves is getting really freaking big. Wolves are by nature social, not solitary. They thrive on being with their pack - those that are like them. So by even calling these terrorists "lone wolves" we are already perverting the natural order. (Yeah, I went there. Just for you, Rick Santorum. And Mike Huckabee. And Ted Cruz. And Scott Walker.)

The killer in Louisiana bought the gun legally in a pawn shop. He was a far right wing ideologist who loved the Tea Party and Hitler. He didn't have a restraining order request against him because he was mentally ill. He had a restraining order request against him because he was violent with his family. Something all too familiar.

The conversation shouldn't be around "crazies" because any rational person would consider it "crazy" to commit mass murder. We all look at that and think, "That's fucking crazy!" The media throws out phrases like "obviously had 'mental problems'" like they're the fucking DSM. Armchair diagnoses do not help drive an educated conversation. So stop it, ok media? Just cut it out.

Also, people with mental health disorders are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators, so that argument doesn't hold water and I'm so sick of hearing it. It both devalues the conversation that should happen in this country around mental illness as well as devaluing human lives taken by gun violence.

The conversation instead needs to center around why we value guns more than lives in America. If we weren't willing to make changes after all those little precious kids killed at Sandy Hook, we just need to admit we value guns more than lives and find a way to move on. But I don't ever want to hear anyone who values guns more than children's lives call themselves pro-life, because that's a flat out bullshit of a lie.

So anyway... AG Loretta Lynch has announced that Dylann Roof (of S Carolina racist bullshit mass murder fame) will be tried on federal hate crime charges. Not on terrorism charges.

The FBI defines Domestic Terrorism thus:

"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

• Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;

• Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and

• Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.

18 U.S.C. § 2332b defines the term "federal crime of terrorism" as an offense that:

• Is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct; and

• Is a violation of one of several listed statutes, including § 930(c) (relating to killing or attempted killing during an attack on a federal facility with a dangerous weapon); and § 1114 (relating to killing or attempted killing of officers and employees of the U.S.).

When asked why the hate crime charge instead of the terrorism charge, the AG said, "As you know, there is no specific domestic terrorism statute," and that Roof's act of racially motivated violence was "the original type of domestic terrorism."

Then call it that.

It matters.

It matters that we are trying Roof for hate crimes instead of terrorism.

Hate is an acceptable thing, especially for white men. Especially in America.

Terrorism is not.

Let’s recap. Hate = White and AOK. Terrorism = Brown and Bad.

So trying Roof on hate crimes makes him completely unexceptional in America today. In America, everybody hates. By definition, hate isn't illegal. It'seems a protected (and highly coveted) 1st amendment right.  By making Roof so unexceptional, we tacitly condone his crimes and make them completely acceptable; no different than any other crime.

Trying these people as the terrorists they are would take the conversation to a different place. Trying these people on terrorism charges would make it unacceptable to kill others who don't share your political views. It would put them on the same level as "RADICAL ISLAM" and "THOSE THAT WOULD DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE". Ask anyone who lost a loved one inside that church in S Carolina if that day destroyed their way of life. I’d bet the answer would be a resounding yes.

But we are unwilling to put white "lone wolf" men on the same playing field as "THOSE WHO WOULD DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE". So, unwilling to identify them as "THOSE WHO WOULD DESTROY OUR WAY OF LIFE", we try them on hate crime charges, and as a result we continue to see the same terrorist activity.

Over & over. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Because it's no big deal to hate in America. In fact, for these people, it’s a fucking badge of honor.