The Ring of Lying

Lyin' is a burning thing
And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of Lyin'

I fell into a burning ring of Lyin'
I went down, down, down and the Lyin' went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of Lyin'
The ring of Lyin'

I fell into a burning ring of Lyin'
I went down, down, down and the Lyin' went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of Lyin'
The ring of Lyin'

The taste of Lyin' is sweet
When Reformers like us meet
I fell for you like a child
Oh, but the Lyin' went wild

I fell into a burning ring of Lyin'
I went down, down, down and the Lyin' went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of Lyin'
The ring of Lyin'

I fell into a burning ring of Lyin'
I went down, down, down and the Lyin' went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of Lyin'
The ring of Lyin'

And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of Lyin'
The ring of Lyin'
The ring of Lyin'
The ring of Lyin'

Whenever I see those signs hanging over McCain, my first thoughts are "Gee, he's got a bank sponsoring his speech? ... Country First? ... Wonder where they're from ... And tying the thought of a bank to Stumblin' Bumblin John takes us where - The Keating Five (check out Barry Crimmins; Barry offers that if Palin was around back then, we'd be calling the thing "The Keating Six")

She was for "The Bridge To Nowhere", enthusiastically, before she was against it (only after it was being ridiculed, and killed in Congress).

She is against abortion, no exceptions.

She wants to see Jesus in schools, a proponent of Creationism in the classroom

She was/is a supporter of Pat Buchanan

Pat Buchanan?

"[Sarah Palin is] going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long," said Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain's top advisers, making light of concerns about Mr. McCain's health, which Mr. McCain's doctors reported as excellent in May.

WTF is going on with Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain?

Jesus, he might as well just start walking around in a bathrobe, like that old Mafia guy did, to play out that he was crazy.

Just ride around in the Dead Campaign Express, make some stops (kicking away the empty beer bottles to exit), shuffle around in the robe and slippers, shake a few hands, maybe pick up a few Slim Jims at a convenience store ...Toss out a few bon mots on his heroism, his POW days, as he rips off a piece of Slim Jim, perhaps dribbling some of the dark juice on his bathrobe.

I mean, he's down to just makin' shit up now ... Seemingly not caring what he says, how it sounds, what it looks like ... Just blathering on like ... Well ... Like an old guy shuffling around in a bathrobe, muttering incoherently.

The Night The Russians Rolled Into Georgia

He was on his way home in the Straight Talk Express
Been two weeks and Obama's at the beach on a rest
He's listenin' to Abba 'fore he went home to her
Randy Scheunemann said "Hello"
And he said "Hi, what's doin', Wo?"
"John, sit down, I got some bad news, it's gonna hurt"
He said "I'm your best lobbyist and you know that's right"
"But your young democracy ain't alone tonight"
"Since you been gone she's been seein' that Putin boy, John "
Well, he got mad 'n' he saw red and Randy said "John, don'tcha lose your head"
" 'cause to tell ya the truth, I been makin' a lot of money myself"

That's the night that the Russians rolled into Georgia
That's the night that McCain pretended to be President
Well, don't trust your soul to no K Street sleazy lobbyist
'cause all the lobbyists in the town's got money in their hands

Well, Randy got scared and left the bus
Walkin' on home 'cause he didn't know who to trust
See, Randy didn't have many friends and he'd just lost him one
McCain thought his democracy musta fallen down
So he went home and finally found
The only thing his campaign had left him, that video, The One

And he went off to Randy's house
A'skippin' through the backwoods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some dollar bills too small for Randy to take
He looked through the screen at the back-porch door
And he saw Randy lyin' on the floor
In a pile of loot and he started to shake

Well, the Adoring Media was a'makin' their rounds
So he belted out some bellicose just to flag 'em down
And a big-bellied anchor and said "What is Mr. President?"
And the Media said "Anti-Christ" in a make-believe trial
And slapped the McCain on the back with a smile
Said' supper's waitin' at home and I gotta get to it"

That's the night that the Russians rolled into Georgia
That's the night that McCain pretended to be President
Well, don't trust your soul to no K Street sleazy lobbyist
'cause all the lobbyists in the town's got money in their hands

Well, they smeared Obama before he could say
The war mongering he saw while on his way
At Andy's house and back that night was Schmidt's
And the cheatin' democracy was still hunkered down
And that's one lie that'll never be found
See, big Stevie Schmidt don't miss when he aims his smears

That's the night that the Russians rolled into Georgia
That's the night that McCain pretended to be President
Well, don't trust your soul to no K Street sleazy lobbyist

FADE
'cause all the lobbyists in the town's got money in their hands

Facing imminent impeachment charges, President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation on Monday, after months of belated recognition by American officials that he had become a waning asset in the campaign against terrorism.

Mr. Musharraf said the governing coalition, which has pushed for impeachment, had tried to “turn lies into truths,” and finished his speech by raising his clenched fists chest high and declaring, “Long live Pakistan!”

In fact, however, a considerable amount of the money the U.S. gives to Pakistan is administered not through U.S. agencies or joint U.S.-Pakistani programs. Instead, the U.S. gives Musharraf's government about $200 million annually and his military $100 million monthly in the form of direct cash transfers. Once that money leaves the U.S. Treasury, Musharraf can do with it whatever he wants. He needs only promise in a secret annual meeting that he'll use it to invest in the Pakistani people. And whatever happens as the result of Rice's review, few Pakistan watchers expect the cash transfers to end.

The other interesting question is “what will Mushie do next?” Exile seems likeliest and there have been rumors that the US, which has long backed the former dictator, would offer him asylum. But it appears that the Saudis have stepped in, as major mediators of the resignation deal, and so Musharraf will probably retire there. Which is ironic, in that it will put the man who was ultimately in charge of the intelligence agency that was pulling Al Qaeda’s strings prior to (and post) 9/11 in the country that furnished most of the hijackers - and both Musharraf and the Saudi rulers are staunch Bush allies.

Forget the Russian-Georgian conflict for a moment. Forget Iraq for a moment. Forget everything for one moment and understand, that if Pakistan explodes into a power struggle, that struggle/conflict will be the match that lights a world war of epic proportions. A war that we are not equipped to deal with anymore. So while our entire nation is drunk on election scandal after scandal, and while our entire nation is being bled dry of finances and human treasure, no one - NO ONE - is watching this crisis as it unfolds. They are all too busy playing at politics to care and they have already long ago removed any qualified intelligence expert on Pakistan from their post. We know very well that this administration replaced qualified people with political sock-puppets who are now in positions to fuck things up even more, but certainly not to understand the brewing world crisis.

To be clear, I loathe Musharraf and want him removed from office. But right now, any change, big or small in the region is going to be a catastrophe. A change of ISI-backed Musharraf is going to be an epic catastrophe.