Just from reading this AP article on Little Spinnin Scottie and his book, a couple of simple truths leap out at me.
First of all, this really shouldn't be news. It's certainly not news to me or anybody who paid attention or followed Holden and his Gaggle reporting.
Now consider this statement.
Bush's presidency "wandered and remained so far off course by excessively embracing the permanent campaign and its tactics," McClellan writes. He says Bush relied on an aggressive "political propaganda campaign" instead of the truth to sell the Iraq war.
They're still writing about the tactics, the process, and not about the substance. And that has been the biggest problem with the media coverage of this nightmarish presidency. All we get is how they do things, or not, but no discussion on whether these are worthwhile things to be doing and why. It's just like that Bill Hemmer thing from the other day, where the "reporter" noted the death threat without condemning it in any way, just transcribing the words without thought on the content. And that's pretty much all we're going to get from McClellan: bad choices, bad tactics, bad results, but no thought as to whether the fundamental ideas were right or wrong.
And clearly, in my mind, they are ALL wrong, in every way imaginable.
And of course, there's the comedy angle. "'We are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew,' said Dana Perino."
Showing posts with label Bush Administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bush Administration. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Polar Bears as GOP Tools
Well, that's how I explain the performance of the latest lying republican to show up on my teevee this evening. Lyle Laverty from the Interior Department, take a bow. He was so gutless he wouldn't even look at Jeffrey Brown when he spewed his lies. His purpose seemed to be to deny gobal warming while acknowledging that there's a problem that needs further study, and in the meantime please don't stop the oil companies activities in the region.
The statement from Kempthorne really bears that out. (My bolds throughout,my comments in italics)
And there you have it, why it matters who manages the Federal Government. Because these people are managing it for interests other than our own.
Logic, science tells us one thing, that the loss of sea ice is the reason the polar bear is threatened. And the cause of that loss of sea ice is global warming. And global warming is caused by the unchecked and massive burning of oil and gas, period. So projects that produce oil and gas for eventual burning, are in fact, causes of global warming.
Their argument that the ESA has to show causal effects from specific sources rests on the same thin ice as the polar bears. If the Spotted Owl can have its habitat preserved from deforestation, er, logging, by the ESA, then so too can the Arctic be preserved from further oil patch activities. Remember, people, if it comes from the mouth of a Bush Adminitration official, the odds are it's a corporate serving lie.
Watching the execrable Mr. Laverty lie and refuse to provide even the simplest of answers to straightforward questions is just yet another reason why leaving Bush in power unchallenged by the threat of impeachment was as big a political blunder as unilaterally disbanding the Iraqi Army after our illegal invasion was a military one.
The statement from Kempthorne really bears that out. (My bolds throughout,my comments in italics)
I have also accepted these professionals’ best scientific and legal judgments that the loss of sea ice, not oil and gas development or subsistence activities, are the reason the polar bear is threatened.
Polar bears are already protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act ... The oil and gas industry has been operating in the Arctic for decades in compliance with these stricter protections. The Fish and Wildlife Service says that no polar bears have been killed due to encounters associated with oil and gas operations. Which is a totally irrelevent fact.
The most significant part of today’s decision is what President Bush observed about climate change policy last month. ... “The Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act were never meant to regulate global climate change.” And that is all that matters, to provide an excuse for not taking action.
The President is right. Listing the polar bear as threatened can reduce avoidable losses of polar bears. But it should not open the door to use the ESA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources. That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the Endangered Species Act. ESA is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy.
The [ESA] neither allows nor requires ... Fish and Wildlife ... to make such interventions. The Service must articulate a causal connection between the effects of any action and loss of a polar bear. As the U.S. Geological Survey has advised me, the best scientific data available (That they care to look at) do not demonstrate significant impacts on individual polar bears from specific power plants, resource projects, government permits, or other indirect effects of activities in the lower 48 states that are potentially reviewable under the “consultation” requirements of the ESA.
And there you have it, why it matters who manages the Federal Government. Because these people are managing it for interests other than our own.
Logic, science tells us one thing, that the loss of sea ice is the reason the polar bear is threatened. And the cause of that loss of sea ice is global warming. And global warming is caused by the unchecked and massive burning of oil and gas, period. So projects that produce oil and gas for eventual burning, are in fact, causes of global warming.
Their argument that the ESA has to show causal effects from specific sources rests on the same thin ice as the polar bears. If the Spotted Owl can have its habitat preserved from deforestation, er, logging, by the ESA, then so too can the Arctic be preserved from further oil patch activities. Remember, people, if it comes from the mouth of a Bush Adminitration official, the odds are it's a corporate serving lie.
Watching the execrable Mr. Laverty lie and refuse to provide even the simplest of answers to straightforward questions is just yet another reason why leaving Bush in power unchallenged by the threat of impeachment was as big a political blunder as unilaterally disbanding the Iraqi Army after our illegal invasion was a military one.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Media, Bush, Betrayal
Now we know why the Washington Post printed this wretched, pathetic, absurd article about Bush.
To show him as a deep thinker, so that when he commuted Libby's conviction to nothing but tax cut chump change, really so Libby could still plead the fifth, we might feel his anguish as he struggled with the decision of what to do about his loyal aide.
What a pity party Baker's article is, a pity party and a stand-up routine of jokes that strain only our credulity, not our bellies.
Bush has read 3 bio's of George Washington. Bush convenes nightly debates with leading scholars and experts and thinkers on weighty subjects like the nature and meaning of good and evil.
Not generally known for intellectual curiosity, Bush is seeking out those who are, engaging in a philosophical exploration of the currents of history that have swept up his administration.
Not generally known? You could say that. And Bush is comfortable, according to this article explaining what happened, sortof. Note that this time though, the great thinker Bush acted quickly to commute Libby's sentence when the judge ordered him to start serving his time. And nobody knows what Cheney was telling Bush, or Rove, like they hadn't already discussed the possibilities?
Bush the Mighty Thinker, that's going to be his legacy alright.
So then, I have to ask, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW, SPEAKER PELOSI AND LEADER REID?
ACTIONS OR WORDS, what'll it be?
To show him as a deep thinker, so that when he commuted Libby's conviction to nothing but tax cut chump change, really so Libby could still plead the fifth, we might feel his anguish as he struggled with the decision of what to do about his loyal aide.
What a pity party Baker's article is, a pity party and a stand-up routine of jokes that strain only our credulity, not our bellies.
Bush has read 3 bio's of George Washington. Bush convenes nightly debates with leading scholars and experts and thinkers on weighty subjects like the nature and meaning of good and evil.
Not generally known for intellectual curiosity, Bush is seeking out those who are, engaging in a philosophical exploration of the currents of history that have swept up his administration.
Not generally known? You could say that. And Bush is comfortable, according to this article explaining what happened, sortof. Note that this time though, the great thinker Bush acted quickly to commute Libby's sentence when the judge ordered him to start serving his time. And nobody knows what Cheney was telling Bush, or Rove, like they hadn't already discussed the possibilities?
Bush the Mighty Thinker, that's going to be his legacy alright.
So then, I have to ask, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW, SPEAKER PELOSI AND LEADER REID?
ACTIONS OR WORDS, what'll it be?
Monday, June 11, 2007
Gonzo
Saw a piece of Chuck Schumer bashing Gonzales, and all I can say is, well, impeach him.
I don't know if Senate Rules allow for filibustering or not on an impeachment, but hey here's my game plan.
The House impeaches Gonzo, since the Dems can pretty much do whatever they want in the House, they've got the Rules and the Votes, so they impeach Abu innumerable counts of perjury, for dereliction of duty, for ignorance of the law, for gross incompetence in running the Justice Department, for a failure to properly manage his department and for his repeated failures to uphold the laws of this country.
I think a case can be made on those charges. So then, it goes to the Senate.
Again, we have the Rules and the votes, if todays toothless exercise is any indication. During the impeachment proceedings you make the case for his failures, so that by the time it gets to the Senate, the public has gotten a good taste for what a miserable excuse of a human being Gonzales is, for what a miserable excuse of a lawyer, a manager, an officer of the Court, an upholder of the Constitution, and so on, he is.
If the GOP wants to filibuster, let them talk all about how wonderful Gonzales is, what a great lawyer, how competent he was in upholding the laws of the land when he advocated for warrentless wiretaps on Americans, when he advocated for the denial of habeus corpus, when he advocated for torture of innocent people as it turns out, when he arbitrarily and without standing dismissed the Geneva Conventions, oh yes, let us let the Republicans talk all about a defense for Alberto Gonzales and his actions.
If they would rather not filibuster, fine, we can still talk about all of his high crimes and misdemeanors, his violations of the Constitution and the Laws of the land, his pathetic management of the Justice Department (which we all realize is purposeful, right?), and his politization of the Justice Department to benefit Republicans at the expense of more than half of the country's population, you know, Democrats and Independants and all parties not GOP.
After his conviction and removal, of course, comes the hard part. Telling Bush that his replacement will be someone to the Democrats liking, someone like John Edwards, not someone like any Republican that exists mind you, and sticking to that demand.
See, isn't that simple? And it works on many levels of simplicity and complexity, and I'm not holding my breath in anticipation of it happening. But it should.
I don't know if Senate Rules allow for filibustering or not on an impeachment, but hey here's my game plan.
The House impeaches Gonzo, since the Dems can pretty much do whatever they want in the House, they've got the Rules and the Votes, so they impeach Abu innumerable counts of perjury, for dereliction of duty, for ignorance of the law, for gross incompetence in running the Justice Department, for a failure to properly manage his department and for his repeated failures to uphold the laws of this country.
I think a case can be made on those charges. So then, it goes to the Senate.
Again, we have the Rules and the votes, if todays toothless exercise is any indication. During the impeachment proceedings you make the case for his failures, so that by the time it gets to the Senate, the public has gotten a good taste for what a miserable excuse of a human being Gonzales is, for what a miserable excuse of a lawyer, a manager, an officer of the Court, an upholder of the Constitution, and so on, he is.
If the GOP wants to filibuster, let them talk all about how wonderful Gonzales is, what a great lawyer, how competent he was in upholding the laws of the land when he advocated for warrentless wiretaps on Americans, when he advocated for the denial of habeus corpus, when he advocated for torture of innocent people as it turns out, when he arbitrarily and without standing dismissed the Geneva Conventions, oh yes, let us let the Republicans talk all about a defense for Alberto Gonzales and his actions.
If they would rather not filibuster, fine, we can still talk about all of his high crimes and misdemeanors, his violations of the Constitution and the Laws of the land, his pathetic management of the Justice Department (which we all realize is purposeful, right?), and his politization of the Justice Department to benefit Republicans at the expense of more than half of the country's population, you know, Democrats and Independants and all parties not GOP.
After his conviction and removal, of course, comes the hard part. Telling Bush that his replacement will be someone to the Democrats liking, someone like John Edwards, not someone like any Republican that exists mind you, and sticking to that demand.
See, isn't that simple? And it works on many levels of simplicity and complexity, and I'm not holding my breath in anticipation of it happening. But it should.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Food
Why are we buying basic food products from China? Food products we produce in this country in large quantities, like wheat gluten?
Citing advice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Nelson said any melamine the fish consume is likely to pass out of their systems in a matter of days, won't accumulate in their bodies, and poses no danger to people who might eat the salmon, which wouldn't be consumed until after returning from the sea years from now.
I trust the FDA, don't you? They would never put politics ahead of food or drug safety, would they? No, not George Bush's FDA. A quote from the first one, read the second link about silicone breast implants, VIOXX and Kessler.
Cause he was being investigated for criminal charges of selling stock of companies he regulated.
Why is the Bush Administration still in office? When every branch they run is corrupt and just a tool for the corporations, run from the top as long and as hard as they can get away with it? Thats what's happening at Justice, that's what's happening at FEMAS or HSD, at the FDA, Interior, Defense, well, I guess Frank Rich wrote about it today too, hopefully somebody has broken the barrier to share.
Citing advice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Nelson said any melamine the fish consume is likely to pass out of their systems in a matter of days, won't accumulate in their bodies, and poses no danger to people who might eat the salmon, which wouldn't be consumed until after returning from the sea years from now.
I trust the FDA, don't you? They would never put politics ahead of food or drug safety, would they? No, not George Bush's FDA. A quote from the first one, read the second link about silicone breast implants, VIOXX and Kessler.
Despite recommendations from FDA and independent scientists that the drug was appropriate for [s]ale OTC, the FDA declined to approve it. Virtually everyone involved knew this was a political pay-off to Bush's right wing conservative base. So the FDA is being sued by the Center for Reproductive Rights. As part of this suit, the CRR's lawyers have been taking depositions of FDA officials. On Thursday it was to be Crawford's turn.
[But on] Wednesday Ms. [Barbara] Van Gelder, who is his personal lawyer, asked for a delay, saying she would instruct him to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
Cause he was being investigated for criminal charges of selling stock of companies he regulated.
Why is the Bush Administration still in office? When every branch they run is corrupt and just a tool for the corporations, run from the top as long and as hard as they can get away with it? Thats what's happening at Justice, that's what's happening at FEMAS or HSD, at the FDA, Interior, Defense, well, I guess Frank Rich wrote about it today too, hopefully somebody has broken the barrier to share.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
The Bush Federal Government at Work
And yes, I know, it probably wouldn't be much different if Kerry were President, but he isn't, and that miserable failure is, so, I love the logic that permeates the Bush Administration Executive Branch.
Via Raw Story writer Miriam Raftery, we get this story from the WaPo on Bush keeping us safe.
Hey look, they're only chickens, you don't eat chicken every day do you, it's only 5 percent of their food that was contaminated and chances are you won't be eating those particular lucky chickens anyway.
Sure, we're going to destroy, that's kill in non Bush speak, 100k chickens still alive, but, hey, nothing to worry about. As for the 2.4 million already on the market, well, best of luck to you.
Do you feel the confidence growing? Nothing to see here, move along people.
And isn't this just another argument for the grandness of globalization? And could somebody please explain to me why it is that the United States of America, the greatest producer of wheat and corn and soy, is importing this crap from China?
Could our oil addiction be spilling over to the food supply, causing our farmers to sell our food to ADM for them to make ethanol instead of feed products? Could that be why we import food products from China, melamine poisoning central, bird flu central, SARS central, lord knows what other diseases central?
And while you're explaining that one, explain to me again how George Bush is keeping us safe from the imaginary monsters in the closet as opposed to the very real monsters running loose on Wall Street.
Via Raw Story writer Miriam Raftery, we get this story from the WaPo on Bush keeping us safe.
Hey look, they're only chickens, you don't eat chicken every day do you, it's only 5 percent of their food that was contaminated and chances are you won't be eating those particular lucky chickens anyway.
Sure, we're going to destroy, that's kill in non Bush speak, 100k chickens still alive, but, hey, nothing to worry about. As for the 2.4 million already on the market, well, best of luck to you.
That small fraction, and the fact that people, unlike pets, do not eat the same thing day after day, suggests that consumers who ate contaminated pork or chicken would probably have ingested extremely small doses of melamine, well below the threshold for causing health effects, officials said. Experts conceded, however, that they know little about how the toxin interacts with other compounds in food.
Do you feel the confidence growing? Nothing to see here, move along people.
And isn't this just another argument for the grandness of globalization? And could somebody please explain to me why it is that the United States of America, the greatest producer of wheat and corn and soy, is importing this crap from China?
Could our oil addiction be spilling over to the food supply, causing our farmers to sell our food to ADM for them to make ethanol instead of feed products? Could that be why we import food products from China, melamine poisoning central, bird flu central, SARS central, lord knows what other diseases central?
And while you're explaining that one, explain to me again how George Bush is keeping us safe from the imaginary monsters in the closet as opposed to the very real monsters running loose on Wall Street.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Politicizing Function
That's what this USA Purge is doing in the long term, even as the White House uses the US Attorneys to push their bogus voter fraud schemes, their Democratic investigations, and stopping their Republican investigations.
Way back in 1982 or so, I saw the Reagan WH doing the same thing to the environment via James Watt and his disciple Gail Norton, and that's when I got involved in politics, in my own small way, opposing the politization of the Executive Branch, opposing their corporate giveaways, opposing their unending violations of precedent and reasonable decorum. Looking back, of course, I realize what pikers they were, or maybe since they didn't own Congress it was just a matter of limitations imposed on them by a slightly less corrupt Democratic Congress.
Regardless, what we see today is the fruits of those labors begun in earnest by the Reagan Republicans. This CBS News article makes the case for the damage being done at the Justice Department. The writer is particularly blunt in his words discussing the actions of the Bush Administration. He concludes thus:
Read the article, because it gives a deeper layer of context to the United States Attorney Purge. It shows the shortsighted and destructive consequences of the Mayberry Machiavellis, whose determination to seize and hold political power for their corporate masters and their stupid, ignorant, and just plain stupid and deluded ideology has led us to this point in history. The Corps, they don't mind the stupidity of Bush/Cheney/Rove and their ideology since they profit so handsomely from it, but for real, caring, human, people, we pay twice for their insanity, once to the Corps, once to the consequences of their wilful destruction of our government and its many and varied agencies, like our military and our justice system.
If you want a reason to impeach these fuckers, pardon my french but there it is, look no further than the Justice Department. And when Bush nominates his replacement for the faithful cur Alberto Gonzales, press your Senators, no blank check, no free pass, no uncritical deference because that crank is the President and he deserves the cabinet he wants. Screw that, he deserves nothing but a one way plane ticket to Amersterdam, which is in the same country as The Hague, if you know what I mean.
Way back in 1982 or so, I saw the Reagan WH doing the same thing to the environment via James Watt and his disciple Gail Norton, and that's when I got involved in politics, in my own small way, opposing the politization of the Executive Branch, opposing their corporate giveaways, opposing their unending violations of precedent and reasonable decorum. Looking back, of course, I realize what pikers they were, or maybe since they didn't own Congress it was just a matter of limitations imposed on them by a slightly less corrupt Democratic Congress.
Regardless, what we see today is the fruits of those labors begun in earnest by the Reagan Republicans. This CBS News article makes the case for the damage being done at the Justice Department. The writer is particularly blunt in his words discussing the actions of the Bush Administration. He concludes thus:
When you populate an office with ideologues and partisans and underachieving talent, you get an ideological and partisan office with underachieving results. And if there is any department in our federal system that can least afford to be ideological and partisan and underachieving, it is the Justice Department. This sorry state is true today, regardless of how and when the scandal over the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys is resolved. Of all the dismaying legal legacies left by this administration, this one surely ranks near the top.
Read the article, because it gives a deeper layer of context to the United States Attorney Purge. It shows the shortsighted and destructive consequences of the Mayberry Machiavellis, whose determination to seize and hold political power for their corporate masters and their stupid, ignorant, and just plain stupid and deluded ideology has led us to this point in history. The Corps, they don't mind the stupidity of Bush/Cheney/Rove and their ideology since they profit so handsomely from it, but for real, caring, human, people, we pay twice for their insanity, once to the Corps, once to the consequences of their wilful destruction of our government and its many and varied agencies, like our military and our justice system.
If you want a reason to impeach these fuckers, pardon my french but there it is, look no further than the Justice Department. And when Bush nominates his replacement for the faithful cur Alberto Gonzales, press your Senators, no blank check, no free pass, no uncritical deference because that crank is the President and he deserves the cabinet he wants. Screw that, he deserves nothing but a one way plane ticket to Amersterdam, which is in the same country as The Hague, if you know what I mean.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Issa Trip Exposes WH Irrelevence
[Cross posted at DKos. And all bolds are mine.]
That's really what Darrell Issa has done, and judging by Bush's comments, it's obvious even to him, well, maybe his handlers. Funny, on the same day that Dick Cheney is trotting out that absurd canard about Hussein and al Qaeda being linked in unholy matrimony, Issa is in Damascus saying this:
He told reporters in the Middle East that Bush has failed to promote the dialogue necessary to resolve disagreements between the United States and Syria.
“That's an important message to realize: We have tensions, but we have two functioning embassies,”
As the reporter writes,
Whatever else Issa's trip may have accomplished, it seemed to take what little air was left out of the partisan rage over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's meeting with Assad just a day earlier.
President Bush's sharp criticism of Pelosi for her visit left the White House little room to move when asked about Issa's travels.
Events are leaving Bush behind, his policy of isolating Syria serves no purpose except to make war more likely and peaceful solutions to the chaos in Iraq less likely. Which, as we all know, is the Bush Administration objective, and why they need to be removed from office, as soon as possible, rather than later. When Cheney keeps trotting out his delusion speak to try to wrest the dialogue back to his perverted view of things, and when faithful soldiers like Issa slap Bush policy in the face, you know these guys have lost their standing. Like the chicken dashing about sans head, they just haven't had the reality sink in yet.
Consider this comment from Cheney's interview. He's also said the same thing if the bills are loaded up with pork, on nonessential spending. That would be to veto the supplemental spending bill of course. And by non-essential spending Cheney means funds for the victims of Katrina and FEMA, funds to ameliorate some of the devastating effects of the drought on our farmers, gosh, funds to improve the care and treatment of the Veterans maimed by Cheney's delusion run rampant and Veterans from past service to this nation. Yes, that's mighty non-essential isn't it?
Look, this Administration has been, in actual political reality, wrong or totally inappropriate on everything they've done or decided. Granted that they have done all of these things to perpetuate their clawlike grip on power for their real constituency, Wall Street and the Corporate Boardroom, that world is not the everyday world of people's lives, and those more or less removed from their rovian world are showing some inclination to try to return this country back to reality for the people.
Those most invested in BushCo, like limbaugh or Dobson or Doolittle or Lewis or Hatch will not change, but the tide of history is starting to turn against these lunatics, because what they want to do is not sustainable in the real world. We will see more and more of the Issa's of the country turn against these guys, and not a day to soon.
This business with Syria is a perfect demonstration of the realities, and the criminal values of Bush's "policies" as they play out in that real world. It's absurd, and detrimental, and only serves one purpose, to further their war, and all of the benefits that BushCo derives from that. Money, Power, Junkets, House and Senate Fiefdoms, Radio Talk Show Fiefdoms, did I mention Money and Power? And I don't think a place in heaven with virgins and grapes and what not is a part of what they want for themselves.
That's really what Darrell Issa has done, and judging by Bush's comments, it's obvious even to him, well, maybe his handlers. Funny, on the same day that Dick Cheney is trotting out that absurd canard about Hussein and al Qaeda being linked in unholy matrimony, Issa is in Damascus saying this:
He told reporters in the Middle East that Bush has failed to promote the dialogue necessary to resolve disagreements between the United States and Syria.
“That's an important message to realize: We have tensions, but we have two functioning embassies,”
As the reporter writes,
Whatever else Issa's trip may have accomplished, it seemed to take what little air was left out of the partisan rage over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's meeting with Assad just a day earlier.
President Bush's sharp criticism of Pelosi for her visit left the White House little room to move when asked about Issa's travels.
Events are leaving Bush behind, his policy of isolating Syria serves no purpose except to make war more likely and peaceful solutions to the chaos in Iraq less likely. Which, as we all know, is the Bush Administration objective, and why they need to be removed from office, as soon as possible, rather than later. When Cheney keeps trotting out his delusion speak to try to wrest the dialogue back to his perverted view of things, and when faithful soldiers like Issa slap Bush policy in the face, you know these guys have lost their standing. Like the chicken dashing about sans head, they just haven't had the reality sink in yet.
Consider this comment from Cheney's interview. He's also said the same thing if the bills are loaded up with pork, on nonessential spending. That would be to veto the supplemental spending bill of course. And by non-essential spending Cheney means funds for the victims of Katrina and FEMA, funds to ameliorate some of the devastating effects of the drought on our farmers, gosh, funds to improve the care and treatment of the Veterans maimed by Cheney's delusion run rampant and Veterans from past service to this nation. Yes, that's mighty non-essential isn't it?
Look, this Administration has been, in actual political reality, wrong or totally inappropriate on everything they've done or decided. Granted that they have done all of these things to perpetuate their clawlike grip on power for their real constituency, Wall Street and the Corporate Boardroom, that world is not the everyday world of people's lives, and those more or less removed from their rovian world are showing some inclination to try to return this country back to reality for the people.
Those most invested in BushCo, like limbaugh or Dobson or Doolittle or Lewis or Hatch will not change, but the tide of history is starting to turn against these lunatics, because what they want to do is not sustainable in the real world. We will see more and more of the Issa's of the country turn against these guys, and not a day to soon.
This business with Syria is a perfect demonstration of the realities, and the criminal values of Bush's "policies" as they play out in that real world. It's absurd, and detrimental, and only serves one purpose, to further their war, and all of the benefits that BushCo derives from that. Money, Power, Junkets, House and Senate Fiefdoms, Radio Talk Show Fiefdoms, did I mention Money and Power? And I don't think a place in heaven with virgins and grapes and what not is a part of what they want for themselves.
Friday, March 30, 2007
The Bush Administration and You
I cite these articles to remind you what the Bush Administration is all about. If you thought it was about Christ, you're wrong, Christ is just a tool these people use to activate their base for the dirty grunt work of signs and thuggery and intimidation and bal, er, envelope stuffing.
If you thought it was American Exceptionalism, well, that's just propaganda for the patriotic people too busy trying to keep afloat to pay attention.
Thinking it was geopolitical hegemony to protect our oil, well, that's closer, but it's more a symptom than a cause.
No, this is what they're all about, and don't forget it.
Everytime you hear Sen. Grassley toss aside a comment about how well the economy is doing, everytime the Wall Street Trumpeters wax poetic about the greatness of the latest chart topping DOW number, just 30 companies out of the thousands traded on the stock markets or in private hands you realize, recognize that they aren't talking about you or I.
Now that gas has gone over 3 dollars again, and is likely to stay there, let's see, it's gone up about 50 percent in the last 2 years say, but has your income gone up that much in the same time frame? Talk about priorities, how's this for priorities?
Here's some other stats to choke on: The new data also show that the top 300,000 Americans collectively enjoyed almost as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans. That's about 1 percent of our population of around 300 million people making as much money as nearly half the country, 150 million Americans.
And the same thing seems to be happenng in Canada too. Coincidence? I don't think so. The fact is that everything the bushites have done has been to strip this nation of her wealth and put it into the hands of a select few. Hell, of the world really. That's why trouble makers like Hugo Chavez cause such vitriol. That's why Rove plots and schemes and lies and intimidates to perpetuate republican control, why Dan Burton gets so pissed off at Henry Waxman for pounding that hapless tool running the GSA, that's why Carol Lam gets fired for doing her job their way until she started looking at them, why my least favorite Senator ever, Orrin Hatch, licks the boots of Kyle Sampson for the Bush regime.
What did Bush do when he first got into the White House? Loosen all the bonds of responsibility he could for business, especially big business, and push those big tax cuts, "right away!"
This is the rhetoric about the economy: After meeting with economic advisers and members of his cabinet at his ranch here, Bush said the economy is humming in large part because Republicans cut taxes aggressively during his first term in office and are ahead of pace to cut the deficit in half by 2009. "The economy of the United States is strong and the foundation for sustained growth is in place," Bush told reporters. Yet at the same time the PEOPLE say this: Yet the economic gains have not translated into political benefits for Bush, as recent polling shows a majority of Americans are not satisfied with the president's handling of economic issues. People are expressing concern to pollsters about several economic factors, including gas prices, health care costs and whether the housing bubble is about to burst. That's because of this, from the Times article above, read those bold numbers and weep.
That's what the Bush administration is all about. Money for them, none for you.
If you thought it was American Exceptionalism, well, that's just propaganda for the patriotic people too busy trying to keep afloat to pay attention.
Thinking it was geopolitical hegemony to protect our oil, well, that's closer, but it's more a symptom than a cause.
No, this is what they're all about, and don't forget it.
Income inequality grew significantly in 2005, with the top 1 percent of Americans – those with incomes that year of more than $348,000 – receiving their largest share of national income since 1928, analysis of newly released tax data shows.
The top 10 percent, roughly those earning more than $100,000, also reached a level of income share not seen since before the Depression.
Everytime you hear Sen. Grassley toss aside a comment about how well the economy is doing, everytime the Wall Street Trumpeters wax poetic about the greatness of the latest chart topping DOW number, just 30 companies out of the thousands traded on the stock markets or in private hands you realize, recognize that they aren't talking about you or I.
Now that gas has gone over 3 dollars again, and is likely to stay there, let's see, it's gone up about 50 percent in the last 2 years say, but has your income gone up that much in the same time frame? Talk about priorities, how's this for priorities?
“The nation faces some very tough choices in coming years,” he said. “That such a large share of the income gains are going to the very top, at a minimum, raises serious questions about continuing to provide tax cuts averaging over $150,000 a year to people making more than a million dollars a year, while saying we do not have enough money” to provide health insurance to 43 million Americans and cutting education benefits.
Here's some other stats to choke on: The new data also show that the top 300,000 Americans collectively enjoyed almost as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans. That's about 1 percent of our population of around 300 million people making as much money as nearly half the country, 150 million Americans.
And the same thing seems to be happenng in Canada too. Coincidence? I don't think so. The fact is that everything the bushites have done has been to strip this nation of her wealth and put it into the hands of a select few. Hell, of the world really. That's why trouble makers like Hugo Chavez cause such vitriol. That's why Rove plots and schemes and lies and intimidates to perpetuate republican control, why Dan Burton gets so pissed off at Henry Waxman for pounding that hapless tool running the GSA, that's why Carol Lam gets fired for doing her job their way until she started looking at them, why my least favorite Senator ever, Orrin Hatch, licks the boots of Kyle Sampson for the Bush regime.
What did Bush do when he first got into the White House? Loosen all the bonds of responsibility he could for business, especially big business, and push those big tax cuts, "right away!"
This is the rhetoric about the economy: After meeting with economic advisers and members of his cabinet at his ranch here, Bush said the economy is humming in large part because Republicans cut taxes aggressively during his first term in office and are ahead of pace to cut the deficit in half by 2009. "The economy of the United States is strong and the foundation for sustained growth is in place," Bush told reporters. Yet at the same time the PEOPLE say this: Yet the economic gains have not translated into political benefits for Bush, as recent polling shows a majority of Americans are not satisfied with the president's handling of economic issues. People are expressing concern to pollsters about several economic factors, including gas prices, health care costs and whether the housing bubble is about to burst. That's because of this, from the Times article above, read those bold numbers and weep.
[A]verage incomes for those in the bottom 90 percent dipped slightly compared with the year before, dropping $172, or 0.6 percent. The gains went largely to the top 1 percent, whose incomes rose to an average of more than $1.1 million each, an increase of more than $139,000, or about 14 percent.
That's what the Bush administration is all about. Money for them, none for you.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Nixon and Bush
[cross posted at DKos]
As I was reading this AP piece, I couldn't help but visualize Richard Nixon solemnly swearing that these stacks of transcripts
In these folders that you see over here on my left are more than 1,200 pages of transcripts of private conversations I participated in between Sept 15, 1972, and Apr 27 of 1973 with my principal aides and associates with regard to Watergate. They include all the relevant portions of all of the subpoenaed conversations that were recorded, that is, all portions that relate to the question of what I knew about Watergate or the coverup and what I did about it.
[...]
As far as what the President personally knew and did with regard to Watergate and the coverup is concerned, these materials—together with those already made available—will tell it all.
Bush says this:
The president cast the offer as virtually unprecedented and a reasonable way for Congress to get all the information it needs about the matter.
"If the Democrats truly do want to move forward and find the right information, they ought to accept what I proposed," Bush said. "If scoring political points is the desire, then the rejection of this reasonable proposal will really be evident for the American people to see."
You want it made more clear? Try this, first Bush, then Tricky Dick.
Bush said he worried that allowing testimony under oath would set a precedent on the separation of powers that would harm the presidency as an institution.
"My choice is to make sure that I safeguard the ability for presidents to get good decisions," he said. "If the staff of a president operated in constant fear of being hauled before various committees to discuss internal deliberations, the president would not receive candid advice and the American people would be ill-served."
Tricky
Ever since the existence of the White House taping system was first made known last summer, I have tried vigorously to guard the privacy of the tapes. I have been well aware that my effort to protect the confidentiality of Presidential conversations has heightened the sense of mystery about Watergate and, in fact, has caused increased suspicions of the President. Many people assume that the tapes must incriminate the President, or that otherwise, he would not insist on their privacy.
But the problem I confronted was this: Unless a President can protect the privacy of the advice he gets, he cannot get the advice he needs.
This principle is recognized in the constitutional doctrine of executive privilege, which has been defended and maintained by every President since Washington and which has been recognized by the courts, whenever tested, as inherent in the Presidency. I consider it to be my constitutional responsibility to defend this principle.
Other than the fact that Nixon could speak without sounding like an idiot, is there really any difference between these two Presidents, the heretofore reigning Worst President Ever and the Hands Down New Champ?
The discussion and overanalysis of the "Constitutional Crisis Question" will continue regardless of what I say, but NOW is the time to back up the Democrats on this. Bush's "offer" is an insult, a joke, a charade, to not just Congress, but to every American living or dead, an insult to the troops dying for greed and hubris, an insult to the taxpayers who fund this government (He [Bush] added that federal prosecutors work for him and it is natural to consider replacing them. [Actually they work for the American People you feckless git]), an insult to my Dad who taught 6th grade for 30 years, my Mother who taught me decency and compassion before she passed, to my sweet little Gramma who taught me about family and homemade desserts and scratching each others back while watching Hawaii 5-0, yeah, that was some offer he made. No oath, no press, no transcript, pretty much never happened.
Here's the link to the House Judiciary Committee, here's the link for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and here's its contact page. Use it.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Watch the News Hour
Friday's News Hour had some good reporting and discussions, even from Bobo, believe it or not.
And they even had a representative from the online world, Mark Benjamin from Salon.com. Bloggers have been talking about this story from day one, that's why Atrios was always wondering why Bush would never visit the troops there, DKos has had weekly discussions of the treatment of soldiers and veterans, people like Seven of Six have talked about their "adventures" with the VA, but until the WaPo went front page, nobody did didly. This exchange between Lehrer, a former Marine, and Bobo, not a former Marine, tells quite a lot:
DAVID BROOKS: And to me -- and I really wasn't aware of how much had been reported in Salon. I wasn't aware until Dana Priest just said it, that there had been a hearing.
JIM LEHRER: In 2005, and nobody paid any attention, including us.
As Judy Woodruff noted, now that we have a divided government again, these sorts of stories will come out. But the question is why they haven't before this? Why did/does the Bush Administration suppress so much about this war, beyond the fact that half of what they do is illegal, the other half incompetent?
They actually kindof discussed it in the Walter Reed story and in the Shields and Brooks discussion, but I'll summarize.
They don't want the people of this country to know the consequences of the Administration's War of Occupation. They don't want us to sacrifice, because if we become a part of this nightmare we will begin to seriously question why; those 30 percent dead enders that back Bush without question will start to wonder when things begin to impact their own Cheetos stained lives, those 10 percent supporters will not just leave Bush, but go after Bush and Cheney, and start to look for changes and solutions, will start demanding that the troops come home now, and it won't be unequivocable either. And Bush/Cheney can't afford that.
Because then stories like the two that followed Shields and Brooks will get addressed too, and then their whole criminal enterprise will come crashing down around their preciousssssssss corporate masters. Here's a link to the video of the Port Pollution story. Check it out too, it's quite interesting, and once again California is actually trying to fill the void left by Bush's Administration.
And they even had a representative from the online world, Mark Benjamin from Salon.com. Bloggers have been talking about this story from day one, that's why Atrios was always wondering why Bush would never visit the troops there, DKos has had weekly discussions of the treatment of soldiers and veterans, people like Seven of Six have talked about their "adventures" with the VA, but until the WaPo went front page, nobody did didly. This exchange between Lehrer, a former Marine, and Bobo, not a former Marine, tells quite a lot:
DAVID BROOKS: And to me -- and I really wasn't aware of how much had been reported in Salon. I wasn't aware until Dana Priest just said it, that there had been a hearing.
JIM LEHRER: In 2005, and nobody paid any attention, including us.
As Judy Woodruff noted, now that we have a divided government again, these sorts of stories will come out. But the question is why they haven't before this? Why did/does the Bush Administration suppress so much about this war, beyond the fact that half of what they do is illegal, the other half incompetent?
They actually kindof discussed it in the Walter Reed story and in the Shields and Brooks discussion, but I'll summarize.
They don't want the people of this country to know the consequences of the Administration's War of Occupation. They don't want us to sacrifice, because if we become a part of this nightmare we will begin to seriously question why; those 30 percent dead enders that back Bush without question will start to wonder when things begin to impact their own Cheetos stained lives, those 10 percent supporters will not just leave Bush, but go after Bush and Cheney, and start to look for changes and solutions, will start demanding that the troops come home now, and it won't be unequivocable either. And Bush/Cheney can't afford that.
Because then stories like the two that followed Shields and Brooks will get addressed too, and then their whole criminal enterprise will come crashing down around their preciousssssssss corporate masters. Here's a link to the video of the Port Pollution story. Check it out too, it's quite interesting, and once again California is actually trying to fill the void left by Bush's Administration.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
The Big Lie, Bush/Cheney Care
I got a letter from Sen. Obama today, asking for my support. It was a lovely letter, a sober assesment of the divide between the people and politics. He wrote of how politics has lost its purpose, that it’s treated like a sporting event, that our leaders have lost their way, that there is more common ground than divisive ground and that we need to move forward, not live in the past of partisanship. And he wrote aboutthe hopefulness of real Americans and their dreams.
Then I got an e-mail from the DSCC, with this bit: Today, Sen. Schumer talked about how meeting the challenges America faces begin with restoring our people's faith in government. Republicans - many hostile to the very idea of government - have bought us Iraq, Katrina and an unmitigated string of government failures.
Schumer touches on the point, the critical point, the unspoken point, that overlays everything that’s gone wrong in this country, a point that Obama doesn't seem to recognize in his optimistic talk.
Everybody thinks, wants to think, couldn’t believe otherwise, that Bush/Cheney are patriotic Americans, concerned with our founding principles and the normal operations of this country. You hear it from Hillary as she tries to explain her war vote, you read it in the words of Sen. Obama, Sen. Edwards, the Broders and Russerts and Picklers.
But as Chuck Schumer notes, they’re hostile to the very idea of government, and I’ll go even further and say that they’re more than hostile, they don’t believe in Democracy and the Constitution, don’t believe in the Declaration of Independence, don’t believe in the precepts of the Magna Carta, no, they believe in power unto itself, and nothing more.
And when you think of it that way you realize that what’s broken isn’t our politics, isn’t the institutions of this nation, but the Bush administration.
There are two systems in operation here, the one Obama speaks of, the one most everybody lives in, the normal world of reality, with all it’s bizarre behaviors and rank stupidity, it’s greed and selfishness, it’s sacrifices and duties and everyday heroics going to work or raising a child or stopping at a stop sign, and then there’s this other, fundamentally sociopathic world of Dick Cheney and George Bush.
The problem is in expecting BushCo to act in a way consistant with the reality world, when that world of policy and commity and goals and shared community, shared American heritage, doesn't exist for them. They don't care about us, about Americans, about veterans, about laws and decency and doing the right thing. Look at how they crap all over the veterans of their own war, let alone those from past wars. Does cutting funding for veterans, of leaving the National Guard troops out in the cold when it comes to benefits and care sound like a cry of concern?
Just keep reminding yourself, they are indeed hostile to government, and the incompetence they demonstrate is designed to make us think that our government, our politics, is the problem. They want us to throw the bums out, to lump the Democrats in with the republicans while they go merrily about their real business. Let's not let them get away with it.
Then I got an e-mail from the DSCC, with this bit: Today, Sen. Schumer talked about how meeting the challenges America faces begin with restoring our people's faith in government. Republicans - many hostile to the very idea of government - have bought us Iraq, Katrina and an unmitigated string of government failures.
Schumer touches on the point, the critical point, the unspoken point, that overlays everything that’s gone wrong in this country, a point that Obama doesn't seem to recognize in his optimistic talk.
Everybody thinks, wants to think, couldn’t believe otherwise, that Bush/Cheney are patriotic Americans, concerned with our founding principles and the normal operations of this country. You hear it from Hillary as she tries to explain her war vote, you read it in the words of Sen. Obama, Sen. Edwards, the Broders and Russerts and Picklers.
But as Chuck Schumer notes, they’re hostile to the very idea of government, and I’ll go even further and say that they’re more than hostile, they don’t believe in Democracy and the Constitution, don’t believe in the Declaration of Independence, don’t believe in the precepts of the Magna Carta, no, they believe in power unto itself, and nothing more.
And when you think of it that way you realize that what’s broken isn’t our politics, isn’t the institutions of this nation, but the Bush administration.
There are two systems in operation here, the one Obama speaks of, the one most everybody lives in, the normal world of reality, with all it’s bizarre behaviors and rank stupidity, it’s greed and selfishness, it’s sacrifices and duties and everyday heroics going to work or raising a child or stopping at a stop sign, and then there’s this other, fundamentally sociopathic world of Dick Cheney and George Bush.
The problem is in expecting BushCo to act in a way consistant with the reality world, when that world of policy and commity and goals and shared community, shared American heritage, doesn't exist for them. They don't care about us, about Americans, about veterans, about laws and decency and doing the right thing. Look at how they crap all over the veterans of their own war, let alone those from past wars. Does cutting funding for veterans, of leaving the National Guard troops out in the cold when it comes to benefits and care sound like a cry of concern?
Just this week the Administration admitted that they had underfunded veterans' health care by $3.7 billion over the next two years. And about 20 percent of all reservists do not have health insurance at all – approximately 12,219 in California, leaving them and their families without coverage when they leave active duty.
Disabled veterans in California face delays, barriers to getting benefits they earned. More than 41,212 in California are still subject to the disabled veterans’ tax, which forces veterans to sacrifice one dollar of their pension for every dollar they receive in disability benefits. In addition, there is a huge backlog of almost 500,000 compensation and pension claims, including those from veterans of the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Disabled veterans in California are still waiting approximately 181 days for their disability assessment.
Just keep reminding yourself, they are indeed hostile to government, and the incompetence they demonstrate is designed to make us think that our government, our politics, is the problem. They want us to throw the bums out, to lump the Democrats in with the republicans while they go merrily about their real business. Let's not let them get away with it.
Friday, February 2, 2007
A Day Like Many Others
This is what I saw today on the home page of McClatchy News. Just click it. There's just not a lot of good news if you're George W Bush or Dick Cheney or one of the architects of this truly FUBAR mess that their fear and greed and associated ignorance and incompetence have created.
And there was more, and none of it, about 17 articles, not one single one, was a plus for BushCo. I find that pretty stunning, depressing, infuriating, pathetic, shameful, for our nation and our reputation and our future.
The kind of leadership that produces a news day like this is not doing us any favors, and they really need to go sooner, rather than later.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Senate Anger
One consequence of having Democrats in charge of the Senate is the power wielded by committee chairs. This morning I saw a re-run of Mr. Gonzales testimony before Sen. Leahy's Judiciary Committee, and well, Mr. Gonzales better get used to it.
We all saw the Specter-Gonzo absurdity linked to from this post, but maybe you missed the one where Pat Leahy yelled at Gonzales, and did not, almost, let him get away with weaseling out of answering questions.
Sen. Leahy actually raised his voice at Gonzales, and the beady eyed little bastard didn't like it. There are some mightily frustrated and fed up politicians in the Democratic camp that are going to be pounding these people on a weekly, daily basis for 12 years of contempt and arrogance lavished on the Democrats, and while it might not be impeachment of Bush/Cheney, it's going to put pressure on them, and that's what the Democrats need to do, put pressure on the Administration in any way or form they can, they can't give in to them on every issue, or get swept quietly under the rug any longer.
Something will give, and something will come from it, you just watch.
We all saw the Specter-Gonzo absurdity linked to from this post, but maybe you missed the one where Pat Leahy yelled at Gonzales, and did not, almost, let him get away with weaseling out of answering questions.
Leahy: "We knew damn well if he went to Canada he wouldn't be tortured. He'd be held and he'd be investigated. We also knew damn well if he went to Syria, he'd be tortured. And it's beneath the dignity of this country, a country that has always been a beacon of human rights, to send somebody to another country to be tortured."
Sen. Leahy actually raised his voice at Gonzales, and the beady eyed little bastard didn't like it. There are some mightily frustrated and fed up politicians in the Democratic camp that are going to be pounding these people on a weekly, daily basis for 12 years of contempt and arrogance lavished on the Democrats, and while it might not be impeachment of Bush/Cheney, it's going to put pressure on them, and that's what the Democrats need to do, put pressure on the Administration in any way or form they can, they can't give in to them on every issue, or get swept quietly under the rug any longer.
Something will give, and something will come from it, you just watch.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bush Shows Ethics Allegiances
As per this San Diego UT article it would appear that US DA Carol Lam, no friend of mine thanks to her pointless and heartless prosecutions of Medical Marijauna growers and distributors, is getting shown the door, a somewhat unusual move given there are no suggestions or charges of corruption or incompetence involved.
Two reasons come to mind, she isn't sufficiently anti-immigrant for the likes of Darrell Issa, and she prosecuted Randy Cunningham, and has shown a tendency to prosecute white collar criminals over low level smugglers.
There may be valid reasons, but given that it's the Bush White House making this move, what are the chances? It's always, and I mean always, politics with that crew, and this smells no differently.
I suspect that Bush and Co is working beneath the radar, across the country, to shore up another line of defense to protect their criminal conspiracy, because why else would they fire somebody who scored such a major victory against public corruption in the Cunningham case, a case that continues on, and don't be surprised if the case against Mitchell Wade and Brent Wilkes, and the related corruption cases pending against Virgil Goode and Katie Harris end with a whimper, not a bang.
But that's just me, the nasty suspicious sort that I am.
Two reasons come to mind, she isn't sufficiently anti-immigrant for the likes of Darrell Issa, and she prosecuted Randy Cunningham, and has shown a tendency to prosecute white collar criminals over low level smugglers.
The Bush administration has quietly asked San Diego U.S. Attorney Carol Lam, best known for her high-profile prosecutions of politicians and corporate executives, to resign her post, a law enforcement official said....
When she took over, Lam made it clear that she planned to focus less on low-level smuggling cases in favor of public corruption and white collar crime, which would mean fewer but more significant prosecutions.
There may be valid reasons, but given that it's the Bush White House making this move, what are the chances? It's always, and I mean always, politics with that crew, and this smells no differently.
I suspect that Bush and Co is working beneath the radar, across the country, to shore up another line of defense to protect their criminal conspiracy, because why else would they fire somebody who scored such a major victory against public corruption in the Cunningham case, a case that continues on, and don't be surprised if the case against Mitchell Wade and Brent Wilkes, and the related corruption cases pending against Virgil Goode and Katie Harris end with a whimper, not a bang.
But that's just me, the nasty suspicious sort that I am.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Out of the Quagmire
Attacking Iran and Syria, yes, that's the solution to Bush's Iraq Oil War, start a fight somewhere else, against a nation that hasn't had their military degraded for the past ten years, no less.
It's very depressing to see how stupid America has become, that we even tolerate this pathetic little man, his pathetic and tired old man consigliori, and his whole cast of vapid, unredeemable slaves to the power of, the bright and shiny new car smell of money and childhood fantasies of dominion and global conquest.
Imagine Roosevelt or Adams or Cleveland making a speech like Bush just did? Can't do it, can you? When the best hope for reducing the violence in Iraq is not the boot heel, but collaboration with interested parties in the region, what does Bush do? Threaten them, of course.
It's clear that George W Bush has no interest in a positive outcome in Iraq, nor a negative outcome for that matter. What does concern him is making sure that the Oil and his Manly Image remain in control of US interests.
Because what we really need to do to solve the world's problem is to make sure that we can keep that Oil Monkey on our backs as long as humanly possible. Let's see, first there was chocolate covered Egyptian cotton, now it'll be crude oil encrusted salmon, ummm, yummy!
And here's some delicious oil soaked quotes, served on a bed of American and Iraqi blood. (As usual, bolds are mine)
The US government has been involved in drawing up the law...
Vice-President **** Cheney, who said in 1999, while he was still chief executive of ... Halliburton, that the world would need an additional 50 million barrels of oil a day by 2010. "So where is the oil going to come from?... The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies," he said.
Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would permit Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years
Well, you get the drift. We need to get off the oil, we need to start building solar cells and energy storage devices and building efficiency equipment, most of all, we need to change the way we operate in the United States. Because we've become trapped into this automobile dominated society, fueled by cheap gas. And those days are as dead as Hussein and Franco, yet Big Oil and their grateful lackey, GW Bush want to perpetuate that way of life forever, it seems, at any cost it appears.
And we buy into it, by tolerating George W Bush and his miserable administration, the vacant and empty vessel that is Condi Rice, the lunacy of Rumsfeld, the comic book evil of Dick Cheney, the absurdities of having people like Newt Gingrich and Bill Bennett and Rush Limbaugh and Fred Kagan lecture us on morality and the proper affairs of state.
I hope these dark days will be soon behind us, for that I will continue to blog and work and write and contribute and encourage, try to educate and offer hope, because we need a new way forward, and that way lies not in the desert sands of Iraq nor the mountainous plateaus of Iran.
It's very depressing to see how stupid America has become, that we even tolerate this pathetic little man, his pathetic and tired old man consigliori, and his whole cast of vapid, unredeemable slaves to the power of, the bright and shiny new car smell of money and childhood fantasies of dominion and global conquest.
Imagine Roosevelt or Adams or Cleveland making a speech like Bush just did? Can't do it, can you? When the best hope for reducing the violence in Iraq is not the boot heel, but collaboration with interested parties in the region, what does Bush do? Threaten them, of course.
It's clear that George W Bush has no interest in a positive outcome in Iraq, nor a negative outcome for that matter. What does concern him is making sure that the Oil and his Manly Image remain in control of US interests.
Because what we really need to do to solve the world's problem is to make sure that we can keep that Oil Monkey on our backs as long as humanly possible. Let's see, first there was chocolate covered Egyptian cotton, now it'll be crude oil encrusted salmon, ummm, yummy!
And here's some delicious oil soaked quotes, served on a bed of American and Iraqi blood. (As usual, bolds are mine)
The US government has been involved in drawing up the law...
Vice-President **** Cheney, who said in 1999, while he was still chief executive of ... Halliburton, that the world would need an additional 50 million barrels of oil a day by 2010. "So where is the oil going to come from?... The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies," he said.
Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would permit Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years
Well, you get the drift. We need to get off the oil, we need to start building solar cells and energy storage devices and building efficiency equipment, most of all, we need to change the way we operate in the United States. Because we've become trapped into this automobile dominated society, fueled by cheap gas. And those days are as dead as Hussein and Franco, yet Big Oil and their grateful lackey, GW Bush want to perpetuate that way of life forever, it seems, at any cost it appears.
And we buy into it, by tolerating George W Bush and his miserable administration, the vacant and empty vessel that is Condi Rice, the lunacy of Rumsfeld, the comic book evil of Dick Cheney, the absurdities of having people like Newt Gingrich and Bill Bennett and Rush Limbaugh and Fred Kagan lecture us on morality and the proper affairs of state.
I hope these dark days will be soon behind us, for that I will continue to blog and work and write and contribute and encourage, try to educate and offer hope, because we need a new way forward, and that way lies not in the desert sands of Iraq nor the mountainous plateaus of Iran.
Monday, November 27, 2006
What the GOP of Today Has Done
I braved the San Diego rains this afternoon to get some lunch, the turkey was all gone, and I was listening to Big Eddie Schultz on AM 1360, KLSD while I drove to the nearest strip mall for a sandwich. Ed took a call from this woman who was a bit unsure about this memory drug they talked about on 60 Minutes, and all Big Eddie could see was that the drug helps PTSD, but the woman had concerns about the military having a drug that can erase memory.
He pooh poohed her concern, missing the point entirely, as has been known to happen with the big lug. She was concerned about the thought of the military messing with people’s memories, the Manchurian Candidate and all, while he was trying to convince her it was for a good cause. She didn't say it, maybe didn't really know it herself, the fact is that her unease is based on one thing. She doesn’t trust her government. It’s as simple and tragic as that, the American People just do not trust their government. This is what Bush has wrought.
We thought our phone records were private, we thought you couldn’t search our home without us being served a search warrant, we thought our right to peaceably assemble without the FBI spying on us-like the Quakers and Anti-War groups-was guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, we thought we could read what we chose without being questioned, we thought that the President would uphold his oath of office and protect the Constitution against enemies, foreign and domestic. But we thought wrong, because the Bush crowd has broken the compact with the People.
That compact is an alien concept to George W Bush, given his wastrel life, it's a sign of personal weakness to Cheney, it's irrelevent to Rove, yet it is the most basic of foundation timbers of ours, or any, society, the deal we make whereby we cede power with the expectation that power will be used to benefit the society as a whole.
I’m not an enemy to the Constitution simply because I want Bush and Friends to follow the letter and the intent of our laws, yet I get labeled traitor and terrorist lover. And that labeling gives Bush and Abu Gonzalez carte blanch, so they assume, to go ahead and violate my rights because they deem me a threat, not to the Constitution, but to their continued criminal enterprises and un, profoundly un, Constitutional activities.
That's what the Centrists, the conservatives, definitely the republicans, fail to understand. This isn't a political or a policy issue that needs to be addressed by changing the deck chairs on the Titanic, this isn't a game or a race. It's not business as usual, it's tectonic, and Nancy Pelosi can only do so much. People need to step up and take responsibility for their actions, one way or another. Not just the Pols and Leaders and Pundits, but the American People too, for getting distracted by Survivor and Britney and Lady Di and SUV's and greed and comfort and our own little Private Idaho's.
He pooh poohed her concern, missing the point entirely, as has been known to happen with the big lug. She was concerned about the thought of the military messing with people’s memories, the Manchurian Candidate and all, while he was trying to convince her it was for a good cause. She didn't say it, maybe didn't really know it herself, the fact is that her unease is based on one thing. She doesn’t trust her government. It’s as simple and tragic as that, the American People just do not trust their government. This is what Bush has wrought.
We thought our phone records were private, we thought you couldn’t search our home without us being served a search warrant, we thought our right to peaceably assemble without the FBI spying on us-like the Quakers and Anti-War groups-was guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, we thought we could read what we chose without being questioned, we thought that the President would uphold his oath of office and protect the Constitution against enemies, foreign and domestic. But we thought wrong, because the Bush crowd has broken the compact with the People.
That compact is an alien concept to George W Bush, given his wastrel life, it's a sign of personal weakness to Cheney, it's irrelevent to Rove, yet it is the most basic of foundation timbers of ours, or any, society, the deal we make whereby we cede power with the expectation that power will be used to benefit the society as a whole.
I’m not an enemy to the Constitution simply because I want Bush and Friends to follow the letter and the intent of our laws, yet I get labeled traitor and terrorist lover. And that labeling gives Bush and Abu Gonzalez carte blanch, so they assume, to go ahead and violate my rights because they deem me a threat, not to the Constitution, but to their continued criminal enterprises and un, profoundly un, Constitutional activities.
That's what the Centrists, the conservatives, definitely the republicans, fail to understand. This isn't a political or a policy issue that needs to be addressed by changing the deck chairs on the Titanic, this isn't a game or a race. It's not business as usual, it's tectonic, and Nancy Pelosi can only do so much. People need to step up and take responsibility for their actions, one way or another. Not just the Pols and Leaders and Pundits, but the American People too, for getting distracted by Survivor and Britney and Lady Di and SUV's and greed and comfort and our own little Private Idaho's.
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