"... the Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses.... "
Divisive words chanted by "I'm a Uniter, Not a Divider" Bush at his campaigning pep rallies, the latest fittingly in Sugar Land, TX, where the former GOP House majority leader "The Hammer" DeLay's seat is up for grabs after he slunk off amid the Abramoff scandal.
"Faced with potential GOP defeat in both chambers, Bush and Cheney aimed to avert that by convincing voters that they cannot risk giving the opposition party any power in Washington." (WaPo)
You've got to hand it to them, they say this with a straight face. Power, they mean the power of the GOP majority Congress which is on the line in November.
The record. The Bush administration and GOP Congress "....have abdicated their oversight responsibilities mandated by the Constitution, enacted a conscious policy of massive borrowing and unrestrained spending, and installed a host of semipermanent mechanisms for transferring legislative power to commercial interests...", not to mention their terrorist-friendly "open door policy" on our border with Mexico, and misleading the country into the quicksand of the lose-lose Iraq war.
The Decider wants to hold on to his dictatorial, unprincipled power. While he leads the anti-Democrat cheers from GOP hand-selected-attendees at his pep rallies, the silent majority.... the middle-class.... suffers under his "my way or the highway" approach to governing.
The silent majority can roar in November.... VOTE!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
We've Got the Money Honey....
I was scanning "Midterm Vote May Define Rove's Legacy.... Big Losses Could Dim Aura of Bush Adviser," when I came across something so typical of how the Bush administration operates it begged attention.
The Decider's political guru "Turd Blossom" Rove made a recent campaign speech in Buffalo, NY arranged at the behest of embattled Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY).... "Before the speech, Reynolds said, he made sure Rove inspected the damage from an unexpected snowstorm and received a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency officials. A few days later, Bush declared a federal emergency, making the city eligible for up to $200 million in disaster aid." (WaPo)
This also highlights just one of the multitude of changes the Bush administration and GOP have made in our laws. Under the Stafford Act of 2005, the president has permanent powers to grant federal emergency funds without Congressional approval.
The Decider can use taypayer dollars as his personal piggy bank to spend at will.... this time buying goodwill for one of his Congressional ditto-heads.
If for no other reason, this is why the voters MUST wrest control of Congress from the corrupt grip of the GOP.... oversight.
There isn't any....
For where and how many tax dollars are spent, for bankrupting budget excesses, for oil-church-corporate-favoring regulations and laws, for lying us into war, for obscene lobbyist influence .... in the Bush administration, ethics is an antiquated concept, winning and retaining power is everything.
Rove is confident that the GOP will keep their majority in both houses of Congress.... "we have the capacity to move the resources in if we need to do more," Rove declared... "Incumbents are hard to defeat. Our candidates by and large have significantly more resources than they have."
"Resources" is the buzz word for $$$$. Thanks to Rove and The Decider, Reynolds now has an additional $200 million in public relations "resources."
November.....
The Decider's political guru "Turd Blossom" Rove made a recent campaign speech in Buffalo, NY arranged at the behest of embattled Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY).... "Before the speech, Reynolds said, he made sure Rove inspected the damage from an unexpected snowstorm and received a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency officials. A few days later, Bush declared a federal emergency, making the city eligible for up to $200 million in disaster aid." (WaPo)
This also highlights just one of the multitude of changes the Bush administration and GOP have made in our laws. Under the Stafford Act of 2005, the president has permanent powers to grant federal emergency funds without Congressional approval.
The Decider can use taypayer dollars as his personal piggy bank to spend at will.... this time buying goodwill for one of his Congressional ditto-heads.
If for no other reason, this is why the voters MUST wrest control of Congress from the corrupt grip of the GOP.... oversight.
There isn't any....
For where and how many tax dollars are spent, for bankrupting budget excesses, for oil-church-corporate-favoring regulations and laws, for lying us into war, for obscene lobbyist influence .... in the Bush administration, ethics is an antiquated concept, winning and retaining power is everything.
Rove is confident that the GOP will keep their majority in both houses of Congress.... "we have the capacity to move the resources in if we need to do more," Rove declared... "Incumbents are hard to defeat. Our candidates by and large have significantly more resources than they have."
"Resources" is the buzz word for $$$$. Thanks to Rove and The Decider, Reynolds now has an additional $200 million in public relations "resources."
November.....
Sunday, October 29, 2006
The Hunt Is On
The hunt for votes is far from over, "As Elections Near, Dueling With Dollars.... Party Operatives Try To Influence Races."
Campaign strategists with tens of millions to spend, "will decide the final images that many voters see in this campaign." (WaPo) And, most of these ads will be worse than negative.... it'll be a jungle out there.
Have the electorate been hibernating the last few years? The GOP operatives are counting on it.
Counting they won't remember that their sons and daughters are being maimed and dying for a lied-into war of choice, while their obdurate Commander in Cheat tries out new Iraq slogans on the campaign trail.... while Osama bin Laden remains at large.... while the war breeds more terrorists .... while Halliburton profiteers with no-bid contracts, and taxpayers spend hundreds of billions on this worst foreign policy blunder ever.
Counting they won't remember the unimaginable debt The Decider and his Congressional enablers are piling on our children.... the waste and corruption in the halls of Congress ....the middle-class disappearing ....jobs and companies leaving the U.S. while illegal aliens by the millions cross our border with Mexico to demand their "rights."
Party operatives are on the prowl and distracted voters are their prey.... hoping the electorate won't trust their instincts.... won't fight for their survival, their right to be represented and heard.
It's time to strike out, to escape the savage GOP grip on power.
November....
Campaign strategists with tens of millions to spend, "will decide the final images that many voters see in this campaign." (WaPo) And, most of these ads will be worse than negative.... it'll be a jungle out there.
Have the electorate been hibernating the last few years? The GOP operatives are counting on it.
Counting they won't remember that their sons and daughters are being maimed and dying for a lied-into war of choice, while their obdurate Commander in Cheat tries out new Iraq slogans on the campaign trail.... while Osama bin Laden remains at large.... while the war breeds more terrorists .... while Halliburton profiteers with no-bid contracts, and taxpayers spend hundreds of billions on this worst foreign policy blunder ever.
Counting they won't remember the unimaginable debt The Decider and his Congressional enablers are piling on our children.... the waste and corruption in the halls of Congress ....the middle-class disappearing ....jobs and companies leaving the U.S. while illegal aliens by the millions cross our border with Mexico to demand their "rights."
Party operatives are on the prowl and distracted voters are their prey.... hoping the electorate won't trust their instincts.... won't fight for their survival, their right to be represented and heard.
It's time to strike out, to escape the savage GOP grip on power.
November....
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Aussies Govern, Bush Preaches
There is "Outrage as Muslim cleric likens women to 'uncovered meat.' ''
Australia's most senior Muslim cleric compared immodestly-dressed women not wearing the Islamic headdress to meat left on the street to be eaten by cats.
To a crowd of 500 worshippers in a Ramadam sermon on the topic of adultery, Sheik al-Hilali suggested that a group of Muslim men recently jailed for many years for gang rapes were not entirely to blame..... "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [veil] no problem would have occurred.... women were weapons used by Satan to control men."
But our enlightened friends down under aren't going to allow this kind of medieval incitement against women and justification of rape to go unanswered.
"Australian politicians including Prime Minister John Howard, community leaders and a large number of Muslims condemned the mufti's comments amid calls that he should be deported to Egypt, his country of origin."
Australia is taking a pro-active stance against extremist Muslims and others who don't want to assimilate into their culture .... learn English, respect women, accept that Australia's laws are secular.... should leave the country.
But U.S. citizens can't depend on this type of clear-cut no-nonsense government policy.
The Decider and his religious right demanders want to put church.... let's be clear about this, their evangelical-dogma-adhering church.... not only into state, but running state and its treasury, and all of us in the process.
Are you ready to allow intelligent design to be taught as "science" in our public schools, or to give up rights of privacy guaranteed under our Constitution, to draw a veil over our legal protections and safeguards?
There's still time to pull the country back from The Decider's extreme-ideology brink and return the country to the rule of law....
November.
Australia's most senior Muslim cleric compared immodestly-dressed women not wearing the Islamic headdress to meat left on the street to be eaten by cats.
To a crowd of 500 worshippers in a Ramadam sermon on the topic of adultery, Sheik al-Hilali suggested that a group of Muslim men recently jailed for many years for gang rapes were not entirely to blame..... "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [veil] no problem would have occurred.... women were weapons used by Satan to control men."
But our enlightened friends down under aren't going to allow this kind of medieval incitement against women and justification of rape to go unanswered.
"Australian politicians including Prime Minister John Howard, community leaders and a large number of Muslims condemned the mufti's comments amid calls that he should be deported to Egypt, his country of origin."
Australia is taking a pro-active stance against extremist Muslims and others who don't want to assimilate into their culture .... learn English, respect women, accept that Australia's laws are secular.... should leave the country.
But U.S. citizens can't depend on this type of clear-cut no-nonsense government policy.
The Decider and his religious right demanders want to put church.... let's be clear about this, their evangelical-dogma-adhering church.... not only into state, but running state and its treasury, and all of us in the process.
Are you ready to allow intelligent design to be taught as "science" in our public schools, or to give up rights of privacy guaranteed under our Constitution, to draw a veil over our legal protections and safeguards?
There's still time to pull the country back from The Decider's extreme-ideology brink and return the country to the rule of law....
November.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The GOP Shuffle
"First you say you will.... and then you won't.... then you say you do, and then you don't.... you're undecided now so WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?"
The voters want to know.
But, by now they realize, The Decider will do nothing except revise slogans, and spin with "politically motivated misstatements."
While "Bush Acknowledges Discontent on Iraq," he still tap dances to the off-key tune.... "absolutely, we're winning,".... and expresses confidence in both Iraq's prime minister and his defense secretary, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" Rummy.
Expressing confidence in Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is a good example of the Bush administration's Iraq war "do-don't" shuffle. Just today "U.S. and Iraqi forces raided the stronghold of a Shiite militia led by an anti-American cleric in a mission targeting a suspected death squad leader, only to have the operation publicly repudiated" by..... Maliki. (WaPo)
Confidence in this behavior by Maliki?
Bush, first you say "stay the course," and then you say "benchmarks," so WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
Another Bush administration two-step has been the securing of our border with Mexico. First the GOP will build a border fence, and then they won't fully fund or act on it. All the while illegal aliens by the millions are pouring into the country, among them are drug smugglers, gangs, criminals and terrorists.
The GOP will-won't ballads.... Iraq war, border security, corporate profiteering, trade deficit, national debt, lobbyist corruption, Congressional ethics and "pork barrel" spending.
So what are the voters going to do?
November....
The voters want to know.
But, by now they realize, The Decider will do nothing except revise slogans, and spin with "politically motivated misstatements."
While "Bush Acknowledges Discontent on Iraq," he still tap dances to the off-key tune.... "absolutely, we're winning,".... and expresses confidence in both Iraq's prime minister and his defense secretary, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" Rummy.
Expressing confidence in Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is a good example of the Bush administration's Iraq war "do-don't" shuffle. Just today "U.S. and Iraqi forces raided the stronghold of a Shiite militia led by an anti-American cleric in a mission targeting a suspected death squad leader, only to have the operation publicly repudiated" by..... Maliki. (WaPo)
Confidence in this behavior by Maliki?
Bush, first you say "stay the course," and then you say "benchmarks," so WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
Another Bush administration two-step has been the securing of our border with Mexico. First the GOP will build a border fence, and then they won't fully fund or act on it. All the while illegal aliens by the millions are pouring into the country, among them are drug smugglers, gangs, criminals and terrorists.
The GOP will-won't ballads.... Iraq war, border security, corporate profiteering, trade deficit, national debt, lobbyist corruption, Congressional ethics and "pork barrel" spending.
So what are the voters going to do?
November....
Bush Engineers Halliburton's Gravy Train
The story today, "Halliburton Cited For Iraq Overhead.... Costs in Oil Contract Called Extreme," is just the tip of the Halliburton war and outlaw-nations-profiteering. The iceberg could sink the Titanic, or even our country.
The tip..... The Decider's administration, anxious to please Dead-Eye Dick and his corporate buddies, has allowed Cheney's old firm, Halliburton, to cart off obscene profits from their Iraq no-bid contracts.
A report released yesterday by the inspector general's office overseeing Iraq spending, found that in a key Halliburton contact to restore Iraq's oil industry "administrative overhead accounted for more than half the costs." (WaPo)
As obscene as Halliburton's contract abuse is in Iraq, there is a more deadly serious Halliburton offense taking place... the Iran iceberg.
Halliburton allegedly sold key nuclear reactor components to a private Iranian oil company called Oriental Oil Kish as recently as 2005, using offshore subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
In 2004 and 2005 Halliburton had a close business relationship with Cyrus Naseri, an Iranian Oriental Oil Kish official and key member of Iran's nuclear development team. London's Financial Times confirmed that Naseri "a senior Iranian diplomat negotiating with Europe over Iran's controversial nuclear programme... [was]... at the heart of deals with US energy companies to develop the country's oil industry." (WaPo)
It was reported in January that Halliburton had won a tender to drill a huge Iranian gas field, and although some in the Iranian parliament attacked the deal, the Iranian government defended it, saying that the project, called South Pars, "served the interests" of the Islamic state.
According to Fortune Magazine, Halliburton has opened an unmarked office on the 10th floor of a Tehran office building, and since the South Pars project is expected to take 52 months to complete, Halliburton seems likely to remain in Iran through 2009.
So.... while even in today's press conference, The Decider seemingly attacks Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Tehran government reaps the benefits of doing business with a U.S. firm.... Halliburton.... where VP Cheney served as president.
November....
The tip..... The Decider's administration, anxious to please Dead-Eye Dick and his corporate buddies, has allowed Cheney's old firm, Halliburton, to cart off obscene profits from their Iraq no-bid contracts.
A report released yesterday by the inspector general's office overseeing Iraq spending, found that in a key Halliburton contact to restore Iraq's oil industry "administrative overhead accounted for more than half the costs." (WaPo)
As obscene as Halliburton's contract abuse is in Iraq, there is a more deadly serious Halliburton offense taking place... the Iran iceberg.
Halliburton allegedly sold key nuclear reactor components to a private Iranian oil company called Oriental Oil Kish as recently as 2005, using offshore subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
In 2004 and 2005 Halliburton had a close business relationship with Cyrus Naseri, an Iranian Oriental Oil Kish official and key member of Iran's nuclear development team. London's Financial Times confirmed that Naseri "a senior Iranian diplomat negotiating with Europe over Iran's controversial nuclear programme... [was]... at the heart of deals with US energy companies to develop the country's oil industry." (WaPo)
It was reported in January that Halliburton had won a tender to drill a huge Iranian gas field, and although some in the Iranian parliament attacked the deal, the Iranian government defended it, saying that the project, called South Pars, "served the interests" of the Islamic state.
According to Fortune Magazine, Halliburton has opened an unmarked office on the 10th floor of a Tehran office building, and since the South Pars project is expected to take 52 months to complete, Halliburton seems likely to remain in Iran through 2009.
So.... while even in today's press conference, The Decider seemingly attacks Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Tehran government reaps the benefits of doing business with a U.S. firm.... Halliburton.... where VP Cheney served as president.
November....
Limbaugh Mocks Fox
Rush Limbaugh is the poster boy for much of what is wrong with the Republican party.
This conservative talk show pill-head know-it-all coughed up another hair ball of personal ridicule, this one directed at Michael J. Fox.
Fox, "who suffers from Parkinson's disease, has done a series of political ads supporting candidates who favor stem cell research" and in the commercials the effects of the disease ravaging him are all too apparent. (WaPo)
Limbaugh mocked Fox and accused him of either not taking his medication, or of "acting."
Even in this mud-slinging campaign season, this sets a new low for the GOP politics of personal destruction.
To Limbaugh and his supposed weekly audience of 10 million ditto-heads, these attacks are what pass for entertainment.
Let's unplug this GOP viciousness in November.... vote!
This conservative talk show pill-head know-it-all coughed up another hair ball of personal ridicule, this one directed at Michael J. Fox.
Fox, "who suffers from Parkinson's disease, has done a series of political ads supporting candidates who favor stem cell research" and in the commercials the effects of the disease ravaging him are all too apparent. (WaPo)
Limbaugh mocked Fox and accused him of either not taking his medication, or of "acting."
Even in this mud-slinging campaign season, this sets a new low for the GOP politics of personal destruction.
To Limbaugh and his supposed weekly audience of 10 million ditto-heads, these attacks are what pass for entertainment.
Let's unplug this GOP viciousness in November.... vote!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Sound Bites Bite GOP
The Decider is annoyed.
People keep taking him at his word.
White House spinner Tony Snow is telling us that when we heard "stay the course" for the war in Iraq, we were distorting The Decider's position. "That is not a stay-the-course-policy," he declared. (WaPo)
Now, "Bush's New Tack Steers Clear of 'Stay the Course' " ... as the wizard behind the curtain starts crafting new sound bites for Bush to spin. Trying to distance himself from his own words, The Decider asserted to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News last week, "Listen, we've never been stay the course, George."
Oh really. Never? The Decider must be living in a universe apart from his rhetoric.
So does this mean The Decider sees an end in sight for our troops caught in the middle of the deadly Iraq civil war? Well....
The Decider has accused the Democrats ad nauseam of wanting to "cut and run" in Iraq.... "the party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run."
When asked if his opponents use that phrase.... "cut and run" .... The Decider said, "Well, they may not use 'cut and run,' but they say 'date certain' as to when we get out..."
Let's see if we have the new GOP spin right..... The Decider doesn't want to declare a date certain to leave Iraq, but that's not stay the course. The Democrats want to set a date certain for the Iraq government to take over and start pulling out our troops, and that is cut and run.
Got it. Just more wizard Rove flimflam. A strategy to win votes, and retain power.
So, what will be the new GOP Iraq war sound bite?..... "bench marks." Look for it.
The Decider, his Congressional enablers and all-powerful spinners should have remembered that long-suffering voters have a proven sound bite of their own.... "Throw the bums out!"
November....
People keep taking him at his word.
White House spinner Tony Snow is telling us that when we heard "stay the course" for the war in Iraq, we were distorting The Decider's position. "That is not a stay-the-course-policy," he declared. (WaPo)
Now, "Bush's New Tack Steers Clear of 'Stay the Course' " ... as the wizard behind the curtain starts crafting new sound bites for Bush to spin. Trying to distance himself from his own words, The Decider asserted to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News last week, "Listen, we've never been stay the course, George."
Oh really. Never? The Decider must be living in a universe apart from his rhetoric.
So does this mean The Decider sees an end in sight for our troops caught in the middle of the deadly Iraq civil war? Well....
The Decider has accused the Democrats ad nauseam of wanting to "cut and run" in Iraq.... "the party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run."
When asked if his opponents use that phrase.... "cut and run" .... The Decider said, "Well, they may not use 'cut and run,' but they say 'date certain' as to when we get out..."
Let's see if we have the new GOP spin right..... The Decider doesn't want to declare a date certain to leave Iraq, but that's not stay the course. The Democrats want to set a date certain for the Iraq government to take over and start pulling out our troops, and that is cut and run.
Got it. Just more wizard Rove flimflam. A strategy to win votes, and retain power.
So, what will be the new GOP Iraq war sound bite?..... "bench marks." Look for it.
The Decider, his Congressional enablers and all-powerful spinners should have remembered that long-suffering voters have a proven sound bite of their own.... "Throw the bums out!"
November....
Monday, October 23, 2006
Tillman: "Criminals Still in Charge"
Were truer words ever spoken?.... from someone who has been there.
"Pat Tillman's Brother Blasts Iraq War, Bush." You remember Pat Tillman, the pro football player who quit to become an Army Ranger after 9/11.... and how the Army concocted a "heroic" story to propagandize his death before finally telling Tillman's family that he had been accidently killed by "friendly fire" from his fellow Army Rangers.
His brother, Kevin Tillman, also served as an Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan. He recently spoke out for the first time since his brother's death in 2004.... "Somehow, the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country. Somehow, this is tolerated. Somehow, nobody is accountable for this." (WaPo)
Were truer words ever spoken? We're watching right now The Decider's campaign spinning of the Iraq civil war as terrorism, pledging to "stay the course" while our brave troops continue to die.... this is tolerating the intolerable.
Now is the time to step up, to hold the incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious Bush administration and Congressional enablers accountable. To say "enough" .... November.
"Pat Tillman's Brother Blasts Iraq War, Bush." You remember Pat Tillman, the pro football player who quit to become an Army Ranger after 9/11.... and how the Army concocted a "heroic" story to propagandize his death before finally telling Tillman's family that he had been accidently killed by "friendly fire" from his fellow Army Rangers.
His brother, Kevin Tillman, also served as an Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan. He recently spoke out for the first time since his brother's death in 2004.... "Somehow, the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country. Somehow, this is tolerated. Somehow, nobody is accountable for this." (WaPo)
Were truer words ever spoken? We're watching right now The Decider's campaign spinning of the Iraq civil war as terrorism, pledging to "stay the course" while our brave troops continue to die.... this is tolerating the intolerable.
Now is the time to step up, to hold the incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious Bush administration and Congressional enablers accountable. To say "enough" .... November.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Tricky George's Campaign Rhetoric
This headline came from The Decider's weekly radio address.... "Bush: No Iraq Pull Out Until 'Mission is Complete' ".... and offered no change in the "stay the course" strategy.
In full campaign rhetoric he warned that the increased violence in Iraq is the enemy's desire to break America's resolve.... "The terrorists are trying to divide America and break our will, and we must not allow them to succeed." (WaPo)
The terrorists, tricky use of words.
The total number of foreign fighters "in Iraq is between 800 and 2,000, according to estimates by the Brookings Institute, a think tank in Washington. In contrast, the total strength of the insurgency is more than 20,000..... that means the vast majority of the fighters come from Iraq itself." (Christian Science Monitor)
In plain language, not tricky George's rhetoric, the war in Iraq is mainly between Iraqis.... a civil war. And our brave troops are caught in the cross hairs of this deadly mayhem.
To try to hide the true mess his administration has made in Iraq, Bush indulges in sloganeering, framing the Iraq war as terrorism.... a despicable campaign scare tactic.
End the Bush and GOP spooks politics of fear. November!
In full campaign rhetoric he warned that the increased violence in Iraq is the enemy's desire to break America's resolve.... "The terrorists are trying to divide America and break our will, and we must not allow them to succeed." (WaPo)
The terrorists, tricky use of words.
The total number of foreign fighters "in Iraq is between 800 and 2,000, according to estimates by the Brookings Institute, a think tank in Washington. In contrast, the total strength of the insurgency is more than 20,000..... that means the vast majority of the fighters come from Iraq itself." (Christian Science Monitor)
In plain language, not tricky George's rhetoric, the war in Iraq is mainly between Iraqis.... a civil war. And our brave troops are caught in the cross hairs of this deadly mayhem.
To try to hide the true mess his administration has made in Iraq, Bush indulges in sloganeering, framing the Iraq war as terrorism.... a despicable campaign scare tactic.
End the Bush and GOP spooks politics of fear. November!
Friday, October 20, 2006
Border Agents Convicted, Media Quiet
The Decider and his spinners are blitzing the country.... "GOP Aims to Scare Up Big Voter Turnout."
Increasingly alarmed that conservative voters will stay home in November because they are fed up with GOP corruption, scandals, and ruinous policies, "Bush and other senior Republicans will escalate charges that Democrats will raise taxes, weaken national security and liberalize social policies......" STOP RIGHT THERE!
The nerve. How much more liberal can our social policies be than the national give-away amnesty program The Decider wants for over 12 million illegal aliens already overwhelming our medical, education and social services?
And, how's this for a liberal social policy.... a story so far being repressed by the media except for a select few like LA Times staff writer Miguel Bustillo..... "Agents Get Prison for Wounding a Smuggler."
Oh, you didn't hear about that? They were sentenced yesterday.
U.S. Border Agents Ignacio Ramos received 11 years in prison, and Jose Compean received 12 years in prison for stopping a van carrying 743 pounds of marijuana and trying to apprehend the smuggler, and when he fled, wounding the smuggler in his buttocks.
The smuggler was given immunity to testify against the agents, and part of the offenses listed in their conviction was "violating the smuggler's civil rights."
How dare Bush and the GOP try to "scare up" a vote by accusing that the Democrats will liberalize social policies. The border agents were tried and convicted in a U.S. District Court by the Federal Prosecutor.... Attorney General Gonzales' prosecutor.
Then there's the GOP charge that the Democrats will weaken national security.... over five years since 9/11 all kinds of terrorists and criminals are invading our country with impunity at our unsecured borders, bin Laden is still on the loose (the GOP is even using his image and "warning" messages in a TV campaign commercial), their foreign policy and the Iraq war are creating more terrorists, making the world a much more dangerous place.
The GOP can spin all they want, voters know the true situation.
What I want to know is.... why is there no story in the general media about the border agents sentencing?
These men were sentenced to prison for trying to do their job.... protect our border and country from a known drug smuggler..... this is a national shame and an outrage!
Increasingly alarmed that conservative voters will stay home in November because they are fed up with GOP corruption, scandals, and ruinous policies, "Bush and other senior Republicans will escalate charges that Democrats will raise taxes, weaken national security and liberalize social policies......" STOP RIGHT THERE!
The nerve. How much more liberal can our social policies be than the national give-away amnesty program The Decider wants for over 12 million illegal aliens already overwhelming our medical, education and social services?
And, how's this for a liberal social policy.... a story so far being repressed by the media except for a select few like LA Times staff writer Miguel Bustillo..... "Agents Get Prison for Wounding a Smuggler."
Oh, you didn't hear about that? They were sentenced yesterday.
U.S. Border Agents Ignacio Ramos received 11 years in prison, and Jose Compean received 12 years in prison for stopping a van carrying 743 pounds of marijuana and trying to apprehend the smuggler, and when he fled, wounding the smuggler in his buttocks.
The smuggler was given immunity to testify against the agents, and part of the offenses listed in their conviction was "violating the smuggler's civil rights."
How dare Bush and the GOP try to "scare up" a vote by accusing that the Democrats will liberalize social policies. The border agents were tried and convicted in a U.S. District Court by the Federal Prosecutor.... Attorney General Gonzales' prosecutor.
Then there's the GOP charge that the Democrats will weaken national security.... over five years since 9/11 all kinds of terrorists and criminals are invading our country with impunity at our unsecured borders, bin Laden is still on the loose (the GOP is even using his image and "warning" messages in a TV campaign commercial), their foreign policy and the Iraq war are creating more terrorists, making the world a much more dangerous place.
The GOP can spin all they want, voters know the true situation.
What I want to know is.... why is there no story in the general media about the border agents sentencing?
These men were sentenced to prison for trying to do their job.... protect our border and country from a known drug smuggler..... this is a national shame and an outrage!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Who Will Get Rummy's Goat?
It looks baaaaad for Rummy.
"Rummy's Other Role, The Perfect Scapegoat" for the Iraq mess frames the debate.
If Rumsfeld resigns as Bush's Secretary of Offen.... er, Defense, who then will be the scapegoat for the biggest, deadliest, costliest U.S. foreign policy blunder ever? Bush? Cheney?
Maybe "scapegoat " doesn't quite capture Rummy's role. After all, he took personal and military charge of the Iraq adventure... more of a ramrod turned scapegoat when things went wrong.
Of course, the "buck stops here" fault lies with the White House's "forward leaning" foreign policy, painting a target on Iraq almost from the git-go.... garbage in, garbage out.
Rummy is probably history. "He may not have an exit strategy for Iraq, but, old Washington hand that he is, he undoubtedly has one for himself." (WaPo)
As survivor Rummy abandons the scapegoat mantle, how will Rove protect his boss, snarly Cheney, or their frat-boy figurehead leader Bush, from scapegoatism.... of course, it'll be "Clinton's Fault."
Good try.
Note to White House buck-passing spinners: To the excuse-weary electorate, that strategy would be another baaaaad idea.
"Rummy's Other Role, The Perfect Scapegoat" for the Iraq mess frames the debate.
If Rumsfeld resigns as Bush's Secretary of Offen.... er, Defense, who then will be the scapegoat for the biggest, deadliest, costliest U.S. foreign policy blunder ever? Bush? Cheney?
Maybe "scapegoat " doesn't quite capture Rummy's role. After all, he took personal and military charge of the Iraq adventure... more of a ramrod turned scapegoat when things went wrong.
Of course, the "buck stops here" fault lies with the White House's "forward leaning" foreign policy, painting a target on Iraq almost from the git-go.... garbage in, garbage out.
Rummy is probably history. "He may not have an exit strategy for Iraq, but, old Washington hand that he is, he undoubtedly has one for himself." (WaPo)
As survivor Rummy abandons the scapegoat mantle, how will Rove protect his boss, snarly Cheney, or their frat-boy figurehead leader Bush, from scapegoatism.... of course, it'll be "Clinton's Fault."
Good try.
Note to White House buck-passing spinners: To the excuse-weary electorate, that strategy would be another baaaaad idea.
Nine Find Their Courage in Kansas
The "You're not in Kansas anymore," lesson for Toto takes on a new twist for conservative far-right Republicans as their power-grip on that most conservative state is being challenged.
While some national GOP candidates for the November elections are just distancing themselves from the Bush White House and the GOP-led flatulent Congress, "Moderates in Kansas Decide They're Not in GOP Anymore."
Yep, that's right Dorothy!
In this Republican stronghold.... the GOP controls three-quarters of the state Senate and two-thirds of the House and has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since the 1930s.... nine former Kansas Republicans have switched to the Democratic party for the November elections.
One former Republican, Paul Morrison, is running for attorney general of Kansas on the Democratic ticket against an abortion clinic-stalking anti-Darwinian Republican, and Morrison is raising money faster than a heel-click with ruby shoes.
The former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Mark Parkinson, is running for lieutenant governor as a Democrat because.... "I'd reached the breaking point, I want to work on relevant issues and not on a lot of things that don't matter." (WaPo)
A Kansas conservative calls these developments a "temporary setback" for the Kansas GOP, .... "they have lost before, and they just keep coming back."
You mean like Freddie Krueger's Halloween reincarnations, and just as creepy.
But Parkinson has the courage of his beliefs... favoring fiscal responsibility, embryonic stem cell research, a woman's right to choose and the teaching of evolution as settled scientific theory. He and the other eight former GOPers have found the courage to take on the fanatical Kansas Republican Freddies.
As Auntie Em would say.... "Just because you own half the town doesn't mean that you have the power to run the rest of us...."
Kansas, it's not a GOP-monopoly land anymore.... November.
While some national GOP candidates for the November elections are just distancing themselves from the Bush White House and the GOP-led flatulent Congress, "Moderates in Kansas Decide They're Not in GOP Anymore."
Yep, that's right Dorothy!
In this Republican stronghold.... the GOP controls three-quarters of the state Senate and two-thirds of the House and has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since the 1930s.... nine former Kansas Republicans have switched to the Democratic party for the November elections.
One former Republican, Paul Morrison, is running for attorney general of Kansas on the Democratic ticket against an abortion clinic-stalking anti-Darwinian Republican, and Morrison is raising money faster than a heel-click with ruby shoes.
The former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Mark Parkinson, is running for lieutenant governor as a Democrat because.... "I'd reached the breaking point, I want to work on relevant issues and not on a lot of things that don't matter." (WaPo)
A Kansas conservative calls these developments a "temporary setback" for the Kansas GOP, .... "they have lost before, and they just keep coming back."
You mean like Freddie Krueger's Halloween reincarnations, and just as creepy.
But Parkinson has the courage of his beliefs... favoring fiscal responsibility, embryonic stem cell research, a woman's right to choose and the teaching of evolution as settled scientific theory. He and the other eight former GOPers have found the courage to take on the fanatical Kansas Republican Freddies.
As Auntie Em would say.... "Just because you own half the town doesn't mean that you have the power to run the rest of us...."
Kansas, it's not a GOP-monopoly land anymore.... November.
Clinton Speaks Truth
Let us count the ways....
"Clinton Lists Differences with GOP, Administration," pointing out that the Republican majority has "abandoned the common good" in favor of ideologically driven politics.
And he should know, he has the GOP politics-of-personal-destruction scars and continuing blame-shifting flogging to remind him of how the Republican bully boys operate.
He longs for the day when political debate isn't personal, or about who represents a religious truth, but simply wants politics "to be connected somehow to the real lives of real people, to the aspiration of ordinary Americans, to the future of our children and grandchildren." (WaPo)
Ordinary Americans, the last citizens to be considered by the corporate-loving, wealthy-protecting Bush administration. Ordinary Americans vote.
November.....
"Clinton Lists Differences with GOP, Administration," pointing out that the Republican majority has "abandoned the common good" in favor of ideologically driven politics.
And he should know, he has the GOP politics-of-personal-destruction scars and continuing blame-shifting flogging to remind him of how the Republican bully boys operate.
He longs for the day when political debate isn't personal, or about who represents a religious truth, but simply wants politics "to be connected somehow to the real lives of real people, to the aspiration of ordinary Americans, to the future of our children and grandchildren." (WaPo)
Ordinary Americans, the last citizens to be considered by the corporate-loving, wealthy-protecting Bush administration. Ordinary Americans vote.
November.....
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Virginia.... WWJD?
Are you a conservative who can't win an election the old-fashioned way, by running on your record? Then put a "red meat" issue on the ballot, like same-sex marriage, to make sure your gay-bashing base will turn out.
At least that is what Sen. George "Macaca" Allen (R-VA) must be hoping.
"A majority of Virginians support a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions...." (WaPo) According to a new poll, "53% of Voters Say They Back VA Same-Sex Marriage Ban."
For GOP candidates, there isn't a better get-out-the-vote gimmick. Turning out the religious-right base for the close election for Allen's Senate seat may give him the win.
One supporter of the amendment says "that marriage is there to establish a legal process for the procreation of children. It's Mother Nature. Same-sex couples can't naturally reproduce, so it doesn't seem like they should be able to marry like a traditional family."
Say what?! I guess then with this view people past their child-bearing years shouldn't marry, infertile people shouldn't marry, or even those not wanting a family.
Surprisingly, a majority of blacks also support this amendment, evidently so religiously blinded they can't apply their hard learned lessons of discrimination.... and would deny gays health insurance, inheritance benefits and other legal rights of married couples.
Evidently, long gone are the days when religion was "Love they neighbor," was about the spiritual. Now the lessons taught to the flock are the politics of exclusion.... a "my way or the highway" ideology. The new ugly face of religion.
Ask yourself, if Jesus could vote on that amendment..... WWJD?
At least that is what Sen. George "Macaca" Allen (R-VA) must be hoping.
"A majority of Virginians support a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions...." (WaPo) According to a new poll, "53% of Voters Say They Back VA Same-Sex Marriage Ban."
For GOP candidates, there isn't a better get-out-the-vote gimmick. Turning out the religious-right base for the close election for Allen's Senate seat may give him the win.
One supporter of the amendment says "that marriage is there to establish a legal process for the procreation of children. It's Mother Nature. Same-sex couples can't naturally reproduce, so it doesn't seem like they should be able to marry like a traditional family."
Say what?! I guess then with this view people past their child-bearing years shouldn't marry, infertile people shouldn't marry, or even those not wanting a family.
Surprisingly, a majority of blacks also support this amendment, evidently so religiously blinded they can't apply their hard learned lessons of discrimination.... and would deny gays health insurance, inheritance benefits and other legal rights of married couples.
Evidently, long gone are the days when religion was "Love they neighbor," was about the spiritual. Now the lessons taught to the flock are the politics of exclusion.... a "my way or the highway" ideology. The new ugly face of religion.
Ask yourself, if Jesus could vote on that amendment..... WWJD?
Monday, October 16, 2006
Bush.... Remember Us?
"Bush Reassures al-Maliki on Iraq Timetable." Yes, Bush reassures the prime minister of the violence-saturated Iraq that he gives him his full support.... and our money.... with no deadlines. That there is no foreseeable limit to our sacrifices for Iraq.
Bush told Maliki we have "no timetable on support for his government..." (WaPo)
Since we all know that Bush can't hold two thoughts at once, where does this fixation on Iraq leave the abandoned U.S. electorate.
Nowhere.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm heartily sick of hearing about Iraq's problems, sending our precious young men and women to lay down their lives for Iraq, spending ourselves into debt oblivion for Iraq.... Bush's lied-into war of choice is a festering swamp sucking us under.
The governing crumbs we're left with are the moral decay of our do-nothing Congress pandering with predestined-to-fail constitutional amendments to a baying religious right, and a Rove-inspired power-hungry White House.
Since Bush is so preoccupied with messages of reassurance to Maliki, we need to send The Decider and the GOP-led Congress a message of our own....
November.
Bush told Maliki we have "no timetable on support for his government..." (WaPo)
Since we all know that Bush can't hold two thoughts at once, where does this fixation on Iraq leave the abandoned U.S. electorate.
Nowhere.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm heartily sick of hearing about Iraq's problems, sending our precious young men and women to lay down their lives for Iraq, spending ourselves into debt oblivion for Iraq.... Bush's lied-into war of choice is a festering swamp sucking us under.
The governing crumbs we're left with are the moral decay of our do-nothing Congress pandering with predestined-to-fail constitutional amendments to a baying religious right, and a Rove-inspired power-hungry White House.
Since Bush is so preoccupied with messages of reassurance to Maliki, we need to send The Decider and the GOP-led Congress a message of our own....
November.
Iraq's Sectarian Carnage
"Militias allied with Iraq's Shiite-led government roamed roads north of Baghdad, seeking out and attacking Sunni Arab targets Sunday...." (WaPo)
As "Dozens of Iraqis Killed in Reprisals," reports, there is outrage over this situation as voiced by a Sunni farmer searching for the body of his nephew reportedly killed in the violence around Balad.... "This has pushed us to the point that we must stop this sectarian government."
"This sectarian government" is the Bush administration's creation. Bush has committed the lives of our brave troops and the treasure of our country to his ideologically-driven war of choice, and put in place an ineffectual government that has plunged Iraq into civil war.... not the brink of civil war as the Bush spinners want us to believe.... but civil war, bloody anarchy.
As an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies summed it up, "...trying to declare there isn't a civil war borders on the absurd." Even the U.S. Department of Defense admitted in August that there were "10 times as many sectarian attacks in July as there were in January in Iraq."
Having stirred up this hornet's nest, the Bush administration has turned a blind "stay-the-course-" eye to the inability of the Shiite-led sectarian government to govern, and into this void "....al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups declared a new Islamic republic in the western and central" parts of Iraq.
Even from his jail cell, Saddam smells the turmoil,.... "Saddam Says Iraq 'Liberation is at Hand'," .... challenging in a three-page letter for "Iraqis to set aside sectarian and ethnic differences and focus instead on driving the U.S. forces out of Iraq,".... and urging Sunni and Shiites to unite "as God's soldiers." (WaPo)
Having placed us in this costly carnage of a no-win situation, Bush robotically labels criticism of his war as unpatriotic, and challenges his critics to fix things.
Some things can't be fixed. But they can be faced and radically redirected.
November.....
As "Dozens of Iraqis Killed in Reprisals," reports, there is outrage over this situation as voiced by a Sunni farmer searching for the body of his nephew reportedly killed in the violence around Balad.... "This has pushed us to the point that we must stop this sectarian government."
"This sectarian government" is the Bush administration's creation. Bush has committed the lives of our brave troops and the treasure of our country to his ideologically-driven war of choice, and put in place an ineffectual government that has plunged Iraq into civil war.... not the brink of civil war as the Bush spinners want us to believe.... but civil war, bloody anarchy.
As an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies summed it up, "...trying to declare there isn't a civil war borders on the absurd." Even the U.S. Department of Defense admitted in August that there were "10 times as many sectarian attacks in July as there were in January in Iraq."
Having stirred up this hornet's nest, the Bush administration has turned a blind "stay-the-course-" eye to the inability of the Shiite-led sectarian government to govern, and into this void "....al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups declared a new Islamic republic in the western and central" parts of Iraq.
Even from his jail cell, Saddam smells the turmoil,.... "Saddam Says Iraq 'Liberation is at Hand'," .... challenging in a three-page letter for "Iraqis to set aside sectarian and ethnic differences and focus instead on driving the U.S. forces out of Iraq,".... and urging Sunni and Shiites to unite "as God's soldiers." (WaPo)
Having placed us in this costly carnage of a no-win situation, Bush robotically labels criticism of his war as unpatriotic, and challenges his critics to fix things.
Some things can't be fixed. But they can be faced and radically redirected.
November.....
Friday, October 13, 2006
GOP Chances Sinking
So is the GOP just rearranging the anchors on their Ship of State?..... "Faced with a deteriorating political climate, Republican Party officials are hoping to keep control of the House and Senate with a strategy aimed at shoring up enough endangered incumbents to preserve their majorities...." (WaPo)
The Decider's bull horn is at full blast, broadcasting his firm belief that the Republicans will maintain their majorities in both chambers. Bush even showed up personally in Illinois to boost the campaign of his Speaker of the House, Foley-enabling Dennis Hastert.
Part of the strategy, "GOP Redirects Funds From Faltering Races." And there are plenty of those races thanks to Foley, Iraq, immigration, Abramoff, DeLay, "Macaca" Allen and the GOP crooks in Ohio.... need I go on?
But, they probably congratulate themselves on the fact that at least the GOP can count on the religious right to save them at the polls. Think again. Things are about to get a lot worse for Bush's faithful.
Besides the religious conservatives obvious disillusionment over the Foley page scandal, on October 16 the J. David Kuo book, "Tempting Faith.... An Inside Account of the Rise of Christian Conservatives and Their Betrayal by the Bush White House" is set to be unleashed.
And, on Sunday the 15th, Kuo is scheduled to appear on CBS's widely viewed "60 Minutes."
Why is this important? Because of conservative Kuo's credentials and the tell-all nature of his memoir.
Kuo is the former deputy director of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and a Special Assistant to the President from 2001 to 2003. He has worked for numerous leading GOP conservatives including John Ashcroft, William Bennett, Jack Kemp, Bob Dole and Ralph Reed.
In his book, Kuo charges that the Bush administration manipulated many people of faith. That prominent evangelical leaders were referred to as "the nuts" who received hugs and smiles in person, but behind their backs were described as "ridiculous," "out of control," and just plain "goofy."
Kuo alleges that the White House political affairs director, Ken Mehlman, knowingly participated in a scheme to use faith-based events, and taxpayer money, to mount supposed "nonpartisan" events in order to mobilize religious voters in 20 targeted races.
Just as the page-stalking Foley was left in place to co-chair the GOP Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, the White House coldly used their faithful while abusing them and their trust.
November....
The Decider's bull horn is at full blast, broadcasting his firm belief that the Republicans will maintain their majorities in both chambers. Bush even showed up personally in Illinois to boost the campaign of his Speaker of the House, Foley-enabling Dennis Hastert.
Part of the strategy, "GOP Redirects Funds From Faltering Races." And there are plenty of those races thanks to Foley, Iraq, immigration, Abramoff, DeLay, "Macaca" Allen and the GOP crooks in Ohio.... need I go on?
But, they probably congratulate themselves on the fact that at least the GOP can count on the religious right to save them at the polls. Think again. Things are about to get a lot worse for Bush's faithful.
Besides the religious conservatives obvious disillusionment over the Foley page scandal, on October 16 the J. David Kuo book, "Tempting Faith.... An Inside Account of the Rise of Christian Conservatives and Their Betrayal by the Bush White House" is set to be unleashed.
And, on Sunday the 15th, Kuo is scheduled to appear on CBS's widely viewed "60 Minutes."
Why is this important? Because of conservative Kuo's credentials and the tell-all nature of his memoir.
Kuo is the former deputy director of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and a Special Assistant to the President from 2001 to 2003. He has worked for numerous leading GOP conservatives including John Ashcroft, William Bennett, Jack Kemp, Bob Dole and Ralph Reed.
In his book, Kuo charges that the Bush administration manipulated many people of faith. That prominent evangelical leaders were referred to as "the nuts" who received hugs and smiles in person, but behind their backs were described as "ridiculous," "out of control," and just plain "goofy."
Kuo alleges that the White House political affairs director, Ken Mehlman, knowingly participated in a scheme to use faith-based events, and taxpayer money, to mount supposed "nonpartisan" events in order to mobilize religious voters in 20 targeted races.
Just as the page-stalking Foley was left in place to co-chair the GOP Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, the White House coldly used their faithful while abusing them and their trust.
November....
Thursday, October 12, 2006
The Emperor's Empty Suit
The empty suit looked at the pinstripe suit worn by NBC's Kevin Corke at yesterday's news conference in the Rose Garden and teased "...that is a beautiful suit." Then spying the suit worn by CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, Bush then crowned her with "best dressed" honors.
"Retreating to Small Talk When the News Isn't So Good" Why would The Decider want to talk about Iraq, North Korea, Iran or any of the mess he made on his policy plate?
But he tried to fill the suit. He faulted the Clinton administration for the failure of the 1994 nuclear agreement with North Korea, but Bush left out "the U.S. government's own role in scuttling that agreement." (WaPo)
On Iraq, he watered down his under-attack litany of "stay the course," and pep-talked the situation there chanting.... "We're on the move..... We're taking action."
He said he did not "find credible" a new report which estimates 655,000 excess Iraqi deaths since the U.S. invasion. Even though the report has won high praise for the "powerful strength" of the research method, he did not find it credible.... but when asked directly for his estimate, he didn't supply numbers of his own.
"Bush Stands Firm on Policies," was the best headline he could get from the news conference. He bragged on the good economy, the supposed reduction in the national deficit though analysts note it is fuzzy math, and outright manipulation of the facts.
Bush conveniently forgot to mention that the country's "Trade Deficit Hits Record High." Partly due to a continuing trade gap with China, the "U.S. trade deficit rose to a record $69.86 billion in August." (WaPo)
Bush might well envy the competent reporter who nicely fills his tailored suit, while Bush tries to find cover in his threadbare policies.... the Emperor has no " credible" clothes.
"Retreating to Small Talk When the News Isn't So Good" Why would The Decider want to talk about Iraq, North Korea, Iran or any of the mess he made on his policy plate?
But he tried to fill the suit. He faulted the Clinton administration for the failure of the 1994 nuclear agreement with North Korea, but Bush left out "the U.S. government's own role in scuttling that agreement." (WaPo)
On Iraq, he watered down his under-attack litany of "stay the course," and pep-talked the situation there chanting.... "We're on the move..... We're taking action."
He said he did not "find credible" a new report which estimates 655,000 excess Iraqi deaths since the U.S. invasion. Even though the report has won high praise for the "powerful strength" of the research method, he did not find it credible.... but when asked directly for his estimate, he didn't supply numbers of his own.
"Bush Stands Firm on Policies," was the best headline he could get from the news conference. He bragged on the good economy, the supposed reduction in the national deficit though analysts note it is fuzzy math, and outright manipulation of the facts.
Bush conveniently forgot to mention that the country's "Trade Deficit Hits Record High." Partly due to a continuing trade gap with China, the "U.S. trade deficit rose to a record $69.86 billion in August." (WaPo)
Bush might well envy the competent reporter who nicely fills his tailored suit, while Bush tries to find cover in his threadbare policies.... the Emperor has no " credible" clothes.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
McCain's Blame Game
It's now just a some-what funny line like "the dog ate my homework."
The failure-justifying GOP litany of "it was Clinton's fault."
"McCain Targets Both Clintons." The latest McCainism regarding North Korea's nuclear test... "I would remind Senator Clinton and other Democrats critical of Bush administration policies that the framework agreement her husband's administration negotiated was a failure." the once-great patriot intoned.
This is McCain's presidential-bid "axis of evil"... Hillary (via her husband's presidency), Bill, and the Democrats who haven't been in power for over six long Bush administration years.
Trying to score a hit, McCain actually said that Clinton had a "carrots-and-no-sticks policy" with North Korea. (WaPo) So McCain.... just what and where is the Bush administration's stick?
A scolding schoolmarm Condi?
Nations recognize that "sticks and stones may break their bones, but words will never harm them." The bold actions of North Korea are precisely because they have found that Bush is all roar and no bite.
The failure-justifying GOP litany of "it was Clinton's fault."
"McCain Targets Both Clintons." The latest McCainism regarding North Korea's nuclear test... "I would remind Senator Clinton and other Democrats critical of Bush administration policies that the framework agreement her husband's administration negotiated was a failure." the once-great patriot intoned.
This is McCain's presidential-bid "axis of evil"... Hillary (via her husband's presidency), Bill, and the Democrats who haven't been in power for over six long Bush administration years.
Trying to score a hit, McCain actually said that Clinton had a "carrots-and-no-sticks policy" with North Korea. (WaPo) So McCain.... just what and where is the Bush administration's stick?
A scolding schoolmarm Condi?
Nations recognize that "sticks and stones may break their bones, but words will never harm them." The bold actions of North Korea are precisely because they have found that Bush is all roar and no bite.
655,000 Iraqi Souls and Counting
"Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000," the headline tolls. Could it be that besides the unacceptable loss of over 3,000 of our brave troops, that over 655,000 Iraqis have perished?
Any number is too many souls.... but 655,000 is an overwhelming nightmare number. Impossible to comprehend. Shameful.
How can our nation, the hopeful beacon for humankind, not only live with such a reality, but continue to callously "stay the course".... or have the religious right-led GOP and Bush already snuffed our once shining light in their lust for power and domination.
"A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred." (WaPo)
The esteemed British medical journal the Lancet is publishing the survey report online today. The survey was financed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for International Studies.
In a speech last December, The Decider declared that the civilian deaths were estimated at 30,000.... a number he had to know was drastically low. But he is no stranger to lies, to get his way he lied us into war, and through manipulation of the facts.... lies.... he is holding the country hostage to his war of choice.
For Bush, the Iraq war is just slash and burn politics. Late last year, after a GOP "great tactical victory" with an Iraq vote in the House, he told key Republicans, "We're not leaving even if Laura and Barney," his dog, "are the only ones who support me." (State of Denial, Bob Woodward)
Such declarations show that a delusional Bush has slipped from his self-proclaimed role of The Decider into the deadly dangerous role of The Dictator.
Stop his legislative enablers in November.
Any number is too many souls.... but 655,000 is an overwhelming nightmare number. Impossible to comprehend. Shameful.
How can our nation, the hopeful beacon for humankind, not only live with such a reality, but continue to callously "stay the course".... or have the religious right-led GOP and Bush already snuffed our once shining light in their lust for power and domination.
"A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred." (WaPo)
The esteemed British medical journal the Lancet is publishing the survey report online today. The survey was financed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for International Studies.
In a speech last December, The Decider declared that the civilian deaths were estimated at 30,000.... a number he had to know was drastically low. But he is no stranger to lies, to get his way he lied us into war, and through manipulation of the facts.... lies.... he is holding the country hostage to his war of choice.
For Bush, the Iraq war is just slash and burn politics. Late last year, after a GOP "great tactical victory" with an Iraq vote in the House, he told key Republicans, "We're not leaving even if Laura and Barney," his dog, "are the only ones who support me." (State of Denial, Bob Woodward)
Such declarations show that a delusional Bush has slipped from his self-proclaimed role of The Decider into the deadly dangerous role of The Dictator.
Stop his legislative enablers in November.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
End Condi's Wanderings
Condi continues her diplomatic wanderings in an ever hostile international wilderness, cluelessly lugging the foreign policy "axis of evil" tablets chiseled out by The Decider's over-the-hill advisers and clever speech writers .
After a fruitless trip to the Middle East where she snubbed Syria's request for talks with Israel, thus ignoring an opening for isolating Iran, Condi will next wander off to China, Japan and South Korea still dragging the refusal to talk one-on-one with North Korea as a way of solving the escalating crisis in that region.
"Bush's 'Axis of Evil' Comes Back to Haunt United States," says it all. Nearly 5 years after hurling the "axis of evil" label at Iraq, Iran and North Korea in his 2002 State of the Union address, the "administration has reached a crisis point with each nation." (WaPo)
North Korea has detonated its first nuclear device and threatens to test a nuclear missile.... Iran refuses to halt its uranium-enrichment program.... and Iraq lies in ruins, teetering on the edge of civil war 3 1/2 years after the U.S.-led invasion. The rubble of Bush's foreign adventures.
It's time bring an end Condi's futile journeys. Time to forge a new foreign policy direction. Time to step back from the brink.
After a fruitless trip to the Middle East where she snubbed Syria's request for talks with Israel, thus ignoring an opening for isolating Iran, Condi will next wander off to China, Japan and South Korea still dragging the refusal to talk one-on-one with North Korea as a way of solving the escalating crisis in that region.
"Bush's 'Axis of Evil' Comes Back to Haunt United States," says it all. Nearly 5 years after hurling the "axis of evil" label at Iraq, Iran and North Korea in his 2002 State of the Union address, the "administration has reached a crisis point with each nation." (WaPo)
North Korea has detonated its first nuclear device and threatens to test a nuclear missile.... Iran refuses to halt its uranium-enrichment program.... and Iraq lies in ruins, teetering on the edge of civil war 3 1/2 years after the U.S.-led invasion. The rubble of Bush's foreign adventures.
It's time bring an end Condi's futile journeys. Time to forge a new foreign policy direction. Time to step back from the brink.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Bush's Fog
In 1997 then Governor of Texas, George Bush, turned to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia for advice.... "I'm thinking of running for president, " said Bush, then 52..... "I don't have the foggiest idea about what I think about international, foreign policy." (State of Denial, Bob Woodward)
In 1999 Richard Armitage, former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, wasn't sure Bush filled the suit required of a president, "He had a dreadful lack of experience."
We are paying BIG TIME for Bush's fog and lack of experience in foreign affairs, his willingness to be led around by VP "Shoot From the Hip" Cheney and his nefarious neocons... a Middle East at full boil, a no-win war in Iraq, dangerous saber rattling by Iran, an explosion of terrorism and world-wide condemnation of our bully-boy ways.
Instead, he would go Cheney's isolating hawkish way in foreign policy. And, since Bush's intellect pays no role in his governing, he would lead by "Stay the course" Rove slogans, even in the face of the massive failure of his foreign policies.
In 1999 Richard Armitage, former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, wasn't sure Bush filled the suit required of a president, "He had a dreadful lack of experience."
We are paying BIG TIME for Bush's fog and lack of experience in foreign affairs, his willingness to be led around by VP "Shoot From the Hip" Cheney and his nefarious neocons... a Middle East at full boil, a no-win war in Iraq, dangerous saber rattling by Iran, an explosion of terrorism and world-wide condemnation of our bully-boy ways.
Instead, he would go Cheney's isolating hawkish way in foreign policy. And, since Bush's intellect pays no role in his governing, he would lead by "Stay the course" Rove slogans, even in the face of the massive failure of his foreign policies.
In Bush's limited world-view, this laundry list of foreign policy failures would elicit a .... "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job".... to the Clueless Condi and 'Nam Rumsfeld.
Now, another dangerous international shoe has dropped, "N. Korea Claims Nuclear Test."
North Korea's "test alters the balance of power in northeast Asia and touches off grave new concerns about the proliferation of refined nuclear material or devices to other rogue states or terrorist groups." (WaPo)
Bush was in a lather after he was elected president to drastically depart from the international path trod by the Clinton administration. He labeled North Korea as a part of the "axis of evil" and stopped direct talks with them. Even before the test, this policy attitude was obviously not working.
But Bush has the mind-set of the incurious, immature and ill-educated.... obstinate refusal to change his mind or seek new solutions.
There will be an emergency session of the U. N. Security Council and lots of huffing and puffing over this new threat. A nuclear-threshold Iran will be watching.... and be emboldened.
More than ever, we live in an increasingly dangerous world, while Bush rhetorically thrashes around in his fog.
November.
Friday, October 06, 2006
View From the Superhighway Cliff
The Decider will have his way.
Forget about a border fence that will stem the flood of illegal aliens and drug smugglers invading our country, trampling our sovereignty. El Presidente Bush doesn't want it, and his partner-in-slime, Mexico's Vicente Fox, vehemently expressed he doesn't want it.
"No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border last week than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built...." (WaPo)
What an outrage! It's just more misleading pre-election posturing from the Bush-pocket Congress.
With the current Bush administration and GOP choke hold on government, we'll never build a border fence. Because The Decider has plans that will in effect move the U.S.-Mexico line to Mexico's southern border.
The Decider's grand coup d'etat is cloaked in the NAFTA Superhighway System (NASCO) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).
The Superhighway, known at the NASCO Super Corridor (map), would radically reconfigure the physical, political and economic landscape of our country. This is the building project Bush is interested in, not a border fence which would run counter to his plans.
The SPP agreement with Mexico and Canada has created a shadow trilateral bureaucracy that is aggressively rewriting a wide range of U. S. administrative law. The "framework" for effecting the plan will be in place by 2007.
Its organization chart should be no surprise.... The Decider's mega-department of Homeland Security and the National Security Council have set up three "North America" security and border entities, and also oversees the Department of Commerce under Secretary Gutierrez and ten departments to effect parts of the program.
Here, as released to Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are some of the details. (Click on "Section I" for organization charts.)
An in-depth analysis of SPP as NAFTA Plus was offered by economist Miguel Pickard in 2005.
Are any of our legislators paying attention to this corporate-enriching dismantling of our nation? A few are.
On September 28, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) offered HR Resolution 487 "Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada." The resolution HCR 487 is short, read it for yourself.
Of course, the resolution is buried in GOP-controlled House committees where it will languish until Speaker Dennis Hastert (or his successor) decides to move it along.
Don't hold your breath.
It will take loud and insistent public pressure to engage a debate in the House on HCR 487 and unveil some of The Decider's behind-the-curtain schemes for our country.
That's where things stand. Our nation is on the sovereignty-cliff's edge.
The Decider is trying mightily to stop the enforcement of our borders, bringing us a step closer to toppling our country into North America Union oblivion.
Forget about a border fence that will stem the flood of illegal aliens and drug smugglers invading our country, trampling our sovereignty. El Presidente Bush doesn't want it, and his partner-in-slime, Mexico's Vicente Fox, vehemently expressed he doesn't want it.
"No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border last week than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built...." (WaPo)
What an outrage! It's just more misleading pre-election posturing from the Bush-pocket Congress.
With the current Bush administration and GOP choke hold on government, we'll never build a border fence. Because The Decider has plans that will in effect move the U.S.-Mexico line to Mexico's southern border.
The Decider's grand coup d'etat is cloaked in the NAFTA Superhighway System (NASCO) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).
The Superhighway, known at the NASCO Super Corridor (map), would radically reconfigure the physical, political and economic landscape of our country. This is the building project Bush is interested in, not a border fence which would run counter to his plans.
The SPP agreement with Mexico and Canada has created a shadow trilateral bureaucracy that is aggressively rewriting a wide range of U. S. administrative law. The "framework" for effecting the plan will be in place by 2007.
Its organization chart should be no surprise.... The Decider's mega-department of Homeland Security and the National Security Council have set up three "North America" security and border entities, and also oversees the Department of Commerce under Secretary Gutierrez and ten departments to effect parts of the program.
Here, as released to Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are some of the details. (Click on "Section I" for organization charts.)
An in-depth analysis of SPP as NAFTA Plus was offered by economist Miguel Pickard in 2005.
Are any of our legislators paying attention to this corporate-enriching dismantling of our nation? A few are.
On September 28, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) offered HR Resolution 487 "Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada." The resolution HCR 487 is short, read it for yourself.
Of course, the resolution is buried in GOP-controlled House committees where it will languish until Speaker Dennis Hastert (or his successor) decides to move it along.
Don't hold your breath.
It will take loud and insistent public pressure to engage a debate in the House on HCR 487 and unveil some of The Decider's behind-the-curtain schemes for our country.
That's where things stand. Our nation is on the sovereignty-cliff's edge.
The Decider is trying mightily to stop the enforcement of our borders, bringing us a step closer to toppling our country into North America Union oblivion.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Iraq Bush's Comma
The Compassionate Conservative Decider continues to use his odd and insensitive remark on the campaign trail and to the media about his war of choice in Iraq.
A war that has destabilized the Middle East, fostered ever growing numbers of U.S.-hating terrorists and taken the lives of 2,700 brave U.S. troops.... this all will be seen as "just a comma" in the history books he says. (WaPo)
He wishes.
Actually, The Decider's place in the history books will be just one long black mark.
Another Decider campaigning claim is that 177 Democrats said "You know, we don't think we ought to be listening to the conversations of terrorists...." He knows this isn't so.
Actually, the Democrats who voted against the warrantless telephone and e-mail surveillance legislation did so because it would hand The Decider too much power and they wanted more checks in the bill.
When the White House was asked about the president's statement, they could not name one Democrat who said the government shouldn't listen to the conversation of terrorists... but they are hoping the voters don't notice their misstatements.
But we do notice, and are listening to him.... and, the more we hear the more alarmed we become.
Actually, if Bush really wanted to wow the voting public, he might try staying on the job in the White House instead of jetting around the country spewing unpresidential "cut and run" slogans and other twisted Rovisms.
Let's put a "period" to the Republican's total corrupt and corrupting grip on power.
November.
A war that has destabilized the Middle East, fostered ever growing numbers of U.S.-hating terrorists and taken the lives of 2,700 brave U.S. troops.... this all will be seen as "just a comma" in the history books he says. (WaPo)
He wishes.
Actually, The Decider's place in the history books will be just one long black mark.
Another Decider campaigning claim is that 177 Democrats said "You know, we don't think we ought to be listening to the conversations of terrorists...." He knows this isn't so.
Actually, the Democrats who voted against the warrantless telephone and e-mail surveillance legislation did so because it would hand The Decider too much power and they wanted more checks in the bill.
When the White House was asked about the president's statement, they could not name one Democrat who said the government shouldn't listen to the conversation of terrorists... but they are hoping the voters don't notice their misstatements.
But we do notice, and are listening to him.... and, the more we hear the more alarmed we become.
Actually, if Bush really wanted to wow the voting public, he might try staying on the job in the White House instead of jetting around the country spewing unpresidential "cut and run" slogans and other twisted Rovisms.
Let's put a "period" to the Republican's total corrupt and corrupting grip on power.
November.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
GOP "ValuesGate"
The person who is third in line for the Presidency is the Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL). He "recalls nothing" about being told last spring by Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-NY) that a member of his House leadership was sending troubling e-mails to a House page. Evidently a problem beneath his august notice.
Bush's "FBI.... did not begin an investigation in late July after receiving copies of e-mails sent in 2005 by then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) to a Louisiana teenager-- messages that troubled the boy's parents." (WaPo)
The parents had notified their Representative, Rodney Alexander (R-LA) in November of 2005. House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH) knew of the concerns, but it was left to Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-IL) who chairs the three-member House Page Board to handle the matter.
So what did Shimkus do?.... notify the other board members, initiate an investigation? No..... he asked Foley about the e-mails and.... surprise, surprise.... Foley assured him the e-mails were innocent.
White House official spinner (supposed Press Secretary) Tony Snow yesterday tried to dismiss the scandal as "simply naughty e-mails."
Foley, hiding out in a rehab facility, claims no inappropriate sexual contact with a minor although one series of e-mails in 2003-04 with a teenager alluded to a dinner date.... "we eat... we drink... who knows... hang out... late into the night..."
This is the current GOP leadership of our country.... the Trojan Horse of "values" hiding "Hammer" DeLay, "Bribe Menu" Cunningham,"Macaca" Allen, "Abramoffed" Ney, "Loverboy" Sherwood, led by a "Lied into War" Bush.
Enough! November.
Bush's "FBI.... did not begin an investigation in late July after receiving copies of e-mails sent in 2005 by then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) to a Louisiana teenager-- messages that troubled the boy's parents." (WaPo)
The parents had notified their Representative, Rodney Alexander (R-LA) in November of 2005. House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH) knew of the concerns, but it was left to Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-IL) who chairs the three-member House Page Board to handle the matter.
So what did Shimkus do?.... notify the other board members, initiate an investigation? No..... he asked Foley about the e-mails and.... surprise, surprise.... Foley assured him the e-mails were innocent.
White House official spinner (supposed Press Secretary) Tony Snow yesterday tried to dismiss the scandal as "simply naughty e-mails."
Foley, hiding out in a rehab facility, claims no inappropriate sexual contact with a minor although one series of e-mails in 2003-04 with a teenager alluded to a dinner date.... "we eat... we drink... who knows... hang out... late into the night..."
This is the current GOP leadership of our country.... the Trojan Horse of "values" hiding "Hammer" DeLay, "Bribe Menu" Cunningham,"Macaca" Allen, "Abramoffed" Ney, "Loverboy" Sherwood, led by a "Lied into War" Bush.
Enough! November.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Stink On GOP Hill
The electorate should be cynical over this sudden flurry of GOP activity in response to the revelation that just-resigned Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) sent "inappropriate" communications to teenage House pages.
The "FBI to Examine Foley's E-Mails." is one response. And, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has "asked for a Justice Department investigation into not only Foley's actions but also Congress's handling of the matter once it learned of the contacts," (WaPo) is another. Foley has taken the currently popular refuge of scoundrels, he has checked into a rehab facility.... evil alcohol will be his alibi.
Why cynical?... because in this election season it's The Decider's FBI and Justice Department!
Because only after public outrage, when the details of Foley's resignation came to light, did Hastert act to investigate even though he "acknowledged that some [of his] aides knew last year that Foley had been ordered to cease contact" with a 16-year-old-page.
Because Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-NY) said that he personally had notified Hastert months ago. A former house page said he knows of three or four pages from his 2001-02 class who were sent sexually suggestive messages from Foley. We are talking years here.
Because even after revelations of Foley's contact with pages, the Republican-controlled House allowed Foley to remain as co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus. The fox was left in charge.
Want an example of GOP-controlled House ethics reform? Take, for instance, the sham lobbying "reform" legislation in response to widespread corruption, most notably the Abramoff scandal.... the "reform" basically is the denial of some gym privileges.
The GOP owns, and controls, the government.... The Decider Bush's government. There are no vital "checks and balances" possible. No one to stop the abuse of power and stem corruption. No recourse in oversight.
This is just one reason why the November elections are so important.
Vote.
The "FBI to Examine Foley's E-Mails." is one response. And, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has "asked for a Justice Department investigation into not only Foley's actions but also Congress's handling of the matter once it learned of the contacts," (WaPo) is another. Foley has taken the currently popular refuge of scoundrels, he has checked into a rehab facility.... evil alcohol will be his alibi.
Why cynical?... because in this election season it's The Decider's FBI and Justice Department!
Because only after public outrage, when the details of Foley's resignation came to light, did Hastert act to investigate even though he "acknowledged that some [of his] aides knew last year that Foley had been ordered to cease contact" with a 16-year-old-page.
Because Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-NY) said that he personally had notified Hastert months ago. A former house page said he knows of three or four pages from his 2001-02 class who were sent sexually suggestive messages from Foley. We are talking years here.
Because even after revelations of Foley's contact with pages, the Republican-controlled House allowed Foley to remain as co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus. The fox was left in charge.
Want an example of GOP-controlled House ethics reform? Take, for instance, the sham lobbying "reform" legislation in response to widespread corruption, most notably the Abramoff scandal.... the "reform" basically is the denial of some gym privileges.
The GOP owns, and controls, the government.... The Decider Bush's government. There are no vital "checks and balances" possible. No one to stop the abuse of power and stem corruption. No recourse in oversight.
This is just one reason why the November elections are so important.
Vote.
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