The last insult?

With each damaging gasp of Bush's dying presidency, I keep thinking it will be the last assault, but, no, there seems to be no end. A last-minute insult to science, dignity and medicine is Bush's so-called Conscience Rules, which allows health care providers to impose their personal beliefs on the people they are supposed to serve.

In a way, it is a fitting end to a presidency that has always looked for new ways to theocratize this country. It's sickingly exciting to sit and wonder what will be next. Just because he's a lame duck, doesn't mean that he can't be lamer.

Finally, Bush did something right...sorta

Today, he rather deftly and calmly ducked two pairs of shoes thrown at him by an Iraqi journalist and managed to look pretty good doing it.

Let me see, the Iraqi population is about 27.5 million. Times two that would make about 55 million potential footwear missiles. I'm just wondering how many of those deserved shoe projectiles he could handle so adroitly.

Of course, to me, his remark: "So what if a guy threw his shoe at me?" really shows that he doesn't understand the thrower's grief and frustration demonstrated by the words that went with that shoe: ""This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Mike Huckabee: I rest my case...

In responding to the mathematical unlikelihood of him, Huckabee, edging out McCain, he said, "I know the pundits, and I know what they say: The math doesn't work out. Well, I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles. And I still believe in those, too."

Why Huckabee's beliefs matter...

Huckabee got his feather's ruffled when asked the simple question of whether he believed in evolution or not; suggesting that the question was not even a valid one. He belittled the premise that it even mattered by saying that as President he wouldn't be writing eighth-grade curriculum. Well, it is a very valid question and it most certainly matters.

As President of the United States of America and the supposed leader of the free world, he would be making many decisions that would affect the science that fuels information and progress in this country and the world. Not that I think that Huckabee is as ignorant as George W. Bush, but do we really need another President who can ignore knowledge and use his own belief system to make decisions? Think stem cell research, global warming and, whether you like it or not, a woman's right to decide if she wants to carry a child to term.

Do we really need to continue to diminish the office of the President by having another four years of what I consider to be mythology-based ideas? I've said before that I have one and only prayer: Jesus, protect me from your followers. I now feel the need to include the United States of America in that plea.

State of the Union

Sadly, I already know the state of the union. The best thing about this one, was that it will be President Pinocchio's last.

False Statements Preceding the War...

I am no political genius, but this was a plain as the nose on your face. Speech after speech, I listened and waited for the proof that never came. I suspect that poor Colin Powell is still trying to wash the sleaze of his involvement off him.

Bush calls on Iran to Come Clean

I know that My Pet Goat is pretty much his upper level of reading comprehension, but could someone not read his own intelligence to him? How about a newspaper?

Bush: "Nothing Has Changed" With Iran

Once again, we're being told that black is really white.

Praying for Rain

Should we really have to pray for rain? One would think that he who notices the fall of every sparrow would already know that we need rain and have so for a helluva long time. Is it because we forgot to ask?

Rice is worried about Putin?

So, Ms. Condi is worried about Putin's power grabbing and the concentration of power in the Kremlin. One can't help but wonder if she has the same concerns about her boss.

Nobel Peace Prize

If Al Gore had been appointed to the job of president instead of Dubya, I wonder if Georgie, with the lowest IQ of any president, would have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Senator Larry Craig

My question during all of this is, "Who the hell would want to have sex with Senator Larry Craig?" I guess when you get to that realization, the only thing left is bathroom stalls....sad.

Laura Bush in Minneapolis

This may sound like nitpicking and I want you to know that I have nothing against Laura Bush. She, like all First Ladies, should be irrelevant to any political discussion.

But I heard her on the radio saying to the rescuer of the school bus children that God smiled on those children, I about lost my lunch. Are we to infer from from this that while God destroying the bridge he decided to not smile on the people who were plunging to their deaths. Was it because they were not children or were they unworthy in some other way? If so, were there no children in those cars or were the bus kids better behaved. It's crap like this that shows me that the whole damned clan (with the possible exception of GHWB and J.E.B) sees ordinary lives as just a backdrop for privileged existence.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

The Iraqi Parliament has closed down for August. Too bad all the troops can't take the month off too. If they have adjourned as Tony Snow said, because it's hot in Baghdad in August, they ought to try it in full combat gear. I wonder if all the Support-Our-Troops-Bumper-Sticker people are outraged?

Miltary Pay Raise

Apparently all the appreciation that the White House has for the sacrifices that our troops are making, doesn't include an additional half of a percent added to the paltry three percent proposal.

More on Scooter

President Pinocchio must have really thought he had his and everyone else's ass covered when he said that he would hold accountable anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak case. As is the case with a mountain of events during the last seven years, we will never know the truth. The effort that must go in to covering their tracks must be enormous. If the manpower and money that this administration has squandered in order to deceive America and the world and promote its own agenda had been used in intelligent and beneficial ways, the world would be a much, much better place.

July 4, 2007

Day Two Hundred Eleven
Originally uploaded by amiko

Thank you, President Bush...

Thank you, President bush for commuting Scooter Libby's sentence. Much good will come from this and I don't just mean because he's been used successfully, to date, to protect Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney. Read on.

You've shown the American people that you're willing to make the tough decisions that show that you will protect your own, no matter what they do.

You've shown the American people that despite your claims that you are listening to us, you can ignore the fact that 69% of Americans know that perjury is a crime and that without the truth in our judicial system, the whole process becomes meaningless.

You've shown the American people that truth in the White House is pretty unimportant when compared to achieving your agenda.

You've shown the American people that, once again, you believe that it is only your critics who are liars.

You've shown the American people that "excessive" sentences are for those who are not privileged.

You've shown the American people that when your polls numbers are at rock bottom, you've not got a whole lot more to lose: a fact which should make losers all over the country feel a little better about themselves.

I happily watch Scooter Libby live as a free man, because he was yet another vehicle that gave you the opportunity to show what a duplicitous, corrupt and disingenuous liar you really are.

I call him Vladimir

Don't those four words confirm what we've known all along: that there's a child in the White House.

What if...?

There's no doubt in my mind that even if we hadn't been attacked on September 11, 2001, we would still be fighting this ill conceived, ill planned, unprovoked and senseless war in Iraq.

What if we had an administration who truly was interested in spreading peace planetwide? What if the billions of dollars that have been poured into destruction would have been used to promote peace and fight real terrorism? What if the lives our men and women in the armed forces had been used show the world what we say we are: compassionate and peace loving?

What if...?

The Wall

Is there not a tad of irony that this is the second wall that President I'm-A-Uniter-Not-A-Divider has proposed?

Not One Hero Out of Fifteen

Strangely enough, I write this with sympathy for the fifteen British sailors captured by the Iranians. Predictably and accurately, they are recanting their very public confessions and telling the true story. Unfortunately, it's too late. They have been used successfully in a fairly brilliant, albeit transparent, propaganda event. Even as they tell (sell, actually...ouch) what really happened, they are fueling the Iranian propaganda machine.

I have been a sailor, though I've never faced the enemy and I've never been threatened with imprisonment or death. So, I make no judgment here.

I can make some comparisons though. Nelson Mandela spent most of his life in prison because he refused to say the words the South African government wanted to hear. Lech Walsa stood up to his Communist government and was imprisoned and blacklisted. Even the prisoners in Guantanamo have pretty much kept their silence despite the various degrees of intimidation (torture?) to which they've subjected.

I meant it when I said I was not judging. All I'm saying is there were no heroes and that fact is part of the propaganda that the Arab world is very aware of.

Sweet Jesus

To all the museums and galleries who ever plan to exhibit anything of a religious nature that deviates in any way from the accepted imagery of the faithful: THERE WILL BE PROTESTS.

So, make up your mind beforehand if you're willing to take the heat or not. To cave in after the fact, simply empowers these cultural terrorists and chips away at the freedom of choice of us all.

Cheney Says House Doesn't Support Troops

I want to tell the P and the VP that anyone who says enough to this ego-driven war supports U.S. troops way more than either one of them.

...but not under oath.

The same people, Gonzalez, Rove and Miers, who want to listen to private telephone conversations and tell us if we have nothing to hide then we need not worry, are now willing to explain their actions...but not under oath.

Alberto Gonzalez

The only thing missing from this fiasco is: You're doin' a heckuva job, Alberto.

Mayans to 'cleanse' Bush site

We need to get some of those Mayan priests into the White House on January, 20, 2009

Headline: Army General Forced to Retire

The story: The Army forced its surgeon general, Lt Gen. Kevin C. Riley, to retire, officials said Monday, the third high- level official to lose his job over the poor outpatient treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

My reaction: Many people lose their jobs every day due to some type of wrongdoing. I wonder how many of them would mind being "forced to retire?"

My other reaction: Surely, in some of the in-depth photo ops that President Pinocchio has had with wounded soldiers, this would have come up.

The only thing I haven't heard is: You're doin' a heckuva job, Riley.

FBI Abuse...

What a surprise! This administration has done more harm to this country and the world than any terrorist organization bent on destroying us. They have won.

Our standing in the world has diminished to the point where our reputation is nothing better than some powerful thugs. Our economy will take a generation or more to recover from the massive costs of the most ill-conceived, ill-planned, vindictive preemptive strike in the history of this nation. Our society is so divided that this President is the first in history to propose an amendment to the Constitution of the United States that would actually codify discrimination and take rights from people (even as other first-world nations wake up and change their laws to be more, not less, inclusive. Lying to the American public about the political agenda of our leaders and their methods to achieve them has become a knee-jerk reaction to anything that challenges them. How many former administration members have tried to blow the whistle? And yet, the American public has reelected GWB, the most ignorant and incompetent and illiterate president in the history of this country.

So, where, exactly, is the big surprise that the FBI has abused its newly found powers; powers that were supposedly granted to protect us Unfortunately, we needed to be protected from ourselves. Here, I blame both parties. I blame the Republicans for backing the worst president and vice-president this country has known. I blame the Democrats for their spineless pandering in order not to appear unpatriotic. There are so few honorable people in our government that it's no wonder that the country might be willing to elect a one-term senator to the office of president, simple because he appears to have integrity. That's another blog though.

Dick Cheney vs George Bush

Cheney said, "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy."

Bush said, "We can all pitch in ... "by being better conservers of energy"

See? Even someone as duplicitous and ingenuous as George W. Bush can look good when you've got Dick Cheney on your side.

Prince Harry

As if the British withdrawal of troops from Iraq wasn't embarrassment enough to the Prez, now Prince Harry has to go and make Barb and Jen look bad.

Iran

Dear President Decider:

Don't you just hate it when you attack a country for made up reasons and then other countries want to play too? I mean, this is your war, you started it and you should get to choose who the teams are. If Iran wants to fight, let them start their own war. Or better yet, you can make up your own reasons about why they should be attacked and then they can fight with us, but in Iran, as Iraq is already taken. Another side to this is that they could wait their turn but it's pretty obvious that this Iraqi War is going to last a longer than most patient warmongers have time for.

I know that you'll handle this well. Your credibility with me is way up there with Stalin and Paris Hilton. There are a lot of Americans who will believe anything that you say, so don't bother getting a lot of proof about Iran's aggression. Just saying it will be good enough for your supporters. If it turns out to not be true, that's the time to dip into you goody bags of platitudes and unrelated issues that will divide the country even further.

Mr. Bush, I'm removing my tongue from my cheek and telling you that you are the dumbest and most dangerous type of person that is actually in charge of a real country. You've given Idi Amin a run for his money. Just when I was beginning to think that all the damage that could possibly be done had been done, you've found something new to scare the hell out of me with. My first president was FDR. In the ensuing years you are the only president I would never shake hands with nor would I ever go to the White House to see, if you were thinking about inviting me . BTW, you'd not be welcome in my home either.

Iraq: what if...

I think it's a no brainer to say that even if we hadn't been attacked on September 11 and there were no War on Terror, we would still be in Iraq. I wonder what they would tell us what we were fighting for then?

Mistakes in Iraq

Now that Cowboy George has admitted to mistakes, not enough troops and not enough resources, can we hope that he will some day admit to the error that causes those mistakes to pale in comparison to any mea culpa he could give: that he wantonly used American soldiers to play out his fantasy of one day being able to say that he one-upped his Daddy and is being a big boy for his Mommy? It will never happen and the only thing that will give credence, in my mind, to anything he says about the war is when the twins sacrifice their way of life, their comfort and their safety for this notion of America's freedom that his administration has been chipping away at way faster than Al Qaeda could ever have.

Gerald Ford, et al...

It seems that all the eulogies of passing Presidents accentuate all the positive traits and lofty attributes that our current frat boy/huckster/Prez seems to lack.

Little Georgie Bush

The Iraq War is an example of what happens when little boys are allowed to play with grown-up things. Little Georgie needs a legal spanking and a good dose of truth serum.

Civil War

I guess it'll be a civil war in Iraq when Bush says so.

Stay the Course

Being Bush has denied that he ever said Stay the Course, maybe it was something else that I heard. Let’s see...

Spay the horse.

Slay the Norse.

Gay divorce.

Play the course.

Pay the force.

Hey, Dolores!

THE Math

After midterm election interviewer Robert Siegel stated that "many might consider you on the optimistic end of realism" regarding Republican hopes to retain both Houses in November, Rove suggested that the NPR host was biased.

"Not that you would be exhibiting a bias or anything like that," Rove said. "You're just making a comment."

"I'm looking at all the same polls that you're looking at every day," Seigel responded

"No you're not!" Rove exclaimed.

Rove said that he was reviewing 68 polls a week, and that "unlike the general public, I'm allowed to see the polls on the individual races," as opposed to public polls reported in the media.

"You may be looking at four or five public polls a week that talk about attitudes nationally, but that do not impact the outcome," Rove said.

Rove claimed that the polls "add up to a Republican Senate and a Republican House."

"You may end up with a different math, but you're entitled to your math," Rove said. "I'm entitled to 'the' math."

I say, that now we know: Not only is there more than one kind of math, but that they in the White House seem to be the only ones who are privy to the real math.

Mark Foley II

Apparently alcoholism is the new pedophilia.

Mark Foley: pedophile

Quit giving alcohol a bad name

Increase of Terror

The only surprise in the report that the War on Iraq has increased terror is that it took as many years as it did to reach this conclusion.

Geneva Convention

Of course, no member of the top dogs in this administration nor their families will ever serve in the military and be in harm's way, so what does it matter if this country sets the precedent of redefining the Geneva Convention to suit our needs?

Saddam Had No Link to Al- Qaeda

Why does the obvious continue to be news. Even the Decider didn't state that as a pretext for going to war; that came later.

Bush's Bryan Willam Interview

The best decision The Decider has made to date is to ignore Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's challenge to a debate. Our president/frat-boy couldn't even hold his own in an interview with an American journalist.

More on Iraq and WMDs

When I read that 50% of Americans now think that Iraq had WMDs, I understand how Bush was re-elected in 2004. The abundance of stupid, ignorant and misinformed people in the U.S.A. continues to grow.

Mel Gibson's Blood-Alcohol Level

Mel, I think it would be safe to say that a time or two in the past, my blood-alcohol level has been 0.12, yet that fact did not make me spout anti-Semitic slurs. Were you also drunk when you did your gay bashing?

Bush Calls for Restraint

Isn't he funny? President Bring-Em-On calls for restraint in the Middle East.

North Korea Vows to Continue Missile Tests

Now that we have a real threat to our security with real WMDs, I'll bet President Pinocchio wishes that our troops were not committed to his personal war in Iraq. I know I do.

New York Times Leak

I want our press to print any and every story they uncover. Shedding light is the only thing that keeps our leaders even close to being accountable. If the administration feels that its efforts are being compromised, then it needs to plug its own leaks.

Two Hundred Ten Billion Dollars

The invasion of Iraq has cost U.S. taxpayers and that cost is rising at a rate of $6,000,000,000.00 each month. Let's forget about WMDs and any fairy tales about a connection between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. We have torn apart and are now rebuilding a country. This is happening under the watch (and I use the term loosely) of a president (and I use the term usely) who promised no nation building.

After being pitched one reason after the other for this war, one that the administration seems to have settled on is that we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here. Imagine the dent that could have been put in terrorism if we had spent $210,000,000,000.00 going after Osama bin Ladn and al-Qaeda. Instead, we're mired down in street fighting and have committed ourselves to rebuilding Iraq. No one will ever convince me that Republicans care about the Iraqi people any more than they care about their own.

Rush and Viagra

Guess what, Rush? Prescriptions filled in your name by your pharmacist are also confidential. Not to worry! You can spin it any way you want to and your sheep will follow.

President Bush temporarily moved his bubble from Washington to Baghdad. I have no problem with his going there. To think, however, that there was any substance to this is ridiculous. He said that he wanted to look P.M. Maliki in the eye (remember his revealing gaze into Putin's eyes?). He must have wanted to check out the color. I would hope that he's not stupid enough to think that he can tell anything else.

Bush: War in Iraq worth high price to U.S.

So Bush says. Please tell me how he, his family or anyone else involved in the original and ongoing decision to wage war against and then rebuild an entire country in the Middle East has sacrificed anything toward that goal. What makes it doubly painful is that those who have sacrificed, in all probability, will not live to see peace and stability in that country.

Zarqawi

A bad man is dead, but a lot of good men, women and children are also dead or maimed. Bush would say that the price that they have paid is worth it, but I wonder if he would be willing to give one of his girl's lives in order to have Zarqawi dead.

The Bible

Methinks a lot of Christians are mistaking the Constitution for the Bible.

The Decider

The Decider has decided that it's time to drag Same-Sex Marriage out for the Mid-Term Elections. It was a tough choice between it and Abortion, but he'll let the party of Lincoln use that in 2008.

What the Decider and his Base don't want to understand is that it's not about marriage, but rather rights; rights that all other citizens have and don't have to think about. Currently, gays are the last group in America that can be taken advantage of legally.

Same-sex partners who have lived together a lifetime, paid into the system and have accumulated all the things that a married couple have can find themselves involved in a much different scenario should one of them die. Depending on how the partners have looked to the future and protected themselves, greedy and righteous family can legally swoop down and claim ownership of the deceased's property and leave the living member of the team with nothing.

Without the proper documents, should one partner linger in the hospital, the other has no say in his/her care and can even be barred from visiting by the other's family. How is society served by that?

Then there are pensions and Social Security Benefits that stop cold when one partner dies, while the spouse in a heterosexual union can collect until the day he/she dies, though he/she may never have worked a day in his/her life.

Health insurance, a problem to many is often solved when one member of a heterosexual union has a job that provides it. Not so in same-sex unions; the other partner does not exist as far as the insurance company is concerned. Well, that's not quite true. Some companies recognize domestic partners and let them insure a house together, but only after an AIDS test.

Meanwhile the Decider wants to change the Constitution of this country to make sure that these issues of fairness will not be addressed on a state level. He's taking us backwards. He's using the Law of the Land to deprive citizens of fair and equal treatment under the law.

As it stands now, two teenage, illegal immigrants , legally married in Mexico, can step in front of lifelong gay citizens in this country in claiming what the law says is theirs. What are we thinking?

To Bush and all the ignoramuses that he is using to bring up his numbers, gay marriage is a threat to heterosexual marriage-i.e., the concept of one man, one woman...at a time. How homosexuals are going to harm marriage and threaten families flies in the face of intelligent thinking. It's a thinly veiled attempt to write religion into our laws, a goal that being pursued daily by the Far and Not-So-Far Right everyday.

The President spills his guts...

So, President Clueless thinks that his cavalier, schoolboy attitude was tough talk that sent the wrong message. I'll admit he's getting warmer, but he's still not even close. What those words actually reflected was his immaturity and his insensitivity to human life outside the Bush clan.

Why is he just getting around to realizing this when so many others knew it the minute those and similar words spewed from his mouth. I've written about this before and this is only one of 2 things that he can think of that he did wrong; the other being prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, a place that he still cannot pronounce.

The only admission of error that I'm interested in hearing from this world-class liar is that he wanted to go to war against Iraq for personal reasons and so he lied to the American public in order to do so. Sadly, that's one confession that we'll never hear.

Mary Cheney

I saw Mary Cheney on David Letterman's show a few nights ago. An apple doesn't fall from the tree. She had no meaningful answers to any questions that Letterman asked about why she's now speaking out after the years of silence, especially during the 2004 election. Practically every response she gave involved reading her book. It's called Now It's My Turn. She's a spokesperson for no one but herself and I think that she missed her turn a few years back.

The Retired Generals vs Rumsfeld

Well, whaddaya know! There is such a thing as military intelligence. Too bad it doesn't kick in until after retirement.

Laura Bush: Mission's Accomplice

A few days ago in a John King interview on CNN, the First Lady explained that what her hubby meant when he gave that infamous speech under the giant Mission Accomplished banner was that the mission for that particular ship had been accomplished. Well, silly us to misinterpret that. I would have thought that he or she would have cleared all that up a tad sooner.

So, the strategic positioning of the carrier in order to make it look as though it were out at sea, the balls-in-throat carrier landing made to look as though the Prez himself was at the throttle, George W. striding across the carrier deck with his bulging crotch screaming I AM THE MAN, and then saying all those things that Americans thought were meant for them was all really choreographed for the crew of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. How could we have been so stupid?

Thank you so much, Laura, for pointing out that we really need to be more observant when watching the news. I don't think that Rush Limbaugh could have done any better.

Rush Limbaugh: Kid Oxycontin

Rush Limbaugh truly is a big, fat idiot...and he gets more idiotic with time. In the style of Zacarias Moussaoui, he just declared victory in his prescription fraud case. In a deal commonly given to first-time offenders, which includes that he be available to a court officer for questioning for 18 months, undergo random drug tests and continue with a drug treatment program, he can not only crow to the other idiots who believe him that he has been vindicated, but he can also criticize Representative Patrick Kennedy for his prescription drug problems when someone less shameless would sit this one out and keep his mouth shut.

Cheney on Russia

Now, our VP is trying to instruct Russia on the human rights of its citizens. Apparently he's never heard the maxim about people living in glass houses. It's no wonder that the list of countries telling us to go to Hell continues to grow. By 2008, this country will be economically and morally bankrupt without a friend in the world.

Zacarias Moussaoui

To all those who are upset over having "won," don't be. He would have said the same thing regardless of the sentence he received. He's a twisted guy and he's yanking your chain.

Alien Protest

If this country were not one that doles out freebies that are paid for by average working people who are often denied those freebies when they are in need, I don't think most Americans would care one way or the other about who crosses our borders.

On the other hand, I would like to suggest to Mexico's president, Vicente Fox, that if he thinks that open borders are such a great idea, then why not have that open-door policy at Mexico's southern border with Guatemala?

A Kinder, Greener Bush

Bush is beginning to sound like Al Gore, except that talk of conservation and alternative fuel sources coming from this administration sounds like a large load of horse manure. Unless Big Oil has gone into the corn business, this is pandering, pure and simple.

The quote of the year from the Prez might easily be: "You just got to recognize there are limits to how much corn can be used for ethanol. After all, we got to eat some." How could anyone listen to that and not think...what a dumbass!

Tony Snow

I can't wait until he assumes the job of White House press secretary. Finally it would be an acknowledgement that we were getting a snowjob.

The People's Republic of China

It would seem that there would be two important things to remember when meeting a world leader: his/her name and the name of his/her country. I think that Bush got one out of two right, but it's hard to tell when that leader's name is Hu.

Bush's Shake Up

Wow! Scott Mclellan has been replaced and Karl Rove has moved his office. Very impressive.

You're doing a heckuva job, Rummy...

The only one who deserves to get canned more than Rumsfeld is the Prez himself. What'll happen is that at some point, Rumsfeld will "decide" that the controversy surrounding him is detracting from the business at hand and will offer his resignation. President Pinocchio will, of course, regrettably accept it and commend him on a job well done.

The Easter Egg Hunt

The claim that homosexuals invaded or crashed the White House Easter Egg Hunt is the real politicising of the annual family event. Though many of the extremist religious Right would like gays and lesbians to be silent and invisible, they are American citizens and have as much right to hunt Easter eggs as their conservative counterparts. Whether religious conservatives want to admit it or not, children and parents living together constitute a family, period. They have the right to privately eschew and shun gay parents and their children, but they cannot keep them from participating in American life.

Cynthia McKinney

Cynthia McKinney has apologized, but doesn't really say for what? She calls the striking of a security officer a misunderstanding, yet she seems to be the one didn't understand. She regrets the escalation, yet she caused it. She played the race card, but it didn't fly.

She needs to have the book thrown at her...but by Tom Delay?

Illegal Immigrants

We love them, we love them not, we love them, we love them not...

Afghan Justice

Trying and executing people because they have given up their religion; what a concept! I'll bet the Christian extremists here are looking wistfully to Afghanistan. Here in the U.S. the only thing they can do is promise that you'll spend eternity burning in Hell.

Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from the above link:

"What is wrong with Islam that he should want to convert?" asks an agitated Abdul Zahid Payman.

"The courts should punish him and he should be put to death."

With all due respect to the agitated Abdul Zahid Payman, the fact that the court should punish him and he should be put to death could be construed by many as one tiny flaw in Islam, or at least that brand of Islam.

Kill the Messenger

If things are really going as well in Iraq as President Pinocchio says they are, why are we years away from a pullout so long after the mission was declared accomplished? The administration continues to use its familiar (and rather successful) technique of discrediting the messenger rather than the facts.

No President Wants To Go To War?

That's what President Bush told Helen Thomas in a news conference this morning. Does he think that the world has amnesia? Hell yes he wanted to go to war. He was dying to go to war. If I remember correctly he said that he was sick and tired of waiting to go to war. HE DESPARATELY WANTED TO GO TO WAR.

He lied to the world so he could go to war. That, by the way, was what Helen Thomas's question was really about: the false pretenses that were used to justify going to war. No matter how many times the reasons changed, they all turned out to be false. So, finally he switched to platitudes, like defending our freedom and other assorted bullshitisms.

Helen Thomas has more integrity and intelligence in one fingernail than Bush has in his whole body. I wish she could have nailed him with the truth in a setting that he couldn't control.

The Nuclear Club

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth. How many steps away from that is George W. Bush reading a list of nations that he has declared axes of evil? We worry about a country like Iran possessing a nuclear weapon, yet our country has set the precedent of a pre-emptive strike under false premises. If there were a club leader, i think that we would have been thrown out.

Three Years...

Three years into this ego-driven war and it's all about to fall apart like wet bread. Despite the spin that the administration puts on it, Iraq is and has been on the verge of civil war.

Rummy was warned in the earliest stages of the war that we would be fighting an insurgency, not an army. Yet he bullheadedly pushed on with his ill-conceived strategy. Amazingly, he still has his job, which proves that the only one more bullheaded than he is his boss.

The Iraqi welcoming committee fantasy that our president had, never fully materialized. Perhaps if his P.R. department had designed a banner like the one that said Mission Accomplished, he might have convinced a few more people that it was really happening.

Some of this might be forgiveable had he not dragged us into this debacle to satisfy his own juvenile ego. And yet, his approval rating is still in the low 30s when it should be zero.

White House Defends Team After Calls for Change

Even Republicans are asking Bush to replace some of his senior advisers. Not surprisingly, the administration describes them as "a smart, capable and experienced team." If we were to listen to them, they would have us believe that everything is going well and has been all along. Any impression to the contrary is the fault of the media and, by the way, Scott McClellan is getting "tired of questions" about replacements of members of Team Bush.

Here's a short list of other things only small child or idiot (sorry, kids) would believe:

1) the Tooth Fairy
2) fairies in general
3) mission accomplished

Bush's Approval Rating

It's at 36% and, I assume, falling. That still seems high to me. How many major events has he not bungled? Short list, eh? Mostly he's being nailed for his handling of the Iraq War, but he can never be hammered enough for purposely misleading his sheep and getting us there in the first place.

Just who is the enemy?

VP Cheney has said that some Democrats in Congress have decided that Bush is the enemy. While technically he might not be the enemy, he has inflicted more damage on this country than any of our real enemies have. He deserves more than censure.

Milosevic Dies of Heart Attack

I predict the same thing will happen during Saddam's trial, except that it will be the judge.

India Approves of Bush

I understand that Bush's approval rating in India is more than 70%. Maybe he could outsource the polls and do better than the dismal numbers that come from the people who know him.

Who knew?

When Bush said that no one had anticipated the breaching of the levees, I think he meant that no one had anticipated the releasing of the briefing tapes.

More on our ports...

It's obvious that Cheney was out of the loop on the ports decision too or Halliburton would have gotten the contract.

Bush Urges End to Iraq Violence

Bush asking Iraqis to exercise restraint...what a cute little idea!

An Analogy

Mikhail Gorbachev is to the dismantling of the Soviet Union as George W. Bush is to...

a) the dissolution of the U.S.A. as we know it.

b) the breakdown of the U.S.A.’s economy, integrity, reputation and resources.

c) representing the worst of what’s wrong with America.

d) dare I put the obvious: all of the above?

What if...

Dumb, dumb, dumb...

So, we're now outsourcing our already poor port security to the United Arab Emirates. Mr. President, what the hell is wrong with you?

You've made some catastrophically, monumentally stupid decisions in the past. Attacking Iraq being the most devastating and nominating Harriet Meirs to the Supreme Court being the most laughable, but, good God, why don't you just give them the damn key?

Paul Pillar's Foreign Affairs

Another former administration official breaks ranks. Paul Pillar, a former CIA official, in an issue of Foreign Affairs accuses the Bush administration of something that so many have said all along: The administration used intelligence not to inform decision-making, but to justify a decision already made.

Anyone who thinks that this administration can be trusted to not illegally, electronically eavesdrop on your conversations with your Aunt Sadie, as VP Cheney patronizingly tells us, must also still leave cookies our for Santa Claus. It can and will be used on political opponents and critics as well as the press and anybody else they damn well please to listen to. How anyone, at this point, could still think that this administration cares anything about anyone other than itself and its friends is beyond me. If they do, it would be easy for me to guess where their heads have been since 2000.

The Mohammed Cartoons

If you haven't seen the Mohammed cartoons click here. When I look at them I see political satire, in which everyone is fair game. I see no attempt to desecrate a religion, but rather an invitation to look at the behavior of one faction of that religion. Apparently, until the world says enough, what we see is going to be dictated by the violent, the militant and the intolerant.

Saddam's Trial

Politics do indeed make strange bedfellows. As despicable as Saddam is, when he shouts "Down with Bush" it's difficult to not like him just a little bit.

VP Accidentally Shoots Man

Now, how often do you get to see that headline? While this news story is probably only news to the unfortunate people involved, tell the truth, doesn't VP Dick look like someone straight out of a Stephen King novel that begins with a hunter shooting his hunting partner?

See You in Two Weeks...Brrrrr...

Bush on Torture...Again

Yesterday, Bush said he hadn't seen a report that Human Rights Watch put out last week alleging that his administration has a deliberate strategy of abusing terror suspects during interrogations. But he said any allegation that the United States tortures people is wrong.

So, he hasn't looked at the report, but he knows that it's wrong. Is it possible that if he were to read the report, he might learn something or maybe be able to ask some questions that could help him to learn something? I think that there are a lot of reports that he hasn't read but yet has an opinion on.

For me, the real torture is watching his inappropriately-timed smirks when he's telling us something that anybody with any common sense would know is not true.

Domestic Spying

As usual, the Bush administration pretends not to get it. They're framing the issue of domestic spying as necessary to protect American citizens. Who could argue against that? They fail to address the real issue, that the electronic eavesdropping could be achieved just as quickly and effectively in a legal manner.

The Republicans are supposed to be the party wanting to get out of the lives of the American people. Can anyone look at the track record of this administration and believe that?

American Holy War

Make no mistake, there is a holy war going on in America. It's not between Christians and Muslim extremists; it's between Christian extremists and the rest of America. Though this brand of Christianity has much in common with their Muslim counterparts, i.e., they are determined to undermine our pluralistic society. They have just won the latest skirmish by pressuring enough NBC affiliates and sponsors to, in turn, pressure the network to drop The Book of Daniel.

Apparently, not watching the show was not enough; they do not want others to watch it either. If asked individually, every one of these Americans would say that they believe in the Constitution and a free society. The truth is that they believe in it only when it works in their favor.

For a glimpse of an American Theocracy, read Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid's Tale. While certain aspects of it might warm the cockles of many a Christian Evangelist’s heart, it will chill most Americans to the bone.

Canadian Elections

Damn, now I have to worry about all of North America.

Bill Frist, diagnose this...

I think that Ariel Sharon's doctors ought to send Senator/Doctor Bill Frist a videotape of their patient. As in the Terry Schiavo case, I'm sure that Frist would be happy to review the tape in his office and give an insightful diagnosis and prognosis for the Israeli Prime Minister.

Speaking For God

Ray Nagin has joined the club of idiots who seem to know what God thinks and why He does things. I haven't been hit by any hurricanes, tornados, floods or earthquakes, so I can assume that God likes the way I operate. Did you know that He told me to write this blog?

Martin Luther King, Jr.

On October 24, 2006, I wrote the following about Rosa Parks. I believe it would apply to Martin Luther King, Jr. as well.

I wonder how Rosa Parks would be characterized were she to have popped into today's headlines. I know that she didn't have an easy time of it back then, but how would the Hannitys, Limbaughs and Robertsons (who seem to be the talking heads for this administration) attack and rip apart her reputation?

Debating the Holocaust and Evolution

Is it really any kookier for the President of Iran to have a debate about the Holocaust than it is for the American President to say that Intelligent Design should be taught in schools so students might see both sides of the issue. Both ignore reality.

Cowboy movies...

I'm not a big fan of cowboy movies, but I've seen enough to know that they sometimes include murder, rape, torture, robbery, arson and most other violent crimes against people and property. Movie cowboys are often motivated by greed, meanness and lust...you know, like people. Yet, I've never seen the American Taliban so abuzz with shocked whispers as it is about a gay cowboy movie.

Bush Urges Iran Nuclear Diplomacy

I don't think that he has a whole lot of credibility on this one.

Brokeback Mountain

Here are some quotes from family.org about the movie Brokeback Mountain.

"Youth could easily be led astray, he said, into thinking that gay sexuality is perfectly normal — a message that homosexual activist groups have been harping about for years.

"...it has...a high 'ick' factor.

"If they're not vomiting their way out of the theater when they see that scene, they are certainly going to be uncomfortable, and even in the uncomfortable aspects, they are going to be bored silly," he said."

Let me get this straight: a movie with a high "ick" factor that will either have people vomiting, uncomfortable or bored is going to influence youth to emulate what they see. Honk once if you believe this and twice if you believe in fairies.

Intolerance...it's a good thing?

"Do not be afraid to be intolerant. ...Intolerance does not mean hating your neighbor. It is just the opposite. It is caring for his soul by teaching him the error of his ways."

–Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.

So, why do they call them hate crimes, Senator Rick?

Samuel Alito

I hope his nomination vote doesn't follow party lines. Many votes that do make me question their integrity.

Mouse Thrown Into Fire Sets Home Ablaze

Yup, that's the headline, folks. After reading the article, I'm happy to say that karma is alive and well.

"I'm All Ears...

...but don't expect me to really listen. This is just a photo op and put together so that America thinks I'm reaching out. So, 5 to 10 minutes of actual exchange should be enough."

As far as I know Bush never said the above at the meeting of the former Secretaries of State, but I don't think it's a stretch of the truth. It seems that most of the 40-minute meeting was an upbeat fantasy of how things are going.

He never listened to his own Secretary of State, Colin Powell, when he was in office, so I wonder why he was called back. Could that be the reason that he didn't have much to say at the meeting?

It would seem to me that having that many people with so much experience, together in one room to discuss such a badly mismanaged matter of such monumental proportions might require a little more than 40 minutes.

Pat Robertson and God

Pat Robertson is one lucky guy. He's got the Creator of the Universe carrying out his agenda: infecting people with deadly diseases, promoting terrorism, putting presidents in office, delivering disasters to sinful cities and handing out strokes. You've really got to wonder what he's done to rate such favor.

Book of Daniel

There are a lot of things on TV that I do not watch; more, in fact, than the things that I do watch. I'd never dream of asking someone else to not watch something because I don't or won't.

Conservative Christians and the American Family Association, however, are gearing up for a war on NBC's The Book of Daniel. I've read some comments that say it mocks Christianity. I guess the folks who say that want to leave the mocking of Christianity to folks like Pat Robertson.

Troop Withdrawal

I think that we're going to hear a lot about troop withdrawal from Iraq...right up until the midterm elections.

Domestic Spying

This administration must have an endless supply of red herrings. It's not the eavesdropping that people object to, it's the illegal eavesdropping; especially when they could have done it just as well legally.

If this issue has "caused great harm to the nation," it's Bush's own fault. Had he gone through the legal channels at his disposal, it would be a nonissue. Though I didn't watch either of his inaugarations, I know that he took an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" to the best of his ability. I guess it's that ability thing that's become a problem again.

Your free pass has expired...

I'm not sure why it took so long for it to happen, but little Georgie W's free pass wouldn't work in 2005. Most folks, including me, gave him one right after 9/11. Mine was still working until Saddam Hussein suddenly became Osama bin Laden.

This year, however, the privatizing of Social Security died a slow, painful death despite the President's desparate attempts to breathe life into it. The war in Iraq isn't looking so good now that more than 2000 men and women have given their lives. Bush's disinterest in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was hard to ignore, no matter how concerned he looked a week later from Air Force One. His appointed crony, Brownie, fell hard, even though the Prez thought that he was doing "a heckuva job." The wagon trains were drawn closer together as Patrick Fitzgerald circled the White House wounding some of the President's men and scaring the hell out of a whole lot more.

My only question is what took so damn long? Saying I told you so will be little comfort for the next 3 years.

Nuance

A real-world example of nuance would be knowing the difference between Afghanistan and Iraq.

Rising Violence = Falling Troop Numbers?

Violence in Iraqi escalates after only a 12-day period of relative calm. Yet, after only 8 days into that relative calm, Rumsfeld announces troop reductions by “early next year.” Am I being cynical by thinking that this might be a political move at a time when support for the war is waning? Given its track record for spinning the truth, I’d advise folks who are considering holding their breath until this happens to find out when early next year actually is and then waiting until then to start turning purple.

If Saddam is found not guilty...

While Saddam may have justly earned the name the Butcher of Baghdad, unless he can be linked to his crimes he may be found not guilty. If that happens, will he get his country back?

Approval Ratings, Part 2

The following came from the December 19, 2005 issue of TIME magazine. All credit goes to the author Patricia Marx.

97% of stem cells zealously endorse the President's stem-cell policies.

86% of the ExxonMobil management are of the opinion that we should stay the course in Iraq until the last drop of oil is pumped.

99% of some people we know believe a certain person who leaked the name of the Vice President of the U.S. to the American public should be prosecuted.

49% of Jenna Bush's friends approve of the wet bar on her grandfather's boat in Kennebunkport.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Cutting Combat Troops

Rumsfeld has announced that there will be reductions of the number of troops in Iraq in 2006. I hope that that's true, but the problem with continuously crying wolf, or in this case spinning the truth, is that one loses one's credibility.

Approval Ratings I

The following came from the December 19, 2005 issue of TIME magazine. All credit goes to the author Patricia Marx.

69% of heads of families who have saved $1 million more due to the President's tax laws enthusiastically support the President's tax laws.

51% of scientists believe the Big Bang led to greater upheaval in the world than the American invasion of Iraq.

62% of educators are pretty sure that the President is smarter than SpongeBob, but not smarter than Dan Quayle.

87% of the ranchers in Montana say they are in favor of the way the President handles dry brush and scrub on the Crawford Ranch.

An overwhelming majority of both Democrats and Republicans agree with Donald Rumsfeld's recent statement: "There is compelling evidence that al-Qaeda is linked to al-Qaeda"


...more to follow.

Saddam Returns to Court

So Saddam has decided to return to his trial. I wonder if the judge would consider putting his thumbs together and saying whatever in Arabic.

Attacks on Christmas

I've got an idea how those who are concerned about attacks on Christmas can respond without getting politicians to grandstand and publicity-seeking televangelists to profit from the debacle. And I think it would be more in keeping with what Jesus might do.

When someone wishes them Happy Holidays, they should cut them to their knees by saying Thank You, Merry Christmas.

The Speech

All during the Prez's speech I kept expecting him to say, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night." Well, obviously that didn't happen so I had to content myself to be entertained in another way. There were many things that I agreed with: We don't have a lot of options here. Things are probably better for a lot of Iraqis. Mistakes were made. The task was bigger than the administration anticipated.

But he didn't say the only things that would make me shut up: 1) I went to war for my own personal reasons and I cherry picked the intelligence to back up my obsession, and 2) If I had it to do it all over again, I never would have done such a selfish, criminal, idiotic thing.

Eavesdropping

Whether you agree with Bush or not, I'm just glad that they're not bullshitting us. Of course, you never know, but usually their attempts are so transparent as to be infuriatingly obvious.

China's economy is bigger than previously reported

China, relax. You'll soon be number one. Our President is preparing our spot for you.

The Iraqi Elections

What's done is done. While I have always believed that our president took us to war for personal reasons and that he never cared one whit about the Iraqi people, I sincerely hope that these elections are the beginning of an independent Iraq and the withdrawal from a place that we never should have been.

Faulty Intelligence or What a Crock!

In an ongoing effort to spin this bait-and-switch war, George Bush is trying to throw us a bone by saying that he is a victim of faulty intelligence. My response to that is: What crap!

May I remind him of some voices that have come from his own administration? For example: Richard Clark who wrote Against All Enemies, Paul O'Neill, who wrote The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill or Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, an aide to then Secretary of State Colin Powell who describes his involvement in his boss’s speech to the UN as “the lowest point in my life.”

So, are these all people that have left the White House and all decided to start spreading lies about what went on inside? I doubt that. This administration would have us believe that they were really motivated by book deals. Have they thought that a pro-Bush White House book might also have a large audience?

There’s a crime here. It’s against the American people, specifically our troops. It’s against the Iraqi people, regardless of the actions of their former dictator. It’s against the world community because it puts us all at risk of a preemptive strike.

They Didn't Die In Vain, But...

I saw Nightline last night and the show featured mothers who had lost their sons in Iraq. Of course, there were many different views on it all, but so many said that their sons died defending our freedom or that they fought them over there so we wouldn’t have to fight them here.

I know that they don’t want their sons (and they all happened to be sons, not daughters) to have died for nothing, but the truth is that if Saddam were still in power our lives would not be changed; our freedoms would be intact; the Iraqi insurgents would not have move to the U.S.

That said, their sons did not die in vain. Soldiers do not get to choose their assignments, nor can they disagree with them. They serve their country and that in itself makes their sacrifice meaningful.

The waste of their lives belongs to our president and his cronies who went to war for their own reasons but tried to sell us another. I don’t give a damn what they’re saying now, WE WENT TO WAR BECAUSE WE WERE TOLD THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN HAD WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

They can say that they were fooled too, but they weren’t. Time after time when they said they were delivering proof of WMDs, I listened. I listened to what Colin Powell had to say to the UN. Never did I hear one thing that made me believe that we knew anything about WMDs in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein is an evil man, make no mistake. But if we can judge people by their deeds, then Bush is just as evil. He may market himself with a moral wrapper, but he is just as responsible for the deaths of thousands as Saddam.

Clinton: Bush 'Flat Wrong' About Greenhouse-Gas Emissions

Well, I guess he won't be invited back for any bipartisan fund-raising projects.

Happy Holidays...er, I mean Merry Christmas.

The majority of American Christians, over the years, have secularized and commercialized Christmas and turned it into an orgy of gift buying and receiving. The public shops with a thermometer stuck in them as the media tries to figure out its mood and whether or not spending will surpass last year. People throw each other to the ground to get to a reduced-priced electronic item. Magazines tell us how to avoid putting on weight during a time of traditional overindulgence.

And then their noses get out of joint when people call it the holiday season, so that even those who are not Christians will have an excuse to do all of the above. For those of devout faith who truly celebrate Christmas, December 25th, by going to church and eschewing all the gaudy trappings, I applaud you. But, let's face it: everything that happens between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the Holiday Season.

Tom Delay's Cheshire Cat Grin

Will someone please tell Tom Delay to lose his shit-eating grin when the cameras are on? He's charged with felonies and grinning like an idiot doesn't make him look innocent. In fact, it makes him look like sleazeball.

Bush's Report Card from the 9/11 Committee

"The commission gave the government an average grade of C- for progress in enacting recommendations to prevent another terror attack, with various government agencies getting five F's, 10 D's and two incompletes. The highest grade was an A- for counter-terrorist financing."

Bush, however, is not the least bit upset by this report card. He got worse grades than this when he was at Yale, and he went on to be Governor of Texas and a two-term President of the United States.

chip, chip, chip...

That's the sound of our moral high ground being chipped away at, one issue after another. When this administration is finished, any country will be able to claim any reason for any dastardly action they might think will benefit them.

Managing the News in Iraq?

Bush says that he's disturbed that the military would pay Iraqi papers to manage the news. Supposedly he will stop the practice if the reports are proven to be true.

What a concept! if it works out in Iraq, maybe he'll stop trying to spin the news in this country.

Screwdrivers?

Would the Transportation Security Administration please explain to me (and the pilots and flight attendants) why an airline passenger would need to bring a screwdriver aboard an aircraft?

BUSH PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY DESTROYED BY FLOOD

Crawford, Texas -- A tragic flood this morning destroyed the personal library of President George W. Bush. The flood began in the presidential bathroom where both of the books were kept. Both of his books have been lost. A presidential spokesman said the president was devastated, as he had almost finished coloring the second one. The White House tried to call FEMA but there was no answer.

Al Qaeda's Best Weapon: Our Own President

In my opinion, this president has done more to damage this country that the 9/11 terrorists could ever have dreamed of. It’s as if he were part of their plan.

His private war has divided the country more than could have been imagined, which is saying a lot for a president who has polarized this country since before he even stepped foot in the White House. Pretty amazing for a uniter, not a divider.

He has made us a target for most of the world’s scorn. At very least, we have lost the respect of most of the world. Most citizens of other countries see him as an uneducated, ignorant buffoon; an opinion which many of our own citizens, myself included, share.

He has emptied this county’s coffers to the point that it will take generations to fill them back up. His legacy will be a lower of standard of living for the young people of today, their children and their grandchildren.

He has been the cause of the killing and wounding of thousands of American soldiers and innocent civilians of Iraq. Servicemen and women enlist in the armed forces to serve our country, not be used as pawns in the pissing contests of immature fratboys.

If there are no laws to apply to bring this president to justice, then, at very least, there’s got to be a special place in Hell. It’s a cruel joke on religion that he considers himself to be a moral, godly man.

Rumsfeld's Epiphany

So, two and a half years later, Rummy decides that the insurgents aren't really insurgents and he calls the idea an epiphany. This administration thinks that it's dealing with children when it spins its policy. Just how does not calling the insurgents insurgents make any difference in what's going on in this country and Iraq? It seems to me that if he's spending his time in wordplay he ought to give a little thought to the meaning of epiphany.

Powell Aide Calls Bush Aloof

Colin Powell's chief of staff claims that President Bush was "too aloof, too distant from the details" of post-war planning, allowing underlings (Cheney, Rumsfeld and like-minded aides) to exploit Mr. Bush's detachment and make bad decisions.

I don't think that there's any surprise there.

He added that "Cheney must have sincerely believed that Iraq could be a spawning ground for new terror assaults, because otherwise I have to declare him a moron, an idiot or a nefarious bastard."

In my opinion, Cheney is neither a moron nor an idiot, which leaves me with nefarious bastard, something I have felt about him since the beginning. In fact, it has been the driving force behind my wish for Bush's safety and good health.

Brownie's School of Disaster Preparedness

Brownie is starting a disaster preparedness consulting business. And I hear that Russell Crowe is launching a chain of anger management schools.

Borrowed Time

Do people who are living on borrowed time have to pay it back in their next life?

Political Capital

Whatever happened to sending a person to Mars and revamping Social Security? Did Bush also say that he was going to cure cancer or was that President Josiah Bartlet? It's so hard to separate fiction from reality.

Black Friday

Shoppers being trampled while others are wrestled to the ground and beaten up. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Bush on Darwin

On this day, November 24, in 1859, Charles Darwin, a British naturalist, published "On the Origin of Species." It was the paper in which he explained his theory of evolution through the process of natural selection. His theory is the basis of many facets of science, including medicine and the development of vaccines to fight to mutating viruses. One hundred forty-six years later we have a president who believes that there is a legitimate debate between evolution and intelligent design. Just another way that this country has taken steps backward under this administration.

Chronic Jet Lag?

When Bush was asked by a reporter in Beijing if something had been bothering him when he made a statement with China's President Hu, as he seemed off his game, Bush replied "Have you ever heard of jet lag?"

Well...I have...but not for 5 years.

Cheney/Murtha

At first I thought that the cosmic rubber band had snapped us into an alternate universe. The Vice-President was disagreeing with a critic without ripping apart his integrity, intelligence or character.

Obviously, Representative Murtha’s credentials and reputation are unquestionable and this is just a shallow attempt to soften previous Administration and Republican attacks and in order to avoid a backlash against their pit-bull mentality.

Cheney Backs Torture?

In addition to not providing reliable information, torturing prisoners is inviting other countries to torture our captured soldiers. So when Dick Cheney, who had other priorities when he was of draft age, advocates the practice, it drives home the fact that he and the rest of the administration have no understanding of war or the welfare of our military men or women. The humanity of the world has been greatly diminished by his and other administration's influence over U.S. policies.

Iraqi War Aftermath

Whether we pull out today or years from now, I'm afraid the result will be the same: a country in so much turmoil that Saddam Hussein's reign will be looked upon as the good old days.

I remember the President in his junior high school mode saying that he was "sick and tired" of waiting while the U.N. inspectors were searching for WMDs. He rushed in with the ridiculous notion that we would be greeted with open arms and he would be his daddy's hero. Any leader who would say "Bring them on," obviously hasn't a clue about what war is about. Even his father's remark, "We'll kick their ass," seems brilliantly intelligent in comparison.

Global Warming

I think that we can agree that we're getting warmer. Is it cyclical or is it caused by human activity? I'm neither a climatologist nor a environmental scientist, so I don't know.

What I really don't get is why this debate has to run along party lines. All that that accomplishes is getting a bunch of people who don't know anything to stand up and recite their party's line. Case in point, stupid Rush Limbaugh says that it can't possibly be caused by human activity because we can't fix it. There you go.

Presidential Quotes

Reagan: We do not negotiate with terrorists (think Iran-Contra).
Nixon: I am not a crook (remember Watergate?).
Clinton: I did not have sex with that woman (just what is the definition of is).
Bush: We do not torture (but we may reserve the right to do so in the future).

Does one of these lies seem not to belong here?

Bush Escalates Bitter Iraq War Debate

Bush Escalates Bitter Iraq War Debate. That's what the headline says. The article goes on to say "They spoke the truth then and they're speaking politics now," Bush charged.

A fair statement if it were true. Unfortunately, he's got it backwards. They were, stupidly, speaking politics then and they're speaking the truth now, but only because it's politically expedient. They, who let Bush have his way, deserve to take some heat, but let's get it right.

They're not alone though. In my mind, the media, who did not want to be seen as unpatriotic, also gave President Pinocchio a free pass. I don't hear him complaining about that.

Separation of Church and State

I think that the one thing that has polarized this country more than ever before has been the attempt to inject religion into politics. If anyone would be interested in seeing how a theocracy might play out, read A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. It's not a pretty sight.

I wonder how loud the scream would be from the religious Right if a Catholic or Jewish President had said that he was choosing a Supreme Court nominee because of his or her religion. That's what they don't get. In order to keep other religions out of politics, you have to keep out your own.

Will Bush Go Solo?

For the past 5 years the people in control of our government is not the man that was elected, but a collection of Machiavellian characters who have up until recently, served him well. I think (hope) that George W. is realizing something that I and a large number of Americans have thought from the beginning. That Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove and who knows who else have their own agenda and it differs vastly from what is good for the country and the world.

How can George save his presidency? He would have to cut his ties with these influences and go it alone, and that is something I really don't believe that he's up to. God help us.

Bush Attacks War Critics

He really does have a point. I think that the Democrats were afraid of the political fallout of not going along with the war and now they're scrambling for excuses and paying the price.

I, however, kept waiting for the definitive proof of WMDs that never came and never believed anything but that Bush was doggedly determined to attack Iraq, no matter what. I think it was a matter of sticking in his thumb, pulling out a plum and looking at his father and saying, "What a good boy am I."

Arabs Against Terrorism

Finally there's an Arab backlash against suicide bombers and terrorism. What brought it about? Was it the deaths in Israel? No, it was the deaths of fellow Arabs that prompted a strong unified voice against the unexpected, random killing of innocent civilians. One cannot help but think that by many this kind of terrorism is considered permissible if directed at one's adversaries or someone else. People of peace abhor violence in all forms against all people. I know better than to think that this applies to all Arabs or Muslims, but it can't be overlooked that it applies to many.

Little Georgie Gets an A in Georgraphy

As reported in The New York Times (November 7, 2005), during the Prez's trip to Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, exhibited a map of his country. At that point, the leader of the free world said, "Wow! Brazil is big."

Nuff said.

A Case for Political Correctness

Is France teaching us a lesson? Is the lesson that this country is on the right track? I heard a report from France last night that said that young Arabs in France see the United States as a paradise, where muslims are respected and allowed to practice their religion without interference.

Though far from perfected, could it be that the idea of listening to and respecting the minority voice keeps them from feeling irrelevant? Could it be that letting the majority, because of its sheer numbers, call all the shots is an invitation to social upheaval? It seems that we've tried that before and had results similar to what is happening in France today.

To the all the folks who think that the majority not only rules but dictates what inclusion means, remember that people do not suffer in silence for very long; not the young ones, anyway.

We do not torture.

You know, I just have a feeling that Bush's words, " We do not torture," are going to come back and bite him hard, a la "Mission Accomplished" and "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."

Roe v. Wade

It is my opinion that the Republican's dirty little secret is that they have no intention of tearing the social fabric of this country by overturning Roe v. Wade. They do however, want to dangle that little carrot in front of their constituents in order to keep them ever hopeful (and voting Republican). Say what you will, a major aspect of their 2004 win was the prominence of the gay marriage issue. As long as these two issues are out there on Election Day, there will be a sizable portion of the electorate making sure that their vote will help keep the Devil out of America.

My Trip to Argentina by George W. Bush

It used to be that a president whose popularity was sagging at home could depend on a foreign jaunt to show him being greeted by adoring crowds. Name a place in the world, other than tightly controlled GOP venues in Republican country, that W hasn't drawn more than his fair share of jeers, obscenities and, in some cases, violence. I would say that he needs to get some bilingual spin meisters.

A Polite President

When President Pinocchio was asked how he will act when he encounters Venezuela's President Chavez, he said that he would be polite. "That's what the American people expect their president to do, is to be a polite person," he said. "And if I run across him, I will do just that."

Obviously, little Georgie was raised right. Too bad his good manners will not serve him very well when historians will view him as the President who brought America to its knees.

I guess little Georgie had a manners lapse when he referred to New York Times reporter Adam Clymer as a "major league asshole." And, apparently the American people do not expect their vice-president to be a polite person, as he's been known to say, "Fuck yourself," to people who make him angry.

Mike Brown's Emails

Let's be fair. How many of us, while doing our jobs, have not joked irreverently with our coworkers. If we're going to rip into Brownie, let's use his real failures; God knows there are plenty of them.

Bush's Plan for Avian Flu

If this administration has an effective plan for dealing with the avian flu, it will be the first thing that they've been prepared for.

Bush Outlines Flu Remedies

One good thing has come from the potential pandemic that avian flu might cause; Bush has been given an opportunity to show the public how on top of things he is. If history is an example of how things will go, we'll be in deep doodoo.

Samuel Alito

I wonder how Sam feels knowing that Harriet Miers, who has never even been a judge, was Bush's first pick for the job.

Perjury

Suddenly, perjury is a technicality, a mere diversion. I mean, really, what a bother to have to tell the truth; especially when it doesn't suit our purposes. The VALUES party strikes again.

Bush's Top-Ten Legacy

He's still got about 3 years left, but it's not too early to take a look at some of the more memorable moments of George W.'s presidency. So, here's the Top-Ten List of things that we will never forget.

10) Compassionate Conservatism
9) "I'm a uniter not a divider."
8) Five minutes of riveted attention to My Pet Goat
7) WMDs
6) Shock and Awe
5) "Bring it on."
4) "Mission Accomplished."
3) Political Capital: "I intend to use it."
2) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
1) "Heh, heh..." (usually preceded by something stupid)

Miers on Bush

You tell me if Miers was qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice. She once said that she thought that Bush was the smartest man that she had ever met. Nuff said.

Scooter Libby

Do you think that Bush was able to come up with a cute nickname for Scooter Libby?

Karl Rove

I wonder of Karl Rove is going to be George Bush's little blue dress.

Rosa Parks

I wonder how Rosa Parks would be characterized were she to have popped into today's headlines. I know that she didn't have an easy time of it back then, but how would the Hannitys, Limbaughs and Robertsons (who seem to be the talking heads for this administration) attack and rip apart her reputation?

Caine Mutiny/Bush Presidency Analogy

President Bush is to Captain Queeg as Harriet Miers is to strawberries.

Did You Ever Wonder What 2000 Looks Like?

Click on this and see it through to the end.

Colin Powell's Aid Speaks Up

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell's top aide has accused Cheney and Rumsfeld of creating a "cabal" that has hijacked U.S. foreign policy.

He also said that Bush was "not versed in international relations and not too much interested in them either."

He added that the administration "made decisions in secret, and now I think it is paying the consequences of having made those decisions in secret. But far more telling to me is America is paying the consequences."

I say that while many Americans could have been fooled the first time, how could all of this not have been painfully, achingly, and torturingly obvious to all but the most diehard party-line followers. America has been robbed, raped and ravaged by this administration and most Americans alive today will not live to see it recover.

10 More Years of Iraq?

Condi admits that 10 years from now we could still be in Iraq. And the surprise is? Maybe President Pinocchio can convince the public that they'll be throwing flowers to our soldiers the whole time.

Avian Flu

I'm waiting for our Commander in Chief to propose that we fight the bird flu in some other country so that we don't have to fight it here.

Bush's Job Performance Rating

I wonder how W's easily-bruised ego is handling the low opinion that the American public has of his presidential skills. I have a feeling that as long as his daddy approves, all is well in his little mind. He can always say, "Hey, my disapproval ratings have never been so high, heh heh." Or he can put Karen Hughes on overtime so that she can spin it for us.

James Dobson and Harriet Miers

I don't really have a problem with James Dobson approving or disapproving of Bush's nomination of his personal lawyer to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. The problem is that Dr. D. is a religious leader and like Pat Robertson and the Grahams holds no political office and other than his views as a private citizen, he should have zero influence on our government's operation. And yet, in this administration I would say that he does.

Bush's Supreme Court

Mr. President, after Harriet Miers, please feel free to appoint all of your church's elders. After all, it's your country, isn't it?

Harriet Miers

Funny how the Republicans didn't think that Roberts should have to provide the Democrats with any pre-confirmation information, but are now complaining that they don't have enough information about Harriet Miers. I wouldn't mind all this partisan bickering as much if each side weren't so offended when the other engages in it.

A Rehearsed Chat with the Prez

I'm not doubting that the soldiers that Bush chatted with today meant what they said, but who is the idiot that let them video a rehearsal?

Science in America

The National Academy of Sciences urged the U. S. government to "to launch a broad program supporting science education, research and innovation in an effort to maintain the nation's economic dominance."

Let's begin by educating our leaders. Mr. President, if Intelligent Design belongs anywhere, it's in Sunday School class. I have no objection to people believing it. I do have a problem with them trying to disguise this thinly-veiled religious construct as science.

September 30, 2005

I'll return on October 12.

Tom Delay

Delay claims that that he is the victim of a political witch-hunt by a partisan prosecutor. I don't know if that's true, but I do know how grand juries work and they have to have enough evidence to justify a trial. I can understand why Mr. Delay would be so outraged; Republicans would never dig up dirt about anyone and use the law to play partisan politics. Wow! I almost wrote that with a straight face.

Brownie

Well, it seems that Brownie thinks that he was doing a heckuva job too.

The leaders that we deserve...

Would someone please explain to me why it seems to be instinctive for the Right to deny all damage to the environment and to rail against any anti-war movement. In their minds can this planet take every single thing that we humans dish out and was there never a war that was not a good idea?

What I’m going to say applies to the Left as well. When every stance that you take is based on the party line, you lose all credibility. You’ve lost the ability to think critically and to make honest judgments; you've lost your integrity. When we think like this we get the leaders that we deserve.

Hurricanes and New Orleans - 5 Years Ago

A Category 5 hurricane would come barreling out of the Gulf of Mexico. It would cause Lake Pontchartrain, north of New Orleans, to overflow, pouring down millions of gallons of water on the city. Then things would really get ugly. Evacuation routes would be blocked. Buildings would collapse. Chemicals and hazardous waste would dissolve, turning the floodwaters into a lethal soup. In the end, what was left of the city might not be worth saving.

This appeared 5 years ago in Time Magazine. And the surprise was...?

Incompetence or Indifference?

Many Democrats would like to lay all the blame for the Katrina aftermath at Bush's feet. Many Republicans want to defend all his actions and pin the blame on the Democratic Governor of Louisiana and Mayor of New Orleans and possibly FEMA. As I've written before, there's enough blame to go around from bottom to top. However, what disturbs me is the indifference and detachment shown by the President and his circle in the initial days of the blossoming disaster. All they had to do was watch television, any channel, and they would have had a better sense of what was taking place in New Orleans. They showed interest only when public outrage forced them to. Frankly, I don't think enough was made out of the Brownie-you're-doing-a-heck-of-a-job comment. It demonstrates more than anything the good-old-boy mentality and just how unfocused our country's leader really is.

Bill Frist

Bill Frist, can you say Martha Stewart?

Clinton's Response to Terrorism

The Republicans and the Right in general like to talk about what they think of as Clinton's less than stellar repsonse to the U.S.S. Cole and the failed (to a degree) bombing of the WTC. If his actions following these attacks was inadequate in light of what we knew, where was the outcry from all the political pundits at the time? I don't remember anything; in fact, I remember more being said when George senior didn't follow Saddam's army back to Baghdad.

Political Capital

I hope that Bush has spent all the political capital that he thought that he had earned last November. Offhand, at this point I'd say that he's in the hole.

John Ellis Bush: Patriot

I think after John Bush, Governor Jeb's son, explains that he had just come from a night of toasting our troops in Iraq this won't look so bad. I mean, how else could this young, intelligent, physically fit young man support this Bush family value?

Tyco Execs Sentencing

The most delicious part of the Kozlowski and Swartz sentencing is the restitution and fines. I don't think that anything affects people like this except money. My only hope is that their payout reduces them to level of us common folk.

Another Katrina Legacy

Another sad legacy that Katrina will leave us is that at the end of his term Bush will have another excuse as to why our economy is in shambles and will be so for at least another generation. Will he and his "base" suffer because of it? What do you think?

Our Weakness Exposed

We've come a long way from, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." I have a cousin who lives in NYC and she watched the towers fall; that had to have a profoundly long-lasting impact on the psyche. Because of that she has suspended all her other beliefs and voted to put Bush in office for another term because she felt that he was the one who would keep her safe. I think that we were supposed to believe that we learned of our weaknesses through 9/11. I don't know if any president would have done a better job in this disaster, but i think that it's safe to say that none could have done worse.

John Roberts

The reality that the Democrats have to face and accept is that whether they like it or not a Republican president is going to appoint 2 Supreme Court judges. John Roberts appears to be a nominee that could appeal to both parties. Sure the Dems are doing their duty by trying to find out what kind of a Chief Justice he will make, but if they use the occasion for political posturing they will come out the losers. If one can judge from Roberts's opening remarks and later responses he was a good choice. Unlike Bolton, they could do a lot worse.

Taking Responsibility

In this case, Bush is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, but he's finally admitting to something that 61% of the country already knew: the aftermath of Katrina was a bigger disaster than the storm itself. I feel sorry for the 39% who continue to think that he's doing a good job; it must be tough coming up with excuses.

Kanye West's Disgusting Remark

Instead of simply calling Kanye West's comments disgusting, why didn't Laura Bush point out how George has helped poor Black Americans in this country (poverty rate up 17%) and how he has met with the NAACP to shore up relations (it never happened twice). The only thing that Republicans want from poor minorities is their vote.