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.