Posts
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,390 mornings to go waking up being afraid
. . . . . . . $159.5 billion for U.S. blood shed in Iraq
. . . . . . . 1,529 U.S. lives lost to elect a Constitutional Assembly of Muslim Shiite mullahs who will build a theocracy that mirrors Tehran, Iran
. . . . . . . 1 man named Bin Laden still walking around free
. . . . . . . $7.8 trillion in National Debt left for our children and grandchildren
Today's Quote –
. . . . . . . "It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." – Abraham Lincoln
The Beat Goes On –
. . . . . . . The extent of the blatant hypocrisy of the current ruling class of Neocons and Christian Right Evagelicals in power of the White House, Congress, the judiciary and the media knows absolutely no bounds. Witness the three people ushered out of a Bush Town Meeting in Denver due to a bumper sticker on their car protesting the illegally prosecuted war in Iraq. This goes along with the 40 people ushered out of an event in Fargo, N.D. Attendees at the "support rallies" with "normal citizens" for Bush's Social Security hijacking are carefully screened and scripted, all to make the event appear to go "smoothly". This goes along with Bozo's policy of "no bad news" in his morning briefings. Only reports that support his cock-eyed view of the world and his own policies are allowed with no dissent brooked.
. . . . . . . Wait a minute, did he just say "illegally prosecuted war in Iraq"? Yup, you damn betcha Skippy, he did. In the case of Iraq, Congress has not passed a formal declaration of war, or authorized any military action whatsoever. Even the sweeping Use of Force resolution approved by Congress three days after the attack on the World Trade Center falls short of authorizing military action against Iraq. Curious George has completely usurped the Constitution of the United States of America. This is a treasonous act, which is punishable by impeachment at the very, very least. A full prison sentence for traitorous and seditious acts if anyone had the cojones. This from a man who declares himself a "conservative" who cannot stomach "activists" who would change the Constitution. No matter what he calls himself, liar and hypocrite are the only labels that fit.
. . . . . . . May Terry Schiavo rest in peace, and may the merry band of idiots who turned her death, something that was the exclusive province of Michael Schiavo and the Schindler's, into an absolute circus and media feeding frenzy burn in their own private hell. Kudos to the judiciary for being focused and deliberate, and for refusing to become the very "activist" judges that Delay, Frist & Bush so abhor, even though they were the very hypocrites who asked them to be "activist", but just in this one instance, mind you; or in any instance in which those self-serving bastards could see their own agenda advanced. Let's see, hmm, go back over the scorecard again. Bush – 1 piece of personal legislation in Texas while governor that gave hospitals the absolute and final authority to stop life-sustaining efforts, no matter the families wishes and 50+ capital punishment executions; Frist – plug pulled on 30+ patients while practicing medicine; DeLay – The member of his family who had to make the decision regarding pulling his father's life support and did so; 1 memo from "unknown" GOP honchos that the Schiavo would help them "excite their voter base" and all three lying bastards leap into action. You go boys, keep showing your true colors.
. . . . . . . In a report delivered Thursday morning, a Presidential commission confirms what we all knew all along. The intelligence regarding Iraq's WMD was "badly flawed and incorrect" and goes on further to state that the intelligence community of the world's only hyper-power, us, knows virtually next to nothing about anyone's WMD or nuclear capabilities and that most of the briefings are, at best, speculation.
. . . . . . . Seems like the country is finally waking up. In a Thursday Washington Times article, Bush's approval ratings have hit an all-time low. Seems people are fed up with Iraq being his full-time occupation and this country's issues being neglected and ignored. Little things like an economy hurtling towards self-destruction, record deficits, joblessness and exported jobs peaking, you know, the small stuff. When he does deign to involve his imperiousness domestically it's in issues that aren't Presidential or governmental matters, like Schiavo. Doesn't matter anyhow, he turned himself into a lame duck even to the extent of within his own party three months into his second term by trying to tackle the political third rail, Social Security.
. . . . . . . NeoCon darling Ann Coulter showed just how mature she was the other night in Lawrence, Kansas when during a performance, err, lecture, she asked if there were any big conservatives in the house who could take of her hecklers. This faux intellectual witch queen makes me vomit. She's in that parasitical class of people who have never done an honest day's labor. (Trust me, I know, live in Ypsilanti, next door to Ann Arbor and way, way too used to snobby U of M law school grads. Trust me, these yahoos are laughed at regularly by those of us who live here and actually work for a living. After a year of dealing with lawyers, Shakespeare was right, let's kill all the lawyers, then we might stand half a chance.) They live off of other people's sweat and actually believe their own bullshit. Ann Coulter is the right wing's wannabe Whoopi Goldberg, minus the intelligence and wit. The only problem is that she doesn't recognize that actually she's a stand-up comedy act and an entertainer. Entertainers know that what they babble is nonsense designed to make people laugh and realize that they are completely dependent on people's disposable income and heckling comes with the turf and they learn how to handle it. Dear little Annie, delicate thing that she is, can't handle a little dissent. Her limited vocabulary and intelligence leave her with making fat jokes about Ted Kennedy, and that's about the extent of her grasp of American politics and history. Mewling, puking, simpering sycophantic dilettantes like Coulter never understand that the only reason they exist is to feed the egos of those for whom they're done on their knees servicing (a la Spence Abraham, another laughable figure in Michigan politics). Little Annie Coulter better wake up and realize that this is 21st century America and get a good grasp of what we value. One good look in the mirror, or rather, getting a look at someone who's watching her in a mirror would give her a clue. It ain't the Hoover she refers to as a brain. A good set of headlights and blonde hair go a long way towards popularity these days my dear when the only thing you have to offer is recycled smears and recanting someone else's trite stereotypes. Reinforcing your audience's preconceived notions of some vague, unknown ruling class run by "liberals" is pandering the same old songs to the same old, tired choir. Retire the act, Ann, the rest of the world is waking up to the fact that you all now own and run the White House, the Congress, the judiciary and the media and you have royally fucked it up. You personally have already established yourself as an all-out media whore, and now we know your price, $25,000. Personally, you just don't look like you'd be worth that much or that damn good, I get a lot better class of it for free. One can only hope that her union-busting father's sins come home to roost with the family, and the long anticipated meeting between her and Jimmy Hoffa will soon be arranged.
31 March 2005
25 March 2005
Good Friday my ass!
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,396 mornings to go until we wake up a free Nation once more.
. . . . . . . $158.4 billion poured into Iraq so far
. . . . . . . $7.8 trillion in National Debt left as a legacy for our kids
. . . . . . . 1,525 American soldiers dead and Bin Laden is still a free man, with no effort being made for his capture. Instead, we’ve wasted those lives electing a Constitutional Assembly in Baghdad of Shiite mullahs who will install a mirror image of Iranian theocracy.
Today’s Quote –
. . . . . . . America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. --Abraham Lincoln
Today’s Rant –
. . . . . . . There are times when I am in absolute disbelief. We have lost the Republic and the spirit of Democracy has been thrown to the ground, spit on and dishonored by the idiocy that runs rampant in the Beltway. We have let, not just the Republican Party, but an extreme end of party, one of it’s minorities take control of the White House, Congress, the Federal judiciary, most state houses and Governorships, the media and God knows what else. We have become a nation where patriotism is tested by whether or not you criticize the President. We have become a Nation that lets a man embrace torture, ignore school shootings, sign bills into Law while the governor of Texas that allowed the plug to be pulled by a hospital on a 6 month old boy but we dare not criticize when he and his brother, another Governor, interfere with Governmental powers into the private case of one individual.
The backlash is coming. The blogosphere is filled with right-wing and Conservative bloggers who are sounding the warning bells and who have seen the truth of their own party. A party that has been hijacked by the Religious Right, and whose agenda, an agenda that is the complete antithesis of conservative, smaller Government GOP’s and their philosophy, is being pushed now. An agenda that demands Government intervention in every aspect and at every level of an individual’s life. The Republican mainstays are beginning to see that this is not Lincoln’s Republican party. The dissension is starting in Congress as more and more Republican Senators and Congresspeople break from their own party.
The Democrats are wimps however. They’ve hit the sidelines on the Terry Schiavo case. They’ve cast their votes with the other side of the aisle on the heinous bankruptcy bill. In many, many cases right now, they are completely absent physically, mentally, and most importantly, morally and ethically. It’s time for them to stand up and offer the olive branch to the Centrist and Moderate branches of the GOP, so a true coalition can be built. Even though Rove has been very effective in making the labels “progressive” and “Democrat” akin to “traitor” and “treasonous”, most Americans are at heart, progressive. They want smaller government, less instrusion. They want this country taken care of first and foremost, and a legacy left for their children, which means taking care of the environment, better education, a National Debt that is wiped out and permanent security, which means a peaceful, prosperous world that will not require automatic military service and an increasing military budget. It’s time to take down the O’Reillys, the Limbaughs, the Hannitys and start exposing the dark things found under the rocks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
. . . . . . . 1,396 mornings to go until we wake up a free Nation once more.
. . . . . . . $158.4 billion poured into Iraq so far
. . . . . . . $7.8 trillion in National Debt left as a legacy for our kids
. . . . . . . 1,525 American soldiers dead and Bin Laden is still a free man, with no effort being made for his capture. Instead, we’ve wasted those lives electing a Constitutional Assembly in Baghdad of Shiite mullahs who will install a mirror image of Iranian theocracy.
Today’s Quote –
. . . . . . . America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. --Abraham Lincoln
Today’s Rant –
. . . . . . . There are times when I am in absolute disbelief. We have lost the Republic and the spirit of Democracy has been thrown to the ground, spit on and dishonored by the idiocy that runs rampant in the Beltway. We have let, not just the Republican Party, but an extreme end of party, one of it’s minorities take control of the White House, Congress, the Federal judiciary, most state houses and Governorships, the media and God knows what else. We have become a nation where patriotism is tested by whether or not you criticize the President. We have become a Nation that lets a man embrace torture, ignore school shootings, sign bills into Law while the governor of Texas that allowed the plug to be pulled by a hospital on a 6 month old boy but we dare not criticize when he and his brother, another Governor, interfere with Governmental powers into the private case of one individual.
The backlash is coming. The blogosphere is filled with right-wing and Conservative bloggers who are sounding the warning bells and who have seen the truth of their own party. A party that has been hijacked by the Religious Right, and whose agenda, an agenda that is the complete antithesis of conservative, smaller Government GOP’s and their philosophy, is being pushed now. An agenda that demands Government intervention in every aspect and at every level of an individual’s life. The Republican mainstays are beginning to see that this is not Lincoln’s Republican party. The dissension is starting in Congress as more and more Republican Senators and Congresspeople break from their own party.
The Democrats are wimps however. They’ve hit the sidelines on the Terry Schiavo case. They’ve cast their votes with the other side of the aisle on the heinous bankruptcy bill. In many, many cases right now, they are completely absent physically, mentally, and most importantly, morally and ethically. It’s time for them to stand up and offer the olive branch to the Centrist and Moderate branches of the GOP, so a true coalition can be built. Even though Rove has been very effective in making the labels “progressive” and “Democrat” akin to “traitor” and “treasonous”, most Americans are at heart, progressive. They want smaller government, less instrusion. They want this country taken care of first and foremost, and a legacy left for their children, which means taking care of the environment, better education, a National Debt that is wiped out and permanent security, which means a peaceful, prosperous world that will not require automatic military service and an increasing military budget. It’s time to take down the O’Reillys, the Limbaughs, the Hannitys and start exposing the dark things found under the rocks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
24 March 2005
Survival of the Politically Fittest
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,397 days to go until someone the world can respect sits in the Oval Office
. . . . . . . $158.3 billion wasted so far in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.8 trillion in National Debt left for our children
. . . . . . . 1,525 American soldiers dead to build a Shiite theocracy in Baghdad, while Bin Laden still is alive and free
Today’s Quote –
. . . . . . . All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
Thomas Paine
The Rants –
. . . . . . . It’s disgustingly true, we’ve become a theocracy. Doesn’t anyone get it, anyone’s relationship with the God in their life is a private relationship, it’s not public, nor is it a measuring stick for fitness for political office. Jefferson and Paine have to be rolling in their graves right now. The absolute selfish shameless exploitation of Terry Schiavo by Tom DeLay, the Bush brothers and Bill Frist makes P.T. Barnum look humble
. . . . . . . The cracks in the armor are showing. The most unlikely coalition has formed, a union of the ACLU and the American Conservative Union, a very, very right-wing group all headed up by Bob Barr, the former Republican senator from Georgia. The aim, the make sure that the Patriot Act “sunsets” on it’s original timetable and is not revived. Finally, someone in that damn party of hard heads is getting it, the Patriot Act is another example of Orwell-speak, as there is absolutely nothing patriotic about it and it is one more step towards fascism. The Republican party has turned the English language on it’s head. For a party that labels itself Conservative, this particular group has become the party of intrusion and big government, a party that believes that no one is capable of any decision and that their government mission is to run our lives in every aspect. They’ve gone far beyond the New Deal Democrats and have become the party of Social Engineering. These ain’t Lincoln’s Republicans.
. . . . . . .More hypocrisy; Dubya flies home from the ranch to deeply involve himself in the Shiavo’s private lives, yet has absolutely zero comment about the worst school shooting tragedy since Columbine. A hypocrite and a coward, this is the man you elected.
. . . . . . . Yet more hypocrisy from the party of piety and religious sanctimony. Bill Frist, another of the ringleaders in this circus, regularly pulled the plug on his own patients, “euthanizing” them. From now on, it should be policy that Mr. Frist open every comment going onto the Congressional Record with “I’m not a doctor, but I play one in Congress”
. . . . . . . 1,397 days to go until someone the world can respect sits in the Oval Office
. . . . . . . $158.3 billion wasted so far in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.8 trillion in National Debt left for our children
. . . . . . . 1,525 American soldiers dead to build a Shiite theocracy in Baghdad, while Bin Laden still is alive and free
Today’s Quote –
. . . . . . . All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
Thomas Paine
The Rants –
. . . . . . . It’s disgustingly true, we’ve become a theocracy. Doesn’t anyone get it, anyone’s relationship with the God in their life is a private relationship, it’s not public, nor is it a measuring stick for fitness for political office. Jefferson and Paine have to be rolling in their graves right now. The absolute selfish shameless exploitation of Terry Schiavo by Tom DeLay, the Bush brothers and Bill Frist makes P.T. Barnum look humble
. . . . . . . The cracks in the armor are showing. The most unlikely coalition has formed, a union of the ACLU and the American Conservative Union, a very, very right-wing group all headed up by Bob Barr, the former Republican senator from Georgia. The aim, the make sure that the Patriot Act “sunsets” on it’s original timetable and is not revived. Finally, someone in that damn party of hard heads is getting it, the Patriot Act is another example of Orwell-speak, as there is absolutely nothing patriotic about it and it is one more step towards fascism. The Republican party has turned the English language on it’s head. For a party that labels itself Conservative, this particular group has become the party of intrusion and big government, a party that believes that no one is capable of any decision and that their government mission is to run our lives in every aspect. They’ve gone far beyond the New Deal Democrats and have become the party of Social Engineering. These ain’t Lincoln’s Republicans.
. . . . . . .More hypocrisy; Dubya flies home from the ranch to deeply involve himself in the Shiavo’s private lives, yet has absolutely zero comment about the worst school shooting tragedy since Columbine. A hypocrite and a coward, this is the man you elected.
. . . . . . . Yet more hypocrisy from the party of piety and religious sanctimony. Bill Frist, another of the ringleaders in this circus, regularly pulled the plug on his own patients, “euthanizing” them. From now on, it should be policy that Mr. Frist open every comment going onto the Congressional Record with “I’m not a doctor, but I play one in Congress”
23 March 2005
LIfe, Death and Everything in Between
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,398 days left
. . . . . . . $158 billion so far for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.8 trillion in National Debt built up
. . . . . . . 1,524 U.S. soldiers killed to elect a Muslim-based Shiite majority Constitutional Assembly of mullahs in Baghdad
Today’s Quote –
. . . . . . . Facism: "A political philosophy, movement or regime that exalts nation and race above the individual, and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition." -- Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1979
Enough untempered lunacy already! –
. . . . . . . I refuse to make a statement one way or the other about my personal feelings about the Terry Schiavo case. It’s tragic, that’s as far as I’ll go. I know what I would do in either her husband’s or her case. I’ve let my family know my feelings. This is strictly that, a matter for her husband and her parents, her family to decide. This is not a governmental or judiciary matter. George W. Bush and Tom Delay are absolute ghouls. To have the temerity to circulate a memo that crowed over the possibility to “excite the right-wing base” and use her sad situation as some sort of grandstand ploy is sickening. To push it in front of Federal judges and expect them to be “activist judges”, previous to this spending all the while pushing nominees and an agenda that excoriates an activist judiciary, is hypocrisy of the highest sort. The absolute two-faced lack of integrity on George W. Bush’s part is appalling. The man, when Governor of Texas, signed a bill into law that allows the hospital to end means of life support even when the family requests that it be left in place. Which, by the way, happened two weeks ago in Texas’s Children’s Hospital to a small 6-month old boy, whose parents requested that his life support remain in place a while longer before the tubes were pulled. The hospital used Bush's bill as grounds for terminating the life support. Meanwhile, the Republican party continues to be two-faced, screaming about activist judges who strike down the death penalty for minors, while asking them to intervene on behalf of one U.S. citizen, whom we have no way of knowing, of asking her whether or not she wants this attention. Meanwhile, a vast number of Americans will go to bed cold and hungry tonight, because it would be too “Democratic” or “progressive” for the White House or Congress to actually enact any legislation that would protect them.
. . . . . . . One more thing before signing off, which may give my position away. If you’re going to be a protestor, please don’t be a moron. The woman has been on a feeding tube for a decade! She is in a persistent vegetative state! I really, really don’t think that she will miraculously rise up from her bed and grab that bottle of water or drink from that glass you’re trying to take her.
. . . . . . . 1,398 days left
. . . . . . . $158 billion so far for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.8 trillion in National Debt built up
. . . . . . . 1,524 U.S. soldiers killed to elect a Muslim-based Shiite majority Constitutional Assembly of mullahs in Baghdad
Today’s Quote –
. . . . . . . Facism: "A political philosophy, movement or regime that exalts nation and race above the individual, and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition." -- Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1979
Enough untempered lunacy already! –
. . . . . . . I refuse to make a statement one way or the other about my personal feelings about the Terry Schiavo case. It’s tragic, that’s as far as I’ll go. I know what I would do in either her husband’s or her case. I’ve let my family know my feelings. This is strictly that, a matter for her husband and her parents, her family to decide. This is not a governmental or judiciary matter. George W. Bush and Tom Delay are absolute ghouls. To have the temerity to circulate a memo that crowed over the possibility to “excite the right-wing base” and use her sad situation as some sort of grandstand ploy is sickening. To push it in front of Federal judges and expect them to be “activist judges”, previous to this spending all the while pushing nominees and an agenda that excoriates an activist judiciary, is hypocrisy of the highest sort. The absolute two-faced lack of integrity on George W. Bush’s part is appalling. The man, when Governor of Texas, signed a bill into law that allows the hospital to end means of life support even when the family requests that it be left in place. Which, by the way, happened two weeks ago in Texas’s Children’s Hospital to a small 6-month old boy, whose parents requested that his life support remain in place a while longer before the tubes were pulled. The hospital used Bush's bill as grounds for terminating the life support. Meanwhile, the Republican party continues to be two-faced, screaming about activist judges who strike down the death penalty for minors, while asking them to intervene on behalf of one U.S. citizen, whom we have no way of knowing, of asking her whether or not she wants this attention. Meanwhile, a vast number of Americans will go to bed cold and hungry tonight, because it would be too “Democratic” or “progressive” for the White House or Congress to actually enact any legislation that would protect them.
. . . . . . . One more thing before signing off, which may give my position away. If you’re going to be a protestor, please don’t be a moron. The woman has been on a feeding tube for a decade! She is in a persistent vegetative state! I really, really don’t think that she will miraculously rise up from her bed and grab that bottle of water or drink from that glass you’re trying to take her.
20 March 2005
Winning the squirrel wars
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,401 days to go before we’re a free nation once again
. . . . . . . $157.3 billion so far for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . 1,176 American combat casualties so far in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.78 trillion in National Debt and rising
. . . . . . . $2.79 a gallon for unleaded in Needles, CA
Today’s quote –
. . . . . . . "It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." (Benjamin Franklin)
The Rant –
. . . . . . . I started on it briefly yesterday, and will expand today. The Republican White House and Congress have literally turned the definition of “conservatism” upon its head. The very definition of conservatism is the desire to conserve or not change the status quo. As defined in Webster’s conservatism is the “tendency to oppose change in institutions or methods”. Yet, this White House, this Congress continue to thrust themselves into our lives on an unprecedented basis. Baseball being called in front of Congressional investigative committees for questions about steroid abuse? Calling Terry Schiavo as a Federal Witness in a grandstand ploy to prevent the families from dueling with one another and working it out? Tom DeLay the Hammer, doing to witness calling, as an attempt to take the spotlight off his own lying, cheating, rotten ethical mess?
All of this week is nothing more than an attempt to pull some sleight of hand and get the American public’s focus off the incredible failures of the new Administration’s and Congress’ failures of the first 90 days. Since when did the Republican party, supposedly the party of rock-solid conservatism turn into the New Deal Democrats? There has not been such an incredible intrusion into private life since the 30’s. This is proof positive that Rove and Bush’s vision is to turn back the clock to the time period between the 1880’s and the 1930’s when industrial and real-estate robber barons ruled the land in the sharpest division of wealth and class up to that point in time known, and which we are rapidly headed back to. The end result will be the same, since economic and historical cycles are bound to repeat themselves.
I will not argue that Bush is a man of vision, he is. I don’t, nor do approximately ½ the American public, ascribe to that vision. He is the President however, and for now, has to power to carry that vision out. I would argue that the vision is not good for American, nor for it’s children and grandchildren.
The incredible inflating deficit is the result of an unbridled one-party system, and God help us for where it may wind up in 3 ½ more years.
The staggering loss of life in Iraq to elect a Constitutional Assembly of Shiite mullahs who will build a mirror image of Iran isn’t worth it.
Ignoring Pyongyang and it’s nuclear capabilities is a mistake. Ignoring China and Russia while they practice joint military exercise scenarios invading Taiwan is a mistake. That’s what happens when the bulk of that Federal debt is held by China, we are forced to stand idly by and say nothing, for fear of them calling in the debt and cashing the bonds out tomorrow morning.
Tearing apart Social Security at the expense of the largest bulge in the Baby Boomers is not wise. Social Security is not in financial trouble, this is a payback to his election financial backers, as was the incredible bankruptcy bill. What he fails to tell the American public is that the solution will be more costly than the present situation. The elderly who lose their savings will still be cared for with Welfare dollars and Medicaid dollars, so ultimately their will be a double-whammy.
We are not headed in the right direction. The longer we sit idly by while bin Laden still runs free and plans more direct hits, while the Federal deficit mounts to the point of bankruptcy, while oil depletion studies say that there are approximately twenty more years left and that’s it, while 35 million Americans live below the poverty line, 12 million of them children, the larger the chances become of finding no solution, of becoming Britain, once a world dominating power, now a character actor on the world stage.
. . . . . . . 1,401 days to go before we’re a free nation once again
. . . . . . . $157.3 billion so far for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . 1,176 American combat casualties so far in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.78 trillion in National Debt and rising
. . . . . . . $2.79 a gallon for unleaded in Needles, CA
Today’s quote –
. . . . . . . "It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." (Benjamin Franklin)
The Rant –
. . . . . . . I started on it briefly yesterday, and will expand today. The Republican White House and Congress have literally turned the definition of “conservatism” upon its head. The very definition of conservatism is the desire to conserve or not change the status quo. As defined in Webster’s conservatism is the “tendency to oppose change in institutions or methods”. Yet, this White House, this Congress continue to thrust themselves into our lives on an unprecedented basis. Baseball being called in front of Congressional investigative committees for questions about steroid abuse? Calling Terry Schiavo as a Federal Witness in a grandstand ploy to prevent the families from dueling with one another and working it out? Tom DeLay the Hammer, doing to witness calling, as an attempt to take the spotlight off his own lying, cheating, rotten ethical mess?
All of this week is nothing more than an attempt to pull some sleight of hand and get the American public’s focus off the incredible failures of the new Administration’s and Congress’ failures of the first 90 days. Since when did the Republican party, supposedly the party of rock-solid conservatism turn into the New Deal Democrats? There has not been such an incredible intrusion into private life since the 30’s. This is proof positive that Rove and Bush’s vision is to turn back the clock to the time period between the 1880’s and the 1930’s when industrial and real-estate robber barons ruled the land in the sharpest division of wealth and class up to that point in time known, and which we are rapidly headed back to. The end result will be the same, since economic and historical cycles are bound to repeat themselves.
I will not argue that Bush is a man of vision, he is. I don’t, nor do approximately ½ the American public, ascribe to that vision. He is the President however, and for now, has to power to carry that vision out. I would argue that the vision is not good for American, nor for it’s children and grandchildren.
The incredible inflating deficit is the result of an unbridled one-party system, and God help us for where it may wind up in 3 ½ more years.
The staggering loss of life in Iraq to elect a Constitutional Assembly of Shiite mullahs who will build a mirror image of Iran isn’t worth it.
Ignoring Pyongyang and it’s nuclear capabilities is a mistake. Ignoring China and Russia while they practice joint military exercise scenarios invading Taiwan is a mistake. That’s what happens when the bulk of that Federal debt is held by China, we are forced to stand idly by and say nothing, for fear of them calling in the debt and cashing the bonds out tomorrow morning.
Tearing apart Social Security at the expense of the largest bulge in the Baby Boomers is not wise. Social Security is not in financial trouble, this is a payback to his election financial backers, as was the incredible bankruptcy bill. What he fails to tell the American public is that the solution will be more costly than the present situation. The elderly who lose their savings will still be cared for with Welfare dollars and Medicaid dollars, so ultimately their will be a double-whammy.
We are not headed in the right direction. The longer we sit idly by while bin Laden still runs free and plans more direct hits, while the Federal deficit mounts to the point of bankruptcy, while oil depletion studies say that there are approximately twenty more years left and that’s it, while 35 million Americans live below the poverty line, 12 million of them children, the larger the chances become of finding no solution, of becoming Britain, once a world dominating power, now a character actor on the world stage.
19 March 2005
Backwards World –
. . . . . . . OK, we are now officially living in backwards world. Yesterday’s liberals have become today’s conservatives. Congress now feels no compunction about interfering into even the smallest details in order to weigh in their opinion. Baseball steroids and Terry Schiavo? As tragic as the Schiavo family drama is, it is not Congress’ business to interfere and determine whether or not a feeding tube should be taken out. The lame use of a Federal subpoena has to be one of the most ham-handed tactics seen yet, and it provides a wonderful excuse for Tom DeLay to try and defocus off his own escapades and chicanery. And what the hell business is it of Congress whether or not Mark McGwire juiced? It’s the baseball commissioner’s business but it sure as hell isn’t your local representatives or congresspersons.
. . . . . . . OK, we are now officially living in backwards world. Yesterday’s liberals have become today’s conservatives. Congress now feels no compunction about interfering into even the smallest details in order to weigh in their opinion. Baseball steroids and Terry Schiavo? As tragic as the Schiavo family drama is, it is not Congress’ business to interfere and determine whether or not a feeding tube should be taken out. The lame use of a Federal subpoena has to be one of the most ham-handed tactics seen yet, and it provides a wonderful excuse for Tom DeLay to try and defocus off his own escapades and chicanery. And what the hell business is it of Congress whether or not Mark McGwire juiced? It’s the baseball commissioner’s business but it sure as hell isn’t your local representatives or congresspersons.
13 March 2005
Sunday morning coming down (apologies to Kristofferson)
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,408 days left. Shit, time just seems to drag, doesn’t it?
. . . . . . .$155.7 billion so far for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . 1,516 American soldiers who will never see their family again due to one man’s vision.
Today’s quote –
. . . . . . . "Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds." Henry Adams
Flip-flopping? It can’t be –
. . . . . . . Don’t look now, but the man who spent an entire summer and fall campaigning by assassinating John Kerry for being a “flip-flopper” may be doing one of the biggest flip-flops so far himself. Seems that under the cover of his Social Security disaster, the truth coming about the Iraqi elections, that is electing a mirror image of Tehran, with Shitte mullahs, under the cover of the Jeff Gannon fiasco; Mr. Bush is toning down the rhetoric on Iran and actually committing an act of international foreign diplomacy. The Salon magazine article here details how George is actually moving forward with other European leaders and nations to enter into diplomatic negotiations with Iran in regards to their nuclear program. What got into George, did someone detach Condoleeza Rice’s tentacles from his brain?
Reality setting in? –
. . . . . . . Good AP article this morning on how Bush clout and “political capital” isn’t near what he thought it was. Seems that Social Security was a test case and he’s running into far more opposition than he thought existed. That, and he is facing the inevitable result of galvanizing his opposition and motivating them to act. See what happens when you steal two elections? It all comes home to roost when people get pissed off enough to act. So much for imperiousness.
. . . . . . . 1,408 days left. Shit, time just seems to drag, doesn’t it?
. . . . . . .$155.7 billion so far for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . 1,516 American soldiers who will never see their family again due to one man’s vision.
Today’s quote –
. . . . . . . "Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds." Henry Adams
Flip-flopping? It can’t be –
. . . . . . . Don’t look now, but the man who spent an entire summer and fall campaigning by assassinating John Kerry for being a “flip-flopper” may be doing one of the biggest flip-flops so far himself. Seems that under the cover of his Social Security disaster, the truth coming about the Iraqi elections, that is electing a mirror image of Tehran, with Shitte mullahs, under the cover of the Jeff Gannon fiasco; Mr. Bush is toning down the rhetoric on Iran and actually committing an act of international foreign diplomacy. The Salon magazine article here details how George is actually moving forward with other European leaders and nations to enter into diplomatic negotiations with Iran in regards to their nuclear program. What got into George, did someone detach Condoleeza Rice’s tentacles from his brain?
Reality setting in? –
. . . . . . . Good AP article this morning on how Bush clout and “political capital” isn’t near what he thought it was. Seems that Social Security was a test case and he’s running into far more opposition than he thought existed. That, and he is facing the inevitable result of galvanizing his opposition and motivating them to act. See what happens when you steal two elections? It all comes home to roost when people get pissed off enough to act. So much for imperiousness.
10 March 2005
Jesus, is it ever gonna stop snowing?
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,411 days left before we can let out a deep sigh
. . . . . . . $155.1 billion for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . $25,206.75, everyone’s personal share of the National Debt
. . . . . . . 1,513 American casualties to elect a National Assembly of Shi’ite mullahs.
Today’s Quote –
. . . . . . . “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." Winston Churchill
WWJD? (or more, importantly, what would he recognize as blatant hypocrisy?)
. . . . . . . I think some of the more important things being written right now are the pieces that expose the hypocrisy and total lack of integrity of the current administration, their backers and their agenda-setters. This one right here, written by Jim Wallis, as excerpted on the AlterNet site from his book God's Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It explores just that. It exposes the true wolf in sheep’s clothing that the dangerous political arm of the religious right has become and asks some very pointed questions that I have been asking for a long time. How can the political agenda of the GOP and the religious right be construed as moral, when so much of it is directly and openly contradictory of Jesus’ teachings? How can anyone call themselves a Christian and directly ignore the parables and testimony of Jesus and the records of his actions found in the New Testament. This is why American politics is both my passion and one of my greatest, personal confounding contradictions. How can otherwise intelligent human beings twist language so, lie so openly and spend their time calling the sky green and the ground blue? There is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is “moral” or “Christian” about the agenda espoused by the religious right. You can argue all you want, but please don’t bring Biblical quotes or Jesus’ sayings into it, else you will be forced to admit for yourself and look in the mirror at your own hypocrisy. Bear in mind before getting all heated up that Jim Wallis is an educated, recognized, evangelical Christian. (psst, unlike Dr. James Dobson!)
More fundamental rights –
. . . . . . . Last week, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. introduced H.R. 28, a resolution proposing the rectify a fundamental flaw in our democratic, deliberative process. Whether you know it or not, you do not have a protected, constitutional right to vote, that’s a state’s decision, made on a county by county basis. Please give this one a read, and call your Congressperson and tell them to support the bill, which would provide much-needed electoral reform and a level playing field. You, your children and your grandchildren deserve it.
. . . . . . . 1,411 days left before we can let out a deep sigh
. . . . . . . $155.1 billion for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . $25,206.75, everyone’s personal share of the National Debt
. . . . . . . 1,513 American casualties to elect a National Assembly of Shi’ite mullahs.
Today’s Quote –
. . . . . . . “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." Winston Churchill
WWJD? (or more, importantly, what would he recognize as blatant hypocrisy?)
. . . . . . . I think some of the more important things being written right now are the pieces that expose the hypocrisy and total lack of integrity of the current administration, their backers and their agenda-setters. This one right here, written by Jim Wallis, as excerpted on the AlterNet site from his book God's Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It explores just that. It exposes the true wolf in sheep’s clothing that the dangerous political arm of the religious right has become and asks some very pointed questions that I have been asking for a long time. How can the political agenda of the GOP and the religious right be construed as moral, when so much of it is directly and openly contradictory of Jesus’ teachings? How can anyone call themselves a Christian and directly ignore the parables and testimony of Jesus and the records of his actions found in the New Testament. This is why American politics is both my passion and one of my greatest, personal confounding contradictions. How can otherwise intelligent human beings twist language so, lie so openly and spend their time calling the sky green and the ground blue? There is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is “moral” or “Christian” about the agenda espoused by the religious right. You can argue all you want, but please don’t bring Biblical quotes or Jesus’ sayings into it, else you will be forced to admit for yourself and look in the mirror at your own hypocrisy. Bear in mind before getting all heated up that Jim Wallis is an educated, recognized, evangelical Christian. (psst, unlike Dr. James Dobson!)
More fundamental rights –
. . . . . . . Last week, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. introduced H.R. 28, a resolution proposing the rectify a fundamental flaw in our democratic, deliberative process. Whether you know it or not, you do not have a protected, constitutional right to vote, that’s a state’s decision, made on a county by county basis. Please give this one a read, and call your Congressperson and tell them to support the bill, which would provide much-needed electoral reform and a level playing field. You, your children and your grandchildren deserve it.
09 March 2005
Lives in the balance
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,412 days left to the next dawn
. . . . . . . $154.9 billion so far for the war in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.7 trillion in National Debt
. . . . . . . $1.9 trillion of it held by foreign investors, (notably China)
. . . . . . . 1,512 American soldiers killed to elect an assembly of mullahs controlled from Tehran, Iran.
Skim the numbers if you want, but, really, look at them, think about them. This is the legacy that we are leaving our children and the next 7 generations. If you can truly live with that in your heart and justify it, hoka hey, it’s not for me to judge.
Today’s quote -
. . . . . . . "When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong. The minority are right." Eugene V. Debs
Democracy usurped –
. . . . . . . Keep a weather eye out tomorrow for the boldest move yet by the White House to prove once again that what they call a “democracy” the rest of us and the world call “imperial rule”. Watch for Frist and Cheney to employ the so-called "nuclear" option on the Senate floor once nominations for all 20 of the judges already rejected once by the Senate and re-cycled again by Bush, Rove and Cheney back through begin to get rejected again. Frist will call on Cheney, who as Vice-President is the President of the Senate, to rule that filibustering is un-constitutional and bypass the Democratic votes in order to shove their choices through. Why are these judicial nominations so important, because they’re Federal Court of Appeals, that’s why and are appointed for life. These 20 of Bush’s biggest campaign contributors will do more to set civil rights, women’s rights, environmental laws, worker safety laws, labor laws and host of other actions designed to protect people, back to the early 19th century. Just more of the White House’s vision of the America of the early 1900’s, the era of laissez-faire capitalism, robber barons, rampant discrimination in every form, a tremendous gap between two distinct social and economic classes. This is the “America” that they’d like to take us back to. For me, Back to the Future was just a movie, I don’t want to live it!
Wal-Mart revealed (redux) –
. . . . . . . By now, if you don’t know about Wal-Mart’s predatory practices with their suppliers and their ability to drive businesses successfully into the ground while stealing their products and having it made in China for 10 cents while paying the labor a dollar a day, you must have been living under a rock. If you don’t know about their reputation as the largest smuggler of illegal aliens in the country, all being used as janitorial help in their stores, then you haven’t been listening to any news at all. Well, here’s one crack in the Red, White and Wal-mart façade, here, over at Alternet, another great piece, this one on the very clear and distinct pattern of discrimination that Wal-Mart practices on their African-American employees. Worth the read. And you thought that Bush’s campaign contributors were all decent folks, right? Riiight!! As well, please check this one out. It explores the very covert, but very real culture of hate that Wal-Mart engenders, sponsors and exploits to their own advantage.
Yup, they’re lying about Social Security alright –
. . . . . . . This one written today, actually late this afternoon, has to be embarrassing. Cutting to the chase, it recounts how the GAO, the independent office that audits every damn thing about the Federal Government and is bi-partisan, owes no one anything, (for once, they got something right, get a bunch of soulless accountants who hate everyone and everything and let them have at the books, eventually, the truth will come out!) says simply that there isn’t a Social Security crisis and it’s solvent. Plain and simple. So I say, once again, leave my money alone!
. . . . . . . 1,412 days left to the next dawn
. . . . . . . $154.9 billion so far for the war in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.7 trillion in National Debt
. . . . . . . $1.9 trillion of it held by foreign investors, (notably China)
. . . . . . . 1,512 American soldiers killed to elect an assembly of mullahs controlled from Tehran, Iran.
Skim the numbers if you want, but, really, look at them, think about them. This is the legacy that we are leaving our children and the next 7 generations. If you can truly live with that in your heart and justify it, hoka hey, it’s not for me to judge.
Today’s quote -
. . . . . . . "When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong. The minority are right." Eugene V. Debs
Democracy usurped –
. . . . . . . Keep a weather eye out tomorrow for the boldest move yet by the White House to prove once again that what they call a “democracy” the rest of us and the world call “imperial rule”. Watch for Frist and Cheney to employ the so-called "nuclear" option on the Senate floor once nominations for all 20 of the judges already rejected once by the Senate and re-cycled again by Bush, Rove and Cheney back through begin to get rejected again. Frist will call on Cheney, who as Vice-President is the President of the Senate, to rule that filibustering is un-constitutional and bypass the Democratic votes in order to shove their choices through. Why are these judicial nominations so important, because they’re Federal Court of Appeals, that’s why and are appointed for life. These 20 of Bush’s biggest campaign contributors will do more to set civil rights, women’s rights, environmental laws, worker safety laws, labor laws and host of other actions designed to protect people, back to the early 19th century. Just more of the White House’s vision of the America of the early 1900’s, the era of laissez-faire capitalism, robber barons, rampant discrimination in every form, a tremendous gap between two distinct social and economic classes. This is the “America” that they’d like to take us back to. For me, Back to the Future was just a movie, I don’t want to live it!
Wal-Mart revealed (redux) –
. . . . . . . By now, if you don’t know about Wal-Mart’s predatory practices with their suppliers and their ability to drive businesses successfully into the ground while stealing their products and having it made in China for 10 cents while paying the labor a dollar a day, you must have been living under a rock. If you don’t know about their reputation as the largest smuggler of illegal aliens in the country, all being used as janitorial help in their stores, then you haven’t been listening to any news at all. Well, here’s one crack in the Red, White and Wal-mart façade, here, over at Alternet, another great piece, this one on the very clear and distinct pattern of discrimination that Wal-Mart practices on their African-American employees. Worth the read. And you thought that Bush’s campaign contributors were all decent folks, right? Riiight!! As well, please check this one out. It explores the very covert, but very real culture of hate that Wal-Mart engenders, sponsors and exploits to their own advantage.
Yup, they’re lying about Social Security alright –
. . . . . . . This one written today, actually late this afternoon, has to be embarrassing. Cutting to the chase, it recounts how the GAO, the independent office that audits every damn thing about the Federal Government and is bi-partisan, owes no one anything, (for once, they got something right, get a bunch of soulless accountants who hate everyone and everything and let them have at the books, eventually, the truth will come out!) says simply that there isn’t a Social Security crisis and it’s solvent. Plain and simple. So I say, once again, leave my money alone!
08 March 2005
By the Numbers –
. . . . . . . 1,413 days to go before we can let a deep breath out
. . . . . . . $154.7 billion so far for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.7 trillion in National Debt
. . . . . . . 1,510 American casualties in Iraq
Read the numbers again, ask yourself “Is it worth it?”
Today’s quote –
. . . . . . . A good government is one "which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread that it has earned. - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) (inaugural address)
Hanging in the balance –
. . . . . . . Despite all the rhetoric otherwise, nothing is really settled. Dubya and Rove strive mightily to bring their own party into line, asking for fealty on their line on Social Security and how well things are going in Iraq. Dean is trying to get his hands around the Democrats and forge a single agenda and plan. Nothing is clear-cut, nothing is settled. Right now, it all hangs in the balance. It seems as if the world is waiting now, trying to get some clear picture of where we are headed. The Neocon movement sweats it out, as they can sense the tide turning against them. Maybe one screaming editorial too many. The Dems are trying to get ahead of the tide and make themselves part of it. Didya ever stop to think that maybe both sides have got it wrong, that what everyone predicted is starting to come true. The middle has come alive, energized by what, who knows? The blogosphere? The chance to have a voice? The feeling that something important is coming and we don’t want anyone else in charge of our destiny anymore? It’s wake-up time! Folks are starting to realize that the Social Security Great Train Robbery is just that, a travesty. That wasting 1500 lives in Iraq to guarantee a free and fair election for a mirror-image of the Tehran mullahs just wasn’t worth it. That we have accomplished absolutely nothing towards bringing Bin Laden to justice, and it seems as if this administration has no real intention of doing so. People are beginning to realize that $55 a barrel oil will kill us. That our real work needs to be here at home, not abroad.
Noteworthy –
. . . . . . . Nicely written piece right here that explores why we absolutely cannot win against the Iraqi resistance under the current paradigms, i.e. their and our command-and-control structures.
. . . . . . . Beautiful article that does an exploration here of the fundamental differences, mostly based in language, between the Right and the Left, and how we have got to come to understand one another’s language, usage, syntax and grammar, if there’s to be any meaningful dialog at all.
. . . . . . . Bill Moyer’s writes one here that explores one of my favorite subjects, that of the poisonous influence of the Religious Right on our political process and their death grip on American politics and White House. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Christian, but I’m not anti-Christian. I agree with Moyers, I truly believe that these misguided fools are actively working to bring about the “Rapture” just so they can be proven right, even if it means our own extinction.
. . . . . . . And finally, a great one right here on one of the more esoteric subjects that I absolutely adore, physics and cosmology and the search for fundamental theories that have explanation for the why and the how of being. Come on, stretch your brain! It’s fun and you’re smarter than you think!
. . . . . . . 1,413 days to go before we can let a deep breath out
. . . . . . . $154.7 billion so far for the War in Iraq
. . . . . . . $7.7 trillion in National Debt
. . . . . . . 1,510 American casualties in Iraq
Read the numbers again, ask yourself “Is it worth it?”
Today’s quote –
. . . . . . . A good government is one "which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread that it has earned. - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) (inaugural address)
Hanging in the balance –
. . . . . . . Despite all the rhetoric otherwise, nothing is really settled. Dubya and Rove strive mightily to bring their own party into line, asking for fealty on their line on Social Security and how well things are going in Iraq. Dean is trying to get his hands around the Democrats and forge a single agenda and plan. Nothing is clear-cut, nothing is settled. Right now, it all hangs in the balance. It seems as if the world is waiting now, trying to get some clear picture of where we are headed. The Neocon movement sweats it out, as they can sense the tide turning against them. Maybe one screaming editorial too many. The Dems are trying to get ahead of the tide and make themselves part of it. Didya ever stop to think that maybe both sides have got it wrong, that what everyone predicted is starting to come true. The middle has come alive, energized by what, who knows? The blogosphere? The chance to have a voice? The feeling that something important is coming and we don’t want anyone else in charge of our destiny anymore? It’s wake-up time! Folks are starting to realize that the Social Security Great Train Robbery is just that, a travesty. That wasting 1500 lives in Iraq to guarantee a free and fair election for a mirror-image of the Tehran mullahs just wasn’t worth it. That we have accomplished absolutely nothing towards bringing Bin Laden to justice, and it seems as if this administration has no real intention of doing so. People are beginning to realize that $55 a barrel oil will kill us. That our real work needs to be here at home, not abroad.
Noteworthy –
. . . . . . . Nicely written piece right here that explores why we absolutely cannot win against the Iraqi resistance under the current paradigms, i.e. their and our command-and-control structures.
. . . . . . . Beautiful article that does an exploration here of the fundamental differences, mostly based in language, between the Right and the Left, and how we have got to come to understand one another’s language, usage, syntax and grammar, if there’s to be any meaningful dialog at all.
. . . . . . . Bill Moyer’s writes one here that explores one of my favorite subjects, that of the poisonous influence of the Religious Right on our political process and their death grip on American politics and White House. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Christian, but I’m not anti-Christian. I agree with Moyers, I truly believe that these misguided fools are actively working to bring about the “Rapture” just so they can be proven right, even if it means our own extinction.
. . . . . . . And finally, a great one right here on one of the more esoteric subjects that I absolutely adore, physics and cosmology and the search for fundamental theories that have explanation for the why and the how of being. Come on, stretch your brain! It’s fun and you’re smarter than you think!
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