the little prince changes court

With locusts still swarming in Egypt, the little prince changes his court. Well, sort of.

The "resignations" of the "moderate" and on occasion "opposing" cabinet members continue to be delivered. Their nominees for replacement have been the promotions of yes men and women from deep inside "his" counsel. In a moment that some have said resembled reagan's appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor, condoleeza "i had an chevron oil tanker named after me" rice has become the first African American woman Secretary of State nominee, but that's not all. "He" had another lady to pat on the back and smooch after her statement, the not overly qualified, newly nominated Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. With alberto "the Geneva Convention doesn't apply to terrorists" gonzales as Attorney General, and stephen "I’ll take the bullet (sort of) for the nuCLEAR falsehood in the state of the union" hadley rounding out the echo chamber thus far, it looks like the administration is gearing up to really run rough shot, a la Faluja, over the country and Our government, pushing their agenda hard.

It's hard to watch a mortally wounded soldier being shot point blank in the head in a mosque on the other side of the world (even if it is the "enemy"). This action, though illegal, is not surprising in war. The backdrop of rumble that the liberated (whether former insurgents or not) will return to call home will not bring the flowers and sweets our 1228+ soldiers and $146,000,000,000.00+ were to purchase. What rationale is there to justify this renewed intensified fighting that is leveling the country it is liberating? How will the Iraqis feel towards the country that has destroyed their home? We can't even convince Our own former GI's that Iraq is a cause more worth fighting for than their fight to stay out of the fray all together? But why should we expect a solid strain of logic at this point? Hell, the party in control just changed the rules to allow their leaders to remain regardless of felony indictments. The "moral majority" changing the ethics rules governing their leaders for the lower is about as surprising as "conservatives" raising the national debt ceiling by another $800,000,000,000.00. Let's face it this White House takes the high road in speeches but their actions lie in dark, secret places (some of which may filled with donating "pioneers" turned presidential appointees).

This Thanksgiving don't let the turkeys get you down. Who knows, maybe we'll have an exciting player/fan brawl during the Dallas game or if that's not your bag, maybe you can pick up a bag of Afghan heroin. I hear they have plenty.

Thanks.
dave

an eye trained

As the dust continues to settle and the dander starts to once again rise, "liberal conspiracy theories" from outside the mainstream media (with the exception of Keith Oberman) continue to surface with increasing frequency concerning the voting discrepencies in North Carolina, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, among others. Now, whether or not you believe that these discrepancies are great enough to have swayed the outcome of the election, the fact remains that there are major problems with the election process here in the "greatest democracy in the world". Not only do we have an electoral college where the votes of less populated states weigh more than the that of the heavily populated, our polling places are overcrowded, and our voting apparatus is an incongruous mix of machines, most of which have no means of assuring the accuracy of their count. These problems need to be addressed. Election reform is essential to a nation based on the principle "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it". The greatest legal means of acting on this Right being our vote.

The time may have come to let one eye off the election and refocus on the "news". With a renewed sense of urgency the administration has gone head strong into a place from which the likes of Hungary and Doctor's without Borders are pulling out. That place, Iraq. In what could be the biggest offensive since the "mission" was "accomplished", our troops, some 10,000 strong, have gone back into Falluja, the world's new Guernica. As "he" stands and speaks of mandates and "capital", men, women, and children die. His mandate hasn't stopped Putin from signing "the Kyoto treaty 'he' decided to neglect". It didn't stop jobless claims from jumping by 20,000, and it didn't stop the conviction of 5 executives in the trial of "his" buddy kenny boy's company. All may not be lost. There is the ruling that Guantanamo Bay "war-crime trials" are unconstitutional and must halt immediately. There are some small victories, but with "finishing the job in Iraq", drilling in ANWR and the anti-gay marriage ammendment on the top of "his" priority list again there's gonna be a tall mountain to climb.

So scream in the streets of Seattle and march around the tank in L.A., smile big and purty when you flip ashcroft the bird, all the while keeping an eye trained on his replacement.

"Sir, attorney general, with all due respect, your personal belief is not a law." -- Sen. Dick Durbin

dave

A snowball in hell

The American people have voted for george w. bush for a second term as president of the United States of America. And i can find little solace from the feelings of disgust, anger, and despair that this result has left me with. I find myself gasping for faith in this Country and its people.

Yesterday marked the second bursting of an internet bubble. This time the virtual lead among new registrations turned into the real defeat in getting them out to vote (The youth vote remained unchanged since 2000). Accountability for the past three years was trumped by the rhetoric of fear. And all those that voted for bush are responsible. Every policy this administration makes is the responsibility of every person that voted for its second term. Every policy that puts our troops in harm's way without "knowing" if a threat to the nation even exists, every policy that adversely affects the environment, that keeps wages and overtime down, that rewards big business (whether it be for outsourcing or for just being rich). It is they that voted for bush who are responsible. Rove and Co. have succeeded in making gay marriage more important than jobs, health care, and the image of the Country in the world. Congratulations America. I hope someday you actually think about what you've done. I hope someday you will see that presidential elections are more than the Texas Reds against the Massachusetts Blues. Who am i kidding? People don't think.

But what about those that found themselves on john kerry's side? What do we do? Do we move to Canada? Do the North East and West Coast secede from the Union? Do we just give up on caring and taking part in a society that doesn't seem to care what the major economic centers in the Country think? I, for one, am not giving up (though dropping out of corporate society as much as possible sounds good). This blog will still be here. I'll still be watching, yelling, and emailing those that let me. There will be no grace period this time. No feeling that dissent is somehow unpatriotic here. I refuse to let them take my Country away from me. It is my sincere hope that i am not alone in this.

It is a very disheartening day today within a movement that seemed to snow ball ever since Howard Dean and Michael Moore showed us that we could stand up against a vacationing "war president". But it seems that snowball didn't stand a chance in hell.

dave

Well... This is it.

The 2004 General Election for the Presidency of these United States of America.

I hate to say it, but former first lady babara bush said it best when she told Ohio she planned to "have a nervous breakdown." I'm right there with ya Babs. If you've read any of these rants you obviously know where i stand on things concerning the current resident of Our White House. Now all that's left to do (for now) is VOTE and ask other people if they have VOTEd.

I was reading the Declaration of Independence at the ridiculously named, but kinda cool "Democracy Plaza". "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Election Day is about as close to equal as we get at this point in Our Country's relatively young life. Every VOTE Counts! Whether it is a VOTE for Senator John F. Kerry or a VOTE for mickey mouse. We VOTE to let them know we're listening, or at least we're engaged enough to go touch the screen. The only way to get politics to work for "We, the People" is to let the politicians know that "We, the People" are there, and We can do that by casting our VOTE on November 2nd. It wouldn't hurt to ask people if they voted. Maybe throw in a little "yeah, i'll walk over there with you" just to make sure they do.

Cross your fingers, light a candle, say a novena, give a toast, whatever you gotta do.

This is a big one.

peace.
dave

coming soon "My Interview with Chris Matthews"