Nevermind the Christmas vs. Holidays vs. Chanukah vs. Kwanzaa debate. The second day of Fitmas is coming! Decorate your Fitmas tree with all your indictment wishes.
For those of you who are really annoyed by the whole made up "War on Christmas", why not send an email to the concerned women for america (mail@cwfa.org). It was one of their spokesMen who recently compared people that say Happy Holidays to nazis.
Here's the text from my email (short and to the point):
Happy Holidays!
How's you're War on Chanukah going?
peace on earth
goodwill towards men (and women)
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
An outline for an UnHoly war
Balled up in the Fetal position, I watched as the campaigner in chief made his first in a series of "stay the course" and "progress in Iraq" speeches and read the bush pamphlet "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" or as I like to call it "An outline on nation building". There were a couple of new twists. The word "insurgents" has morphed, like so many rationales for war, into "the enemy" (rummy ran blocker on this one) and made up words like "rejectionists" and "saddamists". The no responsibility president almost admitted mistakes with statements like "we've faced some setbacks" and that "we learned from our early experiences." But most striking to me was the display of emotion when quoting a victim of his War in Iraq. The president held back the tears when quoting a letter left "on the laptop" of Corporal Jeff Star, getting choked up on the words "I'm here helping these people so they can live the way we live".
"I'm here helping these people so they can live the way we live."
Does that sound imperial to anybody else? Coupled with the old "you're either with us or you're against us" it sounds a little like the "god warrior" from trading spouses. Now, the bigger war of "ideologies" (AKA War on Terrorism) may have started with the attack on the US on September 11th, though it is argued that it started long before with previous attacks by "terrorists" or by US foriegn policies. Regardless of its beginning, the president of the United States seems to truly believe in its extension. He believes that the world would be better off if "they" lived like "we" do, or at least how we live ideally. Not how they are currently living along the US Gulf Coast or how the have nots and homeless live. But how we live to speak our mind freely without fear of retribution, unless of course you disagree with the president's policies (then it's watch your wife's covert status). It's, you know, Our freedom to choose Coke or Pepsi, Walmart or Target, Halliburton or Bechtel, protestant or evangelical.
It's hard to continue to argue about how bad an idea the hurried invasion/preemptive strike on Iraq was. An invasion "based on intelligence" that others believed, but no one was going to war over. Iraq was not a "urgent" threat to the United States. Before the sanctions on Iraq even started, back in Gulf War I, all they could try and hit us with were misguided scuds. Remember the surrendering Iraqi armyists? After getting beat back to Baghdad and over ten years of crippling sanctions, this was the greatest threat posed against us?
The argument that "we are fighting them there, so we don't have to fight them here" seems short sighted. What happens when it's over, assuming it ever will be? Where are the "terrorists" that attack our soldiers in Iraq today going to go when, and if, we leave? I understand that we will have men and women serving in Our multi-billion dollar bases there for a long time to come. But if Iraq does somehow, miraculously, stabilize, where will the "foreign fighters" turn. And then there are the "terrorist" attacks that have taken place in Europe and elsewhere while we were fighting "them in Iraq so we don't have to fight them at home".
This War in Iraq was not about saddam or the wounds left open from Gulf War I. WMDs were only a decent, at the time, enough excuse. Faux-patriotism and fear were used to ram a war through a, for the most part, gutless, rubber stamp congress and a confused and apathetic public who was bombarded with propaganda when it should have bombarded with discussion and debate. Last week the vice president came out of his undisclosed location to give a speech to American service men and women as part of the campaigner in chief's latest offensive. He said, among other things, that "The terrorists want to end American and Western influence in the Middle East." American influence in the Middle East. Now that sounds like the reason we are in Iraq. And why is that influence so essential. Oil! That's what this has always been about. We are building a nation and its military, for access to its oil and the contracts to drill and refine it.
This president, his administration, and Our toothless, rubberstamp congress have gotten us into this war (it is still a war and not "the peace"). We will not "cut and run", though I would be very surprised if troop levels don't come down significantly by the 2006 elections. As for leaving a "stable democracy" as a "model for the region", with the influence of "republics" like Iran on the Shi'ites, the continuous moves toward independence by the Kurds, and the assisinations and uprisings of the Sunnis, that's a little far fetched even to me.
We stopped when we did, and it was a unanimous recommendation on the part of the President's advisors, civilian and military, we stopped when we did because we had achieved our objectives. We had said from the outset that our purpose was to liberate Kuwait and destroy Saddam Hussein's capacity to threaten his neighbors, his offensive military capability, we did that. We destroyed about two-thirds of his army in that portion that he sent in to Kuwait and Iraq, and stripped him of most of his weapons of mass destruction.
Once we rounded up Saddam, then the question is what do you do? You're going to put a government in his place. Presumably, you're not just going to turn your back and walk away. You have to put some kind of a government in its place. And then the question comes is it going to be a Shi'a government or a Kurdish government, or maybe a Sunni government, or maybe it ought to be based on the old Baathist Party regime, or some combination thereof. How long is that government to be able to stay in power without US military support to keep it there? How long can we maintain the coalition?
How long could we have maintained that coalition of Arab states if we had been involved in the long-range occupation by the US in Iraq? I would guess if we had gone on to Baghdad I would still have forces in Iraq today. I don't know how we would have let go of that tar baby once we had grabbed hold of it.
How many additional American lives is Saddam Hussein worth? And the answer I would give is not very damn many.
-excerpts of then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney's 1992 speech to the Discovery Institute in Seattle
"I'm here helping these people so they can live the way we live."
Does that sound imperial to anybody else? Coupled with the old "you're either with us or you're against us" it sounds a little like the "god warrior" from trading spouses. Now, the bigger war of "ideologies" (AKA War on Terrorism) may have started with the attack on the US on September 11th, though it is argued that it started long before with previous attacks by "terrorists" or by US foriegn policies. Regardless of its beginning, the president of the United States seems to truly believe in its extension. He believes that the world would be better off if "they" lived like "we" do, or at least how we live ideally. Not how they are currently living along the US Gulf Coast or how the have nots and homeless live. But how we live to speak our mind freely without fear of retribution, unless of course you disagree with the president's policies (then it's watch your wife's covert status). It's, you know, Our freedom to choose Coke or Pepsi, Walmart or Target, Halliburton or Bechtel, protestant or evangelical.
It's hard to continue to argue about how bad an idea the hurried invasion/preemptive strike on Iraq was. An invasion "based on intelligence" that others believed, but no one was going to war over. Iraq was not a "urgent" threat to the United States. Before the sanctions on Iraq even started, back in Gulf War I, all they could try and hit us with were misguided scuds. Remember the surrendering Iraqi armyists? After getting beat back to Baghdad and over ten years of crippling sanctions, this was the greatest threat posed against us?
The argument that "we are fighting them there, so we don't have to fight them here" seems short sighted. What happens when it's over, assuming it ever will be? Where are the "terrorists" that attack our soldiers in Iraq today going to go when, and if, we leave? I understand that we will have men and women serving in Our multi-billion dollar bases there for a long time to come. But if Iraq does somehow, miraculously, stabilize, where will the "foreign fighters" turn. And then there are the "terrorist" attacks that have taken place in Europe and elsewhere while we were fighting "them in Iraq so we don't have to fight them at home".
This War in Iraq was not about saddam or the wounds left open from Gulf War I. WMDs were only a decent, at the time, enough excuse. Faux-patriotism and fear were used to ram a war through a, for the most part, gutless, rubber stamp congress and a confused and apathetic public who was bombarded with propaganda when it should have bombarded with discussion and debate. Last week the vice president came out of his undisclosed location to give a speech to American service men and women as part of the campaigner in chief's latest offensive. He said, among other things, that "The terrorists want to end American and Western influence in the Middle East." American influence in the Middle East. Now that sounds like the reason we are in Iraq. And why is that influence so essential. Oil! That's what this has always been about. We are building a nation and its military, for access to its oil and the contracts to drill and refine it.
This president, his administration, and Our toothless, rubberstamp congress have gotten us into this war (it is still a war and not "the peace"). We will not "cut and run", though I would be very surprised if troop levels don't come down significantly by the 2006 elections. As for leaving a "stable democracy" as a "model for the region", with the influence of "republics" like Iran on the Shi'ites, the continuous moves toward independence by the Kurds, and the assisinations and uprisings of the Sunnis, that's a little far fetched even to me.
We stopped when we did, and it was a unanimous recommendation on the part of the President's advisors, civilian and military, we stopped when we did because we had achieved our objectives. We had said from the outset that our purpose was to liberate Kuwait and destroy Saddam Hussein's capacity to threaten his neighbors, his offensive military capability, we did that. We destroyed about two-thirds of his army in that portion that he sent in to Kuwait and Iraq, and stripped him of most of his weapons of mass destruction.
Once we rounded up Saddam, then the question is what do you do? You're going to put a government in his place. Presumably, you're not just going to turn your back and walk away. You have to put some kind of a government in its place. And then the question comes is it going to be a Shi'a government or a Kurdish government, or maybe a Sunni government, or maybe it ought to be based on the old Baathist Party regime, or some combination thereof. How long is that government to be able to stay in power without US military support to keep it there? How long can we maintain the coalition?
How long could we have maintained that coalition of Arab states if we had been involved in the long-range occupation by the US in Iraq? I would guess if we had gone on to Baghdad I would still have forces in Iraq today. I don't know how we would have let go of that tar baby once we had grabbed hold of it.
How many additional American lives is Saddam Hussein worth? And the answer I would give is not very damn many.
-excerpts of then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney's 1992 speech to the Discovery Institute in Seattle
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Is ironic the right word?
Is ironic the right word for the US Supreme Court building falling apart right above where it says "Equal Justice Under Law"?
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Dear Mr. President,
"Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision. And they end up alienating decent people across the globe."
That's an interesting choice of words Mr. President. You should applaud whoever wrote them for you to read. Amazingly enough I agree with this pontification. The difference is it makes me think of you. In the partisan attack/justification for your war speech, that you chose Veterans Day to give, you claimed that Congress "had access to the same intelligence" as the president of the United States of America. That's false. Hell, let's call it a lie. Congress does not have access to the President's Daily Brief, not to mention the 92-page NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) that was given to Congress just days before they were to vote did not include all of the doubts within the intelligence committee. The resolution, that everyone seems to equate with a declaration of war, has been spun just like the "mission" we must "stay the course" to "accomplish".
"Whereas Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations by, among other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations;"
"Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;" text from the Joint Resolution (the Bold was me)
That is what they voted on. These claims have yet to be substantiated, and pulling out the UN inspectors, headed by Hans Blix, after only one month in Iraq certainly insured that those claims would not be refuted before we invaded. You rushed us into a war of your choosing. There was no "unique", "urgent" or "gathering" threat to Our National Security, our freedom, or Our way of life coming from Iraq like you told us there was. We did not "know where they [the WMDs}" were like secretary rumsfeld told us. When the vice president said "there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us." in his push for war, he either didn't have all the facts or was spinning/cherry picking what "intelligence" he did have. Like used car salesmen, you sold this Nation your war not on the "liberation of Iraq" or the "removal of saddam". It was on the "threat of unique urgency" that Iraq posed, which it turns out it didn't. It is not your critics that are rewriting history. It is you.
The hardest thing about all of this is the fact that Our soldiers are in harm's way for your grand vision of what the Middle East should be. You have created a new training ground for terrorists greater than Afghanistan ever was. You have given the terrorists more rationalizations for their hate. Your war is sending our country further into debt, which was recently illustrated by your red senators joining Democrats in dropping your tax cuts for the rich. You say you "protect the United States" while at the same time your Federal Emergency Management Agency is telling the poor people, who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina, that they will be evicted after December 1 with no where to go.
I am not alone in wanting a "exit strategy" that is "well defined" for our troops in Iraq. Democratic hawks and doves, as well as red senators are all clamoring for a plan that you should have had before we invaded.
And now with your national security advisor and/or vice president quite possibly involved in the Valerie Plame case, your administration seems even more corrupt and dishonest. Your presidency will be remembered as a failure, disastrous to Our country's reputation and standing in the world and our Government's reputation and standing here at home. I leave you with these words from red Senator Chuck Hagel:
"America must approach the world with a sense of purpose in world affairs that is anchored by our ideals, a principled realism that seeks not to re-make the world in our image, but to help make a better world."
"The Bush Administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them. Suggesting that to challenge or criticize policy is undermining and hurting our troops is not democracy nor what this country has stood for, for over 200 years. The Democrats have an obligation to challenge in a serious and responsible manner, offering solutions and alternatives to the Administration’s policies."
Friday, November 11, 2005
The wheels on the wagon are not what they use to be.
What the hell's going on here?!?!? The campaigner in chief is "killing" campaigns? The US is using white phosphorous incendiaries (a weaponized chemical) on Iraqis? The man accused of giving classified intel to Iran, not to mention helping to mislead our "leaders" into misleading Us into war, ahmed chalabi, is the administration's friend again? Howlin' wolfowitz's World Bank is saying that their redevelopment efforts in Iraq are being blocked by the violence he failed to consider in his rush to war? Senate reds are grilling oil executives? Argentinians are protesting the little prince and his policies? Paris is on fire? Scandal ridden lobbyist abramhoff asked the president of a West African nation for $9,000,000.00 to meet with the scandal ridden president of the United States? And bucky bush is throwing around a baseball in Panama? Wow! It's been quite the ten days.
Election day saw Democrat, Senator John Corzine, win the governorship in New Jersey, despite the sandalous resignation of the last (D) in the State House. This was a particularly negative, non-issue campaign. I did like Corzine's bush/forrester ads, and it looks like they were effective. In Virginia's gubenatorial race, the Democrat won, despite a last minute bush visit to his challenger. Some say the bush visit actually hurt the red's chances. In Maine, an anti-discrimination law protecting homosexuals was passed. Ahnuld's four ballot initiatives got voted down in California. And my personal favorite came from Dover, Pennsylvania, where members of the Board of Education, who argued on behalf of "intelligent design", were voted out. The reds did have a victory or two, as well, but a "ban on gay marriage" in Texas.... I thought that was understood.
We all know that, with a few exceptions, the Democrats are toothless. What we're beginning to see now is the deCONstruction of the reds by the reds. The in fighting is evident. Senator mccain is arguing with vice president DICK cheney about America's use of torture, or as the legislation phrases it "cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment" of prisoners. The administration wants to exempt the CIA from such restrictions on abuse. Nine red senators voted against mccain's amendment, the other 42 joined with the Democrats in support of it. And if the US using incendiaries (though not banned by name) in Iraq, someone needs to to police the police of the world?
One of the biggest surprises for me this past week was the grilling of oil executives by Senators, both Democratic and red, for their record profits from charging record prices. Going against big oil is a direct affront to this oil soaked administration. An administration whose energy policy is to lessen environmental regulations, increase subsidies, and give tax breaks to energy companies who have seen profit increases over the past three years far greater than they have ever seen before. At least the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge has been temporarily taken off the drilling block by the House of Representatives, even before postponing the vote on the budget cutting bill that would have befouled it.
This wagon is starting to lose it's wheels and the Libby trial hasn't even started yet. You remember Libby, he is the author of the beastiality laden, incestual novel "The Apprentice". Oh yeah and he lied before a Grand Jury investigating leaked information classified for Our National Security.
"What a Country"
-Yakov Smirnoff
Election day saw Democrat, Senator John Corzine, win the governorship in New Jersey, despite the sandalous resignation of the last (D) in the State House. This was a particularly negative, non-issue campaign. I did like Corzine's bush/forrester ads, and it looks like they were effective. In Virginia's gubenatorial race, the Democrat won, despite a last minute bush visit to his challenger. Some say the bush visit actually hurt the red's chances. In Maine, an anti-discrimination law protecting homosexuals was passed. Ahnuld's four ballot initiatives got voted down in California. And my personal favorite came from Dover, Pennsylvania, where members of the Board of Education, who argued on behalf of "intelligent design", were voted out. The reds did have a victory or two, as well, but a "ban on gay marriage" in Texas.... I thought that was understood.
We all know that, with a few exceptions, the Democrats are toothless. What we're beginning to see now is the deCONstruction of the reds by the reds. The in fighting is evident. Senator mccain is arguing with vice president DICK cheney about America's use of torture, or as the legislation phrases it "cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment" of prisoners. The administration wants to exempt the CIA from such restrictions on abuse. Nine red senators voted against mccain's amendment, the other 42 joined with the Democrats in support of it. And if the US using incendiaries (though not banned by name) in Iraq, someone needs to to police the police of the world?
One of the biggest surprises for me this past week was the grilling of oil executives by Senators, both Democratic and red, for their record profits from charging record prices. Going against big oil is a direct affront to this oil soaked administration. An administration whose energy policy is to lessen environmental regulations, increase subsidies, and give tax breaks to energy companies who have seen profit increases over the past three years far greater than they have ever seen before. At least the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge has been temporarily taken off the drilling block by the House of Representatives, even before postponing the vote on the budget cutting bill that would have befouled it.
This wagon is starting to lose it's wheels and the Libby trial hasn't even started yet. You remember Libby, he is the author of the beastiality laden, incestual novel "The Apprentice". Oh yeah and he lied before a Grand Jury investigating leaked information classified for Our National Security.
"What a Country"
-Yakov Smirnoff
Monday, October 31, 2005
Happy Halloween!!!!
Well, a weekend has past since Fitzmas began with the indictment of the vice president's chief of staff, scooter libby. Scooter was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements. It is almost amusing, though more often infuriating, to watch red congress people talking about perjury like it was a "technicality" or red pundits, like bill safire, talking about the fact that no one was found guilty of breaking the law that was being investigated, the outing of a CIA operative. Perjury is a crime, some may have once said a "high crime". Obstruction of justice is a crime. Making false statements to a grand jury, especially one investigatinging a breach in NATIONAL SECURITY, is a crime. And Mr. Safire, where the hell were you when President William Jefferson Clinton was being asked if he had sexual relations with an intern during an investigation of a real estate deal from back when he was a governor that he and his family lost money on. Give me a Fucking break people!
The other thing I would like to say to people like red rep. hutchinson and red talking head, safire, is FITZMAS ISN'T OVER. This trial may actually see the vice president of the united states take the stand UNDER OATH, something I don't think he or junior have done, for anything, in the past five years.
Nominating justice sc-alito to the Supreme Court may change the conversation in certain spheres, but headlines from a trial pertaining to the lead up to bush's war of choice, into which we have pour hundreds of billions of dollars and the lives of over 2000 men and women, may just sell a few more newspapers than...
Surprise, suprise!! Little george has nominated an activist, red, judicial insider, member of the Federalist Society to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, put the Ten Commandments on the White House lawn, and to make sure that the president, or vice president, never have to provide any documentation for anything.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Victory.
Yes it can be claimed, though mildly, on at least three fronts. The first, and most publicized, comes with the withdrawal of, unqualified crony, Harriet Miers from nomination to Our United States Supreme Court. As you’re cheering the end game of this bush blunder, keep in mind that his next nomination may have impeccable credentials and be so right that bush will seem centrist.
If that bombshell doesn’t do enough damage to the campaigner in chief's "political capital" for you, how about rummy's nuCLEar bunker buster program getting the boot. The "administration" and the Senate have dropped the program after a vigorous debate in the Senate. Sorry don. No Nukes!
Finally, and the sweetest to my populist side, is "stay the course" bush's recent "flip flop" on Davis-Bacon regulations in Louisiana. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, bush suspended the regulations that required those contracted by the government to pay their labor the prevailing wage, which is usually close to the level set by local union contracts. Looks like junior's oil and construction buddies will have to pay legal workers a legal wage. Who knows, if they hire locals first this may really help some of those in need down there get back to their feet.
And let's face it, the oil companies that got "hit" by Katrina have been doing alright. They have set records with their spiking profits since the storm, while we pay spiking prices at the pump. And before you start telling me that the prices have been going down, don't you think that might have something to do with heating season coming?
"Fitzmas" is coming
The Trolley's off the Track
Please put your indictments in the White House's lap
And watch for the list of 4,500+ companies involved in the Iraqi oil for food scandal. What will the Wall Street journal Op-Ed page say if Halliburton or its subsidiaries are on it?
If that bombshell doesn’t do enough damage to the campaigner in chief's "political capital" for you, how about rummy's nuCLEar bunker buster program getting the boot. The "administration" and the Senate have dropped the program after a vigorous debate in the Senate. Sorry don. No Nukes!
Finally, and the sweetest to my populist side, is "stay the course" bush's recent "flip flop" on Davis-Bacon regulations in Louisiana. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, bush suspended the regulations that required those contracted by the government to pay their labor the prevailing wage, which is usually close to the level set by local union contracts. Looks like junior's oil and construction buddies will have to pay legal workers a legal wage. Who knows, if they hire locals first this may really help some of those in need down there get back to their feet.
And let's face it, the oil companies that got "hit" by Katrina have been doing alright. They have set records with their spiking profits since the storm, while we pay spiking prices at the pump. And before you start telling me that the prices have been going down, don't you think that might have something to do with heating season coming?
"Fitzmas" is coming
The Trolley's off the Track
Please put your indictments in the White House's lap
And watch for the list of 4,500+ companies involved in the Iraqi oil for food scandal. What will the Wall Street journal Op-Ed page say if Halliburton or its subsidiaries are on it?
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Could it really be.....FITZMAS EVE?!?!?!
By most reports coming out today, this part (that's right, this may not be the end) of the investigation is coming to the point so many of us have been waiting for...
The indictment of karl turd blossom rove and vice president DICK cheney's right hand man, scooter libby, among others.
For the confused, Arianna Huffington has a cheat sheet up on the lies of our "leaders" as they pertain to this case, with links to back it up.
The cheney connection, made in the past few days, has given rise to further speculation that this prosecutorial "pitbull", Fitzgerald, is not stopping at the outing of a covert CIA agent, done purely for "the politics of personal destruction". He may be delving into the forged Niger documents themselves. Where they came from, who they came from, and who knew about them. What if the "folks" who wanted this war and needed some solid evidence of WMDs helped to put the forgeries in Italian hands. Maybe we should investigate the forgeries that Dan Rather used in his infamous report for similarities.
First things first, let's get these "evil doers" for perjury, obstruction of justice, and for divulging the identity of a CIA agent in this "post 9/11" national security focused world. Then we can go after them for the White House Iraq Group, the torture of prisoners, Gannon/Guckert, the paying of journalists, the price of Medicare, the Energy Task Force, Florida's 2000 presidential election, Ohio's in 2004, and the list goes on. So many scandals, so little time.
What do you want for Fitzmas?
The indictment of karl turd blossom rove and vice president DICK cheney's right hand man, scooter libby, among others.
For the confused, Arianna Huffington has a cheat sheet up on the lies of our "leaders" as they pertain to this case, with links to back it up.
The cheney connection, made in the past few days, has given rise to further speculation that this prosecutorial "pitbull", Fitzgerald, is not stopping at the outing of a covert CIA agent, done purely for "the politics of personal destruction". He may be delving into the forged Niger documents themselves. Where they came from, who they came from, and who knew about them. What if the "folks" who wanted this war and needed some solid evidence of WMDs helped to put the forgeries in Italian hands. Maybe we should investigate the forgeries that Dan Rather used in his infamous report for similarities.
First things first, let's get these "evil doers" for perjury, obstruction of justice, and for divulging the identity of a CIA agent in this "post 9/11" national security focused world. Then we can go after them for the White House Iraq Group, the torture of prisoners, Gannon/Guckert, the paying of journalists, the price of Medicare, the Energy Task Force, Florida's 2000 presidential election, Ohio's in 2004, and the list goes on. So many scandals, so little time.
What do you want for Fitzmas?
Friday, October 14, 2005
Withdraw the Harriet Miers nomination.
As we wait for "Fitzmas" to come with gifts of indictments for those who've exposed, lied, and conspired, the rumor mill churns out of control. Rumors of cheney, rove and the unrelated rummy leaving Our White House certainly are fun to think about, but perhaps they are a little premature. Prosecutor/"pit bull" Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation has been amazingly tight lipped, which helps speculators run wild with ideas of the fall of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), the expulsion of "the brain", and dare I say it, little bush being forced to say something along the lines of "I do not recall", "it depends on what the definition of is is." or better yet "I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow."
You can get an idea of what this administration would look like without "Turd Blossom" (the president's term not mine) from the blunder known as the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. A nomination that should be withdrawn. But don't take my word for it. Check out david brooks's (red) column on miers's published, cliche-ridden, article in the Texas Bar Journal. Or how about bork's (red) words of anger towards the nomination. David frum (red) is out raising money for ads against miers. Wacko name callers like coulter (red) and krauthammer (red) are voicing their disbelief at the nomination of a woman, who answered a question on her recent Senate questionnaire concerning her experience with the law with an anecdote about rushing to a man's death bed to make sure his will was in order. The Senate's questionnaire was actually returned to Ms. miers as "insufficient", "inadequate" and in the words of one senator "insulting".
It is not that she has never been a judge. Justice Rehnquist wasn't a judge, but he was considered by many a brilliant legal thinker and an able scholar. His opinions were concisely argued. His bachelor's and three master's degrees from Standford and Harvard clearly show that he was on a path acceptable for the Supreme Court. I say all of this while biting my tongue about my opinion of most of his.
It is not because she is an evangelical christian. Anyone can observe any religion they choose or none at all. There's is a problem, however, with a person's religion being a qualifier for being a Supreme Court justice or any other governmental position for that matter. It establishes one religion as preferred by the United States of America. Some may say that's down right unconstitutional. Not to mention the back door conference calls with conservative groups ensuring them that she will not change back to the way she was before she saw the light.
The Supreme Court of the United States of America is the highest court in the land. It is the pinnacle of achievement for those in the legal profession. It is the crown jewel of one of Our three branches of Government, though it has become far too political in recent history. It is a place where the best legal and constitutional scholars and experts should sit in judgement on the important cases deserving of its chambers.
Nominating a personal friend and lawyer, based at least partially on her religion, is an insult to all those who study, research and opine on subjects facing Our Constitution and Our Nation. Being the president of the Texas Bar does not demonstrate a lawyer's legal expertise, knowledge, or philosophy as much as it does his/her political ambition. There is a litmus test for this nomination. It is one part she's my friend and one part she'll overturn Roe v. Wade.
This nomintaion is another disgrace perpetrated by this administration, and perhaps bush's lack of "brain" is to blame.
"He [the President] would be both ashamed and afraid to bring forward, for the most distinguished or lucrative stations, candidates who had no other merit than that of coming from the same State to which he particularly belonged, or of being in some way or other personally allied to him, or of possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the obsequious instruments of his pleasure."
From Federalist #76: Alexander Hamilton in the New York Packet April 1, 1788
(other excerpts of the Federalist papers concerning the nominating and appointing of Supreme Court Justices)
You can get an idea of what this administration would look like without "Turd Blossom" (the president's term not mine) from the blunder known as the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. A nomination that should be withdrawn. But don't take my word for it. Check out david brooks's (red) column on miers's published, cliche-ridden, article in the Texas Bar Journal. Or how about bork's (red) words of anger towards the nomination. David frum (red) is out raising money for ads against miers. Wacko name callers like coulter (red) and krauthammer (red) are voicing their disbelief at the nomination of a woman, who answered a question on her recent Senate questionnaire concerning her experience with the law with an anecdote about rushing to a man's death bed to make sure his will was in order. The Senate's questionnaire was actually returned to Ms. miers as "insufficient", "inadequate" and in the words of one senator "insulting".
It is not that she has never been a judge. Justice Rehnquist wasn't a judge, but he was considered by many a brilliant legal thinker and an able scholar. His opinions were concisely argued. His bachelor's and three master's degrees from Standford and Harvard clearly show that he was on a path acceptable for the Supreme Court. I say all of this while biting my tongue about my opinion of most of his.
It is not because she is an evangelical christian. Anyone can observe any religion they choose or none at all. There's is a problem, however, with a person's religion being a qualifier for being a Supreme Court justice or any other governmental position for that matter. It establishes one religion as preferred by the United States of America. Some may say that's down right unconstitutional. Not to mention the back door conference calls with conservative groups ensuring them that she will not change back to the way she was before she saw the light.
The Supreme Court of the United States of America is the highest court in the land. It is the pinnacle of achievement for those in the legal profession. It is the crown jewel of one of Our three branches of Government, though it has become far too political in recent history. It is a place where the best legal and constitutional scholars and experts should sit in judgement on the important cases deserving of its chambers.
Nominating a personal friend and lawyer, based at least partially on her religion, is an insult to all those who study, research and opine on subjects facing Our Constitution and Our Nation. Being the president of the Texas Bar does not demonstrate a lawyer's legal expertise, knowledge, or philosophy as much as it does his/her political ambition. There is a litmus test for this nomination. It is one part she's my friend and one part she'll overturn Roe v. Wade.
This nomintaion is another disgrace perpetrated by this administration, and perhaps bush's lack of "brain" is to blame.
"He [the President] would be both ashamed and afraid to bring forward, for the most distinguished or lucrative stations, candidates who had no other merit than that of coming from the same State to which he particularly belonged, or of being in some way or other personally allied to him, or of possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the obsequious instruments of his pleasure."
From Federalist #76: Alexander Hamilton in the New York Packet April 1, 1788
(other excerpts of the Federalist papers concerning the nominating and appointing of Supreme Court Justices)
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Politics and Terror
Nobody could be that fiendish. Bush's re-address on the "war on terror" and the evils of the terrorists happens and then a few hours later there's the specific threat on New York City Subways causing the heightened alert. The alert is later found to be quite possibly "made up". And there must be a reason for New York officials to hold on to this information, for several days, before releasing it on the day of the Harlem Mayoral debate that mayor bloomberg refused to be a part of. To speak fear is abhorrent enough, but to cause it for political gain, spin, or distraction? What Red Blooded, Patriotic, American, in their "right" mind, could possibly do such a thing?
On a recent Countdown, Keith Olbermann listed 10 times the terror alert level was raised at a time when the bush administration was in need of a distraction from the news or support for a speech. Coincidences? You decide. You're probably going to have to, I can't see anyone having the cojones to investigate the sick idea of fear mongering for real.
The full list of thirteen is up at Bloggermann.
On a recent Countdown, Keith Olbermann listed 10 times the terror alert level was raised at a time when the bush administration was in need of a distraction from the news or support for a speech. Coincidences? You decide. You're probably going to have to, I can't see anyone having the cojones to investigate the sick idea of fear mongering for real.
The full list of thirteen is up at Bloggermann.
Friday, October 07, 2005
The EPA's blind eye
As the federal government and mayor of New Orleans urge gulf coast residents to return to their homes, some are reminded of the air quality issues that were ignored shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Has the "toxic soup" left behind by Hurricane Katrina been adequately dealt with? Is the drinking water in the soon to be re-populated areas clean enough? Or will this just be the subject of yet another after the fact commission in the future?
Thursday, October 06, 2005
This is My America.
A rant inspired by Lewis Lapham’s satirical Notebook piece in the Oct. 2005 edition of Harper’s in which he asks “in a major rather than minor key” “Can we make America the best damned fascist state the world has ever seen?”
The U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader, already reprimanded three times by his peers on the House Ethics Committee, has been indicted not once but twice. The U.S. Senate Majority Leader is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading. The administration's top federal procurement official has been arrested by the FBI for making false statements about golf trips paid for by a lobbyist who seems to be everybody’s friend. The Deputy Secretary of State (the top political advisor to the president), the Vice President’s Chief of Staff, and quite possibly the Vice President, himself, have been implicated in the treasonous and careless act of publicly identifying a CIA agent in an attempt to discredit a former ambassador’s opposing view to one of the administration’s “weapons of mass destruction” claims. The "weapons of mass destruction" claims given as reasons for Our invasion of Iraq remain unfounded. The inexperienced crony appointed to head the "post 9-11" Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned without accepting any blame for a Federal response to a hurricane and levy breach that took five days to commence (for more appropriate disaster preparation and response see the work of former FEMA director James Lee Witt or, more recently, the days leading up to Hurricane Rita). Instead the president sheepishly said “I am responsible” as if words are enough. The nepotism continues with the president’s latest nominee to the Supreme Court, the apex of the United States Judicial system. The nominee’s experience, for the most part, comes from her job as personal counsel and cover to her appointer since his days as governor. This is My America. The America left to me and my generation.
This is an America where the number of millionaires and billionaires continues to rise at a rate almost equal to the rise in the number of poor. In this America, allegiance is pledged not to Country, but to brand name. This is an America where the bottom line is the only line, where defense spending is never questioned, and where the executive branch rules the legislative branch. Gone are the days of “The buck stops here” unless you are on the bottom of the governmental or military ladder. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” has morphed into the only thing we have is fear. Fear is how elections are won, liberties are lost and dissent is squashed. Our culture of spin and deception has made dissent anti-American, torture justifiable, and tens of thousands of Americans left, on their homeland, without food, water, sewerage, and electricity for five days “their own fault”.
In the terms recently given to us by the U.S. Congress General Accounting Office, the “covert propaganda” being perpetrated by our government and its hired journalists warrants punishment, but there is barely a reaction. Simply more fodder for the disgusting and disheartening joke that’s referred to as public discourse in this America. Fake reporters propped up by the administration to ask “talking points” questions that turn out to be of the few that receive the closest to answers. This is the America I have inherited. For the rich, screw the poor! Mass produced, overly processed, poisoned food sold cheap to continue to feed the machine.
And of course there is the war of aggression, the war of choice, the War in Iraq. Iraq, where the liberated are starting to ask the question: When will we be better off then we were? Iraq, built on the success of Afghanistan, where elections have been fixed and opium production is at an all time high. Iraq, where we have turned the corner three times so far and are do to do so again on October 15. But who will fight and die for this new constitution? In America, there are those who fight that our Constitution stand as the framers framed it as they fight to add to it intolerant discriminatory amendments in order to define religious terms and give government the power of sanctification currently bestowed upon churches and temples. People fight for more unwanted pregnancies (unborn children) while they fight the welfare system that provides for many of the born. A tax cut and spend America that thinks putting corporate profit before clean air and water makes sense and the idea that bombing will not stopping bombings is the talk of “wackos”.
What would the founding fathers think of This America? A nation with eyes glazed over by celebrity, ambition revolving around money with little or no concern for the greatness, or even goodness, ones deeds. What would they think of a “misunderestimated” president misspeaking at podiums from which a nation was once inspired? What would the creators of America think of towns with character sanitized by the Everytown Starbucks society and jobs long since left for the cheaper unregulated labor of foreign countries?
The vacuum of real leaders can go unfilled only as long as the frustration can hold. President Bush, I would love to just “Get on with my life”. I would love to, as the Dalai Lama says, “Internally disarm”. I just don’t feel right about letting this all go with out yelling from the top of my virtual mole hill.
The U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader, already reprimanded three times by his peers on the House Ethics Committee, has been indicted not once but twice. The U.S. Senate Majority Leader is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading. The administration's top federal procurement official has been arrested by the FBI for making false statements about golf trips paid for by a lobbyist who seems to be everybody’s friend. The Deputy Secretary of State (the top political advisor to the president), the Vice President’s Chief of Staff, and quite possibly the Vice President, himself, have been implicated in the treasonous and careless act of publicly identifying a CIA agent in an attempt to discredit a former ambassador’s opposing view to one of the administration’s “weapons of mass destruction” claims. The "weapons of mass destruction" claims given as reasons for Our invasion of Iraq remain unfounded. The inexperienced crony appointed to head the "post 9-11" Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned without accepting any blame for a Federal response to a hurricane and levy breach that took five days to commence (for more appropriate disaster preparation and response see the work of former FEMA director James Lee Witt or, more recently, the days leading up to Hurricane Rita). Instead the president sheepishly said “I am responsible” as if words are enough. The nepotism continues with the president’s latest nominee to the Supreme Court, the apex of the United States Judicial system. The nominee’s experience, for the most part, comes from her job as personal counsel and cover to her appointer since his days as governor. This is My America. The America left to me and my generation.
This is an America where the number of millionaires and billionaires continues to rise at a rate almost equal to the rise in the number of poor. In this America, allegiance is pledged not to Country, but to brand name. This is an America where the bottom line is the only line, where defense spending is never questioned, and where the executive branch rules the legislative branch. Gone are the days of “The buck stops here” unless you are on the bottom of the governmental or military ladder. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” has morphed into the only thing we have is fear. Fear is how elections are won, liberties are lost and dissent is squashed. Our culture of spin and deception has made dissent anti-American, torture justifiable, and tens of thousands of Americans left, on their homeland, without food, water, sewerage, and electricity for five days “their own fault”.
In the terms recently given to us by the U.S. Congress General Accounting Office, the “covert propaganda” being perpetrated by our government and its hired journalists warrants punishment, but there is barely a reaction. Simply more fodder for the disgusting and disheartening joke that’s referred to as public discourse in this America. Fake reporters propped up by the administration to ask “talking points” questions that turn out to be of the few that receive the closest to answers. This is the America I have inherited. For the rich, screw the poor! Mass produced, overly processed, poisoned food sold cheap to continue to feed the machine.
And of course there is the war of aggression, the war of choice, the War in Iraq. Iraq, where the liberated are starting to ask the question: When will we be better off then we were? Iraq, built on the success of Afghanistan, where elections have been fixed and opium production is at an all time high. Iraq, where we have turned the corner three times so far and are do to do so again on October 15. But who will fight and die for this new constitution? In America, there are those who fight that our Constitution stand as the framers framed it as they fight to add to it intolerant discriminatory amendments in order to define religious terms and give government the power of sanctification currently bestowed upon churches and temples. People fight for more unwanted pregnancies (unborn children) while they fight the welfare system that provides for many of the born. A tax cut and spend America that thinks putting corporate profit before clean air and water makes sense and the idea that bombing will not stopping bombings is the talk of “wackos”.
What would the founding fathers think of This America? A nation with eyes glazed over by celebrity, ambition revolving around money with little or no concern for the greatness, or even goodness, ones deeds. What would they think of a “misunderestimated” president misspeaking at podiums from which a nation was once inspired? What would the creators of America think of towns with character sanitized by the Everytown Starbucks society and jobs long since left for the cheaper unregulated labor of foreign countries?
The vacuum of real leaders can go unfilled only as long as the frustration can hold. President Bush, I would love to just “Get on with my life”. I would love to, as the Dalai Lama says, “Internally disarm”. I just don’t feel right about letting this all go with out yelling from the top of my virtual mole hill.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Tell Me What Democracy Looks Like..
This is What Democracy Looks Like!
If you support the protests in DC, but didn't go, there is a petition at International ANSWER you can sign to show it.
Be sure to check out George Galloway's speech from Saturday's rally.
If you support the protests in DC, but didn't go, there is a petition at International ANSWER you can sign to show it.
Be sure to check out George Galloway's speech from Saturday's rally.
7 and 7 (a rationalization)
7 reasons to go to the protests in DC this weekend.
1. Bush is ruining Our country's economy, destroying the environment, nullifying Our credibility and standing in the world, has willfully mislead a Nation to War, appoints cronies, with absolutely no experience, to jobs that have Our Safety in their descriptions, hires journalists to sell his programs, allows fake reporters into his pressroom to float softballs, and on and on and on.
2. Bush's war of choice in Iraq has cost Us $170,000,000,000.00+ and we still have not found the weapons of mass destruction or any other urgent or unique threat posed by saddam hussein that "justified" this "preemptive strike".
3. To visibly (and audibly) show the support, solidarity, and passion of those of us against this administration and its policies.
4. The 1907 American troops and 26054 Iraqi civilians that are dead.
5. To know that you are not alone in being angry and obsessed with Our Federal government and its policies.
6. To hear what Cindy Sheehan, Ian McKaye, Steve Earle, Wayne Kramer, Jello Biafra and a slew of others have to say .
7. To yell, scream, pump your fist and flash the peace sign at a White House that is incompetent, secretive, disconnected, uncaring, unethical, and immoral.
7 reasons not to go to the protests in DC this weekend.
1. Multiple signs, slogans, and rally chanting points have made recent protests seem like an unfocused mob of radicals.
2. Hurricane Rita re-breaching the levees of New Orleans make me think now might not be the best time. Even Michael Moore is focusing his energy on helping the people of Louisiana right now, instead of attending in DC. I know he has his cameras with him, but he is providing more than his fair share of aid.
3. Hurricane Rita will take all the media's attention this weekend, especially the 30 seconds worth of coverage they had planned for the protests.
4. They didn't work before the war, at the start of the war, or before the last election.
5. Both sides continuing to scream at eachother may actually be, in the words of John Stewart, "hurting America".
6. There may be more effective ways to use my energy for the betterment of my country and against these asses of evil.
7. Giving yourself a break, and sleeping in on Saturday.
Update: 8. Going to see the Dalai Lama speak at Rutgers University early Sunday morning.
1. Bush is ruining Our country's economy, destroying the environment, nullifying Our credibility and standing in the world, has willfully mislead a Nation to War, appoints cronies, with absolutely no experience, to jobs that have Our Safety in their descriptions, hires journalists to sell his programs, allows fake reporters into his pressroom to float softballs, and on and on and on.
2. Bush's war of choice in Iraq has cost Us $170,000,000,000.00+ and we still have not found the weapons of mass destruction or any other urgent or unique threat posed by saddam hussein that "justified" this "preemptive strike".
3. To visibly (and audibly) show the support, solidarity, and passion of those of us against this administration and its policies.
4. The 1907 American troops and 26054 Iraqi civilians that are dead.
5. To know that you are not alone in being angry and obsessed with Our Federal government and its policies.
6. To hear what Cindy Sheehan, Ian McKaye, Steve Earle, Wayne Kramer, Jello Biafra and a slew of others have to say .
7. To yell, scream, pump your fist and flash the peace sign at a White House that is incompetent, secretive, disconnected, uncaring, unethical, and immoral.
7 reasons not to go to the protests in DC this weekend.
1. Multiple signs, slogans, and rally chanting points have made recent protests seem like an unfocused mob of radicals.
2. Hurricane Rita re-breaching the levees of New Orleans make me think now might not be the best time. Even Michael Moore is focusing his energy on helping the people of Louisiana right now, instead of attending in DC. I know he has his cameras with him, but he is providing more than his fair share of aid.
3. Hurricane Rita will take all the media's attention this weekend, especially the 30 seconds worth of coverage they had planned for the protests.
4. They didn't work before the war, at the start of the war, or before the last election.
5. Both sides continuing to scream at eachother may actually be, in the words of John Stewart, "hurting America".
6. There may be more effective ways to use my energy for the betterment of my country and against these asses of evil.
7. Giving yourself a break, and sleeping in on Saturday.
Update: 8. Going to see the Dalai Lama speak at Rutgers University early Sunday morning.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
I was wrong.
Up until now, it has been very hard for me to restrain the rage that I have felt since tv cameras started to show the stranded, dying, and desperate in New Orleans. In private, that anger has been matched by guilt. I feel guilty for not mourning the death and devastation that Hurricane Katrina has caused. For the million plus people who were evacuated and have been rescued the nightmare of the past week and a half is over, but they have awakened to a life without their family, their home, their possessions or their job (those who held one). People from throughout the Country have come forward with help. For some that aid has been monetary. Others have sent food, clothing, diapers, toys, and other necessities. Cities are “adopting” cities and towns. People are opening up their homes to perfect strangers.
This is a National crisis of unprecedented proportion, and should be treated as such, by those in Our government and those of us who like to talk about Our government.
As they continue to rescue and recover Americans, the immediate focus should be on the quest to find “new lives” for the refugees of this storm. There may be towns in the US that have lost a lot of their workforce due to factory closings or other residential flight. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to set up housing where jobs exist, and get these people started as soon as possible. The feeling of abandonment must weigh heavy on those who waited for days for help, without any communication with or from the outside world. Taking these people to a place where they may have a “real” future may begin to reinstall a faith that Our government cares for Our people and does everything in its power to protect and support them. Once New Orleans is drained and decontaminated, perhaps refugees can be offered jobs in its reconstruction. Maybe this could happen in Mississippi even sooner, because there is no standing liquid there. This, too, is well off in the distance. Though, planning it certainly is not.
My only defense, and it really is not much of one, is the fear that things will be forgotten and/or covered up. There is a fear that web sites will be scrubbed of pages concerning the five days following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall and the three days before it. Such activity has occurred before. The scale and the cost of the failures that took place in response to this storm are far too large to be forgotten. An independent investigation will put together a timeline much more complete than anything we have seen as of yet. That investigation should be conducted sooner rather than later, but now is not the time.
I know this email/blog will attract negative responses, as the last one did. I am not writing it in an attempt to kowtow to any opinion, except that now is not the time. It is hard for me to contain my bile when I see Americans suffer, as these Americans did, on their/Our own land. Sympathy and support is what they need right now, not the angry focus on what went wrong or who should be held accountable. Those who are responsible for the safety of the American public failed. But first, we must figure out how to help those citizens who have survived, identify and count those that have not, and resurrect New Orleans, Biloxi, and the rest of the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi.
I apologize if my early politicizing detracted from what the people of this region of Our Country have endured and continue to endure. My anger would not have been as uncontrollable had things in the immediate wake of Hurricane Katrina gone differently.
This is a National crisis of unprecedented proportion, and should be treated as such, by those in Our government and those of us who like to talk about Our government.
As they continue to rescue and recover Americans, the immediate focus should be on the quest to find “new lives” for the refugees of this storm. There may be towns in the US that have lost a lot of their workforce due to factory closings or other residential flight. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to set up housing where jobs exist, and get these people started as soon as possible. The feeling of abandonment must weigh heavy on those who waited for days for help, without any communication with or from the outside world. Taking these people to a place where they may have a “real” future may begin to reinstall a faith that Our government cares for Our people and does everything in its power to protect and support them. Once New Orleans is drained and decontaminated, perhaps refugees can be offered jobs in its reconstruction. Maybe this could happen in Mississippi even sooner, because there is no standing liquid there. This, too, is well off in the distance. Though, planning it certainly is not.
My only defense, and it really is not much of one, is the fear that things will be forgotten and/or covered up. There is a fear that web sites will be scrubbed of pages concerning the five days following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall and the three days before it. Such activity has occurred before. The scale and the cost of the failures that took place in response to this storm are far too large to be forgotten. An independent investigation will put together a timeline much more complete than anything we have seen as of yet. That investigation should be conducted sooner rather than later, but now is not the time.
I know this email/blog will attract negative responses, as the last one did. I am not writing it in an attempt to kowtow to any opinion, except that now is not the time. It is hard for me to contain my bile when I see Americans suffer, as these Americans did, on their/Our own land. Sympathy and support is what they need right now, not the angry focus on what went wrong or who should be held accountable. Those who are responsible for the safety of the American public failed. But first, we must figure out how to help those citizens who have survived, identify and count those that have not, and resurrect New Orleans, Biloxi, and the rest of the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi.
I apologize if my early politicizing detracted from what the people of this region of Our Country have endured and continue to endure. My anger would not have been as uncontrollable had things in the immediate wake of Hurricane Katrina gone differently.
Why were they waiting?
The aircraft carrier, USS Bataan, went under used in the Gulf from day one. They stood there, awaiting orders, as we watched Americans plead for help. Whose orders were they waiting for? Why did they wait so long to give them?
The USS Bataan can make up to 100,000 gallons of its own water a day.
The USS Bataan can make up to 100,000 gallons of its own water a day.
For all of you talking point line toters out there.
There is a Katrina timeline (with plenty of back up) available at Think Progress. It shows that not only did Gov. Katheen Blanco declare a State of Emergency on the Friday before Katrina hit, but it was declared a FEDERAL emergency the Saturday before landfall. That gave rise to this White House statement, released on August 27, 2005 “Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.” Not to mention the fact that the Gulf Coast States requested troop assistance from the Pentagon back on Friday August 26, 2005. Lack of leadership at the Federal level is what is most at fault in the response to Hurricane Katrina. The buck stops at the president. Pictures of him with acoustic guitars and birthday cakes show you where his head was.
Absolutely Disgusting!
How low can this man's politics possibly go? Firefighters are told to assemble in Atlanta. They do. They wait... and wait for orders to proceed to assist those who are crying out for help. But after handing out FEMA flyers what's their first assignment. "Stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas". Absolutely disgusting!
Friday, September 02, 2005
Finally!
Finally help arrives. This after a desperate heartfelt plea from New Orleans Mayor and a pathetic photo op with the president. I only hope 7,000 Guardsman will be enough.
Update: There will be 30,000 National Guard Troops sent to the Gulf Region.
Update: There will be 30,000 National Guard Troops sent to the Gulf Region.
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