The torture never stops.

With the moral and ethical standing of the United States at an all time low, this administration and its rubber stamp republican Congress has made it perfectly legitimate for Our soldiers to be tortured by their captors, according to what the president decides that to mean on any given day, they can be detained indefinitely after their arrest, I mean abduction since there doesn't have to be any charges, and if/when they do go to the "military tribunal", hearsay evidence from people who would probably say anything for fear of drowning, electricution, or being eaten by dogs will be admissable (as long as it was prior to Dec. 2005 or as I call them, with bile in my throat, the abu ghraib days). And of course the bill, passed by this pathetic Congress (Friggin' Menendez was a yeah), retroactively allows all the felonies committed and okayed by this administration, the CIA, and others against the War Crimes Act. A very slippery slope indeed. At least they are not allowed to rape and kill prisoners anymore, right?

Not that I'm surprised. I mean the War, being covered on page 15 (if at all), is costing us $2,000,000,000.00 a week. Iraq, where new laws (some verbatim from saddam's) ban any journalist to write out against the government, is, according to a National Intelligence Estimate given to little bushco. in April, a "cause celebre" for terrorists. Not to mention that most Iraqis don't just want us Out of Their country, but most Iraqis are actually okay with attacks on Our troops. Why not Let Democracy rule george junior? Let's have the Iraqis vote on whether we stay or go.

I'm sorry, but it all makes me sick.

This illegal and unneccesary war based on nothing but oil and vengence.

The lies told by this administration during the lead up to the war that pulled Our resources from Afghanistan, bin laden, etc.,

The propaganda campaigns perpetrated by Our government.

Its ties to corrupt capitalists.

The ever increasing ties to corrupt lobbyists.

The leaking of classified information.

The changing of history.

The okaying of torture.

The 5 days it took to get a helicopter to the drowning poor people in New Orleans.

Are these not high crimes or misdeanors? If not, are they not examples of an administration, incompotent and unable to lead. The oath sworn is an oath to "uphold the Constitution of the United States". Mr. bush has not. But it was Clinton who got a BJ (NSFW but a hilarious song/video).

So On Clinton, on Oberman, on Gore, and on Riekhoff! On generals, On Craiglist guy, on Obama, and on Leahy. On Carter, on Feingold, on Greenwald, and on Oberman (again). And of course on Stewart.

At times it feels like all we can do is watch, but we can do more. We can type. We can talk. We can yell. We can spend according to our beliefs. And we can vote. And that's just what I'm going to do.

Down with the bush administration and the rubber stamps wimps who support it.

Surprise and the UN

Iraq is getting deadlier. Afghanistan is getting worse. And Darfur is still in a state of "genocide" that the president acknowledged some time ago, but has yet to do anything substantial about. I wonder what rover's "October surprise" could be.

Maybe the surprise will come in form of osama bin laden, whose capture the president has flipped flopped from "wanted dead or alive" to "not that concerned about him" on. Maybe that's why Pakistan was allowed to make the deal with the Taliban/al qaeda buds on it's border. You know, because they finally got him.

Wouldn't we all be surprised if it was announced that the president understands that the Geneva Conventions should not be circumvented. Realizing that doing so legitimizes acts of torture and inhumane treatment, which would then be allowed to be inflicted on our men and women in or out of uniform, not to mention what circumventing the Geneva Convention does to Our already diminished ethical and moral standing in the world.

And speaking of that standing, maybe the surprise will be in the form of foreign dignitaries, aside from Prime Minister blair, once again standing by the United States because of changes in this administration's (strike first) doctrine and (hands off unless there's oil) foreign policy. It pains me to agree with leaders who rule with an iron fist, who do not allow Freedom of Speech in their own country, when they say the president talks "as the owner of the world". It pains me to understand the hypocrisies of Our Country's "behavior" in the world, especially when that idea is brought up from a man that denies the existence of the holocaust. It pains me even more when the United Nations, itself, condemns the policy of Our president. We must lead by example. We must inspire. I fear that we are becoming one of "them".

Speaking of what pains me, the surprise certainly would be welcome if it came in the form of ending the massive killing and ethnic cleansing going on in Darfur. 400,000 people killed. More than 2,000,000 refugees forced from their homes. Does it really take George Clooney to tell us what the right thing to do is?

It would be a surprise if the president came out, like the pope has, and apologize for enraging a religion's worth of people with his comments about "islamic fascists" and the "third awakening" of christianity.

Condemning military coups, like the recent one in Thailand, and supporting the democratically elected government would certainly be a surprise.

I guess we'll see what the surprise turns out to be. My guess is it'll be about something nobody is talking about right now. I wish he would surprise us all and resign.

Docu-dramas, allies, and more

With another superior "special comment" for Keith Obermann fresh in mind (This time about bush, aka shrub). I look onto my "internets" for the trials and tribulations of a body politic and a nation divided...

First there was bush admitting to the cia secret prisons that the Supreme Court shot down and the Washington Post reported on and were called treasonous for. The president, who approved of this unconstitutional illegality, called on Congress to set the rules five years into our detention and interrogation of prisoners. Can anyone say mid-term elections?

Of course we've all heard the about the "docu-drama" "Path to 9/11" that literally makes stuff up and improvises to blame clinton for things leading to the biggest terrorist attack on US soil that occurred on bush's watch, while of course omitting the seven minute reading of My Pet Goat or the August 2001 memo reading "Bin Laden determined to strike in US". There's plenty-o-crap on the abc/disney GOP-u-drama out there. At this point with scholastic pulling the "educational" accompaniment out of high schools and former President Clinton howlin' at mickey mouse's handlers abc might actually pull the whole thing.

With the exception of the Simpsons 18th Season Premiere, I don't think I'll be watching much TV at all this weekend or Monday for that matter. Personally, I remember the attacks of September 11, 2001 very well, and if I forget them I can always look at the pictures I took that morning from across the Hudson River. Pictures of rising smoke, falling towers, and flying flags. I don't need a re-run of CNN's broadcast to remind my heart and mind of the shock and sorrow they felt that day, nor do I need the primetime speech from Our pet goat.

Speaking of the campaigner in chief, I would like to take a moment to agree with the R rated (at least) Rude Pundit's take on how the administration's "pedantic Nazi/Commie/Jihadi comparisons". I agree that they "have succeeded in elevating the status of Bin Laden and other terrorists to epic proportions." The nazis could have taken over an entire continent. The soviet union HAD the fire power to blow up the world. Not to belittle what happened five years ago Monday, but when put up against the destruction caused by state sponsored armies during WWII, et al. I mean let's step back, take a breath from the fear mongering and see what we have here. These "terrorists" are delusional, religious psychotics more akin to a network of serial killers than global powers.

But let's get back to the matter/issue at hand....
The war in Iraq will now cost us $63,000,000,000.00 more thanks to this administration. At least our allies are sticking by us, right? Wait, has Pakistan really signed a truce with the Taliban/al Qaeda harborers on their border? Quite the ally in the fight against terror, huh? And poor prime minister Blair. It looks like lap dog tony will go before bush, after feeling the pressure from his own party. If only the reds had the balls of England's Labour party.

So no I don't give a damn what Suri Cruise looks like or if karl rove's stepdad was gay.... wait what?

I do care about the fact that Rocky's back on the Art Museum steps in Philly and that Bob Dylan's #1 for the first time in 30 years!

I did said over 4 and 1/2 years ago that the air quality in lower Manhattan was no good after the attacks and now there's a memo to prove it.

Afghanistan is getting worse and worse. You remember Afghanistan, the country that actually was harboring terrorists and did have connections with al qaeda.

And finally, speaking of ties to al qaeda, the red headed Senate Intelligence committee has found that saddam did NOT have any ties to zarqawi and "his associates" (al qaeda)

Have a Nice Weekend.

Hey rumsfeld!

"This aggression will not stand, man" -Jeffrey Lebowski

Standing with feet firmly planted on the ground, I raise my right hand and extend it's middle finger to the United States Secretary of Defense donald rumsfeld for comparing me to those who appeased the Nazis. I stand with journalist, Keith Obermann, whose "special comment" on this incompetent who boasts of taking Baghdad 4 YEARS after we invaded Iraq is far more coherent and succinct then the action I take in my living room in front of my couch. Dissent is not Unpatriotic! Questioning this administration about the war in Iraq, which they started, which has now lasted longer than Our involvement in World War, is a neccesary check on an operation costing Us HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS and THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN LIVES. It is long overdue. True, there were millions of us worldwide questioning and protesting this war at and before its commencement, but finally there are some members of Congress, GOP included, doing their job as a branch of government EQUAL TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Finally there are some asking hard and important questions of bush's war in Iraq (knowing full well that this is happening during an election year). Iraq was not a safe haven for "Islamic extremists" before we invaded. The interesting thing about the bush/fox/wingnut talking points is that it is now. That's bush's war in Iraq's fault. The War in Iraq was/is the WRONG WAR. The taliban/opium warlord resurgence in Afghanistan IS proof of that.

So now that the distractions of suri cruise and jonbenet part II are over maybe, much to bill frist's dismay, the spotlight can refocus on the war this administration so ineptly planned. This war that is stretching our military. This war that has emboldened Our enemies and increased their numbers. This war that has cost Our Country $311,000,000,000.00+. This war that has taken resources and attenion from the war in Afghanistan and the hunt for bin laden. With hundreds of people dying daily in Iraq, where else should Our attention lie.

This administration and the rubber stamp, republican controlled, Congress have turned Our Nation's credibility in the world to rumble. They have taken the good will of the world and turned it into more hatred, anger, and frustration with the world's only nuclear superpower. I was recently confronted as an "America Hater". I do not hate America. I do hate the current "unilateral","pre-emptive strike", "shock and awe", not to mention "unitary executive" direction the current administration has taken us on. That direction needs to change! Come November, maybe it will.

Just a quick note for all you conspiracy theorists out there:
Isn't it odd that tom cruise "got dropped" by paramount after it was revealed that he met with richard armitage on the same day armitage met with bob woodward to reveal the classified identity of a CIA agent? Was tom cruise hoppin' around on couches meant to distract us from something? Interesting.

Hold them Accountable!

The Democrats are holding their elected officials accountable. It wasn't the "blogosphere" that did LIEberman in, it was his Iraq war rhetoric, his siding with bush at all costs, and his kissing of bush's ass on things like privatizing social security that made THE VOTERS OF CONNECTICUT vote against him. I guess he can stop pretending and take george and karl's help directly now.

I don't think it shows the "rise in progressive politics" being touted by some. I think it's a referendum on the current government in power, the failure in chief (whose on vacation again) and the rubber stamp congress. Boo-Yah!

And for the reds, you say we're putting the wacky wing of our party up. Look who the hell you put in office! And we are not weak on defense. It's the offensive, "premptive" policies of bush and friends we are against. The head general in Iraq is now warning of civil war, and bush's israel can do whatever they want policy has even got "Condi" pissed off. The Arab nations we are going to "democratize" hate us more than ever.

1- Go to Google
2- Type in the word "Failure"
3- Instead of clicking "Google Search," click "I'm Feeling Lucky."
4- see search results.
5- Spread the word

Update:
"My God, here we have a terrorist threat against hearth and home and the very first thing that comes out of their mind is how can we turn this to partisan advantage. I find that offensive," Ned Lamont said in an interview Sunday with The Associated Press.

Thoughts and questions on Israel vs. Lebanon (I mean hezbollah)

It seems that bush administration has lost it's "roadmap to peace" in the middle east, if one ever existed. Maybe it flew out the window on the "road to Baghdad" when we attacked a Moslem nation with a secular government based on intelligence that no one else though actionable, certainly not actionable enough for an all out invasion and occupation. So as condi finally goes to the region plan to push a US plan to end the destruction that Israel is perpetrating on Lebanese civilians in the name of its war on hezbollah, and the less effective destruction perpetrated by hezbollah and the unguided missiles they continue to lob into Israel killing tens of people, one wonders if there can ever be peace. Over 300, probably closer to 400, people have been killed in Lebanon. Most of them were civilians. 500,000+ refugees have fled the merciless bombings of Beirut, Lebanese suburbs, and the civilian infrastructure of a fledgling democracy, once touted as an example of the change in the middle east that was brought on by bush's war on Iraq, which just had one of its most violent weeks of the year. So violent, in fact, it seems the head of the CIA is blocking an effort to figure out if Iraq IS in a civil war. Who will pay for the decimated infrastructure of Lebanon? Will Israel do what the US is doing in Iraq and remain until the country and NEW, democratically elected, government, which includes hezbollah, is up and running? Will they "arrest" the democratically elected members of the Lebanese government that they do not approve of as they did with the Palestinian democratically elected government?

30+ people have died in Israel from missiles fired by hezbollah, some flying further than anyone thought possible. The buffer of Lebanese troops along the southern border of Lebanon does not and has not yet existed. Can a new government dismantle a military militia that no else has been able to for decades? Will the Lebanese people turn against the only group that is giving them any immediate aid since Israel started bombing the, to use a presidential word, "shit" out of their country, its water treatment facilities and its power plants? Is Iran and Syria behind hezbollah's every move or are they supplying them with weapons as we are Israel? Hell, we used to support saddam.

The war mongering chicken hawk reds are calling for an all out war on all of them. Let me remind them that we haven't finished Afghanistan yet, and Iraq is getting worse. Even the "grand old" reds are turning against the neo-con induced Iraq war at this point (and I'm not just talking about Charles Barkley). Syria has a large standing army and who knows what weapons and Iran.... They may be up there with North Korea, whose recent ballistic missile test didn't go as well as the one We just had. I can only hope that they are not as far along as Pakistan. And what will happen to all the precious oil under the feet of a regional war in the middle east.

I would much rather be funny. I’d rather make jokes about the groper in chief and how it’s OK to go around rubbing female foreign dignitaries. I would rather type about how it would be nice to have a president who was eloquent whether the mic was on or off, instead of having one who is neither. Hell, I'd rather write about how its seems to be up to celebrities to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the government’s inadequate and delayed response in New Orleans. Can anyone say $400,000,000,000.00 on the war in Iraq? And speaking of delay, tommy has to stay on the ticket for a congressional seat he's resigned from and now he has to close down his political action committee (PAC) after being fined over $100,000.00 by the FEC. "Christian" conservative ralph reed losing in Georgia might be a nice way to segway into jack abramhoff and his affect on the turning of the tide in DC. But I just can't seem to think about anything but the killing and devastation that most, if not all, of the civilized world has called a "disproportionate" response to the kidnapping of two soldiers (who, by the way, are military targets).

Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause.
-George Washington

I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind.
-Thomas Jefferson

Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none.
-Thomas Jefferson

Real Flag Desecration

A few quick questions

When did a one point increase in the polls become a "surge" and a 37% approval rating become good?

Did the president "surprise" Iraq with a visit to negotiate an amnesty deal for "insurgents" that kill US or non-Iraqis?

Why does the hate speak of the likes of A.C. (insert your own words/names) continue to be best selling?

If we didn't need an additional $66,000,000,000.00 for Iraq and Afghanistan would we still have had to cut Our Nation's Security funding in top targets like New York City?

I've been told by a friend whose son was stationed in Baghdad that a 500 lb. bomb would reduce 10 city blocks to rumble. So how did al qaeda's "leader" in Iraq come out of a building, that was hit by two of them, with bruises and a fatal "lung injury"?

Why wasn't the president told a White House reporter was blind before he made fun of his sunglasses?

Why doesn't anyone care about illegal voting machines and seriously questionable elections in the United States of America?

Why did it take president Gina Davis to make me realize that according to Our Constitution women are still not equal to men?

When will the US Congress stop with faux debates and campaign ad fodder votes and sit down to seriuosly discuss/debate the realities of the president's War in Iraq and what we should do from here? Enough with the "stay the course" and "cut and run" abstracts already.

Will the United States government eventually regret giving the new Iraqi "iron fist" "government" financial and weapon support like they do now their support for the former dictatorial regime?

At this critical moment in Our Nation's history?

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the first diagnosis of the global threat of AIDS, a disease that now affects 40.3 million adults and children and is spreading. Did the president take this moment in time to assemble the press and make a statement on one of his former "top priorities"? No. Yesterday 50 people were kidnapped at Iraq bus stations by gunmen dressed in police uniforms. Did our president take this time to make a statement on a war we are currently fighting, a war that he started? No. Yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial average dropped over 199 points on fears of a slowing economy and inflation. Did the president take this moment to reassure a nation about its economy? No. Yesterday oil prices once again rose to over $73 a barrel, on threats of Iran cutting its supply. Did the president, a former oil man with friends in high places in the oil industry both domestic and middle eastern, address the Nation's concerns with rising fuel costs or the ongoing negotiations with Iran? No.

Instead the president of the United States chose to take this "critical time in Our Nation's history" to preach to the religious right choir in the Old Executive Building (as opposed to the originally scheduled Rose Garden) on the "federal marriage amendment". No, this isn't an amendment aimed at ending divorce. This is an amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, discriminating against people who want to pair off and spend the rest of their life together based on their gender. It is not just an amendment to a particular law, it is an amendment to OUR CONSTITUTION. To attach an amendment to the US Constitution first the Senate needs to approve it, and not by a simple majority (51 votes) but by a "super majority" (67 votes) which this amendment has no chance of doing.

So with every other serious issue facing the Nation, including being in a time of war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and against the noun terror, the president chose to hold one of his infrequent public addresses to support an amendment that has no chance of passing the US Senate, which means it won't be put to a vote for the two thirds majority it would need in the House of Representatives in order to be put to the people of the United States, who according to most polls are well divided and no where near the two thirds majority needed for ratification. One of the political reasons this distractor in chief is counting on is the continuing of his dividing of Our country. The other is the worst display of pandering I have ever seen, fully realizing the pandering of presidents like Clinton.

The question is will the republicans be fooled again? Will they be stupid enough to fall for these blatantly empty words again? If you know a republican, ask them if they are bamboozled by the president's latest politcal ploy to rally "his" people around this intolerant and impossible amendment to the greatest living document of democracy in the world. An amendment that takes away the choice of millions of Americans.

You know what I think? I think the government should change everything that has the word marriage in it to the words "civil union" and leave things like the "sacrament" and "sanctity" of marriage to churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and other places of worship, not to mention the engaged individuals themselves. Or there's always letting the States handle it, as they do issues like the death penalty.

war time, the liberated, and homeland security

The deck chairs on the Hindenburg continue to shuffle as the other snow resigns, and Henry Paulson, who might not be all bad, takes over as the Secretary of the Treasury. This latest shuffling still leaves the big toe over at the defense department intact, despite recent calls from American Muslims for him to "spend more time with his family". These latest calls are in direct response to what so far seems to be the killing of two dozen unarmed civilians, including women and children, in a town called Haditha. Haditha isn't the only reported incident that is sure to blacken Our already pot/kettle black image around the globe. More reports of illegal killings are being reported, even by our latest ally in the war on terror, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. The Prime Minister may have been the catalyst for the latest bush flip flop. This time on talks with Iran concerning their nuCLEar program. The Prime Minister had stated a week or so prior that he supports Iran's nuclear program. But hey, more power to the liberated, right? Look at Afghanistan. They're so liberated there that they are throwing Anti-American riots in the streets. The reported last straw that led to it was a vehicular accident. You think that animosity has been building?

Speaking of the liberated, the violence in Iraq continues. The town of Basra was recently declared a state of emergency. But where in Iraq isn't it a state of emergency? There still isn't electricity around the clock. The killing of soldiers, police, journalists, innocents continues every day. Even the campaigner-in-chief and his lapdog ally were forced to hold back on their troop draw down announcement at their co-dependent press conference. Instead lil' george finally apologized for making statements like "bring 'em on" and "wanted dead or alive" (he's still alive).

The bright side of all of this for the administration is that they can call "war time" forever, or until all terror is wiped from the planet, whichever comes first. They call it when telling internet companies they have to save surfing data on everyone for two years. They can call it when they raid the Capitol Hill offices of sitting members of Congress. It's a wonder they didn't raid the red offices of delay (who thinks colbert is for real), ney, frist, hastert, cunningham, lewis, and the rest of the republican culture of corruption. Politics in play?? You think?? There's a democrat in the mix now, so they can try to say it's both sides of the isle. It's like 15 reds to 1 Democrat, but whose counting. They call "war time" when they illegally wiretap the phones of US citizens or collect our phone records. The architect of "domestic surveillanece" is now the Director of the CIA as part of the bush "part of a scandal/failure" promotion program.

At least we can feel safe knowing that the top terrorist targets are getting the "homeland security' money they need. Oh wait they cut New York by 40%, partly because NYC has no "national monuments or icons". Who knows the reasoning behind the cuts to Washington D.C. Me, I'm moving to Omaha. The increase in funding they're getting will keep me safe.

And what does the worst president since World War II focus on? An intolerant amendment to the US Constitution, of course. Do the world a favor Mr. President.... Step Down!

Look!!! An Illegal Immigrant!

While the propaganda machine’s former fox “news” anchor mouth piece talks of “tar babies” and the president reduces Our citizenship to paperwork as he tells us that as long as you speak English you can go from "picking crops to opening a grocery from cleaning offices to running offices", one can’t help to sense a little racism, though I’m sure it wasn’t meant intentionally. I don’t think they even realize how racist they are, not to mention disconnected and disrespectful of working class CITIZENS that are legally in this country and doing those jobs.

Li’l bush’s “see I can please everyone/I’m a middle of the road guy” speech on immigration the other night stopped short of penalizing employers that employ people that are in this country illegally. Surprise! Surprise! He informed us that illegal immigrants can join the ranks of our armed forces. He also told us that people in this country illegally do the work that “Americans don’t do” (maybe that’s because the illegal immigrants are doing the jobs).

But is the “immigration crisis” real or is it a distraction from the United States Government illegally tapping the phones or compiling the phone records of its citizens and their “free” press ? And whether you, as a citizen, “don’t mind” the spying/prying or not, it is still an ILLEGAL action. Is the great immigration debate a distraction from bush’s war of choice in Iraq, where the violence continues, killing more people every day? Is it a distraction from the CIA leak investigation, which may see the indictment of the great satan, and may involve the greater satan (as does the whole spying thing)?


Speaking of the CIA, coming soon to a hearing near you, the man instrumental in the NSA “domestic surveillance” program, the existence of which former fox news anchor/press secretary “can not confirm or deny”. Michael Hayden is the man the failure-in-chief wants as the Director of the CIA, and for the same exact reason he wanted the last Director, porter goss. Big Brother could never take over in a country as free as ours, could it?


In this world, where a pope that wore humble, worn out, brown shoes is replaced by one that wears Prada. Where sky high gas prices increase the cost of living as big oil not only is making unprecedented profits (providing for $400,000,000.00 “golden parachutes” for former employees) but also gets tax breaks from the oil men in Our White House. Where the world’s “superpower” wants to enlarge its nuclear arsenal, while making threats and déjà vu like statements about a country that says its nuclear power will be used for energy, and is five to ten years away from being capable of having a nuclear warhead to match Our 7,000. Where reduction’s in Our Country’s revenue due to continued tax breaks for the rich and a $320,000,000,000.00 war of choice are off set by a Record Breaking debt, which future generations will still be paying foreign governments for. It's no wonder people care more about brittany's baby seat and American Idol. It's all so disheartening, disenfranchising, disgusting, and aggravating.


I guess I’ll just leave you with this from the very unlikely source of the president of Iran, in his letter to george w. bush:
"If billions of dollars spent on security, military campaigns and troop movement were instead spent on investment and assistance for poor countries, promotion of health, combating different diseases, education and improvement of mental and physical fitness, assistance to the victims of natural disasters, creation of employment opportunities and production, development projects and poverty alleviation, establishment of peace, mediation between disputing states and distinguishing the flames of racial, ethnic and other conflicts were would the world be today? Would not your government, and people be justifiably proud? Would not your administration's political and economic standing have been stronger? And I am most sorry to say, would there have been an ever increasing global hatred of the American governments?"

Does Politics Belong in Music?

Damn right it does.

Neil Young's latest CD, "Living with War", was written and recorded in 9 days (that's including a 100 person chorus singing "America the Beautiful"). The CD is available online, in it's entirety, FOR FREE. Oh and by the way, everyone that worked on "Living with War" was union. The Canadian that penned "Ohio" is back with avengence. And I for one can't wait. I mean with songs like "Shock and Awe", "Looking for a Leader", and "Let's Impeach the President" what's not to like. Neil is not alone in his dissent. Check out country legend Merle Haggard's "Rebuild America First". And I'm no Pink fan, but her "Dear Mr. President" is a solid, hard biting song that tells the liar in chief that he "don't know nothin' bout 'hard work'".

We've all heard, and continue to hear, the protest songs of the sixties. We find ourselves in a similar position lately, and the arts are starting to catch up. Whether it's Rolling Stone's latest cover story, a movie about a reality show president, or the latest venture of George Clooney, politics seems to be infiltrating our "Don't Worry Be Happy" apathy. Of course there's plenty of fluff out there, and you can't even rely on the news to give the news (most of the time). These pieces of artistic activism are welcome, and I think indicative of a society that is awakening to realize they have been bamboozled into thinking the president and his minions were honest, would keep us safe, or at least gave a shit about the common United States citizen and not just their CEO, "ownership society".

How much do I know?
To talk outta turn
You might say that I'm Young
You might say I'm unlearned
Well there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never forgive what you do.
-Bob Dylan "Masters of War"

Scotty No Longer Here Captain.

Scott Mclellan will be leaving after a couple of "transition" weeks, and in more important news the great satan, karl rove, will get out of policy making and focus back on politics , watch out Democrats the snake's head is about to be back at full strength. All part of the bolten shake up to boost the president's pathetic numbers. But it's not really much of a "shake up" at all. It's more like a reshuffling of the same old faces.

Who can you believe?

I was planning on writing about the Actual grave, gathering, and unique threat of Global Warming, and the way Our government currently on the subject so they and their friends can sell the most possible oil and maintain their status atop the Fortune 500 while telling us they have to raise gas prices. But alas, this wasn't the slow news week I had expected.

First, there was Tom Delay's announcement that he was resigning from Congress (yes the Indicted "hammer" was still a Congressman) for what he claims are political reasons. The man thrice chastised by the Ethics Committee says that he is quitting to save his seat for the reds in November. Granted, there is a satisfaction in knowing that he feels the situation is that dire for the reds come election time, but if you believe his story I got one about a governor that resigned simply because he was gay. Delay's former deputy chief of staff, Tony C. Rudy, pleaded guilty on March 30th (five days before Delay's announcement) to conspiring with Jack Abramoff. With his guilty plea, Rudy joins former Delay press secretary, Michael Scanlon, and Jack Abramoff, who have already pleaded guilty. Thus, bringing the "bug man" ever closer to having to pay for all those plane trips and golf games that bought his support.

But who can you believe nowadays. Early readings of the "Gospel according to Judas" inform us that it was Jesus that told Judas to betray him, to fulfill his prophecy and eventually his soul. It would be like a sitting president telling a vice president's chief of staff it was ok to leak carefully "cherry picked" information because it smeared a critic and promoted that president's political policy and rush to war. You will be shunned by the Nation, but do this for me. OK, maybe it's a loosely fitting analogy, but it turns out that happened, too. According to Scooter Libby, the president of the United States gave him permission to leak information about the identity of a CIA operative, during war time, to the press. No wonder this president is sitting at a 36% approval rating. Maybe next this administration will preach on why countries should not be building a nuCLEar arsenal while looking to increase Our own "mushroom cloud" "weapons of mass destruction", which are already by far greater in number and strength than the rest of the world. Oh wait that is happening, too.

One last bit of bad news for bush's criminal turned "Christian", evolution hating base, it seems as though scientists have found a link from fish to land animal, a keystone to evolution. A fossil fish with leg like appendages. I wonder if it's anything like my old pet, Wada?

Exterminated!!!

Tom Delay (alias the Bug Man, and The Hammer) has thrown in the towel. A Politcal Death by corruption and arrogance. Is he a sign of things to come? Like Card's resignation may lead to Snow, McClellan, or Rumsfeld. Actually Delay may be more like Norton's "Get out before the Abramoff trial kicks you out" resignation, not that Abrahoff was the only corruption connected to Delay.

Hey reds! THE LIBERALS TOOK DOWN ONE OF YOUR LEADERS! Deal with it!

Conspiracy or Coincidence?

Being a skeptic, I'm not usually one for "conspiracy theories", though some do raise very interesting questions. But what are the motives behind New York City officials releasing the recordings of dispatchers from September 11, 2001, as well as the coinciding timing of the 60 minutes where bin laden's "ex-bodyguard", with no further evidence, retells what osama told us in a recording months ago, adding "When Sheik Osama promises something, he does it". These reminders of fear seem to be coming at an interesting time. Is it just a coincidence that presidential poll numbers have yet to rebound (even with the new open press conference format) and the Pentagon has agreed to release "all" of its Abu Ghraib photos and videos while we were all remembering 9/11 again.

I will never forget what I saw and felt the day the Twin Towers fell across the river from me. This administration has consistenetly used this day for their own political gain. But like I said I am a skeptic.

Resignations, rubber stamps, and campaign ideas

So bush’s chief of staff, andy card, has done what others (most recently secretary of the interior, gale norton) have done. He has resigned from the administration of bush, cheney, and rove. His replacement is Director of the Office of Management and Budget, joshua bolten. Under “yosh” the Federal debt has shot up $1.8 trillion (another failure promoted). Andy wasn’t the one responsible for what secretary of defense rumsfeld (the man whose resignation has been called for by both sides) has called a "D or D+" in the “war of ideas” in Iraq. It has been said that he was at the helm for the failed Social Security overhaul. But while we sit here and learn of new British memos that prove the president is currently LYING about what he was saying, thinking, and wanting during the rush to his war of choice in Iraq, and Our vice president is lying on TV about things he said on TV, its hard to believe card's is the right resignation. The bush family has profited from the war along with cheney’s buddies at halliburton who get paid for over charges and under producing. The bushies profited off Our Nation’s greatest natural disaster and its worst disaster response with Hurricane Katrina. At least there’s Afghanistan, right? Where opium production is way up and they prosecute their citizens for leaving Islam. That’s the government we’ve installed and paid for. I like to call it a democratically elected “leader” ruled by a Islamic theocracy. It almost makes one think of Iran.

It’s no wonder New Jersey’s red Congressional candidate refused to be pictured with cheney. This is an election year, and an important one. Under the rubberstamp red control of Our current no show House and Senate, no one has been held accountable for anything, from lying about costs for Medicare programs, to the pushing of propaganda, to the Katrina disaster, to the misleading of a Congress and a Nation into a war of choice in Iraq, to the mishandling of that war (after in the president’s ridiculous, misleading, or grossly incompetent words “major combat operations in Iraq have ended" 1,062 days ago). Just imagine if you will what we could do with the $250,000,000,000+ that this war has cost us. Maybe we wouldn't have to sell off 300,000 acres of National Forest. Not to mention the lives of almost 2,310 soldiers we've lost in Iraq. The Democrats need to win for there to be any accountability in this administration. It will take a Democratic Congress to put this “rich, privileged, arrogant, perennial cheerleader” under oath.

My advice to Democratic candidates stress words like responsibility, accountability, Our Democracy, the widening of the gulf between rich and poor, the lack of a response to the Katrina disaster, illegal spying on US citizens (and it was illegal, what they are debating is changing the law AGAIN), and of course IRAQ, IRAQ, IRAQ, the rush to, the case for, the lack of planning, the mistakes made prosecuting, the condoning of torture, deficiencies in equipment, the cost and where that money is or is not going. The relatively new hot button issue of immigration is also a good one for Democrat. No matter how you fall on this debate, the divide it creates for the reds is far greater than the one it creates for the Democrats.

My guess is we will see relatively significant troop withdrawals by election time 2006, however they try to spin it. Shiites in Iraq are beginning to demand it already, especially after what’s being called a massacre on Iraqis by US in a mosque in Baghdad. National Security has always been the strong suit of the reds, but the repeating of the fact that this administration wanted to give control of six of Our busiest port to a company Owned by the United Arab Emirates may have started to quell that blind faith, which is based primarily in rhetoric and the over use of fear by the officials in this White House. The recent successful attempt to bring a dirty bomb over the border may help as well. And who knows what the trials of Scooter Libby and Jack Abramhoff will bring. The “culture of corruption” angle is another good one for the Democrats this election cycle, after all power breeds corruption, and the reds have had all the power. One last thing the Democrats might want to think about doing is an absentee voter drive in places like Houston where Katrina victims were shuttled to and never left, mainly because they still have no home to go back to. Its just an idea.

A quick couple of updates:

1. The man who was being "prosecuted for leaving Islam" has been released after US pressure and being deemed "mentally unfit".

2. What was "being called a massacre" is now being refuted by US military as Shi'ite groups of moving the corpses of gunmen killed in battle to encourage such accusations". In related news, Shiite groups are now saying that bush opposes the Iraqi Prime Minister.

Hold them Accountable

After watching the repeat of Harper’s forum on the Case for Impeachment on C-Span 2, I got to thinking. There are two items of immediate concern. One is holding the people responsible for the predicament we find our country in (i.e. Iraq, Middle East, North Korea, vanishing jobs, etc.) accountable. The other is to reaffirm Our government as the three separate branches by, for, and of the people that Our Founders put in place to defend a Nation and its people against despotism. The despotism of what Louis Lapham refers to as bush’s “tyrannical executive” becomes more apparent as the weeks and in fact days go by.

The president, admittedly, broke the law. He signed off on over 30 warrant less wiretaps of American civilians. He did so without receiving approval within 72 hours immediately following the taps, as provided for by FISA. He did so without asking Congress. He did so without asking anyone. The president, despite what bush might believe, is not a monarch. Not yet at least. As Senator Robert Byrd has said "We are not a nation of men, but a Nation of law"

It is no surprise that the red suck ups, and pseudo-renegade suck-ups, will not buck this white house, whose support among the American Public has never been lower. Party trumps the United States Senate for them. Party trumps the American People for them. Party means power, campaign money and golfing jaunts to Scotland. And, of course, money and power trumps everything.

This administration’s recent push against whistleblowers, and the journalists they talk to, further illustrates a secrecy to rival Nixon or any other. They want no free press unless it presses their point of view. They want no free speech they can not tap without having to get approval of the court or anybody else. They want it their way and don't give a damn about what the public, the Congress, the Courts, or the Law has to say. Take the statements made by this president, just to quote a few.

"It's not a dictatorship in Washington, but I tried to make it one in that instance."

"I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."

"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it."

What they want is a presidency that is above the law and without reproach, and because of an apathetic, fearful, and lapdog Congress that is what they have. And the courts? It was the Supreme Court that made the unprecedented appointment of a president back in 2000.

Power corrupts. And the red party in power is certainly no exception, leading the race for the most corrupt in this 109th Congress. Red representative Duke Cunningham was sentenced to eight years in prison for bribery. Ironically, red representative tom delay, indicted for corruption, won his primary this week in Texas (what a mess is Texas). It should be noted that he did so with a much slimmer margin than he has in the past. Ex-CFO of Enron, fasted, testified that bush’s friend “kenny boy” knew the company was defrauding so many. And speaking of pension yanking Enron, how about treasury secretary snow dipping into the federal civil service pension fund so bush’s spending policies won’t surpass the debt ceiling. Maybe instead of bush giving out tax breaks to the rich, he could ask them for a loan, instead of China. And now the former top domestic policy adviser of this president was arrested for shoplifting? In other news from bush’s “robust economy”, GM is cutting the pensions of 42,000 of its workers. Don’t you miss American manufacturing? But manufacturing's pension and job losses don't affect those that receive bush's tax cut for the rich. It affects regular, blue collar Americans. The current administration does not care about regular people. To quote, of all people, pat buchanan:

"But to Bush, it does not matter. That one in six manufacturing jobs has vanished during his tenure, that real wages of working Americans are falling, that trade deficits are reaching $800 billion, that dependency on foreigners for vital necessities of our national life is growing – none of this matters, as he mutters on his prayer rug the mantra he was taught: "Free trade good, protectionism bad."

Then there’s breaking of federal and international law by okaying the torture of prisoners captured during war. Of course the semantics are very important here. We, the United States, hold hundreds of people in places like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib without charge. Using dogs, sexual humiliation and brutal beatings as “interrogation”. Red Cross agents have said “between 70% and 90% of the person deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake”. Through extraordinary rendition, prisoners are being sent to countries like Syria where torture is allowed and is even more brutal than the pictures we've seen from United States prisons in Iraq. Yet no intelligence has lead to bin Laden who remains "wanted dead or alive", to be fair the search for him has been, at least partially, shelved since bush decided to invade Iraq. More terrorists are being created than destroyed, and we are in more of a quagmire in Iraq than we were before.

There are so many other scandals more worthy of censure or impeachment than lying about an extra marital affair or spying on your political rivals. Integrity is something bush tied his presidency to in the beginning and Iraq is what he tied his legacy to. He and his do not appear to have much in the way of integrity. And we are still waiting for the mission to be accomplished in Iraq. Hell, I'd settle for a consistent mission (with an "exit strategy") instead of more rhetoric like we've heard and will continue through this Third Anniversary of bush's Invasion of Iraq and beyond.

Like Rats off a Sinking Ship....

First, the rats or as I like to call them, the reds.

It seemed to start a couple of weeks ago, when the 520 page report entitled "A Failure of Initiative" was released from the almost completely red, House of Representatives, committee on the "national failure" that was the government's "Response" to Hurricane Katrina. "Passivity did the most damage," the report stated "The failure of initiative cost lives, prolonged suffering, and left all Americans justifiably concerned our government is no better prepared to protect its people than it was before 9/11, even if we are." The hearings that followed had reds like Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), the Congressman who led the inquiry, saying "It remains difficult to understand how government could respond so ineffectively to a disaster that was anticipated for years and for which specific dire warnings had been issued for days,".

Not since the ridiculous nomination to the Supreme Court of Harriet Myers, has the administration met with such opposition from its own party. A party that has controlled congress for eight years, the presidency for 5+, and the Supreme Court now more than ever. Why the change? Why the separation from the man "god" told to run for president? Maybe it's the new 34% approval rating of president george w. bush, or the 18% vice president cheney received. Maybe it's having a company, controlled by a country with a "checkered" past when it comes to al qaeda and the taliban, controlling six of our Major ports. Or maybe it's the increasing "sectarian" violence in the “neo-con”, “pre-emptive”, “bush doctrine”, war of choice in Iraq. For whatever reason, real or spun, reds seem to be distancing themselves in advance of the Congressional elections of 2006. But as much as I enjoy seeing the current administration hung out to dry, it's the sinking ship that has me worried.

The mistakes, poor decisions, incompetence, and dishonesty of this administration affect all of Us. How can an administration that failed to plan for an oncoming category 4 hurricane plan for the climatic change due to global warming, illustrated again last week by reports of rapid ice melts in Greenland? How can an administration that failed to plan for their war to continue passed it’s “shock and awe” campaign be expected to plan for Our security as a people, Our future as a Nation, or the re-establishment of Our place among the industrialized and civilized nations of the world. Our nation's reputation has never been as bad, especially in the "Muslim" world we have been taught to fear, as it is today. And at home, by typing the word al Qaeda into the text of this rant, the NSA is now allowed to tap my phones and read all my emails without a warrant, even one received 72 hours after the tap. And when they arrest me, they can arbitrarily call me an "enemy combatant", send me to Guantanamo Bay, and hold me without charge or lawyer for as long as they like. Adherence to the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions or the Army field manual as it pertains to torture (or anything else) is not something this president, this attorney general, this vice president, or this secretary of defense give a good god dam about, except to give lip service to when they're backed into a corner while avoiding being put under oath.

This president and his administration act as if there is no law they can not usurp, under the auspices of National Security or their undeclared war. They are dangerous to Our system of government, Our treasury, and Our values as Americans. The person in charge of and responsible for this administration and all of its actions is the president of the United States. Onward pushes the impeachment movement.

"We have before us in the White House a thief who steals the country's good name and reputation for his private interest and personal use; a liar who seeks to instill in the American people a state of fear; a televangelist who engages the United States in a never-ending crusade against all the world's evil, a wastrel who squanders a vast sum of the nation's wealth on what turns out to be a recruiting drive certain to multiply the host of our enemies. In a word, a criminal-known to be armed and shown to be dangerous"

- Lewis Lapham “The Case for Impeachment" Harper's (March 2006 issue) Read it here or in a barnes & noble lobby near you.

It's not about the birdshot.

The problem isn't the vice president's accidental shooting of his republican donor friend at a bush pioneer/lobbyist 's private ranch. It isn't the fact that the victim had a "mild" heart attack from shrapnel (or should I say birdshot) shot from the gun of the vice president. Nobody wants an involuntary manslaughter or negligent homocide charge, and it would never happen for a hunting accident in Texas. The problem isn't the fact that the vice president wasn't interviewed by police until the next day. And it isn't the fact that he didn't have the neccesary open bird stamp on his license to make the hunt "legal". The problem is the decision of the vice president (and not, at least for the first hour, Our "elected" president) to withhold information from the citizens of the United States of America. The owner of the "farm" releasing information to a small local paper does not a national public announcement make. It is this administration's love of secrecy and disdain for the press. That is the problem. An angry scott mclellan dodging, in no subtle way, questions while there is no word/explanation from the vice president is not the way you run a country by and for the people.

A lot is being made of this hunting accident. The jokes are funny. Letterman and Stewart have a lot of material. But more importantly, it sheds light on the secracy of this administration, and vice president cheney in particular. It further opens the door to questions into all that they withhold from US.

I don't believe you (he acts like we all forget)

From a president, whose load of a State of the Union speech had fellow conservatives PO'ed, comes a budget proposal that not only significantly cuts funds to medicare, education and public broadcasting, but also sneaks in the president's social security private accounts program, and omits the ongoing cost of the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Hard to believe, not really.

It is hard for me to believe that the riots in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere in the “Muslim” world are the result of cartoons and cartoons alone, even if those cartoons depict the holy religious icon, Mohammad, with a bomb in his turban. Pardon the Pun but was this editorial just the “straw that broke the camel’s back”? Muslims in the region are more orthodox and devout than most, if not all, of us in "money is god" America, but aren't the recent "protests" more a pot that has been boiling for years finally boiling over. Ignited, and arguably incited by these images, but this anger is deep and has been building for years. Almost equally as hard to believe was the “preemptive strike” “shock and awe” president of the United States calling on the nation’s of the world to “stop the violence”.

But how can we be expected to believe a man who says “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breech of the levies” after being told (in Crawford, TX) the morning of the storm that the levies were breaking. This is in addition to computer model Hurricane Pam, and other warnings given months, weeks, and days, before the hurricane hit, and claimed at least 1,417 lives. The federal FEMA scapegoat passing the buck to the Department of Homeland Security in front of Congress last week may get us closer to where the buck actually stops, at the president of the United States.

A president who once said that anyone connected to leaking classified information would be fired. Maybe Halliburton will take you back, Dick.

We’d love to believe that the president wants us to use “75%” less of the foreign oil we get from the “middle east”, but how can we when the day after he proposes it his minions are out denying it.

An ex-CIA chief coming out saying the administration “cherry picked” intel to push their Iraq policy is just more proof that what this administration believes in is not the truth. It is all politics, and no policy with these campaigners in charge. They are secretive, manipulative and continue to avoid being placed under oath. Whether it’s divulging classified information pertinent to our National Security, having a “pioneer” lobbyist sell access to the president for $25,000 a pop, using fake “journalists” or paying “real” ones to push their propaganda, or selling off Our Nation’s public lands, this president and his administration continue to treat their position as that of a monarchy and not as one of the Three Branches of Our government, using the US Treasury as a way to make their friends and, quite possibly their future selves, richER while they bankrupt every government program that does not perpetuate violence.

Oh yeah, and the vice president shot a man while hunting birds at a private "farm" in Texas, lodging "bird shot" in the man's face, neck, chest and heart. No it wasn’t Justice Scalia. It was 78 year old lawyer and major red contributor Harry Whittington. Maybe cheney could have used some military training instead of all those deferments after all.

Guns don’t shoot people, the vice president shoots people.

How did Our Union get into such a State?

For the 80% of the American workforce whose salary (adjusted for inflation) has decreased as prices (adjusted for inflation) have increased, the economic outlook is not the rosy, robust one being seen by likes of exxon/mobile. Who, under the current regime's corporation based tax cut and spend economic policy, has made Record Profits. It's no wonder so many people feel the need to buy the cheapest Chinese products they can at their global wal-mart. Not that there is much surprise that the new regime's current policies do little to help those that need help.

The lack of action in both preparing for and reacting to a natural disaster in New Orleans, despite estimations known to this presidential administration, was an appalling dereliction of duty. And saying your responsible for mistakes made, only to turn around and refuse to release documents or testify under oath concerning the "response" to Hurricane Katrina, is beyond even that. An extra marital affair and real estate deal from before you took office, and the president is made to TESTIFY UNDER OATH. Incompetence that leaves 1,200 people to die and thousands more stranded then displaced, and we get a shrug, a smile and a "heck of a". Mr. president, if you visit New Orleans before your next State of the Union speech, maybe you could leave the Garden District and walk where the flood waters raised, people scurried to rooftops and waited for Days. I guess the City of New Orleans and its police department didn't have a fleet of helicopters to swoop in from aircraft carriers sitting in the Gulf.

As Al Gore said, before he was made to refute more red lies, "A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government,” 72 HOURS. That's how long the administration, NSA, CIA, ETC. have to obtain a secret court's order AFTER performing an emergency warrant-less wiretap under the current Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Why are they still not getting these secret court orders? What judge or secret court would not grant such an order for a tap on al qaeda or someone legitimately "linked" to al qaeda? Who exactly are they tapping? Are there "fishing" expeditions going on? One can only hope they are not spying on the same peaceful activist groups that the FBI is. But don't bother asking the president, he'll just tell you, to ask is to help the enemy?

At least there is this administration's "shock and awe", "you're with us or you're against us" foreign policy. At the forefront of which is Iraq. Iraq, where cheney's friends at halliburton are giving our troops water contaminated with sewage. Iraq, where "rebuilding" funds have gone untraced, and at times were stored in footlockers and bathrooms. Iraq, where even US reports say reconstruction has hit delay after delay. Iraq, where the president's pre-emptive war of choice is "straining" Our Army. 2,245 American soldiers have been killed. 16,420 American Soldiers have been seriously injured. $240,000,000,000.00 has been spent. And for what? The "trial" of saddam hussein? The spread of democracy, in hopes that it won't be the wrath of democracy like that felt from Palestinians voting hamas into power or the less recent election of the current president of Iran? And now there are reports of a case of bird flu in Iraq. Let's hope the human to human mutation of the virus doesn't start there.

In 2000, george w. bush said “I will restore honor and integrity to the White House.” I guess, the powerful, lifelong republican, K Street lobbyist and "pioneer" for the Bush/Cheney campaign, jack abramoff must have been a "means" to justify those "ends". With ties to numerous elected officials, not the least of which is former majority leader tom delay, ohio congressman bob ney, speaker of the house dennis hastert, and the pres., who is trying to keep images of himself and abramhoff hidden better than the images of torture he let slip through rummy's hands. As reds and blues scramble to smell less like corrupt dung, and the reds claim that "they did it too", consider this. Jack Abramoff was and is a republican, the republicans currently have the power to buy, and the number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 (the year the current regime Took office) to more than 34,750.

So as the red rubber stamped, litmus tested, federalist socialite, sam alito, gets voted into his life term seat on the highest court in the land, the president's buddy "kenny" lay goes to trial, al-qaeda's "number two" man rises from the dead to thumb his nose at us again, and a failed oil man takes center stage for a prime time speech that he has rehearsed for days, but will still have to read word for word, all we can do is wonder. How did Our Union get into such a State?

What am I hearing.

The demonizing/canonizing that was the hearings of bush nominee to the US Supreme Court, samuel alito, seemed little more then senators putting question marks on the end of their own opinions. Every question was loaded, not that alito would have given a straight answer to a straight question anyway.

Whether they were trying to educate the public with their soliloquies, or deflect the "discussion" from what the qualifications and/or predispositions of a Supreme Court nomineeee, there were points when alito was little more than a spectator as senators threw jabs at each other. And the crying of alito's wife, though enough time and text has been wasted on this already, whether planned or not, was covered to the point of being important to a nominee's chances of be confirmed a life term member of the highest court in the Country. A truly bizarre scene in a hearing that left a bad taste in the mouths of many.

With an executive drunk with power and a desperate legislature, Our judiciary needs to be more than a permanent fixture of a sitting president's positions. Unfortunately, this branch of Our government is losing my faith right along with the others.

I didn’t expect this president to nominate someone that would oppose his view on abortion. I didn’t expect the nominee to be anymore transparent than he absolutely had to be. I did expect more then senators and others coaching the nominee on how to answer confirmation hearing questions. And I did expect more from the Democrats then pin pointed attacks on two decade old statements and the use of statements made by wing nuts, other than alito, against him.

2006, Democracy, and Hope

2006 has begun with the deaths of 200 people, including 11 US soldiers, in Iraq, 11 coal miners in West Virginia, and the "extensive" stroke of Israeli President Ariel Sharon. How sad a start. After a period of realization and mourning, how will Israel react to the absence of Ariel Sharon? How will the Palestinians, whose "democracy" has put more Hamas in the government then ever, react?

It’s funny how democracy works. The people of Iraqi voted for an Iraqi National Assembly last month, and now that results are mostly in, the Iraqi "government" is trying to figure out how to put more Sunnis in, despite all the votes against them. Chalabi has worked his way back in, in spite of the democracy that's “on the march”. In Bolivia, Chavez friend and bush foe, Evo Morales was elected president and got there by being anti-bush.

And in our democracy, the little king is bypassing the advice and consent of the United States Congress with more controversial recess appointments of his cronies and crooks. And while we wait for the Fitzgerald's next shoe to drop, we have a HUGE red lobbyist whose agreed to turn state's evidence for a deal that will cost him $26.7 million and up to 11 years in prison. Makes you wonder what the prosecutor has on him, if that's the best deal he could get. Palm greaser jack abramoff has red capos falling over themselves trying to give donations, the mafia style stoolie gave them, away but what about all the money he Raised for them. One can only hope that this scandal can really cleanse Our government of its status quo, everyday corruption. They say Democrats are involved too. But before you jump on that band wagon take a look at the dollar totals paid and raised for reds and compare that to what kickback jack did for the Democrats. Why would he be greasing down the minority anyway? But when it comes down to it, if they're dirty they don't belong there, red or blue. Watching the hearings on how abramoff and his associates fleeced Native Americans, a long standing American tradition, and used his connections to get his influence into the US Department of the Interior, I couldn't help but think, the FBI has files on PETA, follows the Mormons and the Catholic league around and has Nothing on the Conservative Republicans for the Environment's connection to lobbyist turned deputy secretary of the interior turned lobbyist, steven griles. I guess spying with these guys is focused on terrorism….. and liberalism. Spying you say?

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows wiretaps on international calls without warrant in emergency circumstances, as long as a judicial order of approval is obtained from the secret FISA court within 72 hours. So if the administration needed to wiretap an individual who they suspected was plotting against the US, they need not wait for a warrant. They could get authorization afterward, within the 72 hour period. This law was usurped by a president who knew he could not get support from congress to change the act in favor of completely warrant less searches. He did so as an "exercise of executive discretion", to quote Solicitor General Paul D. Clement on the somewhat related recent transfer of 3 year enemy combatant Joseph Padilla. The administration also sited in their first round of reasoning that it was the "resolution that authorized the use of force in Iraq" that gave him said powers, though it states nothing about altering or completely ignoring existing law. So what do We the People get to explain whether or not the president is above the law? We get an investigation into who told the public that the administration was conducting warrant less wiretaps on Americans, not the legality of those taps. Why would this administration be held accountable for anything?

The President of the United States should be made to answer questions that have been raised of him, the administration and the policies for which He is responsible. President Clinton was put under oath, without the vice president by his side, to answer questions about an extra marital affair. In a lapse of judgment and intelligence, he lied about this affair and was impeached in the name of National Security. The current administration's list of scandals out stretch that of President Clinton or President Nixon for that matter and their ability to avoid any accountability is almost as astonishing as the lack (for the most part) of outrage seen America's citizenry and the traditional or "mainstream" media.

Maybe 2006 will bring enough indictments against the bush administration and the folks that run with them that the Country will stand up and take notice. Maybe the 2006 elections will see enough votes for Democratic and Independent senators and congressmen (and women) that the balance of power will sway from the rubber stamping right to the left of center. Maybe 2006 will see more good news that's not just bad news for the other side. I’m a hopeful man.

If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream. - Martin Luther King, Jr.