The Weekly Rewind

It’s Friday and we all know what that means… besides payday…

Right! It’s time for another fun-filled, fact-filled, opinion-filled edition of 'The Weekly Rewind.' I’m your host for today, Kemp, without wasting any more time, here we go…

APPLAUD: to the Bush Administration (no, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, you read it right) for promising (though how much faith can you put into a promise from this group is questionable, but let’s be a little optimistic this close to Christmas) to $3.1 billion to New Orleans to replace/repair the levees. Some people are saying ‘too little, too late’. But I have to say ‘about time’ and ‘applaud’…

HECKLE: to Commander Cuckoo-Bananas (or as Scott calls him: Clueless George) for secretly allowing the U.S. government to spy on its citizens. As Ty Webb says: “This isn't Russia. Is this Russia? This isn't Russia.” Not so sure of that myself… Update: Now word comes that Bush isn’t going to say anything about this, even though Congressional leaders, including Republican Arlen Specter, are promising to look into the accusations.

APPLAUD: to the U.S. Supreme Court who decided on Monday to hear a group of cases involving the Texas redistricting plan. Did I mention that the plan gave the GOP six additional congressional seats?

HECKLE: to the US Treasury department for not allowing Cuba's participation in the World Baseball Classic. Much more important things to worry about people...

APPLAUD: to the news that Robert Novak is leaving CNN for Fox News. Why applaud? Because with him being at Fox now, we’ll automatically know that everything he says is counter-intuitive.

HECKLE: to the lemmings coming back to the flock (what exactly is a group of lemmings called?) Bush's approval rating (via a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll) got a little higher than last month because people are falling for the claptrap he's spouted off in all the recent "we can & will win in Iraq" speeches. Sad and pathetic.

APPLAUD: to Senate Democrats (and some Republicans) for smacking down the Republican-fueled renewal of the Patriot Act (otherwise known as the “Shove your Civil Liberties up you’re A**” Act)

HECKLE: to yet another week full of "We can and will win in Iraq" speeches from Commander Cuckoo-Bananas, give it a rest already, would ya?

APPLAUD: to the people of Iraq for defying the insurgency and the potential for violence to vote in the country’s most-recent elections. (But why did I wake up with a purple finger this morning???)

HECKLE: to the news that President Bush said that the hunt for WMD’s in Iraq were irrelevant (much like his Presidency) to the decision to go to war. … Scott will be posting more on this later.

APPLAUD: to Secretary of State (and Presidential Dominatrix?) Condoleezza Rice for making an ardent personal plea to Congress asking themto provide $50 million for African troops trying to keep peace in Sudan's Darfur region. (What’s this I see? Signs of life and empathy from a Bush Administration official? Quick, someone call hell and see if it has frozen over)

APPLAUD/HECKLE: We’re split down the middle of whether this should be an applaud or a heckle as the US House passed legislation that changes the way pensions are monitored and managed in this country. For reasons why you may not like the changes, click here. Many house Democrats changed their tunes after the United Auto Workers (UAW) endorsed it earlier in the week.

APPLAUD: to some Senate Democrats for vowing to fight the Republican’s plan to open up the Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for drilling. Why destroy a thing of beauty and serenity for meager oil amounts?

HECKLE: to the New York Times (new slogan: ‘Falling out of favor faster than the Bush Administration’) Ok, we all know that the Pentagon has been spying on Americans without warrants of any kind (see above), but we also need to remember that the NY Times held onto the story for a year because the White House ‘asked’ (read: told) them to. Pathetic, wrong, and totally unacceptable. Two words for the Times; ‘karma baby.’

APPLAUD: to Harold Pinter. In a lecture to the Swedish Academy in Stockholm this past week, this Nobel laureate stated that the 'invasion of Iraq was an act of blatant state terrorism" and that Clueless George and Tony Blair should be tried for the tens of thousands of deaths in Iraq as a result of the unjustified invasion. (Thanks to Sabrina for the heads up on this one, we would send you an 'I've been "Bush"-Whacked' t-shirt if we had them...Scott)

HECKLE: to Minnesota Republican State Senate candidate Dan Ochsner. Well, not so much him as his campaign staff. Seems they are in a little trouble for doctoring a 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign rally. His staff changed all the Bush/Cheney signs to read: Ox: Ochsner for State Senate. What’s worse, that his staff did it or that his staff got caught doing it? Not sure, but you can see the article and the picture here.

That’s it, as Scott said last week; you may notice more of a balance again this week, but it's not because I couldn't come up with even more Heckle's, it’s the Christmas/Holiday season and I’m in a giving mood.

Later…