The Weekly Rewind

It's Friday.

Rewind time.

Before we get started with this week's rewind, allow me to say this: I know that posts here have been few and far between the last few weeks, but things are starting to slow/settle down for both Scott and I, so expect more posts in the coming days as we revert back to our old ways of posting at least one post per day.

Without any furter ado (or any fanfare), allow me to present to you.

The Weekly Rewind... in all its glory...

Applaud: to a new EPA task force (sounds like a really bad TV show, doesn’t it?) for proving, yet again, that “President” Bush is an idiot. Back in April, Dubya claimed that high gas prices can be blamed on so-called “boutique fuels.” What are ‘boutique fuels you ask?’ Let me tell you, they are localized fuel blends that help some states meet clean air rules. The EPA task force proved that Bush was wrong about those being the cause for high-gas prices and instead blamed Bush’s oil-company-friends for the dramatic rise… ok, that second part was made-up, but wouldn’t it have been cool if they did say that?

Ultra-large and ultra-loud heckle: to the monsters behind the beheading of the two U.S. soldiers that had been abducted in Baghdad days earlier. They handn’t just been beheaded, they were tortured… apparently “beyond recognition.” (Nothing more to say here but this; keep their families and friends in your hearts and prayers)

Applaud: to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (did I just write that???) for stating that any constitutional amendments that banned flag burning would “dilute(s) the very freedom that makes this emblem so revered.” (Couldn’t have said it any better Justice Scalia, way to go! Again, did I just write that???)

Heckle: to the US Supreme Court for considering a roll-back of the Clean Water Act. (That’s good… let’s take a giant step backwards with the environment… I mean, who needs the environment anyway??? I’ve said it many times; it’s hard to express sarcasm in the written word…

Applaud: to a member of the main-stream media (don’t you just hate that expression?) for telling it like it is. CBS News contributor Gloria Borger recently gave her comments on the media and its coverage of President Bush’s “surprise” trip to Iraq, stating, rather eloquently; “I think we are suckers. .. [Y]ou know you’re being used, but in a way you kind of like it because it’s good pictures.”

Heckle: To the staggering number of Americans lacking health insurance; 41.2 million. (I don’t even know what else to say but 41.2 million without insurance is shameful… absolutley shameful…

Applaud: to the all-but-certain fallout from independent groups towards the media and their incrediblly piss-poor job of reporting on U.S. military deaths reaching 2,500 in Iraq. Columbia Journalism Review faults the press for not taking the “opportunity to do what newspapers and broadcast journalists and editors [have] too seldom done: look deeply into the lives of the young soldiers who are being lost in this conflict.” What do you expect the main stream media to do when the White House Press Secretary Tony Snow (a Heckle in itself) said about the deaths “It’s a number.” (Nice Tony… I’m sure the families of all the slain soldiers appreciated having their family members sacrifice minimalized like that…fuc**** idiot)


Heckle: to the results of a new Financial Times poll. Days before “President” Bush made a quick trip to Europe, The Financial Times conducted a poll that shows Europeans identify the U.S. as the greatest threat to global stability (at 36 percent) with Iran and China coming in second and third respectively. (Nice… see what Bush’s Foreign Policies have done??? Europe considers the U.S. a bigger threat than China – China! Can you believe it??? - and Iran – even with their plutonium enrichment. There is something seriously wrong here…)

Quasi-Applaud: to forced-apologizing. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) apologized for remarks he made that attacked someone who is more-protected than the President; White House uber-correspondent extraordinaire Helen Thomas. Last week, while speaking of Abu Musab Zarqawi’s death, King said, “There probably are not 72 virgins in the hell he’s at. And if there are, they probably all look like Helen Thomas.'’ (Not nice Steve. One thing you don’t do in DC is attack Thomas, lest you want negative backlash from both liberal and conservative media. The woman is an icon and has earned the respect of her peers, even if they kowtow to the Bush-machine. Rep. King just learned that the hard way)

Heckle: to White House tool Karl Rove today. To list all the reasons to heckle him would take too damn long, so I’ll just give this reason: because he’s Karl Rove.

Non-political Applaud: to the end of the NHL and NBA seasons. About. Friggin. Time. Don’t get me wrong, I like hockey (but not basketball) but talk about two sports whose seasons go on WAY to long…

Heckle: to people not clear on the concept. Massachusetts State Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D) has introduced a bill aimed at banning Fluffernutter sandwiches from school cafeterias (First of all, a Fluffernutter is a combination of Marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter. Second, let me just say ‘eww’. Third, I’m all for healthy eating, but are you going to tell me that there are no other vital issues in the state of Massachusetts that Sen. Barrios could be focusing on other than fluffernutters???)

Applaud: to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for urging the international community to reassess its approach to the war on terror. Seems President Karzai claims that not enough has been done to put a focus on terrorirm’s roots. This comes as the country is being confronted with a full-blown insurgency. (About time someone said it…)

Heckle: to more Democrats in Republican clothing. Turns out that Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) helped divert close to $179 million in U.S. government contracts over the last six years to companies that gave to his family-run charity. (Are you all stupid in the head? Or is that what comes from being in DC for any length of time? Stop acting like Republicans damn-it!)

Applaud: to former (and maybe future) Presidential candidate John Edwards for wanting the US to eliminate poverty. Guaranteed, that’s easier said than done… but still… the concept is a good one.

Heckle: to a Pentagon document that classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder. Nice… we’ll ignore the fact that mental health experts changed their position on that DECADES ago and instead focus on the fact that the document was roudnly “condemned by medical professionals, members of Congress and other experts, including the American Psychiatric Association.”

Heckle: to the “poison pill” minimum wage bill that GOP Senators are planning to introduce in order to counter the $2.10 wage increase that was being backed by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). This version will probably increase the federal minimum wage slightly and reduce overtime pay and lower wages for millions of workers. (Way to screw it to the non-rich dickheads…)

Applaud: to rollover. And I’m not talking about cellphone minutes. Seemingly, the continued cooperation of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff is reaping large dividends. How was that conclusion reached you asked? Because the Justice Department and attorneys for Abramoff have mutlually agreed to postpone the day he was to report to federal prison. (Good news… very good news indeed)

Heckle: to more people that just don’t have a clue. The House has put off a vote that would have extendied the Voting Rights Act because Texas lawmakers objected to the bill, because of its federal oversight and multilingual voting requirements. The kicker, the reason for objecting from Rep. John Carter (R-TX): “I don’t think we have racial bias in Texas anymore.” (Uh… okay…)

New feature added this week to the Rewind: ‘Things you may have missed’ A quick rundown of some of the smaller things that may have blipped past your radar:

• According to a new government report, the Bush administration increased federal contracts to Halliburton by 600 percent in the period from 2000-2005.
• The Bush administration is sending mixed signals of how they are going to deal with North Korea.
• They found WMD’s in Iraq this past week.
• Oh wait, no they didn’t.
• David Safavian is feeling “rather numb.”
• According to Senate records, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) pulled the financial disclosure forms of at least four Republican Senators late last month. Hmmmm, I wonder why????

All we have. Have a good weekend, and we'll see you here next week.