The Weekly Rewind

Well folks, it is the end of July, we have passed the half-way point in the year and we are within 100 days of the fall mid-term elections, and you know what….they can’t come soon enough. But enough middle of the road complaining. It’s time to take a quick look at some of what has happened this past week. A little thing we like to call The Weekly Rewind.

Heckle: to obviously needing a brick to fall on your head. Scientists say earth is losing species “faster than at any time since 65 million years ago” as a result of human activity. And still, many people refuse to listen.

Applaud: to the continuing rounds of smack-down. A federal judge did not buy the administration’s argument that a lawsuit challenging the NSA domestic wiretapping program would endanger national security. The ruling yesterday marked “the first time a judge has ruled on the government’s claim of a ‘state secrets privilege.’”

Applaud: to calling it as it is. In a great article this week, Lou Dobbs raises the point that every President swears during the oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend’ the Constitution of the United States.” Lou continues that the American Bar Association claims President Bush has violated that oath by issuing hundreds of "signing statements" to disregard selected provisions of the laws that Congress passed and he signed. In fact, Bush has used signing statements to raise constitutional objections to more than 800 provisions in more than 100 laws. All of the presidents combined before 2001 had issued only 600.

Applaud: to not being the only person in the room paying attention. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) is readying a bill that would allow Congress to sue President Bush over his use of presidential signing statements “with the view to having the president’s acts declared unconstitutional.”

Heckle: to the President on principle alone.

Heckle: to just when you thought thngs couldn’t get more complicated. The Institute of Science and International Security concluded Pakistan is building “a powerful new reactor for producing plutonium, a move that, if verified, would signal a major expansion of the country’s nuclear weapons capabilities and a potential new escalation in the region’s arms race.”

Applaud: to pearls of wisdom from the mouths of conservatives. The father of modern conservatism, William F. Buckley said of President Bush: “If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we’ve experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign.”

Heckle: to stupid is as stupid does . Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Lebanon today. The total death toll from the recent violence has climbed to 36 people in Israel and nearly 400 in Lebanon.

Applaud: to the voice of reason, and someone smarter than....everyone. Stephen Hawking, the “world’s best-known living scientist,” urged Europe not to “follow the reactionary lead of President Bush” on stem cell research. “Stem cell research is the key to developing cures for degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease from which I and many others suffer,” he said.

Heckle: to two-thirds of us seeing through you. Most Americans blame Hezbollah “a great deal” for initiating the current Mideast crisis, a new USA Today poll shows, though half also say Israel was justified in responding but has now “gone too far.” “Two-thirds say President Bush does not have a clear Mideast policy.” As for the other one third of you, it's time to wake up!

Heckle: to stupid is as stupid does part 2. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said of the Mideast violence that has claimed hundreds of lives, “We’re seeing here is, in a sense, the growing — the birth pangs of a new Middle East.” Oh tell me that she did not really say that...

Heckle: to growing pains becoming death pains. Four U.N. observers were killed yesterday “when an Israeli airstrike hit their observation post near the Israeli border.” Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was “shocked” at Israel’s “apparently deliberate targeting” of a UN post; an Israeli official called Annan’s suggestion “outrageous.”

Heckle: to a future with Ice Cubes for $4.00 a cube. “Imagine Glacier Park without glaciers or Yellowstone without any grizzly bears.” Global warming threatens 12 of the nation’s most famous national parks, according to a new NRDC report.

Heckle: to three plus years and no end in sight. “It sucks. Honestly, it just feels like we’re driving around waiting to get blown up. That’s the most honest answer I could give you,” said 28-year old Army Specialist Tim Ivey, about U.S. troop morale in Iraq. Just remember that according to our President, major combat operations have ended....

Heckle: to 60 percent. That is the number of Americans who believe President Bush is not respected by foreign leaders, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll. We didn’t really need a poll to tell us that did we?

Applaud : to.... oh what the hell, we just get a good chuckle every time we see something like this. Following on the heels of daily papers in Augusta, Ga., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a weekly in Greensboro, N.C., has decided to drop Ann Coulter’s regular column.” The paper explained reader feedback showed approval for “cutting her column at a ratio of two to one. And numbers don’t lie (unless, some would say, they’re being wielded by Ann Coulter).

Heckle: to wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more. In a half-hour speech to Congress yesterday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki “embraced the stance of President Bush in calling Iraq a key front in a wider battle against terrorism and in evoking the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.” Slate wonders whether the White House wrote the speech. Tony Snow acknowledged there had been “conversations” about the address within the administration.

Heckle: to enough is enough. Exxon posted $10.36 billion in profits this quarter, the “second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company.” Royal Dutch Shell pocketed $7.32 billion, a 40 percent rise from the same period last year. That translates to $1,318 every second of every day. Remember this next time you go to fill up at the pump.

Heckle: Doesn’t the President have other actual important things to do? President Bush’s meeting with American Idol finalists at a moment of heightened tensions in the Middle East “demonstrate[s] a lack of seriousness.” Darrell West, a political scientist at Brown University: “There’s the risk that people will ask, ‘Doesn’t this guy have something better to do? Shouldn’t he be solving foreign crises?’” You know Darrell, I said that exact thing when I saw the news report. Glad to know I am not alone.

Heckle: to the Colonels silence saying volumes. U.S. Sgt. Lemuel Lemus has said in a sworn statement that he was given an order to “kill all military-age men” during a raid in Baghdad by a colonel and a captain. The colonel, Lemus’ commanding officer, has refused to testify at any stage of the court-martial, a “very rare” occurrence. I have a feeling this will not be the first or last we hear on this type of issue.

Heckle: to Bill coming to the rescue. Bill Clinton, campaigning to save an old friend from defeat, appealed to Connecticut Democrats Monday to put aside their opposition to the war in Iraq and re-elect Sen. Joseph Lieberman to a new term. The Senator has made his own bed, and he should be left to lay in it.

I think that is quite enough for this week. Noticing that we still have far more heckles than applauds, welcome to the United States of America under George W. Bush.

You may begin screaming uncontrollably now….

Be good, stay informed….later.