The Weekly Rewind

Hey there folks it’s that time of the week again. Yes that’s right it’s time for a little thing we like to call the weekly rewind. But first let me take this opportunity to give a shout out to all the fans of the Redbirds following last nights World Series win. Great job guys! But I digress….

We are now less than two weeks to the mid-term elections and you know that the parties are both making mistakes. You know saying and doing things that in hindsight they wish they could take back, but alas they can’t. So let’s see what’s going on in this wonderful world…..on to the rewind.

Heckle: as if the problem in Darfur wasn’t bad enough already. This week came word of problems with the previously signed Sudan peace agreement. Well, the hardening conflict is increasingly taking place along porous borders among some of the least stable countries in Africa, threatening to ignite a wide conflagration in the heart of the continent. Why is this a problem? Well, if the fighting intensifies the U.S. would be forced to either participate in or take the lead in some type of peace-keeping effort. As if our military was not stretched out enough already.

Applaud: to breaking with the administration. Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) called yesterday “for direct talks with North Korea aimed at easing a nuclear standoff.” Direct talks are “inevitable,” Lugar said. Specter added, “I think we ought to use every alternative, including direct bilateral talks.” The Senators are correct in that we would eventually end up in direct talks, why prolong the inevitable?

Heckle: to opening your mouth and scaring the wrong people. Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder writes in a new book that Bush’s frequent references to God in their meetings before the Iraq war had made him wary. “What worried me, despite a relaxed atmosphere to our talks, and to a certain degree what made me skeptical was how much it came through that this president saw himself as ‘God-fearing’ and saw that as the highest authority,” he said. Whatever happened to separation of church and state?

Heckle: to hearing it from the horses mouth. According to a poll conducted by the State Department, majorities of Iraqi youth in Arab regions of the country believe security would improve and violence decrease if the U.S.-led forces left immediately . Hmmm let’s see this is the current or up and coming generation of insurgents telling us that they don’t want us there…. Are we going to listen?

Heckle: to I told you so. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said yesterday that he “might need to call for an increase in American troop levels in Baghdad” to stem the violence there, and that Iraqi troops would not be able to take over combat operations for 12-18 months. For all those who have forgotten, let’s review, 1) if you are going to go invade Iraq make sure you go in with not only enough troops, but also a winning strategy. 2) Don’t plan on Iraqi troops meeting any of our pre-determined piss poor planning deadlines.

Applaud: to people finally waking up to reality as represented by the number 19. That is the percent of Americans who believe the United States is winning the war in Iraq, an all-time low. Another poll showed that fifty-four percent of Americans believe the U.S. economy is getting worse. Hmmm, wages have remained stagnant, prices have gone up, gas costs as much as a gallon of milk, and the housing market is beginning to regurgitate. Yep seems like it is getting worse. Gee George I guess that $600 tax advance and the cuts that accompanied it were a good idea. I almost forgot, the deficit is large enough that our great-great grandchildren will be paying for our bills. Nice job George.

Heckle: to a consequence of the worsening economy. 36 percent of Americans have reduced the amount they save for retirement due to the burden of rising healthcare costs, up from 25 percent in 2004. In 2006, healthcare premiums for employers and their workers climbed two times faster than both wages and inflation.

Heckle: to yet another slap in the face to parents and students. The College Board reports that the cost of obtaining a four-year university degree continues to outpace inflation. Tuition and fees at four-year public universities rose 6.3 percent from 2005 to 2006. At the same time, the amount of federal financial aid available through Pell Grants declined to a new low. I fear what the situation may be like when my son and Kemp’s children are ready for college.

Heckle: to getting deeper. The House ethics committee spent more than six hours Monday grilling Scott Palmer, who has been Dennis Hastert’s chief of staff for more than 20 years. Kirk Fordham, who was Mark Foley’s former chief of staff, said he “alerted Palmer several years ago to his concerns about Foley’s friendships with pages.”

Heckle: to leading by example. “Several governments around the world have tried to rebut criticism of how they handle detainees by claiming they are only following the U.S. example in the war on terror,” U.N. anti-torture chief Manfred Nowak said yesterday.

Heckle: to signing a bill that has no teeth. At a public signing ceremony on Thusday, President Bush signed a bill authorizing 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. The decision to have a public ceremony is a reversal for the Bush administration, which had appeared reluctant to tie itself so publicly to the enforcement-only measure. Ok let’s dig a little deeper into this new bill that the Republicans wanted signed with lots of hoopla. First, the measure offers no money for the fence project that would only cover one-third of the 2,100-mile border. And second, Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, both Texas Republicans, had wanted to amend the fence bill to give local governments more say about where fencing is erected. What happened? They lost that battle, but Republican leaders assured them the Homeland Security Department would have flexibility to choose other options instead of fencing, if needed. This looks to be Republican pork-barrel politics at it most obvious.

Heckle: to taking it right out of our pockets and into theirs. $10.49 billion: Exxon’s third-quarter profit, its second highest total ever.

Applaud: to standing up and telling Rush to shut-up. Responding to accusations made by Rush Limbaugh, Michael J. Fox said he was neither acting nor off his medication for Parkinson’s disease. “The irony of it is that I was too medicated,” Fox told CBS’s Katie Couric, adding that his jumpy condition as he spoke to her reflected “a dearth of medication — not by design. I just take it, and it kicks in when it kicks in.”

Finally a very sad comment that I will not disgrace with neither an applaud or a heckle. As of Thursday the total number of troops who have died so far this month in Iraq is 96. Which makes this month the bloodiest since October 2005. Five American troops were killed during fighting in Anbar Province on Thursday. Our elected leaders need to wake up and accept the fact that no matter how long we were to stay in Iraq, the minute that we pull out troops and leave the running of Iraq to the citizens of Iraq, the violence will erupt until one tribal faction dominates the others and takes hold of the country. We have become the occupying force that the President insisted that we would not, and this is quickly beginning to be this generations Vietnam. It’s time we either do the job right or get out before more Americans die.

Be good, stay informed….later.

It's Always Been Stay Change the Course...

Has “President” Bush finally gone off the deep end?

Has the Administration finally run out of excuses?

Or is he growing something “special” on his new ranch in Paraguay?

This past weekend, in an interview with George Stephanap… Stephenappoh… Steppan… sigh… with George from ABC’s This Week, Bush said this:

“Well, hey, listen, we've never been ‘stay the course,’ George. We have been - we will complete the mission, we will do our job, and help achieve the goal, but we're constantly adjusting to tactics. Constantly.”

Really?? That’s odd… I (along with anyone with half a brain) seem to remember Bush and all his cronies saying just that many, many, many, many times… in fact, a search in the White Houses press releases shows Bush saying those exact words quite a lot:

August 30, 2006: “We will stay the course.”

August 4, 2005: “We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq.”

April 16, 2004: “… and that’s why we’re going to stay the course in Iraq. And that’s why when we say something in Iraq, we’re going to do it.”

April 13, 2004: “And my message today to those in Iraq is: We’ll stay the course.”

April 5, 2004: “And so we’ve got tough action in Iraq. But we will stay the course.”

December 15, 2003: “We will stay the courseuntil the job is done, Steve. And the temptation is to try to get the President or somebody to put a timetable on the definition of getting the job done. We’re just going to stay the course.”

Maybe I’m missing something… maybe George was speaking in code... maybe I mistyped something on the White House website.

Let’s try again on Google and… oh, dear… look at these results for “George Bush” and “stay the course”… wow… that’s a lot of citing.

At least Dumbya can rest assured that he isn’t the only one in his administration to say it, with Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Snow all getting into the act.

Let’s be honest for a moment (I know that’s a quality that is hard to understand for all most some republican’s) and look at the facts; ever since “major combat operations” ended in Iraq and “Mission Accomplished” was hung on a carrier, we’ve been subjected to hearing about how the nation must “stay the course” in Iraq… we must “stay the course” in fighting the insurgency… we must “stay the course” for Democracy in Iraq… we must “stay the course” for the battle of terrorism…

But now, with support for the Iraq war waning at staggeringly high levels… with a true threat of a mid-term republican backlash looming, with bipartisan support falling by the wayside and by republican support slipping (not to mention the approval of Daddy), Bush and his people have suddenly decided that they had never maintained it was “stay the course.”

It’s not so much the message that pisses me off, as it’s the insult to our collective intelligence.

Don’t get me wrong; the message does, indeed, piss me off… but what’s more grating is the fact that this White House believes that people won’t remember the constant bombardment we’ve been under with the entire “stay the course” message… and now to say; “it’s never been stay the course” is both insulting and comical.

We should expect… nay… demand better from our elected leaders… and in two weeks the American public will have that chance, and we all need to send a message loud and clear… a message that says we demand better from our elected leaders… that’s why Scott and I hope that you will join us in voting for a change in 'course on November 7th… the country needs it.

The Weekly Rewind

We had a Rewind posted last week, but somewhere between Scott hitting ‘post’ and it showing on the ‘the tubes’ of the internet, Blogger (who bites it), lost the entire post…

So here’s this week’s… hopefully… if it gets lost, we left a trail of breadcrumbs for it to find its way back…

Applaud: to the masses. According to a new CNN poll, nearly half of all Americans think most members of Congress are corrupt (well, duh). This reflects a 12% rise since the start of 2006.

Heckle: to Bill “Whack-job” O’Reilly. Earlier this week on his radio show he stated that abortion is “never the case” that a “mother’s life is in danger” because one could “always have a C-section”… (What a tool…)

Applaud: to MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. Earlies this week he addressed “President” Bush’s (false) claim that detainees will be able to “hear all the evidence against them” by stating: “Your words are lies, Sir. They are lies, that imperil us all.” (Wonderfully put Keith. Notice: if you’re a Liberal, Democrat, Progressive or simply if you’re not a lemming, and you don’t listen to Keith, you really should. He’s saying what we’re all thinking and he’s using an ever-growing audience to get that message out… we now leave this commercial break for our regularly-scheduled snark…

Heckle: to the death of habeas corpus. Sadly, what more can be said that hasn’t already been said (and ignored) by the right??

Applaud: to more screws turning tighter on more republican congressmen. Word came out this past week that federal agents are investigating ties between Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) and Bogoljub Karic, who is a “wealthy Serbian businessman” who has close ties to former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.” (Well, in Mr. Weldon’s defense… he’s just folling the herd off the cliff…)

Heckle: to what could very well be the dumbest quote about Iraq from Dick Cheney ever: “If you look at the general overall situation [in Iraq], they're doing remarkably well.” (Sorry Dick, I have a feeling if you ask the Iraqis they would have a very different answer. Wake up and smell the failure nimrod…)

Minor-Applaud: The Bush Administration (finally getting to the self-evident point we all saw months ago) declared its intentions earlier this week to rethink Iraq policy. I could say more, but it’s just easier to point you to articles by the Washington Post, the New York Times, the L.A. Times , and the Wall Street Journal.

Applaud: to a federal judge who ruled that records of who visited Dick Cheney's house and office must be released. (Truthfully, knowing what type of person he is… I don’t think I really want to know what he does in the comfort of his house and office… ewwwwwww….)

Heckle:to continuing problems and issues with Blogger that make it extremely difficult to post anything at times... like today.

That's it.

Take 'em as you will...

War on the Middle Class

What, Scott is actually posting and it’s not a weekend! That’s right, I am. Things have been fairly interesting in my life as a single parent, however I will not foist my thoughts and issues of that part of my life upon you in this forum. I will attempt to do some summarizing on my other blog. But I digress…..

Ok, we are approximately 3 weeks away from the mid-terms and drawing upon that fact is a man that we here at TBWA have come to think of as representing a good deal of (dare we say..) Common Sense; Lou Dobbs.

Mr. Dobbs has repeatedly shown himself to be someone who does not merely roll along with the status-quo (Kemp's note: or act like a lemming as I always say... back to you Scott) but takes a stand and challenges the close-minded elite class that has taken up long term (so far) residence in our nations capital.

Today I present to you an article from CNN in which Mr. Dobbs raises, once again, the issue of the battle being waged against the ‘middle-class’ in this country, which also happens to make up the majority of the population. I am placing the article here in it’s entirety in case the link was to become bad.

By Lou Dobbs - CNN.com

"War on the Middle Class" is the title of my new book and our special report on CNN. Wednesday we broadcast live from the front lines of this all-out war, and we talked to American families facing the tough issues that are all but being ignored by our elected officials in Washington. Our middle class is the largest group of people in the country, but they are also the least represented in our nation's capital.

It's been a tough decade for the American middle class, which has been experiencing stagnant wages in the face of rapidly increasing costs for health care and prescription drugs, soaring energy prices and escalating tuition costs. But worst of all, the middle class is up against a Congress that is driven by powerful corporations and dominant special interests.

We were excited to give the middle-class families participating in Wednesday's town hall meeting in Kansas City a voice, because all too often they are simply ignored by their elected officials and the national media.

I looked forward to hearing from people like Mary in Louisiana, who wrote our broadcast to tell us, "The two parties in power really don't represent me any longer and haven't for quite some time. I write letters to my representatives almost daily, and only occasionally do I get a reply. It's obvious that I don't matter to these people. It's definitely time for a voter revolution in this country."

Bob in Louisiana is also fed up with our leaders in Washington, and I suspect he has more than a little company. Bob wrote: "What ever happened to the concept in which politicians were elected to do the will of the people? Regardless of what the polls show the American people want done, it seems our brilliant elected officials always find a way to do just the opposite. What part of 'of the people, by the people, and for the people' don't they understand?"

It seems the best way to ensure prosperity in this country is to run for office, said B.L. in Michigan: "I wish like our members of Congress, I could supposedly work 80 days out of the year, vacation the rest of the year and still get a substantial raise, health benefits and a nice retirement package. If they had to eke out a living like most of us Americans, they might decide to cater to their constituents rather than the lobbyists and big corporations."

Congress has passed too many laws over the past few years contrary to the interests of the citizens they represent. One has to look no further than the bankruptcy bill, which was all but written by the credit card companies. Decisions like that led Jerry in Georgia to look forward to our elected officials leaving Washington to take another vacation: "The way I see it, Congress going home...is the equivalent of a cease-fire in the War on the Middle Class."

When our representatives are actually in session, they're constantly at odds with the will of the people. There's been no Congressional action on raising the minimum wage since 1997, and inflation has eroded wages as a result. The minimum wage in the 21st century now stands at its lowest level since 1955, according to the Economic Policy Institute and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Sean in North Carolina responded to my bringing up this issue by saying, "Lou, while I appreciate your support of an increase in the minimum wage, isn't it about time we institute a maximum wage in this country? Corporate America must be getting hernias by now from hauling away all the loot. When is enough enough?"

Daniel in Florida says, "I think the Senate pay should be directly related to the average pay of the middle class. If we go down, they go down, too."

What about the parents of our brave men and women in uniform fighting to preserve our values and freedoms? Paula in Texas said, "Lou, can you tell me why I should not be outraged to find out that my son and his fellow military personnel are receiving the lowest 2.2 percent pay raise for their efforts in Iraq, and yet the grand ol' body in Congress passes a hidden expense of $20 million for a 2007 Victory party for the successes in Afghanistan and Iraq? Now that is just an outrage. My son just returned from Iraq and I pray he doesn't have to go back. He might miss the party."

Finally, James in Idaho is thinking the unthinkable: "The middle class is a purposeful construct, a buffer keeping the poor from the throats of the rich. The continued destruction of the middle class will result in class warfare, social strife, social revolution in our country, if the trend is not reversed."

Voter turnout for this year's midterm primary elections fell to the lowest level for any midterm election in American history. I hope the working men and women and their families you watched and heard in our town hall meeting will inspire you to raise the number of votes counted on November 7.

I know that many of our loyal readers have similar thoughts to the opinions quoted in this article, I hope you will continue to question the status-quo and go the polls on November 7th. Since you’re going, why not bring a friend?

Be good, stay informed….later

President Obama?

Having done just about everything that the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) has asked him to do – like traveling to 20 or 30 states this year to drum-up support for Democratic candidates, Junior Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) is quietly wondering about his answer to something that has become the million dollar question for the 2008 Presidential election:

Will he (Obama) run?

Currently in the midst of a national tour to tout his new book, “The Audacity of Hope,” Obama has been quietly examining whether to run for president in 2008 or not while at the same time reaching out to Democratic operatives and measuring the effect of a presidential run would have on his wife and children.

According to an article published in today’s Chicago Tribune entitled “Obama dips toe in 2008 waters” (online subscription needed), Sen. Obama has been “constantly calling” Democratic Strategist (and Al Gore’s 2000 campaign manager) Donna Brazile and “checking the water.”

Brazile went on to say that Obama has “gotten the presidential bug bite," and that she is scheduled to talk politics with Obama shortly after next month’s Mid-terms.

Adding fuel to the speculation fire, Time magazine devoted a cover story in recent weeks with the headline "Why Barack Obama Could Be the Next President."

Sure, Obama has been pussyfooting around any questions about a possible presidential bid since arriving in the Senate two years ago and for the last few months he has remained focused solely on helping the Democrats obtain a majority in the House and Senate in next month’s elections.

End of story, right?

Well… not so much.

Let’s look at what could be the most telling piece of evidence of his shifting thoughts, a vague, and yet still encouraging, statement that he gave when someone asked him if he would think about a run for the presidency after the November elections:

“When the election is over and my book tour is done, I will think about how I can be most useful to the country and how I can reconcile that with being a good dad and a good husband. … I haven't completely decided or unraveled that puzzle yet."

Sure, there will always be the chatter about his “lack of experience”, but I tend to agree with Huffington Post scribe Richard Greene, who stated: “It should be remembered that there was a rather young Governor with zero national or international experience who made the argument that one could and would surround themselves with people of great experience in those areas.”

And he did a damn good job… stories of cigars and red dresses notwishstanding.

Can’t we have the same hope for Obama?

I do...

Political 'Ph'unnies

Do you all want a good laugh? Then check out Radar magazine as they have named their “Top Ten Dumbest Congressmen”, and it’s chock-full of bipartisan goodness.

EDITOR'S UPDATE: Rolling Stone magazine has a list of the "Top Ten Worst Congressman"... it's also chock-full of bipartisan goodness.

The Week Ahead

It’s Monday… don’t ask what happened to this week’s Rewind. It was lost to the cosmos in an unfortunate on-line accident… these things happen.

If you’re going through the ‘dt’s because of a lack of a rewind, here’s this week’s Week Ahead to pacify you… enjoy!

• North Korea… nukes… ‘nuff said.
• Keep in mind that in just under 24 hours, the U.S. population will hit the 300,000,000 milestone. It’s predicted by the Census Bureau to hit tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:46 am CT…
• Did you know that the U.S. Coast Guard has proposed to use certain areas of the Great Lakes as “permanent, live fire shooting zones” for training on some of their new weapins… including a 7.62 mm weapon that can blast as many as 650 rounds a minute and send fire more than 4,000 yards… (What could possibly go wrong???)
• Pay attention as more sheep come in from the cold as two republican senators, Chuck Hagel (R-NB) and John Warner (R-VA), are calling for new strategies regarding Iraq, with each saying the situation is getting worse and that is leaving the U.S. with few options. It should also be noted that Hagel, who just recently returned from an Iraq visit, said that Iraq was “drifting sideways.” (Always good to see sheep stray from the flock… isn’t it?)
• Keep an eye on the Illinois Governor’s Race between incumbent Rod Blagojevich (D) and challenger Judy Baar Topinka (R). Why? Because the voter’s don’t really like either candidate, but they know they have to vote for someone, so they’re more likely sticking with the incumbent. (I’ve been saying for months that this race is the epitome of the lesser of two evils… even more so than the 2004 Presidential race...)
• Pay attention as the Iraq Study Group is considering two main options: One is “withdrawing American troops in phases” and another option being to bring Iran and Syria into the country in a joint effort to stop the fighting. When asked about U.S. policy, one group participant stated that the plan is NOT “going to be ‘stay the course,’ ”
• Keep an eye on your civil liberties (lest they be taken away) as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argued that nothing in the Constitution supports abortion rights or affirmative action. He then warned (rather ominously) that “someday, you’re going to get a very conservative Supreme Court and regret that approach,” (Wow… when a Supreme Court justice starts to make threats, you know our country has gotten WAY off-track…)
• Keep tabs on House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and his blood pressure as both could blow through the roof any day...
• Pay attention as the mid-terms (and White House delusions of granduer) get ever-closer...

Take ‘em as you will...

Random Political Thoughts for a Thursday Afternoon

Where the hell did Wednesday go??

Anyhow, here ya go…

Money. According to the Commerce Department, as energy prices rose and a shortfall with China reached an all-time high, the U.S. trade deficit widened to a record $70 billion in August. (Color me unsurprised)

Hope. 70% of Americans are doing something they’ve never done before: discussing politics with family and friends. (Wait, that isn’t normal??) Experts say that the interested of U.S. voters is “at its highest level in more than a decade.” (Why? Two words: Dub. Ya.)

Obvious. For the first time since the 9/11 attacks, more Americans (36% to be exact) believe that the terrorists are the ones winning the “war on terror”, with 31% saying the U.S. and its allies are and 22% say neither side is winning. (Rather sad isn’t it? And yet, this administration has done what it’s always done… ignored the people and ignored the facts… January 2008 can not come fast enough.)

Numbers. The number of Iraqis who have died since March 2003 has hit 655,000, with a study at Johns Hopkins University finding a “steady increase in mortality” since we invaded the country and an even-steeper rise within the last year. (But they’re not in a civil war… no sirree….)

Blame. Never one to admit their own mistakes, the Bush administration has blamed U.S. intelligence agencies for all North Korea policy failures with White House officials telling the Washington Times that classified assessments stated: “Pyongyang did not have nuclear arms and until recently was bluffing about plans for a test.” (Sigh…)

Two-faced. A new book by ex on faith-based issues special assistant David Kuo states that Karl Rove is two-faced… (like you needed a book to tell you that…) and that he often referred to evangelical leaders as “the nuts.

Idiot. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) tried to make his case for why “President” Bush should resume depicting the war in Iraq as part of a larger struggle against “Islamic fascism” by stating in an interview: “I don’t care if we offend our allies in the Middle East.” (Cause that strategy always works… offend our allies, piss them off, so when we need their help, they’re nowhere to be found… the man is a fuc**** moron…)

XX gop heavyweaight James Baker's Iraq policy commission has arrived at a (somewhat obvious) conclusion and have ruled out the prospect of victory for America in Iraq. (This isn’t some Liberal politician or Liberal blogger saying this… it’s James Baker…an underling to President’s Reagan, Bush Sr. and Dumbya… and he’s saying victory ain’t gonna happen… what the hell does this administration need to see to realize that???)

Shock. Former Democrat Presidential nominee front-runner Mark Warner isn’t going to run for president in 2008. (Shit… that doesn’t mean Hillary is the front-runner, does it???)

Kos. Kos thinks Kentucky Democratic congressional candidate Mike Weaver is an idiot… and after reading Weaver’s comments I have to agree with Kos; the man is a moronic imbecile…

All I have, take ‘em as you will…

How's that Axis of Evil working for ya W?

Remember the “Axis of Evil” rhetoric that Bush spewed in a State of the Union address a few years ago… there were three nations that the U.S. needed to monitor as they were breeding terrorists and such.

Do you remember what those three countries were?

Iraq. Iran. North Korea.

One of these countries is in civil war…

One is developing nuclear technology…

And one just exploded a nuclear weapon earlier this week (assuming they're not lying in order to test world reaction)

Now comes an article, an analysis is probably a more apt description, in today’s Washington Post that speaks of how Bush's axis of evil "is coming back to haunt him" (and maybe haunt the gop and put more harm on them next month…)

Specifically, it speaks to how U.S. relationships have deteriorated with each of the countries that are part of the axis.

Here’s a handy-dandy excerpt:

Nearly five years after President Bush introduced the concept of an "axis of evil" comprising Iraq, Iran and North Korea, the administration has reached a crisis point with each nation: North Korea has claimed it conducted its first nuclear test, Iran refuses to halt its uranium-enrichment program, and Iraq appears to be tipping into a civil war. . .

Despite Bush's idiotic, and way off the mark, rhetoric that Liberals are weak on terrorism, let’s face facts: it’s Bush and his cronies (read: party) that’s been weakening our diplomatic relations around the globe and, ultimately, turned a blind eye towards North Korea and Iran.

(You remember Iran right – the country that continues its uranium enrichment program, thumbing its collective noses at empty threats from the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world.)
With all his attention (and I use that term very loosely) on Iraq, he’s allowed the other two countries in the “Axis” to build themselves up and become more dominant.

How will this scenario end you ask…

I wish I knew...

The Week Ahead

Yes, it’s Monday. Columbus Day.

Which also means it’s time for The Week Ahead…

• Awwwww crap… pay a LOT of attention to North Korea as they may have detonated a nuclear device (especially since our “fearless” leader didn’t understand why he should worry about North Korea at all…) Everyone panic in four, three, two…
• Keep an eye on Dubya’s sanity. Yesterday, former Sr. Bush crony James Baker, (the Republican co-chairman of a bipartisan panel re-assessing Iraq strategy for Bush) stated that he “absolutely agrees” with the sentiments expressed by Sen. John Warner (R-VA) of setting a timetable for are redeployment from Iraq. (When a gop crony like Baker starts to disagree with you, you know you’re in deep…)
• Pay attention to Keith Olbermann. Why? For calling Bush out with this perfect quote” “Why has the ferocity of your venom against the Democrats now exceeded the ferocity of your venom against the terrorists?” Well said Keith, very well said…
• Keep an eye on Mark Foley… besides for the obvious reasons his fall from grace may be an ominous sign of things to come for the gop and a promising sign of things to come for the Dems… at least it will be unless the Dems somehow screw it up… again…
• Pay heed as a new Newsweek poll, released this past Saturday, showed President Bush's approval rating at 33%, which is a “new all-time low” for that poll. If this blog had tags, “Obvious” would be attached to this item…
• Pay attention as the races for several contested seats start to reach a boiling point. Some key races to watch (each one featuring one candidate – the republican – who seems to be crazy as a fuc**** loon): Allen* vs. Webb, Talent* vs. McCaskill, Harris* vs. Nelson, Reynolds* vs. Davis, (* denotes the crazy one)
• Keep an eye on Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s (R) sanity as he whines complains from prison about how the press has been treating him since he was found guilty of corruption. Uh, okay… maybe someone should send the ex-Senator that he was found guilty of a crime and is in jail… not daycare… for breaking the law. Dumbass…
• THIS STORY is sad and depressing. Please read it and then let your voices be heard. If you want to read more about women in Iran being stoned to death and how you might be able to help, then read THIS and THIS.
• Don’t let House Speaker Dennis Hastert out of your sight for a moment… though the majority of Americans want him to disappear. According to a CNN poll, 52% believe the Foley scandal should cost House Speaker Dennis Hastert his leadership post. With 31% saying he should stay, and 17% being idiots having no opinion. This comes at the same time as a handful of conservative papers calling for Hastert to step down.

That’s all I have, take ‘em as you will…

The Weekly Rewind

It’s the end of yet another week. The mid-terms are fast approaching, Iraq is falling into further chaos and danger, and the gop is acting like… well… like the gop.

Not many posts this week as Scott was uber-busy with work and I had a family emergency/tragedy occur in my family and was out of town… but no matter, we’ve made a return for this week’s Weekly Rewind.

Applaud: to a new record set by the Dow Jones Industrial average, which closed at 11,727.34 earlier this week, besting a record that had been held since January 2000, though. We’ll ignore the fact that if inflation is taken into account, the Dow would still have to go up another 2,150 points before it beats the “all-time high.” (Nevermind that ‘all time high’ jazz… in this day and age, considering who’s in charge in DC, good news is good news. Drinks are on me…)

Heckle: to Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL)… do I really need to tell you why???

Applaud: to approval ratings that, after enjoying a slight (and do I mean slight) uptick, are tumbling downward again. According to a new Time magazine poll, “President” Bush’s ratings have fallen from 38% in August to 36%. (I’ve always been a firm believer in not kicking a man while he’s down, so I’ll refrain from saying anything now… )

Heckle: to ignoring the warning signs. Months before the 9/11 attacks, both Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft received a CIA briefing about an imminent al-Qaeda strike on America. (I’m not going to say anything except: Take that news as you will…)

Applaud: to more approval rating numbers according to a new NBC/WSJ poll and reflect a drop of three points since September… to 39%. (Couldn’t resist breaking this news out into 2 separate applauds…)

Heckle: to obviously not learning a lesson from mistakes in the past. Tucked away in last week’s homeland security bill was a law, passed by Congress, that established new job qualifications for the FEMA director. The new law requires a candidate who has “a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management” as well as stating they must have “not less than five years of executive leadership.” Commander Cuckoo Bananas signed it… hours later Dumbya issued a signed statement that said he could ignore the new restrictions. (Some people never learn… though it must be nice to be above every law in the land…)

Applaud: to repubican Senator John Warner (R-VA) for boldy stating, after a week in Iraq, that if “this level of violence is not under control and this government able to function” in two or three months, then the US government (and the Bush Administration) needs to ask if a “change of course” is due.

Tilted Applaud: to Bob “Waffle” Woodward and his new book that isn’t very kind to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The book describes him as “an arrogant, indecisive bumbler who won’t take responsibility for his mistakes — or even admit any.” (And this is different from every other Bush cabinet member… how???)

Heckle: to once again not learning a lesson from mistakes in the past. A new Justice Department report from the Inspector General says the federal Bureau of Prisons “does not read all the mail for terrorist and other high-risk inmates on its mail monitoring lists.” (Lovely…)

Applaud: to Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, who wrote a letter to CIA Director Michael Hayden requesting that a document that describes a “grim” picture of the situation in Iraq (and that she says is being suppressed by the Bush administration) be declassified. (The odds of the document seeing the light of day are slim, but isn’t it nice to see someone doing something?)

<b>Heckle: to Senate Majority Leader Bill “You can call me Dr.” Frist (R-TN) who wants to put the Taliban back in power as he urged support for efforts to bring “people who call themselves Taliban” and their allies into the government. (Brilliant thought there Bill… ya dumbass…)

Forced Applaud: Good news everyone, an Appeals Court in Cincinnati ruled that the government can continue to use its warrantless domestic wiretap program pending the Justice Department’s appeal of a federal judge’s ruling outlawing the program. (See that Mr. Pentagon guys… we at TBWA think it’s a good idea…)

Heckle: North Korea said earlier this past week that they will conduct a nuclear test to bolster its self-defense capability while world leaders “acted with alarm.” (I have really got to finish that bomb shelter…)

Applaud? Heckle? You decide… The Supreme Court began its term this past Monday… let’s just hope they do more than Congress did…

Heckle: to Wal-Mart for their attempts to make a cheaper, more flexible work force by capping wages, using more part-time workers and scheduling more workers on nights and weekends.” (I offer a new slogan for Wal Mart: “Buy American… and screw the American worker”)

Heckle: to once again not learning a lesson from mistakes in the past. British commandos in southeastern Iraq have “found nothing to support” the Bush Administration’s belief that Iran is providing weapons and training in Iraq. (Do ya think Georgie Boy cares?? It’s like Iraq all over again…)

Heckle: and sure to be on the discount rack before you know it, former Attorney General John Ashcroft is writing his memoirs. (I’ll just leave you to ponder that one on your own…

And for those of you not catching it, I was being sarcastic and snarky when I gave an applaud to the domestic wiretap program…

Quite a few more heckles than applauds this week… as my mood indicates…

It’s been a long and tough week for me, so I’ll bid you all adieu and, as always…

Take ‘em as you will...