Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon

It’s Wednesday, and tonight “President” Bush unveils his “New Way Forward” strategy for Iraq.
(Aside: Am I the only one who thinks ‘new way forward’ sounds like some crappy, 1980’s ‘do it yourself’ mantra? Who else could see Stuart Smiley saying that??)

Being Wednesday, it also means it’s time for “Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon” to make its 2007 premiere. Enjoy.

Modern major generals need not apply. When President Bush speaks to the American people tonight and outlines his new “strategy” for Iraq, he will be ordering the top military brass to take actions that they advised against. Apparently, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have long opposed the increase in troops as well. (Which is good… what with Dubya’s years and years of military planning experience. Ignore the generals and do what I want seems to be Bush’s mantra now… don’t you feel safe?)

Eyes are opening? Granted, the Associated Press (New slogan: All the News that’s fit to print… unless it upsets our republican overlords”) has tried to work around the facts in the article, but someone has finally noticed that job growth under Bush… well… it… kinda sucks…actually, it totally sucks. Under Bush, the economy produced 3.7 million new jobs from January 2001 through December of last year based on non-farm payroll figures collected by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. What this means is that the U.S. economy has created less jobs under Bush than it had by the same point in the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton (For those of you scoring at home – or even if you’re alone – when Bubba was in the White House, the economy generated 17.6 million jobs during the corresponding period. When Grecian Formula was in the Oval Office, 9.5 million jobs were created… I love statistics that make my point so succinctly…)

I’ll believe it when I see it. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), the new chairman of the Senate Banking Committee has “vowed to crack down on ‘outrageous’ credit card fees” and the lying-ass (my word, not his) lenders that target certain demographics. (That’s all fine and good, but as I said in the title of this thought; I’ll believe it when I see it)

Screw nature? As quietly as Elmer Fudd hunting Bugs Bunny, “President” Bush lifted the drilling ban on Alaska’s Bristol Bay yesterday (Tuesday). This essentially clears the way for the Department of the Interior to open the waters for oil and natural gas development. (Nice… I don’t even know where to begin…)

Op-Ed Piece of the Week. This week, the honorific goes to Molly Ivin’s and her column; “It's up to us to stop this war” if for no other reason than the first line; “The president of the United States does not have the sense God gave a duck.” (Priceless and classic stuff… and a definite must-read)

Can we say; Ironic? Ex-senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) has himself a new job, and it’s ripe with irony. He’s now a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, (which is ironic in and of itself) and is in charge of a program entitled “America’s Enemies” whose focus is the “identifying, studying, and heightening awareness” of the myriad of threats posed to America. (Sometimes… the smart-ass comments just write themselves)

Checks & Balances, what checks & balances? White House Press Secretary Tony “Rhymes with Blow” Snow told a gaggle of press yesterday that even though Congress had funding control over the Iraq war, “the president could ultimately do what he wants” and that Bush “has the ability to exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way.” (Good to know that Bush can ignore all those checks and balances and Constitutional ‘hang-ups’, isn’t it? I seriously do worry about the future of this country with this man in charge…)

Is it hot on earth, or is it just me? According to the National Climatic Data Center, 2006 was the warmest in the continental United States in the past 112 years, and that statistic caps a nine-year warming streak that is “unprecedented in the historical record.” The cause… well, that’s where we get into some interesting territory. Per the experts at the NCDC, the cause was “driven by the burning of fossil fuels.” (But… I thought global warming was a myth and that Al Gore was lying… I. Don’t. Know. What. To. Believe…Oh wait, I have a brain and I’m Liberal so I believe in Global Warming. With this news I can say; suck it conservatives…)

Was it really that easy? Congressional Democrats, backed by a plethora of party-line-crossing Republicans, voted 299 to 128 yesterday to approved legislation that would implement quite a few of the remaining recommendations of the 9/11 commission. (Granted, it faces a tougher road in the Senate, but isn’t it nice to see the Dems actually do something… something that was promised in its much-ballyhooed “100 hours” agenda. It kinda makes me proud to be a Democrat… let’s hope they keep it up…)

There goes the judge, there goes the judge. The Bush administration withdrew four of its nominees to the federal appellate bench earlier this week. Why you ask, because the Dems control the Senate Judiciary Committee now and the four who were withdrawn were… how do I say this… were more to the right than the Kaiser. So already our controlling the Senate is paying off. Brings a smile to your face, doesn’t it?

Is it really that slow of a news day? Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) went swimming in Hawaii and took his shirt off… okay… and the news portion of this is what? That someone went swimming and took their shirt off? I think millions of people do that every day. This is news… why???

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