The Weekly Rewind

Rather lean week when it comes to reporting what’s happened in the world of politics… and there are definitely more ‘heckles’ than ‘applauds’ this week, let’s hope that that is not a start of a trend.

The Weekly Rewind starts…

Right now…

Applaud: to Molly Ivins. ‘nuff said.

Heckle: to a study released earlier this week by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO for you acronym-lovers out there) that shows the real troop increase associated with “President” Bush’s escalation could be as high as 48,000… which is more than double the 21,500 soldiers that Bush has claimed for all you suffering from arethemia.

Applaud: to telling it like it is. A new international climate report has revealed that there is little to no question that the increase in greenhouse gases are “dominated by human activities.” A White House official called the report “significant,” but didn’t say if it would alter “President” Bush’s “policy” (and I use that term loosely). (What exactly would it take for this administration and this president to accept that global warming is real? A blizzard to cover his ranch in Texas in the middle of July??)

Heckle: to concerns about another Iraq forming. According to US News, “Democrats on Capitol Hill are increasingly concerned that “President” Bush will order air strikes against targets in Iran in the next few months or even weeks.” (Repeat after me George, and I’ll use small words and go really slow: We. Can. Not. Get. Involved. Into. Another. War. At. This. Time. Now, write that on a chalkboard about 500 times and maybe, just maybe it will get through to you… though I doubt it. Does anyone in this country really think we can afford to get bogged down into another war/military campaign?? This is what keeps me up at night… well this and .)

Applaud: to calling it what it is. David Ignatius writes in an Op-Ed piece in the Washington Post that the Libby trial is exposing a “failed cover-up” by the White House. About times someone calls it what it is… now let’s see if anything actually happens to anyone involved…

Heckle: to idiots who don’t know when to stop. Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) says that universal health care is “socialist” and thinks that such a plan “would be a nightmare for America.” (Well, okay… ignroing the fact that 69% of Americans favor a universal health care system… what exactly is he getting involved in this discussion for? And for that matter, why the hell am I feeding into his ego like the media is and talking about it. The man lost and he’s still obsessing about it apparently. Here’s a nickel’s worth of free advice Rick; ‘STFU’)

Applaud: to Great Britain who has plans to put children on “the front line of the battle to save the planet.” How you ask? By making issues such as energy saving and recycling a compulsory part of the school curriculum. (Great to see some counry take an active role in teaching children about global warming… But… this being the week it is with more heckles than applauds, this applaud directly leads to a…

Heckle: In contrast with Great Britain, many U.S. schools are banning , Al Gore’s Oscar nominated global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth. (Nice…)

Applaud: to the Senate for (finally!) voting to increase the minimum wage. Granted, it includes $8.3 billion in tax cuts to small businesses., but that should help get the bill passed and, in the long run, should help small businesses (which in reality are part of the backbone of this country) cope with the much-needed raise. Way to go Senators! (I bet you won’t see me write that a lot…)

Heckle: to piss-poor “kickoffs”. Joe Biden (D-… how do you abbreviate Delaware exactly??) kicked off his 2008 presidential campaign earlier this week… and promptly stuck his foot in his mouth. How you ask? In explaining Barack Obama's (D-IL) appeal as a presidential candidate, he called him "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” I think the quote is an example of actually putting one’s foot into his mouth and nothing else, but at the least this should be a learning experience for Biden as he needs to realize that every single thing he says now is going to be scrutinized and put under a microscope and, in some instances, taken out of context… just ask John Kerry (D-MA).

Applaud: to “President” Bush. What!!?? Did you just read that right?? Did I just see you guys applauding Bush??Yes, you read that right, we at TBWA are applauding him for his budget calling for the “largest Pell Grant increase in three decades.” Granted, it was because there were proposals by both the House and Senate to raise it. (This is a good thing as the maximum Pell Grant has been stuck in neutral at $4,050 a year since 2002 and was lagging way-behind tuition increases and inflation.)

Heckle: to being inarticulate. “President” Bush said earlier this week that Sen. Obama (D-IL) has a “long way to go to be president” and then followed that by saying that Obama was, no lie, “articulate.” (Wait… where’s the moral outrage that the media had when Biden said it?? Why does most of the media in this country keep fellating Bush??? Give me a break…)

Applaud: to Federal Judge Reggie Walton for agreeing to let prosecutors show video clips of former White House stool pigeon Press Secretary, Scott McClellan telling reporters that Scooter Libby “had nothing to do” with leaking any information about Valerie Plame. (Nice job Judge, every little bit helps…)


Heckle: to ridiculous spin. White House spokesperson Dana Perino, while reacting to yesterday’s compromise between Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and John Warner (R-VA) on a resolution opposing escalation, said that the resolution would “send mixed signals to our troops and our enemy.” (First of all… the troops in Iraq aren’t in favor of an escalation, but once again the White House is ignoring them. Second, I’m not exacty sure what type of “mixed signal” this would be sending to our enemy’s, but it’s not a solid argument. I have an idea Dana, why don’t you stop spinning and start communicating… I’m just sayin’…)

Applaud: for doing something that they said they would do. Congressional leaders agreed earlier this week to a $463 billion spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year and stripped “all earmarks, or narrow, special-interest provisions” from the plan. (Wow… who would have thunk it? They actually did something to, at least, ebb the flow of pork… will wonders never cease?)

Heckle: to the U.S. for selling Cobra hellicopters to Pakistan. I’m sure this won’t come back to bite us in the ass at all…

Applaud: to Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) for making “significant progress” in his recovery. Keep it up Senator.

Heckle: to football cliches. Representative Heath Shuler (D-NC) a washed-up former football “player” is apparently a fan of tired, football-themed clichés now that he’s in Congress. He says that success in politics is about "teamwork" and "having the right playbook." He then went on to say that Iraqis need to “get off the sidelines” and act towards their freedom. Uh, Rep. Shuler… can you please try not to be like former Virginia republican Senator George “Always carrying a football in my hand to remind people that I use to be a football player” Allen and try to draw some more original analogies? Please… we’re begging you…

Applaud: to the best political headline via Fark this week: “Dennis Hastert has swollen and enflamed gall bladder removed. Which is understandable, because it certainly takes a lot of gall to claim a president who lied about a BJ deserves impeachment while one who lies us into a war doesn't.” (Nice… couldn’t have said it any better myself…)

Heckle: to toothless resolutions. As I said in this week’s Random Thoughts… maybe, just maybe this ‘toothless resolution’ will make some people think twice about this escalation disaster… one can only hope.

Heckle: to backpeddaling that is not likely to impact voter’s thoughts. Sen. John “polling numbers droppnig like Dubya’s” McCain (R-AZ) is backing away from his statements about Iraq now that he has seen that the very people he wants to serve don’t agree with him… way to backpedal there Senator… but be careful you don’t hit your ass…

Heckle: to the latest immigration fiasco. I don’t even know where to begin, so I implore you to read the article for yourself…

That’s all I have… take ‘em as you will and have a good weekend.