The Weekly Rewind

Today’s post takes place between 5:00 pm and 5:15 pm...

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Sorry, I’ve apparently been watching too much “24”.

It’s Friday, and we all know what that means… it’s time for Blog of the Week winner; The "Bush"-Whacked Administration’s ‘Weekly Rewind.’

So sit back… relax… and allow us to wrap-up the week that was in the world of poltics…

Applaud: to funny news items. According to ABC’s he Blotter’: If the jury finds Scooter Libby guilty it could spur Fitz and his merry band of investigators to “explore further whether Cheney was involved in conspiring to obstruct justice.” (Wait a minute… can the Prince of Darkness really be investigated??)

Heckle: to spinning statistics that shouldn’t be spun. A government audit found that a majority of the statistics on terrorism cases from the Justice Department are “highly inaccurate” and they routinely counted cases that involved “drug trafficking, marriage fraud and other unrelated crimes.” (Foregoing any of the standard marriage jokes, this is just wrong. We are talking about terrorism here, and we should only be counting the true cases of terrorism – not using things that aren’t terrosim-related just to pad the statistics)

Applaud: to the Pandering of the Week from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Earlier this week the Senator said that he would rate the Bush(whacked) administraion’s record on Global Warming as “terrible,” and was “very happy to see the president mention global warming and a renewed commitment from the administration to this issue.” He then added a curt, “It’s long overdue.” (I know, I know… applauding him for pandering is bad… but it’s more so an applaud of the snark than the act itself. After all, with all his pandering, McCain is proving himself to be quite un-electable..)

Heckle: to this sobering statistic from the National Health Statistics Group: U.S. spending on health care is “expected to double to $4.1 trillion over the next decade” with health insurance premiums expecting to rise 6% annually as well.

Hopeful Applaud: to Army Vice Chief of Staff Richard Cody, who stated earlier this week that he will “take responsibility” and will make sure that all problems are fixed at the hospital. (Let’s hope problems are fixed and changes are made… our brave men and women deserve better care and better residance)

Heckle: to news that, somehow, doesn’t take me by surprise. According to a stufy done by Mother Jones, the “rate of fatal terrorist attacks around the world,” along with the “number of people killed in those attacks” has “increased dramatically after the invasion of Iraq.” Even if you discount terrorist acts in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the study did, there was still a “35% rise in the number of attacks and a 12% rise in fatalities.” (Color me; not surprised.)

Applaud: to UK lame-duck Prime Minister Tony Blair. Since he’s a lame-duck now, he’s seemingly cleaning his conscience. Days after announcing that the UK would be going againt the White House and withdrawing some of its troops, he continued to show his own will yesterday when he “declared himself at odds with hawks in the US Administration” over Iran, telling BBC News, “I can’t think that it would be right to take military action against Iran. What is important is to pursue the political, diplomatic channel.” (What’s that saying; ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ Apparently Blair has finally grown himself some balls realized that Bush lied about Iraq – welcome to the Club Mr. Blair, we’ve got jackets – and he is NOT going to let that happen again. Mark my words, everytime Blair opens his mouth from now until he leaves office will be against whatever Bush may be proposing)

Heckle: to, once again, something that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Even though the Bush(whacked) administration swears that it’s not considering military action against Iran, the BBC reports that US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran “extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country’s military infrastructure.” (But we’re not considering military action… just like we exhausted all avenues of diplomacy towards Iraq… and if you believe that, I have a bridge to seel you in Florida. Good traffic, mostly drug smugglers, but )

Applaud: to targeting the proper demographic. According to a new study by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), Ballot initiatives for increasing the minimum wage boosted “voter motivation in five targeted states in 2006.” The study went on to say that voter motivation and reported interest in the election was “disproportionately high” among African-Americans, unmarried voters and women. (And with Senate Finance Committee member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) saying that he may block the recently passed minimum wage bill unless a larger tax cut package is included, the Democrats should continue to reap the rewards for republican idiocy and hypocrisy. Now, if only the Democrats can unite and stop arguing like toddlers, we’d be golden)

Heckle: to “revolving doors” (no, this isn’t about Michael Dukakis’s 1988 crime plan) Remember those 39 lawmakers who got booted out of office last November? Seems that five of the 39 are now at firms that lobby Congress including Sen. Conrad “Don’t Call me Monty” Burns (R-MT), who just last year said that “Congress is not for sale.” (Hey Congreess, that ‘revolving door’ lobbying restriction is working really well… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)

Half-hearted Applaud: to Rep. Thomas M. Davis (R-VA), the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Applauds for ripping the army a new one earlier this week when he released a statement that said the army has known for years about “shortcomings at Walter Reed” but did nothing. The applaud is half-hearted because, being a member of Oversight, don’t you think he would have known about this before… and maybe he could have done something?? But obviously, that’s merely conjecture…

Heckle: to Rush “Drug Mule” Limbaugh. The conservative blow-hard radio host said on his program earlier this week: “If we launched attacks on Iran and Syria today and went heavy metal, pedal-to-the-wall, this country would be cheering. The Democrats and the media would be in panic, but the people in this country would be cheering.” (Okay, first of all, Limbaugh wouldn’t know what the people in this country wanted if it came up and bit him on his fat ass… second, the people in this country have clearly shown that they don’t want the U.S. to attack Iran, at least not yet… and third, Limbaugh needs to stop wearing his rose-colored-conservative glasses long enough to see what is going on in this country. A change is coming… God willing…)

Applaud: to what I am sure is more Dog and Pony show theatrics, but the fact they’re doing it is still a sign of hope. A few Senate Democrats are going to unveil a plan next week that will aim to repeal the 2002 Iraq war resolution. (Ok, it probably is all for show, but still… it could work. This is something to definitely keep an eye on next week…)

Heckle: to Vice President Dick “Bunker King” Cheney. When he was asked about Tony Blair’s announcement that the U.K. will cut troop levels in Iraq by 1,600, Cheney said the move was “actually good news and a sign of progress in Iraq.” Never mind the fact that a Pentagon report starkly contradicted the White House’s “rosy” rhetoric. (Noooooooo…. Cheney bent the truth???? I can’t believe that. After all, Cheney is a stand-up guy who never lies... Ow, I think I just rolled my eyes right out of my head…)

Applaud: to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who gave a “detailed and businesslike” summary of the prosecution’s case against Scooter Libby earlier this week that was a stark contrast of the summary of the defense laywer, Theodore Wells, who decided to go the “Drama Queen” route and countered with an “intensely emotional defense” complete with a crying episode at the end… (Who does Wells think he is, Judge Larry Seidlin?? Thank you, thank you… I’m here all week…)

Heckle: to Bush’s escalation plan. Because of his plan 14,000 National Guard troops will return to Iraq next year after seeing their time between deployments shortened in order to “meet the demands of President Bush’s buildup.” (Nice… just nice. I’m sure the troops and their families are thrilled by the prospect of having their time cut just so Bush can try to save his ass legacy…)

And finally...

Yesterday I wrote a post about the Obama/Clinton feud. Give it a read if you haven’t yet. As Democrats and Liberals, we need to send a message to the party that we need to stop the in-fighting, come up with a united front and do what we can, all of us, to defeat the republicans in 2008 and beyond. It’s a moral imperative…

Take ‘em as you will...