Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday

Short collection of random thoughts today… must be my lack of coffee, which I have given-up for Lent… which leads me to ask; ‘What the hell was I thinking’???

Anyway… enjoy some random political thoughts…

Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics. According to a CNN poll, 9% of Americans believe things are going well in Iraq with 46% thinking that the United States will win. (First of all, who the HELL are these 9% that think things are going well?? I would really like to meet them so I could either ask them what the hell is wrong with them or, at the least, smack them over the head with a 2 X 4 to slap some sense into them…)

Running Mates. Dick Cheney’s favorability rating is 18%… as Ana Marie Cox, the original Wonkette, said: “If he had feelings, I’m sure they’d be hurt by this.” Tom DeFrank of the NY Daily News puts an interesting spin on the story when he wrote that “Cheney may be an overall net political minus, but he’s a huge asset where it counts most for Bush: the Republican base, which adores Cheney. Bush’s approval numbers are at 30%, roughly the same size as his base. If Cheney left, this weakened President couldn’t absorb the backlash. They’re all he has left.” (Hmmmmmm…verrrrryyyy interesting…)

War Crimes. According to a new CBS/NY Times poll, 78% of Americans don’t think that the Bush(whacked) Administration has “done enough to care for [Iraq war] veterans,”, with a majority of polled republicans “agreeing with all Americans overall on this issue.” (And this should come as a surprise….why?)

Posse Comitatus. The Pentagon has (finally!) started on plans on a “fallback strategy for Iraq” that includes a gradual withdrawal of forces with a renewed emphasis on training Iraqi fighters… all this just in case the President’s escalation strategy fails (which I believe is a pretty safe bet) Military experts say the new strategy is in line with the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and partially based on the “U.S. experience in El Salvador” in the 1980s… cuz that went oh, so well…

The Fall’s Gonna Kill You. Let’s see… AG Alberto Gonzales’ chief of staff Kyle Sampson resigns as he was involved in generating the list of prosecutors that got the axe… Gonzales admits mistakes but insists he will not resign… unless Dubya decides otherwise… all the while ignoring calls for his resignation or dismissal… the White House is trying to spin the story to break their way… (Is it just me, or does this sound like it was written by a group of bad soap opera writers??)

The War At Home. A new federal rule aimed at keeping illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid has instead prevented thousands of US citizens getting Medicaid because they’ve had difficulty providing birth certificates or other documents that would prove their citizenship… (Too bad there wasn’t a group of people who could have said that that would happen ’if this bill was passed… oh, wait… there was. The key to stopping illegal immigration is not to cut off funding of certain things because, as history has told us many, many, many times… it NEVER works. Mo. Rons.)

Gone Quiet. Salon is reporting that the US military is “deploying troops with serious injuries” and other medical problems (all because of Bush’s escalation plan). Some of the GIs are medically unfit for battle according to their doctors, and some are too injured to even wear their body armor… reading all this, and yet it’s the Democrat’s that are always accused of not caring about or respecting our military… to that I say; give me a fucking break. This is more proof of how little the Bush(whacked) Administration cares about our military… and yet no one is reporting about it… I wonder why??

Internal Displacement. How about that… a glimmer of hope from within the White House. It seems some internal White House staffers are calling on President Bush to uphold his pledge to “have the highest of high standards” when it comes to granting pardons. One former White House staffer told Newsweek, “What you saw was a vice president’s office that was out of control.”

Privateers. We all know that Halliburton is moving their base of operations from the U.S. to Dubai, and while many people have questions, Senate Commerce Committee member Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is actually asking them. “I want to know, is Halliburton trying to run away from bad publicity on their contracts? Are they trying to run away from the obligation to pay U.S. taxes? Or are they trying to set up a corporate presence in Dubai so that they can avoid the restrictions that currently exist on doing business with prohibited countries like Iran?” (I think there is only one possible answer; all of the above Something needs to be done in regards to this latest move by a company that has screwed the country with its pants on many times… but, with Cheney still being in bed with the company – nothing will… and that’s just sad…)

All I have, take ‘em as you will…