The Weekly Rewind

Friday… time for, well… you know. . Relax… and enjoy!

Applaud: to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who told “President” Bush to “calm down” earlier this week after Bush threatened to take his ball and go home crying to momma renewed his threat to veto legislation that would set a time line for withdrawal from Iraq. Said Pelosi: “Calm down with the threats. There is a new Congress in town. We respect your constitutional role; we want you to respect ours. This war must end. The American people have lost faith in the President’s conduct of the war. Let’s see how we can work together. This war is diminishing the strength of our military, not honoring our commitment to our veterans, and not holding the Iraqi government accountable.” (Well said Madam Speaker. Democrats, trying to raise the bar despite Bush setting it so damn low. He acts like a spoiled brat – which he is – and the Dems try to act like adults. This should end well…)

Heckle: to Karl Rove. Usually it would be just on general principles alone, but he’s been working under the radar the last few weeks and is driving a “bold, behind-the-scenes” push to ensure that “President” Bush will achieve at least one crucial policy victory in the last two years of his presidency; immigration reform. Under the plan that began to circulate around Capitol Hill Thursday, undocumented workers could apply for three-year work visas, which would cost $3,500 each time, the undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but in order to get a green card, they would have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and then pay a $10,000 fine… (I am split on the immigration issue, but I can say that these monetary amounts are obscenely high…

Applaud: to the American people. 59% of Americans want their congressional representative to support a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq by August 2008, with a scant 33% percent opposing…(That number is almost as dismal as the incredibly low – and seemingly idiotic – 36% that believe the escalation plan will work…)

Heckle: to even less time at home and a more-strained military. Air Force Gen. Lance Smith said earlier this week that if “President” Bush’s escalation goes beyond this summer, there would be a “high probability” that many Army units would have less than a year at home between combat rotations, further constricting the already limited time to train and the chance to “reconnect with families.” (Once again, the party that supposedly cares about the military shows the exact opposite…

Applaud: to the House of Representatives who unanimously voted to “improve the care of wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan,” by adding caseworkers and counselors to the military’s medical system.(About time…)

Heckle: to spin gone awry. This past Monday, on “Bill Bennett’s Morning in America” radio show, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) claimed that the U.S. “is beginning to succeed” in Iraq and said that “there are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through…today.” This past week has seen two truck bombs go off that killed at least 85 people in Tal Afar, along with a group of gunmen, a group that included Shiite policemen, began going door-to-door and assassinated 70 Sunnis… and did we mention the insurgent attacks on the Green Zone have increased recently, with attacks “on six of the past seven days.” A State Department official then noted, “There are increasing attacks on the [U.S.] embassy.” (But things are getting better…)

Applaud: to telling it like it is. Retired General Barry McCaffrey wrote in an assessment on the situation in Iraq, based on a recent round of meetings there with Gen. David H. Petraeus and 16 other senior U.S. commanders that the Iraqi population “is in despair,” while life in many of the urban areas is “desperate.” (But according to McCain, Iraq is getting better…)

Heckle: to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was revealed this past week that they are maneuvering to fundamentally weaken the Endangered Species Act. The proposed changes include limiting the number of species that can be protected (Stupid Idea #1), it would “curtail preserved acres of wildlife habitat (Stupid Idea #2), and would “dilute legal barriers that protect habitat from sprawl, logging or mining.” (Stupid Idea #3) Add to that the fact that Interior Department inspector general is now reporting that a senior Bush political appointee, Julie MacDonald, repeatedly altered scientific field reports “to minimize protections for imperiled species.” (Well… at least we know now that this administration will never use the motto; ‘Friend of the Environment.’ Thankfully though, when word of these actions and plans leaked, it lead to an:)

Applaud: to a gaggle of Senators who vowed, after environmental groups leaked the Interior Department’s secret plan to “gut” the Endangered Species Act, to block the proposed changes through appropriations legislation.

Heckle: to this news: a pair of aircraft carriers, backed by warplanes, took up position off the coast of Iran, bringing together two strike groups of U.S. warships and more than 100 U.S. warplanes in order to conduct simulated air warfare in the crowded Gulf shipping lanes. This is the largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq… (Wait… what? Oh shit…)

Applaud: to refusing to be thrown under the bus. Sensing that he was about to go the way of Scooter Libby, former Chief of Staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is apparently refusing to play the pats and, while in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday offered testimony that did not disappoint, telling the committee that AG Gonzales and Harriet Miers approved the firings of eight federal prosecutors. Said Sampson; “I and others made staff recommendations but they were approved and signed off on by the principals.” (The “principles” would be Gonzales and Miers, btw) When asked a question by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sampson rejected Gonzales’ theory that the dismissals were ordered by young or inexperienced Justice Department officials, saying; “The decision makers in this case were the attorney general and the counsel to the president.” (In other words, Alberto Gonzales is a big ol' liar… granted, that’s not really news to most of us, but it’s still enjoyable to read in print, isn’t it… and also makes one ask just how long Bush can keep this albatross around his neck…()

Heckle: to cockfighting (no smart-ass comments Scott…), or rather to a unfathomable attempt to keep it legal. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is holding up a very popular and very bipartisan bill that would crack down on cockfighting… a bill that was expected to pass easily in the Senate yesterday. House bill co-sponsor Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said that Coburn’s hold “testifies to the powers of these shadowy forces” that allow this “illegal and barbaric” concept continue. (This one just boggles the mind. Maybe Sen. Coburn has another type of cockfighting in mind and NOT the ones with chickens. Sorry, couldn’t resist)

Applaud: to columnist Bob Novak (wait – did I just write that??). He wrote this past week that “With nearly two years remaining in his presidency, George W. Bush is alone. In half a century, I have not seen a president so isolated from his own party in Congress. The saving grace that some Republicans find in the dispute over U.S. attorneys is that, at least temporarily, it draws attention away from debate over an unpopular war.” (I’m not sure how to feel right now… am I smug in my opinion that Bush is losing his grip on his own party or scared that I agree with Bob Novak?? Help me please…)

Heckle: to losing more allies. Remember how I wrote that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had canceled a dinner with the White House? Well, it might have something to do with King Abdullah’s recent declaration that the U.S. is “illegitimately” occupying Iraq… which left the White House, a tad “surprised.” White House spokesman Dana Perino responded that “it is not accurate to say that the United States is occupying Iraq.” (What would you call it then Dana?)

Applaud: to, once again, the American people. 48% of Americans believe that the fired U.S. attorneys were fired because they “refused to be pressured by politics”… with a scant 22% believe that the Bush administration dismissed them “for proper reasons.” To add to your enjoyment, 55% of those polled also believe Bush is refusing to allow top aide Karl “President” Rove and other White House aides to testify under oath “because he’s trying to cover up the reasons for the firings” and not, as he repeatedly has said, because he “wants to preserve the Constitution’s separation of powers…” (Game over man… game over…)

Heckle: to the question of whether the Justice Department and the White House worked together to mislead Congress in AttorneyGate. (I vote ‘yes’)

Applaud: to not buying it. House Minority Leader John Boehner was booed earlier this week by members attending the AFL-CIO’s Building & Construction Trades Department’s legislative forum for saying the United States needs to fight the war in Iraq or face terror attacks at home. “Who doesn’t believe that if we just pull out of Iraq and come home that the terrorists won’t follow us here and we’ll be fighting them on the streets of America?” (Well… apparently most in the crowd don’t believe that ridiculous reason Mr. Boner… get a clue)

This week’s Wing-Nut Tool of the Week is: Rush Limbaugh. Essentially, Limbaugh said this week that Bush shouldn’t fire Gonzales, despite the fact he’s incompetent, because winning elections is much more important. Said Limbaugh: “I’m at a loss to understand why it is that even some people on our side and the conservative media think throwing Gonzales away is going to stop this. Now, they’ll say, “Well, that’s not what we’re trying to do. We want competence. We are conservatives, and we have high values, and high standards.” This is a battle going on here. There’s an election that’s going to hinge on stuff like this, and everybody the administration throws overboard is a tantamount admission to people that pay scant attention to politics there’s all kinds of corruption going on in there.” The man Al Franken likes to call a ‘Big Fat Idiot’ went on to say “USA Today’s got a poll: ‘Do you think something’s wrong about the firing of eight US attorneys?’ 72% said yes. 72% of the American people, a bunch of blithering idiots who have no idea what they’re talking about, but yet they voted, so these polls matter.” (Do I even need to say it? Ok, I will; What. A. Tool.)

And finally… the week that was in the 2008 Preznit race. On the left; Edwards told people not to vote for him because of sympathy or compassion for his wife’s cancer & is enjoying his status as the most wired-in candidate… Clinton tried to lay a smackdown on McCain & enjoyed a lengthened lead in Pennsylvania … Obama received an endorsement from George Clooney (so?) & chatted it up with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. On the right: Romney threw out some possible VP names (including Jeb Bush – EVERYONE PANIC!!!!)… Giuliani says he would want his (3^rd) wife Judith to sit-in on Cabinet meetings should he become President & showed that he can flip-flop with the best of them… McCain had to defend himself from accusations that he almost left the republican party & tried to persuade people that the Iraq war is changing… and a newcomer to the bunch, with Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) set to announce his bid for president on Monday in Iowa (I join everyone when I say; ‘Who?’)

And we all know that 2008 may see us elect the first female or first minority president, but have you considered this earth-shattering question from heavyweight Fox “News”: Are we ready for our first bald president in modern times? (That’s some damn-find reporting there Fox… don’t tax your “journalistic” abilities TOO much… give me strength )

Take ‘em as you will…