The Weekly Rewind

Well here it is the end of another week. What kind of week? Interesting always seems to describe the weekly goings on in the debacle that is the “Bush”-Whacked Administration. So let’s get right to this weeks version of The Weekly Rewind.

Heckle: Shhhh, we have a list ! The UK Sunday Telegraph reports that the Pentagon is “taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran,” developing a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in that country. Not a surprise at all to anyone with even half a brain. Now if you think about it, the Pentagon probably has lists of bombing targets for just about every country on earth.

Applaud or Heckle:It’s all in how you look at it. The Iraqi Interior Ministry is pulling the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm, after the company was “allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of civilians during an attack on a U.S. State Department motorcade.” “We have canceled the license of Blackwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory,” Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said. Honestly, I am torn on this one. Doesn’t the State Department have it’s own security details? On the other hand, if you attack military personel or U.S. Government representatives, prepare to kiss your ass goodbye.

Heckle: To bold (yet stupid) statements in response to token moves. Senate conservatives’ successful effort to obstruct the Webb amendment this week marked the “the eighth time this year” that Senate Republicans…blocked a Democratic move to challenge U.S. policy in Iraq. This follwoeed on the heels of Sen. John Warner (R-VA) comments earlier in the week that he was considering pulling his support for Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) measure to give the overstretched armed forces more rest. Interestingly, Warner voted for the measure last July, but he now claims to be appeased by the administration’s token withdrawal. And yes the administrations move is nothing more than a ‘token’. Call your Senators and demand their support for Webb’s pro-troop amendment. It’s never too late to reconsider this action in support of our troops and their families. Let’s keep up the pressure and use the deliberate blockage of a change in U.S. policy in Iraq when it is time to go to the polls in November 2008.

Heckle: 89.6 million: The number of Americans under the age of 65 who “had no health insurance for some or all of 2006 and 2007, according to a study released Thursday by Families USA, an advocacy group for the uninsured. The number is “almost double the number of uninsured reported by the Census Bureau for 2006.” Say it isn’t so, don’t tell me that the administration underreported a critical social number that is a sad check on our national priorities.

Heckle: 29: President Bush’s approval rating in the latest Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday, which is below his worst Zogby poll mark of 30 percent in March. I’m sorry it appears the ‘President’ may be confusing a opinion poll with a Limbo Pole, the idea here is not ‘how low can you go’…..

Heckle: What happened to paying your own way? Mary Matalin, a former Cheney aide, is working to pay the legal bills of her old co-worker, “Scooter” Libby, who the President granted clemency to earlier this year. “Make no mistake, Scooter’s battle is not yet over,” Matalin wrote in a recent fundraising letter. He “still has hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding legal bills from his trial” that “need to be paid immediately.” As if Kemp and I did not see this one coming from 10 miles away. Never mind that Scooter did wrong, he shouldn’t be held responsible for payment of his own bills….

Just the facts…..In a protest march in Jena, LA, this week that “filled streets, spilled onto sidewalks and stretched for miles,” it was reported that more than 10,000 demonstrators rallied to protest the treatment of six black teenagers arrested in the beating of a white schoolmate last year. Support the Jena 6 here. This story is ongoing and is far from over. It appears that all sides can share in the blame, but the main issue that cannot be lost sight of is that the administration of justice needs to be balanced, blind and fairly dealt. It wouldn’t hurt for Jessie Jackson to remove himself from the issue and stop ‘stirring the pot’.

Heckle: Whos’ bright idea was this? The appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution is drawing fierce protests from faculty members and students at Stanford University. Some 2,100 professors, staff members, students and alumni have signed a petition protesting his appointment. Applaud to those protesting his appointment! Better idea, appointment to the ‘Lemming Institute’…..

Applaud: It’s about time. Earlier this week, Republicans reacted angrily to Bush’s pledge to veto increased funding for children’s health insurance. I’m disappointed by the president’s comments,” said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA). “I’m very, very disappointed,” echoed Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR). Ok fella’s we like where your heads at, however how about kicking up the rhetoric a little….

Heckle: Talk about being out of touch with reality. This week, Rudy Giuliani was “on the trans-Atlantic campaign trail…bragging about his international credentials. ‘I’m probably one of the four or five best known Americans in the world,’ Giuliani told a small group of reporters at a posh London hotel as onlookers gathered in the lobby to gawk at actor Dustin Hoffman, who was on a separate visit. Nothing like getting kicked down a few pegs after inserting your foot into your mouth.

And finally, our candidate for Tool of the Week .... Fox, Fox "News" and/or Michelle Malkin...

Since actress Sally Field won an Emmy and spoke out against the Iraq war in her acceptance speech, the right wing has been on the attack. In addition to Fox censoring her speech, conservatives continue to criticize Field for speaking out.
Taking the slander to a very personal level, right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin attacked Field’s parenting skills with a column in the National Review entitled “Sally Field Does Not Speak For Me.” In it, she writes:

• Sally Field is the mom who looks the other way when the brat on the elementary-school slide pushes your son to the ground or throws dirt in your daughter’s face.
  
• She’s the mom who holds her tongue at the mall when thugs spew profanities and make crude gestures in front of her brood.
  
• She’s the mom who tells her child never to point out when a teacher gets her facts wrong.
  
• She’s the mom who buys her teenager beer, condoms, and a hotel room on prom night, because she’d rather give in than assert her parental authority and do battle.
  

Fox and Friends hosted Malkin this morning to promote her hate-filled column. On the show, Malkin — a mother herself — posited her theory of parenting: “motherhood should bring a ferocity, and dare I say, make us more violent.”

Fox was overjoyed to have Malkin on the air. Co-host Gretchen Carlson said Malkin’s “best line in the article” was about the condoms and beer. Malkin responded, “as a Mom, I know, I’ve dealt with moms like [Fields], who look the other way.”

After a few more exchanges of laughter and contempt, co-host Steve Doocy closed the segment stating, “Hollywood probably thinks you are dangerous and offensive.” So do many others.

That’s it for this week. Let’s see what Commander Coo-koo Bananas and the Fruit Basket that is his administration can come up with next week. Till then…..

Be good, stay informed….later.