It's like a chess game...

In an example of strategic genius, Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) declared yesterday that “President” Bush was in no way involved with the 9 US Attorney firings… as the White House has long maintained.

In that case... the pretense of Executive privilege is out the window, which means that Karl Rove, Josh Bolten, Sarah Taylor and her assistant Scott Jennings can no longer avoid giving their full and honest testimony… as well as turning over all documents relating to the firings.

At last! A Democrat is showing some balls…

Said Leahy;

“The president's lack of involvement in these firings — by his own account and that of many others — calls into question any claim of executive privilege.”

So Leahy is now free to order them to comply, immediately, with the Judiciary Committee's subpoenas or they will be held in contempt… legal contempt mind you, as they are held in personal contempt by an incredibly large number of people already…

From Leahy's website;

“I hereby rule that those claims are not legally valid to excuse current and former White House employees from appearing, testifying and producing documents related to this investigation. Accordingly, I direct Mr. Bolten, Mr. Rove, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Jennings to comply immediately with the Committees subpoenas by producing documents and testifying or face possible contempt citations.”

YES!

Now I realize that some people, myself included, have been asking why this wasn't done months ago when Subpoenas were issued on June 13th and July 26th.

I don’t have an answer for that… and as of right now, I honestly don’t care. It’s better late than never, and now we get to see how the White House will react to this news.

Your turn White House…

The Friday Presidential ‘BushWhack’ing

• It’s not news, it’s CNN with the banner headline; “Operatives gear up for below-the-belt sucker punches” (After reading the article, it seems the main point is that political ads can be vicious and the internet has expanded their reach... that’s some mighty-fine journalism work there Lou…)
• Rudy Giuliani says that the Poltico.com’s report on his accounting of security expenses while mayor of New York is a “hit job.” (Welcome to the world of politics Rudy…)
  Fred Thompson’s campaign released the first attack ad this week, aimed directly at Mitt Romney’s abortion stance and Mike Huckabee’s tax ideas…it has so-far fallen on deaf ears…
• Barack Obama had a hush-hush meeting with New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg this morning… and neither side is telling us what the meeting was about…
• Speaking of Obama, some campaign donations are under scrutiny for allegedly funneling funds to key primary states. Naturally his campaign says it complied with the law, but stay tuned…
• Hillary Clinton has a comfortable poll lead in Florida, with 51% of Democratic primary voters choosing her over the rest of the field, but some pundits think that may change after Iowa and New Hampshire have their say… (here we go again, giving WAY too much credit, credence, and backing to the voters in TWO states… when will we learn??)
• Mike Huckabee has the endorsement of Chuck Norris… uh-huh. I would say something snarky, but I don’t want Norris showing up at my door ready to give me a roundhouse kick…

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another day closer to not only the end of the week, but the end of the month; where did November go?

• The gop presidential candidates staged their YouTube debate last night and, not surprisingly, it was a slug-fest between Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani… with a good dose of attacks towards Fred Thompson, Ron Paul and even Mike Huckabee thrown in for good measure…
• Things are getting a tad ridiculous… rumors are swirling around the internets that say Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is a “Muslim plant” and part of a conspiracy against America… wow, and I thought the accusations of Nancy Reagan using a Ouija board were surreal; this beats it…
• Earlier this week, former President Bill Clinton mentioned that he was against the Iraq war from the start… apparently confused as to which Clinton is running for president, this has caused conservatives to question his claims… (Last time I checked, Hillary was running for President, and not Bill; so this is news… why??)
• Sen. Chuck Hagel (r-NE) addressed the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday and said of the Bush White House; “I have to say this is one of the most arrogant, incompetent administrations I’ve ever seen or ever read about…” (I’m gonna say ouch for the administration. You know things are REALLY BAD when politicians within your own party start saying things like that…)
• And have we mentioned? That gop presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani expensed his affairs to the taxpayers of New York City? According to the Politico's Ben Smith, Giuliani “billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons…” (Nice… for a party that supposedly places family values on such a pedestal, isn’t it a wonder that one of the frontrunners for their nomination acted in such a way. If this was Bill Clinton, the republicans would have been like the villagers with Frankenstein’s monster, pitchforks and torches at the ready…)

Another one?

They’re falling like flies as yet another White House adviser is resigning. This time it’s director of the National Economic Council, the White House’s top economic adviser, Allan Hubbard, who resigned today and will be replaced by deputy Keith Hennessey.

This is the latest in a plethora of White House (and gop) departures that comes as “President” Bush winds-down his tenure in office. And considering that Hubbard’s resignation comes at a very difficult time for the country and, to a lesser-extent, the Bush(whacked) Administration.

The country is facing a crisis in the mortgage industry that has not only led to an increase in housing foreclosures but has triggered jittery global stock and currency markets… add to that the skyrocketing costs of Oil (for no other reason than Marie Osmond didn’t win Dancing with the Stars last night)… the economy is swirling the toilet.

And even looking beyond Hubbard’s departure from an economic view, a post I was reading on Daily Kos brought up an excellent point: After Karl Rove decided to leave the White House, an article in the Wall Street Journal (new motto: now with more Rupert) COS Joshua Bolten told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day (September) they would be obliged to remain through the end of the president's term in January 2009.

Um, don’t look now Josh, but that’s not happening...

Which leads to an interesting question; does Bolton have any real control in the White House? Or is this “ship” going along without a pilot or navigator? And if that’s the case, what the hell is going to happen between now and January 20, 2009?

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

It’s Wednesday, time for another dollop of political snark and information:

• Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf stepped down from his position as army chief today…(Riiiiiight… I’m sure he did…I’m sure he won’t have any control of the army now, uh-huh…)
• The gop presidential candidates have their YouTube debate tonight. I advise you watch, as I’m sure it’s going to be a good show, especially since all of them will be attacking each other and not the Democrats…
• Either there’s been some true and significant progress or it’s spin from the White House, but the Israelis and the Palestinians have agreed on a framework for peace talks… that’s great news, but for the White House to say that Bush is responsible is spin and not fact. What exactly did Bush do besides butchering names in an address?? If he actually did something, fine, let’s hear what he did… but if all you’re going to say is that Bush is the driving force behind the compromise; I ain’t buying it…
• Is it possible that some republican senators are growing some balls regarding Iraq???
• At the same time the republican presidential candidates are starting to get more aggressive with their party-opponents, the Democrats are doing the same. Primarily the war of words has been between Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama, but I have a feeling it will soon encompass all of the candidates… except Mike Gravel… who I think is still in the race…
• And have we mentioned? That “President” Bush is still WAY unpopular? It’s true; a new Pew Research poll shows Bush’s popularity at 30% (his previous low in this poll was 33% a few months ago) and, regardless of a gradual lessening of violence in Iraq, the American public remains “committed to bringing U.S. troops home.”

Fleeing the Ship…

With yesterday’s announcement of Sen. Trent “Lobbying is My Friend” Lott retiring before his term ends, another republican has decided to flee while the fleeing’s good.

Let’s review the plethora of republican and White House departures and the soon-to-depart; Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, Tom DeLay, Larry Craig, Dennis Hastert, Fran Townsend, Karen Hughes, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, David Hobson, Ralph Regula, Tony Snow, Wan Kim, Deb Pryce, Chip Pickering, Richard Griffin, Alberto Gonzales, Trent Lott… I could go on, but the internet only has so much space…

Why are they all fleeing?? What about the good of the party? What about the rest of Bush’s reign of terror term?

Over the course of seven years, Bush, his cronies and much of the gop has trampled all over our Constitution, driven the US economy into the ground, threw our world standing into the toilet and got us involved in a misguided and mismanaged war that has cost us, as a nation, thousands of lives…

And republicans are running out of DC faster than you can say ‘indictment’.

Why? Is it possible that they know something we don’t, like the shit is going to hit the fan very soon and the USS gop is going under faster than XX’s career?

Stay tuned…

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another day closer to the end of another month… one question; where the Hell did November go??

• Hilarious headline of the day; “Bush’s Mideast Legacy on the Line at Peace Conference.” Um… one question, how can he have a legacy considering this is the FIRST time, in 7 plus years in office, that he has hosted a Mid-East conference? It’s certainly not based on his past dealings there; Afghanistan, Iraq, etc…
• The republican presidential candidates are starting to snipe at each like the Democrats as Mitt Romney sent a harsh message to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee by calling him a tax-raising, illegal immigrant-coddling liberal and then said that Huckabee is no Jack Kennedy Ronald Reagan… (but then again, neither is Romney… or Thompson… or Giuliani… as a Liberal, I believe that Ronald Reagan was one of a kind, and the gop needs to realize that and, instead of trying to find the next Reagan, should busy themselves with fixing their image from within…)
• Vice President Dick “President” Cheney is back at work after doctors used an electrical current to correct his irregular heartbeat… wow, talk about snark overload…
• He’s a former commanding general in Iraq, unable to get a fourth star and forced into retirement partly for his role in a prison scandal… she’s the speaker of the House., desperate to end a war that HE helped start… (Wow, this has the makings of a REALLY bad sitcom; someone call Fox and let them know we have a new show for them…)
• The United States and Iraq signed a plan for “bilateral relations”, meaning that the stage has been set for a ong-term presence of American troops in Iraq… (wow, I didn’t see that coming… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form)
• And have we mentioned? That “President” Bush hosted (President) Gore at the White House yesterday? It’s true; Bush hosted Gore in honor of Gore’s Nobel Prize win. According to Gore, the two talked about global warming the entire meeting. No word if Gore used small words and lots of pictures in his conversation with Bush…

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

I trust we’ve all recovered from turkey-coma… and if you haven’t, this… won’t do it…

• And another one bites the dust as Sen. Trent Lott, (r-MS) intends to resign by the end of this year… all together now; ‘will the last republican out of DC please turn off the lights’…
• “President” Bush used his weekly radio address to rightfully give thanks to our troops serving around the globe…
• Illinois U.S. Rep. Danny Davis was pulled over early last Monday morning for “driving left of center”… did I mention Mr. Davis is black?
• Seven years into Bush’s term and the administration is hosting a Middle East conference today…
• And have we mentioned? That Nancy Nord, the acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, wasn’t around for Black Friday? We posted earlier this month that Nord has taken nearly 30 trips since coming on board and all of them were paid for by CPSC-regulated industries. Now it turns out that she, on the biggest shopping day of the year as consumers faced fears about Chinese-made toys, is traveling in Japan… (Sigh… I don’t know why anything done by people in this administration surprises me anymore – but it does…)

The Weekly Rewind

It’s that time again, no, no, no, not time to sit down to another full blown Thanksgiving dinner, I’m sure we are still all recovering from Thursday’s gastric distress ! No it’s time for another episode of The Weekly Rewind.

Applaud: Here’s to doing something instead of just talking about it. Former president Bill Clinton’s “eco-friendly” presidential library’s roof is now going green. Over the past two weeks, workers have been hoisting 90 species of plants and more than four truckloads of soil atop the library to provide insulation and capture rainwater that otherwise would just be wasted as runoff. Picnic on the roof anyone?

Applaud: For finally catching up to the rest of us. The number of economists forecasting the U.S. will slip into recession almost doubled over the last two months, according to a survey by the National Association for Business Economics. Thanks for getting in line with the rest of the American Public, we’ve been waiting for you.

Heckle: To the further weakening of the economy. The U.S. dollar has fallen to historic lows against both the euro and the yen as worries about the strength of the U.S. economy continue. The drop has been precipitated by the U.S. credit crisis, which has caused foreign investors to pull some of their investments out of U.S. markets and put them in other countries. I’m waiting for someone to tell me that this is good for the economy….I need a good laugh.

Heckle: To a reversal in crime statistics. The FBI released its hate crime statistics for 2006 showing an increase of 7.8 percent. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the FBI report is “severely flawed,” noting that Alabama reported only one hate crime in 2006, while Mississippi and Hawaii did not report any hate crimes at all. “In fact, the level of hate crimes in the United States is astoundingly high — more than 190,000 incidents per year.” What the hell happened to the reports coming out of the Justice Department stating that crime was being reduced across the board? Oh yeah, another adminstration fabrication….

Heckle: The truth hurts… While the violence in Baghdad declines, northern Iraq has become more violent than other regions as al-Qaida and other militants move there to avoid coalition operations elsewhere. “What you’re seeing is the enemy shifting,” Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling told reporters yesterday. I guess they are not as dumb as we thought they were…

Heckle: To more of the same. US contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan more than doubled from 2004 to 2006 to over 25 billion dollars but government oversight of the firms involved has slackened,” reports the Center for Public Integrity. Former Halliburton subsidiary KBR topped the list with more than $16 billion in U.S. contracts. When is this going to stop?

Applaud: To forward thinking. Fearing that President Bush would again use a Congressional recess to install executive branch appointees without Senate confirmation, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) gaveled in a 30-second Senate session yesterday. “This is an exercise in protecting the Constitution and our constitutional process,” Webb said. It’s pretty sad that it had to come to this, but thank you Senator for taking a stand.

Heckle: To the effects of a weakened economy. Americans enter the holiday season in a dark mood, with economic worries, security fears and a lack of confidence in government fueling growing pessimism, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday. The number of Americans who believe the country is on the right track fell from 26 percent to 24 percent in the last month, with about two-thirds believing it is headed in the wrong direction. And this is a surprise to anyone?…. I thought not..

This one could be good or bad. The Supreme Court has agreed to review an appeals court decision that struck down a 31-year-old Washington D.C., ban on pistols. The court’s examination of the meaning of the Second Amendment for the first time in nearly 70 years carries broad implications for gun-control measures locally and across the country. Personally, I would like to see gun bans repealed and while we are at it, my home state of Illinois can get it’s head out of it’s ass and pass CCW legislation for law abiding citizens.

Applaud: To thinking outside the box. Two groups of scientists yesterday revealed that they “succeeded in turning human skin cells into cells that are very similar — but not identical — to embryonic stem cells.” Experts, however, cautioned that it is unclear whether the new cells will be as effective as conventional embryonic stem cells may prove to be against certain disease. Since the administration is so narrow minded when it comes to the benefits to be obtained from stem cells, let’s see if they can embrace this ‘end run’.

Well folks, that’s it for this week. It’s Thanksgiving weekend, time to have another helping of turkey, stuffing and whatever else filled your holiday table. Raise a glass to all that you are thankful for and don’t forget to say thanks to the people in your life who mean the most to you. I’m sure they would appreciate it.

Be good, stay informed….later.

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Day before Thanksgiving…if you’re gonna be traveling, travel safe...

• The mud-slinging and name-calling for the Democratic presidential candidates is getting very nasty and, quite frankly, very childish…
• Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan’s book doesn’t come out until April, but as we mentioned yesterday, the excerpt is causing waves... odds of the administration throwing him under the bus are growing larger by the minute…
• Rudy Giuliani is being swift-boated by firefighters and 9/11-victim’s families…
• Trying to prevent “President” Bush from recess-appointing some executive branch nominees, the Senate Democrat’s offensive, in a pro-forma style, is working. Yesterday, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) gaveled in a 30-second Senate session yesterday, saying; “This is an exercise in protecting the Constitution and our constitutional process.” About time the Democrats start showing some balls… just keep it up!!!
• David Obey (D-WI) and John Murtha (D-PA) pushed back the Bush(whacked) Administration claims that the Pentagon is going to run out of money soon because Congress failed to pass the war funding bill before the Thanksgiving recess… never mind that the $460 billion defense bill signed by Bush last week can pay for the wars…
• And have we mentioned? That Americans are not coming into the holiday season as happy campers? According to a Reuters/Zogby poll released today, the number of Americans that believe we’re on the right track fell dropped to 24% from last month’s 26%... add to that that two-thirds believe we’re headed in the wrong direction and you have a nervous nation... January 20, 2009 can NOT come soon enough..

Let the spin begin

One thing that conservatives never tire of is playing the politics of fear card… and even though there’s still a little less than a year until the presidential election, the Bush(whacked) Administration is at it again by claiming that al-Qaeda may target the presidential elections.

Did I mention they have absolutely no evidence or claim for that…

In the past it was Vice President Cheney or Spokesman Tony Snow spouting this, but this time it’s outgoing Homeland Security Adviser Frances Fragos Townsend.

Responding to a question, she told CNN that al Qaeda may target the presidential elections, saying there isn’t any “specific information,” but then added that “we know that Al Qaeda views these periods as being a particularly vulnerable period.”

Prepare yourself… as we get closer to the 2008 presidential election, look out for more claims that voting for Liberals will empower the terrorists.

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Meh…

• Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has written in memoirs and he, as written in a publisher-released excerpt, he implicates “President” Bush in the Valerie Plame scandal and was lied to about it by those above him… (Interesting turn of events, isn’t it? Stay tuned…)
• Global Warming has been doing a good job of staying out of the presidential race...
• New polling shows Fred Thompson’s (r-TN) ratings are sliding while Mitt Romney’s (r-MA) are spiking upwards in New Hampshire and John McCain (r-AZ) is pushing his national security “strength” as the reason people should vote for him in that state… (uh-huh…)
• And have we mentioned? That a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. has opened an investigation into the role of Blackwater security guards in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi citizens in September in Baghdad? As has the U.S. military, the FBI, and the Iraqi government are also investigating the shooting… (yeah, this should end well…)

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

It’s the beginning of a short week, so have a short ‘whack’ing:

• Fearful that “President” Bush will recess appoint nominees that , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has scheduled “pro-forma” sessions that, essentially, keeps the Senate in session… Bush(whacked) Administration whining starts in five, four, three…
• Try to contain your shock, but another administration official has fled the sinking ship left; homeland security adviser Fran Townsend resigned her position today and cited no reason for her departure. I know I’ve said this many, many, many times before, but will the last administration official leaving DC please turn off the lights?
• And have we mentioned? That a survey by the National Association for Business Economics shows bad economic times ahead? It’s true, according to the survey, the number of economists that are forecasting the U.S. will slip into a recession has “almost doubled over the last two months.” Add to that the fact that the U.S. dollar has fallen to historic lows against the euro and the yen, and you have a nation worried about the strength of the U.S. economy… (And yet, the Bush loyalists continue to say that the economy is robust… which begs the question of what they HELL they are smoking…)

The Weekly Rewind

Um.. have I ever mentioned before that Blogger bites it? There is more to this week's rewind... but it's lost somewhere...

Applaud: to something that we mentioned earlier this week that shouldn’t be a surprise… a new poll by the Norman Lear Center and Zogby International showed that Liberals are more open to opposing viewpoints than conservatives. (explains an awful lot, doesn’t it?)
Heckle: to the establishment of a legal defense fund for former attorney general Alberto “Still an Albatross” Gonzales. Gonzales is still staring down a Justice Department investigation investigating if he committed perjury or tampered with a congressional witness. All fine and good, but my question is, if he says he didn’t do anything wrong, why does he need a legal defense fund?

Applaud: to the House for approving, 227 to 189, the RESTORE Act, which will update the Protect America Act that will restore judicial oversight to the “surveillance of foreign targets outside the United States.” (Wow… almost like the Constitution is still around, imagine that…)

Heckle: to an end-around that shouldn’t be allowed to happen. “President” Bush’s Surgeon General nominee, Dr. James Holsinger, resigned his position on the Asbury Theological Seminary board of trustees because he expects to be recess appointed as Surgeon General. (Classic Bush tactics. Don’t like what’s happening, take a back-door approach so people can’t question the motives… what a fucking tool…)

Applaud: to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for “considering” pro forma sessions during the Thanksgiving break aimed at stopping Bush from using the break to install his executive branch nominees like Holsinger… (Nice to see you show up Harry… keep it up)

Heckle: to more depressing economic news. The “economic optimism index”, one of the primary measures of consumer confidence has dropped to a two-year low, partially weighed down by the housing market turmoil and surging oil prices… but conservatives still maintain that the economy is robust… to which I ask what color is the sky in your world?

Applaud: to Billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He urged Congress earlier this week to keep the estate tax and said that repealing it would “benefit a handful of the richest American families and widen income disparity in the United States” and is a “death present” for the wealthy… (Comforting, isn’t it, to see someone with that much money saying that it SHOULD NOT be repealed… too bad he’s in the majority within his demographic…)

Heckle: to Blackwater USA. A FBI investigation shows that the deaths of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater guards back in September were “unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq”… immunity offer from the Bush(whacked) Administration in five, four, three…

Applaud: to the Senate Judiciary Committee for striking telecon immunity from the current FISA bill.

Heckle: to the so-called hidden economic costs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the US. So far the total has topped $1.5 trillion and has cost an average American family of four more than $20,000.... (It was worth it since we got bin Laden… oh, wait. At least it’s made oil and gas prices drop… oh, wait…)

Applaud: to the American people. According to a new American Research Group poll, 55% of those polled think “President” Bush has committed impeachable offenses and has “abused his powers” in a manner that rises “to the level of impeachable offenses under the Constitution.” (You never know, it could still happen…)

Heckle: to news that further enhances the opinion that this administration has done NOTHING towards making us safer when we fly. The GAO filed a report that shows government investigators were able to smuggle liquid explosives and detonators through airport checkpoints, thereby “exposing dangerous vulnerabilities in security efforts.” (Lovely… at least we’ve spend so much on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…)

Applaud: to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for NOT acting like a Bush lapdog. Acting the polar opposite of his predecessor, the Bush(whacked) Administration is “losing patience” with Brown because he has so-far been reluctant to declare that Iran must never be allowed nuclear weapons… (way to go Gordo. Not only are you distancing yourself from Tony Blair, but also the arrogant, declining Bush White House. Keep it up)

Heckle: to Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. After declaring a state of emergency, he has become the “most unpopular figure in the country.” Nothing surprising there… but “running a close second” is President Bush… with people now calling the two of them “Busharraf”…

Applaud: to federal judge Henry Kennedy who ordered the White House to “preserve copies of all its e-mails” even though administration lawyers had argued against it.

Applaud: to Catholics United. The group launched an ad campaign that targeted “pro-life Christian” politicians who voted against SCHIP expansion by criticizing those that say they’re “pro-life,” but then voted against SCHIP expansion. Said the ads; “That’s not pro-life. That’s not pro-family.” (Well said CU, well said…)

Bush + Libby's Pardon = Same for Bonds?

HT to TP...

It’s not often that my love of politics and my love of sports collide, but it has this week.

For those of you who don’t know, Major League baseball’s home run king Barry Bonds was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on five counts of perjury and obstruction of justice due to his testimony about steroid use. Now he is looking at a possible prison term of thirty years.

(Note: I agree that steroids are bad, and that using them is wrong. BUT… until recently, steroid use was not “illegal” in MLB… so I place just as much blame on the league’s shoulders as I do the players because the league looked the other way… and I’m unsure how baseball can penalize people for doing something in the past that was, at the time, not illegal… but before I get off on a wild tangent, let’s get back to our regularly scheduled post)

Following the indictment, White House spokesman Tony Fratto put out a statement, saying; “The president is very disappointed to hear this. […] As this case is now in the criminal justice system, we will refrain from any further specific comments about it. But clearly this is a sad day for baseball.”

Is Bush disappointed enough that he would consider commuting Bonds’ sentence if he’s convicted???

Consider this tidbit from ThinkProgress;

“The White House response to Bonds’ case recalls their reaction to the indictment of Scooter Libby. Libby too was charged with five counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. Bush said, “We’re all saddened by today’s news.” Cheney expressed his “deep regret” that Libby had to resign. […] Libby was of course found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 30 months in jail, but before he served a day in prison, Bush commuted his sentence. Tony Snow claimed that Bush’s commutation order was issued on the “basis of principle. […] So will the White House now operate on that same principle and also consider And if not, why should he be treated differently?”

Interesting theory, isn’t it? And it is just that, a theory… but remember that Bush, according to sports columnist Skip Bayless, “looked the other way…” regarding steroid use when he was the managing partner of the Texas Rangers.

Baltimore Sun columnist Rick Mease asked in a column today; “So what makes Bonds different? … His biggest mistake? Breaking a record. And maybe not looking quite enough like Scooter Libby.”

Pretty harsh condemnation of Bush if you ask me…

Bush pardoned Libby for, essentially, the same thing Bonds did: lying to a federal grand jury… so if Bush doesn’t pardon Bonds, he’s going to have to answer more questions about his pardoning of Libby… and with public opinion on the pardon already squarely against him, the public won’t stand for cronyism as an excuse…

Stay tuned.

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

• The Democratic presidential candidates staged another debate yesterday in Las Vegas, and it was a heated debate to say the least. All were in attendance, Clinton, Edwards, Obama, Biden, Richardson, Kucinich and Dodd. The primary target was “frontrunner” Hillary Clinton (D-NY) who mostly traded barbs with John Edwards (D-SC) and Barack Obama (D-IL)… pundits suggest that Clinton overcame her “issues” with the last debate and won this one… stay tuned.
• The Iowa republican Party (insert own joke here) canceled a presidential debate scheduled to be televised on Fox “News” on Dec. 4 because Romney was afraid refused to attend. (My thought? So effin what that Romney wouldn’t be there… I say still stage it and make his campaign the target of all the slinging. Canceling a debate because one candidate couldn’t be there is rather inane… but then again, it IS the republicans…)
• And when I say they were all there, I qualify that by saying all of them were there that could afford to be there. Mike Gravel was excluded from the debate because of lackluster fundraising… and the fact that I have a better chance of getting the nomination than he does…
• The National Right to Life Committee endorsed Fred Thompson (r-TN) as their presidential nominee… which should easily propel him to victory…(It’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form)
• Obama won the endorsement of the United Auto Workers in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota earlier this week…
• The shady political strategies have officially started as New Hampshire and Iowa residents have been receiving phone calls this week that raised questions about Mitt Romney’s background...
• Romney took a swipe at Rudy Giuliani this week as he said that Rudy himself is partly responsible for the vast number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. today… (Uh, okay… rather shallow reasoning there Mitt…)
• Now that he's moved up to second place in Iowa (really??) Mike Huckabee is “now in his opponents crosshairs”…
• And have we mentioned? That the chairman of the republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, said yesterday that the party is ready for the Democrats in Nevada? Duncan proclaimed as such during an interview with Wolf Blitzer after last night’s Democratic Debate… to which I, along with many others I suspect, would say to him that, at this stage, the rNC is not really ready for ANYTHING, yet along battling the Democrats in a strategic battleground state.

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

One day closer. . .

• The Democrats have another debate tonight, this time in a city that, as I wrote yesterday, is expected to be a major player in the next election; Las Vegas, Nevada. Pundits Those who are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill say that “frontrunner” Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is on the “hot seat” for this debate because, according to CNN, this is the first debate since her “stumble at a debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.” (Yes, her answer to the question about driver's licenses for illegal immigrants was, to say the least, convoluted, but the one and only reason it resonated for so long is because the media kept it going for days afterwards. Truth be told, it was not that big of a ‘stumble’, and I think that she will hit back hard tonight at her foes and they may regret making this such a big issue… stay tuned)
• CNN is reporting that Rep. Dennis Hastert (r-IL) will announce on the House floor that he is retiring from Congress today, triggering a special election to replace him. Let’s hope…
• Showing that the Democrats may be more than all talk and no substance, the House approved a war-funding bill again, but this time it actually has a timeline for Iraq troop withdrawal… and it’s substantially less than “President” Bush requested… (Game on!)
• New Attorney General Michael “Don’t call me albatross” Mukasey has already started kissing the administration’s ass jumped into the fray as he told Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy (D-T) that he would urge “President” Bush to veto Leahy’s new surveillance plan… (Wow, that didn’t take long, did it? Thanks again to all the Democrats who voted to confirm this crony who looks to be ready to follow in Gonzales’ dirty-little footprints…)
• And have we mentioned? That publisher Judith Regan (she of the OJ Simpson book If I Did It) is getting involved in the presidential race? Regan alleges in a lawsuit filed earlier this week that senior executives at News Corp (owners of Fox “News” – big shocker) told her to lie to investigators about her affair with ex-New York Police Commissioner, Rudy Giuliani crony and recent indictment victim Bernard Kerik in order to protect Giuliani's presidential ambitions. (Wow, it’s like a bad soap opera... stay tuned to see what happens next…)
  

Color me not surprised

A new poll by the Norman Lear Center (really?) and Zogby International finds that Liberals are more open to opposing viewpoints than conservatives (no, rrrrreeaalllyyyy???) and tend to rely on Fox “News” for their information…

You don’t say, I never would have guessed…

Among the highlights…

• Fox “News” wins the prize for the most politically divisive TV channel (I am shocked, shocked to find gambling in this establishment) with 70% of conservatives watching it on a daily basis compared to 3% of liberals.


• 22% of conservatives say that they have “never” enjoyed entertainment that reflects values other than their own, compared to 7% of Liberals. (Put another way, Rush “NarcoDog” Limbaugh’s potential audience is larger than that of Liberal competitors because Liberals will listen to conservative voices but if conservatives hear other ideals, their heads would explode)


• Conservatives think “fictional TV shows and movies are politically biased” and “overwhelmingly (76%) believe that TV shows and movies ‘very often’ contain political messages, but they are the least likely to learn anything about political issues from them. Just 4% say they learn lessons from movies.”

This isn’t the first time that Fox “News” viewers have been revealed to be, shall we say, less than erudite. Back in April a Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of Fox “News” had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs… and a more-recent AP-Ipsos poll showed that Liberals read more books than conservatives.

Liberals are more open to opinions other than their own… consider that the literal definition of ‘liberal’ means that one is open to new ideas while “conservative” means that you hold to tradition and are, for the most part, scared of change and/or innovation… but the manner in which these terms are thrown around in politics today are so-far from their literal meaning because they are more-so rolled up with each party’s ideologies.

That must be why it’s so hard to have an intellectual debate with a conservative.

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Have some ‘hump day’ whackings...

• Much like the last presidential election, Las Vegas is shaping up to be a battleground for the 2008 tilt as well, stat tuned…
• I’m not a fan of political pundit Roland Martin, per se, but his latest salvo about not letting a few select states choose the president in the primary is pretty damn accurate. The time of Iowa and New Hampshire has passed, and it’s time that the national parties and the states themselves see that. The primary process, like life, needs to adapt, move forward and change with the times...
• When it's all said and done, every American family in the US will have paid $46,000 to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...
• As the presidential race heats up, some of the lower-tiered candidates are getting desperate. Case in point, gop hopeful Tom Tancredo’s (r-CO) latest campaign ad depicting a terrorist attack on a mall. It’s no Goldwater Nuke ad, but it comes ridiculously close… and by ridiculous I mean that the American people don’t need to be reminded of the terrorist threat to our country, and by depicting it in an attempt to garner votes with politics-of-fear tactics is below even you… well, maybe not you…
• Mitt Romney (r-MA) is spending more than $85,000 a day on campaign ads for a total of $10.25 million while Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has spent a total of $3.9 million so far.
• The Justice Department is opening an investigation into the Bush(Whacked) Administration’s no-warrant electronic surveillance program… and I’m sure what they find will be accurate and truthful… (It’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)
• And have we mentioned? That a new American Research Group poll finds that 55% of voters believe President Bush has “abused his powers”? As if that wasn’t bad enough, 55% also believe that he’s abused his powers in a manner that rises to “the level of impeachable offenses under the Constitution.” (But let’s not call for impeachment… after all, he’s done nothing as serious as screwing an intern…()

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

No ado…

• Despite Bush(whacked) Administration lawyers’ arguments against it, a federal judge has ordered the White House to preserve copies of every email they send… claim of executive privilege in four, three, two…
• If the thing about the college student and the Clinton campaign turns out to be true, I sincerely doubt she’s the only campaign that does it… hell, even the White House picks its audiences. Having said that, if it is true, she should make a vow that her campaign won’t do it again. But I still have doubts that it actually happened, for no other reason than the student in question didn’t have a problem doing it during the event nor immediately after the event but a few days after. I’m not defending Clinton, but let’s keep in mind that people do tend to make things up about her… remember the Iowa waitress last week?
• Fred Thompson has picked up the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee… Because he’s a republican, this is good for his campaign because we all know how much they like following the herd…
• The White House is passing the buck and blaming Congressional Democrats for not getting a bill that would fund veteran’s care programs… (Both are to blame and both need to get their collective heads out of their collective asses and get the bill passed…)
• And have we mentioned? That Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) campaign is accusing John Edwards (D-SC) of acting like “President” Bush? Ouch, that’s way too harsh…

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another start of another week…

• Happy Veteran's Day to all those that have served... we can not thank you enough.
• Another Democratic debate this week, Thursday, in Las Vegas… expect the rhetoric to start at a frenetic pace soon…
• The man who took the fall for Cheney revealed that Valerie Plame was a covert CIA agent said in an interview Sunday that he was “extraordinarily foolish” to leak her name. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard “Fall Guy” Armitage said that he did not realize she was a covert agent when he outed her to “columnist” Robert Novak… (and we’re supposed to believe he didn’t know she was a covert agent? Then how did her name even come up in the conversation??)
• The head of the US Central Command, Admiral William Fallon, is on record as saying that a US strike against Iran is “not in the offing” and then took conservative warhawks to task by saying that their attack Iran rhetoric is, to say the least, unhelpful. (it’s really hard to believe anything that is said right now about Iran… it just reminds me that I need to finish that bomb shelter…)
• Fred Thompson said yesterday that the “political pendulum is swinging” against the gop and that they need to work harder to win over independent voters… or stop acting like mindless lemmings, either one…
• And have we mentioned? That Rudy Giuliani is faulting former President Bill Clinton for weakening the US military? Rudy said the other day that the US military is “too small to deal with the Islamic terrorism threats, but it really is too small to deter would-be aggressors to even think of challenging us. And that’s due to Bill Clinton.” (Um, okay. Granted, the military did shrink a little during Clinton’s years, but that was reflective of the time… but despite that, Bush is the one, Bush is the one who has stretched our military to the absolute limit with a forgotten war in Afghanistan and a clusterfuck in Iraq… so let’s place blame where it should… but then again, that would require not following the herd, and we all know how difficult that is for republicans…

IPEA is back...

The Intellectual Property Enforcement Act, or PIRATE Act, is back… and this time it’s personal.

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (r-TX) introduced the bill earlier this week and, like it’s predecessors, this incarnation of the PIRATE Act wants the DOJ to bring suits against individual file-swappers, thus freeing-up the RIAA to do their real job… whatever the hell that might be by giving the Department of Justice the authority to bring not only criminal cases but civil as well against people swapping files while at the same time imposing limits on the penalties that could be imposed.

Said Leahy; “Copyright infringement silently drains America's economy and undermines the talent, creativity and initiative that are a great source of strength to our nation. When we protect intellectual property from copyright infringement, we protect our economy and our ideas.”

Uh-huh…

This bill sounded like a bad idea the first few times we heard it and it has NOT gotten any better with age.

In fact, it’s also redundant since the No Electronic Theft Act states that the DoJ already has the authority to bring criminal cases against file-swappers under certain situations… it’s of importance to note that, to date, the DOJ has not filed a single charge, probably because they’re too busy torturing terrorism suspects and lying for their former boss…

Hearing this makes me feel good knowing that Congress has ended terrorism, cured cancer, ended the Iraq war, stopped Iran from developing nuclear weapons and eliminated global warming so they have time to worry about this earth-shattering crap…

The Weekly Rewind

Applaud: to Congress for finally growing a set and standing up to “President” Bush. Last week he vetoed a water projects bill, but Congress overrode it, making it the first time they’ve mustered enough votes to override Bush. (About time… how about we make it a frequent thing?)

Heckle: we applaud irony, but not like this. During a White House press briefing earlier this week, spokeswoman Dana “God I miss Tony” Perino condemned Pakistan President’s Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s declaration of “emergency rule”, saying that the Bush(whacked) Administration is “deeply disappointed” by the measure and believes it is never “reasonable” to “restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism”… yes, she actually said that. (The Heckle is for the two-facedness of the administration and the fact that they don’t see the irony in her statement…)

Applaud: to having the guts to tell the truth about something many of us saw coming weeks, if not months ago. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that the economy was “going to get worse before it got better” and was going to “slow noticeably.” He also said that inflation was likely to “increase overall”, meaning all those republican lemmings who keep saying the economy is strong are as full of hot air as our current Commander in Chief…

Heckle: to the Senate for confirming, in a 53-40 vote, retired Judge Michael Mukasey as Attorney General. Yes, he was confirmed… despite the fact he refused to call waterboarding torture… six Dem voted for Mukasey… meaning, in my mind, that they should be targets for ousting in the next election cycle…

Applaud: to Barry Richard. For those who don’t know the name, he was the lawyer that “achieved fame for his successful representation of George Bush in the Bush v. Gore recount suits.” Now, he’s set to give a speech blasting the administration at the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys’ (NAFUSA) annual conference. His beef? He told the National Law Journal that, as a constitutional lawyer, he’s “concerned with the Bush administration’s assault on American liberties … how the administration deals with habeas corpus and the administration’s posture on electronic surveillance. This administration has gone farther than any other.” (Excellent… blast away Mr. Richard, blast away…)

Heckle: to ruining the nation’s credit rating. The amount of publicly held U.S. debt is now at $9 trillion, marking the “first time ever” that the amount has breached $9 trillion, and we have Dumbya to thank for it as, back in September, he signed a measure to increase the debt limit ceiling to $9.815 trillion from $8.965 trillion… (God, he’s like a college student with a credit card…)

Applaud: to a majority of the American public. 75% of Americans are “eager for a change in direction” from the agenda and priorities of “President” Bush. The results come from a Washington Post/ABC News poll that also shows a scant, and apparently insane, 24% believing that Bush and his cronies are leading the nation on the right track. (Fab.U.Lous.)

Heckle: to cronyism continued. republican Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani refused to say earlier this week if he would pardon his old friend Bernie Kerik if he were elected President, saying; “It wouldn’t be fair to ask that question at this point.” (Sigh… at least he didn’t mention 9/11 when discussing it, oh wait – he did…)
Applaud: to a seemingly spark of a soul within this administration. Newsweek’s Michael Hirsh wrote this week that “Condoleezza Rice is, by her own admission, not ‘that self-reflective.’ But in an interview in her office on Thursday the secretary of state took a moment to contemplate the improved security situation in Iraq. ‘I’m sure there are lots of things we might have done better,’ she said.” (Wow… first Powell, now it appears that even Rice is getting tired of her employers inability to do anything. The question is, will we see her jump ship before the end of their reign of terror? Stay tuned…
Heckle: to the White House for impeding investigation of their “evisceration” of congressional testimony by CDC President Julie Gerberding on the “Human Impacts of Global Warming.” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) wrote to President Bush last week requesting a “full accounting” of what occurred during the review process, but the administration is stonewalling her efforts by whining claiming executive privilege. (And once again the Bush(whacked) Administration thumbs their collective noses at the law... and no one seems to want to challenge them on it…)

Applaud: to House leaders that are pushing Senate Democrats to force tepublicans to stage more filibusters in order to give Americans a clear view of who is obstructing change,” (That’s all fine and good, and I believe that republicans are a primary component of the obstruction… but to fully excuse the Democrats is something I can not do… they must shoulder part of the blame and do whatever they can, even this, to combat it…)

Heckle: to disingenuous people, specifically “President” Bush. During his joint press conference with French President Nicholas Sarkozy earlier this week, a reporter asked Bush where he stood “on Iraq and your domestic debate on Iraq.” Bush insisted that “freedom’s happening” and said; “If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you’d be saying: God, I love freedom.” (God I love freedom?? You can’t do that to the English language… but of course that’s never stopped Bush before, so why should it now…)

Applaud: to news that REALLY shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. A study bu a nonpartisan group shows that programs that focus exclusively on abstinence have not been shown to affect teenage sexual behavior. (what was the line from The West Wing, you show a teenage boy a lug wrench and they’ll think about sex… seems to sum up my feelings pretty well…)

Heckle: to former President George H.W. Bush, who gave an interview this week on Fox “News” where he said warned that more Bushes may run for public office in the future… God help us!!!

Applaud: it’s the economy stupid… ‘nuff said.

Heckle: to piss-poor comments. In an interview earlier this week, former UN Ambassador John Bolton complained about the tone of the battles raging in DC right now, citing the opposition to Michael Mukasey. Bolton then described the confirmation process for Mukasey as a “kind of torture.” What a fucking tool…

Applaud: a posthumous honoring this week to President Gerald Ford for questioning Bush’s warrantless surveillance program, saying “I would never do it. […] It surprises me they worry that they think they have to do it. I was dumbfounded when I heard they were. I didn’t think it was necessary. Where does he get his advice?” (A lot of people have been asking that Mr. Ford… my guess is an alien visible only to him by the name of Gazoo…)

Heckle: to losing more conservative allies as republican political strategist Frank Luntz wrote to Bush White House official Scott Arogeti saying that he wants to get his name removed from the White House mailing list because he’s irritated with, well, with everything Bush does really…

Applaud: to Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)… wow, never thought I would write that, for his resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. Yes, it’s all for show, but it still makes for some interesting theater…

Heckle: to the Democrats for having no balls. Notwithstanding their rhetoric about not wanting to hand President Bush another ‘blank check’ for the Iraq War, odds are they will give him another blank check with no strings attached. (Pathetic… absolutely pathetic…)

And a personal message to Bill O’Reilly; maybe the war on Christmas isn’t a reaction to the religious aspect of the holiday but more so a reflection on the fact that we’re sick of being inundated with Christmas stuff before Halloween is over. At least that’s my feeling…

This week’s gop tool of the week has an added bonus, the Democrats are included. This week we give it to the republican national committee for, as I said in this morning’s Daily ‘BushWhack’ing, acting like children on a playground. The rnc is going to penalize five states, New Hampshire, Florida, South Carolina, Michigan and Wyoming, for holding presidential primary elections before February 5, 2008. The Dems merit a mention here because they will likely follow suit. Both parties should be ashamed of themselves for this incredibly stupid idea… and the reasoning behind it is as idiotic as the action itself. If we want to eliminate the states’ whining about their place in the presidential primary process, go to a National Primary and be done with it. Otherwise, let the states decide themselves when they should hold their specific primaries. I’ll ignore for now the fact that the republicans, supposedly bastions of small government not interfering with how states operate, are acting to stop states from operating on their own.

Number 41*

President number forty-one George H.W. Bush has been busy this week.

Earlier this week he said that there are more Bush family members waiting in the political wings (eep).

He’s followed that up by espousing his son’s decision to invade Iraq.

Not only does he support his son’s invasion, he also goes on the offensive and attacks critics of the Iraq war by saying they are advocating Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical rule…

Excuse me??? Because we don’t support the reasoning for invasion… because we don’t support a war that has cost thousands of American lives… because we don’t think the war on terror went through Iraq we’re supporting Hussein’s rule?That has to be one of the most idiotic, moronic and offensive statements Bush Sr. has ever muttered… and considering the source, that’s saying a lot.

This country was founded on the principles of freedom, including the freedom to disagree with our elected leaders. But when you start attacking those that disagree with you while accusing them of supporting a leader who slaughtered thousands, if not millions, of his own citizens… then you have taken a huge step over the line and, in Bush Sr.’s case, seemingly lost your mind.

Consider this; in his book, A World Transformed, Bush Sr. wrote;

“incalculable human and political costs would have resulted from an Iraq invasion in 1991. […] We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect rule Iraq. […] Going in and thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations mandate would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. […] Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different - and perhaps barren - outcome.”

Very interesting…

Also consider that eleven years ago, Bush Sr. wrote about Saddam Hussein and said that “removing [him] from power might well have plunged Iraq into civil war, sucking U.S. forces in to preserve order. Had we elected to march on Baghdad, our forces might still be there.”

That same year he also spoke against going into Baghdad by saying that “our forces could well have bogged down in an urban guerrilla conflict in the streets of Baghdad. […] We would have instantly handed Saddam a victory out of the jaws of a humiliating defeat.”

Again, very interesting… It seems to me that the way in which the war in Iraq has progressed, or regressed, itself validates Bush Sr.’s original concerns about marching into Baghdad… and now, by championing his son’s decision to invade while ridiculing those that think differently, he seems to be grossly undermining his legacy…

God help us if there are indeed more Bush’s in the political wings… lest our country never recover.

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

With the presidential election less than a year away, we present a new feature on TBWA; Friday’s version of The Daily BushWhacking will focus on the presidential race, so let’s get to it...

• With the presidential race heating up, expect to see an increase in polling… for example, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows that the public is incredibly unhappy with Congress’ performance and that most do not merit being re-elected. BUT; the poll did show that Democrats faired better than republicans with Democrats getting 53% of the vote compared to republicans getting 42%...
• Former NYC Police Commissioner, and Rudy Giuliani (r-NY) protégé/friend, Bernard Kerik has turned himself in order to face arraignment on federal corruption charges… Rudy continues to stand by his friend… and will continue to do so until it no longer will serve his campaign, then he’ll cut ties to Kerik faster than you can say 9/11…
• Mitt Romney (r-MA) is winning-over conservatives in South Carolina… take that as you will…
• It IS the economy stupid…
• Giuliani and McCain both picked-up endorsements this week… from members of the religious right and Sam Brownback… yeah, that’ll win them the election…
• Doing his husbandly duty, former President Bill Clinton said this past week that he is to blame for his administration's failed health care plan and no Hillary… how gallant of you Bill…
• Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) took on his two main rivals earlier this week. With fists swinging, he made an argument that Clinton can’t appeal to independents and republicans as well as he can. He then took a swipe at John Edwards's populist message and the fact it doesn’t match-up with his record…
• A new poll of Tennessee voters shows republican homeboy Fred Thompson with a very-narrow lead over primary Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical presidential match-up… so much for her being unelectable…
• Rep. Ron Paul (r-TX) is giving credit for his growing presidential campaign to his grassroots supporters… wow, I never thought I would type that
• The flap over Hillary Clinton’s performance in the last Democratic debate just will NOT go away… and she’s partially to blame. Drop it already!
• And have we mentioned? That the rnc is acting like children on a playground? The republican party is going to penalize five states for holding presidential primary elections before February 5, 2008. New Hampshire, Florida, South Carolina, Michigan and Wyoming will be slapped on their hands stripped of half their delegates to the party's September convention… expect the Dems to follow similar suit. (This is absolutely preposterous – by doing this the parties are essentially giving in to Iowa’s incredibly misplaced egotism… the state is NOT a good cross-section of the country and their time, as well as New Hampshire’s for that matter, as the premier presidential testing ground has passed… get over it)

Sure they will

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said today that the House will vote on legislation that would spend $50 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as early as Friday… but with a caveat that would require “President” Bush to start bringing troops home.

Riiiight…

The bill would not only set a requirement to make troop withdrawals begin immediately, it would also ensure that Marines and soldiers spend an amount of time at home equal to their time in combat and would set a goal that combat ends by December 2008… even though “major combat operations” ended a long, long time ago… but let’s not nitpick right now…

The aggressive bill would also require the government to rely on the Army field manual when conducting interrogations… which doesn’t mention waterboarding, anywhere.

Uh-huh… seems to me we’ve heard this before… and absolutely nothing came of it… what makes this any more different?

Sure, a new CNN poll finds that support for the war has plunged to 31% with a staggeringly high 68 % opposing it… but why should we believe that the Democrats have suddenly grown a set and are doing something about it?



I’ll believe it when I see it…

The Thursday 'BushWhack'ing

You know the drill...

• Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is on Capitol Hill today and has said that the economy may slow significantly… media-induced panic in five, four, three, two…
• The number one issue coming to the foreground for voters is the economy… making James Carville’s 1992 phrase; “It’s the economy stupid” relevant once again. A recently conducted CNN/Opinion Research Corporation's poll shows that the economy tops the list of voter’s issues at 825, followed closely by the Iraq war at 80% then health care, 76%; terrorism, 76% and the situation in Iran, 73%... (The election is a little less than a year away, so stay tuned and do your duty and stay abreast of issues facing the country…)
• The Senate is expected to follow-suit with yesterday’s House veto override on the Water Resources Development Act… proving once again just how far out of touch Bush is not only with the American people, but elected officials within his own party…
• Giuliani (r-NY) and McCain (r-NM) both picked up endorsements yesterday… television evangelist and religious right tool Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy while former gop presidential candidate Sam Brownback (r-KS) endorsed McCain and, meh who cares...
• The House passed a bill aimed at banning on-job discrimination against gays, lesbians and bi-sexuals… though “President” Bush has promised a veto (I know – you’re shocked) if it reaches his desk…
• Let me see if I have this straight; the person who dressed up in the offensive costume gets suspended because the costume was offensive, but the boss who was on a panel that gave said person the award for best costume doesn’t... alrighty-then…
• And have we mentioned? That another FEMA employee has resigned because of the make-believe presser? Press secretary Aaron Walker resigned yesterday, days after helping the head of the agency’s public affairs department stage a press conference about the California wildfires, making him the second FEMA press official to resign after last month’s stunt… (Good…)

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Wednesday, we’re halfway done...

• I think it’s safe to say that, unless you’ve been living under a rock, that everyone knows that the gop ‘brand’ is damaged (heh heh heh)… and now, with under a year until a presidential election that has no clear-cut republican favorite, the gop are desperately trying to save themselves. Problem is, the brand itself is threatened due to the likes of conservatives like Rudy Giuliani who may not always see the conservative side of things. Having said all that, stay tuned – the next year should be one helluva ride…
• The House of Representatives has voted to override a Bush veto… no, not for SCHIP, but for a water bill that authorized $23 billion in various water projects that would, among many other things, restore the Everglades and Great Lakes fisheries, help rebuild post-Katrina Gulf Coast and a slew of other things… like REBUILDING THE NEW ORLEANS LEVEES!! The fact that Bush vetoed this thing shows just how out of touch with the will of the American people he is…
• “Analysis” from CNN shows that we shouldn’t put too much stock into polls a year before the election… (wow, crack analysis there guys… I never would have known that… he types as he rolls his eyes…)
• After the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to send it to the Senate floor, Bush’s Attorney General nominee is that much closer to being confirmed...
• The gop had a hard time of it in yesterday’s elections; losing the Kentucky governor’s seat and losing the Virginia state house (for the first time in 12 years). Yes, the gop did win the governor’s race in Mississippi, but overall; it was NOT a good day for them (heh heh heh)
• And have we mentioned? That on the day the U.S. military announced the deaths of six soldiers, Dumbass Supreme Joe LIEberman (I r-CT) said that the tide in Iraq was turning? It’s true, the most pathetic excuse for an Independent EVER said; “I’m proud to say that the tide has turned in Iraq and we’re winning that war…” And have we mentioned that, with the six deaths, the number of deaths this year rose to 851 and makes 2007 the deadliest year of the war for American troops… with two months left… but he says the “tide has turned.” What a fucking tool…

Poll Positions

‘Tis the season for polling, so here’s some nice polling data to help you get through the rest of your Tuesday.

Did you know that we are a “nation of discontent”… at least that’s the findings of a recent USA Today/Gallup poll shows, with 72% of Americans saying they’re dissatisfied with how things are going in the US, as opposed to the slight 26% that say they’re satisfied with the direction the country is heading.

Splendid… though it still begs the question as to what the hell the 26% are smoking.

And lest you think it’s only one poll that shows discontent, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll says that 75% of Americans are “eager for a change in direction from the agenda and priorities of President Bush”, with a paltry 24% of those polled believing that the Bush(whacked) Administration is leading the nation on the right track, which is the “lowest public assessment of the direction of the country in more than a decade.”

Nice…

And to pile on Bush, another new Gallup poll shows that 64% of Americans disapprove of the job he’s doing, and, for the “first time” ever in Gallup poll history, 50% say they “strongly disapprove” of Bush.

The previous high? The 1974 version of Richard Nixon, who scored a 48% mere days before an impeachment inquiry was launched.

Nice company for Bush to have, isn’t it?

Have some more polling info:

• 69% of Americans favor withdrawing U.S. forces, compared to 9% favoring an increase in troop levels.
• A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released yesterday shows, with a year until election day, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) remains the person to beat
  Another new CNN poll shows that 69% of Americans believe that waterboarding is torture and an additional 58% say that the U.S. government should be barred from using the procedure.
• All these numbers have one constant running through them, George W. Bush… his years of pathetic governing are the cause of this… and we still have a little under one year before we head to the polling booths to select who the Supreme Court will instill as our next President (sorry, I need to learn to let that go), and a large majority of Americans are distraught about the direction our nation is heading…

Bush and his cronies aren’t doing anything...

Congress isn’t doing anything...

Where in God’s name is this country headed?

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Somewhere in the blogging cosmos is another post I wrote yesterday…it disappeared somewhere between typing it and publishing it, so please be on the lookout for it out there; thanks.

• Today is Election Day, and there are a few races to keep an eye on as the day progresses; there are state elections in Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia… there’s a special Congressional election in OH-05, a solidly republican district… and a handful of others… all that could have far-reaching results – so stay tuned.
• A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released yesterday shows, with a year to election day, Sen. Clinton (D-NY) remains the person to beat… more on this later.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to approve “President” Bush’s Attorney General nominee, Michael Mukasey, after he promised, if one was enacted by Congress, to enforce a law against waterboarding. That promise won him the support of Sens. Feinstein (D-CA) and Schumer (D-NY), a promise that committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said was ‘disingenuous.’ (And the Democrats continue to show no balls whatsoever…)
• AttorneyGate just won’t go away… and it shouldn’t, especially since the White House is the primary reason it’s not going away. By constantly ignoring subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee, the White House seems to be forcing the hand of Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) into calling for a vote on contempt of Congress citations against COS Joshua Bolten and former legal counsel Harriet Miers. (all fine and good… but the White House’s ignoring of the subpoenas has been going on for far too long now, and the power of calling for a contempt charge is diminishing…)
• And have we mentioned? That the Bush(whacked) Administration is into irony? It’s true. Not only are they “deeply disappointed that Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared Marshall Law, they went on to say that it is never “reasonable” to “restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism”… (Ya know, sometimes the irony is so damn rich, that nothing you can say would add anything…)

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another start of another week…

• CNN Headline screams; “Bush seeks to defuse tension with Turkey”. Well, not slaughtering it for Thanksgiving would help… oh, they mean the country Turkey. Um… I sustain my prior answer…
• Senator Obama (D-IL) introduced a resolution last week that says President Bush does not have authority to use military force against Iran. Well, considering he has missed almost 80% of Senate votes in the last two months it’s good to see him do something…
• Sensing that his AG nominee is in peril, “President” Bush has been fellating spinning working the Senate Judiciary vote… and it apparently worked as Senators Charles Schumer (DNY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said they would vote FOR Michael Mukasey, and Sen. Arlen Specter (r-PA) said he would also support the nomination despite being “bothered” by Mukasey’s refusal to say whether waterboarding is torture… (of course they will, why show any resolve or balls now?? You have reservations about someone, but you still agree to confirm them… pretty stupid if you ask me…)
• And have we mentioned? That former president George H.W. Bush was interviewed this past weekend on Fox “News”? And while he didn’t say anything really important (like father like son), he did mention that there may be more Bushes waiting in the political wings… to which I say; AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Good God no!!!! Please Lord, make it stop….

The Weekly Rewind

It's the end of the week! What does that mean? Football? sure... drinking to an excess? ok for some of you perhaps.... However for us at The "Bush"-Whacked Administration it means a look back at some of the things that you may have missed this past week, both good and bad. Hence the Applauds (good) and Heckles (bad). Ok, let's get to it.....

Applaud: to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for a soundbite from this past week’s democratic debate. The bit isn’t nearly getting the amount of airtime it should, but it is a classic. Biden described gop candidate Rudy Giuliani thusly; “There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11.” (Nicely said Mr. Biden, well done)

Heckle: to poor campaign practices. Waking potential voters up at 2 in the morning to ask them to vote for you is probably gonna have an opposite effect. Just ask Westchester (NY) County Legislature hopeful Domenic Volpe. A firm his campaign hired, and I would imagine later fired, to dispatch recorded calls asking for their support accidentally was programmed to call voters at 2 a.m. instead of 2 p.m… oops

Applaud: to Dennis Kucinich (did I really just write that?) for saying what many others are surely thinking, that Bush may need his racket restrung.

Heckle: to Vice President Dick “President” Cheney and his Dan Quayle impression this morning. During a speech in Dallas, a reporter asked Cheney about his views on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cheney responded that the people of Peru “deserve better” leadership than Chavez… um, okay. Last time I looked, Chavez was the president of Venezuela and the president of Peru was Alan Garcia… but I could be wrong.

Heckle: to avoiding the US like we have a plague. The number of foreign visitors to the United States has plummeted since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington because foreigners don’t feel welcome,” according to tourism professionals. The decline has cost America “94 billion dollars in lost visitor spending, nearly 200,000 jobs and 16 billion dollars in lost tax revenue.” Ok, just for the record, we like visitors, we don’t like illegal immigrants.

Heckle: to knowing that almost everyone saw this coming. While there are pockets of security where life in Baghdad is starting to get back to normal, it’s not normal by most standards. Across the city Sunnis and Shiites live in sectarian enclaves, many walled off. Sunnis fear visiting Shiite areas and vice versa, even if it is just a few blocks away. Trust has broken down so much that a stranger in a neighborhood can arouse enough suspicion to warrant an attack. Nice, someone walking to the market takes a wrong turn and ends up getting killed because they are wearing the wrong scarf…sounds like what….. that’s right, major gang areas in the US. We can’t control them here, so what makes us think we could do it in Iraq?

Heckle: to proving that he needed to go. As Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld wrote 20 to 60 “snowflakes” — his trademark missives for developing policy — each day. In a sampling of them obtained by the Washington Post, Rumsfeld “argued that Muslims avoid ‘physical labor’ and wrote of the need to ‘keep elevating the threat,’ ‘link Iraq to Iran’ and develop ‘bumper sticker statements’ to rally public support. As if we didn’t already know that the administration was burning to expand our real estate holdings in the region…oh and by the way Don, no one takes anything on a bumper sticker seriously.

Heckle: to a sad reality. The number of Americans without health insurance “rose by nearly 8.6 million to 47 million from 2000 to 2006, with children and workers from every income level losing coverage,” according to the Economic Policy Institute. The increase was “driven primarily by the continued erosion in employer-provided health insurance.” I wonder how many of those 47 million voted republican in the last 2 elections. And you hope they will be smart enough to vote democrat next year. Remember the only values that the republicans care about are the values that their corporate handlers tell them to care about.

Applaud: to 67 percent: Which is the number of Americans who “support giving contraceptives to students”, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. About as many - 62 percent - said they believe providing birth control “reduces the number of teenage pregnancies.” Thank you for exhibiting common sense.

Heckle: to One in eight: Which is the number of veterans under the age of 65 who are uninsured, a finding that contradicts the assumption many have that all vets qualify for free health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Approximately 1.8 million veterans overall lack health coverage, a jump of 290,000 since 2000. This is unacceptable. These men and women risked life and limb for this nation and this nation owes them a debt of gratitude, which includes the health care promised to them.

Heckle: to being just so damned hippocritical. Lawmakers have increasingly steered federal funds to overtly religious organizations — many of which claim proselytizing or religious conversions as their primary function — using earmarks. For instance, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) tried to earmark $100,000 for a creationist organization. Since when do we get to pick and choose when church and state are separate.

Heckle: to Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Who, according to a new book on Blair’s tenure, “turned down a last-minute offer from President George Bush for Britain to stay out of the Iraq war because he thought it would look ‘pathetic,’. Well Tony, now your position looks as pathetic as ours. Nicely played.

And finally-

Applaud: to a financial wizardseeing the light. Warren Buffett this week told CNBC that he believes there is a “fairly significant” chance that the United States is headed toward a recession. Maybe Warren should take over for Bernake for a while.

Ok, all these heckles have left me tired and depressed. That’s it for this week.

Be good, stay informed….later.