The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another day closer to the weekend, woot!

• The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution yesterday that called on China to end its crackdown on Tibet and release hundreds of imprisoned Tibetans. The vote was 413-1, with the lone 'no' vote coming from Ron Paul... the man that's nuttier than a squirrel's cheeks in October.
• House Democrats are flashing some backbone again, tabling the trade pact with Colombia against “President” Bush’s strict requests not to…
• “President” Bush is set to announce shorter combat tours in Iraq…
• While the US is paying obscene prices for oil/gasoline, Iraq has a billion dollar oil surplus… am I missing something here, after all, it seems pretty straightforward to me.
• Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), put Petraeus on the spot yesterday when he asked him to justify the large number of troops in Iraq… naturally the general responded with an answer that was more subterfuge than response. But it’s good to see Democrats, and yes even a splattering of republicans, showing backbone regarding Iraq.
• Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich told Americans to not be overly optimistic that the U.S. economy might rebound by the end of summer… (but, but… the administration says that the $600 checks we get will turn the economy around… is he implying otherwise?Is the White House not being up-front with the nation? They would never do th— … wow, I almost got that typed without laughing myself into convulsions…)
• NBC Nightly News correspondent Richard Engel isn’t drinking the Bush(whacked) Administration’s Kool-Aid… he’s been criticizing the testimony of Crocker and Petraeus (sounds like a bad 80's pop group) and charging them of continuously changing the ‘rules of the game’ in Iraq. (True that… but then again, that's how this administration works… change the rules so they fit what THEY want to do. Laws, common sense, humanity be damned…)
• The FCC is set to approve a nationwide emergency text-alert system. While that’s good news, the bad news is that a federal agency, yet to be created, would make the messages and send them out… meaning the Bush(whacked) Administration would create the new agency… so expect to see someone with a background in emergency management fly fishing in the lead…
• While we at TBWA support both Democratic candidates for president, one has to wonder though what the hell Sen. Clinton is smoking when she says things like she is the only presidential candidate capable of ending the war in Iraq…
• And have we mentioned? That the next time you start fantasizing about federal employees and their lingerie/underwear (what? That’s not normal?) you probably want to thank yourself? A GAO study released yesterday shows that Federal employees “probably” charged millions of dollars to government credit or debit cards, purchasing such things as “Internet dating services, iPods, expensive clothing, a $13,500 dinner and lingerie to be worn during jungle training in Ecuador” (wait, what?? What the hell kind of training are we talking about?) The study went on to say that the purchases were improper (ya think?) because they either weren’t authorized or didn’t meet the government's requirements for using purchase cards… (ok, they know who did it, they know what they bought, what will happen to them? Well, considering the employees are tied to this administration, probably not a damn thing…)