The Weekly Rewind.

Ok so we now know it is going to be Obama vs McCain. I am not going to rehash what has been all over the networks and cable channels this week. No that would be boring. Howe about some stuff that flew under the radar? Here we go with this weeks Weekly Rewind.

Heckle: to being consistently clueless. It seems that despite fierce opposition by Iraqis to his call for a long-term occupation of Iraq, ‘President’ Bush this week expressed confidence that a status of forces agreement would pass. Bush said that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki “appreciates our presence there” and suggested much of the opposition “is based on inaccurate media reports and misunderstandings.” Hmmm, okay let’s see where these ‘inaccurate media reports’ and ‘misunderstandings’ are occurring….stay together, now follow me….As reported at ThinkProgress and various news agencies…

• Top Iraqi officials are objecting publicly to the United States’ effort to establish permanent bases in the country. “The Americans are making demands that would lead to the colonization of Iraq,” said Sami al-Askari, a senior Shiite politician close to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “If we can’t reach a fair agreement, many people think we should say, ‘Goodbye, U.S. troops. We don’t need you here anymore.’”

• Iraqi lawmakers say that the Bush administration is “demanding 58 bases as part of a proposed ’status of forces’ agreement that will allow U.S. troops to remain in the country indefinitely.” Jalal al Din al Saghir, a leading lawmaker from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, called the deal “more abominable than the occupation.”

• Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is saying that “talks with the United States on a longterm security agreement have reached a ‘dead end’” because the U.S. proposals “do not take into consideration Iraq’s sovereignty.”

Well it seems that either our ‘President’ has no clue of what he is talking about, or Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has an evil clone that runs around saying the exact opposite of everything he does……hmmmmm I’m betting on the first scenario… which takes us directly into the next point…

Heckle: to not only being clueless but not having a conscience either. In an interview with the UK Times, President Bush said he regrets his legacy in making the world believe he was a “guy really anxious for war” in Iraq. But today, he added that “he had no regrets about the decision to invade Iraq.” Amazing, you gotta wonder what it's like to be that clueless!

Applaud: to the effort. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said he’s not going to let his effort to impeach President Bush die a quiet death in committee. He said Wednesday that he’ll bring his resolution “back in 30 days if the Judiciary Committee…doesn’t act on it.” “In 30 days, I’ll be joined by many more” members, he said. With the short amount of time left, we doubt it will go anywhere, however we heartily applaud the effort Dennis.

Applaud: to…..wait for it. President Bush is increasingly drawing on selected events of the past to argue that history will vindicate him. Unfortunately for the president, many historians have already reached a conclusion. In an informal survey of scholars this spring, just two out of 109 historians said Bush would be judged a success; a majority deemed him the “worst president ever.” See I told you to wait for it….

Applaud: to more people seeing the light. In a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey out this week, 78 percent of respondents rate the economic conditions in this country as poor. That’s up from 75 percent in March. Only 22 percent rate the economic conditions in the country as good. Give it time and a few more of the 22 percent will wake up.

Applaud: for the effort , but you still gotta laugh at the image. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has bought a new, fuel-efficient Vespa. According to the DC Examiner, “Mr. Macho recently stopped by the Vespa dealership in Glover Park and took home a LXV 150 scooter, which can reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.” When asked about his purchase, Rumsfeld reported cackled, “Ha ha ha ha, I’ll get you and your little dog too!” Okay not really, but can’t you just picture it?

Applaud: to not keeping silent. This week the scientific academies of the G8 countries and of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa “urged the world to act more forcefully to limit the threat posed by human-driven global warming.” They called on the industrialized countries to lead a “transition to a low-carbon society” and aggressively move to limit impacts from changes in climate that are already under way and impossible to stop. Ok, talk is nice, however all these countries need to put some actions behind their words or it’s just rhetoric.

Heckle: to once again pulling the rug out from under the average American. With soaring oil prices, Americans are increasingly turning to Amtrak, which saw record numbers in May when ridership rose a healthy 12.3 percent from a year earlier. The Bush administration, however, is of course threatening to veto legislation that would fund the passenger railroad for the next five years. What a surprise, one of our few pieces of infrastructure that could actually help is being threatened with being shut-down. Just another example of the ‘Bush-Whacking’ of America.

Heckle: to being once again being manipulated. As ‘President’ Bush travels across Europe to gain support for possible new sanctions against Iran, Israeli leaders have been working to lay the psychological foundation for a possible military strike if diplomacy falters. Reportedly in public threats and private briefings with American decision-makers, Israeli officials have been making the case that a military strike may be the only way to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Nice, here we go again. We screwed up in Iraq, so let’s try it again with Iran and this time let’s try the spin using a different ally. I can see Bush starting something near the end of his lame duck term and then running out the door to leave it to the next POTUS to deal with.

Heckle: to shortsightedness. Now the financial credit crisis is squeezing student loan programs that offer breaks to borrowers who enter critical fields such as nursing and teaching, as state-backed lenders in at least six states “have dropped or scaled back programs.” Ok so in about 10- 15 years when our kids are failing even worse than they are now, and when a large part of the population is in need of medical care we can slap the speculators and Administration officials who thought it wasn’t important to be pro-active. That is if we can find them.

And this weeks tool of the week is....... FEMA, for once again letting their stupidity show. A CNN investigation has found “FEMA gave away about $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims.” A FEMA spokesperson said, “We determined that they were excess to FEMA’s needs; therefore, they are being excessed from FEMA’s inventory.” But Martha Kegel, the head of a New Orleans nonprofit agency, responded, “These are the very things that we are seeking right now.” I’m sorry can we just scrap FEMA and just start over with FEMA 2?

Finally, on a Sad note, Tim Russert of NBC died suddenly Friday at the studio in Washington doing what he loved. This was a man of great integrity who was respected and admired by both sides of the aisle. I spent many, many Sunday mornings watching him on 'Meet the Press' and considered him to be one of the fairest people in the arena of political reporting. I looked forward to his perspective on the issues. I will miss his wit, wisdom and insight as we enter this historic general election. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. God bless you Tim, you set a standard that will be hard for others to acheive.

That’s it for this week.

Be good, stay informed….later…