Stop the inanity

Since the media, and Reverend Wright himself, can’t seem to let ReverendGate die, it seems that more action was needed by Sen. Obama.

Yesterday, he did just that.

Obama Took Reverend Wright to task yesterday, saying he is not only “outraged” by comments Wright made Monday at the National Press Club, but he’s also “saddened by the spectacle” and believes (rightfully in my humble opinion) that Wright seems to be more concerned with taking center stage than anything else.

Not the actions of a friend…

Rather than rightfully allowing the (non)story to die down, Wright is instead perpetuating it… and he needs to stop.

Now action is required by us, the American electorate.

When this whole ReverendGate nonsense popped up, I was absolutely amazed that a politician could be held accountable for something said by a friend, confidante, counsel, etc…

The fact that this story will not go away, shows the absolute absurdity of this process… rather than speak on the issues that, according to polls, we as a nation are concenrned with (Iraq war, economy, jobs, terrorism) we’re being spoon-fed this inane Reverend, Bosnia, wife’s private plane crap.

Enough.

Issues people… let’s focus on the issues and NOT the inane. After 8 years of Bush, haven’t we had enough inanity?

Read my words, hear my words, let it sink in people!

I don’t know how many times I’ve mentioned this before but it’s important enough, I think, to mention it again… and again, and again, and again… until it sinks into everyone’s head.

You know by now that DNC Chairman Howard Dean (as I mentioned yesterday and earlier today) is desperately trying to get the nominee in place by the end of the primary season on June 4th because he wants to avoid a floor fight at the convention… which is the smart thing to do.If the Democratic Party appears fractured or disjointed in August, we’re also going to look weak.

And if that happens, you can kiss the White House goodbye and welcome four more years of Bush-style governing… meaning the further shredding of the Constitution, more economic falls, a lower standing in the world, and more American deaths in Iraq.We (and by ‘we’ I mean Liberals and Democrats) [Co-editors note- Yes folks there is a difference! - Sorry to interrupt, Scott] still have a better than average chance of winning the White House this November… but, as Mr. Dean says, we need to make the decision sooner rather than later.

And not only would having the nominating process drag out to the convention be detrimental to the party, the fractured-ness of the two campaigns and supporters will as well.

As I’ve said many times (and will continue to say until it gets through) we need to show a united front to the republicans, and the country, in November.

What that means is this:

If Clinton wins, regardless of whom you support now; vote for her.

If Obama wins, regardless of whom you support now; vote for him.

This is the one and only way we can avoid 4 more years of a Bush-style presidency; supporters of the other candidate NEED TO AND HAVE TO vote for the Democrat nominee, regardless of who it is.

Consider this; for all their lofty talk about already having a presumptive nominee, the republicans are still vulnerable. Remember that, in spite of his ‘presumptive nominee’ status, there are still quite a few republicans out there that aren’t entirely sold on Sen. McCain, and to back that up I (again) point to the 25% of republican Pennsylvanians that voted last week for Mike Huckabee (who officially dropped out weeks ago) and Ron Paul… and not McCain.

No one knows if that would carry over to November (regardless of what some pundits may say), but it does show splintering in the gop… something the Democrats need to take advantage of and use to their benefit.

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Hump day… this administration has been humping us for years…

• The gop is attacking a DNC ad that criticizes Sen. McCain’s ‘100 years’ in Iraq strategy, saying it “falsely and maliciously accuses Sen. McCain of stating that prolonging the Iraq war for '100 years' would be 'fine' with him”… (cuz the republicans have NEVER used false and malicious ads in their existence… no sirree… not at all… never… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)
• Clinton and Obama are statistically tied in Gallup's national tracking poll for the fifth straight day…
• Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken will pay the IRS $70,000 in back income taxes (wow, nice impression of a republican there Al. Don’t let it happen again…)
• Since the media, and Reverend Wright himself, have not been able to let ReverendGate go, Sen. Obama has had enough,… watch for my post on this later today.
• House and Senate negotiators are scrambling to meet “President” Bush's demands on a multibillion-dollar farm bill… (I’m sorry… why is Congress ‘scrambling’ to meet the demands of a lame-duck, low-approval rated President???)
• Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain support eliminating the gas tax temporarily. McCain’s plan would cost the US $10 billion dollars (approx. the amount the tax would provide). Clinton’s plan has an interesting twist that would (in the mind of her campaign) make up the lost revenue with a “windfall profits tax” on oil companies that would subject their profits to a 50% tax if they were over a certain amount. Sen. Obama, btw, doesn’t support a temporary tax holiday. (Clinton’s has an interesting idea… though how hard would it be to get the oil companies – and they members of Congress they control – to get in line?)
• While the Pentagon is, per CBS News, developing new “options” for attacking Iran, the Bush(whacked) Administration deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf yesterday to serve, in the words of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, as a “reminder” to Iran. Naturally, when he was asked if the Pentagon was preparing military strikes, Gates said, “No”. (Which should put everyone’s mind at ease since no one in this administration would ever lie. What ya think, too much sarcasm there?)
• A new NBC/WSJ poll (scheduled to be released tomorrow) not only shows that a scant 21% approve of Bush’s handling of the economy but also that 81% of Americans believe the US is currently in a recession…
• And have we mentioned? That the people running Fox “News” are not very bright when it comes to US History? Last weekend Sen. Clinton challenged Sen. Obama to a “Lincoln-Douglas” style debate (having done L-D debates, watching ANY politician take part would be painful to watch). Clinton was referring to the well-known 1858 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. While covering the story Fox “News”, consistently showed images of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, the former slave who spent his life fighting for the abolition of slavery and never, as far as historians (and anyone with a brain) knows, participated in a debate with Abe Lincoln… New motto for them; “Fox “News”: Now run by mental furballs.”

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Insert own snarky comment here…

• Foreclosures have spiked 112% thus far in 2008… and there’s no end in sight. Regardless of what Dubya says about our in-the-mail checks.
• Because we apparently need polling to tell us this, the top economic worry in the US is… are you sitting down? Prepare to be shocked… it’s gasoline… I know, I NEVER could have foreseen that… (it’s called sarcasm people)
• Karl Rove is giving advice on how to win the Presidency to Sen. Obama… (wait, what??)
• “President” Bush seemingly knows that his legacy on Domestic issues is so far in the crapper that he can’t recover, so he’s now focusing on Mideast Peace talks… (and with his foreign policy chops, he’s just the man to do it… I think I just hurt myself from laughing so hard…)
• Three years before Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was arguing for a 100 year presence in Iraq, he told MSNBC, “I would hope that we could bring them all home.” “I think one of our big problems has been the fact that many Iraqis resent American military presence,” McCain said. “[A]s soon as we can reduce our visibility as much as possible, the better I think it is going to be.” (Perhaps he could blame senility…)
• The Atlantic’s Matthew Yglesias, speaking to ThinkProgress; “No president before George W. Bush ever suggested that American security required us to just go decapitate regimes on the theory that they might some day in the future acquire weapons that would be dangerous. It’s been a huge disaster.” (I don’t think anything more needs to be said…)
• Sen. McCain visited a Miami Children’s Hospital yesterday… a hospital whose Doctors supported the SCHIP expansion that McCain voted against… awk-ward
• This year’s award for understatement of the year goes to White House spokesperson Dana Perino who said making Afghanistan safe is “damn hard work.” (Yeah, even more so when troops are pulled out of there to go fight Bush’s pet war in Iraq, What a tool…)
  Ron Paul is still hanging around… and still bat-shit crazy.
• SCOTUS upheld Indiana’s voter ID law… which could pave the way for more states to enact similar laws.
• With the Democrats suggesting that McCain’s healthcare policies would continue Bush’s healthcare policies (such as they are), McCain says that he rejects a “big government” takeover of healthcare… though no policy has been released from his campaign, so for now it continues to be empty rhetoric…
• And have we mentioned? That DNC Chairman Howard Dean (as I mentioned yesterday) is desperately trying to get the nominee in place before it comes down to a floor fight at the August convention… (which is exactly what needs to be done. Liberals still have an outstanding chance at getting back the White House, but we need to make a decision on our nominee sooner rather than later. And not only would having the nominating process drag out that long be detrimental to the party, so is the fractured-ness of the two campaigns. As I said in my ‘Plea to Democrats’, we need to show a united front to the republicans in November… if Clinton wins, regardless of whom you support now; vote for her. If Obama wins, regardless of whom you support now; vote for him. The only way we can avoid 4 more years of a Bush-style presidency is for supporters of the other candidate to vote for the Democrat nominee, regardless of who it is. The republicans are vulnerable… consider that, in spite of his ‘presumptive nominee’ status, there are still quite a few republicans out there that aren’t sold on Sen. McCain, and again I point to the 25% of republican Pennsylvanians that voted for Huckabee and Paul last week… and not McCain... why do I have a feeling I'll be writing about this again?)

Let's get it done... sooner, not later

With another primary a week away, DNC chairman Howard Dean is once again trying to nudge the as-of-now-un-pledged super-delegates (could I have more hypens?) into making their choice known by June 4th, the day after the final Democratic primary.

Said Dean; "We want the voters to have their say. That's over on June 3. […] We really can't have a divided convention. If we do it's going to be very hard to heal the party afterwards. So we'll know who the nominee is, and that'll give us an extra 2 1/2 months to get our party together, heal the wounds of having a very closely divided race and take on Sen. McCain.”

Granted, Democratic Party rules enable the super-delegates to wait until the presidential nominating convention in Denver on Aug. 25 to make a choice, but Dean says, correctly I might add, that the party cannot wait that long if it hopes to beat Republican John McCain in November.

If we do, it will be that many additional months for McBush to trot out the same old, same old that we’ve come to know and abhor with George Bush in office for eight years.

The Democrats still have a better than average shot at getting back into the White House, but we need to make a move sooner rather than later, and having the nominating process drag out that long would be detrimental to the party…

Regardless of his ‘presumptive nominee’ status, there are still quite a few republicans out there that aren’t sold on Sen. McCain, witness 25% of republican Pennsylvanians voting for Huckabee and Paul last week… and with a weak candidate on that side, we have an opportunity to get a Liberal back in the White House and attempt to clean up the mess that 8 truly horrifying years of George Bush has done.

Stay tuned…

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week starts… can you stand the excitement?

• Rep. Peter Hoekstra (r-MI), along with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), appeared on CNN the other day and warned against war with Iran… with republican Hoekstra saying; “Iran is not Iraq. And going in there militarily would be, from my perspective, a huge mistake.” (If a republican is saying this… what the hell does that tell you?)
• Thanks to the media, ReverendGate just won’t go away…
• Sen. Obama says race isn’t an issue in this campaign… and for that matter, neither should sex… Age on the other hand is a whole different kettle of fish…
• Hope you’re not sick of campaign ads, because the candidates have already spent $110 million on TV ads to this point, with an assurance of many, many more on the way.
• The Bush(whacked) Administration is opposing a housing bailout plan brought up by Congressional Democrats because… well… because it will help people that don’t give money to republicans… so why should THEY care?
• I know we’ve already mentioned it, but it’s too stupid to not bring it up again… Sen. McCain was in NOLA last Thursday and said that the US government failed New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina… too bad he didn’t say anything when the hurricane was actually, you know, destroying New Orleans… instead he was enjoying a photo-op with “President” Bush… Dumbass….
• House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) and arguably the most powerful African-American in Congress, has again laid a smack-down on former President Bill Clinton, saying that Clinton’s recent comments have been ‘bizarre.’ Earlier this election cycle Clyburn told Clinton to “chill-out” instead of consistently opening his mouth when he clearly shouldn’t. (I have to agree with Mr. Clyburn. Mr. Clinton continues to drag down the campaign of Sen. Clinton by opening his mouth and saying things that should best be left unsaid. Perhaps he needs to go home and watch some TV and leave the campaigning to Ms. Clinton… I’m just sayin’)
• The Pentagon has ceased its practice of using plants on network TV… (Uh-huh, we’ll see…)
• The Supreme Court ruled earlier today that states “can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws.” The case, which was decided on a 6-3 vote, concerned Indiana’s voter ID law, barely a week before that’s presidential primary. (quick show of hands, which party does this help?)
• And have we mentioned? That Bush should stick to his day job, which is a thoroughly frightening concept in and of itself? The “President” appeared at the White House Correspondents' dinner Saturday night and tried to make jokes at all three of the candidates’ expense. Let’s just say that his joke telling is worse than his military strategy and leave it at that…

The Weekly Rewind

Another week down in the wide, whacky, wooly, woefully-inadequate world of politics… there are 269 days remaining until the end of the Bush presidency… and I can hardly contain my glee.

Applaud: to good news… if it’s true. Finally responding to that explosive NY Times’s piece that exposed the Bush(whacked) Administration’s ‘double’-secret campaign to use analysts in order to “generate favorable news coverage,” the Pentagon has “temporarily stopped the program. (When the story broke, no one in the media reported it, which caused White House press icon Helen Thomas to chastise her brethren this past week. With it being canceled, I have a feeling the media WILL cover that as an attempt to show the administration cares what people think. The ass-kissing of the MSM is sickening…)

Heckle: to more talking out of one’s ass… In a speech this week at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that he thinks Iran is “hell bent” on acquiring nuclear weapons but at the same time warned that “another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels.” (Rattling a saber when it has a dull blade is not a smart thing to do Robert… perhaps you should try keeping your mouth shut. Just a thought)

Applaud: to 69’s. Not in that way, sheesh, get your heads out of the gutter. 69 as in percentage… as in 69% of Americans who disapprove of the job Bush is doing, matching the low point of his presidency while at the same time setting a new disapproval high for any president since FDR… (mwahhahahahahahahaha)

Heckle: to it STILL being the economy stupid. Despite ABC’s attempts to have ReverendGate, SniperGate, LapelpinGate as the voter’s primary concern, a new poll shows what the rest of us already knew; the economy is the top problem on the minds of voters, with 67% of those responding saying it’s the most important issue right now…

Applaud: to treating a lame-duck like a lame-duck. The House voted earlier this week to block the Bush(whacked) Administration from cutting federal spending on Medicaid health care for the poor by $13 billion over the next five years. Yes, Bush has threatened to get out his veto crayon, but there are more than enough votes to override him in the House, and the Senate… (about time they start treating him like a lame-duck. Bush’s power has diminished, and it’s time that Congress starts using that to their advantage. This is a great start, let’s just hope they keep it up)

Heckle: to ignoring the state of our armed forces. The Army has kicked-up its policy of involuntary extensions of duty, aka stop-loss, in an attempt to “bolster its troop levels.” This comes despite Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ order in 2007 to limit it with the army saying that” Since May 2007, “the number of soldiers forced to remain in the Army rose 43% to 12,235 in March.” The Army has said it needs the “stop-loss” policy to continue well into 2009.

Applaud: to a new GAO opinion released this past week that re-affirms what many have been saying since it happened… that the Bush(whacked) Administration violated federal law last year when it restricted states’ ability to provide health insurance to children of middle-income families.. therefore making its new policy “unenforceable.” (If I had a dime for all the times this administration has violated federal law, I would be a rich, rich man…)

Heckle: to speaking out of one’s ass… McCain style. The New York times examined the list of 106 elite fund-raisers who have “brought in more than $100,000 each” for McCain’s campaign and the paper found that a “sizable number of lobbyists” raised money for McCain, sizes that are only outnumbered on the list by those working in the financial services industry… but McCain still has the balls to say he’s for change while vowing that he doesn’t mess with lobbyists… (Quick John, you might want to make sure your pants aren’t on fire cuz you’re lying so much…)

Applaud: to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plans to move the Iraq war supplemental, which would include three separate legislative vehicles, one to provide emergency funding for military operations in Iraq & Afghanistan; another aimed at stimulating the economy through a mix of domestic spending measures; and a third that would advance some sort of language on troop withdrawals…(I’ll believe it when I see it…)

Heckle: to screwing the American public. While oil prices keep rising ever higher, Exxon Mobil was the most profitable company for the fifth year in a row, “raking in a “record-breaking $40 billion in 2007 earnings”… yet there’s still nothing they can do about the price of gasoline. Bull. Shit.

Applaud: to news that SHOULD mean the US paying less to rebuild Iraq. Information released this week suggests that Iraq will “reap an even larger than expected windfall this year” in oil revenue, rumored to be as high as $70 billion. Now my feeling is, with the US’s cost of rebuilding Iraq climbing ever higher, Iraq should use some this obscene amount of money to, I don’t know… perhaps foot some of the bill for rebuilding their nation… just a thought.

Heckle: to some grossly misplaced priorities. At a time when the insurgency is still claiming multiple lives on a daily basis and costing the US millions of dollars a day, news came out this past week that a LA-based company is “developing the Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience”, which will be a “massive American-style amusement park” with a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum… all for only $500 million. The company’s owner says that “the time is ripe” for profit and entertainment to collide in Iraq and that “… people will embrace it. They’ll see it as an opportunity for their children regardless if they’re Shia or Sunni. They’ll say their kids deserve a place to play and they’ll leave it alone.” (This should end well… )

Applaud: to more proof that conservative-based programs fail. This past week health experts testified to the House oversight committee that abstinence-only programs have “not cut teen pregnancies” nor “delayed the age at which sex begins.” In fact, says Dr. Margaret Blythe of the American Academy of Pediatrics, there is even evidence that some of these programs are “harmful and have negative consequences.” (Well duhhhhhhhh)

Heckle: to misguided, ignored and slap-in-the-face strong-arming. Barely a day after the administration “urged” India to step up pressure on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he visits New Delhi, India “tartly said it did not need ‘any guidance on the future conduct of bilateral relations’” and made clear that “no saber rattling from its friends” in DC would “impair its relationship with a vital energy supplier.” (this is what happens when you not only have a lame-duck as president but one who no one listens to… countries ignore you. 1/20/09…)

Applaud: to failures of high-technology. No, I’m not talking about Microsoft Vista. The Bush(whacked) Administration has scrapped its $20-million prototype of its “virtual” border fence along the Arizona-Mexico border because the system is “failing to adequately alert Border Patrol agents to illegal crossings.”

Heckle: to sad but not surprising news. With the death toll rising on an almost daily basis and with no end in sight, a new USA Today/Gallup poll found that 63% of Americans say the US “made a mistake” in sending troops to Iraq… (ignoring for a moment that it took some people THIS long to realize this, these numbers are bad news for McCain and his lapdog Joe Lieberman… it’s only a matter of time until his continuing support of the war starts to erode his appeal. Stay tuned…)

Applaud: to the Senate Ethics Committee for finally! doing something, albeit not very hard. The committee “admonished” Sen. Pete Domenici (r-NM) this past week for placing an inappropriate call to then-U.S. attorney David Iglesias shortly before the 2006 elections, saying that Domenici should have known better than to contact Iglesias about an ongoing investigation… (Let’s call this a mild-applaud…)

Heckle: to more numbers that could be foreshadowing some serious problems down the road. As if the ever-rising gas prices weren’t enough of a strain on the American consumer, now we have a steadfast fear of rising food prices, with a new USA Today/Gallup poll showing that 73% of consumers are worried about rising food prices… (what’s next? A rice and flour shortage…oh, wait…)

Applaud: to the latest installment of ‘As the Lobbyist Turns in Prison”. Earlier this week former DOJ official Robert Coughlin was accused of having a “criminal conflict of interest” with jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff… now, after admitting in federal court that he “accepted meals, concert tickets and luxury eats at sporting events from a lobbyist,” he faces “up to 10 months in prison” (That’s a shame. Yes, that was sarcasm…)

Heckle: to more pandering and flip-flopping. Apparently forgetting that he once opposed the President’s tax cuts and warned against increasing budget deficits, Sen. McCain is now “marching straight down the party line” and leaving his past predictions in the dust, no matter how prophetic some of them have been…

Heckle: to more White House subterfuge and camouflaging. The administration is challenging a court ruling that White House visitor logs are public documents and should be available to all, saying that the releasing of these records would infringe on the separation of powers… (riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight)

And this week’s conservative TOTW is Tony Zirkle, who is seeking the republican nomination in Indiana’s 2nd Congressional district. He recently delivered a speech to the (neo-Na*i) American National Socialist Workers Party (ANSWP) on a day that just “happened” to be the 119th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s birth while standing in front of a painting of Hitler, next to people wearing swastika armbands and with a swastika flag in the background.

Nice…

When was asked by reporters why he spoke to ANSWP, which refers to itself as “the largest and most active pro-white organization in America,” Zirkle said he’ll “speak before any group that invites me.”

Zirkle is what’s wrong with politics… when he ran in 2006 he had called for a return of the guillotine… this past March he said “the United States should debate segregating by race”, he’s so toxic that state gop leaders have called him “repulsive.”
That’s why he’s, TBWA’s conservative Tool of the Week…

All I have, take ‘em as you will…

Even more proof that he just doesn’t get it*

*as if we needed anymore…

Since the site IS named after him after all, how about a post dealing with everyone's favorite recovering alcoholic & drug addict/born-again/boy-president…

“President” Bush held a presser this morning on the South Lawn of the White House and announced that the economic stimulus checks will start being sent out this Monday… with approximately 130 million households in line for $600-per-individual, $1,200-per-couple and $300-per-eligible-child rebates

Said Bush; “If you've already filed your income tax return, your rebate is on the way. […] We want to make sure everyone who is eligible for a check gets one. […] This money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we are seeing at the gas pump and the grocery store... and will also give the economy a boost to help us out of this slowdown.”

Let's ignore 2 other things for a moment; the fact that all the economists that AREN'T joining the lemmings in going over the cliff say the checks will have only a modest impact on the economy (and that's only if people spend the money) and the fact that this president refuses to accept reality that the US is in a recession and would rather desperately (or idiotically?) cling to the concept that we're in a “slowdown” instead.

Instead, let's concentrate on what he said this morning; “This money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we are seeing at the gas pump and the grocery store...”

Um… correct me if I'm wrong, but when the economic stimulus package was first announced, Bush said that the rebate would be a 'shot in the arm' for the US economy… but now, weeks after the aforementioned statement, he's changing gears and is saying the money will help people pay their rising bills for gas and food.

Granted, he added “... and will also give the economy a boost to help us out of this slowdown”, but; will it? Can these checks actually do both things that Bush says they can?

If people use the rebates to buy groceries and gas, isn't that more akin to paying down debt than it is to buying items such as cars, high-price electronics and the like?

Bush's economic rebate does absolutely nothing but cover a smidge of the extra cost of record high fuel, food, & healthcare costs for this year alone… and likely won't stimulate anything (except Bush's ego).

The man just doesn't get it…

…and he never will.

(And a question from Scott; once this paltry amount is spent, what's next to help Americans pay for the rising costs of gas and food for the rest of this year AND the years to come? Nothing, we’ll be back to square one.)

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

Another end to another week in the on-going (god will it ever end) 2008 presidential race. We are 27 weeks away from Election Day.

• Read my ‘Plea to Democrats’, it’s a moral imperative… now more than ever.
• In case you hadn’t heard, there was a primary in Pennsylvania this past week that Sen. Clinton won.
• While McCain is the presumptive gop nominee, a quarter of those that voted did so for Huckabee or Paul instead of McCain (the numbers were McCain – 72.7%, Paul – 15.9%, Huckabee – 11.4%) and that spells problems for the republicans in November…
• Sen. Clinton once again flashed signs of being in a different world this week as she maintained that she’s ahead of Sen. Obama in the popular vote…(which only happens if you count Florida and Michigan, and so far – that scenario hasn’t been decided. So, perhaps, Ms. Clinton should stop bringing it up until it actually DOES get resolved… I’m just sayin’)
• Obama's camp touted a big boost for his campaign this week himself as he got endorsements from 49 John Edwards’ supporters…
• While she won PA, she faces a harder battle in North Carolina, but after starting the month of April in debt, she’s doing better, with her campaign saying this week that she raised close to $10 million in a 24 hour span…
• Sen. McCain showed once again that he doesn’t understand the issues of voters. In discussing his opposition to the equal pay legislation bill he said that instead of legislation that allows women to fight for equal pay, they need “education and training.” (Wow, we can now add equal pay as yet another issue that McCain doesn’t know a damn thing about. That makes it how many now?)
• A new CBS News/MTV poll shows that the economy is the top concern for voters between the ages of 18 and 29, with 75% of those responding say “the state of the economy is bad.” (Well duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)
• McCain was traipsing across the nation earlier this week giving stump speeches in poverty-stricken areas.
• Former President Bill Clinton continued his war on his legacy by saying he didn’t do things despite the prevalence of videotaped evidence showing otherwise, the most recent him denying that he had accused Sen. Obama's campaign of “playing the race card” even though there’s evidence showing that he did indeed do that. (Am I the only one who thinks Sen. Clinton’s campaign is worried every time he opens his mouth? I would be…)
• Rather than get behind Sen. Webb’s GI Bill, Sen. McCain released his own version… not surprisingly, it sucks…
• Despite the fact that he once loudly and vehemently opposed Bush’s tax cuts and said that the cuts, along with Bush’s ever-growing budget deficits and high war costs would harm the American people, McCain is now “marching straight down the party line” even though some of his worries have proven to be prophetic. Despite that, McCain is dead-set to (Well duhhhhhhhhh. The 2000 version of McCain is vastly different from the 2008 model that has become MORE of a panderer, flip-flopper and rhetorical spewing politico since announcing this run for the White House)
• Speaking of McCain’s pandering… he was in NOLA yesterday and blasted the Bush(whacked) Administration and all levels of government for the half-assed response to Hurricane Katrina. Never mind the fact that on the day the storm made landfall, he was with Bush celebrating his birthday with a presidential photo-op… he must have forgotten about that.
• And have we mentioned? That former republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is writing a book about his failed White House run? You can’t make this stuff up… not only will the book tell “untold stories and untold anecdotes” about the campaign, but it will also offer up his vision of the gop’ s future… (Seriously; why would someone care?)
  

Katz is on notice

Earlier this week I wrote a post (‘Sad and Pathetic’) about the Department of Veterans Affairs deliberately withholding information about the suicide risk among veterans by giving false numbers staggeringly lower than the true numbers.

The post also described how the head of the department, Dr. Ira Katz, sent emails to others in the department in a desperate attempt to hide the truth from not only the media, but the American public as well.

The plan didn’t work as the emails were discovered/leaked to CBS news… and now the Karma is coming back to kick Katz in the ass as Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) are now calling for his resignation.

Akaka wrote to Michael Kussman, the Undersecretary for Health;

“Dr. Katz’s personal conduct and professional judgment have been called into question by his response to the mental health needs of veterans, and in particular to veteran suicides. I believe veterans, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, would be best served by his immediate resignation.”

Sen. Murray asked VA Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield;

“How do we trust what you’re saying when every time we turn around we find out that what you’re saying publicly is different from what you’re saying privately? How can we trust what you’re saying today?”

Katz behavior is, again, sad and pathetic. For someone who supposedly took the Hippocratic Oath when he became a doctor, Katz isn’t acting the part.

Says the Oath;

“I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.”

He seems to have forgotten it, hasn’t he?
Dr. Katz… you’re on notice. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

On second thought; let it. Hard.

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

One day closer to the weekend...

• Sen. McCain skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act yesterday (which republican senators blocked) and explained his opposition to the bill by saying that it “opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems” and that instead of legislation that would allow women to fight for equal pay, they simply need “education and training.” (Wow, we can now add equal pay as yet another issue that McCain doesn’t know a damn thing about. That makes it how many now?)
• An article in ArmyTimes reports that Vermont soldiers who have completed their tours of duty in Iraq cannot get home because of flight delays caused in part by the recent bankruptcy of ATA Airlines… (Nice… heaven forbid the government try to come up with a way to get them home… but that would require using money for something OTHER than the war, and that’s just not done in this administration…)
• In the wake of a CBS News report earlier that revealed the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs deliberately withheld information about the suicide risk among veterans (which I wrote about HERE on Tuesday). Not surprisingly, some senators are pissed and are acting accordingly, with Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) calling for the resignation of Dr. Ira Katz, the author of the emails that describe the VA’s knowledge of the suicide rate. (If Katz has a brain – a crapshoot after seeing his behavior regarding this issue – he would resign…)
• Weeks ago ABC News reported that “President” Bush’s most senior advisers approved the use of harsh interrogation tactics in 2002… a claim Bush himself confirmed to ABC when he said he had “approved” of the measures. Not only has the media ignored this story, no one in the White House press corps has asked about… until now. White House Press Corps mainstay Helen Thomas brought it up to WH spokesperson Dana Perino yesterday and not only too the administration to task, but her media colleagues as well when she acknowledged her colleagues’ absence on the story and, after her exchange with Perino, asked; “Where is everybody? For God’s sakes.” (Nice smackdown Helen… keep it up…)
• Sen. Clinton faces an uphill battle in North Carolina… though she now has some money to help. After starting the month of April in debt, her campaign is now saying that it’s on pace to raise $10 million in 24 hours…
• The White House says they have intelligence showing a Syria-North Korea nuclear link (Uh-oh… here we go again)
• The Union of Concerned Scientists questioned more nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists and more than half say that they’ve been victims of political interference and pressure from superiors to skew their findings…
• And have we mentioned? That Iraq is going to “reap an even larger than expected windfall this year” with as much as $70 billion” possible in oil revenue? (Hmmmm… with oil prices well over $100 a barrel, couldn’t the US, gee, I don’t know… have Iraq “foot the bill,” or at least SOME of it, for rebuilding their nation? Just a thought…)

Yes, but...

Lost in all the hoopla surrounding the Democrats in yesterday’s Pennsylvania primary is the fact that the republicans also had their primary.

Yes, they have a presumptive nominee in Sen. John McCain… but have you actually LOOKED at the numbers?

With close to 100% of precincts reporting with 791,205 votes (as compared to 2,280,870 on the Democratic side);

McCain – 72.7%, Ron Paul – 15.9%, and Mike Huckabee – 11.4%.

Wow… over a quarter of the republicans who decided to venture out and vote voted against, against, their party’s certain nominee.

I don’t know about you, but to me this looks like the republican party has some serious issues.

Yes, the Democrats are hurting themselves by not having the opportunity to focus on what matters (beating McCain in November), but when over a quarter of your party votes for someone BESIDES your presumptive nominee; you’ve got problems too. For all intents and purposes, when given the so-called disarray surrounding the Democratic primary, McCain should be kicking ass, taking names and leading both Obama and Hillary by 9-10 percentage points.

He’s not… and while some republican lemmings pundits are resolute that McCain will win on the economy and security, we know better.

McCain has admitted weaknesses on economic issues and his stalwart support for the erstwhile Iraq war is wearing thin with a LOT of voters.

And let’s not lose sight of something else; over 2 million Democrats voted in yesterday’s primary… 2 million!

While yesterday’s results may be frustrating for Obama supporters and a reprieve, of sorts, for Clinton supporters, what should stoke you for this election cycle is the overall level of interest, enthusiasm, and participation by Democrats.

If the current trend continues of new voter registration rising (especially among young people) and the rise in the number of voters that are identifying themselves as Democrats this November will not only be a watershed moment in Democratic politics, but historical as well.

Stay tuned…

Not a surprise, but definately problematic

AP is reporting that “President” Bush has chosen Gen. Petraeus to become the new commander of the U.S. Central Command.

Wow, I didn’t see that coming a mile away… oh wait, I did…

Petraeus, who is currently the Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, replaces the recently “retired” William Fallon, whose “premature departure” was seemingly due to disagreements with… can you guess whom?

Righto! Petraeus, who we all know is a Bush lapdog “favorite of the White House.”
This new and incredible and ridiculously predictable promotion instantly increases the chance of Bush and his merry band of cronies attacking Iran because…well, because they’re insane really… but moreso because they’ve gotten rid of someone who was vehemently AGAINST war with Iran and replaced him with someone who is vehemently FOR war with Iran.

Better get back to work on that bomb shelter…

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

The day after...

• Sen. Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary by 10 percentage points over Sen. Obama… giving her campaign a shot in the arm boost bump and giving journalists an opportunity to use phrases like ‘a comeback’, a ‘last hurrah’, ‘pulled back in’ and every other journalistic cliché known to man… God help us.
• While the Dems were in Pennsylvania, Sen. McCain was traipsing across the nation giving stump speeches in a week-long tour of poverty-stricken areas in an attempt to put more states into play. Why does the term ‘elitist’ keep popping into my head??
• “President” Bush has once again denied that the US is in a recession… despite people smarter than him (which probably includes my kids) saying otherwise; including economists, pundits, and political leaders… the man is a mental furball.
• Former President Bill Clinton continues to harm his legacy… the latest involved him denying that he had accused Sen. Obama's campaign of “playing the race card” during an interview Monday… problem is; there’s video of him doing just that. Mr. President; I (used to) think VERY highly of you… but you are not only doing a great dis-service to your wife’s campaign, but your legacy as well. So I say this with the utmost respect; STFU.
• Former White House spokesman Tony Snow is now a paid member of CNN, further solidifying their stance as Fox “News” Lite. If you want a good laugh, read his first “contribution” HERE
• After getting smacked around for not supporting a GI Bill introduced by fellow veteran Jim Webb (D-VA), Sen. McCain, along with a few Senate cronies, has released his own GI Bill that would ‘modestly’ enhance the existing GI Bill. Webb isn’t impressed as his spokeswoman is saying that McCain’s bill is “more focused on career officers, not the entire volunteer military force.” Stay tuned…
• “President” Bush’s latest Gallup approval ratings have set a record, registering a worse-than-Nixon 69% disapproval rating… which is the highest in that survey’s history and even surpasses Nixon’s numbers during Watergate… 1/20/09.
• Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered a lengthy lecture about the complexities of war at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point Monday night. While wrapping-up his remarks, his voice cracked with emotion… (wow, a Bush(whacked) Administration appointee with emotions… who would have thunk it?)
• And have we mentioned? That before the door closed behind Alphonso Jackson last Friday, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) staffers started to makes plans to “take down that spectacular photo homage to him in the HUD lobby”? By Monday, under orders of acting Secretary Roy Bernardi, the 21 large, and excessively egotistical, photos of Jackson had been replaced with pic of homeowners, cityscapes and housing… (which certainly makes more sense. Using political pressure to get revenge was bad enough, but Jackson should have been kicked to the curb when he ordered the picture display to showcase HIM, and NOT his department nor the PEOPLE he was supposed to represent. Ego, ego, ego…)

Sad and pathetic

Yesterday in a federal court in San Francisco, attorneys for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans accused the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs of covering-up the epidemic of suicides among veterans.

At first blush it seems as though the department had indeed covered this information up… and emails written by Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's head of Mental Health, support this accusation.

Much of this stemmed from a CBS News investigation of veterans suicides late last year, at that time CBS reported that there were 6,200 veteran suicides in 2005.
At that time Katz claimed that the number “is not, in fact, an accurate reflection of the rate” and said that there “is no epidemic in suicide in VA” and that the number of attempts were 790 and NOT as high as CBS News had suggested.

Now emails that Katz had sent about the problem have been leaked, and it’s an absolutely disgusting display from someone who is allegedly in charge of looking out for veteran’s interests.

Three days after Katz appeared on CBS News, he sent an e-mail that acknowledged that there were “about 18 suicides today among America’s 25 million veterans,” a fact which he said “is supported by the CBS numbers.”

In another email from February 2008, Katz said to his top media adviser; “Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities.”

But it gets worse… Katz not only titled that email ‘Not for the CBS News Interview Request’ but opened it with “Shh!” and ended it by asking a question that someone in his position should not even have to ask; “Is this something we should (carefully) address … before someone stumbles on it?”

Stay classy Ira…

This past Monday, CBS News showed the e-mail to Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) who was visibly pissed and said; “This is disgraceful. This is a crime against our nation, our nation's veterans. […] They do not want to come to grips with the reality, with the truth.”

What does this mean? That the head of Veterans Affairs purposefully withheld information because he was worried more about being embarrassed then he was about veterans… a sad statement from an administration that has used them like they were their own personal toy soldiers.

The case is now in trial and, according to an article in The San Francisco Chronicle; “U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti is presiding over the nonjury trial, scheduled to last two weeks. Conti, a conservative jurist and World War II veteran appointed to the bench by former President Richard Nixon, ruled in January that the case could go to trial. In doing so, he rejected the government's argument that civil courts have no authority over the VA's medical decisions or how it handles grievances. If the advocates can prove their claims, Conti said in his ruling, they would show that ‘thousands of veterans, if not more, are suffering grievous injuries as the result of their inability to procure desperately needed and obviously deserved health care.’”

This is criminal… to ignore the problems of veterans who have risked their lives for the freedom of this country is not only pathetic and sad, but extremely disgusting. Katz needs to be criminally charged, Congress needs to launch an independent investigation and someone needs to be held accountable.

This isn’t the end of this story…

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Tuesday… there’s something big going on today in the world of politics but I can’t remember what it is…

• The Bush(whacked) Administration wants to prevent a Chinese ship laded with weapons for Zimbabwe's security forces from unloading in southern Africa and asked 2 nations (Namibia and Angola) to not allow the ship to dock after it had been prevented from docking in South Africa and Mozambique. (On the surface this seems like a pretty sound idea… but because it’s this administration one of two things will happen; it will come back to bite us on the ass or the US will sell arms to Zimbabwe themselves. Stay tuned…)
• eeting with Mexican and Canadian leaders yesterday, “President” Bush is making a play to seal the US/Colombia trade pact that those two countries oppose. (Like European leaders, the leaders of Mexico and Canada have to be thinking to that since Bush is a lame-duck, his actions are hollow)
• Sen. Clinton’s campaign started the month of April in debt… and I doubt May will be much better.
• One of the most corrupt Senators to ever serve is getting a strong election opponent as it was announced that Anchorage, Alaska Mayor Mark Begich will challenge Sen. Ted Stevens (r-AK) in the next election. Stevens, whose home was raided by the FBI and IRS is considered highly vulnerable and Begich is a candidate with a lot of public support… it should be one helluva of a campaign, so stay tuned.
• Oh, now I remember! Today is the Pennsylvania primary… thank merciful God, it’s over!
• The former deputy chief of staff of the Justice Department’s criminal division, Robert Coughlin, was accused of “criminal conflict of interest” yesterday in the latest case to branch off from the Jack Abramoff scandal. Stay tuned…
• The drum beats of war continue as it’s becoming clear that this administration just won’t be content until it invades Iran. During a speech last night at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that he thinks Iran is “hell bent” on acquiring nuclear weapons. He then countered that statement by warning that “another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels.” He then said, despite his warning about it being disastrous, that he “favors keeping the military option against Iran on the table.” (I’m getting mixed signals here Bob; you want to attack Iran, but know that it would be catastrophically bad but still think the option should be on the table… what kind of logic is this?)
• And have we mentioned? That Bush’s approval ratings in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll matches the lowest point of his presidency? It’s true, 69% of Americans disapprove of the job Bush is doing, which not only means that the rating matches the low point of his presidency, but the disapproval numbers set a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt… (these numbers don’t surprise me, per se, but I am still absolutely baffled how anyone capable of using their own brain – and don’t follow the lemmings off the cliff – can believe he’s doing a good job… it’s staggeringly mind-boggling…)

"What I meant to say was..."

Sen. McCain proved in recent days that he is, at times, a bit loopy.

During an interview on Bloomberg TV last Friday McCain not only tried desperately to distance himself from Bush, he also tried to show empathy towards middle-class Americans who are struggling financially. Said McCain; “I respect the views of people who basically think that the status quo is satisfactory today. I don’t. I think Americans are hurting, and hurting badly. In fact, I think Americans are not better off than they were eight years ago, when you look at what’s happened to middle-income Americans.”

Rewind to last Thursday, one day before, and during another interview on Bloomberg TV, McCain inferred that there had been “great progress economically” since Bush took office.

So let me see if I understand this properly; Americans are “hurting badly” with all this “great progress” that is all “psychological” in nature…

Huh?

I understand that McCain is simply trying to stick just close enough to Bush in an attempt to garner some votes from the neoconservative party base while keeping enough of a distance so he doesn’t risk alienating the ever-growing number of Americans who are whole-heartedly sick and tired of George W. Bush and recognize that the country desperately needs change.

In other words he’s trying to be McCain while also being McBush.

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another start to another week…

• Is it just me or are the Democratic candidates each starting to act like little kids with their sniping at each other?
• A new CBS News/MTV poll shows that the economy is the top concern for voters between the ages of 18 and 29, with 75% of those responding say “the state of the economy is bad.” (Well duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)
• Sen. Clinton’s campaign is saying that Sen. Obama has been a “hypocrite from day one” (Um, there’s something I should be saying here; something about a kettle, a pot and the color black but I can’t remember what it is…)
• “President” LameDuck met with new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak over the weekend.
• Hours after Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward yesterday. (this should end well…)
• A new GAO report found that the Bush(whacked) Administration “violated federal law” last year when it restricted states’ ability to provide health insurance to children of middle-income families, therefore making its news policy unenforceable. (So now what? Will the states fight back against a lame-duck president or will they allow Bush to walk over them; again… stay tuned)
• Former republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told the National Journal recently that Sen. Obama is a “quintessential politician” and “elitist.” (Wow, there’s another perfect chance for that saying regarding a pot, a kettle and the color black. Wish I could remember how it goes…)
• Sen. McCain publicly released his taxes this past weekend…
• McCain’s campaign sent emails out over the weekend that claims Hamas approves of Obama’s foreign policy vision… it starts.
• While both Senators Clinton and Obama visited Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” recently… what’s garnering more attention is the fact that Clinton had “a private chat” with former candidate John Edwards… who has not yet endorsed anyone. (My thought? It’s much ado about nothing. Edwards is not going to jump into the endorsement muck right now and will save himself for the convention)
• It was mentioned last week but it’s such an enjoyable quote I give it to you again; “At least we'll have an adult in office who can lead and accomplish something.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking about the next president.
• And have we mentioned? That NY Times columnist Frank Rich examined the current state of the Democratic primary and laid the smackdown on the party AND on the media; “When a Washington doyenne like Mary Matalin, freighted with jewelry, starts railing about elitists on "Meet the Press," as she did last Sunday, it’s pure farce. It’s typical of the syndrome that the man who plays a raging populist on CNN, Lou Dobbs, dismissed Mr. Obama last week by saying "we don’t need another Ivy League-educated knucklehead." Mr. Dobbs must know whereof he speaks, since he’s Harvard ’67.” (Couldn’t have said it any better myself Mr. Rich… thank you for taking them to task. Perhaps if more people did the same, the party could GET ITS ACT TOGETHER and focus on the true threat; four more years of a Bush-like presidency…)

The Weekly Rewind

Happy Saturday everyone. Things are heating up in the political landscape and my esteemed collegue has, as always, done an excellant job of capturing events as they unfold. So let's not beat the dead horse, instead let's look back at some of the past weeks events in what we like to call 'The Weekly Rewind'.

Applaud: to the Governator. In response to the Presidents plan to allow U.S. carbon emmissions to remain unchecked until 2025, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) responded “this administration is just not really with the program”. He further commented, "We have to go and make decisions today. Time is running out there’s an urgency there." I commend the Governor for speaking his mind and not blindly following the party rhetoric.

Heckle: to showing your intellect to be in line with Dumbya. In discussing his gas tax repeal plan, presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) stated that “a lot of our problems today” are “psychological” — even the “ability to keep our own home." I know that I am not the only person who sees this guy as 4 more years of what we have or worse?

Heckle: Yeah sure it's psychologcal. A new AP poll says that 60 percent of the public say “they definitely won’t buy a home in the next two years, up from 53 percent who said so in an AP-AOL poll in September 2006,” the latest sign of increasing pessimism about the nation’s housing crisis. Just 11 percent are certain or very likely to buy soon, down from 15 percent two years ago. Tell me again how we are not in a recession?

Heckle: Hello pot, this is the kettle..... following Sen. Barack Obama's comments regarding the citizens of Pennsylvania being bitter due to the economic hardships that have befallen them over the past 7 years, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) called the Senator 'elistist' and out of touch. Hello!? This is coming from a person whose income (combined with her husband) over the past 7 years is in excess of $100 million. I'm sorry, whose the elitist!?

Heckle: to sad but truthfully telling statistics. The Defense Department released its latest American military causality numbers for Iraq and Afghanistan, “and the figures reveal non-fatal casualties that go well beyond the more than 4,000 U.S. troops who have died so far.” As of April 5, 4,492 soldiers have died while serving in the two wars while 31,590 have been wounded and 38,631 have been removed from the battlefields for “non-hostile-related medical air transports.”

Applaud: to the opening of more peoples eyes. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 70 percent of Americans disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the economy, an all-time high for that poll. “Bush’s overall rating stands at 33 percent, a percentage point above his all-time low in Post-ABC polling.” It’s amazing to me that this guy has not been impeached yet.

Heckle: to more proof of a failing economy. “Home foreclosure filings surged 57 percent in the 12 month-period ended in March and bank repossessions soared 129 percent from a year ago,” according to real estate data firm RealtyTrac. “For the month of March, foreclosure filings, default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions rose 5 percent.” Unfortunately this is going to get worse, before it gets better.

Heckle: to a wolf in sheeps clothing. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) may give a keynote address at the Republican National Convention in September “on behalf of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)” “If Sen. McCain, who I support so strongly, asked me to do it, if he thinks it will help him, I will,” Lieberman told The Hill. Though McCain has yet to ask, “a Lieberman aide” says “it is a ‘likely possibility’ he will address the Republican audience in some form.” You know Kemp and I called this one about 2 ½ years ago.

Heckle: to even more proof of a failing economy. With Americans focusing on the increasing job losses, the less-noticeable shrinking of hours and pay for millions of workers around the country appears to be a bigger contributor to the decline of the economy. Total hours worked dropped last month compared to six months earlier, the first such drop since February 2001, when the economy was on the doorstep of recession.

Heckle: to screwing our troops. John McCain’s opposition to the GI Bill appears to be rooted in a concern “that a generous education benefit would persuade soldiers and Marines ending their tours to pursue an education rather than reenlist in the overstretched military.” “He’s the odd man out,” VoteVets chairman Jon Soltz said of McCain. “You have 55 co-sponsors on this bill, and he’s not one of them. He has to lead or follow.” And with the Senators background you would think he would be first in line to support the troops.

Applaud: to the will of the people. According to a new Washington Post-ABC poll, nine in 10 Americans “now give the economy a negative rating, with a majority saying it is in ‘poor’ shape, the most to say so in more than 15 years.” Moreover, more than 60 percent reject “the notion that the United States needs to win” in Iraq “to effectively battle terrorism,” and “56 percent of Americans say the United States should withdraw.” Is the White House listening? I highly doubt it….

And finally.

Heckle: to getting your priorities straight. The Academy Awards planned to announce its 2009 Oscar nominees on Jan. 20. However it has moved the ceremony to Jan. 22, since the presidential inauguration will also be on Jan. 20. Which itself is fine, except for Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times who whines, I mean writes, “It isn’t enough that the country must endure about 24 months of political blather and rhetorical positioning to choose the next leader of the free world. … But now the world must wait an extra 48 hours — 48! — to learn who’s been nominated to receive an Oscar. The outrage.” Big whoop de friggin do! So the world has to wait another 2 days to find out this drivel. Who cares? Some people really need to get their priorities in line with being an adult.

Be good, stay informed…..later.

STILL dumb as an iguana

It’s not news to anyone who has even remotely followed politics in the last twenty years that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a schmuck.

Yesterday I briefly mentioned that Gingrich has recently been trying to rally support within the republican ranks for Sen. McCain and, in an interview with GQ magazine, compared McCain’s effort to rally support around his indefinite commitment to staying in Iraq to “what Lincoln had to do in the Civil War.”

While that has to be one of the grossest mis-statements ever uttered by Newt (and there are many), he outdid himself yesterday.

During a Q&A with 20 political science majors of Drew University in New Jersey, a student asked him how the government could justify stripping rights from Americans in such pieces of legislation as the Patriot Act and Gingrich responded by saying that the government has a “right to defend society” and when under threat people “will give up all their liberties.”

Excuse me??

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

TGIF… there are 28 weeks until the 2008 presidential election.

• Read my Plea to Democrats… it’s a good thing.
• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that whoever wins the presidency in November, “at least we'll have an adult in office who can lead and accomplish something.” (BAM!)
• The two Democratic candidates another debate earlier this week… which is being labeled the WORST DEBATE EVER… and for good cause. I didn’t watch it because it was, as expected, a complete and udder farce… in fact, it was as painful as a SOTU by “President” Bush, and we all know how painful THAT is.
• Sen. Obama extended his lead over Sen. Clinton in national polls…
• Obama says they’ve had enough debates, and he’s right. This late in the primary season, it’s unlikely that a debate is going to significantly sway anyone. And besides, most of them have sucked this election season, culminating with this week’s pathetic attempt by ABC…
  Democrats STILL need single women… unless of course you’re Eliot Spitzer, then you have that covered.
• The logic (a term I use very loosely) behind Sen. McCain’s opposition to the GI Bill was learned this past week, and it stems from his concern that “a generous education benefit would persuade soldiers and Marines ending their tours to pursue an education rather than reenlist in the overstretched military.”
• CNN continue to ask “is Obama elitist?” (he’s as elitist as everyone else running for the presidency…)
• We learned this past week that the chances of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I r - CT) giving a keynote address at the Republican National Convention in September are growing by the day. Just ask LIEberman; “If Sen. McCain, who I support so strongly, asked me to do it, if he thinks it will help him, I will.” (How far he’s fallen since he was Gore’s running mate…)
• During a stump speech this week, Sen. Clinton showed off her grammatical skills (yes, that was sarcasm) when she said that “President” Bush was “unready” to be President in 2000… (Points for her point, though we have to take some away for her awkward verbage…)
• Obama got the endorsement of Bruce Springsteen and, yeah, we still don’t care…
• Sen. McCain released his presidential economic plan… Sen. Clinton unveiled her anti-crime plan… Sen. Obama had to refute his ‘bitter’ comments… thanks CNN.
• The DNC filed a lawsuit yesterday in an attempt to fore the FEC to investigate Sen. McCain and whether he violated federal spending limits for his primary campaign or not.
• And have we mentioned? That DNC Chairman Howard Dean is cracking the whip> He told CNN yesterday that he needs super-delegates to say who they’re for and “I need them to say who they’re for starting now.” (Dean throws it down and sounds as though he’s ready for a smackdown. Does he have it in him? Stay tuned…)

One of many reasons I didn’t watch last night’s debate

Sen. Obama;

“I will tell you, it does not get much more fun than these debates. They are inspiring events. […] Last night, I think we set a new record because it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people. It took us 45 minutes! Forty-five minutes before we heard about health care. Forty-five minutes before we heard about Iraq. […] Forty-five — 45 — minutes before we heard about jobs. Forty-five minutes before we heard about gas prices.”

The debates have become pathetic… they’re more of an opportunity for the networks airing them to stir things up and bring up old rhetoric (Clinton’s Bosnia misspeaking and Obama’s ‘bitter’ misspeaking) than an opportunity to hear the candidates talk about things that matter; the economy, jobs, Iraq, etc.

Think about it… ABC had a perfect opportunity, two hours worth, to access two of the three candidates fighting for a chance to lead the country, and they spent it on issues the press considers the true issues facing voters; BitterGate; Rev. WrightGate; BosniaGate; American flag lapel pinsGate… in the eyes of the media, that’s what's truly important to the future of the country…

Screw Iraq… screw the economy… screw the environment.

Let Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher put it a different way;

“In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate this year, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia.”

Sad…

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

We’re on the verge of the weekend…

• There was a Democratic presidential debate last night between Sens. Obama and Clinton… I tried watching it but it was as painful as a SOTU by “President” Bush.
• Newt Gingrich (remember him?) is trying to rally support within the republican ranks for Sen. McCain. Speaking to GQ magazine Gingrich compared McCain’s effort to rally support around his indefinite commitment to staying in Iraq to “what Lincoln had to do in the Civil War.” (yeah, they’re relatively the same thing…any by that I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ALIKE! How many years since he’s been in public office and Gingrich is still a dumbass…)
• Despite several days of negative press following his comments about some small-town Americans, Obama has extended his lead in national polls over Clinton. A new CNN analysis of several recent polls shows that he now holds a 9-point lead over Clinton, 50% to 41%, up from a 3-point margin at the end of March… can he sustain it? Stay tuned…
• As we mentioned in yesterday’s ‘Daily’, “President” Bush held a news conference yesterday regarding Climate Change. As expected, it was flash with little substance (kind of like “CSI: Miami”) as he called for a halt to the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 but offered up no specific proposals. As I said, flash, no substance…
• Democrats need single women…
• Sen. McCain’s opposition to the GI Bill stems from his concern that “a generous education benefit would persuade soldiers and Marines ending their tours to pursue an education rather than reenlist in the overstretched military.” (Well, that’s certainly a good reason to screw veterans… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form, but you already knew that …)
• The Senate is considering an investigation into a 2005 earmark for a highway funding bill. Turns out it was “mysteriously” altered after Congress approved the measure but before President Bush signed it… (yeah, nothing hinky going on there, no sirree…)
• It was only a matter of time, but the credit market crisis has now spread to student loans, essentially making loans “harder to come by and more expensive” with over 50 firms having “abandoned or cut back their federal or private student loan programs this year, unable to raise money in the financial markets.” (So once again, middle class students get screwed. Who would have ever seen that coming? Oh right, everyone NOT in the Bush(whacked) Administration…)
• And have we mentioned? That we at TBWA aren’t the only ones significantly disappointed with Bush’s much-vaulted speech yesterday on Climate Change? Turns out delegates at a major economies climate conference in Paris ALSO criticized the environmental goals he announced yesterday. South Africa’s delegation called Bush’s proposals “‘disappointing’ and un-ambitious when many other industrialized economies are already cutting emissions.” And one senior European official went the next step, saying; “But Bush will be leaving office soon. What he says doesn’t matter so much any more.” (Nice… now if we could only get our Congress to realize that, we’d get somewhere…)

That tears it…

I’ve been keeping my mouth shut about the blathering and lying that former Undersecretary of Defense and Iraq war architect Doug Feith has been doing the last few weeks to help pimp pump up sales of his new book… but after reading this post on ThinkProgress, I can’t do it anymore.

In the last couple of weeks he’s blamed others for the war, either by blaming former Secretary of State Colin Powell for not speaking out against the war enough…

Yesterday though was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.

Appearing on the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC yesterday, Feith dismissed Lehrer’s insistence that the American public was told the war “would be a cakewalk” saying; “You weren’t told that by the administration. Absolutely not.”

I call bullshit…

Almost every significant person in the White House said, at one time or another, that the war would be quick, easy, and painless.

Case in point with a HT to ThinkProgress:

Press Secretary Ari Fleisher, October 11, 2002: “My point is, the likelihood is much more like Afghanistan, where the people who live right now under a brutal dictator will view America as liberators, not conquerors.”

Vice President Dick Cheney, March 16, 2003: “I’m confident that our troops will be successful, and I think it’ll go relatively quickly…Weeks rather than months.”

Then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, August 7, 2003: “I do not mean that we will need to maintain a military presence in Iraq as was the case in Europe.”

Chairman of the Defense Policy Board Richard Perle, March 22, 2003: “And a year from now, I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush. There is no doubt that, with the exception of a very small number of people close to a vicious regime, the people of Iraq have been liberated and they understand that they’ve been liberated. And it is getting easier every day for Iraqis to express that sense of liberation.”

Anyone with a brain can ascertain from these quotes that the administration was under the impression that this war was going to be a ‘cakewalk’ and that the US would be viewed as liberators and celebrated and that the war would be short.

Oops.

Now, I understand that hardly anyone on the right pays any attention to Feith and his book tour is probably more beneficial to Liberals as we can point to Feith as an ideal example of the level of stupidity of Bush’s cronies.

What IS troubling though is this continuous re-writing of history that this administration partakes in, apparently hoping that the American people weren’t and aren’t paying attention and will accept this new version of the situation.

January 20, 2009 can NOT come soon enough…

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Hump day… let’s get humping... um, perhaps I should rephrase that...

• With the news of his Hodgkin’s disease returning, we at TBWA express our thoughts and prayers to Sen. Arlen Specter and his family.
• Former President Jimmy Carter is still in the Middle East and Hamas has sent a couple of envoys in hopes of getting a meeting with him, stay tuned. (I don’t have an opinion on him being there per se, I still question if he could possibly do any more damage than this administration already has over there?)
• Inane CNN headline of the day; “Will ‘elitist’ label stick to Obama?” (as long as you in the media keep bringing it up; yes)
• It’s becoming more and more likely that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I r - CT) will give a keynote address at the Republican National Convention in September. Said LIEberman; “If Sen. McCain, who I support so strongly, asked me to do it, if he thinks it will help him, I will.” (Putz…)
• The Pope will be welcomed to the White House with a 21-gun salute… wait, what?
• During a stump speech yesterday, Sen. Clinton said that “President” Bush was “unready” to be President. (questionable grammar aside, she’s preaching to the choir…)
• Sen. Obama won the endorsement of Bruce Springsteen… not sure why it’s news either, but there you go
• Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was recently in Canada to discuss the so-called “Server in the Sky” program that will share fingerprint databases among the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia when he said that fingerprints are “not particularly private” even though DHS cites “biometric identifiers (e.g., fingerprints)” in its definition of “personally identifiable information.” (Dumb. Ass. Chertoff has not only set personal freedoms back years, but the security of this country as well. And when the head of a department says something that is immediately countered with set rules of the department, there’s something wrong…)
• And have we mentioned? That Bush will give a speech outlining “goals for limiting” greenhouse gas emissions this afternoon? Wow, that’s grea—what’s that? He’s going to discuss strategy for a way forward along with principles for dealing with the problem but he’s not, according to Press Tool Dana Perino, “going to lay out a specific proposal”?? Well, talk about much ado about nothing…

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

It's April 15th, do you know where your taxes are? Mine? Filed, refund sent, refund spent... wow that was fast... sure am glad I have that other check coming soon, that will turn around the economy just like that… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form.

• Sen. McCain released his presidential economic plan that includes an end to earmarks (heard that one before), a gas-tax holiday (yeah, right) and government-backed mortgages… (we’ll see…)
• “President” Bush has ordered the release of $200 million in emergency aid to aid (imagine that) countries where the soaring cost of basic food has spurred riots and instability…
• The DNC filed a lawsuit yesterday in an attempt to fore the FEC to investigate whether McCain violated federal spending limits for his primary campaign after using the “prospect” of $6 million in federal matching funds as collateral for a campaign loan in December. Additionally McCain got the advantage of automatic ballot access in every state rather than having to gain ballot access themselves, a pricy task whose cost usually reaches well into the millions. After it became apparent that he would get the nomination, he decided to NOT claim the funds so he could spend more freely… which, at first blush, would seem like a violation of FEC rules. But so far the FEC has done nothing but look the other way. (Eventually the FEC will have to act, as the DNC will NOT let this incident go away and WILL make an issue of it... stay tuned)
• I mentioned it yesterday but it’s so damn laughable it bears repeating. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari is still maintaining that Iraq is paying it’s share of the cost of the war…
• Will the ‘bitter’ness ever end on the Democratic presidential campaign trail?
• This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. 83% of Arabs have an “unfavorable view of the United States” while 70% have no confidence and a scant 6% believe the surge in Iraq worked…
• Eighteen people were arrested outside the White House Sunday for protesting Bush’s silence on Darfur…
• And have we mentioned? That we’ll soon have a Rummy autobiography to leaf through? Word is that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is working on his memoirs for a 2010 publishing date. Allegedly he will donate proceeds to a non-for-profit foundation that he founded and the book will “span my lifetime,” according to Rumsfeld… (2010 huh? What’s the statute of limitations for federal crimes? Considering that Rumsfeld legacy as one of the brightest political minds took a SERIOUS hit by serving in the Bush(whacked) Administration, it should be interesting to see what he says about Bush... stay tuned, should be a good read. Unless he has it ghosted by the people that write Bush's SOTU, then it will be filled with rhetorical nonsense that has no basis in fact...)

28%

“It doesn’t take a genius of public opinion research to isolate some likely causes. Americans are deeply depressed about the economy, gas prices are at a record high, [and] there is a war still underway that a majority of Americans call a mistake.” – Frank Newport, Gallup

Sometimes a quote says so much more than the words that are spoken… in this case it shows just how sick people are of “President” Bush's policies... and they're letting the anger be heard in polls across the country.

One such poll is the most recent Gallup poll that shows Bush’s approval rating has fallen to 28%, “a record low” for his administration.

To give some historical perspective, Bush’s approval numbers are “lower than that of any president since World War II”, with the few exceptions of Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Harry Truman…

What’s more shocking, that his numbers are that low or that there are still members of this population that believe he’s doing a good job?

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week begins… can you stand the excitement?

• Messiah College hosted a “Faith in Public Life's Compassion Forum” this past weekend that featured appearance by both Democratic presidential candidates… with each one getting an opportunity to present their case about religion in politics.
• The weekend saw Clinton stumble again when she responded that a question about the last time she fired a gun or attended church services wasn’t “a relevant question in this debate” proved once again that she’s missing something. Common sense says that to reference the importance of a certain issue in a stump speech and then say it doesn’t matter is poor campaigning… and proves that she is getting some god-awful advice…
• Sen. Obama had a better weekend, but only slightly. After he referenced some voters last week as being “bitter” over their poor economic situation… supporters and opponents jumped on the soundbite. While he apologized for the poor choice of words, I want someone to explain to me please how it’s incorrect…
• 28%...
• “President” Bush is going ALL OUT to welcome Pope Benedict, even driving out to meet the Pope’s plane, something he’s never done before for any other leader, including his lapdog, former British Prime Minster Tony Blair. He’s also hosting a state dinner, which the Pope will not attend. (Seems sort of silly to me to host a state dinner where the guest of honor won’t even be in attendance, but after all, Bush is starting to act like a lame-duck president usually does; pomp and circumstance and very little substance. About time…)
• Sen. Clinton unveiled her anti-crime plan in which she proposes to spend $4 billion a year on crime reduction measures and help communities hire more police and prosecutors…
  Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said this past weekend that Iraq is paying it’s share of the cost of the war… and if you believe that, he has a nice bridge to sell you over the Tigris…
• A survey by Scottrade and BetterInvesting shows that “more than two-thirds of Americans aged 27 to 42 don’t think they will ever be able to stop working” while 64% of those responding that were 55 to 64 said they could retire and not worry…
• Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson leaves office this week, and one has to wonder how much blame he should get for the current housing crisis. While foreclosures for loans insured by HUD’s Federal Housing Administration rose and default rates hit a record high, Jackson started a $7 million auditorium and cafeteria at HUD’s headquarters, used taxpayer money to solicit an “emergency bid to obtain oil portraits of Jackson and four other HUD secretaries and hired a personal chef and security detail…(so in other words; while the housing market burned, Jackson fiddled…)
• Former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin on the vice-presidency; “Dick Cheney has changed the nature of that office. This brilliant man has made that office completely relevant.” (can I get a sample of whatever she's smoking?)
• And have we mentioned? That the person who oversees our nation’s security is apparently as clueless as our President? Yesterday on ABC’s This Week, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, when talking about the human rights abuses that have taken place in Tibet, repeatedly, at least 8 separate times, confused Tibet with Nepal. (Wouldn’t you think, and hope, that someone in Hadley’s position would do a little homework before appearing on a talkshow to present the president’s view… at the least know which country is the basis for the appearance. To not do so shows, once again, just how little this administration cares…)

The Weekly Rewind

Another week, we are 282 days (and counting!) away from January 20, 2009. While working on this week’s rewind, I had a helluva time finding things to Applaud… so if you notice a decidedly heckle-heavy tone this week, it’s not just you…

NOTE: this is a Cheney GlassesGate-free zone… easily the MOST overblown story of this adminsitration

Applaud: to things from the past that might come back to haunt McCain and hurt his chances at the presidency. From the book The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter, via Raw Story; “Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, “At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*n*.” McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days. (Wow… we all know McCain has a temper and is likely to pop at any given moment, but to say that to the woman he says he loves, that’s just bad…)

Heckle: to making matters worse. Can someone please tell President Clinton to STFU? After the issue about Bosnia and ‘misspeaking’ had died down, Bill Clinton has to go and bring it all up again and mouthing off about the Bosnia landing and snipers story. (Keep in mind that I voted for him twice – I would have voted for him a third time if we were constitutionally allowed – but now is the time for Mr. Clinton to leave the campaign trail. I’m sure he scares the hell out of Hillary’s campaign whenever he opens his mouth, but he’s also tarnishing his legacy by sounding, more often than not, like a raving lunatic. If she gets the nomination, bring him back… but for now, I think it’s time for him to gracefully leave the stage…)

Applaud: to polls that show maybe people ARE paying attention. The Carpetbagger Report rounds up polling on how voters feel about Sen. McCain's advanced age. About time…

Heckle: to same crap, different year. After the appearance of Crocker and Petraues, “President” Bush gave a speech this past Thursday where he claimed the US has made a lot of progress in Iraq but we can't leave yet… unremarkably, its the same speech he made in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 but this time I’m sure things will be different… like he said in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007...

Applaud: to the Senate (did I just type that? Wow, I did) for approving a housing relief bill that will provide tax breaks and credits to home builders and buyers in addition to $150 million for counseling borrowers and another $4 billion for local governments to buy foreclosed properties… naturally, because it helps the little guy, the White House is opposed to the bill… but were it aimed at helping large money corporations, then it wouldn’t be BIG enough…

Heckle: to sad and sobering news. A new Pew Research Center poll finds that a majority of Americans believe that, in the past five years, they “haven’t moved forward in life (25%) or have fallen backwards (31%), marking the most downbeat short-term assessment of personal progress in nearly half a century of polling… (sad and pathetic. The next president, regardless of party, has one helluva job ahead of them…)

Applaud: to delicious apologies. After Ambassador Crocker told Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) that the US was “no longer involved in the physical reconstruction business” in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was forced to apologize to the good Senator for the “confusion” over Iraqi reconstruction money… because the day Crocker said that, Levin received a letter from the Pentagon about “a coming shift of $600 million to pay for Iraqi reconstruction”… oops…

Heckle: to mindless conservatives… Rep. Chris Shays (r-CT) voted for the Iraq invasion and then admitted that he never read the pre-war National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq… years later, and he STILL hasn’t read it, saying; “No, I didn’t, thank you. I did not read it. .. I did not read it. But I could still read it, and I probably should.” (Yes, you probably should. But it probably would have been better had you read it before you voted for the war… I’m just sayin’…)

Applaud: to case closed. A federal investigation has concluded that Sen. Joe Lieberman’s 2006 re-election campaign was to blame for the crash of its Web site (HAH!) the day before Connecticut’s Aug. 8 Democratic primary. The findings negate the stance of campaign spokesman Dan Gerstein who a few months after the outage said that the campaign had been attacked by supporters of challenger Ned Lamont…

Heckle: to going further down the drain, which is pretty hard to do when you’re as low as Fox “News” already is, but then they add Dr. Laura Schlessinger to their network and, well, further down the pit they go...

Applaud: to the Pentagon (did I just write that? Wow, I did) to stopping another case of republican stupidity. Last week Rep. Patrick McHenry (r-NC) posted a video on his website from his March 22nd trip to Iraq. During the clip he gestures to a “building behind him” and names two other places that had recently been hit by rocket attacks. VoteVets.org sharply criticized McHenry and said that the information in his video could be used by terrorists to “kill Americans in the Green Zone.” The Pentagon agreed and told McHenry that he cannot re-air the video… (Not mentioned in the linked articles were the facts that McHenry was surprised they had electricity and ‘tee-vee’ over there)

Heckle: to immaturity; Congressional style. Earlier this week Jackie Speier was sworn in as Congress’s newest Democratic member from California (she was succeeding the deceased Tom Lantos) and while giving her opening speech she was loudly booed by House conservatives after making mention of Iraq. I always knew conservatives were immature brats, I just didn’t know they were this immature… stay classy fellas

Applaud: to the U.S. House of Representatives for overwhelmingly passing a resolution this week that called on China to end its crackdown on Tibet and release Tibetans imprisoned for "nonviolent" demonstrations. The vote was 413-1... heckle within the applaud to the lone dissenter, Ron Paul, the man that's nuttier than a squirrel's cheeks in October voted against the measure and offered up NO reasons why… like he needs reasons when he’s nuttier than a squirrel’s cheeks in October…

Heckle: to more gloom and doom… A new Wall Street Journal forecasting survey shows that economists, by a 3-to-1 ratio, believe the “economy is in a recession” and it has yet to hit bottom… so we have that to look forward to… which is horrifying. But remember, the administration says we’re not in a recession yet, and that the economy will bounce back as soon as everyone gets their stimulus checks… and if you believe that, then you’re voting for McCain in November and probably shouldn’t be reading this site…

Applaud: to NBC Nightly News correspondent Richard Engel. Not only for NOT drinking the Bush Kool-Aid, but for calling bullshit on the testimony of Crocker and Petraeus, saying that they keep changing the ‘rules of the game’ in Iraq... Then again, that's how this administration works…

Heckle: to even more gloom and doom. A new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows that the percentage of workers who said they were very confident about having enough money for retirement dramatically dropped from 27% in 2007 to 18% this year, the largest one-year drop in 18 years. (we at TBWA are really throwing down the sunshine this week ain’t we?)

Applaud: to delicious irony mixed in with a tasty dollup of Karma. Sen. David Vitter (r-LA) may be called to testify on behalf of Deborah Palfrey, AKA, the DC Madam that was “accused of running an upscale Washington prostitution service.” (about time something came of this…)

Heckle: to comments that send a shiver up my spine. After endorsing Gen. Petraues’s “indefinite suspension” of troop withdrawals from Iraq this summer, “President” Bush said; “I’ve told him he’ll have all the time he needs.” (Great… just great…)

Applaud: to saying what everyone who believes in the Constitution already knew… Earlier this week AG Mukasey said that the Fourth Amendment “applies across the board, regardless of whether we’re in wartime or in peacetime”, directly disagreeing with the famous John Yoo memo... (I’m amazed it took this long to decide this…)

Heckle: to news that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone… assuming you’re not a drone who thinks the economy is still basically strong. Americans’ confidence in the economy fell to a new low in the latest RBC Cash Index,, dragged down by worries about mounting job losses, record-high home foreclosures and zooming energy prices. Marking the “fourth month in a row” that has seen confidence fall to an all-time low… but remember, those checks we get will turn it right back around… you’ll see…

Heckle: to turning a blind eye towards suspect business practices. The DOJ has put off prosecuting more than 50 companies suspected of wrongdoing over the last three years, therefore allowing the companies to “avoid(ed) the cost and stigma of defending themselves against criminal charges.” (I’m not surprised either…)

Heckle: to not understanding the message. After “President” Bush and Russian President Putin met for the last Sunday, Bush hailed the conversation as “a significant breakthrough” on the contentious issue of missile defense. But Putin said the results of the conversation “does not provide any breakthrough.” (so once again, Bush looks like an idiot in front of the world… way to go Dubya…)

Heckle: to grossly misplaced accusations. In interviews with the Wall Street Journal, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has been defending himself against claims that it was his management of the U.S. economy that sowed “the seeds of today’s financial crisis.” Personally, I think it’s a mouthpiece of the Bush(whacked) Administration throwing Greenspan under the bus while trying to protect the president and current chairman Bernake…

Heckle: to congressional stupidity on BOTH sides of the aisle. Lawmakers are saying that Attorney General Michael Mukasey has failed to live up to his pre-confirmation promise that there wouldn’t be “any stonewalling” over congressional requests… (wow, who could have seen THAT coming… oh wait, ANYONE with a brain) Turns out, despite “repeated congressional requests, that some key legal opinions and other department documents remain under wraps, prompting Democrats to accuse the Bush administration of trying to run out the clock… (Well duhhhhhh. Are you telling me that our elected officials didn’t think this would happen? Of course the administration is trying to run out the clock… and so far it’s working…)

Heckle: to circumventing the rules. Despite Congress adopting strict ethics rules last year that require members to disclose when they steered federal money to pet projects, lawmakers are still relying on “soft earmarks,” in which they direct “billions of dollars to favored organizations by making vague requests rather than issuing explicit instructions to government agencies in committee reports and spending bills.” (and Congress wonders why their approval ratings suck and thought to be dishonest… perhaps they should look in the mirror and see themselves…)

And this week’s conservative tool of the week is a man who perpetuates hate on a daily basis. On his radio show earlier this week conservative radio host Neal Boortz claimed that he would “make a lousy Mexican” because he doesn’t know how to use a floor buffer. Hearing hatred like that, I don’t think anything else needs to be said… So for the vitriol that IS Neal Boortz, he wins this week’s Tool… of the Week.

Here we go again… and again and again and again

During their much heralded and often repetitive appearance on Capitol Hill earlier this week, General David Petraues and Ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of “funding, training, arming and directing” ‘special extremist groups’ in Iraq.

At one time during his appearance on the Hill, Petraeus, responding to a reporters question asking if he believed Iran was supporting Sunni militants inside Iraq or had any evidence establishing such a link, said; “I’m not aware of – it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened” which he then infused with the implication that some Sunni extremists could have had weapons that were made in Iran…

So let me get this straight… per Petraeus, Iran IS a material influence in Iraq, whilst at the same time is NOT a material influence in Iraq and therefore MAY WELL BE a material influence in Iraq BECAUSE there is no evidence to suggest otherwise…

God, I think my brain just cramped up…

And Petraues wasn’t the only one throwing blame towards Iran, Ambassador Crocker also got into the act when he said; “I think one might look for a reconsideration in Tehran as to just where they want to go in Iraq. […] This would be an excellent time for them to reassess.”

What the HELL does that mean?

Is it an honest attempt to ask them to alter their relationship now despite the fact that there will be a new president to deal with in less than a year?

Or is it a veiled threat that if they don’t mind their P’s and Q’s, the US will use military force?

Before the conservative trolls come out to torch me about making too much out of what he said, it should be noted that quite a few conservatives see the duo’s testimony as cause to reignite talk about striking Iran.

Per ThinkProgress;

On his radio show this morning, Bill Bennett told the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol — who had a personal meeting with President Bush yesterday — that a “conclusion” he drew was that the hearing was “less an argument for getting out of Iraq than going into Iran.” After suggesting that Iran may “have to pay some price at some point on their own soil,” Kristol said that President Bush authorizing an attack of some kind before he leaves office is not “out of the question.”

Uh-oh…

Then we have noted conservative tool and Democratic turncoat Joe Lieberman who, having previously said that the US has to be prepared to take military action against the Iranians, appearing on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Thursday night said that he hopes the administration tells the Iranians that “unless they stop it, we’re going to take action.”

And then we have this from Bush himself when (supposedly) speaking about Iraq; “The regime in Tehran also has a choice to make: They can live in peace with its neighbor, enjoy strong economic and cultural and religious ties, or it can continue to arm and train and fund illegal militant groups which are terrorizing the Iraqi people and turning them against Iran. […] If Iran makes the right choice, America will encourage a peaceful relationship between Iran and Iraq. If Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect our interests and our troops and our Iraqi partners.”

Wow, that sounds familiar… I wonder wh— oh yes, the buildup to Iraq...

Here we go again…

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

We are 29 weeks away from the 2008 election… my God, do we really have to put up with this for that much longer??

• If you haven’t yet read it, make sure to read my “Plea to Democrats”. It’s a moral, and Party, imperative…
• Sen. Obama is hoping the support of Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa will translate into support from Teamsters in Pennsylvania… which will translate into victory in Pennsylvania… stay tuned.
• Sen. McCain needs women…
• He also needs House republicans…
• Sen. Clinton had one of her campaign offices destroyed by a fire… what that means to her campaign is anyone’s guess… but it’s a fire, so I think the media is legally obligated to report it…
• During an interview with The Advocate (which came about after gay advocates criticized him for not speaking to the gay media) Sen. Obama said he wants to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays if elected president...
• Sen. Clinton said this past week that she’s the only presidential candidate capable of ending the war in Iraq…riiiiiiight…
• Sen. Clinton doesn’t think the controversy of Mark Penn meeting with the Colombians will affect her campaign. I disagree...
• All three of the presidential candidates had the opportunity to question General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker this past week. Sen. McCain said that success in Iraq was “within reach.” Sen. Obama labeled the invasion of Iraq a “massive strategic blunder” and Sen. Clinton said that staying in Iraq was “irresponsible.”
• If you read one poll, Obama is gaining on Clinton in Pennsylvania. If you read another, Clinton is maintaining a sizeable lead. If you read another one, you see that the two of them are neck and neck in Mexico… (I know, I don’t understand it either…)
• Mark Penn resigned his post on the Clinton campaign
• After getting flak for, we’ll call it embellishing for now, a story about her role in Bosnian peace talks, Sen. Clinton was forced to drop another stump speech story about an uninsured pregnant woman who died after being denied medical care. After the hospital in question raised questions, the campaign announced this past week that she will stop telling the story…
• Sen. McCain criticized Sen. Obama this past Saturday for not denouncing comments from a speaker at a North Dakota Democratic Party event that called McCain a "warmonger.” (I know, I don't understand it either...)
• And have we mentioned? That questions about Monica Lewinsky continue to dog Chelsea Clinton? It seems that no matter how much she tries to distance herself and NOT answer questions about it, people continue to ask her how it effected Sen. Clinton, President Clinton and herself. While I accept that people are free to ask anyone any kind of question, I also understand that people, as a general rule, are schmucks who are trying to get the face on ‘tee-vee’. Chelsea needs to attack this question in one of two ways – answer it directly, once and for all, or, become hostile and belligerent when the question is asked and challenge the asker why they think it’s their business. My wish to people; stick to real issues like the war, the economy or the environment and stop asking questions that have no true bearing on how well Ms. Clinton would perform the job.

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…)

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

It’s the middle of the week, we’re halfway there…

• Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are on Capitol Hill again today talking about the Iraq war… so if you hear droning white noise coming from the direction of Washington DC, it’s just them…
• On the day that the Olympic torch makes its only pass in North America amid protests the presidential candidates spoke about China and how they would play US relations with the communist nation… not surprisingly, there was a lot of rhetoric and little substance.
• While a handful of Senior Democratic senators were considering how well Sen. Robert Byrd can handle his position as the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, his office was vowing that the 90-year-old lawmaker won't be stepping down any time soon. (With the advanced age of Sen. McCain, age is going to be getting a lot of attention over the next few months, and it will be interesting to see if it has any ripple-effect on Byrd or not. My guess is not. Since being sworn in January 1, 1959, Byrd has rarely followed the norm, and to think that he would be swayed to quit before he, or his body, is ready, is highly unlikely)
• Sen. Clinton doesn’t think the controversy of Mark Penn meeting with the Colombians will affect her campaign. (Personally, I don’t think it will either, more so because Penn had already caused her campaign stress by some of the inane comments he made. Getting rid of him should have a positive effect on her campaign. Whether that will translate to more votes is anyone’s guess)
• “President” Bush may skip the opening ceremony of the Olympics…
• During yesterday’s testimony by Petraeus and Crocker, each of the presidential candidates had their chance to snare a soundbite for the campaign, with Sen. McCain saying that success in Iraq was “within reach.” Sen. Obama called the invasion of Iraq a “massive strategic blunder” and Sen. Clinton said that staying in Iraq was irresponsible.” (Okay… and what will YOU do about it?)
• Think you heard the last of CostumeGate, think again. It just won’t go away…
• If you read one poll, Obama is gaining on Clinton in Pennsylvania. If you read another, Clinton is maintaining a sizeable lead. If you read another one, you see that the two of them are neck and neck in an important (and by important I mean completely superfluous) poll in Mexico… wait, what?
• With three potential commissioners awaiting Senate confirmation, the six-seat FEC is down to two functioning members, essentially making the commission worthless and un-functional. (But it’s not like we need it during campaign season or anything…)
• And have we mentioned? That CNN’s Wolf Blitzer is asking a question that’s on the minds of many Americans? In a CNN.com column, Blitzer asks if “Iraqis (are) playing U.S. taxpayers for 'suckers'?” by having the US pay for new roads, bridges, schools and hospitals while Iraq has oil exports that are generating obscene sums of money, $56.4 billion this year alone. So to recap, the US is still paying to make roads, schools, hospitals and infrastructure improvements in Iraq despite them sitting on a very handsome nest egg… but the Bush(whacked) Administration – along with other republicans – refuse to connect the dots of the costs of our occupation in Iraq to the struggling – read: recession – economy. Wow, where do I get some of what they’re smoking?

$600 doesn't go as far as it used to

Foreseeing that a check ranging from $300 to $1,200 ain’t gonna do enough to turn around the US economy, a slew of Democrats are calling for another stimulus package.

“President” Bush has already rejected that idea, saying; “And thirdly, I, you know, I think we ought to, in terms of pro-growth packages, I think we ought to, again I repeat, give this one a chance to kick in. The experts tell me that this pro-growth package is going to add some — you know, a percent, percent-and-a-half to the economy here in the latter part of this year.”

(Won’t it be nice to eventually have someone in the Oval Office that can speak in complete sentences?)

My first question is what experts is he citing? His own? Because almost every other economist says the stimulus package isn’t going to do enough in putting this country back on the right track.

And speaking personally, the check I will be getting will not even come close to covering the increased price of food, gasoline, utilities, and medical care since Bush took office.

Increasing unemployment insurance and putting together a public works spending package – as suggested by House Speaker Pelosi – or expanding and repairing the “deteriorating infrastructure needs of our country” as Sen. Dodd wants could help a LOT more people in a LOT more ways than the current package will

Too bad the American public doesn’t have access to Bush-licensed rose-colored glasses, because a recent Zogby poll shows a scarce 28% “believe the government’s economic stimulus rebate plan will help”, and they’re right, because the majority of people will probably do what my wife and I plan to do; save their check or pay down debt and NOT put in back into the economy.

Where’s your economic messiah then Dubya?

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

• Gen. Petraeus recently said on Capitol Hill; we’ve seen “significant but uneven progress” that is “fragile and reversible”… uh-huh. So it’s changed since last time; how?
• Senators Obama, Clinton and McCain are all involved in today’s festivities. McCain and Clinton are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Obama is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in front of whom Petraeus will appear this afternoon. (Wow, this kind of plays into the hands of all three of them, doesn’t it?)
• The pressure on “President” Bush to skip the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony is growing…
• ABC’s Cokie Roberts defends Dick Cheney and his ignoring of the American public.
• “President” Bush wants Congress to vote on the free trade agreement between the US and Colombia, and he signed a letter that gives them 90-working days to vote on the agreement that a majority of Democrats, including our 2 presidential candidates, oppose. (first of all, if they don’t vote on it after 90 days, what happens? Second, can this be viewed as anything but another legacy-building attempt for Bush?)
• With Mark Penn finally getting jettisoned from the Clinton campaign (too late if you ask me, he should have been cut loose months ago), can they recoup and make a charge? (My opinion; I doubt it… almost every strategic decision he’s made has either completely backfired or has had a lesser effect than desired. Think about this; had Clinton gotten rid of Penn when he refused to step down as CEO of his PR firm for the length of the campaign, how different would the political landscape look now?)
• With 2 weeks until they head to the polls, the Democratic race in Pennsylvania is tightening up. A CNN “poll of polls” (Seriously? They’re polling polls?) shows Sen. Clinton with 49% to Sen. Obama’s 42% with 9% undecided. Stay tuned…
• And have we mentioned? That while being President is not a wealth-creating endeavor, being a former President is? When President Hayes left office in 1881, he reportedly became a chicken farmer, compare that to President Clinton who earned a whopping $52 million in speeches alone since leaving office. (So, is there a way to be a ‘former’ president without having to act as president… oh wait, that’s what George has been doing for almost 8 years, my mistake…)

A-ha!

I’ve been saying it for years… the Bush(whacked) Administration looks at the Iraq war through rose-colored glasses… well, today they finally admitted it.

During a White House press briefing earlier today, deputy spokesman Tony Fratto responded to a question about the rising violence in Iraq and said;

“I think we have thrown out all of the rose-colored glasses in how we look at Iraq and try to look at it through clear lenses as to what is going on in the country.”

Ignoring for a moment the fact that this administration has no idea what the hell is going on in their own country let alone a country thousand and thousand of miles away, how is this in any way acceptable? The US government should not be looking at anything through rose-colored glasses, especially something as important and as deadly as a war…

The fact that they have not been looking at the war with any objectivity to success or failure (with the glasses Iraq was always going to be a success), is not only downright shameful on the part of Bush and his administration, but, dare I say, negligent.

I think we may finally have a wholly-impeachable offense…

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another start of another week, is it November yet?

• Gen. David Petraeus appears on Capitol Hill tomorrow along side Ambassador Ryan Crocker and “is expected to call for halting troop reductions” for about six months so he can better assess the security situation. Under his recommendation, there would be “about 140,000 troops in Iraq” which is 10,000 more than before the surge of troops last year… (so instead of ebbing troops in the region, we’re gonna keep them as is; because that’s been oh-so-successful up to this point… give me fucking break…)
• Mark Penn resigned his post on the Clinton campaign… about time. The man was an albatross around the campaign’s neck from the start, and he should have been fired long ago. Waiting this long, one has to wonder if the campaign will be able to rebound. Stay tuned.
• And we have our PassportGate patsy! The deputy assistant secretary responsible for overseeing passport services, Ann Barrett, is stepping down… though the state department says the two are not related… (Riiiiiiight)
• Speaking of Sen. Clinton… after a hospital raised questions over the accuracy of a stump speech story about an uninsured pregnant woman who died after being denied medical care, the campaign announced that she will stop telling the story… (Should we be shocked more that the campaign may have used a story with an iffy history or that they admitted something was wrong and cut the story themselves? My vote is for the latter, but that’s just me…)
• “President” Bush will address the nation this Thursday about the Iraq war following Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker’s testimony to Congress about the status of the war. (Do I really have to listen to the man speak again? I find it painful to listen to him and his muddled, slangy assault on the English language… and honestly, will he really say anything that he hasn’t already said? I highly doubt it…)
• Sen. Clinton predicted “more twists and turns” in the primary battle with Sen. Obama… (wait, what?)
• Sen. McCain criticized Sen. Obama this past Saturday for not denouncing comments from a speaker at a North Dakota Democratic Party event that called McCain a “warmonger.” (Um… am I missing something? After all, McCain IS a warmonger, isn’t he?)
• The New York Times reports on a survey by the Army surgeon general’s Mental Health Advisory Team that shows the mental health toll of repeated deployments on U.S. troops is having a seriously adverse effect with more than one in four showing signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress… (and yet Petraeus is going to call for troop levels to remain high. He has to know that something has to give eventually, right??)
• Presidents Bush and Putin met for the last time this past Sunday… and how the meeting went largely depends on whom you ask. Bush hailed the conversation as “a significant breakthrough” on the contentious issue of missile defense while Putin was “more cautious” and said the meeting did not provide any breakthrough… (I guess it depends on what your definition of significant is…)
• And have we mentioned? That Donald Rumsfeld, David Addington and John Yoo may want to cancel any future trips overseas? The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan said that recent release of the Yoo torture memo means that the three “should not leave the United States anytime soon” as it’s very likely that they will, at some point, be “indicted for war crimes.” (And wouldn’t that make for some entertaining theater? And perhaps a boost for the Democrat presidential candidates…)

The Weekly Rewind

Hear it is the end of another week. Time to take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of our favorite sport…politics. So lets get to the week that was in a little thing we like to call The Weekly Rewind.



Applaud: to taking action. This week, Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection launched a bipartisan, $300 million, three-year campaign to push for climate change legislation. Some of the “We” campaign’s TV ads “will team up offbeat celebrity couples” who “share a belief that it is important to address climate change,” such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and (wait for it) former Speaker Newt Gingrich. View the debut ad here. Okay, it’s not often if ever that we can say something nice in reference to Newt Gingrich, however we must give a tip of the hat to him stepping up and adding his voice to this very important issue. This is an issue that is important to everyone regardless of party affiliation, and the wait and see attitude is not gonna fly here folks.

Applaud: to taking on the establishment yet again. Director Oliver Stone currently casting his next film, Bush: The Movie. Word from Hollywood is that he’s negotiating with Elizabeth Banks (the nutty sexaholic in The 40 Year-Old Virgin) for the role of Laura Bush. Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) will play the President. And Robert Duvall is being rumored to play Dick Cheney. We hear it’s a roller coaster rid of stolen elections, strangleholds, deceit, debauchery, treachery, and a plethora of other things that you just couldn’t make up if you tried.

Applaud: to a growing number. 59 percent is the number of Doctors who “support legislation to establish a national health insurance program,” according to a new survey of more than 2,000 U.S. doctors. This number is up from 49 percent in the 2002 study. As with everything else that is painfully obvious, this country is slow to turn around, however it can be done.

Heckle: to taking a big step backwards. Fighting between Iraqi security forces and Shi’ite militiamen last month has driven civilian deaths in the country “to their highest level in more than six months,” according to new Iraqi government figures. A total of 923 Iraqi civilians were killed in March, “up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007.” Mr. Cheney, tell us once again how we are winning the hearts and minds of those in the region now that the prior regime has been ousted from power?

Heckle: to more twisting and pulling. Prior to testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, House Republicans are launching a “full-fledged assault” on Democratic leaders, whom they accuse of trying to “legislate defeat” in Iraq. The campaign will include a “steady stream” of “op-eds and editorial board memos,” an “aggressive” TV and radio operation, and an effort to “engage conservative bloggers.” Also known as mindless drones.

Heckle: to a sad truth. While most agree the subprime mortgage crisis sparked the current economic downturn, some economists argue the Iraq war is deepening the economic pain. Even the most conservative economists acknowledge that Americans will eventually pay the price at home for a war financed entirely with borrowed money. Once again what ever happened to Iraq’s oil covering the cost of the war? Oh that’s right, that was yet another lie by the Bush‘Whacked’ Administration.

Heckle: normally on principles alone, however last month, President Bush said he would attend the Olympics in Beijing this summer because he views it as “a sporting event.” But given China’s poor human rights record, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Bush should consider “boycotting the opening ceremony.” In the words of Homer J Simpson…”D’oh”

Applaud: to not towing the party line. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, Army vice chief of staff Gen. Richard A. Cody said the 30,000-plus troop increase in Iraq and Afghanistan is “inflicting ‘incredible stress’ on soldiers and families” and posing “‘a significant risk’ to the nation’s all-volunteer military.” And just when will congress start actually listening ?.....

Heckle: to our forefathers turning in their graves. According to a secret Justice Department legal memo dated Oct. 23, 2001. For at least 16 months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, the Bush administration believed that the Constitution’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures on U.S. soil didn’t apply to its efforts to protect against terrorism, The memo’s existence was disclosed this past Tuesday in a footnote of a separate secret memo about interrogation policy. Oh I don’t even know where to begin on this one….

Heckle: to continually looking like a clueless deer in the headlights. For a man “who came into office as the nation’s first M.B.A. president , Mr. Bush has sometimes seemed invisible during the housing and credit crunch,” writes The New York Times. Even Bush’s conservative allies say that the President “is being eclipsed and is in danger of looking out of touch.” In danger of looking out of touch!? Too late ! BTW, I didn’t know you could get an MBA from watching Schoolhouse Rock….

Applaud: to more people seeing the light. Americans are more dissatisfied with the country’s direction than at any time since the New York Times/CBS News poll began asking about the subject in the early 1990s.” The new survey found that “81 [percent] of respondents said they believed ‘things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track,’ up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002. And remember folks it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Heckle: a BIG Heckle to 80,000. Which is the number of jobs the U.S. economy shed in March, the biggest monthly job decline in five years. … The March unemployment rate jumped to 5.1% from 4.8%, highest since a matching rate in September 2005. These numbers were “more bleak than expected“; economists had predicted a decline “of 60,000 in non-farm payrolls and a rise in the unemployment rate to 5%.” Just remember we are only in an economic slowdown…..

and finally it’s time for our Tool of the Week.

This week it is Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). During a hearing this past Tuesday on an aid bill for sick New Yorkers, Rep. Issa callously dismissed the 9/11 attacks as “simply” a plane crash.

The New York Daily News reports:
The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks “simply” a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims’ families.

San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with “a fire” that “simply was an aircraft” hitting the World Trade Center.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) sharply criticized his fellow conservative’s remarks, stating, “New York was attacked by Al Qaeda. It doesn’t have to be attacked by Congress.” In his statement yesterday, Issa tried to insist that he only “asked tough questions about the expenditures” during the hearing.

Congratulations Rep. Issa you’re our Tool of the Week. Putz…..

That’s it for this week.

Be good, stay informed, later……

We’re not the only ones

Julianne Smith, Europe analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,

“many [European leaders] are looking forward now to the next president. [… ]There seems to be a great deal of enthusiasm…on the other side of the Atlantic, that there’s going to be some revitalization of the trans-Atlantic partnership and we start with a clean slate and a new chapter.”

You’re preaching to the choir Julianne…

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

There are seven months remaining until the 2008 presidential election…

• Read my ‘Plea to Democrats.’ It’s a moral imperative…
• A new CNN/Essence Magazine/Opinion Research Corp shows that 76% believe that the US is ready for a black president, up 14 points since December 2006.
• Sen. McCain has been on a jaunt to emphasize his life… what we’ve gotten from it so far is that he’s really, really old…
• Obama and Clinton were invited to an Indiana debate by a consortium of Indiana television stations and newspapers… as of today, neither candidate has responded, so stay tuned.
• Is Cindy McCain this election’s Teresa Heinz Kerry?
• Like me, Sen. Obama needs to stay away from bowling…
• Because it worked oh-so-well last time (yes, that was sarcasm), Sen. Clinton has released another “3 AM” ad, this time with an economic issue as the danger… my question is precisely what kind of emergency economic call is going to come in at 3 in the morning?
• Sen. Obama's campaign fundraising grossly outraised Sen. Clinton's by two-to-one in March, with Obama raising $40-million (after getting a record $55.4 million in February) to Clinton raising $20 million after raising $34.6 million in February.
• Ummmmmmmm, Rupert Murdoch’s daughter, Elisabeth, is going to host an Obama fundraiser in London…
• New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is STILL getting flak for endorsing Obama while denying that he ever promised anything to the Clintons… the Clintons need to let it go as every time they make note of it or complain, they look like whiny little kids. It’s done, it’s passed, he ain’t gonna change his mind… move on…
• Obama and Clinton are tied in Indiana, who holds its primary on May 6th, so there’s still plenty of time for it to flip-flop back and forth a few dozen times, so stay tuned.
• The Obama campaign announced earlier this week that it will start-up a fellowship program for people interested in learning the art of political organizing… such as it is.
• Sen. Obama got a non-endorsement endorsement of former president Jimmy Carter
• Retired General, former presidential candidate and current Clinton supporter Wes Clark sent a message from his political action committee, WesPAC, that criticized McCain for failing recent veterans by refusing to sign a veterans benefit bill…
• John Edwards said he won’t run as a VP candidate again…
• For all of you that thought we were done seeing new candidates enter the race, prepare to be surprised as former Georgia republican Representative Bob Barr is inching closer to seeking the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party… Ron Paul will be crushed…
• An article in the Wall Street Journal reports that Clinton's chief campaign strategist met with Colombia's US ambassador to discuss a bilateral free-trade agreement, which Clinton supposedly opposes…
• Karl Rove thinks Obama’s lack of wearing a US Flag lapel pin will be an issue in the campaign. I saw Karl Rove has been drinking too much since he left the White House and if people use that as a barometer of Obama, then they probably have some brain cells missing and won’ be able to find the polling place in November.
• Obama promised Al Gore a place in his administration… the secretary of partying down perhaps?
• Obama cut into Clinton's Super-delegate lead
• DNC Chairman Howard Dean says that the party will “absolutely seat” the Florida delegation at the Convention and the two are working diligently to craft a plan that would see their delegates counted
• Sen. McCain has a very long ‘short-list’ of VP possibilities…
• Perpetual conservative tool James Dobson just can’t keep his mouth shut as he said earlier this week that McCain has not been successful in uniting conservatives since he officially nabbed the nomination and that recent moves by him “appear to be fracturing an increasingly divided constituency” instead.
• And have we mentioned? That the Clinton campaign is STILL having trouble paying some of its bills? It was discovered this week that her campaign has been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months in an effort to free up cash for critical media buys, which is earning the campaign a reputation as something of a deadbeat. One has to wonder, if Obama continues to outraise Clinton, how much longer can she realistically stay in the race? And were she to actually get the nomination, how would she do in fundraising in the second stage of the presidential race? Stay tuned…

Need more proof?

In case you weren't already convinced that we are heading, if not already there, for a recession this bit of information should further convince you... assuming you have control of your own brain.

The Labor Department reported today that “407,000 new applications for unemployment assistance were filed last week” (the highest level since September 2005) which is an increase of 38,000 from the prior reporting period and a staggerinly sharp increase from this time last year when there were only 319,000 jobless claims.

But remember, the economy is still basically sound, "inherently strong" or "apparently struggling"... depending on which conservative lemming you listen to...

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Thursday is here, you know what that means… yeah, neither do I.

• Can anyone save the Democratic Party, from itself? Can Howard Dean be trusted? Can an accord be reached between Clinton & Obama? Find out the answers to these and other questions, next time, on Soap “As the Politics Turn”…
• DNC Chairman Howard Dean says that the party will “absolutely seat” the Florida delegation at the Convention and the two are working diligently to craft a plan that would see their delegates counted. (The thing that frosts my preserves is the fact that the DNC and the state of Florida are tying to find a solution that both candidates can accept. I say it shouldn’t be up to the candidates, but to the national party and the state party. They are the leaders of the party, not Obama or Clinton. Take the candidates out of the equation and you remove your ‘X’ factor and can then easily come up with a solution)
• Sen. McCain has close to 20 people on his short list of possible running mates… no word if John Kerry is still on the list…
• One of “President” Bush’s pet projects on his current Euro-trip has been dealt a harsh blow. Due to Russian opposition, NATO has decided against putting Georgia and the Ukraine on the fast track to join the alliance… besides the questionable reasons for Bush to be pressing for this, what I want to know is when Russia got so much damned power within NATO? The country of Macedonia was also denied entry due to concerns by Greece… (isn’t it amazing that one single country can derail another country’s attempt to better itself by joining an alliance?)
• The US has brokered a missile deal with the Czech Republic, which will never come back to bite us on the ass because those kind of deals NEVER go south…
• The Bush(whacked) Administration believed that the Constitution’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures on U.S. soil “didn’t apply to its efforts to protect against terrorism” for, at least, 16 months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That’s according to a “secret Justice Department legal memo dated Oct. 23, 2001” that was declassified Tuesday in a footnote of that other separate secret memo about interrogation policy… (raise of hands, does this surprise anyone?)
• Yesterday it was Big Oil (which nothing came out of, btw), today it’s the airline industry that’s on Capitol Hill to answer questions about airline safety.
• And have we mentioned? That the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco is looking to rename Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility to the “George W. Bush Sewage Plant”? Yes, you read that right, a group wants to honor Bush by naming what they say is a “fitting monument to this president’s work.” After reading that, one would have to think that this was snark on the commission’s part, but then you get to the point of the article where the group says that “No other president in American history has accomplished so much in such a short time” and you realize that they’ve been inhaling too many of the fumes from the aforementioned sewage plant… or they’ve been hanging out in Haight-Ashbury too much…

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Wednesday, we all know what that means…

• Like Congress, Senators Obama and Clinton are taking on Big Oil… though I’m sure it isn’t pandering at all, no sirree, not at all. I would only consider it pandering if the third candidate, McCain, got involv– there we go…
• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is going to Capitol Hill today to give members of Congress' Joint Economic Committee an update on the country's economic situation at the same time he is under immense political and public pressure to provide relief and help turn around a faltering economy… (But… but the economy is only in a ‘slow-down’ and will bounce back when we get our economic stimulus checks, right? Right? Why isn’t anyone answering me… oh, I’m dreaming, that’s why…)
• A handful of Representatives urged “President” Bush to not attend the Olympic games in China as a sign of protest on China’s human rights record… (why is it when I hear the words ‘President Bush’ and ‘human rights’ in the same sentence, a chill runs down my spine?)
• Seeing as how the last security update on Iraq showed that the surge wasn’t working and the Iraqi government also was not working, the latest security assessment of the situation in Iraq, delivered yesterday, is going to be kept secret…
• NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said yesterday that NATO leaders are likely to approve an increase in troop deployments to Afghanistan in order to clean up Bush’s mess stabilize the country. The move comes as some NATO alliances (the US and Great Britain) are worried that not all countries are sharing the troop burden… (which likely wouldn’t have been needed in the first place had Bush not moved our concentration from there to Iraq, but that’s just my opinion…)
• A March 14, 2003 Pentagon memo (since rescinded – wink, wink) that approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects said that Bush's wartime authority trumps any international ban on torture… (yes, the wartime authority of the leader of one, singular nation supersedes the authority of the international community; that seems fair. It’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form
• Chelsea Clinton is still pissed about getting questions regarding Monica Lewinsky. While I understand here POV, she should also understand that they play with live ammo on the campaign trail and anything, anything, is fair game. Just ask Gary Hart…
• And have we mentioned? That the battle over the US border war is on? After hearing that the Department of Homeland Security will bypass environmental and land-management laws to erect the border fence, the Sierra Club is now involved, so DHS head Michael Chertoff should just pack up his stuff and go home, it’s over. (yes, I am being over simplistic – just in case any republicans are reading – but as anyone who has seen something planned in their community be derailed by an environmental group can attest, this could get interesting) The Sierra Club says the fence “threatens the livelihoods and ecology of the entire U.S.-Mexico border region” but Chertoff says Congress gave him the authority to bypass laws (brilliant move Congress, btw) and that’s that. What makes this story even more deliciously ironic is, back in October while arguing for approval of the fence, Chertoff said; “Illegal migrants really degrade the environment”… (Ow! Irony overload) Stay tuned.

All for now…

A Guest Post

As loyal readers know, Kemp and I are very passionate in our views, and we love it when people become just as passionate in their views and decide to share them with us.

Tonight I am especially pleased and proud to welcome a first time guest poster to our humble blog. Please give a TBWA welcome to my finacee, Gail. Thanks honey, I am honored that you wanted to share in my little hobby.

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“On April Fool’s Day, the biggest joke of all is being played on American families by Big Oil,” said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass. at today's Congressional meeting with the heads of several oil companies.

How true, how true.

The oil companies claim that thier $123 Billion dollar profits are in line with other industries. I don't see that. What I see are small businesses folding because people are radically changing their spending habits. I see larger retail chains with flat and negative growth. The car industry is definitely suffering and will only get worse, if the price of gas continues toward and past $4 a gallon.

This is where I want to sit down and ask the heads of the oil companies, how is it that the price of gas refined a year ago can go up in the blink of an eye, based on the price of a FUTURE barrel of oil...but when that price of the FUTURE barrel of oil comes down, the price of gas that was refined a year ago doesn't?

Does anyone else remember when gas only went up once a week (if that), and it was a penny or two? You can drive by a gas station in the morning on your way to work and on the way home eight to ten hours later, the price has jumped ten cents or more. And this can happen more than once a week.

The next question I'd like to ask them is if they can afford to fill the gas tanks on their cars, and are they changing their purchasing habits, because gas is a much higher portion of their home budgets, like the rest of us?

I think if the oil companies took a miniscule 2.5% out of their gargantuan pockets by lowering prices and profit levels on end use gasoline, now THERE'S an economic stimulus package (that doesn't come out of my own pocket in 2009). Congress and the oil companies need to listen to the people this is affecting most. Not the poor-they probably don't own cars! It certainly isn't the oil company executives. It's us in the middle class. Those of us whose family budgets are in crisis, because we can't decide whether to drive to work or feed our kids...

It was bound to happen someday

It’s not often that we write positively about a republican (in our defense, it is rare when they actually do something positive), but this deserves a mention.

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) appeared on The Daily Show last night and uttered his oft-repeated line that the Iraq war is “one of the great blunders of American history” (right next to electing George W. Bush, but I’m getting off-track)

He went on to counter the Bush White House’s justification of the war, saying; “… they continue to justify something that’s not justifiable. It’s Alice in Wonderland: what’s up is down, what’s down is up.”

Hagel’s comments come on the heel of him stridently rejecting the idea that the surge has been a “success” considering the fact that U.S. has “lost over 900 dead Americans since the surge”, a point that the Bush(whacked) Administration chooses to ignore.

Granted, Hagel’s recent remarks are probably an attempt to either enhance his ‘out-the-door’ legacy (he announced last September that he won’t run for re-election) or an attempt to secure himself a cabinet position in an Obama, Clinton or (doubtful but still possible) McCain administration… but regardless of the reasons, he’s still saying something, a tactic that few others have been able to do in these last eight years.

Hopefully he’ll continue… cause, as my esteemed colleague Scott says; “It's nice when someone from that side of the aisle can step up and do or say what's right.”

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Breaking News: The United States Congress has just voted to censure President Bush…

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April fool! But wouldn’t it be sweet if it were true? Anyhow, enough April Fool’s nonsense, here’s your daily ‘BushWhack’ing:

• Like they did two years ago when gasoline and oil prices spiked, Big Oil is appearing before Congress again today… and, also like last time, absolutely nothing will be said and absolutely nothing will be done. Can we say; pageantry?
• While the Senate isn’t voting on any censuring or impeachment measures, they are working on a homeowner relief bill which, naturally, republicans are against and are helping to stall … (apparently to them it’s ok to protect a financial institution, but NOT a citizen of this country… there’s something fundamentally wrong with that…). The bill would allow bankruptcy judges to reset mortgages on primary residences, would provide $4 billion for local communities to buy and refurbish foreclosed properties, provide $200 million for counseling to help homeowners avoid foreclosure as well as give tax breaks for the homebuilding industry… stay tuned.
• According to a new survey of more than 2,000 U.S. doctors, 59% of doctors support legislation that would establish a national health insurance program,, which is a sharp spike upward from the 49% in 2002…
• Inane CNN headline of the day; “McCain to recall his high school years” (What?)
• “President” Bush is barely one day into his overseas trip and he’s already making waves as he maintained that a planned missile defense system in Eastern Europe would not pose a threat to Russia, who has concerns that the U.S. might use interceptor missiles for offensive purposes… (come on now Russia, if Bush says it’s safe, he would be the one to know right… Right? Helloooooooo?? Anyhow, while I wouldn’t trust a word that crossed Bush’s mouth, I’m not exactly sure where Russia gets the idea that they are in charge of Eastern Europe?)
• Ooooooo, Chelsea got another Monica question…
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says that “President” Bush should boycott the opening ceremony of this summer’s China Olympics and follow decisions by French President Nicolas Sarkozy (who has said he may skip the opening ceremony), German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Britain's Prince Charles who have already declared that they would not attend the opening ceremony…
• Michigan and Florida just won’t go away…
• Because we haven’t mentioned them yet, here’s today’s superfluous mention of Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton…
• And have we mentioned? That the Pentagon is grossly over-budget? A new GAO report not only shows that the Pentagon's biggest weapons systems (including ships, aircraft and satellites) are years behind schedule but also billions of dollars over budget to the tune of $1.6 trillion… that’s trillion with a ‘t’, which rhymes with ‘p’ and that… never mind. So what will be done you ask? It’s the Bush(whacked) Administration, so expect a plan to fix the problem shortly… and by shortly I mean never…