Friday, May 30, 2008

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week down... there are 22 weeks left til we head to the booths…

  • Read my “Plea to Democrats” while it’s still a moral imperative
  • Sen. McCain wants to slash the US’ nuclear arsenal… which drew a rebuke from Sen. Obama’s campaign that McCain hasn't led on nonproliferation issues in the past and is using this in order to draw parallels between him and Pres. Reagan…
  • There should be a deal between the DNC and the brat-like states of Michigan and Florida this weekend. (as I said earlier this week, the two states clearly disobeyed the rules and were held accountable by not having their primaries count. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with disenfranchising voters and EVERYTHING to do with being held accountable for your actions. Giving in, even a little bit, is a horrible example to be passing on and will set a dangerous precedent for the future…)
  • McCain’s campaign scaled back two fundraisers this week that were to have an appearance by “President” Bush because, according to the Phoenix Business Journal, the “event was not selling enough tickets” to fill the Convention Center space… (Hard to not laugh my ass off at that tidbit… but I’ll try)
  • McCain criticized Obama for not visiting Iraq and refusing to join him on a trip over there… and now Obama seems to be pandering to McCain as he announced yesterday (Thursday) that he may travel to Iraq in the next few weeks
  • The three candidates signed a joint statement on Darfur this past week…
  • Obama campaign staffer David Axelrod is apparently taking cues from Mark Penn and said earlier this week that his candidate is about to clinch victory… (the man is a putz for saying that before the final primary… much like CNN political pundit Roland Martin who tried to rouse some rabbles earlier this week by saying there is ‘no graceful bow-out’ for Sen. Clinton…
  • Obama used former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle in his arsenal to help himself with blue-collar voters…
  • We already knew this, but in case you didn’t, McCain i’s out of touch on housing woes facing average Americans…
  • McCain tried to explain his opposition to the 21st Century GI Bill… it’s STILL not working…
  • Obama is not ready to cede the Western US to McCain yet as he traverses the region as he tries to play up the dissatisfaction with Bush and population changes out there that have put the West in play… stay tuned.
  • McCain got some bad news when the Libertarian Party picked former Georgia republican Rep. Bob Barr as its presidential candidate. Yes, Barr is on record saying he has “no intention of being a spoiler,” but has also let his disdain for McCain be known in the past, and if he plays the “true conservative” card, he could bleed many votes away from McCain in November… which is exactly what I want to see happen…
  • And have we mentioned? That a CQ analysis of Senate votes shows that McCain is more in line with “President” Bush than he lets on? The analysis shows that McCain, on issues where Bush expressed “an explicit, stated opinion,” voted with Bush 100% of the time in 2008 and 95% of the time in 2007… more proof that a vote for McCain in November would be a vote for a third Bush term… and God knows we don’t want that.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Once again, our current commander in chief acts totally un-presidential.


January 20, 2009 can NOT come soon enough... it's like having a man-boy in the Oval Office.

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another day closer to the weekend…

  • Scott McClellan book fallout continues… though I am thrilled to see the Bush White House scramble to cover their collective asses while saying their “puzzled” by the book…
  • Sen. McCain is criticizing Sen. Obama for not visiting Iraq in more than two years while also criticizing him for turning down his suggestion that the two make a joint trip to the country. (Obama’s lack of Iraq visits is indeed strange and I believe he should make a trek over there… but NOT with McCain. McCain’s offer is nothing but a political ploy and Obama was right to refuse to go…)
  • “President” Bush’s uncanny ability to say things that make the least smart person in a room take notice has occurred again. Talking to the 2008 US Air Force Academy graduating class yesterday said that the “only way America could lose the war on terror is if we defeat ourselves” (all fine and good) but then he compared the Iraq war to World War II… (sigh… does anyone want to take the time to explain it to him? I would, but I don’t have 2 weeks to spare…)
  • New York Gov. David Paterson (D) has “directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations” in order for them to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada, calling it “a strong step toward marriage equality.” (conservative outrage in five, four, three—there it is…)
  • While still speaking at the Air Force Academy commencement, Bush acknowledged that his administration is “learning as we go” in Iraq and even offered a “nod to realities”that have made the Iraq and Afghanistan wars more protracted than his administration had thought… (acknowledgement of a mis-step? Is this a reaction to the McClellan book?)
  • That didn’t take long… Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) wants Scott McClellan to testify under oath before the House Judiciary Committee about the “earth-shattering” allegations contained in his book (I knew it was only a matter of time before someone brought up this scenario. Now we’ll have a chance to see what McClellan is peddling. If he’s serious about cleansing his soul, he’ll appear and testify under oath. If he’s only out to sell his book and make money, he’ll have some convenient excuse to NOT testify. Stay tuned…)
  • Two members of the DNC rules committee said yesterday that the Democratic Party is likely to meet rule-breaking Florida and Michigan halfway when it comes to seating their delegates at the national convention, a move that might help Sen. Clinton close the delegate gap with Sen. Obama. (It would help her count, but in no way would overtake his numbers. MI and FL disobeyed the rules and were held accountable… it has NOTHING to do with disenfranchising voters but EVERYTHING to do with being held accountable for your actions. Giving in, even a little bit, is a horrible example to be passing on and will set a dangerous precedent for the future…)
  • he top U.S. Navy official in the Persian Gulf, Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, warned that war with Iran would be “pretty disastrous,” with “echoes and aftershocks” reverberating throughout the region, adding that “we have years” to deal with Iran’s nuclear program… (Yes, but the Bush(whacked) Administration only has months, and that’s the number that scares the hell out of me…)
  • And have we mentioned? That a possible scourge of the earth has been denied? Yep… conservative blogger Michelle Malkin made a fuss about a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial that featured cooking personality Rachael Ray because of complaints that she was promoting terrorism… (wait, it gets dumber). In the ad, Ray wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men… because of the fuss, Dunkin Donuts has yanked the commercial. Malkin was pleased with the response and said; “It’s refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists.” (Are you fucking kidding me?? Does Malkin not have better things to do with her time than worry about a scarf in a commercial??? Give. Me. A. Break.)

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Money maker or soul cleanser?

One of “President” Bush’s Texas lapdogs is attempting to throw him under the bus… and it could actually work.

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan spent a majority of his time in that position defending the Bush(whacked) Administration’s stance on the Iraq war… but now he’s concluded, either due to guilt or dollar signs, that his employer misled the nation into an unjust war.

Well duhhhhhhhhhh….

McClellan’s book What Happened: Washington's Culture of Deception will be released next Monday and it contains some interesting writings like;

“History appears poised to confirm what most Americans today have decided -- that the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic blunder.” […] No one, including me, can know with absolute certainty how the war will be viewed decades from now when we can more fully understand its impact. […] What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary.”
McClellan also says that Bush is “plenty smart enough to be president” and Bush is “an instinctive leader more than an intellectual leader” and chooses what to do “based on his gut and his most deeply held convictions.”

Well… that’s just what we want from a president isn’t it? Screw debate… screw learning the facts… my gut says we invade, so we’re invading…

Explains a lot, doesn’t it?

Liberal pundits and Liberal bloggers have been saying forever that Bush ignores what other people say about a subject and does whatever the hell he wants… McClellan’s book supports that.

Bush doesn’t want or seek widespread counsel and critique in his decision-making, he decides himself using his instincts.

Ignoring for a moment the question of how the hell our nation has not collapsed with this putz in the White house, let’s instead concentrate on McClellan’s sudden discovery of a soul.

It’s been more than two years since he left the White House and seemingly all it took for him to find religion was a lucrative book deal.

Sure, the book gives credence to those of us who said that Bush wasn’t “open and forthright on Iraq” and that he used propaganda to sell the war, and that the “White House press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to the war”… but we already knew that…

At least those of us who can use their own mind and haven’t partaken of the Bush Kool-Aid knew that and have been saying it for years… and now we, seemingly, have proof.

Another question is whether or not the MSM reports the story and, thus indicts themselves into the wool being collectively pulled over the eyes of the American public regarding the Iraq war?I don’t see it happening…

And what to make of McClellan’s sudden decision to come clean… for three years he willingly distorted and lied for this administration… he lied about Iraq, domestic spying, secret prisons and the true role that the White House played in the outing of Valerie Plame.

McClellan could have said all this before now, but he didn’t… probably because he knew he could make big money by putting pen to paper and throwing the administration under the bus in a tell-all book.

In the book McClellan claims he was lied to but was he?

I have to say yes… and that can be supported to some extent with the zeal that conservative pundits are jumping up and down on him.

We have Karl Rove on Fox “News” saying that McClellan sounded more like “a left-wing blogger” than himself… we have former Homeland Security adviser Frances Townsend appearing on CNN calling McClellan “self-serving” and “disingenuous”… and then we have the ever famous “former colleague” who says of McClellan; “It looks like a fairly pathetic attempt to restore his reputation by junking the only positive attribute people saw in him — loyalty.”

Why pounce on someone that quickly if the story isn’t true… why not just issue a blanket denial and be done with it?

Simple… because there must be some truth in it and issuing a blanket denial would imperil them in court.

I don’t forgive McClellan’s role in the Bush White House… let’s face it, he had more than enough time from his resignation and the book’s launch to make his claims known, but he waited until he could make money off of it… but perhaps we should view him a little differently now and wait for him to be summoned to Capitol Hill before we condemn or commend him.

Stay tuned…

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Hump day, and I’m finding it hard to get back into it after being away since last Thursday…

  • Former Bush lapdog Press Secretary Scott McClellan has released his book about his time as PS. Bottom line: Bush lied to him, he lied to the media, the media lied to us… but it’s all good because he was only following orders. (Wow… now the question is how much play will the MSM give this? Or will they quietly sweep it under the rug? I'll probably have more on this later today...)
  • Senators Obama, Clinton and McCain signed a joint statement on Darfur yesterday that accuses the Sudanese government of “atrocities against civilians in Darfur.” (I’m sure this letter will turn the Sudanese government right around and they’ll stop immediately…)
  • Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod says his candidate is about to clinch victory… after next week’s primaries. (Ok, I realize it’s political posturing and rhetoric, but come on, saying he’s about to clinch and meaning sometimes next week is just dumb. It’s NEXT week… wait until Monday David and then say he’s “about to clinch”, not five days before. What, have you been taking advice from Mark Penn???)
  • CNN political pundit Roland Martin is trying to rouse some rabbles by saying in his weekly online column that there is ‘no graceful bow-out’ for Sen. Clinton… (way to stir things up Roland… and way to be wrong. There is absolutely a way for Ms. Clinton to leave with grace and dignity. After accepting defeat after next week’s primaries, she could quietly acquiesce that Obama won and urge her supporters to fall in line behind him and then campaign for him… showing her supporters that she is behind her party’s official nominee…
  • Sen. Obama continues to woo blue-collar voters and is using former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle as part of that plan. Daschle is still well-respected across the country and should help Obama a little. Stay tuned…
  • McCain’s out of touch on housing woes? (Nooo, I can’t accept that… who would have thought that someone with 423 homes would be out of touch, I am shocked… shocked I say! Next thing you know people would be saying that Bush is more of a liability to McCain then an asset… and we all know how ridiculous that thought is. Sorry, was the sarcasm too over the top there?)
  • The DNC should make a decision about Florida and Michigan this weekend amid protests by Obama and Clinton supporters… stay tuned.
  • And have we mentioned? That the Supreme Court ruled in favor of employees versus employers yesterday? You read that right… the justices ruled that employees are protected from retaliation when they complain about discrimination in the workplace. The ruling not only adopts a broad interpretation of workers’ rights under two federal civil rights laws but also hints at, in the words of the NY Times, “new tone and direction” on SCOTUS. (Uh-huh… I’ll believe it when I see it)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

We’re back and better than ever before…

  • The VP race is on!
  • Seeing that he’s getting raked over the coals for his opposition to Sen. Webb’s GI Bill, Sen. McCain is hastily trying to explain his opposition. It’s not working… and he’s now resorted to calling Sen. Obama’s criticism of his (McCain’s) opposition as a ‘campaign pledge’… never mind the fact that that is exactly what McCain is doing in trying to explain himself…
  • President Bush lauded U.S. troops yesterday as an “awesome bunch of people” while lamenting that some of them have had to die in defense of freedom… (That’s how a president is going to carry himself at the Tomb of the Unknowns? By saying they’re ‘awesome’ people? His language abilities – or lack thereof – continue to amaze me…)
  • The Libertarian Party picked former Georgia republican Rep. Bob Barr as its presidential candidate this past Sunday. While Barr is on record that he has “no intention of being a spoiler,” his disdain for John McCain is well-documented and he could bleed votes away from him in November. (and with that, the Democrats chances of getting the White House back have increased significantly… stay tuned)
  • Cindy McCain is proving to be Sen. McCain’s Sugar Mama, having earned a whopping $6 million dollars in 2006…
  • Sen. Tom Coburn (r-OK) is saying what most of us already know… that “republicans are in denial.” Coburn wrote an Op-Ed in today’s WSJ and says that “much is being written about the supposed soul-searching in the Republican Party. A more accurate description of our state is paralysis and denial.” (True… very, very true… and good news for Democrats)
  • “The American people are fed up…. we’ve lost the House and Senate, and everybody hates George Bush.” Who said it? Sen. Obama? Sen. Clinton? Gov. Dean? Nope… Texas republican congressman Pete Sessions… ouch. Think that’s bad? Well…
  • And have we mentioned? That Sen. McCain wants to keep his distance from “President” Bush? The pair are hosting a joint fund-raiser in Phoenix tomorrow and will mark the first time in three months that the two will share the spotlight and be seen together… problem is, McCain’s campaign is trying its damndest to make sure cameras don’t capture the two of them together… (when the head of your party has historic disapproval ratings and your nominee for the White House doesn’t want to be seen with him, you’ve got problems. Bigger problems than the Democrats do… to bad the MSM isn’t talking about it…)

Friday, May 23, 2008

EDITORS NOTE

Due to a death in my family and a wedding in Scott's family (his own), TBWA is taking a brief hiatus and will return next week.

Sorry for the inconvenience... we will be back better than ever next week, we promise.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

conservative lie #43,219

“This is a defining moment for the Senate, for the Republicans, and this war. I can tell you if we leave the generals alone and support our troops, they will win this war. And to my Republican colleagues, if we’ll stand firm for a fair procedure and a sensible solution to the veterans’ problems, we will get rewarded in the next election, not punished. If we give into this, we don’t deserve to be here.”


That’s a quote from Sen. Lindsey Graham (r-SC) before the Senate voted, 75-22, to overwhelmingly approve Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) 21st Century GI Bill, which would expand educational benefits for veterans who joined the service after Sept. 11, 2001.

Graham, who introduced his own version of the GI bill recently (stripped of anything that matters) urged “President” Bush to wield his veto crayon again and, not surprisingly, Bush has already indicated he will.

Graham’s insistence that his republican colleagues would “get rewarded in the next election” if they vote against GI benefits is staggeringly stupid. Recent polling shows that more than 8 of 10 support the 21st Century GI Bill, 83% believe the new bill will benefit the US and 81% of Americans believe that that veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are not getting enough support in transitioning back to civilian life… something this bill will help decrease drastically.

And apparently Graham hadn’t heard that 9 of the 15 republican senators that are running for reelection this November voted for the bill… which proves they must have actually listened to their constituents… how dare they use their own brain.

Yes Virginia, that was sarcasm.

As if Graham didn’t sound dense enough, the “If we just leave the generals alone and support the troops, they will win this war” line is bizarre. What does allowing the generals to do their job have to do with a bill aimed at helping GI's after they leave the service?

The republican party’s lack of empathy for our military is showing, brazenly, once again… and they need to be called on it every chance we get by reminding people that the party that supposedly cares more about the military (lie #43,219) is the one preventing them from not only getting the medical attention they need and deserve, but improving their prospects after their tours are up as well.

Let’s make them pay and vote them OUT in November. It’s the right thing to do.

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

The weekend is nigh...

  • Sen. Obama continues to maintain a leadSen. Clinton continues to maintain delusions of grandeur
  • After showing amazing bipartisanship and overriding Bush’s veto crayon, Congress still managed to screw the pooch. They omitted a 34-page section of the bill when they sent it to the White House, meaning that Bush vetoed a different bill from the one Congress passed. (Are you kidding me?? What, is Bush’s incompetence rubbing off on Congress?)
  • Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain are starting their VP search
  • Former president Jimmy Carter is saying what we already knew; an Obama/Clinton ticket is HIGHLY unlikely… we have more chance of seeing “President” Bush utter a complete thought…
  • Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (no matter how many times I write that it still looks odd) is all for gay marriage in California. He said yesterday that he hopes the state Supreme Court’s recent ruling will lead more couples to come to the state to be wed… (and he’s probably right. After all, it worked for Springfield)
  • The VA continues to show its disdain for the military people they are supposed to be helping and providing for. VA officials are saying that they oppose much of the bill drawn up by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) that aims to improve care for female veterans. The opposition comes as a recent report shows that the number of women seeking VA medical services is expected to double within the next five years. What makes the VA object to the bill you ask, it would include special training on how to care for “female victims of military sexual trauma and post traumatic stress disorder… (and heavens know we don’t want that, right? Again, it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)
  • Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee today
  • While it doesn’t strike down “don’t ask, don’t tell”, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling yesterday that the military “cannot automatically discharge people because they’re gay” does reinstate a lawsuit from a former flight nurse who sued the Air Force over her dismissal… (Conservative outrage in five, four, three…)
  • And have we mentioned? That “President” Bush has lost a group that had, in the past, fervently supported him? George Lisicki, national commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, emerged from a meeting with Bush and expressed strong support for the 21st Century GI Bill (a bill that Bush, and Sen. McCain, has promised to veto.) and expressed his disappointment with Bush’s veto threat (Bush’s lack of empathy for the armed forces is not new, but with every passing day more people see him for what he is – a man-child using the army as his own plaything)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Looking for casus belli

In case you though the Bush(whacked) Administration had forgotten about their plans to bomb Iran, think again.

The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that a senior Israeli official said that “President” Bush and “Vice” President Cheney are of the belief that military action against Iran is necessary and that such an attack could be coming soon.

From the Post; “US President George W. Bush intends to attack Iran in the upcoming months, before the end of his term, Army Radio quoted a senior official in Jerusalem as saying Tuesday. […] The official claimed that a senior member of the president’s entourage, which concluded a trip to Israel last week, said during a closed meeting that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action was called for. […] However, the official continued, “the hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice” was preventing the administration from deciding to launch such an attack on the Islamic Republic, for the time being.”

Lovely…

The White House and the Pentagon have been “catapulting the propaganda” on Iran for a couple of months now, but aren’t moving precipitately this time as things look to be different this time around. Not only will there be no “coalition of the willing,” but the US public isn’t willing to get dragged into another war using questionable intel and evidence as support for attack.

If they can’t find a coalition of the willing and the American citizenry won’t accept it, what’s an administration to do?

Stay tuned.

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Two more primaries yesterday… each one won, handedly, by Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama as the Democratic race nears the end

  • Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to Sen. Kennedy and his family
  • Sen. Obama is looking forward to the general election
  • After arguing about Iran, Sen. Obama is now arguing with Sen. McCain about Cuba. (face facts people, the embargo on Cuba has been an abject failure for years, where is the danger in talking with their new leader who has made some changes. Granted, they’re probably an attempt to create some positive spin, but it’s still change)
  • Alex Castellanos, a CNN contributor who is also an adviser to Sen. McCain, said during CNN’s election coverage yesterday that some women deserve to be called a “bitch.” His comments came on the heels of Jeff Toobin, another CNN analyst, criticizing a New York Times column that published a joke about Clinton being a “white bitch.” (wow… add that to McCain’s quote of once calling his wife a cun*, and you have a campaign that has some mighty negative views on women…)
  • Sen. Chuck Hagel (r-NE) made the suggestion yesterday of impeaching “President” Bush should he attack Iran. Said Hagel; “You’ve got the power of impeachment, now that is a very defined measure if you are willing to bring charges against the president at all. [Attacking Iran without Congress’s consent] “would bring with it…outstanding political consequences.” (Sweet…)
  • “President” Bush did the right thing yesterday (I know, I’m shocked as well) as he apologized to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for an American soldier shooting at a Quran.
  • Former White House COS Jim Baker and former President Jimmy Carter said yesterday that the Democrats best chance of taking the White House this fall would be to have Obama and Clinton join forces… eep.
  • In case you didn’t know, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I r – CT) is a putz
  • Former Rhode Island senator Lincoln Chafee, who recently left the republican Party to become an Independent and supports Obama (D-IL), said “there are two John McCains” and the one currently running for president is not the same man that he served with in the Senate. (I’ve been saying that for months… I would have possibly voted for the 2000 version of Sen. McCain, but the 2008 version has become a pandering, flip-flopping, Bush-like candidate who will further screw the country if he should get elected.
  • A new Reuters/Zogby poll gives Bush’s approval rating at 23%, down four percentage points from the previous month… oh, and have I mentioned the 23% is also a record low for Zogby? (Sometimes nothing more needs to be said…)
  • And have we mentioned? That during an October, 2006 appearance on Fox “News”, Secretary of State under Bush 1.0, James Baker, emphatically challenged the notion that talking to adversaries constitutes “appeasement.” (Nice… when a conservative stalwart disagrees with you, you know you’re disconnected from the rest of the world. Too bad Bush will never see that…)

Monday, May 19, 2008

Sometimes the snark writes itself

Saturday, Georgia republican party chairwoman Sue Everhart said;

“John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross. […] He never denounced God, either.”

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another start to another week in the wacky world of politics.

  • Our thoughts and prayers go out to Senator Ted Kennedy and his family…
  • Karl Rove is unhappy about Flagpin Gate and BitterGate... has anyone told them those stories are old news?
  • Former republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee made apologies about his comment about Sen. Obama… (Riiiiiiiiiiiight…)
  • The Democratic campaign continues with Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama pressing the flesh in Kentucky and Oregon ahead of tomorrow’s primaries…
  • “President” Bush told Arab and Middle Eastern leaders this past weekend that they must empower women, release political prisoners, promote free trade, reject terrorism and defend speech and religious freedoms in order to advance their nations... (there’s some snark in there somewhere, I’m just too tired to think of it right now…)
  • On the heels of having two of his aides resigning because of ties to a firm that once represented a Burmese Junta, Sen. McCain introduced a “conflict-of-interest policy” for his campaign that requires staffers to disclose clients that “could be embarrassing for the senator.” It’s already claimed one victim as national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler has been lobbying on behalf of foreign interests and stepped down over the weekend. (For someone who claims so ardently to be anti-lobby, he certainly has a lot of lobbyist working for him… I wonder why the MSM hasn’t caught on, it’s not like they’re giving him special treatment… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)
  • One of McCain’s advisers is Robert Kagan, brother of Iraq surge architect Fred Kagan, so you know he’s a neoconservative stalwart. After McCain reiterated his unwillingness to engage diplomatically with various Middle East countries. Kagan, appearing on PBS’s Charlie Rose, moved away from McCain’s position and admitted that this policy may not be as sustainable as McCain thinks and McCain may want to talk to Iran if he becomes president. (When exactly did speaking to our enemies become cause for alarm. Isn’t that the job of a diplomat, to prevent hostilities with nations that we may not see eye to eye with? Talking doesn’t do any harm… not talking does. Witness the Iraq war debacle for proof…)
  • And have we mentioned? That Sen. McCain’s campaign slighted conservative blogger Michelle Malkin? After I stop laughing my ass off I’ll explain why… hold on… wait… okay I’m ready. McCain has been reaching out to both Liberal and conservative bloggers in the last few days and scheduled a bloggers conference call… Malkin wasn’t invited but is taking it like an adult… I’m kidding, she’s whining like a spoiled brat on her blog (which I refuse to link here. Malkin is not AS reprehensible as Ann Coulter, but she is a you-know-what and has shown dismay at McCain being the nominee in the past, so I guess we can categorize this as McCain laying a smackdown on her… which will result in her slamming him on her blog, so the vicious cycle has begun and you can expect her endorsement of Bob Barr in 5, 4, 3…)

Friday, May 16, 2008

Stay classy Mike

Reverend or not, Mike Huckabee is a fuc**** moron…

Speaking in front of the NRA today, he said; “That was Barack Obama, he just tripped off a chair, he's getting ready to speak. […] Somebody aimed a gun at him and he dove for the floor.”

Classless… tasteless… stupid… insulting… offensive…

Thy name is republican.

Appeasement Wars II: Obama Strikes Back

Obama is talking like a presidential candidate should, hitting back at McBush’s appeasement rhetoric with vigor.

From Reuters; “Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama said on Friday President George W. Bush's "failed policies" had strengthened U.S. enemies like Iran and Hamas. […] Responding to Bush's comment on Thursday that those who want to talk to Iran were like Nazi appeasers before the Second World War, Obama accused Bush of "exactly the kind of appalling attack that's divided the country and that alienates us from the world.”

But he wasn’t done… not by a long shot as he decided to enhance what Bush had already done; tie Bush – the president with the HIGHEST disapproval rating ever – in with McCain… thus making the argument that a vote for McCain is a vote for more Bush.

Said Obama; "If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate I am happy to have any time, any place, and that is a debate that I will win, because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for.”

Pwned!

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week down, there are now 24 weeks remaining in the campaign season…

  • Read my “Plea to Democrats.” It’s a moral imperative… even Sen. Clinton agrees unity is important as she said earlier this week that it would be a “terrible mistake” for her supporters to vote for McCain over Sen. Obama.
  • While Sen. Clinton won the West Virginia primary (handedly) she’s also been making a move to help repair the fractured Democratic Party. Yesterday she came to Sen. Obama’s defense regarding AppeasementGate… much like every other Democrat did. With everything she’s done this past week, I still believe (as do others), that Ms Clinton is starting to work towards re-uniting the party that she knows she fractured. Winning in West Virginia and, most likely, Kentucky, she’ll be able to bow out more gracefully with her head high. If I’m wrong, I will be the first to say so… well, probably the second as one of the trolls trolling here will jump on it in some desperate attempt for gratification of beating a complete stranger...
  • Obama picked up the endorsement of former Senator, Vice-Presidential candidate and Presidential candidate John Edwards, which is already paying off with the United Steelworkers Union, who had been backing Edwards, changing their endorsement to Obama.
  • Sen. McCain’s definition of ‘middle-class’ is a little different than everyone else’s… and by little I mean absolutely gargantuan…
  • A new Quinnipiac University poll showed earlier this week that both Democratic candidates could beat McCain in November. Giggity...
  • Former Georgia republican congressman Bob Barr threw his hat into the presidential ring this week and sees himself as the true conservative candidate… this could be more trouble for McCain, so stay tuned.
  • McCain wavered on the environment… if this surprises you, you should stop paying attention to politics and concentrate on entertainment fluff… …
  • McCain gave his vision of the future this week… I would write more, but I can’t stop laughing.
  • Former presidential candidate Gov. Mike Dukakis gave his support, he refused to call it an endorsement, to Obama this week, saying he is better prepared to weather a gop assault in the Fall. Mr. Dukakis also had some great advice to the party, and I pray they pay heed to it…
  • McCains campaign threatened to cut off access to Newsweek… cuz if there’s one thing we DON’T want is our media asking tough question to the person wanting to run the country.
  • Time magazine asks “How Healthy is John McCain?
  • McCain tried to compromise on Sen. Webb’s GI Bill, thus eliminating a potential embarrassment for the McCain campaign… Webb’s response was, essentially, ‘suck it.’ (Okay, truth be told that wasn’t the exact wording, but wouldn’t it be great it he did put it that way?)
  • McCain has not backed down and has still “accepted” the endorsement of eternal dumbass, Reverend John Hagee…
  • Two of McCain’s campaign aides, Doug Goodyear (whom McCain chose to run this year’s republican Convention) and Doug Davenport (a regional campaign manager), were forced to quit the campaign earlier this week because they had ties to a firm that once represented the Burmese military Junta. (Representing a Junta… nice. Stay classy guys…)
  • Has anyone else noticed that with each new day in McCain’s campaign we get a bold statement of American values from him… which we then find out he’s on the record rejecting that value within the last 5 years? Anyone want odds as to what’s next?
  • A handful of Obama's top fundraisers asked campaign donors to stop contributing to independent political organizations in a move aimed at controlling the tone and message of the upcoming general-election campaign. In essence they’re trying to stop the influence of the so-called 527 groups. McCain has done the same… (Good idea. These groups have been a pox on ALL political parties since their inception, and putting a stop to them is the only way to ensure the end of swiftboating a candidate which tends to focus more on fear and a lack of understanding the issues then the truth)
  • And have we mentioned? That a new study by the Center for American Progress Action shows that the US would be fucked from an economical standpoint (and others for that matter) if McCain wins the presidency? According to the report, McCain’s fiscal proposals for his presidency would increase the federal deficit to its highest level in 25 years while at the same time raising the national debt to heights not seen since WW II… (and once again, as if we needed any more proof, we see how a McCain presidency would be a continuation of the Bush presidency… and we don’t want that… do you?)

Thursday, May 15, 2008

BRING IT ON

With the nomination all but official, the republicans are launching their attacks on Sen. Obama…

“President” Bush opened the salvo, saying; “Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Next came Obama’s opponent, Bush-II, aka McCain; “Asked if he thought Mr. Obama was an appeaser — the Democratic candidate has said he would be willing to meet with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran — Mr. McCain sidestepped and said, "I think that Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terrorism, that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans, that wants to wipe Israel off the map, who denies the Holocaust. That’s what I think Senator Obama ought to explain to the American people.”

Next came every Democrats favorite turncoat, Joe LIEberman, who remarked; “President Bush got it exactly right today when he warned about the threat of Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. It is imperative that we reject the flawed and naïve thinking that denies or dismisses the words of extremists and terrorists when they shout "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," and that holds that — if only we were to sit down and negotiate with these killers — they would cease to threaten us. It is critical to our national security that our commander-in-chief is able to distinguish between America’s friends and America’s enemies, and not confuse the two.”

Big mistake.

Obama is already poised to defend, and defend he did, saying; “"It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in the statement his aides distributed. "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.”

And then we have the just-as-strong, less PC rebuke from Sen. Joe Biden, who said; “This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset . . . and make this kind of ridiculous statement. […]He is the guy who has weakened us. […] He has increased the number of terrorists in the world. It is his policies that have produced this vulnerability that the U.S. has. It’s his [own] intelligence community [that] has pointed this out, not me.”

Want more? How about Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, also the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, who said; “The tradition has always been that when a U.S. President is overseas, partisan politics stops at the water’s edge. […] President Bush has now taken that principle and turned it on its head.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Bush’s comments were “beneath the dignity of the office.” (Not that there’s much left after Bush’s time in office)…

Sen. John Kerry said Bush is “still playing the disgusting and dangerous political game Karl Rove perfected, which is insulting to every American and disrespectful to our ally Israel. George Bush should be making Israel secure, not slandering Barack Obama from the Knesset.”

And have I mentioned that the Senator that Bush referred to atop was a republican Senator from Idaho named William Borah?

Funny how he forgot to mention that isn’t it?

The gop is running scared right now… so scared that they’re going to allow a president with disapproval ratings at a historical low speak for them.

That is an absolutely disastrous dynamic for the gop… the more Obama can frame this race as him vs. Bush (aka the most unpopular president in modern history), the easier it will be for Obama to lay the smackdown on McCain this November.

The Democrats are committed to winning it all in November, and will NOT be played for a patsy and allow the gop to scare people into voting for them.

And let’s keep something else in mind… the Soviet Union was our sworn enemy for over 50 years and, during that time, were painted just as ruthless, evil and despised as Iran and Syria are now, maybe even more.

Yet… there was always, at the least, a line of communication open… through many republican presidents.

What exactly do all these people speaking out against talking to Iran and Syria think the US would lose by just talking?

Just because you talk to somebody doesn't mean you have to give them anything… besides, isn’t that what diplomats, and to some extent politicians, are designed to do? Talk to foreign countries in order to maintain good relations… or build good relations…

The republican brand is badly damaged… and their desperation is showing.

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another day…

  • Former Senator, Vice-Presidential candidate, Presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Sen. Obama last night. Most likely this will help divert some blue-collar voters to Obama (and thus eliminating the primary argument Sen. Clinton has against Obama’s campaign. So there goes another nail in the proverbial coffin of Clinton’s campaign)
  • Repeat after me; Attorney General John Edwards…
  • In support of my thought yesterday that Ms. Clinton is working to repair the Democratic party she helped fracture, she said during a round of interviews yesterday that it would be a “terrible mistake” for her supporters to vote for McCain over Obama. (if she’s really looking to help the party, she’ll continue saying that line at every opportunity. Stay tuned…)
  • “President” Bush is trying to help Sen. McCain and said today that Sen. Obama, along with other Democrats, is in favor of “appeasement” of terrorists… (naturally he has absolutely nothing to support that with other than his republican mentality) He further kissed ass when he reiterated the US' “unbreakable” alliance and said talking to Hamas is like talking to Nazis before WWII… (Um… okay)
  • Keith Olbermann teed off on “President” Bush again last night, saying; “[I]f you have any hopes that next January 20th will not be celebrated as a day of soul-wrenching, heart-felt Thanksgiving, because your faithless stewardship of this presidency will have finally come to a merciful end, this last piece of advice: When somebody asks you, sir, about Democrats who must now pull this country back from the abyss you have placed us at... When somebody asks you, sir, about the cooked books and faked threats you foisted on a sincere and frightened nation... When somebody asks you, sir, about your gallant, noble, self-abnegating sacrifice of your golf game so as to soothe the families of the war dead... This advice, Mr. Bush: Shut...the HELL...up!” (well said Keith. Too bad Bush is deaf to criticism… he’ll just smile his goofy smile and keep talking. Though that could have benefits as well… think about it; every time he says something that insults the good nature of people, Democrats somewhere get a donation… so perhaps it would be a good idea to have him keep talking. The more often he puts his foot into his mouth, the more money the Democrats get)
  • The Department of Homeland Security is training for the impending government transition. Which, truth be told, is a pretty smart idea. Before other country’s have had elections/government changes, terrorists have striked… so they’re training to stay ahead of the game. (Is it strange to think that a Bush(whacked) Administration department is ahead of the game? Who would have thunk it…)
  • California’s Supreme Court will rule today on same-sex marriage. If they rule in favor of the plaintiffs, it’s possible that California could become the second state that would allow gay and lesbian residents to marry. Stay tuned.
  • The gop is still quaking in their boots regarding their most-recent special election loss… (Good… and no slogan, no matter how good they think it is, is gonna do the trick)
  • And have we mentioned? That Sen. McCain’s definition of “middle class” is a little off? He’s spewing off that eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax on gasoline would save “more than 25 million middle-class families more than $2,000 every year”… the problem with that (there are MANY problems with the plan, such as the fact the proposal could cost as much as $1.6 trillion over 10 years, but we’re only focusing on one now) is that McCain’s version of ‘middle class’ includes families that earn up to $200,000 per year. (Sometimes the republican stupidity is so thick, no amount of snark can do it justice and you just need to let it speak for itself. This is one of those times)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Support Webb's bill, ignore McCain's rhetoric

Nancy Pfotenhauer, one of Sen. McCain’s policy advisers, appeared on Fox “News” (a term I use loosely) yesterday and criticized Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) and his “21st Century GI Bill.”

Pfotenhauer said that Webb’s bill does “nothing to address reenlistment and retention” and cited a recent CBO report as support of her fallacious claims, saying “if the Webb bill went through, we’d see a reduction in reenlistment rates of 16 percent.”

Wrong-o!

If Pfotenhauer had actually, I don’t know READ the CBO report, she would see that Sen. Webb’s bill would actually increase enlistment to the point that it would offset the loss in retention.

From the report;

“Literature on the effects of educational benefits on retention suggest that every $10,000 increase in educational benefits yields a reduction in retention of slightly more than 1 percentage point. CBO estimates that S. 22 (as modified) would more than double the present value of educational benefits for servicemembers at the first reenlistment point — from about $40,000 to over $90,000 — implying a 16 percent decline in the reenlistment rate, from about 42 percent to about 36 percent. […] Educational benefits have been shown to raise the number of military recruits. Based on an analysis of the existing literature, CBO estimates that a 10 percent increase in educational benefits would result in an increase of about 1 percent in high-quality recruits. On that basis, CBO calculates that raising the educational benefits as proposed in S. 22 would result in a 16 percent increase in recruits.”
So the only way it would do what she charges would be if you removed a few words and stopped using your brain… which I’m guessing is what happened here.

After all, Pfotenhauer IS a republican.

Even REPUBLICAN Sen. John Warner (r-AZ) agrees with Webb and the CBO report, saying “putting a big piece of cheese out there will induce more qualified people to join just to get this.”


Questionable imagery aside, Warner is right.


The US Army is in dire need of incentives like Webb’s bill contains in order to attract recruits.

And don’t even bring McCain’s competing bill to the table… Webb’s bill is much more generous than McCain’s (imagine that) as McCain’s bill sets a uniform amount per month that is not indexed to actual college expenses while also not granting any benefits until a six year enlistment.

The CBO report shows that the Army would see a substantial increase in the qualifications of recruits under Webb’s plan because recruits will know they could serve their country, gain an education and still have a long, productive life in the military if that’s what they would want.

And then there’s the possible economic benefit.

It’s generally believed that the return to the nation of those WWII GI Bill’s was $6 or $7 for each $1 spent on the veteran… so one could argue that that is what gave the US the effervescent economy it enjoyed post-war.

We can expect McCain and his cronies (another reason a McCain presidency would mimic Bush’s – the abundance of cronies in his administration) to lie on this issue ad nauseam… especially with the talk of Webb being a possible Obama running-mate.

So what’s the solution? We need to have supporters of Webb’s bill, Democrat and republican, to raise these facts in addition to the retention neutral impact of the bill on retention rates.

Then, and only then, can we combat the lies that McCain and his sock-puppets will spew at every opportunity.

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

There was another primary yesterday that was won (handedly) by Sen. Clinton.

  • Now that she’s won WV, she can leave the race the way she entered – head held high with dignity. Otherwise, it’ll be anarchy. You know, dogs and cats living together… Mass. Hysteria. Though I could be bloviating a tad. My personal opinion is Her speech last night was lacking something… it was lacking any attacks and barbs towards Sen. Obama. I think she is starting to work more towards re-uniting the party that she knows she fractured, and in winning WV and then Kentucky, she’ll be able to bow out more gracefully. I think she knows her campaign is done and is working to mend fences… though it’s also possible that somewhere, somehow I drank the Kool-Aid. But I don’t think so…
  • Sen. Obama grabbed 2 more super-delegates this morning…
  • Need more proof that “President” Bush is dis-connected to the majority of Americans? How about this? “For the first time, Bush revealed a personal way in which he has tried to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers and their families: He has given up golf. "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," he said. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.” (But vacations, baseball, party’s and everything else is apparently ok… what a schmuck)
  • A new Quinnipiac University poll shows that both Democratic candidates could beat McCain in November. Obama beats McCain by 7 points in the poll, 47% to 40%, while Clinton beats him by 5 points, 46% to 41%. (Knowing that politics is fluid and can change, I will keep my gloating in check until after the election… though that’s hard to do)
  • “President” Bush is in the Middle East in a desperate attempt to save his legacy. Too little, too late…
  • Democrat Travis Childers won a gop-held (since 1995) House seat in Mississippi yesterday by an eight-point margin, which gives House republicans another hit with their third special-election defeat this spring… sometimes the desire to gloat it almost too much to bear…
  • Showing why some conservatives don’t trust him, McCain says that clean energy is a national security issue… this should end well. And by that I mean for Democrats. It’s gonna be ugly for republicans…
  • The House ignored Bush’s vows of a veto and approved, 97-1, to temporarily stop filling the SPR in an attempt to alleviate increasing gas prices. Stay tuned…
  • And have we mentioned? That a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Oklahoma was elected mayor of Muskogee Oklahoma yesterday? The freshman, John Tyler Hammons, won with a staggering 70% of the vote over former Mayor Hershel McBride. (He was running on a platform of keeping citizens better informed of city operations and, per the course for this election cycle, change. Congratulations Mayor-elect Hammon, and good luck)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Give me an effin break

Iraq war architect Douglas Feith appeared on The Daily Show last night to shill his book ‘War and Decision.”

During the interview, he shifted blame for the public’s feelings of being mislead by the Bush(whacked) Administration to us, the public, saying we “misremember(ed) a lot.”

Excuse me??? It’s the administration YOU worked for that gave over 900 false statements leading up to the war... or have you forgotten the CPI study that proved that?

It’s YOUR memory, not ours that’s defective you mental midget…

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Primary today in West Virginia, so I will refrain from any West Virginia jokes.

  • While Sen. Clinton obsessed over West Virginia’s primary, Sen. Obama took the lead in super-delegates.
  • Congress wants to stop making deposits in the Strategic Petroleum Preserve (SPR for you acronym-lovers out there) in a move that looks good on the surface but will have little substance to it… (much like actions taken by the administration for oil prices… it looks pretty, but does nothing. Way to exceed the lame-duck president guys)
  • “President” Bush’s chances to broker a Mideast peace deal are getting smaller and smaller because he’s leaving office in January… that and the fact that he can barely construct a complete and comprehensive sentence
  • Days after it happened, and two of the “Top Stories” on CNN’s political page are STILL about the Bush family wedding over the weekend… if that’s not a barometer of the media and the public, I don’t know what is.
  • Apparently the Washington Post is surprised that racism is still alive in America. After 8 years of the press looking at the world through the same rose-colored glasses the Bush(whacked) Administration uses, it’s refreshing to see them finally see what the hell is going on in this country. It’s not all hunky-dory;… people still distrust other people of color… other religions… other sexual orientations… other educational and economic backgrounds… perhaps it IS time for us all to talk about it.
  • As if losing out on 20-25% of the primary vote despite being the presumptive gop nominee isn’t bad enough, Sen. McCain has got to be nervous that former Georgian congressman Bob Barr has thrown his hat into the presidential ring. Joining as the Libertarian candidate, Barr sees himself as the true conservative candidate… and I’m sure others do to. Watch out John, Bob could Ross Perot your ass. Stay tuned….
  • A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that the US outlook is the worst it’s been in 15 years…
  • A survey by the National Retail Federation (who knew there was such a group) finds that Americans plan to use their ‘nation-saving, economic savior’ stimulus checks to pay for gas and groceries and NOT on electronics or clothes. (Ya see George, the prices are skyrocketing for gas and groceries, so 17.2 million people plan to use some of their tax rebate to pay for gasoline and food, so that bloviating you did about it preventing us from entering a recession that we’re already in isn’t going to work. Where’s your economic savior now?)
  • And have we mentioned? That the gop is taking it’s cues from an anti-depressant drug? In a desperate attempt to counter the Democrat’s push for change, House republicans have adopted the message: “The Change You Deserve.” All fine and good, right… but did you know that “the change you deserve” is also the advertising slogan of Effexor XR, a drug used to treat depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults… (depression and the gop go together like PB & J, so it’s all good…)

Monday, May 12, 2008

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Monday… can you feel the excitement?

  • Sen. Clinton’s campaign refuses to die and has not only apparently borrowed some rose-colored glasses from the Bush(whacked) Administration, but more money from herself as well. The possibility of her attempting an end-around at the convention is growing. Somewhere she’s getting some horrible advice and she needs to stop for a moment and see what she’s doing to the party. And if, as Carl Bernstein suggests, she ‘fights’ for the VP nomination if when Obama wins, she will further fracture the party… it’s getting harder and harder to support her candidacy… even as a second-stringer to Obama.
  • They’re tied in the super-delegate race...
  • Jenna Bush got married over the weekend. I know, I couldn’t care less either…
  • Big shock, McCain is wavering on the environment… I know, it’s hard to believe isn’t it?
  • The amount of “Americans being secretly wiretapped” or having their records reviewed by the government is on the rise, but at the same time the “number of terrorism prosecutions ending up in court” has declined, which experts cite as trends that “the government has compromised the privacy rights of ordinary citizens without much to show for it.” (Don’t you feel safer though? Yes, that was sarcasm…)
  • All that evidence that the US has on Iran shipping weapons to Iraq’s insurgents is, per an LA Times report, not holding water. From the Times; “A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was canceled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran.” (oopsies…)
  • And have we mentioned? That Congressman Roy Blunt (r-MO) has finally admitted what we already knew, that a McCain presidency would be a third Bush-term? Speaking on CNN, Blunt said to Wolf Blitzer that electing McCain would promise a third Bush term on the economy… (and with the current state of the economy, we would want more of the same; why? The Democrats need to whip-up some ads with this statement ASAP, as the economy continues to be the primary issue in this election. At least until Bush attacks Iran…)

Saturday, May 10, 2008

The Weekly Rewind

Here it is a little thing we like to call The Weekly Rewind. There are 255 days left of the Bush presidency...

Applaud: to poking holes in arguments most know to be holey… a new CBO report shows that the reasoning behind Sen. McCain and the Pentagon’s opposition to the bipartisan Webb-Hagel GI Bill (claiming that “too many will use it,” and it will therefore “harm” the military) is… bunk. The report does explain that troop retention will decline because some troops will take advantage of their new education benefits, but goes on to say that the loss in retention will be entirely made up for by increased military recruits… (so to McCain I say; suck it. Want to prove you’re “GI Friendly”? Get behind the bill, and not in front of it…)

Heckle: to speaking out of one’s arse… again. Speaking in front of more than 400 people last Friday night during a reception in Tulsa, Okhahoma, Vice President Dick “President” Cheney said that history will be very favorable to the Bush presidency, saying; “When the history is written, it will be said this is a safer country and more hopeful world because George Bush was president.” (Uh-huh… and how will history remember Cheney? Manipulator? Constitutional destroyer? Deranged? All of the Above? Stay tuned…)

Applaud: to some of the lemmings finally seeing the light. 23%, fewer than one-in-four, republicans now rate economic conditions as excellent or good, a sharp drop from a few months ago. What makes this even more delicious is that as recently as last June, 56% of Republicans said the economy was in excellent or good shape (20% of Democrats and 30% of independents believed that), but since then conservative views have plummeted… but remember, our current president says the economy is only in a ‘slow-down.’

Heckle: to news that wakes me up in cold sweat at night. Former lobbyist Charlie Black, an adviser to Sen. McCain said this week that McCain’s campaign staff talks to Bush’s staff “everyday”, even giving them a “heads-up” when they’re about to get slammed by the campaign, as Black said they did before McCain’s tirade last week about Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina. (still believe that a McCain presidency wouldn’t be 4-more years of Bush-style governing?)

Half-hearted Applaud: to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who endorsed the need for government intervention in stemming home foreclosures earlier this week. He said that letting markets take their own course could “destabilize communities” which would result in a reduction of property values of nearby homes and thusly lower municipal tax revenues… (Uh-huh… too little, too late Benji. You should have been on top of this – as well as the recession – a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago, but your head was so-far up Bush’s ass, you couldn’t see the forest from the trees…)

Heckle: to incredibly obtuse statements from a Democrat. Appearing on Fox “News” last Sunday, DNC Chairman Howard Dean told host Chris Wallace, “There are some things in the [Fox] news department that have really been shockingly biased and I think that’s wrong and I just say so right up front.” (I like Howard Dean, I really do…and think he has done a so-far outstanding job as DNC chair, but this could very well be one of THE largest understatements in the history of the world and shows, I think, a bit of Dean’s naivety)

Applaud: to Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for saying something that I wish people in this administration who decided these things would comprehend. In remarks broadcast on Israeli television this week, he dismissed any near future war with Iran, saying that because of U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, “it would be a very significant challenge for the United States right now to get into a third conflict in that part of the world.” (Anyone with a working brain can see this, why the hell can’t anyone connected to the White House?)

Heckle: to John March, executive vice president of Ride and Show Engineering. Appearing on Fox “News” he discussed the plans to develop the “Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience.” When asked whether there are safety concerns associated with the park’s development, March answered; “Well, you live here in Southern California and there’s drive-bys and everything else.” (Yeah, that’s relatively the same thing… Dumb. Ass.)

Applaud: to speaking one’s mind. Warren Buffett, the world’s richest person who knows a little about money and economic, said this week that “the U.S. is in recession as I define it. I would define that as a situation where people are doing less well than they were three months, six months or eight months earlier and most businesses find themselves in that position too.” This follows his comments back in March, when he said that the country was in a recession “from a common sense standpoint.” (Warren Buffett, trying to put common sense back into the American lexicon by using some, what a concept. Thanks Mr. Buffett, I can’t wait to hear you sing ‘Margaritaville’… oh, wait)

Heckle: to more proof that things in this country are in a downward spiral. State welfare rolls (which had been declining for more than a decade after a Clinton-led 1996 overhaul of the program) are beginning to rise due in part to, not surprisingly, the looming recession. (welcome to George Bush’s America)

Applaud: to the mother of former Army Ranger, and Arizona Cardinal, Pat Tillman who had the courage to appear on CBS’s 60 Minutes last Sunday and take the military to task for the cover-up of her son’s death, saying;. “The point that everyone seems to miss, [is that] this isn’t about us. It’s about what they’ve done to the public. This was a public deception.”

Heckle: to shady doings by auto industry lobbyists. They’re engaging in a “state by state battle” to “dissuade lawmakers from following California’s move to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions.” Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said; “No state should set national policy.” (yeah… problem with that is, they’re NOT setting national policy but merely state policy… so instead it makes the auto industry look like nervous nellies…)

Applaud: to Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and 40 other lawmakers who sent a letter to the Pentagon’s Inspector General this past week to demand an investigation into the department’s propaganda program. The program, which was first revealed by The New York Times on April 20 and ignored by the MSM ever since, has been gaining steam since White House Press-room stalwart Helen Thomas brought it up recently. The letter reads; “We write to express our deep concern over an extremely troubling report recently published in The New York Times detailing a high-level, well thought out and extensive program within the Department of Defense to use military analysts to generate positive news coverage of the war in Iraq, conditions at the Guantánamo Bay detention center and other activities associated with the Global War on Terror. We believe that this unethical, and potentially illegal, propaganda campaign aimed at deliberately misleading the American public should have been disclosed long ago by your office, and not by a newspaper that needed to resort to suing the DoD for the information.”

Heckle: to CNN. First they add Tony Snow as a contributor and now Bush sycophant (and former Homeland Security Adviser) Fran Townsend… WTF???

Applaud: to House Democrats for preparing a war spending measure that would, among other things, extend unemployment assistance and new educational benefits for returning veterans. The $178 billion measure, hoping to be brought to the floor this week, has Bush insisting that he will “not approve any legislation that exceeds his spending request for the war” or “adds domestic money he opposes” because, you know, it would be beneficial… what a tool.

Heckle: to the fact the Pentagon can’t send additional troops to Afghanistan (where the true war on terror is) until sizable numbers of forces withdraw from Iraq…(sad…)

Applaud: to not keeping quiet about an issue that the White House wants under wraps… House Veterans Committee chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) “lashed out” at Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake earlier this week for having previously attempted to “cover up” veterans suicide data. Said Peake; “What we see is a pattern — deny, deny, cover up, cover up.” (and yet, the media continues to pay little attention to the story… sad…and pathetic)

Heckle: to the news that the number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care… and the fact the administration seems determined to ignore it. (Of all the things this administration has done – and it’s a VERY long list – this is the most degrading and pathetic (in)action…)

Applaud: to resignations… and for letting the door hit their ass on the way out. Earlier this week EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett announced his resignation (family time of course). Burnett has been a tool since his first day there and was not only responsible for crafting legal arguments that promoted arsenic in drinking water (nice) he also kowtowed to industries on mercury regulations, overruled scientists on soot health standards, and defied the Supreme Court’s decision on global warming… (all in all, a Bush crony in the highest order who, like Albatross Gonzales, will have a hard time finding a new job. Join the Bush(whacked) Administration and stall your career. Just ask Powell, Gonzales, Libby and anyone else who left the eternally-sinking ship that IS this administration)

Heckle: to more conservative ass-talking… on the heels of John “the mustache is the only thing people see” Bolton saying that “the use of military force” against Iranian training camps “is really the most prudent thing to do,” American Enterprise Institute’s Michael Ledeen declared that Bolton is “right.” (This should end well…)

Applaud: to irony that would make O. Henry envious. According to The Wall Street Giuliani Journal, former New York mayor (and pathetic presidential candidate) Rudy Giuliani is working on getting his newest client elected Mayor of Kiev, Ukraine. The richer part of this story is that Giuliani’s consulting firm was hired by the candidate, retired boxer Vitali Klitschko, because his campaigns primary goal is to root our corruption… (yeah, and when I think corruption, I immediately think of Rudy “dump wife while dating mistress, dump new wife, former mistress, for another mistress while using the NYPD as security for said mistresses” Giuliani… wow, I love irony)

Heckle: to too little, too late. Like they did with the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed, the Army has appropriated $248 million in emergency funds to fix problems found during inspections of 148,000 rooms at bases worldwide over the past two weeks. (All fine and good, but my question is why the hell were they allowed to get into these conditions in the first place?? These are where our troops live, and they’re not being checked periodically? Sounds like someone has dropped the ball here… and because they’ve been in power for 8 years, I’m gonna blame the cronies in the Bush(whacked) Adminstration…)

Applaud: to possessing AND using some common sense. The chief executive for Marriott International, Bill Marriott, is considering a deal that would have Marriott opening a hotel in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone but is concerned about safety issues. So, instead of falling in line with a request from U.S. government officials that the area is safe and in need of hotels and the like, Marriott is looking at all sides of the issues… nice job Mr. Marriott…

BIG EFFIN’ HECKLE: to Big Oil’s primary lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute. They’ve “embarked on a multiyear, multimedia, multimillion-dollar campaign” to convince voters that “rising energy prices are not the producers’ fault and that government efforts to punish the industry, especially with higher taxes, would only make pricing problems worse.” (BULL. SHIT. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit! If they honestly think that will work, then that explains a LOT about how the oil industry is run)

Applaud: to Rep. Tom Davis (r-VA) for calling for the resignation of Office of Special Counsel chief Scott Bloch. The request came a day after close to two dozen FBI agents raided OSC headquarters in a “probe of Bloch’s activities.” Said Davis; “[I]t’s hard to believe he can continue to operate effectively.” (though I have to give a heckle for assuming that he ever operated effectively in the first place…)

Applaud: to outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. A federal judge dismissed her case against the Bush(whacked) Administration last year but she is now “trying to resurrect a lawsuit against those in the Bush administration she says illegally disclosed her identity.” (And considering that they’re lame ducks on their way out, it might actually get somewhere this time… stay tuned)

And now it’s time for our Tool of the Week. It was a tough decision this week as Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh all proved themselves worthy… hell, I even considered changing to this week and showcasing Mark Penn’s brilliant ineptitude… but the name I came back to again and again is due in large part because it’s a PERFECT example of the ‘looking-at-the-world-with-blinders’ conservative viewpoint.

Having said all that, this week’s TOTW is none other than First Lady Laura Stepford Bush.

Ms Bush accused Myanmar's military rulers Monday of failing to warn their citizens in time about a killer cyclone and not doing enough to help with the aftermath…

Let me guess, you immediately thought of a pot and a kettle, didn’t you… I did. And for that brilliant example of conservative stupidity and naivety, we give this week’s conservative TOTW to Laura Bush. Congratulations…

All I have, take em as you will.

Friday, May 09, 2008

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week down in the 2008 race to see who will become number 44… there are 25 weeks until Election Day…

  • Read my “Plea to Democrats” and “Read my words, hear my words, let it sink in people!” they’re both moral imperatives for the survival of the Democrats in November.
  • Two more primaries that further dimmed Sen. Clinton’s chances and fortified Sen. Obama’s chances. But you already knew that, didn’t you?
  • Obama visited the House of Representatives yesterday to schmooze. Safe to say they liked him...
  • Obama picked up more super-delegates; North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek, North Carolina DNC member Jeanette Council, and California DNC member Inola Henry, former Clinton supporter George McGovern,
  • Clinton got the super-delegate endorsement of Heath Shuler (D-NC)… I’m surprised he didn’t fumble the announcement. But lost the support of super-delegate Rep. Donald Payne, a New Jersey Democrat and an early Clinton supporter, who is the latest high-profile person to leave Clinton following George McGovern's jumping of the SS Hillary earlier this week... ouch, that's gotta hoit.
  • McCain needs Hispanics
  • Time magazine published the “Five mistakes Clinton Made.” (while I joked earlier this week that ‘hiring Mark Penn’ should have been on the list, the list is, for the most part, spot on. Clinton has been receiving some very bad advice since the campaign season got into full-swing, and instead of being the agent of change; she talked up her experience of being in the White House before as the crucial part of the campaign. After 8 years of the same old, same old, it was NOT the message people were looking for, and that’s what doomed her campaign)
  • With it looking less and less likely that Clinton can garner the nomination, super-delegates are coming out of the woodwork to push her to either give up or keep fighting, at least until Obama seals the deal in Oregon. Stay tuned.
  • Obama’s camp is looking at May 20th to nail down the nomination… which is also the date of Oregon’s primary.
  • Ms. Clinton lent her campaign money again, $6.4 million to be exact.
  • The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is “alive and well” and must continue… at least according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
  • Sen. McCain vows to fight “evil” if elected. Good thing he cleared that up, since he’s a republican, I thought he would fight FOR evil if elected…
  • Al Gore says he still may endorse a nominee. (Gore is a smart man, so his super-delegate vote will go to whomever is the frontrunner. Frankly, at this stage of the game his backing would do little to sway anyone)
  • Sen. Obama on CNN says that the most important thing he could achieve as president would be to deal with Iraq and the threat of al Qaeda in Afghanistan while improving “our influence around the world.”
  • Obama got the endorsement of Rush Limbaugh cuz, miraculously, he suddenly has decided that he’s the lesser of the candidates. (Hmmm, seems to be Rush is running scared now and is trying to convince the lemmings that listen to his show that Obama is not going to be a force to reckon with in November. He will be…)
  • And have we mentioned? That Clinton supporter Harvey Weinstein has threatened to cut off contributions to congressional Democrats unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi embraced his plan to finance re-votes in Florida and Michigan… (Fuck. Him. Ignoring for a moment that what he’s doing is blackmail, he’s not in charge of a re-vote… matter of fact, neither is Ms. Pelosi… Howard Dean is. These two states broke the rules, balked at earlier attempts to have a re-vote, and now they have to deal with the consequences. If the Democrats play the game of a goddamn movie producer, the backlash will be like nothing seen before…)