The Weekly Rewind

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be good, stay informed….later.

The Weekly Rewind

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And finally-

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

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

Be good, stay informed….later.

The Weekly Rewind

Hello fellow politicos, it’s me Scott, back in the trenches, fighting the good fight. The past few months, ok basically all of 2006 have been interesting for me. I won’t bore you with the details.

“Big Brother” has kept me from having access to the blog and posting. Never the less, be assured I have been here all along in the background, collaborating with my good friend Kemp on many of the various posts and weekly rantings that you all know and love, adding my two cents to the snarky banter that is The “Bush”-Whacked Administration, or as we like to call it TBWA.

I would like to thank Kemp for running with the postings for all these months and for always keeping me in the loop and asking my thoughts on a myriad of issues to include in our postings. He is the best friend a guy could ask for. A tip of the hat to you my friend. Thanks for having my back.

Alright let’s get down to business! We are here to point out the good, the bad, and the ever so present ugly that is the life and times of The “Bush”-Whacked Administration, in what we like to call, The Weekly Rewind.

Heckle: to blowing your military load (aka: Premature Troop Ejacu..err Exhaustion). According to military documents and interviews conducted or reviews Associated Press, military documents and interviews The Army has nearly exhausted its fighting force and its options if the Bush administration decides to extend the Iraq buildup beyond next spring. The Army’s 38 available combat units are already mobilized, leaving no fresh troops to replace five extra brigades that Bush sent to Baghdad this year. Ok, not only did we piss poorly plan this from the inception, obviously no one has had a light bulb moment along the way, what’s next? Somehow I don’t want to know…

Applaud: to at least talking about moving in the right direction. U.S. military officials are narrowing the range of Iraq strategy options and appear to be focusing on reducing the U.S. combat role in 2008 while increasing training of Iraqi forces. Gee could it be due to the fact that we are due to run out of fresh troops ??? It’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form.

Applaud: to standing up for your principles. The American Psychological Association, the nation’s largest group of psychologists, voted to restrict members from taking part in interrogations at U.S. military prisons that involve “any of more than a dozen specific practices, including sleep deprivation and forced nakedness.” The APA voted against a broader proposal to ban involvement in any interrogations that lack adequate human rights protections. Nice effort guys, but somehow I don’t think the Pentagon is losing any sleep over this…

Heckle: to the never ending story. This past Monday at 2:30 was the deadline for the White House to turn over materials regarding the National Security Agency’s eavesdropping program to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Even though the White House already received an extension from the original July 18 deadline, White House counsel Fred Fielding had stated that the administration will also miss Monday’s date. You know, somehow it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to delay turning over materials until January 19, 2009!

Heckle: to color me not surprised. Vice President Cheney’s office responded separately from the White House to a Senate subpoena for documents on warrantless wiretapping. The response from the vice president was more surprising, because the White House was believed to have abandoned the argument that Cheney is a hybrid entity with both executive and legislative powers. Not surprising from the ‘Man who would be King’.

Heckle: to distorting the economy and having your own report biting you in the ass. The NY Times reported Americans earned a smaller average income in 2005 than in 2000, the fifth consecutive year that the average income was less than pre-Bush levels. Incomes have been on the rise since 2002, but the growth in total incomes was concentrated among those making more than $1 million while more people were dividing up the national income pie. Wow, imagine that, income rising for the elite and distorting the national picture. Once again, so hard to express sarcasm in the written form..

Heckle: to a crisis that needs to be addressed now. Members of the National Guard are just as likely as active duty soldiers to develop post-traumatic stress after leaving Iraq. Guard members who have had “deployment-linked money trouble,” which affects approximately 26 percent of the soldiers, are six times more likely to have mental-health problems. Ok, Congress and the Pentagon need to put politics aside and petty bickering aside and act now before the situation worsens!

Heckle: This is not a surprise anyone. A White House manual released recently discloses extensive instructions given to White House staffers in the art of “deterring potential protestors” from Bush’s public appearances. The manual demonstrates “that the White House has a policy of excluding and/or attempting to squelch dissenting viewpoints from presidential events,” said ACLU lawyer Jonathan Miller. Wow, imagine the administration teaching people to ‘quash’ opposing viewpoints. I am shocked.. shocked I tell you, to find gambling in this establishment.

Heckle: to President Bush, usually on pirnciples alone. However, as someone who avoided military duty in Vietnam, he is now ready to open a new theme in support of sticking with the battle of Iraq today by warning Iraq critics against committing the errors of Vietnam. Applaud to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who responded that “the fundamental difference” between the conflicts is that Bush generated support for “the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses.” Thanks Senator, I am glad that someone other than the american public is stepping up to the plate and calling out our war ‘dodging’ commander in chief.

Heckle: The Bush administration plans to screen thousands of people who work with charities and nonprofit organizations that receive U.S. Agency for International Development funds to ensure they are not connected with individuals or groups associated with terrorism. But the government does not intend to tell groups deemed unacceptable why they are rejected. Yeah because the the Salvation Army is what… an Army? And terrorists are just itching to get their hands on $2 used Docker shorts which would endanger the supply of donated articles to the general public. What’s next, screening everyone who works at 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts for explosive custard filling? How about putting those dollars to work screening cargo coming into the nations mostly unprotected ports.

At Lastly….. The United States’ largest and costliest embassy, a heavily fortified compound in Baghdad with its own power plant and lighted softball field, is on track to be completed next month, on time and within budget. But remember we do not intend to be an occupying Army, nor have a substantial presence after ‘success is achieved’.

Well that's it for this week folks. It’s good to be back. Till next time…

Be good, stay informed….later.