Color me not surprised

A new poll by the Norman Lear Center (really?) and Zogby International finds that Liberals are more open to opposing viewpoints than conservatives (no, rrrrreeaalllyyyy???) and tend to rely on Fox “News” for their information…

You don’t say, I never would have guessed…

Among the highlights…

• Fox “News” wins the prize for the most politically divisive TV channel (I am shocked, shocked to find gambling in this establishment) with 70% of conservatives watching it on a daily basis compared to 3% of liberals.


• 22% of conservatives say that they have “never” enjoyed entertainment that reflects values other than their own, compared to 7% of Liberals. (Put another way, Rush “NarcoDog” Limbaugh’s potential audience is larger than that of Liberal competitors because Liberals will listen to conservative voices but if conservatives hear other ideals, their heads would explode)


• Conservatives think “fictional TV shows and movies are politically biased” and “overwhelmingly (76%) believe that TV shows and movies ‘very often’ contain political messages, but they are the least likely to learn anything about political issues from them. Just 4% say they learn lessons from movies.”

This isn’t the first time that Fox “News” viewers have been revealed to be, shall we say, less than erudite. Back in April a Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of Fox “News” had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs… and a more-recent AP-Ipsos poll showed that Liberals read more books than conservatives.

Liberals are more open to opinions other than their own… consider that the literal definition of ‘liberal’ means that one is open to new ideas while “conservative” means that you hold to tradition and are, for the most part, scared of change and/or innovation… but the manner in which these terms are thrown around in politics today are so-far from their literal meaning because they are more-so rolled up with each party’s ideologies.

That must be why it’s so hard to have an intellectual debate with a conservative.

Poll Positions

‘Tis the season for polling, so here’s some nice polling data to help you get through the rest of your Tuesday.

Did you know that we are a “nation of discontent”… at least that’s the findings of a recent USA Today/Gallup poll shows, with 72% of Americans saying they’re dissatisfied with how things are going in the US, as opposed to the slight 26% that say they’re satisfied with the direction the country is heading.

Splendid… though it still begs the question as to what the hell the 26% are smoking.

And lest you think it’s only one poll that shows discontent, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll says that 75% of Americans are “eager for a change in direction from the agenda and priorities of President Bush”, with a paltry 24% of those polled believing that the Bush(whacked) Administration is leading the nation on the right track, which is the “lowest public assessment of the direction of the country in more than a decade.”

Nice…

And to pile on Bush, another new Gallup poll shows that 64% of Americans disapprove of the job he’s doing, and, for the “first time” ever in Gallup poll history, 50% say they “strongly disapprove” of Bush.

The previous high? The 1974 version of Richard Nixon, who scored a 48% mere days before an impeachment inquiry was launched.

Nice company for Bush to have, isn’t it?

Have some more polling info:

• 69% of Americans favor withdrawing U.S. forces, compared to 9% favoring an increase in troop levels.
• A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released yesterday shows, with a year until election day, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) remains the person to beat
  Another new CNN poll shows that 69% of Americans believe that waterboarding is torture and an additional 58% say that the U.S. government should be barred from using the procedure.
• All these numbers have one constant running through them, George W. Bush… his years of pathetic governing are the cause of this… and we still have a little under one year before we head to the polling booths to select who the Supreme Court will instill as our next President (sorry, I need to learn to let that go), and a large majority of Americans are distraught about the direction our nation is heading…

Bush and his cronies aren’t doing anything...

Congress isn’t doing anything...

Where in God’s name is this country headed?

Circling, circling, circling...

The standing of the US continues to circle the drain.

It should come as no surprise that a new opinion poll shows that Iran is the country most people around the world would like see having less power 39% wanting to see the influence of Iran diminished.

In second place, at 37%, is the United States.

That’s right; people around the globe put a startling 2% difference between Iran and the US when it comes to wanting diminished power for that country.

Lovely…

The poll, which was commissioned by a new think tank on EU affairs named the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), surveyed 57,000 people from 52 countries in June and August and is not entirely without positives.

For instance, it shows that a scant 14% wanted Iran to have more power but 26% thought that more U.S. influence would make the world a better place.

High praise indeed…

Having said all this, no one can actually be surprised by any of this, right? Sure, seven years ago this headline would have shocked people, now? Not so much.

Let’s face facts, it was only a matter of time before the Bush(whacked) Administration’s stumbling and bumbling drunken frat/cowboy routine put the final nail in the coffin for many folks around the world.

Add to that that another new poll finds that American's not only doubt that Bush's foreign policy is working, but they are “increasingly skeptical" as to if anything can turn the situation around. Per the poll, 79% believe that the world “has become more dangerous” for the US, and 64% thinks that “the rest of the world sees the U.S. negatively.”

We’re circling the drain, and who knows who could help? Certainly not this president, and, for now, certainly not this Congress…

Now we have proof; we're smarter - nyah, nyah, nyah

A new AP-Ipsos poll finds that Liberals read more books than conservatives.

I’ll pause to let THAT shocking news sink in…

According to the poll, 34% of conservatives have not read a book within the past year.. as opposed to 22% of Liberals and moderates.

The president of the American Association of Publishers, Pat Schroeder, tried to explain it thusly; “The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: ‘No, don’t raise my taxes, no new taxes. It’s pretty hard to write a book saying, ‘No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes’ on every page.”

Ouch…

Naturally this bought a harsh attack from White House spokesman Tony Fratto; “Obfuscation usually requires a lot more words than if you simply focus on fundamental principles, so I’m not at all surprised by the loquaciousness of liberals.”What?? Because we read?? Well then, by that logic, couldn’t we call conservatives gun-toting crazies???

Putz.

It should also be noted, because I can, that a recent Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of Fox “News” had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs…

Yeah.... like we needed a study to tell us that FOX news viewers were idiots.

Poll Positions

There are some new polls out, and they continue to show waning support not only for the Iraq war, but “President” Bush as well.

While American Research Group’s new poll shows Bush’s approval at an itty-bitty 25%,with his disapproval at a staggeringly high 71%, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll gives Bush’s approval above the Nixon Line (soon to be re-named the Nixon-Bush Line) at 33%, with 65% disapproving.

But let’s not get too excited just yet… while the numbers for the President are slipping further and further into the abyss, so too are the numbers for Congress, primarily due to their incredible inability to end the war.

35% said they approve of the way congressional Democrats are handling the situation in Iraq, with 63% disapproving… but Bush is not the answer either, as the poll then goes on to show that 55% of those surveyed trust Congressional Democrats to fix the Iraq war problem, and a scant 32% trust President Bush to do it.

Why?

Because Bush is too damn stubborn… or, in the words of the poll, 80% of Americans see Bush's stance on Iraq as too rigid as he has downright refused to listen to other people’s opinions.

This includes republicans, Democrats and Independents…

So I read that, and then I have faith in mankind again… but then I see something that leaves me absolutely… Be. Wildered.

Three-quarters of republicans approve of the way Bush is handling his job, compared to one in 10 Democrats and three in 10 independents giving him high positive marks.

And here’s my question; how many of these republicans actuallyactually approve of the job Bush is doing, and how may are simply saying they approve due to a sense of party loyalty?

Think about it… can the entire republican party that friggin’ moronic>? Those with a brain, and I know there must be some out there, can not honestly think that this war is going in a positive direction… let alone the country.

If they do, then they have a much worse case of tunnel vision than Bush.

And that’s downright alarmingly.

Even more Lieberman silliness

It seems the great minds at Daily Kos and ThinkProgress are on the same wavelength as I. No sooner did I read about this via Bloglines, than it was mentioned on Kos and ThinkProgress.

Every republican’s favorite Independent Joe Lieberman (I r-CT) is at it again. It’s no secret that Lieberman is a Bush-apologist… but now he’s going even further down that dark road from which there is no return.

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Lieberman kissed Bush’s ass extolled Bush and his Iraq policies and echoed sentiments earlier spoken by Rush “OxyContin” Limbaugh when he stated; “Long after we’re all dead and gone, when historians who are not yet born begin to write about this era, they’re going to place George Bush in the upper echelon of presidents who had a great vision for America, who looked beyond our shores, who didn’t just restrict himself to domestic policy niceties.”

When Hewitt asked Lieberman how he thought history would evaluate Bush, Lieberman’s response dissolved any possibility that Lieberman has any Democratic XX in his body.

“And so I think overall, over time, his ratings among the historians will be greater than his ratings in the polls today.”

I love this argument. I mean, how can you refute it? it’s not like you can travel into the future, pick up a couple of historians and see if he and Limbaugh were right.

Where is Joe pulling this from? Nixon has numbers this low, and he is still viewed historically as a crook and a liar… how will Bush be any different?His attempts to do something that doesn’t involve Iraq have, by and large, failed.

Immigration reform has stalled… his lame attempt to do something with social security went the way of the dodo, and is only “victory” (a term I use very loosely), No Child Left Behind, has suffered from being grossly ineffective…

And through all that, Lierberman still believes Bush will be praised and vindicated later.

Interesting… isn’t it? The war is more unpopular than ever and Lieberman picks this time to opine that Bush is a great president and will be judged as such in the future.

Now… I’ve been writing about Lieberman all week… and I can no longer hold this in. How is it possible that a Senator who was once sensible and of sound judgement, go so completely ‘round the bend? Was it winning yet losing in 2000? Was it “the kiss?” What did it? Surely there has to be one moment that caused him to roll over and beg for his belly to be scratched by Bush…

Think back to May 2003, when Lieberman was competing for the Democratic nomination for president. He criticized the Bush(whacked) Administration for being “unprepared for the quick victory it predicted.” Then in Sept. 2003, he said that he was “shocked at how unprepared the Bush administration was for what to do afterward. They’ve left a vacuum which the terrorists, the Saddam loyalists, our enemies, have jumped into.”

From that to Bush “will be greater than his ratings in the polls today.” WTF??

Joe Lieberman needs to be a primary target the next time he’s up for re-election. We need to do everything within our power to make sure he DOES NOT get re-elected.

On the plus side, one has to think that it’s the destiniy of this adminstration to serve as an amazing warning to future administrations; examine all of their decisions and then do the exact opposite… you can’t go wrong then.

Poll Position: Dropping faster than a rock

update below

It seems that things are starting to get worse and worse for the Bush(whacked) Administration.

Here comes the numbers…

According to a new Gallup/USA Today poll, Bush's approval rating has declined to 29%, which is a rather dramatic drop from 33% in June and 38% in April and he’s now only seven percentage points away from the lowest job approval rating in Gallup Poll history.

And if that’s not enough to make you realize just how bad things are for Bush, his ratings have dropped a staggering 61 percentage points since he hit his all-time high of 90% in the days following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

To add to Bush’s woes that he’s closing-in on the lowest rating that Gallup has ever seen, opposition to the Iraq war is also at a record high with 70% of Americans supporting a complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and 62% of those polled believing that the US was wrong in sending troops into Iraq in the first place.

Oh, and only one in five Americans think Bush's troop 'surge' theory had any effect.

And Bush’s attempt to better his approvals, the immigration legislation, and its resulting failure have pushed Bush further down among republicans, with almost four in 10 saying they’ve lost confidence in Bush because of his handling of the immigration issue.

As a throw-in, 66% of Americans believe President Bush shouldn’t have commuted Scooter Libby’s prison sentence.

Ouch… has any president ever had this much polling-pain in his presidency?

Oh that’s right, Richard Nixon… and he resigned…

Hint, hint George…

UPDATE: Add Rasmussen polling numbers to further diminish Bush's surge strategy as a new poll from them shows that only 19% of Americans believe that the U.S. troop surge in Iraq was a success… and before you say it’s a partisan issue, keep in mind that a scant 38% of republicans consider the President’s strategy successful.

It's bad, but it could be a LOT worse

Sure, Congress’ approval ratings are starting to drop faster than Katie Couric's ratings as they currently stand at a Dubyaesque 23% (Here’s a personal note to Democrats: 23% is what capitulation will do for you. We, the voters, clearly expected you to, if not totally end this war, to at least give some timeline about ending the war. You didn’t, you kowtowed to the Administration and now the voters are pissed)

But Democratic leaders can take solace that at this time, it’s a whole helluva lot worse to be a Republican.

A new NBC/WSJ poll that has not yet been officialy released but is the same poll that gave us the paltry 19% that think the country is on the right track also gave us an approval rating for “President” Bush of 29%… which would be the lowest of his presidency for this poll. And let’s also revel in the fact that Bush’s unpopularity seems to be weighing down the gop as a whole as the gop has a popularity rating of 28%.

28%… and one factor is Bush, whose unpopularity isn’t likely to be helped by this exchange between White House reporting icon Helen Thomas and Press Secretary Tony “Job” Snow. Via Think Progress:

Thomas: Are there any members of the Bush family or this administration in this war?
Snow: Yeah, the President. The President is in the war every day.
Thomas: Come on, that isn’t my question –
Snow: Well, no, if you ask any president who is a commander in chief –
Thomas: On the frontlines...
Snow: The President.

So… not only is “President” Bush on ‘The frontlines’, at least according to Tony Snow, he’s also massively unpopular and dragging the whole party down with him.

Granted, trying to draw a conclusion from a description of poll numbers that doesn’t contain all of the available data is like getting cats to walk in a parade… but what is fairly easy to ascertain is that these numbers do not seem to bode well for the electoral hopes of the republican party. And these numbers should not be viewed as being in a vacuum, that is not supported by the preponderance of evidence but more so as one outlier poll making a conclusion. Polling earlier this year from CBS News and The New York Times showed the exact same thing -- the gop’s image has seldom, if ever, been as bad as it is right now.

But, like I said yesterday; this doesn’t mean the Dems can rest on their laurels and sit idly by… the incredibly pathetic 23% approval rating should be impetus enough to act, but just in case it isn’t, then the absolute possibility that we can get more republicans out of Congress and the White House in the next few cycles should get every Liberal Democrat off the fucking couch and looking to help in any way they can…

Democrats need to keep pounding away… they need to continue to be diligent in their efforts to out-raise the gop, present a single, united candidate who could return something not just to the White House, but the government itself…And that’s the will of the American people. And that’s something that this president, and this Congress, are not doing right now…

Monday Short Stack

Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

But the big winner of an early Florida primary could be Jeb Bush. The former two-term Republican governor — and the brother of President George W. Bush — is still popular and would be in a position to play kingmaker by endorsing a hopeful. Or, if things get really weird in the GOP race, a kick-off Florida primary might tempt to him to consider a candidacy of his own, which he has thus far eschewed.

I threw up in my mouth a little when I typed this…

What’s the point of it all?

“All of us believe that in the next 90 days, you’ll probably see an increase in American casualties…”

Those words, spoken by Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the commander of the Army’s Task Force Marne, came the same day that 8 more American soldiers were killed in roadside bomb attacks in Iraq.

I don’t think anything more can be said…

Wolf is At Out the Door?

Wonkette is reporting that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is leaving his post.

This could be true… or it could be false… we’ll find out sooner or later.

Polling Data

“President” Bush’s approval rating has fallen to 28% according to a Newsweek Poll released this past weekend, giving him an all-time low for that survey.

Nearly two out of three Americans, or 62% for you number-lovers out there, think Bush's recent actions about Iraq show that he is “stubborn and unwilling to admit his mistakes.”

I’m not sure what’s more disheartening about that… that 62% of the country think our current president is a putz or that it took these people that long to figure it out.

The last president to be this wildly unpopular was Jimmy Carter who also scored a 28% approval in 1979.

There is also support in the poll that Bush's unpopularity is also casting a pall over the republican odds at keeping the White House in 2008 with Democratic front-runners leading potential republican contenders across the board, which leads us to…

More Polling Data

In the same poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International that gave us the above-mentioned approval numbers, the Democrats are enjoying a nice lead in the 2008 race.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) fared the best against all the lead republicans, besting supposed gop front-runner Rudy Giuliani 50% to 43%, topping Sen. John McCain 52% to 39%, and Gov. Mitt Romney 58% to 29%.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-IL AR NY) topped Giuliani 49% to 46%, McCain 50% to 44% and Romney 57% to 35%.

Sen. John Edwards (D-SC) topped Giuliani by 6 points, McCain by 10 and Romney by 37 points.

Granted, it’s still obscenely early to get your hopes up with this news, but it should be cause for some guarded optimism… let’s pray that this trend continues…

We have how many more years of this?

“President” Bush is a worse president than Herbert Hoover ever was.

You want proof? How about the worst job creation record since the Hoover Administration…

A growing economy should be good news for those seeking jobs. But over the course of President Bush's term in office, his Administration has the worst overall job creation record since Herbert Hoover more than 70 years ago.

Overall non-farm payroll employment has increased by just 5.2 million since President Bush took office in January 2001 compared with 22.7 million during the Clinton presidency. Overall employment growth has averaged just 70,000 per month under President Bush - much lower than the approximately 150,000 jobs needed each month to keep up with population growth. It was not uncommon to see monthly job gains of 300,000 and even 400,000 during economic expansions under previous Administrations.

Private sector job creation has been especially poor during the Bush presidency, with an average annual job growth rate of only 0.5 percent per year since 2001. Just 3.8 million private sector jobs have been created during the Bush presidency, compared with over 20 million private sector jobs during the Clinton presidency.

The manufacturing sector, often the source of jobs with good pay and benefits, has lost three million jobs since the start of the Bush Administration. Nearly half of the jobs created since 2001 were part-time and freelance positions without benefits. This slow pace of private sector job creation is particularly troubling given that we are so far into the economic recovery.

There ya go, more ammo to declare him: Worst. President. EVAH!

Short Stack: Poll Positions

Dropping Faster than Alec Baldwin’s Chances at Father of the Year
According to a new Harris survey, “President” Bush’s approval rating has now bottomed-out at 28%… the lowest of his presidency.

Sometimes, the snark just writes itself…

Reid vs. Cheney
Ever since Mr. Reid spoke the truth, Cheney has been attacking him, and rather than cower in the corner, Reid is fighting back and, according to the New York Times, has been quoted as saying, "I’m not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody who has a 9% approval rating."

Ouch.

Why we all dream of both Cheney AND Bush hitting that low-low mark, his numbers aren’t that bad… but they are bad.

According to Mystery Pollster, they are in the 29-34% range.

Again, like I said above, sometimes the snark just writes itself…

To add more humiliation to Cheney, all of this is being talked about while he prepares to deliver the commencement address at Brigham Young University amid protests by students and faculty alike.

2008 Presidential Race – The Democrats
The first of what I am sure will be many, many debates for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination occurs tonight in South Carolina, and, on the verve of that debate, MSNBC has a poll up that expresses voters’ perception of a candidate; whether it’s negative, positive, or neutral.

Some of the results are surprising, but don’t take my word for it, see for yourself:

Obama: (-) 29% (neutral) 27% (+) 44%

Edwards: (-) 31% (neutral) 32% (+) 37%

Clinton: (-) 50% (neutral) 24% (+) 26%

Richardson: (-) 36% (neutral) 40% (+) 24%

Biden: (-) 45% (neutral) 39% (+) 16%

Kucinich: (-) 53% (neutral) 37% (+) 10%

Dodd: (-) 49% (neutral) 45% (+) 6%

Gravel: (-) 53% (neutral) 44% (+) 3%

Senator Clinton leads the first tier candidates in the negative area with 50%… 50! Meaning half of the people polled have a negative view of Mrs. Clinton while a little more than a quarter have a positive perception of the former first lady and current NY Senator. No matter how you spin it, that’s not good news for her campaign.

On the flip side, 44% view Senator Obama in a positive light. Granted, while he leads in this poll, it’s still dramatically less than half of those polled.

Sen. Edwards and Gov. Richardson each came in with some respectable numbers that are well within range of Obama and Clinton… but the third tier candidates (Biden, Kucinich, Dodd & Gravel) had unsurprising results that seem to support my theory that people either don’t know them outside of their respective home-areas or view them negatively due to their performances in the past.

Looking at the numbers you get the sense that Clinton may be more of a long-shot for the nomination than some may think… but one can also get the idea that Gravel, Dodd and Kucinich should just pack up their campaigns now rather than waste more money and time.

Democrats Know Best?

Remember how all those conservative pundits and politicians called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) remarks about Iraq “un-American.”

Apparently, the rest of America is also “un-American” in those conseravtive’s eyes as 55% of respondents in a NBC/Wall Street Jounal poll don’t think that victory in Iraq is possible. What’s more, the poll shows that 56% say that they agree more with the Democrats in Congress who want to set a deadline for troop withdrawal as opposed to those that agree with “President” Bush, which stands at 37%.

So, even though the majority of Americans don’t support the President and think that we are fighting a war we have no chance in winning, the Bush(whacked) Administration continues to hum along like everything is hunky-dory.

As we’ve said many times here at TBWA, January 20, 2009 can NOT come soon enough…

Poll Position: Iraq

It should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone with a brain that, for the obvious reasons, they don’t conduct many opinion polls in Iraq…

But seeing as how today is the four year anniversary of the war, ABC News and a handful of other media outlets decided to do one, polling 2,200 Iraqis.

The results, not at all surprisingly, are not good…

Consider:

• In November 2005, the number of Iraqis who say their own life was going well was 71%… that number has dipped dropped plunged to 39%.
• About three-fourths of Iraqis report feelings of anger, depression and difficulty concentrating.
• More than 50% of Iraqis polled have curtailed activities like going out of their homes, going to markets or other crowded places and traveling through police checkpoints.
• Only 18% have confidence in U.S. and coalition troops.
• 86% are concerned that someone in their household will be a victim of violence.
• 51% of those polled say that violence against U.S. forces is acceptable, a significant jump from the 17% who felt that way in 2004.
• In 2005, 63% said they felt very safe in their neighborhoods, that number is now only 26%.

To see the complete polling results in a PDF file, CLICK HERE.

With sobering statistics coming in daily about the number of dead and wounded, these results are a sad reflection on just how bad things are over there.

And yet, despite these numbers, the Bush(whacked) Administration is in full spin mode (and acting very snippy) about the war on its anniversary.

We had Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice hitting the airwaves calling for Americans “to be patient” and saying that the war in Iraq is “worth the sacrifice.”

We have “President” Bush saying that there’s been “good progress” over there and that U.S. security will suffer if we pull out too soon (Is there really anyone left out there who still thinks Iraq has anything to do with national security in this country?)

I’m sure there are things to say about this (read an Iraqi’s view of the war via WaPo HERE), and I could certainly offer my opionion like I always do…

But in this situation, I think the numbers profoundly speak for themselves…

UPDATE: Hindsight is always 20/20, but this conversation with Kadhim al-Jubouri, an Iraqi weightlifting champion who helped U.S. forces tear down the statue of Saddam Hussein, is most revealing, especially when he says: "I really regret bringing down the statue. The Americans are worse than the dictatorship. Every day is worse than the previous day."

I don't know about you, but reading that "Americans are worse than the dictatorship" really, really hurts... and I am not being a smart-ass... it hurts...

Way to go Mr. Bush...

Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday

Short collection of random thoughts today… must be my lack of coffee, which I have given-up for Lent… which leads me to ask; ‘What the hell was I thinking’???

Anyway… enjoy some random political thoughts…

Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics. According to a CNN poll, 9% of Americans believe things are going well in Iraq with 46% thinking that the United States will win. (First of all, who the HELL are these 9% that think things are going well?? I would really like to meet them so I could either ask them what the hell is wrong with them or, at the least, smack them over the head with a 2 X 4 to slap some sense into them…)

Running Mates. Dick Cheney’s favorability rating is 18%… as Ana Marie Cox, the original Wonkette, said: “If he had feelings, I’m sure they’d be hurt by this.” Tom DeFrank of the NY Daily News puts an interesting spin on the story when he wrote that “Cheney may be an overall net political minus, but he’s a huge asset where it counts most for Bush: the Republican base, which adores Cheney. Bush’s approval numbers are at 30%, roughly the same size as his base. If Cheney left, this weakened President couldn’t absorb the backlash. They’re all he has left.” (Hmmmmmm…verrrrryyyy interesting…)

War Crimes. According to a new CBS/NY Times poll, 78% of Americans don’t think that the Bush(whacked) Administration has “done enough to care for [Iraq war] veterans,”, with a majority of polled republicans “agreeing with all Americans overall on this issue.” (And this should come as a surprise….why?)

Posse Comitatus. The Pentagon has (finally!) started on plans on a “fallback strategy for Iraq” that includes a gradual withdrawal of forces with a renewed emphasis on training Iraqi fighters… all this just in case the President’s escalation strategy fails (which I believe is a pretty safe bet) Military experts say the new strategy is in line with the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and partially based on the “U.S. experience in El Salvador” in the 1980s… cuz that went oh, so well…

The Fall’s Gonna Kill You. Let’s see… AG Alberto Gonzales’ chief of staff Kyle Sampson resigns as he was involved in generating the list of prosecutors that got the axe… Gonzales admits mistakes but insists he will not resign… unless Dubya decides otherwise… all the while ignoring calls for his resignation or dismissal… the White House is trying to spin the story to break their way… (Is it just me, or does this sound like it was written by a group of bad soap opera writers??)

The War At Home. A new federal rule aimed at keeping illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid has instead prevented thousands of US citizens getting Medicaid because they’ve had difficulty providing birth certificates or other documents that would prove their citizenship… (Too bad there wasn’t a group of people who could have said that that would happen ’if this bill was passed… oh, wait… there was. The key to stopping illegal immigration is not to cut off funding of certain things because, as history has told us many, many, many times… it NEVER works. Mo. Rons.)

Gone Quiet. Salon is reporting that the US military is “deploying troops with serious injuries” and other medical problems (all because of Bush’s escalation plan). Some of the GIs are medically unfit for battle according to their doctors, and some are too injured to even wear their body armor… reading all this, and yet it’s the Democrat’s that are always accused of not caring about or respecting our military… to that I say; give me a fucking break. This is more proof of how little the Bush(whacked) Administration cares about our military… and yet no one is reporting about it… I wonder why??

Internal Displacement. How about that… a glimmer of hope from within the White House. It seems some internal White House staffers are calling on President Bush to uphold his pledge to “have the highest of high standards” when it comes to granting pardons. One former White House staffer told Newsweek, “What you saw was a vice president’s office that was out of control.”

Privateers. We all know that Halliburton is moving their base of operations from the U.S. to Dubai, and while many people have questions, Senate Commerce Committee member Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is actually asking them. “I want to know, is Halliburton trying to run away from bad publicity on their contracts? Are they trying to run away from the obligation to pay U.S. taxes? Or are they trying to set up a corporate presence in Dubai so that they can avoid the restrictions that currently exist on doing business with prohibited countries like Iran?” (I think there is only one possible answer; all of the above Something needs to be done in regards to this latest move by a company that has screwed the country with its pants on many times… but, with Cheney still being in bed with the company – nothing will… and that’s just sad…)

All I have, take ‘em as you will…

Random Political Thoughts

Wednesday… I’ve shoveled myself out and now have a walking path, so here you go with this week’s Random Political Thoughts…

Remembering Dead Eye Dick. It was one year ago this week that Vice President Dick “Dead Eye” Cheney “accidentally” shot his “friend” and lawyer Harry Whittington. (And he still can’t escape it. Cheney is scheduled to go fly-fishing this month in Tasmania. Someone, with a sense of humor like yours truly, wrote to the local newspaper, “Please assure us that Dick Cheney is coming to Tasmania to fish and not to shoot.” When you start getting heckled by Tasmanian newspapers, you know you’ve become a laughing stock…)

Prisoner 24601. The number of waivers granted to Army recruits that have criminal backgrounds has skyrocketed to 8,129 in 2006, drastically up from 4,918 in 2003. That’s about a 65% increase in the last three years… (Yeah… this should end well…)

Poll, polls and more polls. A new USA Today poll shows that 63% of Americans want all U.S. troops home from Iraq by the end of 2008. A CBS poll shows 63% of the public disapproves of the President’s escalation. (All these numbers and Congress can’t find the balls to debate, much less intervene, about the escalation… all the while the White House ignores, once again, the will of the people. I’ve said it before here, and I’ll say it again. January 2009 can NOT come soon enough…)

It Was Only a Matter of Time. Looking for love and afraid that the person you might find will not be Mr. Rright, but instead will be Mr. Left? Worry no more as political matchmaking sites are springing up faster than Anna Nicole Smith memento’s on eBay. ActForLove.org will help Liberal progressives find love while ConservativeDates.com aims for conservatives (If VP Cheney is in charge of shooting, you should get matched right away. What’s next? Dating sites for dogs… oh, wait….)

Not Paying Attention. Methinks Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has lost his mind. Earlier this week he said that he’s extremely concerned about the possibility of a “Tet Offensive” in Iraq that would “switch American public opinion the way that the Tet Offensive did” during Vietnam… (Uh… Senator… more than two-thirds of Americans already oppose the war… what more do you want??)

Here We Go Again? “President” Bush held a press conference today and said that Iran is supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq but stressed that he is not using this issue as a “pretext” for a war against Iran… (and I totally believe him, don’t you? I mean, has he ever given the world American people any reason to not believe everything that comes out of his mouth?? Sarcasm becomes me…)

Making Scott Evil Proud. Dolphins and sea lions have been trained to detect and apprehend waterborne attackers and could be sent to patrol a military base in Washington state soon (Ignoring the fact that Dr. Evil has been heard laughing maniacally nearby… how exactly would dolphins and sea lines apprehend a perp???)

The Forgotten (& True) War on Terror. Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the man who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan for 21 months has gone on the record saying that “The intelligence has gone cold on Osama bin Laden.” He threw down more sunshine by saying he also expects a fresh offensive by the Taliban this spring. (Mr. Goodnews Happy Guy he ain’t… but this doesn’t come as a surprise to me. The Taliban has already regained a foothold in the country and has been attacking our troops constantly, most people don’t know that because the MSM has been ignoring it and giving us hourly updates on the latest news about Anna Nicole Smith instead)

Dog and Pony Show. The House of Representatives has started debating the escalation of troops in Iraq. Nobody is paying attention because: A - It’s not going to have an effect on the administration. B - Everyone knows this debate is purely for show. C – A chance to spout more rhetoric than a campaign stop. D - All of the above. If you guessed ‘D’ you would be right.

Scooter Trial. the defense in the Scooter Libby is poised to rest their case soon with neither Libby himself or VP Cheney taking the stand. (regardless of who takes the stand next, I think some damage has been done and someone, though I’m not sure whom, will be going to jail. Unfortunately I don’t think it will be Cheney… and that has me a little bummed…)

Op-Ed Piece of The Week. this week I’ve chosen an op-ed piece from The Hill, which for those of you that do not know, is the newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress. The piece is entitled “Game plan”, written by Brent Budowsky and it’s definitely a must-read.

Doesn’t Know When to STFU. Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John “Don’t Call me Michael” Bolton says the deal with North Korea is rewarding their “bad behavior” and is sending “bad signals” to Iran. (First of all, if North Korea actually follows through, which is never for certain when dealing with Kim Jong Ill, it essentially means nuclear disarmament for them… which is a good thing. The U.S. isn’t giving them anything that we haven’t given other countries before, and if it stops them from making nuclear weapons, it’s worth it. And to Mr. Bolton I say: you aren’t the ambassador anymore, why don’t you shut up, trim your ugly-ass mustache and get a new job… ya schmuck)

A Political Prognosticator’s Dream. This is already going to be the most wide-open Presidential campaign in eons, and it seems anyone and everyone on both sides (republicans and Democrats – ignore Nader… please… for the love of God ignore Nader!!!!) is going to, at the least, form an exploratory committee and consider a run. Something that carries a lot of weight within Congress but is essentially ignored by the public is the so-called Capitol Primary. A win in this “primary”, unofficial as it is, definitely helps to build momentum for candidates, but with such a wide-open field, the support from members of Congress may be beneficial and helpful to those that are making a run for the White House and are already on the outside looking in, I guarantee you that this Presidential election is going to be one for the books and one that everyone, and I mean everyone needs to pay attention to.

All I have, take ‘em as you will…

The Day Ahead

Things to pay attention to and thing’s we'll (possibly) write about today:

• WaPo: North Korea agrees to Nuke Disarmament (everbody stop panicing)
• WaPo: Mitt Romney has entered the 2008 gop presidential fray (people are saying he’s unelectable, but let’s remember that was said about Dubya as well…)
• Chicago Trib: Scooter Libby trial continues… (who will be the next contestant in the ever-growing list of wintesses for the defense?)
• ThinkProgress: Cheney aide says war with Iran is possible this year (everbody panic)
• CNN: House debating Bush(whacked) administration Iraq escalation plan (not that this administration would listen anyway…)
• USA Today: USA Today/Gallup poll finds 63% of Americans want all U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of 2008 (want troops home, don’t favor escalation, but don’t want funds cut for escalation… can we say ‘mixed messages’???)
• NY Post: Giuliani is 100% committed (insert own joke here) on winning 2008 presidential campaign (better choice than McCain or Romney that’s for damn sure…)