A Tip of the Hat to Aaron Burr?

Ya know, there are so many jokes to be made out of THIS STORY… I can’t pick just one… so I invite all of you readers to make up your own and leave it as a comment...here's a snippet of the story, click HERE to see... the.Rest.Of.The.Story (I always wanted to do that... thank you Paul Harvey)

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

Harry Whittington, 78, was "alert and doing fine" after Cheney sprayed him with shotgun pellets on Saturday while the two were hunting at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.

Armstrong said Whittington was mostly injured on his right side, with the pellets hitting his cheek, neck and chest, and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Whittington was in stable condition Sunday, said Yvonne Wheeler, spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Health System.

Scooter is Back in the News

First I have to ask, am I the only one who find themselves singing the Libby, Libby, Libby on the label, label, label jingle when they see this name? I am… that’s what I was afraid of. But I’m getting off track…

Former White House aide “Scooter” Libby, who was charged of outing CIA agent Valerie Plame, has testified that Vice President Dick “Darth” Cheney gave him the okay to leak classified information in 2003 in order to bolster the case for the US-led war against Iraq (I am shocked… shocked and appalled)

NBC television news, citing sources familiar with the case, said that Libby will partially be basing his defense on claims that Cheney advised him to give classified information to reporters and that Libby and his attorneys discussed this revelation with federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, along with the judge that is overseeing the case in a teleconference call.

Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, is of course denying charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in an stratagem tied-up in the Bush administration’s drive to war with Iraq. (It should be noted that the trial is slated to start sometime in January 2007, naturally after November's mid-term elections… but I’m sure there’s no connection between the two events…and if you believe that, I have some nice property to sell you in Afghanistan)

For those of you who forgot or for those of you who can’t see your party for what it really is, critics charge that senior US officials deliberately blew Plame's cover in an attempt to punish her husband, ex-diplomat Joseph Wilson, who had criticized the White House's reasoning for going to war with Iraq.

My first reaction to the Libby news is… why the hell isn’t anyone paying attention to this?? Libby admits that his boss, who just happens to be the Vice President of the United States, gave him the order to leak the information… am I missing something here? This should be big news am I right? I said, am I right??

Apparently not as the Bush Media-Whores do their best to bury this story in the trash. Well, all I can say is, and I’ve said it many times before on this site… ‘Karma, baby!’

By the way, the “president's” top political strategist, Karl Rove, is still under investigation over the leaking…

So stay tuned…

Do I smell 'Brownies' burning in the Senate?

Former FEMA director Michael Brown (aka: Brownie) goes before a Senate committee today to answer questions in the ongoing investigation as to the failings of the federal governement follwoing the Gulf Coast hurricanes last fall.

Brownie had requested that the White House assist him by offering a claim of 'executive priviledge'. That request was rebuffed by White House Counsel Harriet "I could have been a Justice" Miers.

Browns response was that without any protecttion or assistance from the administration he will essentially spill his guts when asked questions.

Let's see if he keeps to his word on this one. This could get interesting.

UPDATE: In Testimony to the Senate committee, Michael Brown blamed the DHS, and specifially said that talking to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff was a "waste of time".

I told you this would be interesting....stay tuned.

Another swing and miss...

It seems that the newly minted House Majority Leader John Boehner rents a basement apartment from a lobbyist whose clients had an interest in legislation overseen or sponsored by Boehner (R-OH) who pays $1,600 a month rent for the apartment owned by lobbyist John Milne and his wife, Debra Anderson. (I am shocked! Shocked to find gambling in this establishment!)

Boehner, it should be noted, is heavily involved in GOP efforts to reform lobbying rules which have been born as a consequence of influence peddling by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Remember him? The black trench coat, black fedora wearing lobbyist who looks like he just walked off the pages of a Mickey Spillane novel… or at least WANTS to look like he just walked off the pages of a Mickey Spillane novel) This is THE Abramoff, the lobbyist who has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a Capitol Hill corruption investigation after pleading guilty to conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud last month.

Lobbying records show that Milne represented a couple of restaurant companies in their lobbying on the minimum wage… which is handled by the Education and the Workforce Committee… which just happens to be chaired by… who can guess? Anyone? Anyone? How about you there in the back… you know it; Boehner (you see how all of this is tying together now?)

Once again the GOP strikes and misses. They have an opportunity to spin things in a positive light and elect someone to take over for disgraced (and disgruntled) Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) who isn’t in bed with a bunch of lobbyists (which is easier said than done, I know)

The thing that is aggravating many people isn’t necessarily the fact Boehner has ties with lobbyists (I mean, let's get real now, you show me a politician who doesn’t has ties with any lobbyists and I’ll show you a poor politician) but the way Boehner tried to paint himself as someone who is clean and not tainted by the wicked ways of lobbying…

You got it wrong again (right)wing-nuts… wrong again…

A new element ?

The recent hurricanes, gasoline issues and general confusion in Washington is proof of the existence of a new chemical element. A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element has been named "Governmentium." Governmentium (Gv) has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. The smallest amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that under normal circumstances would normally take less than a second, to instead take over four days to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of four years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each organization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as Critical Morass. When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium -- an element which radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Ok, that explains a lot…..

(A shout goes out to PK for bringing this new discovery to our attention!)

A Short Post about Secret Courts and FISA Judges

In the last few years the presiding judge of the secret surveillance court was told on two separate occasions that information that had been obtained via the “President’s” domestic eavesdropping program “may have been” used inappropriately in order to get additional wiretap’s from the court, this according to a special article in the Washington Post (or WaPo for those of you in the know)

Naturally, these disclosures have pissed-off U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (who is the current presiding judge of the FISA court that issues the aforementioned wiretapping warrants)

Seems Judge Kollar-Kotelly has, in the past, expressed some doubts as to whether or not the warrant-less monitoring ordered by BushCo was legal. (It should also be noted that her predecessor as presiding judge, Royce C. Lamberth, also expressed severe reservations about the legality of the program)

Now, you would think that if the judge(s) that presides over the FISA court is herself unsure if the wiretapping is illegal or not, that the Bush(Whacked) administration would get a clue… not so… at least not so as long as Commander Cuckoo-Bananas is in charge.

Read the complete article and decide for yourself.

More to come…

Now the truth comes out

Remember during the State of the Union address when our fearless leader stated that his budget plan would cut the federal deficit in half by 2009?

You had to ask yourself how this was going to be accomplished with the continued spending on the 'police action' in the middle east and the tax cuts that have been thrown around by the administration. Basically it comes down to more money going out and less coming in. Well we at TBWA were asking the same thing and now the administration has given us the answer.

The White House has released documents saying that in order to achieve Bush's goal, significant cuts would be needed throughout the rest of this decade to many domestic programs, even some of the Presidents own favored programs. Others that would be cut include Veterans Heath Care and funding for the National Institutes of Health. Many of the affected programs are slated for funding increases in 2007, but would then be hit with drastic cuts in 2008-2010.

Just another case of "look at the shiny object in my left hand and pay no attention to the trickery taking place in the right".

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably a lie.

Eep

For those of you who don't know what the term 'staring daggers' means, take a glance at Laura Bush...

Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon

Wednesday is here and we all know what that means, Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon…so without any pageantry or ado…away we go:

McCain vs. Obama. In this corner; Senior Republican Senator and Vietnam veteran John McCain, and in this corner; Freshman Democrat Senator and the next-big-thing Barrack Obama… let’s get ready to rumble. It seems the two opposing Senators are squaring off in a grudge match over efforts to enact a new set of ethics rules after Sen. McCain accused Sen. Obama of being "disingenuous" for reneging on a pledge to help craft a bill that could be embraced by both parties. Following a meeting between the two, Obama sent McCain a letter expressing support for a proposal by Harry Reid (D-NM) and NOT the bipartisan task force that McCain (and other GOP leaders) had suggested. More letters were exchanged between the two and now, on Wednesday, it seems as though both men have made nice-nice. I don’t buy it and think that this little incident will come to a head very, very soon. As always, stay tuned…

Bush: Stop cartoon violence. “President” Bush on Wednesday asked for a suppressing of the violence that has spread regarding anger over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. The rise in tension is also being blamed for adverse effects on the U.S. and their relationships with Muslims and the Middle East. I honestly don’t have an opinion on this, so I leave it up to you to make up your own minds.

A Challenge to Mayor Nagin: This just got interesting… Audubon Nature Institute CEO Ron Forman announced yesterday that he will join the list of candidates that are lining up to run against incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin this April. Nagin has come under fire for his performance (or lack thereof) in the lead-up and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and has (seemingly) fallen out of favor with business and community leaders. Forman decided to make the run this past Sunday after supporters persuaded him that he would have the financial support and backing of a multiracial coalition of the city's business, civic and religious leaders. (Nagin seems to be someone who enjoys the spotlight but who has also put his foot into his mouth a few too many times to govern effectively. Stay tuned…)

No Lemmings Allowed. Chairwoman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence (which oversees the National Security Agency) Heather Wilson (R-NM) is calling for a full Congressional inquiry into the Shrub (sorry, my bad) Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program. said in an interview that she had "serious concerns" about the surveillance program. By withholding information about its operations from many lawmakers, she said, the administration has deepened her apprehension about whom the agency is monitoring and why. (I don’t know what’s harder to believe… that a Republican is not acting like a lemming going over the cliff and is going against the grain of her own party… or that there is someone named ‘Heather’ in Congress… your call)

Asbestos Bill Moving Forward. The Senate voted overwhelmingly (98 - 1) on Tuesday to consider a bill that would halt asbestos lawsuits and create a $140 billion fund for people who suffer from asbestos-related diseases. Great idea and all, but many hurdles remain before the bill can be approved. The incredibly lopsided vote came after Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) dropped an objection and encouraged other Senators to bring the measure to the floor. It should also be noted that the House has a differing bill that would still allow asbestos suits but only if claimants meet certain medical criteria. Stay tuned…

Budget Wars. The administration submitted their budget the other day (all 15 pounds of it) and, not surprisingly, Shrub proposed a defense budget that is the largest ever (and slashed the budget for pretty much everything else) with farmers, teachers and doctors pissed as you know what. Click HERE to see reaction to the administration’s budget from both sides of the aisle. Also in the new White House budget are submissions to eliminate or significantly diminish 141 domestic programs in the next fiscal year.

Nixon who? (Now you would think this story would get a lot of attention, but, with the media being in bed with Bush and Dick – insert own sophomoric joke here – it’s not, save for Keith “ESPN who?” Olberman) On his MSNBC show Tuesday night, KO spoke about Bush Strategist Karl Rove and his attempts to blackmail Republicans into submission over the issue of illegal wiretaps. Seems Rove, according to Conservative magazine Insight is telling Republican Senators and Congressmen that if they don’t see Bush’s way on wiretapping, they will be ‘blacklisted.’ Hmmmm… sounds a lot like something akin to the Alien & Sedition Acts and the dark days of blacklisting during the Joe McCarthy era. Goodnight and Good luck indeed…

Take them as you will…

A couple of milestones...

Yesterday marked two events that we at TBWA are especially proud of. What happened you ask? Well thanks for asking, I'd be happy to tell you.

First, yesterday at 4:17 pm central time, we had a visitor from Rhode Island ! It wasn't from Quahog, but from a reader in Wakefield.

Why are we making a big deal about a visitor from Rhode Island? Well, as of the 1st of the year we had visitors from every state except Rhode Island. We even had visitors from Guam and Puerto Rico. So as of yesterday afternoon, we have had visitors to the blog from every state in the nation ! We have also had vistors from every continent except the Arctic and Antarctic..... come on South Pole science stations !

Secondly, yesterday afternoon also marked our 4,000 visitor to our little blog. Not bad for a site that started back on September 23, 2005. Just two guys from the midwest who happen to have a passion for calling things as we see them, and thought why not let the world know what we think? Hopefully we also open some people's eyes along the way, or at least get people to question 'why?', instead of just following the crowd.

Kemp and I started on this endeavor with the purpose of letting people know our opinion on politics and current events. While we do slant to the left side of the political spectrum, we both consider ourselves to be more or less open to great ideas from either side of the aisle. Hell, we would even settle for a good idea coming out of Washington or even state governments from time to time. We hope that you enjoy what we do and you will keep coming back, why not tell a friend or two ! That way you will have something to talk about amongst yourselves.

So eveyone can relax, we have hit the 4,000 mark in roughly 4 months (not bad) and we have had a visitor from Rhode Island....thanks Wakefield! However, we are only 5 weeks into 2006 and it appears the roller coaster ride is just getting started.

Make sure your seatbelts are fastened and keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times...it looks like the ride is going to get a bit bumpy.

Be good, stay informed....later.

Billions and billions...

Commander Cuckoo-Bananas sent his budget to Congress yesterday (all 15 pounds of it)

Not surprisingly, Shrub proposed a defense budget that is the largest ever (and slashed the budget for pretty much everything else) with farmers, teachers and doctors pissed as you know what.

Why are they pissed? In pushing for his massive defense budget, Bush is cutting other group's money in an effort to stave off the deficits his administration has bred.

More to come later...

UPDATE: In a previously released statement, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Chief Patricia Harrison said she was disappointed in the Bush(Whacked) administration's budget proposal that would cut $53.5 million from the $400 million due to be doled out to public TV and radio stations in 2007 and another $50 million in 2008 (it should be noted that Harrison is a past co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee)

With this news comes a very strong statement from Jeff Chester who is the Executive Director of the public-interest group Center for Digital Democracy. Upon hearing news of the CPB’s cuts, Mr. Chester stated “The Bush White House is taking an axe to help chop off Big Bird's head and turn Elmo out into the streets.” (Nice imagery there Jeff)

Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) released this statement on his website, “In a world of fast-and-furious television with content often inappropriate for young children, the public broadcasting system represents the last stronghold of quality, child-oriented programming -- we owe this free over-the-air resource to America's children and their parents.”

Stay tuned as there is still more to come...

Liberties-Schmiberties?

It’s the start of another week, which means it must also be time for another Bush-Crony to venture to Capitol Hill to defend the latest Administration screw-up/Constitutional recession order.

On today’s docket is Attorney General Alberto “Liberties - Schmiberties” Gonzales.

Gonzales is in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today to defend the administration's domestic eavesdropping program while calling it an essential “early warning system” against further terrorist attacks which Shrub (sorry, I mean Bush… I really have to stop doing that) authorized after the September 11 attacks in order to monitor international telephone calls and e-mail messages of U.S. citizens with the aim to track down terrorism suspects.

Gonzales also denied any and all accusations that the White House has and is breaking the law, which he covered in a prepared statement, which you can read HERE.

It should be noted that many Senators (both Republican and Democrat btw) are challenging the administration's statements that the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Congress gave the “President” any authority to conduct the domestic eavesdropping that is being carried out by the National Security Agency, who says the program was designed to monitor contacts between radicals abroad and associates in the U. S.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (the top Democrat on the committee) insisted Bush had acted “illegally without safeguards” and that the president and Justice Department “do not have unchecked powers to decide what laws to follow.”

The bigger problem the administration has it evident in the hearing’s opening when Chairman Arlen Specter (R – PA) stated that while “the president of the United States has the fundamental responsibility to protect the country ... the president does not have a blank check.” (Why is that a problem you ask? Because Specter is a member of Bush’s party and is not the only one to think that Bush has gone too far with this program)

Other critics believe that the program violates the privacy guarantees in the U.S. Constitution AND violates the law that regulates the monitoring of communications (the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA) which made spying on American citizens in the United States illegal without the approval of a special secret court (my question is this… if all it takes to get a wiretap legally is the approval of a SECRET court, why not just do that… it’s a secret court anyway so, theoretically, no one would know about it. Why violate National law and the US Constitution? That’s what makes my head hurt… trying to figure out why they would violate the law and Constitution when all it takes is Secret Court approval… I’ll say it again; when all it takes is Secret Court approval… but I’m getting off the subject)

Gonzales said Congress had provided the legal basis for the program by authorizing the use of force (again, I’ve said this before…the use of force includes wiretaps? What? Are they hitting the terrorists with the wires?) against terrorists after the September 11 attacks, adding that congressional leaders had been briefed about it more than a dozen times since (and I am sure in each of those dozen times they were informed in the most straight-forward, non double-speak, no-spin-attached wording ever… uh, huh… sure… and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in Baghdad… a nice bridge... overlooking the Green Zone)

He said FISA did not always provide the lithe “early warning system” that the government needed in order to protect the country, adding that seeking more explicit authorization from Congress would have spilled intelligence secrets and wasted time (wasted time???)

Gonzales said U.S leaders going back to the first president, George Washington, had authorized the warrantless surveillance of the enemy to fight wars such as the Revolution, the Civil War and World War Two (show me the proof. I want proof more than an AG in 2006 says that Washington used warrantless surveillance. That could very well be the dumbest argument from the Administration yet…)

Gonzales refused to give any examples of how the domestic surveillance program has protected the country (that’s something else I want, proof that the eavesdropping has resulted in a terrorist attack being prevented. It doesn’t look as though it is helping, but what do I know?)

Gonzales is a Bush-Crony of the highest order and will act the way his master will tell him to. He will not say anything of much importance this week and will only cause those of us on the left to bang our heads against the wall at his complete lack of candidness.

Add to that that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) confronted Gonzales about Bush’s now-famous quote that “a wiretap requires a court order.” When confronted with the quote, Gonzales’ defense essentially boiled down to the fact that “the President is not a lawyer.” (Brilliant defense Mr. Gonzales, I can see why you are the nations’ number one lawyer…like we really need someone to tell us this?)

Besides that fact that Gonzales' rhetoric-filled and empty testimony means absoluelty bupkis, it seems to be that when all is said and done (and whether or not you agree or disagree with the wiretaps) American's civil liberties are still being violated and American laws are still being broken. And the Bush-“Whacked” Administration continues to push America deeper and deeper into a trove of dissonance and animosity and is leaving the guided-principles that this country was founded on in the dust.

It is time that this administration is held accountable. Will that ever happen?

Stay tuned…

The Weekly Rewind

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, honored guests… my fellow Americans…

We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history, as never before have this many in our nation had the opportunity to read and enjoy The Bush Whacked Administrations’ Weekly Rewind. Why? Because we live in an age of possibility…

Some one hundred years ago we moved from farm to factory. Now we move to an age of technology, information, and global competition where everyone and their brother has a blog. But none… none are as informative, intelligent and thought-provoking as TBWA. And with that, I give you this week’s “Weekly Rewind”.

Applaud: to Coretta Scott King who passed away this past week at the age of 78. Your elegance, your spirit and your devotion to your Husband's memory was massive, and you truly brought grace and dignity to the Civil Rights movement.

Heckle: to that loud and annoying buzzing sound I heard coming from Washington DC on Tuesday night, around 8-9 pm CST. I swear, it was like a nasty humming in my ear…. buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Did anyone else hear it?

Applaud: to the brilliant smack down the Democrats did on Tuesday’s SOTU. The moment Bush said, “Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security…” Democrats gave him a standing ovation. Nice. Very well-played everyone. Wish all of you could act with that much backbone ALL THE FREAKIN’TIME!

Heckle: to the House GOP conducting elections like it was Florida 2000. How? Well, they are redoing the vote after the first count showed more votes cast than Republicans present at the Conference meeting. Wait a minute... who's that huddling near the ballot table? Is that Katherine Harris?? Oh my God, don’t look directly into her eyes!

Heckle: to new blood that’s, not so new. The GOP, as mentioned above, voted for a new majority leader this past week, electing John Boehner (R-OH) to the position. Supposedly, at least according to the GOP Leadership, a “Post-Abramoff Mood” shaped the vote for Boehner, who replaces disgraced (but whom is still ignorant of that fact) Tom DeLay. Will he be any better? Who knows, all we can say is stay tuned…

Heckle: to the day the music died. On this date in 1959, Buddy Holly (22), The Big Bopper (28), and Richie Valens (17) died in a plane crash soon after taking off from Clear Lake, Iowa. Bopper and Valens had taken the seats of two members of Holly's band, Tommy Allsup and Waylon Jennings. An Applaud within a heckle to the fact that your music and your all-too short lives will NOT be forgotten.

Heckle: to a series of fires that have damaged multiple (the number jumps from 5 to 6, depending on which media outlet you read) rural-Alabama churches overnight while investigators try to determine whether or not they were arson. Most of the churches were Baptist and all of them were in Bibb County. Stay tuned…

Heckle: to the passing of Samuel Alito as the next Justice of the SCOTUS. Hard to gauge what’s more pathetic… HIS pathetic attempts to hide his loyalties during the SOTU on Tuesday night or the democrat’s feeble attempt’s to block his approval. Can I take back my applaud from above?

Applaud: to NOT following the herd. The top climate Scientist at NASA has been told by the Bush administration stop talking about global warming… as of now, and Monday when I saw the interview on CNN’s American Morning, he is not heeding the administrations advice. Gotta respect anyone who won’t kowtow to Dubya’s hired-goons (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc) Now an FBI-led watchdog agency has launched an investigation into NASA Inspector General Robert W. Cobb amidst charges of retaliating against whistle-blowers. As I always say on this site, ‘Karma, baby!’

Applaud: ‘There’s a better way’… ‘nuff said.

Applaud or Heckle (your call): to what I am sure is eventually going to be called “T-Shirt Gate.” At the end of the day, I think the take away should be.... don't wear a t-shirt to the congressional gallery for a State of The Union speech...it's just tacky, no matter who you are, what your beliefs are, or what side of the aisle you may represent.

Applaud: to new Justice Alito, for not siding with Scalia, Thomas and Roberts and voting to block a Missouri death penalty case. Not so much for the decision itself (I personally support the death penalty in most cases) but more-so for going against the grain and not following the lemmings over the cliff. Enjoy our applaud now Justice Alito because I have a feeling that will be the LAST time you will EVER see an applaud on here for you.

Heckle: to this quote from Commander Cuckoo Bananas. Why a heckle? Well, read it and tell me how it’s not a lie.

“Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires---a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution" ---President George W. Bush April 20, 2004

Uh….ok? While I am split on the wiretap issue (ok for non-domestic, not ok for domestic), I am more concerned with the fact that Shrub (Bush) is blatanly lying to the American people now. What changed from April 20, 2004 – February 2006?

Applaud: to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for donating $100 million towards stem cell research. Bravo Mayor Bloomberg, bravo. (The gift was give anonymously, but his gift’s rarely stay anonymous for long) Did I mention he was a Republican and that he is, once again, going against his party’s wishes? Gotta love it when a Republican lemming strays from the herd and refuses to jump off the cliff with the rest of them (you really must ask yourself how many times I can use* that allegory in 1 Weekly Rewind)

Heckle: to John Bolton. Now this is just wacky. It was his turn to chair the Security Council meeting and nobody was there on time. So what did Mr. Bolton do? He made a list of the times that all the members showed up! This is the U.N. Mr. Bolton, not grade school.

Applaud: to a rebirth? The brilliant Donna Brazile, who was Al Gore's 2000 Presidential campaign manager, told CNN recently that she thinks the former VP is the only Democrat who could seriously challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York) for the party's nomination in 2008. You have to ask yourself, with as much Bush-bashing that Al has been doing, you really have to wonder if Gore think about getting back onto the field. As of right now he’s not talking, but stay tuned…

Heckle: The Line item veto. President Clinton signed the “Line Item Veto Act” in April 1996,only to see it struck down two years later by the Supreme Court deeming it unconstitutional. Now Shrub (sorry, I must stop doing that) Bush is trotting it out again, even mentioning it during the SOTU. Well, since he has now stacked the Supreme Court with a couple of government Bush-men, he must think he can bring it back to life. Yeah, I don’t think so…

Applaud/Heckle: Again, I am not sure about this one as it could go either way. The plan could be useful, but it could also teach a whole new generation to ignore the Constitution. Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security trotted out an animated family of mountain lions to lead a public service campaign (Titled ‘Ready Kids’) aimed at getting families to prepare for natural disasters or terrorist attacks. I guess you can call this the new and updated version of ‘Duck and Cover’

The applauds and heckles are evening out my friends. Could we be on a national shift to the left? We must be patient and wait. But let’s remember this; as we continue on this journey of self-discovery, the nation turns it’s lonely eyes to you… goo goo ga joo.

Groundhog Day & Political Wordplay

Q&A
Q: What's the difference between Groundhog Day and President Bush's State of the Union Address?

A: One is a meaningless ritual wherein we look to a creature of little intelligence to prognosticate for us... the other involves a woodchuck.


QUOTE MACHINE:
"On Groundhog Day, old timers think they can predict whether it's going to be an early spring or six more weeks of winter by whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, or, as President Bush calls it, 'reliable intelligence'." - Jay Leno


NEWS ALERTS:
Just after daybreak this morning, the groundhog saw George W. Bush's shadow and ran back into his hole, signifying three more years of screwing the country with its pants on.

In more breaking Groundhog Day news, Vice President Dick Cheney emerged from his secret undisclosed location (assumed to be a bunker under a Denny's Restaurant in Alexandria, VA) this morning and scared several small children, thus ensuring six more weeks of declining approval ratings for the president.
-- from PBen @ the Daily Kos

Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon

Before I get on with this week’s installment I must ask… what was that loud droning sound coming from Washington DC last night between 8 & 9 central time?? I could have sworn it sounded like an adult from the old “Peanuts” cartoons…

Anyhow, Scott and I were going to use this time and space to rant and rave about the nothingness that was the President’s State of the Union speech last night, but rather than moan and groan about the lies and inaccuracies of last night’s speech, it’s time we get on offense and concentrate on the looming midterms. MoveOn.org has a 3-step plan to win in ’06: 1) Hold Republicans accountable. 2) Encourage Democrats to stand up and fight. 3) Get out the vote.

Anyhow, here we go with this week’s exciting installment of RPTFAWA...

President Bush to Traipse Across the Country. President Bush will take his SOTU “message” (such as it is) on the road Wednesday as he travels to Tennessee to tout his plan to increase American economic competitiveness and to cut U.S. dependence on imported oil. On Thursday Bush is scheduled to take his act to Minnesota. This should make for some interesting theater, as I am sure he will get a lukewarm response from many. Although, as carefully orchestrated as his past visits have been, it will probably be the same ol, same ol. (Personally, I haven’t heard or seen such claptrap since I was forced to read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” in college. Talk about your pieces of crap…)

Even without an Opponent, Hillary’s Chest Grows & Grows (War Chest that is). Despite the fact that her GOP opposition has plunged into Illinois-GOP-Style disarray, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has forged ahead with a forceful fund-raising campaign that took in nearly $6 million in the final three months of 2005, giving her campaign $17.1 million in the bank. Now, with the absence of any real significant threat to unseat her, conjecture is now growing about her precise political ambitions. (Scott and I have said it before, and I’ll say it again. NO! She is not electable; she will take votes away from more electable Dem. candidates and will screw us over more than if John Kerry tries for the nomination again. Listen to me Mr. Dean: New blood… we need new blood)

Alito Sworn In. The Senate confirmed ‘Sam’ Alito on Tuesday (coincidentally just hours before the SOTU… hmmmm, I’m sure that wasn’t planned – no matter how hard you try, you just can’t express sarcasm in the written word) as the 110th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and immediately took the front-row seat of Sandra Day O'Connor at the SOTU later that night. The vote, 58 for and 42 against, was the second-narrowest Supreme Court confirmation in more than a century. (Come on now, shouldn’t that tell you something about this nominee???) Judge Alito’s biggest decision yesterday, according to the Washington Post, was whether to clap or not clap at the President’s drivel. I wish we could all hope that that’s the ONLY thing he ever has to make a decision about… but that’s unlikely.

“There is a better way.” (We need to get some t-shirts printed up with this slogan, now people!!) Using the phrase that is sure to become the Democratic/Liberal call-to-arms for the midterms and the ’08 Presidential election, newly elected Governor Tim Kaine (D-VA) delivered the Democratic response to the SOTU last night… and easily smacked down the Republicans. The smack down was good, but not as good as the smack down the Dems laid down when Shrub (sorry my bad, Bush) stated, “Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security," and the Democrats applauded and gave him a standing ovation. Nice. Wonderfully played everyone. (Click HERE to read the transcript of Kaine’s rebuttal or HERE to see it)

More SOTU Ejections. Cindy Sheehan (who I am not a particular fan of btw) wasn’t the only person escorted out by Capitol Police during last night’s SOTU. The wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-FL), Beverly, said she was ejected during the SOTU on Tuesday for wearing a T-shirt that said, “Support the Troops Defending Our Freedom.” Capitol Police told a different accounting of the incident, with a Capitol Police Sergeant stating “She was not ejected from the gallery. She did leave on her own.” (So we have begun to turn into this kind of a society now… stay tuned…)

Nominee says laws ‘adequate.’ The nominee to oversee coal mines stated on Tuesday that current mine safety laws are “adequate” and that many problems result from mine operators that ignore safety regulations. Richard Stickler, facing some pointed questions from Democrats, declined to endorse any of the new safety measures being called for, such as increasing the number of mine-rescue teams, requiring communication equipment that could help locate trapped miners or the so-called ‘safe-rooms’ that saved the lives of some Canadian miners earlier this week. It should be noted that the United Mine Workers opposes Stickler’s nomination and has long been pressing Bush to withdraw it. (No such luck as, once again, the administration shows its complete lack of support or respect for ANY union or blue-collar workers in this country)

Newsflash! GAO Faults Federal Government for Katrina Response. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report that showed it was a failure of federal leadership that caused the massive breakdown of Federal response to Hurricane Katrina. (Well, duh. All I can say, as I’ve said on this site many times… Karma,baby! What goes around, comes around)

Revenge of the Daschle? It seems former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) may be serious about running for president in ‘08? Today Mr. Daschle will make his second trip to Iowa and will give a speech at Iowa State University that will, most likely, criticize the President on a wide range of issues including, but surely not limited to, energy policy. Stay tuned…

Take them as you will…