Short Stacks

Yeah… sure… whatever.
In the opening statement that will be read at tomorrow’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will ask Congress to “move on” past AttorneyGate so the DOJ can “focus on its mission: fighting crime.”

Thanks a lot there Alberto, I’m sure they’ll get right on that. You know what would make Congress “move on” faster?Your resignation.

Another day, another poll.
Vice President Dick “Dick” Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq to, according to a top aide, give a message to the enemey that: “It’s game time.” (B-Movie dialog aside… does anyone think that this is going to do anything to the insurgents other than make them laugh??)

At the same time a new poll was released that shows 54% of Americans disapprove of “President” Bush’s veto of the Iraq funding bill that simultaneously put a timeline for U.S. troops to leave Iraq.

The poll, conducted by CNN, also showed that 57% of Americans want Congress to send another spending bill with a timetable attached back to the White House… something that Bush has already sworn to veto if it crosses his desk again.

(So once again, the will of a majority of Americans is ignored by the Bush(whacked) Administration… Oh, well… since when does a majority matter in a democratic society anyway?? As they always do, the administration will put their heads into the sand, imagine all is well and do what they want to do. And you wonder why our standing in the world is getting less and less… it’s because of the solitary vision of George Bush and his merry band of cronies. Give me strength…)

Everyone else wants it, why doesn’t Bush?
Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie paid a visit to Capitol Hill today and the New York Times reports that al-Rubaie is “trying to persuade American lawmakers who have all but run out of patience that still more patience is required” even though in June 2006 he was calling for a significant troop reduction. He wrote in the Washington Post, “We envisage the U.S. troop presence by year’s end [2006] to be under 100,000, with most of the remaining troops to return home by the end of 2007.”

He, like Bush and almost every republican on the planet, are staggeringly out of touch with the opinions of his nation.

Case in point: a majority of Iraqi parliament members have signed a petition calling for a U.S. withdrawal… a development that has yet to be noted in the U.S. media according to AlterNet.org

On Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq’s parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition.

The petition, which is nonbinding, will be presented to the speaker of the Iraqi parliament and then will be put to a vote. While this is an interesting turn of events, it should be known that there are significant loopholes in the petition and its unclear what will happen next.

What is known is that the Iraqi government seems to be of the same mind as a majority of Americans (approximately 60% to be specific) who want U.S. troops to leave Iraq.

Too bad this “President” can’t see that…

More polling data.
Today we got the results of a WNBC/Marist poll on “President” Bush’s approval ratings. According to them it’s a scant 33%.

That is all…

And the dominoes continue to fall...

2 Update belows

For years the republican mantra about the Iraq war has been “a few more months.” Such as ‘a few more months is all we need for victory’ or ‘a few more months is all the Iraqi people need to create a working government’ or ‘a few more months is all the Iraqi government needs to be effective.’

Well… it’s beginning to look as though the current “few more months” will be ending this fall.

William F. Buckley, George Will & David Brooks sounded the trumpet last week… then came the LA Times Editorial board…then came House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) this past weekend… then Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)… then Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) then Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)…

Now it’s Senate republican Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) who is declaring that the war in Iraq is on a short rope within the republican party.

Lott says President Bush's new strategy in Iraq has until September before gop members will need to see results.

Lott’s comment echoed remarks made this past weekend by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)… which are all signs that republican’s have limited patience on the war.

Said Lott: “I do think this fall we have to see some significant changes on the ground, in Baghdad and other surrounding areas.”

(Welcome to the evident point that was well known to everyone with their own brain months ago Mr. Lott)

However, in true republican flip-flop fashion, Lott declined to say what he thinks should happen if Congress doesn’t see improvement in the situation by then, leaving an opening for him and every other republican to backpedal.

Despite that, it’s clear that Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle are giving “President” Bush a few more months to show that the war has (finally) turned a corner… and it’s also relatively clear that September is beginning to look more and more like that decisive month.

That sucking sound you hear is the wind being taken out of the White House sails by upper-echelon conservatives.

Add to that ever-growing list the fact that Kevin Drum of The Washington Monthly believes that there is a “handful” of more moderate republicans who are also thinking about abandoning Bush… plus, Senate Democrats have compiled a list of other republicans that have been opining similar comments.
Wait a minute… are these some of the same republicans that bashed Harry Reid for what they, at the time, said was an all-to-quick prognosis of failure of the war??? Are they now covering their asses hedging their bets?

My one word answer: Yup.

What’s happening now is that they are not only trying to save face, but they are also trying to avoid another election smackdown at the polls in 2008… and 2009… and 2010… and, well, you get the idea.

So in trying to save face they’ve assigned September as the month in which things have to change by, and the reasoning behind September is primarily because that was the month that Gen. David Petraeus, the commanding general in Iraq, has said he would have a handle on whether the current troop increase surge escalation was having a positive “political progress” impact on the war or not.

(Remember that Bush’s supposedly primary purpose of the escalation was to assuage anxiety in Baghdad so some kind of political progress could occur)

Additionally, fiscal 2008 starts October 1st and (most members of) Congress would like to rein in war spending for the new fiscal year.

Granted, we’ve heard similar things before… but this; this could be the real deal.

In September, Petraeus will deliver his progress report, and many people already seem to know what it will say… that progress is being made on the ground… but political progress is a whole different kettle of fish, especially since, as of right now, there is virtually no positive signs that the political process is getting any better.

And in an effort to head the republicans off at the pass, the Democrats need to outline a definition of “progress” now before the Bush(whacked) Administration has a chance to do it and, as is the custom and trademark of this administration, dumb it down. And in my opinion, “progress” will have to mean the disarming of militias, suppressing a wide swath of sectarian violence, the sharing of oil revenue, and so on… anything less than that will be (more of) a failure.

And one has to think that what we know now and what we expect, failure is what we will be seeing in September.

So it’s all settled in the republican party now, right? September will might will might will might will be the end of the president’s Iraq policy…

Maybe… Stay tuned…

Update 1: Then again... maybe not September. The Pentagon announced late yesterday (Tuesday) that 35,000 soldiers in 10 Army combat brigades will start to deploy to Iraq this August, which would make it possible to sustain the escalation until the end of this year at the least. (Once again, ignoring the will of not only the American people and Democrats but quite a few conservatives, the Bush(whacked) Administration is doing whatever the hell they want… way to be the ‘people’s government’ there guys… or should I say ‘boys’…)

Update 2: More coming out about this as Craig Crawford of CQPolitics.com thinks this sudden surge of Septemberitis is a rope-a-dope by a handful of republicans;

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., among others in their party, are now settling upon September as a deadline. But the White House might be preparing the way for another “ropa dope” of Congress. Yesterday the Pentagon announced that another 35,000 troops were notified that they are likely to be heading to Iraq by December. That suggests that, come September, the White House will be asking for a reprieve until the end of the year — and possibly beyond.

Stay tuned…

Photo of the Day

Update Below

From The Sun:

"BUNGLING George Bush made one of his great verbal blunders yesterday - as he welcomed the Queen. He said Her Majesty had joined in America's bicentennial celebrations of 1776 - before quickly correcting himself and saying 1976. As a crowd of 7,000 guests at the President's "gaff" laughed, Mr Bush WINKED at the Queen."

The Queen was not amused...

BTW, the picture is from the Daily Mail.

Update: Now even Queen Elizabeth is making jokes at the President’s expense. Following up on Bush’s gaffe earlier this week, Queen Elizabeth began her toast at the British Embassy dinner with a sarcastic poke at the president:

”Mr. President, I wondered whether I should start this toast saying, ‘When I was here in 1776’”

Nice...

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!

The Weekly Rewind

Hello Sports Fans! That is if your favorite sport takes place in the political arena! It’s Spring, the Bulls have advanced in the playoffs, the Kentucky Derby is this afternoon (gotta get there one year), well anyway lets get to this sport of the everyman a little thing we like to call The Weekly Rewind…..

Heckle: My boss is going to pout and stomp his feet until he gets his own way. “President Bush will not sign any war spending bill that penalizes Iraq’s government” for failing to meet the benchmarks that his own administration has set, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last Sunday, a fresh warning to Congress about challenging him. Ohhh I am sure the leadership of the House and Senate are shaking with fear….more likely they are laughing at how rediculous George is being.

Heckle: to the Ghosts of Ousted Dictators. It is said that a member of Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki’s office is reportedly playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias. Hang one and sure enough there is always another crazy waiting in the wings….

Heckle: I’ll say it again, we have way too many lawyers. The New York City Bar, one of the largest lawyers’ organizations in the country, charges that the Bush administration is trying to evade responsibility for problems at the Guantanamo Bay prison by falsely blaming defense lawyers for the trouble. The association’s criticism comes as the administration is proposing limiting attorneys’ access to detainees. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced a measure Monday to force the Pentagon to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and move the trials of Al Qaeda suspects to the United States. Ok, I don’t like the administration, but I have no problem with holding detainees in Guantanamo Bay. Break em, and jail em…

Heckle: Ok, so the number is a little skewed but is anyone at all surprised? The number of terrorist attacks worldwide rose by 20,000 (40 percent) last year, mostly due to greater violence in Iraq. … Iraq alone accounts for nearly two-thirds of all terrorism-related deaths last year. I guess our presence there is truly making a difference! (it’s so hard to express sarcasm in written form…)

Heckle: This thinking would give anyone whiplash. Paul D. Wolfowitz defended himself vigorously on Monday, declaring that it would be ‘unjust and frankly hypocritical’ for the World Bank’s board to find him guilty of ethical lapses. But he also hinted that he would discuss whether to resign as bank president if the board cleared him of misconduct. Ok, he thinks he is innocent of ethical lapses, but he will consider resigning…..my head hurts….

Applaud: to someone finally saying what many of us have been thinking (and saying) for years. In states across the country, local lawyers, politicians, editorial writers, members of Congress and defendants are questioning what they say is a pattern of investigating Democrats. They point to inquiries that drag on for years but end with no charges, an acquittal or convictions for relatively modest infractions. To this I can only say, DUH ! , a perfect example of this is the Lewinsky ‘scandal’. When republicans could not get Bill Clinton on any ‘land deal’ issues they grabed for straws and hounded him over something that was a personal matter that had no bearing on his running of the country….and yet ‘King George’ goes unpunished for killing thousands of US Troops…

Applaud: Scott Bloch has demonstrated a willingness to go after Karl Rove, at least on the small stuff: The Los Angeles Times has learned that Bloch investigated complaints that Rove’s politically related travel had been improperly billed to the government. Bloch’s action resulted in a reimbursement to the Treasury Department for what some described as a “bookkeeping error.” You know had this not been raised no reimbursement would have occurred….how many more things need to be looked into for reimbursement, my fear is way too many with this White House....

Heckle: Heckle to the Deputy chief. Karl (Emperor Palpatine) Rove participated in a hastily called meeting at the White House two months ago to coach a top Justice Department official on what he should say to Congress about the prosecutorial purge. Investigators are suggesting that Rove’s attendance at the meeting shows that he may have been involved in an attempt to mislead Congress. No really, a top administration offical being involved in an effort to mislead Congress or an investigation, say it isn’t so! Once again it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form.

Heckle: Monkey see, Monkey do….. Michael Elston, the chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, made calls to the purged U.S. attorneys telling them to keep quiet about their dismissals. Elston recently told congressional investigators that those calls were placed at McNulty’s direction after he learned the prosecutors might testify before Congress about their dismissals. Do I relly need to say anything…

Heckle: It safe to say these guys don’t have a membership to the Museum of Natural History. At this weeks debate, three Republican presidential candidates — Sen. Sam Brownback, Rep. Tom Tancredo, and Gov. Mike Huckabee — said they do not believe in evolution. So I guess we just magically appeared on the planet…sign them up for Scientology!

Applaud: it’s about time. Lawmakers of both parties are making a new effort to pass a federal shield law to protect reporters from being forced to reveal their sources. Such protection would give government whistle-blowers more reason to reveal corruption when they know that reporters will be shielded in most cases from prosecutors’ efforts to reveal information. This can only be seen as a good thing by all, unless you are trying to mislead Congress….

Applaud: Go get em Henry! U.S. News reports, “One of [Rep. Henry] Waxman’s next objectives will be not only to examine false claims by administration officials to justify invading Iraq but also to expose people and companies that have profited disproportionately from the war”, congressional sources say. Hill Democrats think this line of inquiry will be explosive and will tarnish war proponents. All together now…Halliburton….

Heckle: I want what I want when and how I want it. Congressional leaders met President Bush at the White House this week to open negotiations on new Iraq legislation. Several Republican leaders said Tuesday that they were likely to “support such benchmarks”, and White House aides said Tuesday that Mr. Bush…might back such a measure — “but only if the benchmarks are nonbinding.” What a surprise, rhetoric with no accountability, the battlecry of this president.

Well folks there you have em, the few good and the many laughable, questionable or just plain sad.

Be good, stay informed….later.

Short Stacks

Worse than Vietnam?
As the United States enters into its fifth year of the Iraq war, an increasing, and alarming, number of foreign policy experts are stating that Iraq will be worse for the U.S. than Vietnam all the while saying that the biggest difference may be that the Iraq war will inflict GREATER damage on U.S. interests than “Vietnam did.”

Said retired Air Force General, and Vietnam veteran, Charles Wald: “It (Iraq) makes Vietnam look like a cakewalk.”

Mr. Ward goes on to say that the so-called domino theory that nations across Southeast Asia would go communist didn’t happen, but with Iraq, “worst-case scenarios are the most likely thing to happen.”

Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., a retired Army officer and author of one of the most respected studies of the U.S. military’s failure in Vietnam, agrees, saying that Iraq is worse than Vietnam “in so many ways. We knew what we were getting into in Vietnam. We didn’t here.”

“President” Bush and his Merry Band of Cronies have done nothing but exacerbate the problems of Iraq by ignoring diplomacy in the Muslim world and by failing to develop alternate energy polices to reduce our need for Middle Eastern oil… even though he labeled us a nation of foreign-oil addicts and has done absolutely nothing to alter that.

Lost: One Pillar of Conservatism
William F. Buckley, one of the fathers of modern conservatism and an “Editor at Large” at National Review has never been a fan of the Iraq War, but now he’s going farther off the republican reservation and is not only saying the war in Iraq is a lost cause and that “it is simply untrue that we (the U.S.) are making decisive progress in Iraq” but that the gop might be lost as well because of the actions of the Bush(whacked) Administration.

To have someone of Buckley’s stature question if the republican party can emerge from this administration intact has to be un-nerving to a lot of republicans and should shake things up a bit. The far-reaching actions of this administration have already spurred change in last year’s mid-terms, and continually allowing the administration to work in this manner will give a huge advantage to the Democrats in 2008.

And seeing as how this is relatively the same thing that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said and all the conservative pundits (Malkin, Limbaugh, et al) branded him a traitor… I wonder if they’ll do the same to Buckley?

Wanted: One Prime Minister
British PM Tony Blair has announced that he will be stepping down in “in the next few weeks.”

Unfortunately for him, since he aligned himself with Bush, his legacy will consist of getting the UK into the Iraq war and… well… nothing else really.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, a survey by CommunicateResearch reveals that 69% of the British public believe he will be most remembered Iraq war, his next highest “legacy rating” (And we use ‘highest’ very, very loosely) is 9%… and that’s for his relationship with “President” Bush…

Ouch…

But, while his friend across the pond is suffering Nixonian-level approval numbers, there is some good news for Mr. Blair. Despite public hostility about their involvement in Iraq, 61% think that he was, overall, a good Prime Minister while only 36% thought he was a bad one.

Seeing as how his countrymen feel, do you get the feeling that Bush is feeling unappreciated?

Not the kind you find on a golf course
“President” Bush met with some of his ATM’s friends from Texas recently and they all left the meeting very worried:

[S]ome big money players up from Texas recently paid a visit to their friend in the White House. The story goes that they got out exactly one question, and the rest of the meeting consisted of the President in an extended whine, a rant, actually, about no one understands him, the critics are all messed up, if only people would see what he’s doing things would be OK…etc., etc. This is called a “bunker mentality” and it’s not attractive when a friend does it. When the friend is the President of the United States, it can be downright dangerous. Apparently the Texas friends were suitably appalled, hence the story now in circulation.

It seems that Mr. Bush has recently undertaken ranting and raving about how people don’t understand him and how unappreciated he is…

This should end well…

Another Perot?

Back in 1992, H. Ross Perot's idealistic crusade for the presidency tapped into voters' unhappiness with the major-party candidates and their frets about the state of the country.

The result was his shaking-up of the race where he captured one of every five votes.

Could we see something like that again?

Not counting Ralph Nader and his incredibly misguided, foolish, erroneous and ill-advised attempts to keep candidates honest and speaking on issues important to him (last time Ralph – you’re screwing EVERYONE over when you run) this time it’s the talk of another independent run by another billionaire; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

This news came as Democrat-turned-moron independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said that a third-party candidate could emerge to shake things up unless the two major parties tackle the growing problem of partisanship that disaffects many voters.

Consider that there are even more similarities to 1992: we have an immensely unpopular Bush in the White House, a grossly dissatisfied public and a (still relatively) lackluster crop of presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle.

And the comparisons and similarities don’t stop there; Bloomberg, like Perot is a social liberal,a budget hawk, a self-made billionaire with a little eccentricity thrown in for good measure.

Granted, he runs on the Republican ticket, but Bloomberg is no Republican. He was a lifelong Democrat who switched parties so he could run for mayor more easily.

And like Perot, he can run against the two-party system as a reformer who can't be bought because he won’t have to be beholden to special interest groups.

I’ll be the first to admit that this is a very interesting possibility. As of now, the Democrats are fairly satisfied with their slate of candidates (more so the first and second tiers) but the republicans are not quite satisfied (at least not until Fred Thompson enters the race).

Bloomberg would be a very attractive candidate to a huge cross-section of voters and would take from both parties but would cause more havoc to republicans.

For what it’s worth, Bloomberg has denied any thoughts of running (almost as much as Al Gore has…) but the New York tabloids often quote “friends” of his that claim differently. But, as happened in 1992, voter disaffection with Washington — plus an estimated $5.3 billion personal fortune — has kept Mr. Bloomberg’s name alive as a candidate.

While Mr. Bloomberg is known for a get-it-done management style, he has riled some voters with his “nanny-state” initiatives such as banning smoking and trans-fats in restaurants (wait, did Richard Daley move to NYC?), but he also has won admirers for taking tough stands on other issues.

So will he run? I give it a 38% chance of that happening right now… but, after a few more months of the current crop sniping and slinging at each other, let’s see what happens.

Stay tuned…

Four Years Later...

From Think Progress:

On May 1, 2003, President Bush stood underneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner and announced that “Major combat operations have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”

Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the situation then, compared to the situation now:

- - - - - -	5/1/2003	5/1/2007
U.S. Troops Wounded	542	24,912
U.S. Troops Killed	139	3,351
Contractors Killed	69	916
Journalists & Media Assistants Killed	11	167
U.S. Forces in Iraq	150,000	146,000
Number of Insurgents	less than 5,000	70,000 +
Insurgent Attacks Per Day	8	148.9
Cost to U.S. Taxpayers	$79 billion	$421 billion
Approval of Bush’s Handling of Iraq	75%	24%
Percentage of Americans who Believe The Iraq War Was “Worth Fighting”	70%	34%
Bush’s Overall Job Approval	71%	32%

I don't think anything else needs to be said…

The Weekly Rewind

It’s that time again… no pomp… no circumstance… no ado, just…

The.

Weekly.

Rewind.

Applaud: to the Senate. They approved a $124 billion Iraq war spending bill earlier this week that would force troop withdrawals to begin as early as July 1. While this forces a showdown with the White House, it does show some strength and balls for the Democrats… keep it up.

Heckle: to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. This past week she said that she will not comply with a subponae since she has “already answered the questions she has been subpoenaed to answer.” She added; “I am more than happy to answer them again in a letter.” (This is how this administration works… they don’t dare speak under oath because they know they’re lying and that they will be caught in the lie. And besides, I’m no attorney, but doesn’t one have to comply with a subponea??)

Applaud: to the lowest numbers of his presidency. “President” Bush’s job approval rating, according to a Harris survey, is at 28% and is approaching Nixonian levels. As we mentioned earlier this week, sometimes the snark just writes itself…

Heckle: to WaPo columnist David Broder baseless claim that there’s a “long list of senators of both parties” who are ready for Sen. Harry Reid (D-XX) to step down as majority leaderdue to his views on Iraq. (Apparently Mr. Broder doesn’t read his own paper let alone any other paper as Mr. Reid’s sentiments of the war are shared by a plurality of Americans. What is it I say about people like Broder? Oh right; Mo. Ron.)

Applaud: to the 50 members of Senator Harry Reid’s caucus, who wrote a letter to the publisher of WaPo fr that praises him for his “extraordinary leadership” and directlty contradicts the baffoonish act described above.

Heckle: to news that economic growth is at a four-year low and is raising concerns that troubles in the housing market are gonna spread and throw the country into a recession before the year is out. (Naturally, the Bush(whacked) Administration doesn’t see anything wrong and maintains the economy is strong… and that pigs will dance on pinheads and angels will fly… wait…)

Applaud: to Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)… I know, I know, but hear me out. Earlier this week, Sen. Brownback stated that “the Bush administration and Republicans are not doing enough politically in Iraq” and that while they have a strategy (Which I disagree with – I don’t think they do) it’s “dominated by military and Maliki.” (I love it when a republican says something against this administration’s doctrine… no matter how much of a wingnutjob they are…)

Heckle: to Scott Bloch, the chief of the Office of Special Counsel. While I applauded his actions earlier this week (though now, after more reading about it, I’m not so sure his investigation will do a damn thing), it was learned this past week that he himself is “under investigation” by the inspector general of the Office of Personnel Management because of accusations that he politicized his agency and is using this new investigation into Karl Rove to “divert attention from his own problems.” (This shouldn’t surprise me, since it is a member of Bush’s administration – but it does. I had high hopes for an investigation into Rove, but now it all looks like a sham… just like the rest of Bush’s presidency.)

Applaud: to a handful of retired generals that endorsed Congress’ Iraq withdrawal legislation earlier this week. Maj. Gen. John Batiste called it “important legislation [that] sets a new direction in Iraq,” while Lt. Gen. William Odom said it will “re-orient US strategy to achieve regional stability, and win help from many other countries - the only way peace will eventually be achieved.” (Once again, members, or former members, of the military are expressing their distrust of this administration... keep it going everyone…)

Heckle: to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who returned to Capitol Hill earlier his week and… meh, they’re still not buying it. Time to go bye-bye Alberto…

Applaud: to saying it like it is. Britain’s top counterterrorism officer, Peter Clarke, stated that Al Qaeda and its supporters have established “an inexorable trend towards more ambitious and more destructive attack planning… (and) … the only sensible assumption is that we shall be attacked again.” (Rather than spin the truth and make it a political issue like we do over here – if the Dems get elected we’ll be attacked again – Clarke is speaking the truth and ignoring the politics. Wish someone over on this side of the pond would follow suit…)

Heckle: to putting responsibility in the wrong hands. An expose by the New York Times revealed how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA for you acronym-lovers out there) has killed dozens of existing and proposed regulations and delayed adopting others under “President” Bush and has also placed safety “in the hands of industry.” Essentially meaning that the companies are now monitoring themselves when it comes to worker safety… (Wow! That sounds like a good idea that doesn’t have any negative repurcussions, doesn’t it? –Yes, that was sarcasm. This is just another example of how little this administration cares about the worker and how much they care about companies…)

Applaud: to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). He’s widening the scope of his investigation into potentially illegal partisan activities and has requested 27 federal departments to turn over information related to White House briefings about elections or political candidates. (And the blitz just keeps on coming. Don’t let up guys…)

Heckle: to Rudy Giuliani. In a turn of events that is not at all surprising and is a stark “departure from his previously stated position on civil unions” he came out this past week “in opposition” to the civil union law recently passed in New Hampshire… (Let the flip-flopping begin in five, four, three, two…)

Applaud: to U.S. Attorney Carol Lam for being named outstanding attorney of the year by the San Diego County Bar Association… good job Ms. Lam… oh, did I mention that she was one of the eight former U.S. attorneys across the country who were dismissed because of “poor performance.” Give me a break, with his ever-dropping approval numbers “President” Bush would kill to have this kind of “poor performance.”

Heckle: to the Pentagon for spinning people’s lives to either save face or create a hero. This past week, former Army private Jessica Lynch accused the Pentagon of creating something out of nothing when they made her rescue look like something from a Hollywood movie. At the same time they were taken to task by the brother and mother of former NFL star and Army Ranger Pat Tillman for their mis-handling of his friendly-fire death…. Sad… and pathetic the Pentagon’s handling was.

Half-Hearted Applaud: to the former director of the CIA George Tenet. He has a new book out that lays-into Vice President Dick “Dick” Cheney as well as other Bush(whacked) administration officials. In the book, he says they pushed the country to war in Iraq without ever conducting a “serious debate" about whether Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat to the United States. (Why is this a half-hearted applaud? Four words; too little, too late. If Tenet had said something about this lack of debate before the war started instead of falling in line with all the other BushCronies, think of how many lives could have been saved. Instead, he waits until he can seemingly make money off of it in a book. You, Mr. Tenet, are both sad and pathetic.)

Applaud: to the Democratic candidates for president. All of them, yes – ALL of them, participated in the first of a series of televised debates Thursday night. Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Gravel, Kucinich, Obama, & Richardson were all on their best behavior as they tried to assail themselves to the American people. There were no miscues, no screw-ups and no clear winner. Let’s hope they can all keep things this civil as the campaign wears on…

This week’s Wingnut Tool of the Week is… Rudy Giuliani. During a campaign stop at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire this past week, Giuliani suggested (he didn’t expressly say it – but it was very much implied) that if the Democrats get into the White House there will be another terrorist attack and that; “If any Republican is elected president — and I think obviously I would be the best at this — we will remain on offense and will anticipate what [the terrorists] will do and try to stop them before they do it.” Wow, nothing like politicizing 9/11 for your own gain… I think it might be possible that he might mention 9/11 more often than Bush, and because of the inanity and narrow-mindedness of this comment, he’s our; Tool of the Week.

The 2008 Presidential Campaign Weekly Rewind. Before we begin with that, next week, keep an eye out for a new feature here at TBWA. With the 2008 already heating up and one debate already out of the way, we’ve decided to break-off the Presidential Campaign Rewind unto it’s own post… keep a look out…

First, the Democrats. Richardson gave AG Gonzales a chance to defend himself but he “didn’t do well”… Clinton didn’t quite pick up an endorsement from NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer but got raves… Obama rebuked Giuliani’s assertions that a Dem in the White Houe would bring another terror attack & had to defend his history of charitable donations… Dodd is frustrated by the lack of media attention his campaign is getting… Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment for Cheney… Edwards had a relatively quiet week… ditto for Biden… and in the words of my esteemed colleague Scott, Gravel came off a lot like Admiral Stockdale in the debate.

And now, the republicans… McCain officially announced his candidacy while drawing a very small crowd & missed another Senate vote due to his campaigning … Romney purchased $2M more of campaign ad airtime… Huckabee’s son was arrested with a gun & he called Gonzales a distraction… the two Thompsons made little noise this week, and former Gov. Gilmore tossed his hat into the already crowded ring

And one final thought… is it hypocrisy or irony when Rudy Giuliani claims to be a protector of the sanctity of marriage? I’m just askin’…

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…

The FCC Cometh...

The Federal Communications Commission is getting ready to make a recommendation to Congress to pass legislation aimed at restricting the airing of violent television shows before 10:00 p.m EST (9:00 CST).

According to the Washington Post, the legislation would give the FCC the authority to levy fines on broadcast television networks and stations that air violent programming in the same manner that it does in cases of so-called “indecent” programming.

It’s clear that a First Amendment battle seems to be building-up between DC and the television industry, and the children seem to be in the middle of it all.

The looming request to Congress just happens to come the same week the FCC will release the results of a TV violence report that was commissioned by a group of lawmakers back in 2004.

According to the Post story, the FCC has concluded in the report that allowing the government to regulate "excessive violence" on TV is in the public interest, especially between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when kids are likely to be watching.

How exactly does one define "excessive violence"?

And even if the FCC can come up with an acceptable definition of violence, how do you objectively determine what’s excessive?

You can’t, of course, because the question of what is and what isn’t excessive is entirely subjective and open to interpretation.

What I think is excessive could very will be different from what you think is excessive.

Not to mention that this ploy by the FCC essentially says that all of us are incapable of doing our parental duties and can’t be trusted to decide for ourselves what is appropriate viewing materials for our children.

Before this piece of legislation is passed, I’d like to see proof that the government can do a better job than parents at monitoring what our children watch... oh wait, that’s right, no such proof exists.

Said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin; "I think it would be better if the industry addressed this on its own, but we can also give parents help through regulation." Or... we could let parents be parents and have them monitor what their children watch... or would that make too much sense?

Here’s what I want to say to Mr. Martin; I don't need your help and I certainly don't want any help.

Monitoring what is watched by our children is the job of the parent and not the US Government. My wife and I choose what they watch and when they watch, and they are not allowed to watch any shows unless we approve it first.

Mandating what we are allowed to watch is another form of Government censorship even if it is done under the guise of protecting children from violence.

Aren’t there more important things our government should be focusing on right now?

Cross-posted as a diary on Daily Kos

Here Comes the Probe

Well it’s about friggin’ time…

The Office of Special Counsel is about to do what thousands of Americans have wanted to do for a very long time… stick a probe so far up Karl Rove’s ass that they find his head…

From the Washington Post:

“The Office of Special Counsel is preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a broad investigation into key elements of the White House political operations that for more than six years have been headed by chief strategist Karl Rove.

The new investigation, which will examine the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White House e-mails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees attuned to Republican political priorities, could create a substantial new problem for the Bush White House.”

One of the OSC’s primary reasons for existence is to enforce the Hatch Act, a law enacted in 1939 to preserve the integrity of the civil service…

Oops…

Obviously the office has been severely lacking in their enforcement and monitoring with the current administration, but now, with a plethora of problems plaguing Bush’s White House, they’re starting to find their courage and are about to embark on a quest that could have wide-reaching implications on many, many people.

One also has to think, and it’s what I believe, that with a Democratically-controlled Congress, all the “non-partisan” agencies within our government (I.E.: GAO, CBO, etc) have become a little more brave in their attempts to point out wrongdoing within the Bush(whacked) Administration.

Think about it… now they can get information to the chairpersons of the various committees in order to, at the least, get the hearing process underway without fear of retribution

So the OSC is going to investigate Rove and try to discover not only what knows, but also what he’s done

Now we only have to hope that Rove has a better memory than Alberto “Bush Still Likes Me” Gonzales… which is highly unlikely. But, in my opinion, I think Rove seems like one to back down from a real fight and will probably plead the fifth…

Stay tuned…

Update: I’ve read a lot of other posts about this today, and badgervan mentioned it in a couple of comments on this story.

I know a lot of people are skeptical of the head of OSC, Scott Bloch, and for good reason as he seems to be a BushCrony in the highest order (I’ll try and hide my surprise…)

But, as I mentioned above, I like the chances of something actually getting done because of the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Also, Mr. Bloch might be looking out for his own ass and doesn’t want to be hungh up to dry like Scooter and, sooner or later, Alberto…

Short-stacks: A collection of short posts

King George & Jester Gonzales

After hearing “President” Bush’s news conference this morning and his defending of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales I want to ask him one question…

What color is the sky in your world George?

What the hell have you been watching?

Politicians from both sides of the aisle, along with employees in the White House, have lambasted Gonzales’ testimony last week as “pathetic” and described Gonzales as “going down in flames”.. but then Georgie-boy comes along and feeds us this malarky:

”The Attorney General went up and gave a very candid assessment and answered every question he could possibly answer, honestly answer, in a way that increased my confidence in his ability to do the job. One of the things that it's important for the American people to understand is that the Attorney General has a right to recommend to me to replace U.S. attorneys. U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. In other words, we have named them and I have the right to replace them with somebody else. And as the investigation, the hearings went forward, it was clear that the Attorney General broke no law. Did no wrongdoing. And some senators didn't like his explanation, but he answered as honestly as he could. This is an honest, honorable man in whom I have confidence.”

I’m sorry… what??

Gonzales answered every question he could possibly answer honestly???

What about the dozen or so questions he didn’t answer?

Rather than do what hundreds of people are calling for you to do to him (here’s a hint Mr. Bush; it rhymes with pire, you reiterate your faith in him and say that the attorney general’s testimony last week “increased my confidence” in him and that he answered every question

One would think that Cronyism has its limits… but juging Bush’s action today, it’s clear that HE doesn’t.

A handful of republicans have called for Gonzales to resign while others have stated they’ve lost confidence in him, but stopped just short of calling for his resignation (which is an idiotic concept since an AG with no votes of confidence is an effective AG, conservative pundits and the editorial board of the National Review want Gonzales to go as do a plurality of Americans.

It’s too bad that Bush can’t see that through his rose-colored glasses.



Crow vs. Rove: The Grudgematch

Singer Sheryl Crow, who is currently amid a cross-country global warming awareness trip, got into a dust-up with Karl “President” Rove over the weekend at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

The subject of the dust-up? Global warming.

Crow’s friend, Laurie David, describes the scene:

”We asked Mr. Rove if he would consider taking a fresh look at the science of global warming. Much to our dismay, he immediately got combative. And it went downhill from there. We reminded the senior White House advisor that the US leads the world in global warming pollution and we are doing the least about it. Anger flaring, Mr. Rove immediately regurgitated the official Administration position on global warming which is that the US spends more on researching the causes than any other country. […] In his attempt to dismiss us, Mr. Rove turned to head toward his table, but as soon as he did so, Sheryl reached out to touch his arm. Karl swung around and spat, ‘Don’t touch me.’ Unphased, Sheryl abruptly responded, ‘You can’t speak to us like that, you work for us.’ Karl then quipped, ‘I don’t work for you, I work for the American people.’ To which Sheryl promptly reminded him, ‘We are the American people.’”

Rove’s version has a slightly different view: “She came over to insult me and she succeeded.”

Wow… Mr. Sensitive. Not only is Rove extremely sensitive, he’s apparently also very easily insulted, especially when the topic is global warming policy.

Here’s a nickels worth of advice to Mr. Rove. Get. A. Clue. While you may not agree with someone’s opinions, to express yourself in the manner that is being reported is not only sad and pathetic but spectacularly un-professional (though coming from someone in “The Huggers” inner circle it’s not entirely surprising). And considering the age we live in, where every cell phone has cameras and video cameras installed, it probably won’t be long before video of the encounter hits YouTube for the entire world to see…



RIP Boris Yeltsin

A man who helped lead a watershed moment in Global politics passed away this morning as Boris Yeltsin died at the age of 76.

Mr. Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, a post he held from 1991 to 1999 before being replaced by current President Vladimir Putin.

The Yeltsin era was a dramatic period in Russian history, marked not only by revolutionary political change and the arrival of democracy in Russia, but also with enormous political and social problems, including widespread corruption.

Picking up from Mikail Gorbechov, Yeltsin was a force to be reckoned with in Russian politics as he took his nation by its hands and led them through a new period. He was a politician who refused to backdown from a fight and, as my esteemed colleague Scott said; “ was instrumental in the collapse of the former socialist republic… in fact it was more his doing than (former President Ronald “Not Grecian Formula 45”) Reagan's.” (Rememeber, that’s S-c-o-t-t and not K-e-m-p… though I do agree with him)

Now it’s interesting to see that the freedoms that he fought for are slowly being challenged and, at times, eroded.

Goodbye Mr. Yeltsin…


And finally...

From Daily Kos:

Just bask in this AP story a bit:

"Campaigning in 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush would repeatedly raise his right hand as if taking an oath and vow to "restore honor and integrity" to the White House. He pledged to usher in a new era of bipartisanship.... Now, with fewer than two years left of his second term, the Bush administration is embroiled in multiple scandals and ethics investigations. The war in Iraq still rages. Bush's approval ratings are hovering in the mid-30s. And Democratic-Republican relations have seldom been more rancorous."

Hee hee hee hee...

The Weekly Rewind

I’m back from a nice soothing vacation in Las Vegas. I would tell you all about it but what happens in Vegas… well you know the rest…

Let’s get on with this week’s edition of (patent pending) “The Weekly Rewind.”

Here. We. Go.

Applaud: to the families and friends of those affected by this week’s attacks at Virginia Tech. And while we’re at it, our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those affected by the Oklahoma City bombing, which occurred 12 years ago yesterday, and the Columbine attacks, which happened eight years ago today. Stay strong…

Heckle: to the Bush(whacked) Administration. Apparently, they keep records of anyone who has ever been prescribed anti-depressants. From ABC News, regarding the VA Tech shooter: “Some news accounts have suggested that Cho had a history of antidepressant use, but senior federal officials tell ABC News that they can find no record of such medication in the government's files. This does not completely rule out prescription drug use, including samples from a physician, drugs obtained through illegal Internet sources, or a gap in the federal database, but the sources say theirs is a reasonably complete search.” (Excuse me? We don't even have a list of gun owners in this country, but we seemingly have a list of every single person who has ever been prescribed anti-depressants…this is troubling…)

Applaud: to a majority of Americans who do NOT consider withdrawal from Iraq as “surrender.” According to a Fox “News” poll (I know, I would have though they would have altered it to fit their opinion also) that asked “Do you think it is accurate to compare withdrawal with surrender?” 61% said no, it’s not the same… so take that!

Heckle: to the prospect of a 3 mile long concrete wall being constructed in Baghdad. Yes… a wall… a wall designed to “cut off one of the capital’s most restive Sunni Arab districts from the Shiite Muslim neighborhoods” that surround it. Never mind that Iraqi’s have raised concerns about how this will enhance the “further Balkanization of Iraq’s most populous and violent city.” (Nice… cuz that idea worked oh-so-well in Germany…)

Applaud: to telling it like it is. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) suggested to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales during his testimony on Capitol Hill that “the best way to put this behind us is your resignation.” Gonzales naturally disagreed, but one has to think that Coburn is absolutely correct and curious as to just how much longer Gonzales can hold on to this job…

Heckle: to the “masked-senator” who has placed an “anonymous hold” on legislation that’s moving through the Senate requiring lawmakers’ campaign finance reports to be electronically filed and thus, made public more quickly. (Nice… nothing like blocking progress. Odds are 3:1 that the ‘anonymous moron’ is Ted Stevens, a republican from Alaska)

Applaud: to the Trials of Alberto Gonzales. At times he struggled to offer a coherent explanation while appearing frustrated, weary and at times combative, all while angering committee members “as he invoked a faulty memory more than 50 times.” Add to that this nice piece of information: 63% of Americans think Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is lying about the Bush(whacked) administration’s prosecutor purge… (It’s things like this that give me some hope that common sense is making a comeback in this country… though our commander in chief was “pleased” with Gonzales’ testimony… give me strength…)

Heckle: to the White House Correspondents Association dinner palnners. Just when you think they couldn’t get any more pathetic by hiring non-insutling Rich “Haven’t Been Popular in Over 20 Years” Little to headline (and thus giving “President” Bush and his administration a pass) they go out and make it more pathetic by inviting American Idol reject Sanjaya Malakar… (If the entire audience is asleep 10 minutes into the show, I’ll be surprised…)

Applaud: to the news that two republican lawmakers found themselves being raided by the Feds this past week for, how should I put this? “Shady dealings.” Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) had his house raided earlier this week due to his and his wife’s connections to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Another good thing was that because of that he is temporarily stepping down from his position on the House Appropriations Committee) Add to that the fact the FBI raided a business tied to the family of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing investigation. (Like Doolittle, Renzi is temporarily stepping down from a committee seat, giving up his spot on the House Intelligence Committee (Don’t you think that after a while they would realize they’re gonna get caught and stop?? Though it does make for some good theater…)

Heckle: to Senate conservatives who, earlier this week, “blocked legislation” that would have allowed the federal government to negotiate Medicare drug prices. (Never mind the fact that 85% of Americans support such negotiations, it’s the right thing to do. Too bad the conservatives in the Senate can’t grasp that concept…)

Applaud: to even more cracks in the conservative foundation. In what can only be described as another signal of just how much republican unease there is with the president’s Iraq policies, another gop senator (that would make three) gave support for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq under certain conditions. This time is was Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) who announced that she would sponsor a bill that would require American commanders to plan a withdrawal within 120 days of the bill’s enactment, unless the Iraqi government met a few goals. (Seeing republican/gop support for not only this war but also for Bush’s policies erode is rather enjoyable, so let’s keep it up)

Heckle: to the news that, for the 11th straight week, the national average price for gasoline in the U.S. rose. (What more can be said?)

Applaud: to The House for passing the Taxpayer Protection Act earlier this week. The act looks to protect taxpayers against “identity theft, deceptive Web sites and loan sharks” while also making it easier for taxpayers to retrieve property lost as a result of a wrongful IRS levy and additionaly directing the IRS to inform low-income returnees that they qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit. (As a rule we at TBWA do NOT criticize the IRS, so we’re not gonna give any smart-ass comments)

Heckle: to, once again, the Bush(whacked) Administration. According to a post in Real Cities.com, for the past six years, the Bush administration, being aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued a legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in a way that has come down on the side of Republicans (And I can pinpoint when it started… right when the SCOTUS handed the presidency to Bush in 2000. 1/20/09 can NOT come soon enough…)

Applaud: to the news this past week that the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section is investigating connections between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House… a potential White House problem that is expected to be exacerbated by missing White House emails. (Mr. Rove, please step up to the plate – you’re next)

Applaud: to some thawing (Pun intended) in the public’s views on Global Warming. A new poll shows that a third of Americans say “global warming ranks as the world’s single largest environmental problem” and that seven in 10 Americans want federal action on global warming. This comes as areas in the arctic north have been experiencing some of the worst impacts of global warming with Inuit hunters falling through thinning ice and dying and the fact that there’s not enough snow to build igloos for shelter during hunts… (But ask any republican and they’ll deny it… boggles the mind, doesn’t it?)

This was a hard week to determine this award, what with all the inane and idiotic comments coming from a handful of conservative pundits about the Virginia Tech attack, but I think we found a winner. This week’s gop tool of the week is former republican presidential and U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes. During an appearance on the Caplis & Silverman radio show, Keyes was asked about Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). Said Keyes: “He's an evil man and he needs to be stopped” and then proceeded to compare him to Adolf Hitler… (Besides it being an incredible case of the pot calling the kettle black, keep in mind that Keyes always has been and always will be a danger to common sense, and now he’s crossed the line and passed over to cartoon villainy. Alan Keyes: What. A. Tool.)

And finally…this week’s rundown on the 2008 presidential race.

On the Left: Richardson announced that he’s going to start airing ads in Iowa & has already bought airtime in New Hampshire… Clinton picked-up the endorsement of Hef & is going carbon neutral for a day… Edwards paid his campaign back for some obscenely expensive haircuts & hired a new strategist… Obama was out fundraising & announced that he would attend Rev. Al Sharpton’s NAN conference. The lower tier candidates? Meh…

On the right: McCain tried out for the Beach Boys & got heckled… Giiliani spoke this past week at Pat Robertson’s university & saw his lead in the polls start to shrink… Fred Thompson continues to “dazzle” even though he hasn’t announced his intentions yet… Tommy Tutone Thompson has already put his foot in his mouth and apologized for it… Huckabee had a ‘fun run’ in New Hampshire &… well, that’s really it… Romney flip-flopped on Clinton’s ‘It Takes a Village’ motto & managed to not stick his foot in his mouth for a week…

All I have, take ‘em as you will…

Remember

It was 12 years ago this morning… 9:02 CST to be precise… that the face of our nation truly began to change.

It was on this date 12 years ago, in Oklahoma City, that two men detonated a truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

168 people were killed…

… more than 800 were injured.

I was in college when it happened… getting ready for class, watching CNN, when they suddenly broke in with breaking news.

(Back then ‘breaking news’ was actual news… not something like the true father of Anna Nicole’s baby… but that’s another post for another day…)

My immediate thought was on my family, who lived in Norman but worked in Oklahoma City. I called my Mom, who was at work and hadn’t heard about the explosion, who then proceeded to try and get a hold of her brother and his family.

Thankfully, they were okay… physically okay, but mentally drained by the events of that morning.

On a trip last September to visit them in Oklahoma, my wife and I visited the Memorial, our second such visit. The previous visit was in January 1997 when the blast marks, and debris were still very-much visible.

This time we saw the completed memorial; The Field of Empty Chairs, The Survivor Tree, The Musuem… and still, to this day, it effected us.

For all who lost their lives on that day… and for all who were and still are affected by the events of that morning; my thoughts and prayers go out to you all.


Cross-posted at Kemp’s Blog