The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

The day after Day One of the Democratic National Convention…

• If you want to see every speech at the DNC, watch C-Span… added bonus: no mindless, inane, journalist chatter...
• Sen. Ted Kennedy looked and sounded mighty good last night, delivering a powerful and moving speech… as did Sen. Claire McCaskill who showed that she knows how to incite a crowd … and Michelle Obama would have stole the show with her moving speech if not for being upstaged by her daughters as the evening wound down…
• Proving that he is the ONLY thing worth watching on CNN, Jack Cafferty absolutely NAILS it… again. This time taking to task the Clintons’, for lack of a better word, whining.
• Tuesday’s Agenda; Sen. Hillary Clinton (who MUST, MUST call her supporters that are whining about voting for McCain onto the carpet and ask them how the hell that would help this country)… Virginia Gov. Mark Warner… the mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska (who is a republican Obama-backer by the way)… as well as Lily Ledbetter, the woman whose lawsuit against Goodyear for equal pay led to the passage of the Fair Pay Restoration Act… all in all another good day. Let’s hope they can match yesterday…
• Sen. Ted Stevens (r-AK) is accusing the DOJ of “trying to smear his character” (you don’t need any help with that Ted, you’re doing a fine job of that on your own) and “making accusations haphazardly, hoping to damage his reputation at trial.” Stevens is not only damaged goods, but in serious trouble… and he knows this, which explains all these inane attempts to avert the inevitable; prison.
• Continuing individual state’s crusade against the politicized EPA, 12 states, along with New York City and DC, are suing the agency because of greenhouse gas emissions from oil refineries. The lawsuit points the finger and accuses the agency of violating the Clean Air Act by refusing to issue standards for controlling the emissions. (Well done states…keep the pressure on)
• A Denver news affiliate is reporting that “at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Barack Obama” and that the Secret Service, ATF, and the U.S. Attorney’s office are investigating it.
• And have we mentioned? That senility is contagious? How else could you explain Karl Rove, an “informal” adviser to McCain, saying on Fox “News” after Michelle Obama’s speech last night that she didn’t show “adequate enough” love for her country in her speech? Spouted Rove; “I don’t think she did too well on saying I love America. That wasn’t adequate enough…” Um… okay? So her saying this, HT to TP; “I know firsthand from their lives — and mine — that the American dream endures.” Or this; “I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history — knowing that my piece of the American dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me.” Or this; “That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack’s journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope. That is why I love this country.” So this isn’t adequate enough? Well, I guess we should listen to Rove… after all, inadequacies are his specialty… just look at his recent track record. Besides, we all know Rove is a joke whose political prognostications have been wrong since Bush started his second term… and his spew also shows just how worried the republicans are. Criticizing for the sake of criticizing doesn’t play well with voters… but knowing that would require Rove to actually listen to voters, and we all know he won’t have any of that…

Are they just stupid?

Ok so here I am watching everyone gather for the start of the Democratic Convention. And I am reading about and hearing talk of the amount of Hillary supporters who are going to vote for McBush in the general election??

You know this kind of immaturity just pisses. Me. Off. The candidate that they supported in the primaries didn't win, boo- friggin-hoo. So now, like a two year old who doesn't get their way, they have to take their blocks (votes) and go home in a snit. They would rather have 4 more years of what we have right now then vote for someone who wants to change the status quo? I'm sorry but I have to say, what the fu** is their problem?? What is wrong with these people? Grow up already.

Seriously.....

OK I guess I am just f""cking stupid as I don't get what has bent these peoples asses so out of shape? Only 1 person can get the nod in each party...... it's Obama and McCain. Get used to it....

Hillary's campaign was a huge clusterf**k. She chose people that would be loyal to her instead of people with experience running a national campaign.... bad decision? Yes. If she had better people running the campaigns efforts we may very well be here on the brink of nominating her and all falling in line to support the party's nominee so she and all her supporters have to live with the results. She didn't. It's time to move on and move forward with what is best for the COUNTRY.

Evidently that concept is too hard to grasp for some people. Instead all these 'so-called' democrats would rather have 4 more years of what we have now???

I heard someone use the phrase dumb ass..... seems to fit..

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another Monday… keep calm though, next week is a 3-day weekend.

• In case you hadn’t heard, the Democratic Convention starts today in Denver, CO.
• In case you hadn’t heard, part II… Sen. Obama chose Sen. Biden (D-DE) as his running mate… which naturally pissed off the Clinton supporters, which included the McCain camp who released an ad asking why Obama couldn’t have chosen her. Well, I’ll tell you why; because it wouldn’t have worked… end of discussion. The fact that the gop was hoping for Obama to choose Clinton should be Clinton supporters first clue that she COULDN’T be the running mate. Think about it; why would the republicans WANT Clinton other than the fact they knew they could hit Obama HARD for choosing her. If you are a Clinton supporter and are refusing to vote for Obama for one reason or another, then ‘President McCain’ will be on YOUR shoulders and you will be blamed. I’ll make sure of it…
• CNN inane headline of the day; “Poll gives Democrats reasons for hope, concern”
• Proof that the European media gets it while the US media continues to miss it purposefully ignore it. The Financial Times says that McCain’s ridiculous inability to remember how many homes he owns makes choosing Mitt Romney as his running mate “more risky”, saying that derision could be thrown against Romney, because he “owns a mansion with tennis courts in Massachusetts, a lakeside house in New Hampshire and a cabin in Deer Valley, a posh Utah ski resort.” (So… with McCain’s ad attacking Obama for not choosing Clinton, if McCain doesn’t select Romney, I think the Obama campaign, or at the least the D Triple C, should make an ad asking ‘Why Not Mitt?’…)
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (who’s on McCain’s veep short list – so that should give you an idea of what kind of man he is) criticized Obama’s selection of Biden as his running mate, saying that Obama should have picked Gen. David Petraeus… (Um… okay? What ya smoking there Tim?)
• And have we mentioned? That 80% of us think we’re on the wrong track? A new USA Today/Gallup poll found that “eight in 10” say they’re dissatisfied with the way things are going in the U.S while a vast majority rate the economy as ‘only fair’ or poor with 70% believing it’s getting worse… (and there are still people who want to vote Dubya Part 2, Sen. McCain, into office… staggering, isn’t it?)

Reason #42 why I like Joe Biden as Veep

This soundbite;

“Ladies and gentlemen, your kitchen table is like mine. You sit there every night after you put the kids to bed and you talk, you talk about what you need. You talk about how much you’re worried about being able to pay the bills. Well ladies and gentlemen, that’s not a worry that John McCain has to worry about. It’s a pretty hard experience---he’ll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at.”

Nice… welcome to the party Sen. Biden.

Oops

This week's 'Weekly Rewind' was lost somewhere among the tubes of the internets... TBWA apologizes for the error.

Should you start having Rewind-withdrawal, please check out past week's posts to tide you over.

Thank you for your understanding...

The TGIFF ‘BushWhack’ing

Yes, today’s ‘Daily’ is short… but in my defense, it IS Friday after all…

• HouseGate continues… and continues… and continues… and continues… let’s not let it die.
• The VP selection race is almost done for the Dems as there are reports that Sen. Obama has called the ones NOT selected. Stay tuned…
• The government’s terror watch list system is one of the administration’s primary ways to deal with terrorism… but the system is “hobbled by technology challenges” and the program, the $500 million program, created to upgrade the system is itself on the verge of collapse. Why does it need to be fixed you ask? Well, the system has problems “identifying true potential terrorists”… (wait, isn’t that what it’s designed for? So it’s designed to ID potential terrorists, but it can’t do it? Wow, perfect metaphor for this administration isn’t it?)
• And have we mentioned? That the lovely art of irony is not lost on Condi Rice? Earlier this week Ms. Rice signed a missile shield deal with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski… a deal that is not being looked upon favorably by Russia. To celebrate the signing, the duo had a toast… with Georgian wine. Sure, Poland tried to maintain that the choice of wine was “not meant as a slight to Russia”, but we know better don’t we…

Do you think?

Sen. McCain's favorite TV show is... "House"?

If a reporter asks you how many houses you own

... and you say "I'll have my staff get to you".... you might be an elitist.

Just in case you needed yet another reminder that Sen. McCain is too old to be president, I give you this.

In an interview earlier this week, McCain said that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife own, saying; “I think — I'll have my staff get to you. […] It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you.”

That’s right… he doesn’t know how many houses he owns.

Seriously, I’m not kidding… the man doesn’t know… granted, he’s got more than most of us who have one, or even none, but to NOT know how many houses one has is sad at best.

The correct answer is, per his staff; at least four (scattered throughout the US Arizona, California and Virginia) even though Newsweek estimated earlier in the year that the couple owns at least seven properties. And the group Progressive Accountability put the number at 10 homes, ranches, condos, and lofts, all-together worth about $13,823,269.

And he calls Obama an elitist?

McCain’s gotten mileage from his campaign surrogates making a big deal about Sen. Obama's house… which isn’t a mansion but cost over a million bucks because it’s in the Chicago city limits… and yet he has more places to hang his hat.

Sooooo Senator..... your lack of knowledge about how many houses you own either shows that you're a senile old coot who is too old to be president, or it shows that YOU are the elitist that has so many houses you can't or don't bother to keep track of how many.

Which is it Mr. McCain?
Senility?Elitism?

Inquiring minds want to know… we’ll be waiting for YOUR (not a surrogate) answer.

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

The weekend is neigh! The weekend is neigh!

• Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and colleagues of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in the House of Representatives who died Wednesday after suffering an aneurysm that caused brain hemorrhaging… we will miss you.
• Still nothing on the VP race from either side… and now it’s just getting silly. Decide, announce, move on…
• With jury selection set to begin on Sept. 22, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has ruled that Sen. Ted Stevens (r-AK) will stand trial on seven felony counts in DC and Stevens’ request to have a change of venue to Alaska (so he could “campaign in the evenings and on weekends” during the trial) was DE.NIED. (Pwned! Nice job Judge Sullivan… too bad there aren’t more like you)
• The House Armed Services Committee released a report earlier this week that rebukes “President” Bush’s extensive use of signing statements, explaining that the statements had generated confusion, undermined oversight of defense policy, and most of the time is “unsubstantiated.” (All find and good… you rebuke him, but what are you going to DO about it??? We’re all waiting…)
• Sen. Joe Lieberman (I r-T) is going to speak at the republican National Convention and… ah who gives a crap. The man is a schmuck.
• The man that threatened Sen. Obama has pleaded not guilty… because he needed all the ammunition, knives, survival gear and such so he could… um… well… yeah I got nothin’.
• And have we mentioned? That Sen. McCain IS senile? In an interview with right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham, McCain said; “I still believe the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” (Um… what?? Inflation is rising… real wages are falling faster than Bush’s approval ratings… unemployment is rising… the cost of food is skyrocketing… foreclosures are still rising… and optimism about the US economy is at a 16-year low… explain to me how in God’s name that the ‘fundamentals of our economy are strong’???? McCain is either senile, stupid, or both…)

How is it possible?

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sharply criticized Russia yesterday for relying on its “military power” to accomplish its goals, saying; “But I just want to emphasize again, Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used, that will make it – that – when it wishes to deliver a message, and that’s its military power. That’s not the way to deal in the 21st century.”

Um… okay…

Perhaps she needs reminding…here’s Salon’s Glenn Greenwald to do just that; “Just during the time Rice has served in the Bush administration, we bombed, invaded and occupied Afghanistan; did the same to Iraq; repeatedly bombed Somalia, killing all sorts of civilians; fed bombs to Israel as they invaded and bombed Lebanon; top political officials (led by John McCain and Joe Lieberman) have repeatedly threatened, and advocated, that the same be done to a whole host of other countries, including Iran and Syria.”

And yet she has the impudence to say that military power is “not the way to deal in the 21st century”… how is it possible that these people in Bush’s administration can’t see the shit they’re shoveling?

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

It’s mid-week… how exciting!

• Still no word on VP for either Sen. Obama nor Sen. McCain… though Obama has a huge event planned this Saturday in Springfield, IL, which happens to be where he launched his White House bid. And it’s entirely possible that McCain simply forgot who his choice was… stay tuned.
• Sen. Clinton needs money… still
• The Bush(whacked) Administration was dealt another judicial setback yesterday regarding their pillaging of the Clean Air Act as the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out, in a 2-to-1 ruling, an EPA rule that was “limiting the ability of states to require monitoring of industrial emissions.” (Sweeeeeeet)
• “President” Bush will be in New Orleans today, his 17th trip to the region since the storm that he couldn’t bother to care about when it made landfall. He’s expected to admit that ‘there is still much work to do’ three years after Hurricane Katrina. (Okay, I’ll say it… perhaps if you would have done something before, during and immediately after the storm hit, we wouldn’t be on three years and there still being ‘much work to do.’ But that’s just me…)
• The Pentagon is planning to send “12,000 to 15,000 additional U.S. troops” to Afghanistan and the ‘surge’ could be as soon as the end of this year. Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said in light of the administration forgetting the true war on terror the soaring violence in the country, he’s requested “some additional forces.” Regardless of what is being reported on the ground, the administration refuses to talk about deteriorating conditions there while at the same time insisting that there is nothing “urgent or precarious” in Afghanistan. (Bull. Shit. Afghanistan is where this began, and it was quickly forgotten about after Bush’s wet-dream of invading Iraq came true… now our forces on the ground are reaping what the administration sowed… and the Taliban is getting stronger… way to go George!)
• And have we mentioned? That CNN’s Jack Cafferty nailed it? Nothing I can say can do it justice, so simply read what he said and be content in how on the nose he was. “It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. ‘It means I'm saved and forgiven.’ […] Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. […] Asked about his greatest moral failure, he cited his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While saying it was his greatest moral failing, he offered nothing in the way of explanation. Why not? […] He was asked to define rich. After trying to dodge the question -- his wife is worth a reported $100 million -- he finally said he thought an income of $5 million was rich. One after another, McCain's answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has---virtually none. […] He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. […] Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been. […] I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.” Pwned!
  

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Rats… it’s Monday already.

• Will we have resolution to either candidate’s VP race this week? I think yes… and I think it will be Obama… and it will come before the week is done… and the leader is Joe Biden (D-DE), though keep your eyes on General Wes Clark, Governor Bill Richardson and Governor Tim Kaine, who have all spoke out recently about vital campaign topics. Stay tuned.
• Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain are sniping at each other still over Georgia (the Euro version, not the US version)… Obama’s people say that McCain (and Bush for that matter) were, and are, too focused on Iraq to see the crisis in Georgia forming. McCain’s people say that Obama's initial reaction to the invasion shows that the Illinois senator lacks the toughness needed to be president…
• Obama raised $51 million in July…
• Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation today, saying; “I don’t want the people of Pakistan to slide deeper and deeper into uncertainty.” What’s more astonishing is that he also said he was national interest above “personal bravado”… too bad someone in THIS country couldn’t take the hint…
• Further enhancing his jump to the Dark Side, Joe “I Heart McCain” Lieberman (I r-CT)’s staff said that the Senator now regrets voting against Justice ScAlito… (if the Dems win the White House and a larger majority in the Senate, Lieberman needs to be stripped of everything…)
• And have we mentioned? That one of McCain’s Veep choices was stumped this past weekend? In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, David Gregory asked Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; “What’s the big idea Senator McCain is campaigning on?” When Jindal couldn’t give a specific answer and replied with the incredibly non-specific; “I think there’s several”, Gregory asked again; “Where are the new big ideas of the Republican Party that John McCain is, is championing?” Jindal again couldn’t provide a single answer… and he isn’t the first McCain puppet to be stumped by the question, per ThinkProgress, “Earlier this month, former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) couldn’t name a single McCain accomplishment on energy in his long congressional career. Similarly, Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) recently drew a blank when asked to name a major economic policy that Bush and McCain do not agree on.” (Hah!! So much for the so-called ‘party of big ideas.’ McCain is further tarnishing the republican brand… and I couldn’t enjoy it more)
  

You can't make up this kind of stupid

I’m sure the more enlightened of you have already heard about this, but…not being someone that can help himself when it comes to pointing out conservative’s foibles… I thought I had to write about it myself.

One of the plethora of republicans participating in their party’s sad and pathetic “Drill Now” energy stunt is Bill Sali (r-ID) who has come up with a solution to our energy crisis all by himself.

Per Sali, our national forests are overflowing with petroleum… no, not under the forest ground… but inside the trees.

That’s right, you heard me… Inside… the trees.

I’ll pause for a moment so you can regain your composure.

It seems Sali informed a candidate for Idaho’s House of Representatives that a solution to the high price of gasoline was to make petroleum from “all those trees in our forests” and then said that there “could be up to 40 barrels of oil in a single tree.”

And if you think it was a one-time lapse of judgment, you’d be wrong as he made a similar comment in 2006, saying; “Forty percent of the mass of every tree in the forest is crude oil.”

So Sali truly believes that you can get oil from a tree… what a sap.

The Friday ‘BushWhack’ing

Woot woot! Friday!!!! ‘Nuff said…

• As more details come out about the killing of Arkansas Democratic Party chairman Bill Gwatney, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with his family and friends with hope questions can be answered as to why…
• “President” Bush is warning the Russians about “bullying”… insert your own snark about a pot and a kettle here.
• In an attempt to heal scars left from a contentious primary season, Sen. Obama’s campaign has agreed to put Sen. Clinton’s name into the nomination hopper… (and with that the hopes of thousands of Ron Paul Clinton fanatics have risen that their candidate will rise from the ashes and grab the nomination. Note to them, it would take a confluence of Aristotelian proportions for that to happen, so don’t hold your breath…)
• Rev. Rick Warren said that his upcoming talks Saturday with Sens. McCain and Obama will be aimed at asking them “heartland questions.” (What the HELL is a ‘heartland question’, and how can you ask those questions in California?)
• Oprah is headed to the Democratic Convention… not sure why I should care.
• Even though it could be a signal of no significance, the media is jumping on the face that Sens. Evan Bayh (IN) and Joe Biden (DE) are scheduled to speak at the Democratic convention Wednesday night — which happens to be the night the vice presidential candidate is slated to speak… (How many times before have individuals who were on the veep short list spoken on the same night as the VP candidate. The media should stop trying to make news and simply report it…)
• In news that will end well, the US and Poland have reached an accord to install an American missile defense base on Polish territory… Russia sees this, rightfully so, as a reaction to their Georgian invasion and are pissed, saying that the move would “worsen relations with the United States.” (Lovely… forget Iran, North Korea or Pakistan… now it’s Russian… again)
• Despite the fact that some donations to charity groups operated by the Saudi government “ended up in the hands of Al-Qaeda,” a federal court ruled yesterday that Saudi Arabia “could not be held liable” for the 9/11 attacks…
• And have we mentioned? That with every word he says, the appearance of McCain being senile increase 10 fold? During a question-and-answer session with Walter Isaacson yesterday McCain said Guantanamo Bay is “one of the nicest places in the world to live in.” (Um… okay? Hyperbole much? Oh wait, you do...)

It's not a disgrace, it's a lifesaver

A message from James Roosevelt Jr., grandson of President Franklin Roosevelt who, 73 years ago today, established Social Security…

"It's hard to remember now, but before Social Security, nearly half of America's seniors lived in poverty. After a lifetime of playing by the rules and working hard, there was no guarantee of a secure retirement.

"My grandfather, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a majority of Americans thought that was wrong.

"They believed that lifting our seniors out of poverty is a reflection of our nation's core values.

"That's why my grandfather signed the Social Security act seventy three years ago today. One of the great successes of the 20th Century, today Social Security lifts nearly 13 million seniors and 1.3 million children out of poverty.

"Back in 1935, a small minority did not share those values. They opposed the creation of Social Security because they believed that government should not have a role in ensuring a retirement with dignity or helping seniors stay out of poverty. They said, "You're on your own".

"John McCain agrees with that old way of thinking. Like President Bush, he wants to privatize our Social Security, turning it into a gamble with our futures, and making 8.6 million American seniors vulnerable to poverty. John McCain has even said Social Security is "a disgrace".

"I couldn't disagree more.

"Our Social Security isn't a disgrace; it's a compact, a trust between generations of Americans. It's a reflection of our values.

"On the 70th anniversary of Social Security, Americans stood together and said no to George Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security.

"On this anniversary, let's make sure John McCain hears the same message. Tell John McCain to keep his hands off of our Social Security."

As I said in this morning’s ‘Daily’, remember this now and in November; McCain thinks Social Security is a “disgrace.”