The Weekly Rewind

It’s the weekend, and what does that mean? .... White Sox baseball? Nascar? Nope their seasons are over … Bear’s football? ... oh yeah ! Go Bears! Okay it also means that it is time for the weekly rewind….so here we go.

Heckle: to a smackdown. Earlier this week, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sarah Palin won’t be the next leader of the Republican party. “I think that she is going to be a significant player,” said Gingrich during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “But she’s going to be one of 20 or 30 significant players. She’s not going to be the de facto leader.” So she will be a little fish in a big pond…..Snap!

Heckle: to another environmental slap from the lame duck administration. On Election Day, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced a Dec. 19 auction of more than 50,000 acres of oil and gas parcels alongside or within view of three national parks in Utah. Environmentalists are calling the move a Bush administration “fire sale” for the oil and gas industry, while the National Park Service’s top official in the state said it was “shocking and disturbing.” Don’t forget sneaky, diversionary.....basically par for the course with this President.

Heckle: to something that we were thinking, oh, 6 months ago. According to a new National Association of Business Economists’ poll of 50 professional forecasters, the “U.S. economy is in recession and will contract at a faster pace in the fourth quarter, extending the decline into early 2009 as high unemployment crimps consumer spending.” Preliminary government estimates showed GDP contracted 0.3 percent in the third quarter. Besides being a run-on sentence, the forecasters must have been sleeping the fist ¾ of the year.

Heckle: to a prime example of what’s wrong. The stock market suffered a terrible couple of days this week, dropping below 8,000 points for the first time since 2003. New-home starts in October were the lowest since at least 1959, and the consumer price index plummeted by the most since that series of monthly data was started in 1947, as the economy slowed so abruptly that companies had to slash prices to sell products. Who are we going to be asked to bail out next? Come to think of it I could use some cash!

Applaud: to making sense. Earlier this week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) challenged “the idea that the expanded Democratic majority and its leaders will make a hard left turn,” the Hill reports. According to the prepared remarks for a speech at the National Press Club, Hoyer argued, “For the first time in decades, we are a true national majority party–and if we want to stay that way, we must govern like one.” Finally a Representative who is seeing the big picture. We applaud this perspective.

Heckle: to more of the same. In a report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction it states that “The Pentagon spent about $600 million on more than 1,200 Iraq reconstruction contracts that were eventually canceled,” adding that “42% of canceled contracts were terminated because the contractor either failed to deliver or performed poorly.” This has been par for the course for this administration. How badly could the U.S. economy have used that money? (Here’s a clue, we could still use it..)

Heckle: to No Shit Sherlock. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen said in an interview this week that “stress on U.S. troops from repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan is ‘extraordinary’ and may be worsening even as fighting eases in Iraq.” Mullen expressed hope that “the strain will be relieved gradually as the Marine Corps and Army expand the pool of available forces.” Somehow I doubt it. I know what will reduce / relieve the strain on our troops….getting out of Iraq!

And this week there have been many rumors and leaks as to Cabinet level appointees in the upcoming Obama administration. As Kemp stated, we will address these when the appointee themselves decides to speak out. I would even extend that to when President-Elect Obama or his official spokesperson(s) speak to a nomination.

And finally our tool of the week: In a press release earlier this week, multiple time Presidential candidate and all around tool, Alan Keyes kicked his ‘tool’ rating up a few notches by being party to a lawsuit filed in the State of California which seeks to block the state from giving it’s electoral votes to President-Elect Obama. The suit was filed to force Obama to provide documentary evidence that he is in fact a natural born citizen of the United States. Okay, back in October the Health Department in the State of Hawaii declared that a Certificate of Live Birth was genuine. Keep in mind this is the same certificate that you or I would get from the state we were born in that verifies birth information. Come on Alan get over it, you lost, you had no chance of winning. And for this Alan Keyes is our Tool of the Week!

Okay so this may not be up to my usual standard of snarkiness. Rest assured I have never left you, instead I have been behind the scenes (with a lot of stuff going on). Honestly though, I share plenty of snark when giving Kemp my thoughts and input on many of the posts that you read on a daily basis. Yes thats right some of the snark you read has a little of me sprinkled in it.

So sit back and relax, I am ramping up for what promises to be some very stupid last days of the Bush Administration...or should I say, The "Bush"-Whacked Adminstration. Stay tuned, this last 58 days may get even more stupid.

Be good, stay informed…..later.

The Weekly Rewind

You know why you’re here, so let’s just get right to it.

Heckle: to $4.109. That was the average price of a gallon of gasoline earlier this week, setting a new record. According to AAA, gas prices have risen 40 percent in the last year. We just keep getting screwed deeper and deeper, but at least the pace is slowed from a sprint to a stroll……it still hurts like hell.

Applaud: to avoiding a knee jerk reaction. The Congress voted to override President Bush’s veto of a Medicare bill aimed at forestalling an 11 percent cut in payments to doctors taking care of Medicare patients. The House voted 383 to 41 to override the veto, while the Senate voted 70 to 26. We need a long term solution to what will become a bigger problem and we need serious thoughts and discussions NOW.

Heckle: to lives cut down due to misguided thinking. Nine American soldiers died last Sunday , in the worst violence against Americans in Afghanistan in three years. The killings illustrated the growing threat of Taliban militants and their associates, who in recent months have made Afghanistan a far deadlier war zone for American-led forces than Iraq. Which once again points to the fact that our beef is with the Taliban, (which knows no country) and not the country of Iraq who we conveniently invaded. Our focus should not be on Iraq or even Afghanistan, but on the Taliban.

Applaud: to our troops bravery and determination. It was reported that the Taliban insurgents who attacked a remote American-run outpost near the Pakistan border on Sunday outnumbered allied forces almost three to one and some breached the NATO compound in a coordinated assault that took the defenders by surprise. The attackers were eventually “driven back in a pitched four-hour battle.” Once again, our focus should be on fighting the Taliban. Ours troops should be commended for their grit and determination in fighting back this overwhelming force.

Applaud: to waking up. On Wednesday, Pentagon leaders announced that a surge in forces in Afghanistan will occur “sooner rather than later.” The moves are expected to happen within weeks, as officials prepare to lower troop levels in Iraq. And I am sure for our troops already in Afghanistan, this cannot happen soon enough!

Heckle: to the fact we cannot be this blind. In Afghanistan, “the killing of civilians in foreign military airstrikes is shattering Afghans’ support for keeping international troops in their troubled land and driving angry young men into the arms of the Taliban.” A spokesperson for NATO explained, “There is a perception problem.” You think? We seem to have a big problem in this area of the world with people’s perceptions. Could it be that we truly suck in communicating our intentions and our purpose? And maybe the fact that we don’t seem to give a crap about the people who actually live there and are just trying to live their lives and take care of their families? Yeah it’s a possibility. This administration is not known for its communicative skills.

Heckle: to combining the church and state. The Bush administration is seeking to require “all recipients of aid under federal health programs to certify that they will not refuse to hire nurses and other providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control.” The proposed rule would force hospitals, clinics and medical schools to sign “written certifications” as a prerequisite to getting federal funds. I’m sorry is the country being run by Americans or by the Vatican?

Heckle: to “remain calm, all is well”, yeah sure it is. Earlier this week, President Bush tried to calm consumers troubled by the economy, but his words had little effect. By the end of the day on Tuesday, the Dow had closed at its lowest level in two years, and the government reported that prices had jumped at their sharpest pace in 27 years. Sorry Mr. Bush, too little, way too late. Remember Kevin Bacon at the parade panic near the end of Animal House?

Heckle: to just plain criminal. According to internal Army documents, “shoddy electrical work” by private contractors at “American military facilities” in Iraq is causing more “deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged.” There were 283 fires between August 2006 through January 2007. What a surprise, the Pentagon not being honest and upfront about something as serious as this. Not only do our troops have to live with the fact that every time they go out on patrol they may not come back. They also have to worry that they may die taking a shower, or sleeping, or just relaxing back at base camp. There is no excuse for this and the companies responsible should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Be good, stay informed….later.

Not a surprise, but definately problematic

AP is reporting that “President” Bush has chosen Gen. Petraeus to become the new commander of the U.S. Central Command.

Wow, I didn’t see that coming a mile away… oh wait, I did…

Petraeus, who is currently the Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, replaces the recently “retired” William Fallon, whose “premature departure” was seemingly due to disagreements with… can you guess whom?

Righto! Petraeus, who we all know is a Bush lapdog “favorite of the White House.”
This new and incredible and ridiculously predictable promotion instantly increases the chance of Bush and his merry band of cronies attacking Iran because…well, because they’re insane really… but moreso because they’ve gotten rid of someone who was vehemently AGAINST war with Iran and replaced him with someone who is vehemently FOR war with Iran.

Better get back to work on that bomb shelter…

The Weekly Rewind

Ok, turn off the TV, or at least turn the sound down, March Madness will still be there after you finish reading The Weekly Rewind…..I’ll try to make it quick.


Heckle: to paying no attention to the 800 pound gorilla in the room. About half of the state legislatures nationwide are scrambling to plug gaps in their budgets, shot through by rapid declines in corporate and sales tax revenue, distressed housing markets and a national economy on the verge of a recession. Just remember we are not ‘officially’ in a recession….

Heckle: to a not so pleasant vision of the future. Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) current visit to Iraq is bolstering the belief by the country’s politicians that if he is elected president, “the American military would have a large presence in Iraq for a very long time.” Jalaladeen Sagheer, a senior member of the leading Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, described McCain’s visit as “an advertisement for the American elections.” As if we need anymore negative advertising.

Applaud: to someone with knowledge of the impending crisis speaking out. The current economic crisis “is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the second world war,” writes former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan in the Financial Times. He also argues that “market flexibility and open competition” are “our most reliable and effective safeguards against cumulative economic failure.” Hmmm, that would mean wild market speculation and obscene corporate profits would help lead the way to economic failure….

Applaud: to a long time coming. Reports are that an internal Department of Justice investigation into the firing of at least eight U.S. attorneys is approaching its conclusion. The report will likely be released in the spring, and it “will almost certainly be explosive.” This will be interesting. What surprises will this hold for our lame duck president and his cronies?

Heckle: to continually spreading the manure. Vice President Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq this week, in order to reaffirm “the unwavering commitment” of the United States to rebuilding Iraq. Cheney told reporters that it was “especially significant” he was in Iraq five years after the March 2003 U.S. invasion. Shortly after his arrival, “two explosions rocked Baghdad.” How unwavering is our commitment…read on….

Heckle: to our ‘unwavering commitment’. The success of the US ’surge’ strategy in Iraq may be under threat as Sunni militia employed by the US to fight al Qaida are warning of a national strike because they are not being paid regularly. Leading members of the awakening councils “have said they will stop fighting unless payment of their $10 a day wage is resumed.” According to a survey by Guardian Films, four of the 49 councils have quit while 38 more are threatening to leave. Maybe the Bush(whacked) Administration should consider diverting some of the obscene amounts of money being paid to government contractors and instead pay the militias their paltry $10 a day wage.

Heckle: to the fact that maybe $10 a day just isn’t enough. A conference to reconcile Iraq’s warring political groups began to unravel even before it got under way on Tuesday, with the main Sunni Muslim Arab bloc pulling out and protesting it had not been properly invited. I’m sorry did we not put the proper ribbon on the outside of the envelope? Once again, why are we there??

Heckle: to not knowing when to hold ‘em, or knowing when to fold ‘em. JPMorgan Chase agreed earlier this week to buy banking giant Bear Stearns for $2 a share, less than one-tenth the firm’s market price last Friday. The bank and the Federal Reserve “will guarantee the huge trading obligations” of Bear, “which was driven to the brink of bankruptcy by what amounted to a run on the bank.” Now just remember we are only in a slowdown…..

Heckle: to ruining peoples lives for profit. “My life has been flushed down the drain,” said one Bear Stearns employee. Bear Stearns had always encouraged its 14,000 employees, from secretaries to top executives, to be long-term holders in the company’s stock, and the employees own over 30 percent of the company. Remember, slowdown…...

Heckle: to more manure. Following weeks of oil prices hitting over $100 a barrel, Vice President Dick Cheney met Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah on Friday for talks that will include discussions on cooperation to stabilize the oil market. “I’m sure they will talk about the need for a cooperative way forward to try and stabilize this market, reduce the volatility in the market, and serve the interests of both consumers and producers alike,” John Hannah, national security adviser to Cheney, told reporters. Oh and while giving the impression that they care about stabilizing things and helping the consumers, I’m sure they will also talk about ways to keep profits in the pockets of Bush(whacked) Administration supporters.

Heckle: to not listening to the service chiefs in the field. The LA Times reports that “turmoil over the war has increased” inside the Pentagon, with some commanders, including Gen. Davis Petraeus, advocating continued high troop levels in Iraq. On the other side “are the military service chiefs who fear that long tours and high troop levels” will leave “the Army and Marine Corps hollowed out and weakened.” Can the Congress tell the Pentagon to shut up and sit down while they hear from the true line commanders in the field?

Heckle: As the economy sours, voters are increasingly demanding immediate government relief, which is a problem for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), “whose focus has been on longer-term solutions such as tax and spending cuts and free trade.” “The notion of ‘the market will straighten things out, be patient’ — that has photos of Herbert Hoover juxtaposed with it,” said pollster John Zogby. McCain is nothing more than the same song and dance we have had for almost the past 8 years.. Can we really handle, or yet survive 4 more years at this pace? I don’t think so..


And then we come to our Tool Of The Week. This week it is none other than Vice President and multi-tool winner, Dick Cheney, who wins the TOTW award with this little exchange with ABC Reporter Martha Raddatz as broadcast on Good Morning America:

V.P. Cheney: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

Raddatz: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

V.P. Cheney: So?

Raddatz: So? You don’t care what the American people think?

V.P. Cheney: No…

There you folks, this is part and parcel with the 'rethuglican' philosophy, “You don’t like the way we do things on your behalf? How much money did you give our canididates? I’m sorry you’re not wealthy enough and not financially beneficial to us, so we don’t care what you think.”


Okay, back to the games, that wasn’t too hard was it? And a Happy Easter to all from Kemp and I.

Be good, stay informed…..later

Here we go again...

“President” Bush held his first presser in seven weeks this morning in order to not only admonish Congress for not seeing things the way he does (few people who walk upright do).

But the press corps would have none of that nonsense and turned the conference into a chat about the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that says that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago in 2003.

Most people (clarifier: most people with a working brain) would look upon that news as severely undermining the Bush(whacked) Administration's argument that Iran poses an imminent peril to the world and that ignoring the threat could lead to World War III… remember, I said people with a working brain.

Mr. Bush begs to differ, saying this morning;

“Look, Iran was dangerous. Iran is dangerous. And Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”

Um… okay… by that logic, wouldn’t a physics grad student armed with the internet also be “dangerous”??

The Bush(whacked) Administration also claims that it has new, “secret” information about Iran's weapons program, and that that information differs from the public NIE that was just released, and… and… why does all of this sound familiar?

.....

Oh, right… Iraq… WMD’s… right… must have blocked that out of my mind. Speaking of blocking things out… one has to wonder when Bush became aware of the NIE’s contents. Well, according to the man himself, he was “made aware of the NIE last week. In August, I think it was Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information. He didn't tell me what the information was; he did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze...And it wasn't until last week that I was briefed on the NIE that is now public.”

Huh… so let me get this straight… a few months ago, someone said something about some new information about the number one threat to the world, and they didn't tell the leader of the free world what that information was…

Wow… that seems highly unlikely, doesn’t it?

Thankfully, there are apparently still some members of the press that use their brains, and one of them seemed as perplexed as I;

REPORTER: Mr. President, thank you. Just to follow, I understand what you're saying about when you were informed about the NIE. Are you saying at no point while the rhetoric was escalating, as "World War III" was making it into conversation, at no point nobody from your intelligence team or your administration was saying, maybe you want to back it down a little bit?
THE PRESIDENT: No, nobody ever told me that.

Wait a minute… let’s see what National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley had to say yesterday about the NIE;

“One, when the President was told that we had some additional information, he was basically told: stand down; needs to be evaluated; we'll come to you and tell you what we think it means. So this was basically -- as we said, this is information that came in the last few months, and the intelligence community spent a lot time to get on top of it.”

Now I’m confused… Hadley says Bush was told, Bush says he wasn’t told… but maybe he was, and he just forgot…

Honestly, how does this man walk upright?

FEMA's screw-ups continue

As mentioned this morning, FEMA hasn’t finished screwing Katrina survivors just yet… now it’s because the trailers they put people in have levels of formaldehyde that was 75 times the recommended maximum for U.S. workers…

And it seems that FEMA not only suppressed warnings from its own field workers about health problems, but they had prior evidence that the people using the trailers would get sick;

“A trail of e-mails obtained by investigators shows that the agency’s lawyers rejected a proposal for systematic testing of the levels of potentially cancer-causing formaldehyde gas in the trailers, out of concern that the agency would be legally liable for any hazards or health problems. As many as 120,000 families displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita lived in the suspect trailers, and hundreds have complained of ill effects.”

Lovely… three months after reports of the hazards first surfaced a FEMA logistics expert said that FEMA’s legal department advised officials to not do testing for hazardous materials, because it would “imply FEMA’s ownership of this issue.”

On June 27, 2006, a Slidell man was found dead in his trailer after complaining about the formaldehyde fumes. In a conference call to discuss the death, 28 officials from six different agencies recommended that the circumstances be investigated and trailer air quality be subjected to independent testing.

FEMA lawyers rejected those suggestions…

So let me see if I have this right… the Bush(whacked) Administration put people in government trailers with toxic gas… despite warnings of such… and didn’t follow-through on suggested health tests all so they could avoid court troubles…

This on top of the well-known fact that the administration all but ignored these same people in the midst of a natural disaster.

My God… it’s almost hard to believe that this administration could be this callous… but then I think about Bush’s track record and it all makes sense.

But now, thankfully, and after six years of gop-led ignorance, we finally have a (Democratically-controlled) Congress that is more than willing to conduct oversight hearings on FEMA…which is, naturally, causing a LOT of people at FEMA to scramble like mad to keep up appearances.

And this past week, on the eve of a hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, FEMA “suddenly” reversed course on the issue and said it has asked federal health officials to help conduct a new assessment of conditions in trailers.

Too little… too late…

The revelations of the agency’s earlier position of ignoring the problem has come to light, and it’s attracted some very harsh criticism… some very harsh bi-partisan criticism.

Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) decried what he called FEMA’s indifference to storm victims and said the situation was “sickening.” He said the documents “expose an official policy of premeditated ignorance” and added that “senior officials in Washington didn’t want to know what they already knew, because they didn’t want the legal and moral responsibility to do what they knew had to be done.”

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (r-VA) said FEMA had obstructed the 10-month congressional investigation and “mischaracterized the scope and purpose” of its own actions. “FEMA’s reaction to the problem was deliberately stunted to bolster the agency’s litigation position,” Davis said. “FEMA’s primary concerns were legal liability and public relations, not human health and safety.”

It’s about time someone in Congress got these people’s backs…


Let’s hope we’re not too late…

The Administration that cares more about big business

You are not going to believe this… oh wait, it’s from the Bush(whacked) Administration, so of course you will.

The administration said earlier this week that they will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

I typed that correctly… and you read that right…they will fight to keep meatpackers from testing their animals for mad cow disease.

What? The? Hell?

How did all of this start you ask, well, it seems that Creekstone Farms Premium Beef in Kansas, wants to test all of its cows for the disease.

Personally, I think that’s a fabulous idea… not only will it guarantee the meat is safe, it will be free enterprise at it’s finest because EVERYONE will want their meat from them because they’ll know it’s safe.

This administration has other ideas.. and one can look no further than their history of helping big business and screwing the average consumer to find the reason why.

Ya see… large meat companies worry that if Creekstone began testing all of its meat and advertised them as safe, they might have to perform the expensive tests on their larger herds as well, so the the Agriculture Department decided to start regulating the tests by arguing that widespread testing could lead to false positives that would thus harm the meat industry.

Are you kidding me??

Rick Perlstein at Common Sense explains it perfectly:

“First, observe the contempt for liberty. When E. coli conservatives say self-regulation is preferable to government, they're even lying about that. Second, observe the contempt for small business. When a small company want to - voluntarily! - hold its product to a higher standard, the government blocks it, in part because bigger companies have to be protected from the competition, in part because a theoretical threat to the bottom line (false positives) trumps protection against a deadly disease. There's your conservatism, America: not extremism in defense of liberty. State socialism in defense of Mad Cow.”

How the hell do the people in this administration sleep at night??

The Weekly Rewind

In this corner, weighing in at a staggering debt load of over $8 trillion, and bloated with two-faced beaurocrats, in the black trunks, the Bush Administration. And in this corner, in the White Trunks, two guys who are not quite so much in debt, and are out to open the eyes of the willing everywhere, the “Bush”-Whacked Administration. Now let’s get ready to Rewinnnnnnnnnnnnnnd!!

Sorry folks just felt a little bit of an attitude coming on.

Heckle: We’ll send you there, but once you’re there, you’re on your own. U.S. Embassy employees in Iraq are growing increasingly angry over what they say are inadequate security precautions in the heavily fortified Green Zone. Most staff members still sleep in trailers that one described as ‘tin cans’ that offer virtually no protection from rocket and mortar fire. The government has “refused to harden the roofs because of the cost”, one employee said. When will the various agencies in our government get treatment for their Cranial-Rectal Inversion and start to take care of our people serving overseas?

Heckle: to opening mouth and inserting foot….or, just another day in the life of a conservative. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) yesterday defended the decision to place scandal-plagued Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) on the Appropriations Committee. “Where do you draw the line?” Boehner asked. “We do not want a blanket allegation to rise to the level of credibility where we are basing our decisions on it. It’s unfair.” Hmmmm, I think we draw the line at appointing corrupt or possibly corrupt officials in positions of authority…..just a thought….

Heckle: to President Bush on principles alone.

Heckle: to once again proving that this administration acts before it thinks, and then has to back track and look stupid. The White House confirmed yesterday that the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad is likely to meet in the next several weeks with Iranian officials about stabilizing Iraq, as the administration embraces a tactic outsiders have long recommended as essential to reducing sectarian violence in Iraq. Ok, we didn’t do the job right to begin with, we know you are causing trouble for us and are a main supporter of violence against us and we should do something about it, but we have lost face in the world, other countries laugh at our sabre rattling, but we want to talk and make nice…. we still hate you, but we acknowledge the power that you have in the region…..do I need to continue?

Heckle: to the sheer stupidity of a statement. Afghanistan now produces 92 percent of the worlds opium. Bush administration officials acknowledge that until recently, “fighting drugs was considered a distraction from fighting terrorists.” The problem has become so severe that American officials now “hope that Afghanistan’s drug problem will someday be only as bad as that of Colombia.” And remind me again how our ‘War on Drugs’ against Columbia is oh so succesfull ……

Heckle: to diverting funds from our deserving troops. Nearly two dozen officials who received hefty performance bonuses last year at the Veterans Affairs Department sat on the boards charged with recommending the payments. Remember all those stories about how well things are at Walter Reed, and how the VA is on the cutting edge of Technology and taking care of our troops…..I’ll continue while you keep thinking…

Heckle: to Alberto Gonzales, on principles alone, and this week also due to the allegations of former Deputy AG James Comey.

Applaud: to Bill Maher. As we’ve said before on this site, it’s not often we applaud him, but sometimes he nails it. Case in point:

New Rule: You can’t send the National Guard to Iraq and then claim it’s still here. The helicopters, the Humvees, the men…Like Dorothy and Toto, they’re not in Kansas anymore. Sorry Mr. President, but the last documented case of a National Guardsman able to be in two place at one time…was you.”

Well said Bill….

Heckle: to the continued raping and pillaging of the average American. “Households are spending about $1,000 more per year for gasoline than they were just five years ago, an 85 percent increase” according to consumer groups’ analysis prepared for the House Judiciary Committee. “In the past five years the oil industry has picked consumers pockets for 200 billion in excess profits,” said the Consumer Federation of America. Next time you fill up remember that it’s too expensive to build a new refinery, or that many Oil Company CEO’s are taking home $100 million + a year….remember that as the pump passes $50 or $75 while you are filling up….

Applaud: to not quietly taking what bones the administration is willing to throw. The Justice Department on Wednesday told an angry Senate Judiciary Committee chairman it does not have documents described in a subpoena that demands all materials relating to Karl Rove’s possible involvement in the U.S. attorney firings. Instead, it said, “ Rove’s lawyer must have them.” And if there is nothing to hide, why haven’t they been turned over….??

Applaud: to more from Gore…. Al Gore will release his new book The Assault on Reason next week. Gore tells Time that he began questioning why “our democracy hasn’t responded” to both the climate crisis and the Iraq war. “So I started thinking, What’s going on here? … Our democracy was pushed around by false impressions and wasn’t able to hold its focus,” he says. “That’s the common denominator. Once I’d thought through all of that, I couldn’t not write this book.” Does anyone else think that the contry may be better served with Mr. Gore in a Whistle Blower, serving the public interest kind of way? In that capacity he is beholden to no one….

Heckle: to more of the same old stuff. Several senators have urged President Bush to withdraw his nomination of Michael Baroody — a corporate lobbyist picked to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission — saying the candidate was “unqualified and the appointment posed insurmountable conflicts of interest.” Am I the only one that sees this as the Fox guarding the Hen House?

This one does not qualify for either an Applaud or a Heckle. Earlier this week the Senate passed a bi-partisan bill that would make the estimated 12 million plus illegal immigrants currently in the United States eligible for legal status. Some of the main provisions are that they would have to pay a fine, wait a certain period of time, and return first to their country of origin, to then enter the country legally. The bill also contained a provision to allow ‘new’ U.S. citizens to sponsor relatives for immigration using a complicated point system that rewards points based on certain competencies. Among these are if someone is a skilled/educated worker, as well as the ability to speak English. The better you are the more points you get. Right away people on both sides of this issue are crying foul. Liberals are complaining about the fines, Conservatives are complaining about this bill granting ‘amnesty’ to illegals. This story is far from over….

Well there you have it. Not too many applauds (of course), but enough heckles to go around. Don’t worry we will have more heckles next week. Until then…

Be good, stay informed…..later.