Affairs & Perjury vs. Treason & Perjury

WSJ.com - Bush Troubles at Home May Impair Power Abroad: "President Bush, his popularity slumping, his budget woes mounting and a top aide under indictment, clearly is finding it harder to work his will at home.

But that kind of story doesn't end at the water's edge: In recent weeks, there have been the first hints that a weakened president also is starting to find it harder to get his way around the world."

The world laughed at Bill Clinton's philandering; many, if not all, world leaders have their personal foibles (inexcusable in a moral/family setting as they may be).

No one is laughing at the treachery and treason found in the Bush administration. It's another dimension of the hypocrisy, lies, and perfidy that has come to truly characterize this administration. They lie, Americans die. As to be expected. Too bad Kerry didn't win: we unfortunately have the opportunity to see Bush's true legacy. On the positive side, at least he has to take credit for it all. But then, he does get to appoint crazy religious zealots to the supreme court, so that sucks.

How Many Did Saddam Kill?

U.S. Quietly Issues Estimate of Iraqi Civilian Casualties - New York Times: "Extrapolating the daily averages over the months from Jan. 1, 2004, to Sept. 16 this year results in a total of 25,902 Iraqi civilians and security forces killed and wounded by insurgents."

So wait, that plus the 500K UN estimated deaths from the sanctions, plus the estimated 300K killed in UN estimates because of the bombing between 1991 and 2000 adds up to quite a lot, wouldn't you say? And Hussien killed around maybe maximum 50K people over the course of 20 years (if you don't include the war with Iran).

Of course, I'm really having no more trouble with this than anyone else who oppposed the war, but it's just the comedy of this administration, isn't it?

The Criminalization of Conservatism = Criminalization of Crime

The Blog | James Moore: The Criminalization of Criminals | The Huffington Post:

"Leaking the names of CIA agents is not politics; it is a crime. Lying to congress about evidence for a war is not politics; it is a crime. Failing to tell a grand jury that you met with a reporter and talked about the CIA agent is not forgetfullness; it is a crime. Deceiving your entire nation and frightening children and adults with images of nuclear explosions in order to get them to support a bloody invasion of another country is not politics; it is a crime. Anyone other than Karl Rove and Lewis Libby and Tom Delay who does not get this, please raise your hand. The three of you will need to stay after class for further instruction in civics."

Great: More Pundits Doing the Administration's Dirty Work

White House Plans to Deflect - Yahoo! News:

"The basic plan is familiar to anyone who has watched earlier presidents contend with scandal: Keep the problem at arm's length, let allies outside the White House do the talking, and try to change the subject to something — anything — else."

I can't wait for all the dittoheads and facio-republicans saying that erjury isn't a big deal . . . can't wait. Can we exhonerate Clinton if perjury isn't a big deal?

Another Thrown to the Wolves

Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination - Yahoo! News:

"Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications."

It's good to know that you can always count on Bush to throw his staff to the wolves when the going gets tough. Bush didn't have the balls to say that he was wrong. Instead, he was perfectly happy to have Miers withdraw in shame. I feel bad for her: Bush sold her out.

Conservatives: Out of Touch With the Mainstream of this Country

CNN.com - Poll: Few doubt wrongdoing in CIA leak - Oct 25, 2005:

"Only one in 10 Americans said they believe Bush administration officials did nothing illegal or unethical in connection with the leaking of a CIA operative's identity, according to a national poll released Tuesday."

We now truly see the emperor for what he's wearing; the republican leadership and media is out of touch with America. They want to sping wrong-doing (i.e. lying under oath for political gain) into a minor crime when they do it. We always knew Republicans were unethical. Now it's really being illustrated in all its splendor. Thank you Bush administration for exposing the GOP for what it is.

Respect and Dignity: Truth, Integrity, and Honesty

Public Giving Gov't, Business Lower Marks - Yahoo! News:

"The public's view of the government has eroded over the past year and its view of business corporations is now at the lowest level in two decades."

Good to see that the GOP has really followed through on their promises. Politicians and their cheerleaders are so full of shit.

Abuse? You don't know what Abuse is, John.

White House Seeks Exception in Abuse Ban - New York Times

Of course, Dick Cheney knows all about how physical abuse gets you the intelligence you need, right? After all, this is the government that's led us down a couple of rabbit holes because of their spectacular intelligence gathering techniques. Thanks Dick, but I'll be taking my cues over what the intelligence establishment needs from someone other than you.

And in the Same Vien as Ann Coulter

Protecting the Presidential Seal. No Joke. - New York Times

Apparently the President is happy to waste your money going after the Onion. And they obviously don't think much of satire . . . Or freedom of speech for that matter.

Ann Coulter, Defender of Freedom

The Independent Florida Alligator: "'They're always accusing us of repressing their speech,' she said. 'I say let's do it. Let's repress them.'

She later added, 'Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment.'"

Wow. What a patriot.

Lying to a Grand Jury is a Technicality if You're a Republican

Transcript for October 23 - Meet the Press, online at MSNBC - MSNBC.com: "SEN. HUTCHISON: Tim, you know, I think we have to remember something here. An indictment of any kind is not a guilty verdict, and I do think we have in this country the right to go to court and have due process and be innocent until proven guilty. And secondly, I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. So they go to something that trips someone up because they said something in the first grand jury and then maybe they found new information or they forgot something and they tried to correct that in a second grand jury."

If you're a Clinton, it's a cardinal sin.

Winning the War?

U.S.: Zarqawi's Connections Grow Globally: "'He is very much a daily, operational threat,' said Scott Redd, who is in charge of the government's counterterrorism strategy and analysis."

Wait, I thought that the insurgency/terrorist whatever-it-is was in its last throws?

Underachiever

"If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever.
- Woody Allen"

Mixed Feelings

Bankruptcy Law Tightens Homestead Rules - Yahoo! News:

"Most of the big changes in bankruptcy rules, which backers say are designed to prevent abuse of the financial system and ensure affordable credit is available for all, take effect on Monday. People with above-average income, as determined by a standard "means test," will be barred from filing for Chapter 7 protection, where debts may be wiped out entirely. Instead, they will have to file under Chapter 13, which require a five-year repayment plan. Filers also will be required to get professional credit counseling with 180 days of filing."

I gotta say, this bankruptcy law is definitely a gift to the banking industry. I do hate how Americans don't feel any sort of fiscal responsibility: very often buying 2 to 10 times more than they can actually afford. On the other hand, I also hate banks for being a part of the cycle that encourages irresponsibility. Obviously, they wouldn't do it if it didn't make them money. So what did they do? They went to the government to secure their investment:

"Boo-hoo, poor people who don't have money who we lend money to unscrupulously don't pay it back! We want them to become our slaves!"

That's literally what this looks like to me. If someone goes into debt and is unable to pay it back (for whatever reason, mind you), they can become a slave to the bank until they repay what they took. Our government has legalized a form of slavery.

I'm not so much concerned with people who just want things and can't pay it back. Those people can fuck themselves. I'm more concerned with people who, for example, lose their jobs, get a life threatening illness and basically have no choice . . . well, either that or die.

Of course, the Bank wants them too.

Red States: Practicing What They Preach?

Data on Marriage and Births Reflect the Political Divide - New York Times: "On teenage births, the same differences become clear. In New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, about 5 percent of babies are born to teenage mothers, while in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming, 10 percent or more of all births are to teenage mothers.

The study also found that the percentage of births to unmarried mothers was highest in the South."

So the blue states are more likely to abide by the credos that the red states espouse (at least where it concerns marriage, pregnancy, and so on), than the red states are themselves. Or, perhaps it's just that when you're allowed to use condoms, you teach your children about birth control and sex, and don't brainwash them about sex in general, that they're less likely to engage in activity that gets them into trouble. About 5% less likely.

Brilliant Retort

CNN.com - DeLay launches media blitz to counter prosecutor, indictments - Oct 11, 2005: "Earle answered DeLay's complaints by saying, 'They often accuse others of doing what they themselves do.'"

Who Do These People Think They Are?

Insurgents Kill More Than 40 Iraqis

I just don't understand who the fuck these people think that they're helping. I mean, the US is there trying to set up a government . . . some organization, some semblence of something that is better than chaos (at the very least), and all these so-called insurgents do is kill people. They kill anyone and everyone for any reason.

Meanwhile, in the far east in pakistan, there's a demolished area full of Muslims . . . and who is providing aid? The US, along with many other nations. Who isn't? These lunatics who are out to create some Islamic Caliphate.

I don't see how anyone who is capable of being rational can side with these people. I'm not saying that liberals in the US do (because no one worth their salt does).

But, how can anyone join al-qaeda or any islamic extremist group when they see that this is what they do. They don't help anyone. They clearly have no interest in helping anyone. They'll kill anyone for any reason. They're just plain old thrill kill cult serial killers. Al Qaeda is just like a huge Jonestown that uses simtex instead of kool-aid.

Pakistan a grand scale N.O.L.A.?

Hungry Pakistanis Wait for Quake Relief

According to conservatives, these people are just looking for a handout. They just expect people to take care of them, right?

True, so True

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
- Albert Einstein

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
- Krishnamurti

American Taliban

Endorsement of Nominee Draws Committee's Interest - New York Times:

"On his radio program last Wednesday, Mr. Dobson said, 'When you know some of the things that I know - that I probably shouldn't know - you will understand why I have said, with fear and trepidation, that I believe Harriet Miers will be a good justice.' He added, in a reference to aborted fetuses, 'if I have made a mistake here, I will never forget the blood of those babies that will die will be on my hands to some degree.'"

So bush met with the evangelical taliban to show them that his religious nomination passed the evangelical litmus test. Theocracy or Democracy: what's the fucking difference?

No Corruption Here!

House Passes Bill to Boost Refineries - Yahoo! News

The GOP has again sold you out to oil companies. You complain about high gas prices and they ensure another century of dependence on fossil fuels. Rather than address the issue that oil is expensive and is only going to get more expensive as it becomes more and more scarce, they decide to encourage the energy industry to continue on its merry way, polluting your air, destroying your environment . . . etc.

With any luck (for them), the GOP will be on the winning side of the Mad Max world they're sending us all towards.

Just one question: what the fuck is the matter with these people? Don't they see that they're ruining our country?

Lunatic

Haaretz - Israel News - Article:

"'God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam"

God told me that it was wrong . . . Now your job, kids, is to write a 500 word essay that proves definitively who actually heard what God said? If you say argue that we both heard God, you're going to need more than 500 words to explain that paradox.

Tolerance and Our Times

Oregon woman kicked off flight in Reno over offensive shirt

Although free speech is an issue in and off itself, it does highlight the issue of tolerance: that this administration as bred a culture of complete and total intolerance for any dissent. Offensive a t-shirt may be, but I'll be damned if I'm going to tell someone to get off of an airplane because we disagree on something so stupid.

But, this is what the republicans expect from their adherents, isn't it? They desire a high level of intolerance for dissenting viewpoints (unless its dispensationalist or non-dispensationalist readings of the bible). It's because the republicans these days are fundamentally a religious party driven by a single religious view that cannot accomodate disagreement.

I gotta tell you, if this is the America that Republicans want, I'm afraid.

Respect, Honor, and Integrity!

DeLay, Successor Blunt Swapped Donations

It appears that money laundering is a pattern in the republican party . . . definitely a clear sign of honor, respect and integrity that republicans promised they'd bring to all levels of government.

Don't Sell Out

Ex-Door Lighting Their Ire - Los Angeles Times

Good for him. HE has principles and he wouldn't sell them out. Fuck Cadillac and the rest of the Doors for putting a price on their music: these companies take so much more than your music when they use it. They're making the video for your music . . . and it's selling them a car, or a mortgage, or healthcare. I can't think of anything less rock and roll and more pathetic.

Bush is only the 1st to lie about virtually everything

Talking Points Aside, Bush Stance on Palestinian State Is Not a First

Karen Hughes goes around saying that Bush was the first president to say that the Palestenians deserve a state . . . just another lie from the honorable and trustworthy "bring respect to the white house" president of ours.

Six Democratic War Vets Seek House Seats: Tell You Anything?

Six Democratic War Vets Seek House Seats

So, these soldiers come back and run as democrats? What?! What about all the hullabaloo about loyalty and honor and all of that? Well, I guess your commander in cheif needs to be loyal to you (by not putting you in wars under false pretenses) in order for you to feel loyalty to him. That and he needs to have a viable war and peace plan.

I'm happy to see that people who've been to Iraq and fought in this war see it from a similar perspective: this isn't about being anti-bush or just plain anti-war. It is about having a plan that grants you success: and republicans don't have a plan that works.

Turns out that you can be in favor of alternatives and not be anti-soldier. Too bad republicans don't realize that disagreement is a good thing: if they did, maybe they'd be able to handle their supreme court nominees, the war in Iraq, hurricanes, Tom Delay, and Bill Frist in a way that made them look less like influence peddling pirhannas.

'Nuff Said . . .

TIME.com Print Page: TIME Magazine -- Power Outage: "DeLay has done his best to paint the D.A. as a Democratic loose cannon. But Earle, 63, points out that of the 15 public officials he has prosecuted, 12 have been fellow Democrats. 'Texas law makes it a felony for corporations and labor unions to contribute money to political campaigns,' Earle tells TIME. 'My job is to prosecute felonies. I'm doing my job.' The grand jury foreman, William Gibson, 76, insists that 'this was not one of those rubber-stamp deals. Ronnie Earle did not indict Mr. DeLay. Twelve people on that grand jury voted to indict.'"

MBA Style CEO President & Planning

Pentagon report links Katrina, Iraq problems: paper : "'The one thing that this disaster has demonstrated (is) the lack of co-ordinated, in-depth planning and training on all levels of government, for any/all types of emergency contingencies,' the report said.

'Another major factor in the delayed response to the hurricane aftermath was that the bulk of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard was deployed in Iraq,' it said."

I'm sure the pentagon and the white house will disagree, but the one thing that is certain is that GWB and co. can't plan for shit. Why people elected this government that day-by-day is beginning to resemble the worst cronyism, corruption, disorganization, disassociation from the people of the land, and wildly theocratic tendencies most-often found in Bananna Republics really makes me wonder about our media, our education system and people's ability to separate wheat from the chaff so far as news is concerned.

Fact is that these rich republican fatcats have gotten the whole country believing that up is down and right is wrong . . . that Louisiana, after being flattened by a hurricane, is just looking for a handout and that Texas, after being flattened by a hurricane, is doing the right thing by not asking for help when it needs it . . . that a military industrial complex is a good thing because it makes war more profitable and cheaper . . . that fossil fuel dependence is such a matter of national security that we should try and find more of it, instead of focusing on trying to find renewable sources of energy . . .

Republicans don't have a plan. They don't plan. They've managed to drown our government in the bathtub by mistake and now they can't revive it.