Best Bush Poster

It really pisses me off that Obama is now taking the blame for Bush's crap.

Bush trashed the economy and bailed out the big banks. When Obama came into office he attached the caveat that the banks had to pay us back, Bush just gave them the money, no strings attached. But now everyone blames Obama for the bank bailout. It was already a law passed by Congress when Obama took office.

Obama kept the economy - and likely the entire world's economy - from going off the cliff. We'd be in the Greater Depression if McCain had been elected.

Blackwater

This was a breaking story yesterday that Blackwater has been a crusading Christian organization out to rid the world of Muslims by killing them one at a time. The overall story is just incredible. This video is from Countdown and it has a much more comprehensive explanation of the whole thing than anything I can say:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Related articles by Zemanta

• Testimony From Ex-Blackwater Staff Implicates Owner Erik Prince In Murder, Gun Smuggling Activities (crooksandliars.com)
• 2 ex-Blackwater workers accuse founder (cnn.com)
• Blackwater Founder implicated in Murder (iflizwerequeen.com)

Barack Obama's Inauguration Speech

It has been quite a day today, Obama is now the President and he gave one hell of an acceptance speech. I won’t post the entire thing here because it’s too long, but I will comment on some key parts.

Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

He paints a vivid image of the sacrifices made by our parents and grandparents in order to show that we can’t betray their work nor whine that we can’t do as well. We must keep going and do the same for our children and grandchildren.

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

And here is his call for action but said in a way that stirs the blood to take on the challenge. No president has made such a call for a very long time, since JFK in fact. And I really want to restore science to it’s rightful place, along with reason and fact-based actions.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -

This is excellent and the heart of the speech, I think. He tosses out the mistakes of the past, he tosses out limitations and people with low expectations. He tosses out the Republicans and their stifling ideology. He has changed the rules as well as shining the light on the right, which looks thin and cruel when it’s seen clearly. He tosses out narrow minded ideology in favor of pragmatism.

whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

This is something I’ve been waiting for someone to say for a very long time. When you help others it isn’t charity, it’s something that improves the world for all of us. America was at it’s best after WWII when we suddenly had a strong middle class and didn’t have a huge gap between the richest and the poorest. Before then was only rich and poor with hardly any middle class and we are almost there again, and America is not better because the multi-millionaires have become multi-billionaires.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers.

Ah, he throws a crumb to us non-believers, we don’t see that too often.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

Here he shows why he wanted to be president even though he is inheriting more problems than any other president has when coming into office. It is when the challenge is the greatest that success is the greatest. The presidents that we remember are the ones who led us when times were bleak and brought us out to the other side. Men like Washington, Lincoln and FDR. All progressives, too. For conservatives we have Hoover and Dubya - yuch.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

The idea that we sit in an emotional and economic winter, filled with ice and storms, is a powerful image. But he has not appealed to our fears the way Bush did. He did not tell us to go shopping. This was Bush’s biggest failure, that when he had the nation with him, Democrats and Republicans alike, he asked nothing of us, no sacrifice or challenge, just to go shopping. People want to be doing something to help overcome our problems, we would have all responded to calls for action, but none ever came.

Obama is made of better stuff. He understands hard work and overcoming challenges and calls out to what is better within each of us. Bush couldn’t do that because there isn’t anything better within him. There is no nobility, no desire for sacrifice. In his circles all anybody wants is power and money and they aren’t too concerned about how they achieve it. I can’t even describe how much of a relief it is that Bush is no longer in the Oval Office, it’s relief so strong it borders on joy.

I’m very optimistic about Obama, mainly because he’s really smart. He might be the only person alive today who is both smart enough and charismatic enough to pull us out of the headlong dive that the neocons have put us in.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Congratulations, Mr. President.
• The President Of The United States
• Obama Offers Hope Over Fear
• TRANSCRIPT: Obama's Inaugural Address

War Crimes

Keith Olbermann does another special commentary, this one on why Bush and everyone in his administration has to invvestigated and prosecuted in the Obama administration. On Rachel Maddow she talks to Jonathan Turley who says that if we don't charge Bush that he could get arrested if he travels abroad and we would be looked on as a rogue state.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Related articles by Zemanta

• Turley Speaks Out On The Bush "Policy Of Crime"

Bush Speaks

Image by Night Heron via FlickrMy friend Vjack over at Atheist Revolution had a few choice things to say about W:

As for "speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us," how do you reconcile this with your tax cuts to the wealthy, your unjust war in Iraq, or the debacle that was Hurricane Katrina. You godiots sure do talk a good game about how compassionate you are when it comes to fetuses, but the moment someone is born, you abandon them.

Vjack rightly points out how the right wing's overwhelming support of innocent lives only extends to fetuses. Once you are born you are on your own and if you aren't rich you're in trouble.

Good riddance and here's hoping the door does in fact hit you on the way out!

Something I just said in my last post, actually. Vjack goes on with his rant:

But seriously, W, I do hope to see you again. I hope to see you on the news every night as you are investigated for war crimes and a host of other criminal abuses of power committed by your administration. I hope you face the full extent of the law you have tried so hard to subvert. I hope the American people rip their heads from the sand and hold you accountable. In doing so, we will show the world that you have not been acting on our behalf and that no one is above the law.

Amen! I do hope Obama will pursue charges against Bush and compnay for their war crimes. One lawyer on TV said that if we don't do it other countries have an obligation to pusue war crimes prosecution. That could really be emarrassing.

I keep hoping Obama's stand of not prosecuting them is just to lull them into a false sense of security so Bush will not issue blanket pardons to himself and all top officials. Bush doesn't want to do that because it would be an admission of guilt, plus he doesn't think he did anything wrong so why do a pardon? Hopefully Obama will change his mind about holding the Bush people responsible for their crimes, otherwise all future adminastrations will think they can get away with anything and oour rul of law is gone.

Competence

By now everyone has heard the story of the courageous pilot who set his plane down on the Hudson River without crashing the plane and allowing all 150 passengers to get off with only one serious casualty, one woman broke both her legs. It struck me almost immediately that this is a clear sign of the changing of an era, the Bush Era of Incompetence. With Bush leaving office and Obama about to come in it's as if all America has suddenly found their inner competence once again. That suddenly we know once again that we are what we have always been, a courageous, resourceful and competent nation, a nation of heroes when it's been demanded of us. In the Bush Era we were reduced to sniveling cowards who couldn't do anything right but that day is gone.

Rachel Maddow has an interesting take on this, that it took training and preparation, time and tax dollars, for everything to be in place that morning on the Hudson. It was an investment in ourselves, in our ability to be resourceful, in our desire to have on hand what we need in an emergency. This is something the Republicans have never understood, that money and training must be spent if we are to be other than helpless victims of circumstances.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Related articles by Zemanta

• Reports indicate all passengers survive after jet crashes into Hudson River
• Hudson River hero is ex-Air Force fighter pilot
• All passengers rescued as Manhattan looks on, Congress throws money
• Heroes on the Hudson

Bush Matrix

This is just too good not to post, from Printmeister. Wired has all the Bush shoe parodies.

I'm really glad this happened because this is what Bush is going to be remembered for, this is his legacy. And no matter how much Bush, Rove and Cheney try to re-write the terrible truth they will never erase this incident. It will live on for hundreds of years. The Buffoon In Chief.

Frost/Sheen and the Magna Carta

Haven't seen the movie but I love the commercial where Frank Langella as Nixon says his most outrageous line: "If the President does it it's not illegal!" Michael Sheen as Frost says, with a look of incredulity on his face; "Excuse me?" Because he can't believe Nixon just said that.

It's a line that has ticked me off for years, it goes against every principle of the Rule of Law in a democratic nation. And to say it to a Brit would be really ridiculous because it is practically burnt into their DNA.

That's because of the Magna Carta. Most people have heard of it but don't really know what it is or what it actually says. Many have heard it was the start of Western Democracy and it is, although no democracy actually existed in it. It did what was first needed in a society before democracy could happen, it established the rule of law as supreme, only from that concept could true democracy grow. It's hard to describe how incredible an idea this was at the time, all over Europe it was a given that Kings were God's representative on Earth and his rule WAS the law, and he could do what he wanted.

To see what happened we need Robin Hood. While Robin never existed the framework of England in the story is reasonably true. Richard the Lionhearted was king of England, but that didn't mean much because in his ten years as king he only set foot in England for a few months. He was raised in Normandy (remember the Norman Invasion?) and spoke French not English. And soon after becoming king he went off to the Crusades where he fought Saladin to a standstill and earned fame as a great military leader.

Because he was so removed from England in many ways he really did not care about it so he left his brother, Prince John, in charge. And yes, he really was evil, or at least an asshole. After Richard left the Middle East he still didn't want to settle down and he was killed when an arrow went through his throat while holding a siege on a German castle 10 years after becoming king. So John inherited the throne.

King John was so bad (no other kings have been named John since then) that all his nobles rebelled. Despite how kings were looked at they really needed their nobles' support, at least some of them, in order to rule. John not only pissed them all off but made them realize that none of them were safe from his arbitrary wrath.

Now it's important to note how everything from this point on was totally unprecedented in Europe of the Middle Ages, these things were not even thought of let alone pursued. Which shows just how bad John was to have pushed his nobles to do this. They got together and wrote the Magna Carta (Great Charter). Here is what Wikipedia says:

Magna Carta required King John of England to proclaim certain rights (mainly of his barons), respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered — most notably the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment.

For the first time rights were given to the King's subjects, he couldn't just do anything he wanted to them. He also had to be bound by law. Think of how amazing this is when up until that time Kings had absolute power and could not even be questioned. Even the serfs had rights! Every man, no matter what, had the right to habeas corpus, which means they had a right to know why they were imprisoned and had the right to defend themselves

For the first time in the Western world the Rule of Law was named supreme, even above the power of the king, that the king himself, was subject to the rule of law. Meaning he could not break it and if he did he could be held accountable.

This happened in 1215 and was one of the truly great revolutionary moments in the history of Europe, and in our history since we came from Europe. This is why a Brit would be taken aback by a mere President claiming to have a right not even a king in England could claim in over 7 centuries.

And here we are today, with Bush having said what Nixon said and he successfully demolished habeas corpus, the very foundation of the Rule of Law. If the Rule of Law is gone then we have the Rule of Men and presidents become kings. I doubt that any American would approve of that if they truly understood what it all meant. But for most Americans terms like the Magna Carta, habeas corpus and the rule of law are just things they have heard but aren't quite sure of their meaning or importance.

Bush and Obama

Obama visited the White House yesterday and he and Michelle were met by George and Laura. Quite a scene, it was as if we saw the emotional transfer of the power of the presidency from the old to the new. I especially liked Obama putting his hand on Bush's back, showing who was in control.

What surprised me is how gracious Bush was reported to have been. There seemed to be genuine respect towards Obama and an acknowledgment of the enormity of Obama's accomplishment.

I think it boils down to two things. The first is that being president is a VERY exclusive club of a very small group of highly exceptional men and Bush has a great deal of respect for that club and the men in it. Only natural he would feel that way since that makes him exceptional too. But Bush is right, it IS a very exclusive club of which he and Obama are two of only five total living membership. And despite what anyone thinks of Bush it really is quite an exceptional thing to be President of the United States.

The second, I think, is that Bush is genuinely choked up at the enormity of the US having the first black president in history. I can think of many bad things to say about Bush but racist isn't one of them, after all, he put Colin Powell and Condi Rice in his cabinet. As choked up and overwhelmed and pleased by this idea as I am, I think Bush's feeling are very close to mine. I also think he felt like it was a great honor for him to be the one to greet our first black president and show him the White House.

Many of my friends have theorized that Bush had never intended to give up power and would declare martial law before leaving office, this goes back to before the 2004 election. There was lots of evidence to support this, including a law Bush signed that made it easier for the president to do that very thing. Creepy.

But it's all gone wrong for him and he now has a 22% approval rating, a new low for any sitting president and he probably feels like he couldn't get away with stealing the presidency under current circumstances. I also think Bush is getting pretty stressed out by it all and really, really wants to be out of the office. Whatever was going on behind the scenes Bush was very gracious yesterday with President-Elect Obama and I think when he does something good he should get credit for it.

Bullying and Intimidation

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century."

Look at that sentence carefully, might it be Ted Kennedy talking to Bush about his foreign policy? Or the head of just about any other country on earth talking to Bush. No, the above was said by Bush to Putin about his invasion of Georgia. Yes, really, George Bush actually said the above and was able to keep a straight face.

And if Putin doesn't listen to Bush what is George going to do about it? We no longer have a military that can engage any where in the world no matter what the reason. You heard Barack Obama, it will take 16 months to pull our troops out of Iraq and that's only if everything goes perfectly. Then the troops would have to be re-equiped to be employed elsewhere, because all of our equipment - costing billions of dollars - is useless from all those years in the desert and we will just leave it there. And guess what? No one thought ahead in the Bush administration (hard to believe, eh?) and companies haven't been churning out replacements like crazy. They have for some but not enough to reoutfit our entire military.

I know! We can just send Blackwater over there, no need for any of Bush's people to do any planning or anything, they find that kind of thing really taxing. And so what if the cost of a mercenary army is 10 times what our actual army costs, heck, that's what the government is for; making a few very rich people very, VERY rich. At least, that's what the neocons think a government is all about. And paying billions of tax dollars to rebuild the infrastructure of countries we've bombed, too. After all if we used that money to actually rebuild the infrastructure here Americans would become soft socialists instead of hardened individuals. Those still left alive, that is. Evolution at work.

I was just astonished by Bush saying such a thing to anyone. Has he looked in a mirror lately? I constantly get the impression that Bush thinks rules don't apply to him, even his own rules. He can do whatever he wants and it's nothing like whatever anyone else does.

EXPLOITING BUSH

Which means Bush exploiting us, his entire run as president has ALL
been about exploitation. He is the reverse Robin Hood, stealing from
the poor (and middle class) and giving to the rich. The amazing part is
how obvious he has been and how few have called him on it. But now we have a caller who doesn't hold back - Hillary! In an article she says:

In the past few years, the number of corporations flocking to places like the Cayman Islands to evade U.S. taxes has exploded. One of these companies, former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, has used offshore tax havens to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal taxes. To no one's surprise, instead of cracking down on KBR, the Bush administration has rewarded the company in April of this year with a 10-year, $150 billion contract in Iraq.

Too bad she doesn't mention Halliburton skipping off to Dubai. I think any company that leaves America should no longer get government contracts, but Halliburton still has one that is cost plus 10%. Are you clear on what that means? Halliburton merely has to submit an expense report, they then get all that money plus 10% profit. So their motivation is to spend as much money as they possibly can on every project in order to make more profit. It's the kind of deal every business would dream of.

There appears to be no crisis, tragedy or disaster immune from exploitation under the Bush administration. The examples of the waste, fraud and abuse are legion -- from KBR performing shoddy electrical work in Iraq that has resulted in the electrocution of our military personnel according to Pentagon and Congressional investigators, to the firing of an Army official who dared to refuse a $1 billion payout for questionable charges to the same company.

KBR is responsible for the deaths of over a dozen military men fighting in Iraq by electrocuting them in poor built showers. I am not kidding even though I know that sounds unbelievable, but that is what America has become, the land where corporations rule and can get away with anything. Imagine this during WWII, people would be going to jail. She goes on to talk about how much money we can get back in government coffers simply by putting a stop to this abuse, no need for tax increases at all:

While touting fiscal responsibility, President Bush and his administration have lined the pockets of political cronies like Halliburton and Blackwater. While calling for earmark reform, the president has allowed no-bid and questionable contracting throughout the federal government to dwarf earmark spending by a 10-to-1 ratio.

If we're going to get serious about putting our nation's fiscal house in order, let's talk about putting an end to billions in no-bid contract awards to unaccountable contractors. Let's talk about the number of lucrative contracts and bonuses being paid for duties never performed, promises never fulfilled, and contracts falsely described as complete. And let's talk about reforming the federal contracting system so that we can take on the real waste, fraud and abuse in our federalgovernment.

I won't go into details but everyone should follow the link and read the whole article. As I was reading it I was thinking about how light weight all the VP candidates for Obama are that the press has been batting around. Only Hillary brings serious chops to the table. There has also been a rumor that she is suddenly high up on the short list again, so maybe Obama is starting to see that too. Each candidate might bring in his state, maybe, or white people, maybe. But Hillary is the only candidate who had 18 million people vote for her. This is not a maybe, this is hard fact.

And the traditional role of the VP candidate is as the attack dog that the presidential candidate can't be. We all know Hillary would be great at that. And Obama could give her special projects to take care of so he doesn't need to worry about them. He could hand over the whole health care mess, or set her up to deal with the corruption she talks about in the article. Hell, she can do both. Imagine her as Obama's Dick Cheney, the idea is positively scary.

The more I think about it the more I like it.

Bush Got Punked

In case anyone hasn't been paying attention to the details, the UN mandate that makes it sort-of legal for the US to be in Iraq runs out in December and will not be renewed. So Bush has been in talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki for the US to stay there indefinitely. Even though he denies wanting to stay there indefinitely. I wonder if those 18 permanent military bases he wants seem a bit inappropriate? Bush, being the arrogant jerk he is also does not think this needs to go before Congress, even though the Constitution very specifically says Congress must affirm any and all treaties with foreign countries. What does Bush care about the Constitution anyway, it's not like he swore an oath to God to protect it against all enemies foreign and domestic, or anything serious like that.

Well, it so happens that Maliki announced today that he wants the US to pull out, or at least set a timetable for withdrawal, because he doesn't want the US to stay there. The Times Online has the story:

Iraq said for the first time yesterday that it wanted to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from its territory.

President Bush has long resisted a schedule for pulling his 145,000 soldiers out, arguing that it would play into the hands of insurgents. Nouri al-Maliki, the Shia Prime Minister, who boasted last week that he had crushed terrorism in the country, suggested that it was time to start setting time-lines.

This would be laugh-out-loud funny if there weren't so many dead Iraqis and Americans lying around. The article goes on to say:

The Iraqi parliament has bridled at pushing through such a binding deal with the outgoing and unpopular Bush Administration, saying that the negotiations have been secretive and could undermine Iraq’s sovereignty. “I don’t know anything about this agreement and neither does parliament,” said Ezzedine Dawla, a Sunni MP. “We’re going to pass something we don’t know anything about.”

Basically, the Iraqis don't like us, go figure. Kill a million of their people and they take it personally. Also, they think we are trying to steal their oil, probably because we are. Thing is, oil is the only thing they have and they don't want it stolen. Ungrateful bastards. Then there is the Pentagon's response:

US snubs Maliki pullout timetable

WASHINGTON: In a rebuff to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki, the Pentagon said yesterday that any timetable for a US withdrawal from Iraq would depend on conditions on the ground there.

After all this time of Bush saying how a timetable for withdrawal would only help the terrorists they couldn't very well agree with Maliki, now could they? Besides, who will protect the Western Oil Companies while they are stealing the Iraqi oil if US troops aren't there? But then, Bush has also been saying all along that we would leave whenever the Iraqis asked us to. Oooops, Maliki just stuck it to Bush. Poor guy, things just don't seem to be going his way these days.

But of course, we all knew Bush didn't really mean it when he said we would leave if they asked, any more than he meant that pesky oath about the Constitution.

Special Comment

Keith Olbermann has another Special Comment tonight where he really slams Bush. I've never seen Keith so angry and I've seen him pretty angry. But I agree with 100%, Bush just pisses me off so badly it's hard to even talk about him but his comment about sacrificing golf for the troops was just unbelievable, even for him.

What is really cool this time is that MSNBC had the video of it right away with the code for embedding. I used to have to wait a day until someone put it on YouTube then embed what was usually a very bad image. They announced on Countdown to go to tv.msnbc.com with instructions for how to embed it. On one of his earlier comments MSNBC had a video of it but no way to embed it so I still had to wait a day. I shot an email off to Keith telling him they needed to do this very thing, have a way for us bloggers to embed the good quality video and get it out in the blogosphere right away. They must have paid attention.

Worse Than 9/11

We are in the middle of a holocaust yet few seem very concerned, especially those in government who can actually do something about it. Here is a story from California Healthline:

The report estimates that 19,900 Californians between ages 25 and 64 died because of a lack of health insurance between 2000 and 2006 (Families USA release, 4/3). The report estimated that 3,100 adult Californians died in 2006 because they were uninsured and either could not pay for the necessary care or received treatment too late.

3,100 dead in California alone just in the year 2006. That's equal to the toll of 9/11 but no one seems to care. This happens every year and in every state so 3,100 barely scratches the surface. Where is the outrage? Where are the annual memorials? Where are the troops, taking revenge and making sure this can't ever happen again?

And isn't it ironic that we can't do anything about this but we CAN spend $341.4 million per day in Iraq. Why? The answer is simple, guys like George Bush don't care about the little people. Those who claim to not believe in evolution DO believe in social evolution, that the fit survive. Which means if you can't afford health insurance you deserve to die.

And the worst part of it all is that a large portion of America has bought this absurdity. It's better to spend all our resources killing Iraqis than taking care of our own. But mention 9/11 and these hypocrites turn into drama queens.

The REAL News

Elliot Spitzer is a huge boon to the Bush administration. Why? Because the story of his scandal blanketed the news and knocked the real news out of center stage so most Americans will never know of it. The first one is all about KBR, an off-shoot of Halliburton, who has been supplying water to our troops that make the sick:

A report obtained by The Associated Press said Soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.

The Pentagon's inspector general found water quality problems between March 2004 and February 2006 at three sites run by contractor KBR Inc., and between January 2004 and December 2006 at two military-operated locations.

Just imagine how bad things could be if the right wingers in power weren't patriots who support our troops!!!

Then there is this one about Bush vetoing legislation that would make torture illegal. He says the US doesn't torture but then why would he veto this law? The obvious and clear answer is that the US does torture and Bush is afraid if it's made illegal he could be held accountable:

'We do not torture," President Bush insists, yet that assurance is accompanied by an unspoken "but." In vetoing legislation,1,218858.story that would require CIA interrogators to abide by the same humanitarian standards imposed on their counterparts in the U.S. military, Bush again has drowned out his denials with an ominous silence about just what "enhanced" interrogation tactics he considers appropriate.

"because the manual is publicly available and easily accessible on the Internet." So, of course, are the Geneva Convention In a shameful Saturday radio address justifying his veto, Bush argued that CIA interrogators can't be confined to techniques allowed by the Army Field Manualand the Detainee Treatment Act, which prohibit "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment." By the president's logic, acceptance of the humanitarian standards included in those documents also deprives the United States of the element of surprise.

He pretty much says that the CIA has been torturing people and will continue to do so. I remember one survivor of the Hanoi Hilton saying that one of the things that gave them strength was the knowledge that the US would never do what the Vietnamese were doing to them. No longer true, thanks to Bush.

Political News

DICK CHENEY HAS IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT!!
Really, I think everyone is amazed that anyone found any kind of heartbeat at all. I wonder if they've ever found a regular heartbeat, doesn't seem possible. The name Darth Vader didn't stick to him for nothing. Then there is a recent poll that said 55% of Americans think Cheney is going to hell. Quite a statistic when you figure at least 9% of the population likes him and another 15-20% don't believe in hell.
________________________________________

TRENT LOTT RESIGNS!!
Horrible news, isn't it? We won't have Trent Lott to kick around any more. But then we have to look at the reason for him resigning, and specifically before the end of the year. New laws have been enacted that say anyone leaving Congress after January 1, 2008 has to wait an entire year before they can become a lobbyist and rake in the big bucks. So Trent just wants to make sure he doesn't miss a whole year of a 7 figure income.
________________________________________

RECESSION!!
Here is the article from CNN Money:

Even with a boost from holiday spending, the U.S. economy looks shaky, thanks to slumping housing prices, Wall Street woes and debt-laden consumers. How bad could it get?

It could get really bad, especially with the dollar falling so rapidly. We have Bush's economic policies to thank for this, although a better name would be Bush's Looting Policies. They have funneled money upwards to the rich so they could get much richer and the poor and middle class have to struggle twice as hard to to keep from sinking. When people are working too hard and getting sick without health insurance, and one pay check away from homelessness, they are usually too busy and too tired to march in the street or pay much attention to politics, and that is the whole point of Republican Economic Strategy. And besides, all of them have most of their money in foreign currency so as the dollar falls they actually get richer.
________________________________________

AL GORE AT THE WHITE HOUSE!!
He's were he belongs at last! Too bad it's because Bush invited him. George was having a visit today from all the American Noble Prize Laureates so he couldn't very well keep Al out, he would look petty if he tried. So he made the diplomatic move and called Gore personally to invite him over for a private meeting, makes him look like the big man even though we all know what kind of a man he is; one who isn't fit to shine Al's shoes. The fundies and Neocons all just about had a collective stroke when Gore got the Noble Peace Prize. They hate the guy with a passion (because they know as well as we do that Gore is the rightful president and Bush pulled off a peaceful coup) and they absolutely can't stand the idea that the rest of the world respects him. I think if they did a poll they would find him far more respected around the world than King George.

Delusional

It seems that President Bush has been sending memos through back channels to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama with tips on how to stay in Iraq. Really! I'm totally serious here, this really happened, it says so in the new book by Bush's lapdog Bill Sammon, The Evangelical President.

Apparently Bush thinks that once someone is sitting in the Oval Office and sees the intelligence (a really appropriate name for it, eh?) that Bush has seen a rational person can only come to the very same conclusion Bush has, that we have to stay there forever!

And he wants to keep Gitmo open so that his successor will have that option. It's almost enough to make you start feeling sorry for the guy, I wonder if there is enough air up there in the clouds where he lives.

The fun part is imagining what the Hillary and Obama camps did when they got those memos. First I would imagine stunned looks all around, follow by peal of hysterical laughter.

Someone ought to put Bush and O'Reilly in the same room together, alone but with video running, just to see what they might say in private to each other.

Rebutting Bush

Bush's speech last night was so far from reality that on MSNBC Joe Biden practically blew a gasket and almost called Bush insane. He was as angry as I'd ever seen him. Today on Hardball Chris Matthews spent the whole time showing how everything Bush said was an outright lie. Especially his ridiculous claim that there are 36 other countries helping us. Turns out there is 24 and a few of those are a single soldier, and one of those was just asked to withdraw by his government. Our troops number 15 times all the other countries combined. I don't even like Matthews and think he's nothing but a kiss-ass Republican sycophant, but I could see even he was pissed off and amazed that Bush could say what he did. After 6 years and a million dead human beings it seems the press has finally caught on that Bush is lying - amazing.

On Alternet there is a very good article by Howie Klein that sums it all up, with comments from several Democrats, but the best thing on there is the video of Edwards' commercial that came on right after Bush. With that speech he showed himself different from all the other Democrats, he laid it on the line and told off congressional Democrats as well as Bush, all the others are still playing political games while people die. I had high hopes for Obama when he entered the race but instead of being a leader and showing he was outside of the usual party leadership he fit himself right in as just another player, saying all the right things in just the right way, which is why he's second, and the media likes him. Howie has quotes from Hillary, Obama, Harry Reid, Pelosi and Howard Dean. Compare them all to what Edwards says, only Dean even comes close and Edwards is suffering from the same thing that ended Dean's run in 04, the media doesn't like him.

The only three candidates with the guts to go outside of the mold and speak their minds are Edwards, Kucinich and Gravel. Kucinich and Gravel don't stand a chance, the media don't like them either, although after hearing Dennis earlier this week on the Ed Schultz Show my opinion of him went way up. I'd probably vote for him except I really do like Edwards better and he has a chance to win, even though the odds are against him right now it isn't out of reach, he IS leading in Iowa.

How Popular Is Bush Now?

I just found a new blog that looks interesting, here's an excerpt of one post:

Do you want some swing state proof that the GOP is on its last legs? Ok, how about in my home state of Ohio, the ultimate swing state.

Example 3: Here in the Buckeye State, George W. Bush had a 61% approval rating in April of 2003, which now stands at 30%. On Iraq his approval has fallen from 66% to 28%. Whether the War in Iraq was worth all we have lost, he has fallen from 51% saying yes to 28% now saying yes.

Wow, Americans hate him, Ohioans hate him as much if not more than their countrymen overall and all hate his policies.

Oh, how the "mighty" have fallen. And despite all the polls neither Bush nor the Democratic Congress seem to have a clue about how most of America feels.

A note about Petraeus, when asked if the war in Iraq was making us safer he paused for a minute and looked confused then said he didn't know, he had been focused on meeting his objectives in Iraq. Excuse me? Does everyone get what this means? The man leading our war in Iraq doesn't know if the war is in our best interest. This means that saying we were safer was too big a lie for him to tell to congress but he couldn't go against Bush so he said I don't know, and had that deer in the headlights look for a minute or so. It wasn't the kind of question where he could pull a Gonzales and say "I don't recall" so "I don't know" was the best he could do.

Tidbits

I've been way too busy with work to post here and now there are so many interesting things to write about I thought I would just do some short snippets.
______________________________
Dick Cheney is president today. Kind of gives you chills to read that doesn't it? It's like Darth Vader being president, even though Darth is a pussycat compared to Cheney. He's acting president while Bush is sedated for a colonoscopy (I will refrain from the obvious jokes here). At first I thought it was horrible to think of Cheney in charge but after thinking about it I realized it's not really any different than its been for the last 6 years, which also includes Bush's condition.
______________________________
Keith Olbermann has a new commentary where he tells Bush to go fight his own war, it's another really good one. Aren't they all? I won't post it this time but will just post a link to the video on YouTube. And a link to Keith's website where you can get transcripts.
______________________________
Here is a great Alternet article entitled Neocons on a Cruise: What Conservatives Say When They Think We Aren't Listening. They are crazier and more disgusting than we think they are.
______________________________
The last Harry Potter book is now out amidst great excitement and fanfare. Doesn't mean much to me since I haven't read the books. I read the first one and thought it quite good and I could understand why kids love it so much. But it was very obviously written for kids so I found it too boring to continue to read the series. Darcy loves it though and has all the books and put in a pre-order for it at Barnes & Noble months ago, so we should be getting it this week sometime.
______________________________

Michael Vick: What an uproar the news of him being involved in dog fighting caused. Once again I'm reminded why I really don't want to know any personal info on famous people, I just want to see them work. Usually if I do find out something it's not good and that cuts down on my enjoyment of their work. I'll never be able to watch Vick in a game again without thinking about dog fighting, which is completely disgusting and cannot be defended in any way. It's amazing how much this has pissed people off, yet everyone doesn't get nearly as upset when they hear that 10 of our troops were killed today and 100 Iraqis. What we need to do is create some dog-soldiers, send them to Iraq and get them blown up. People will be so outraged the war would end soon.
______________________________
Robert Byrd: He was one of those guys who was outraged by Michael Vick and gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the Senate. I haven't seen him on TV in quite a while and all I can say is the guy is WAY past time to retire. The term doddering old fool comes to mind. I've never liked Byrd, he is one of those old-time southern democrats - from 2 or 3 generations ago - who are really just Republicans in disguise. Most of the rest have become Republicans by now. Byrd is a racist southern boy but I have to give him props, back in 2002 (2003?) when Bush was looking for the authority to attack Iraq, Byrd was one of only about 3 or 4 Senators who voted against it. He mentioned the Gulf of Tonkins back in the 60's that got us into Vietnam big time. He voted for it then and deeply regrets it today and he didn't want to make that same mistake again. Too bad no one listened to him, any more than Byrd listened to the few voices of dissent back in the 60's.