Every single cable news channel presents today's Card/Bush/Bolten event as a "major shake up." Excuse me, am I missing something here? A man volunteers his resignation to the president and we have an earth shattering sign of things to come in this White House? A spring cleaning?
Um, no.
It's not hard to imagine this president over the weekend, suggesting to Andrew Card that maybe he needs a break from the rigors of managing the most ineffective public relations president of all time and nudges him to start off the week with an announcement. Then proceed to replace Mr Card with another insider, one who has managed to lead us to financial ruin.
Mr President, let me know when you have publicly fired Donald Rumsfeld.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Hillary - Warmonger?
If you get a chance, either pick up the latest issue of American Conservative (yes, Buchanan's mag) for the front cover story: Hillary the Hawk.
The truth needs to be told about Hillary's apparent belief in the Bush doctrine.
Or...you could just read it here.
The truth needs to be told about Hillary's apparent belief in the Bush doctrine.
Or...you could just read it here.
Russ' gift to the Democrats
Since the National Review likes to term Feingold's resolution as a "gift to the GOP," i'd like to stress the opposite has been done. Once again, a bold, principled Democrat has come out and given the Democratic Party a chance to literally become the opposition party. It happened with Murtha in November of last year and its happening again.
Let's make this clear: if you at all a smidgen progressive and care about America then your choice is clearly going to be Feingold if he runs. Everyone else is a waste of your time.
Let's make this clear: if you at all a smidgen progressive and care about America then your choice is clearly going to be Feingold if he runs. Everyone else is a waste of your time.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
A reminder
Andrew Sullivan reminds us about the things done in the name of America, how we have morphed into our enemy and our former enemies.
There was a time in our history when we we not defined by torture and preemptive war.
There was a time in our history when we we not defined by torture and preemptive war.
Monday, March 20, 2006
9 trillion
...the new debt ceiling thanks to this president's signature.
What are the proposed uses for this gargantuan sum of extra money? One word: Iraq.
Think about this for a minute. Ponder the things this country could have done with all the funds that have been allocated to a foreign country under our control. Does freedom for the Iraqi people cost this much? Is it a wise investment? Neoconservatism thinks so, its only the beginning, for if John McCain secures the nomination in 2008 we will see a number of countries fall to our tyranny ending campaign to save the world on the backs of the American taxpayer.
Exactly when will the shit hit the fan? When will there be a massive tax increase on the middle to lower class as well as the elimination of one or more programs vital to this country? My prediction is sometime in late 2009 when the populace, already exhausted from juggling work and family will see a substantial portion of their income withdrawn to fund neoconservatism wargames.
Sorry for the long stretches without a post, I'm trying to frame this blog around something other than Bush and incompetence.
What are the proposed uses for this gargantuan sum of extra money? One word: Iraq.
Think about this for a minute. Ponder the things this country could have done with all the funds that have been allocated to a foreign country under our control. Does freedom for the Iraqi people cost this much? Is it a wise investment? Neoconservatism thinks so, its only the beginning, for if John McCain secures the nomination in 2008 we will see a number of countries fall to our tyranny ending campaign to save the world on the backs of the American taxpayer.
Exactly when will the shit hit the fan? When will there be a massive tax increase on the middle to lower class as well as the elimination of one or more programs vital to this country? My prediction is sometime in late 2009 when the populace, already exhausted from juggling work and family will see a substantial portion of their income withdrawn to fund neoconservatism wargames.
Sorry for the long stretches without a post, I'm trying to frame this blog around something other than Bush and incompetence.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Bush doctrine version 2.0
"If neccesary, however, under long-standing principles of self defense, we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack." (Washinton Post)
From Bush's reaffirmation of his own foolish doctrine, set to be released tommorow. Take a deep breath, it going to be a scary two years.
From Bush's reaffirmation of his own foolish doctrine, set to be released tommorow. Take a deep breath, it going to be a scary two years.
Thanks Tom
Populist Tom Harkin has signed on the censure resolution authored by Russ Feingold. (tip: Think Progress)
He sees the NSA wiretapping for what it is: an abuse of presidential powers.
He sees the NSA wiretapping for what it is: an abuse of presidential powers.
No more war
This is a warning to neoconservatism: no war in Iran.
Don't even think about it. We cannot afford it; mentally and fiscally. Put away the war drums. Watch "Why we Fight," rip up your copy of the Bush doctrine and stay quiet for a while. We cannot end tyranny everywhere. We cannot even manage our own government with the slightest of competence.
Memo to America: a president Kerry would be securing our ports with vigor.
Don't even think about it. We cannot afford it; mentally and fiscally. Put away the war drums. Watch "Why we Fight," rip up your copy of the Bush doctrine and stay quiet for a while. We cannot end tyranny everywhere. We cannot even manage our own government with the slightest of competence.
Memo to America: a president Kerry would be securing our ports with vigor.
Back on track
The folks over at the pro torture National Review have certainly gone back to type haven't they?
Hurrah
Hurrah to nativism. Hurrah to America first. Horray to isolationism.
Thank you Lou Dobbs.
During the ports debacle, it was 70 percent of the country vs Bush. A hefty majority against the what truly can be called the comfortable, elitist punditry. People such as Andrea Mitchell who lamented on Hardball about the signals sent to the world if this deal sunk. People like David Brooks and Tom Freidman who likened 70 percent of the country to the Klan in its protectionism.
Dobbs was the only one on any station who spoke to this issue clearly. This administration values "free trade" more than american tradition and security. NAFTA and its like have slowly killed this country. Back in the nineties, in the comfort of my parents home, Clintonism and NAFTA seemed a reasonable proposition. Now, as a member of an underpaid, struggling workforce things are becoming clearer and clearer. We need a america focused president.
Can you name the Senator who opposed not only the Patriot Act, but NAFTA as well? Who also happened to display reasoned judgement in voting for Chief Justice John Roberts.
Feingold. He is the only politician on the planet who looks like a winner these days.
Thank you Lou Dobbs.
During the ports debacle, it was 70 percent of the country vs Bush. A hefty majority against the what truly can be called the comfortable, elitist punditry. People such as Andrea Mitchell who lamented on Hardball about the signals sent to the world if this deal sunk. People like David Brooks and Tom Freidman who likened 70 percent of the country to the Klan in its protectionism.
Dobbs was the only one on any station who spoke to this issue clearly. This administration values "free trade" more than american tradition and security. NAFTA and its like have slowly killed this country. Back in the nineties, in the comfort of my parents home, Clintonism and NAFTA seemed a reasonable proposition. Now, as a member of an underpaid, struggling workforce things are becoming clearer and clearer. We need a america focused president.
Can you name the Senator who opposed not only the Patriot Act, but NAFTA as well? Who also happened to display reasoned judgement in voting for Chief Justice John Roberts.
Feingold. He is the only politician on the planet who looks like a winner these days.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Detached
Try to read the following quote from Mary Landrieu in today's Washington Post without retching:
Mary Landrieu pursed her lips "Senator Feingold has a point that he wants to make," she said, "We have a point that we want to make, talking about the budget."
Yes, talking about the budget certainly has positioned the Democratic Party as the opposition party. Read the entire article to see your potential nominees for president in 2008 (Hillary, Kerry etc).
Attention, you are now leaving Hillaryland.
Mary Landrieu pursed her lips "Senator Feingold has a point that he wants to make," she said, "We have a point that we want to make, talking about the budget."
Yes, talking about the budget certainly has positioned the Democratic Party as the opposition party. Read the entire article to see your potential nominees for president in 2008 (Hillary, Kerry etc).
Attention, you are now leaving Hillaryland.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Go here and either contribute or become aware of the only Democrat in existence who cares about anything.
Cowardice
As with the initial vote on the recently renewed Patriot Act Russ Feingold is the only Democrat in this entire country who has some semblance of a spine. Per today's Newsday, no Democrat will get behind the needed censure of this president.
Cowards. From Reid to Pelosi, Lieberman was a given on this issue. We are not talking about articles of impeachment here nor are we in the midst of the Hague. Here is the resolution:
"Resolved that the United States Senate does hereby censure George W. Bush, President of the United States, and does condemn his unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans within the United States without obtaining the court orders required."
This is just a snippet. This president should consider himself lucky the opposition is so willing to live and let die. This has been happening for the entire Bush presidency. It happened during the Kerry candidency, it most likely will happen in 2006 and 2008.
On top of that, we haven't done this since 1834! We certainly can't do it now! At no more a point in time in this nation's history with the majority of the American people in disapproval of this president, a censure resolution is needed. Are the Democrats not reading these polls? Are they enlisting the services of Dick Morris again? The man who sabotaged the Clinton presidency? Listen to the electorate: WE DON'T APPROVE OF GEORGE W BUSH AS PRESIDENT.
UPDATE: 36 percent approval rating for this president and the Democratic Party is still in shambles.
UPDATE 2: Over at Angry Bear, there has been an endorsement of the Feingold way.
Cowards. From Reid to Pelosi, Lieberman was a given on this issue. We are not talking about articles of impeachment here nor are we in the midst of the Hague. Here is the resolution:
"Resolved that the United States Senate does hereby censure George W. Bush, President of the United States, and does condemn his unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans within the United States without obtaining the court orders required."
This is just a snippet. This president should consider himself lucky the opposition is so willing to live and let die. This has been happening for the entire Bush presidency. It happened during the Kerry candidency, it most likely will happen in 2006 and 2008.
On top of that, we haven't done this since 1834! We certainly can't do it now! At no more a point in time in this nation's history with the majority of the American people in disapproval of this president, a censure resolution is needed. Are the Democrats not reading these polls? Are they enlisting the services of Dick Morris again? The man who sabotaged the Clinton presidency? Listen to the electorate: WE DON'T APPROVE OF GEORGE W BUSH AS PRESIDENT.
UPDATE: 36 percent approval rating for this president and the Democratic Party is still in shambles.
UPDATE 2: Over at Angry Bear, there has been an endorsement of the Feingold way.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Breaching and topping
Over at the Y files, Cathy Young debates the meaning of "breach." It's pretty clear to me that the response to Hurricane Katrina was the worst failure since 9/11 by the federal government, proof Bush and Co care only about lofty rhetoric than real action.
Give me some time to comment on this whole straw man contest down in Memphis. Seems to me the choice for die hard Repubs are clear: continue with the Bush doctrine or not. McCain is already proving to the nation that he is a Bush clone, albeit more competent. My choice on the GOP side if I had a say would be, well no one. Every person from Condi to Guiliani have no domestic credentials and offer nothing to the American public but more of the same. Spare me the talk about Giuliani, one day does not a president make.
Give me some time to comment on this whole straw man contest down in Memphis. Seems to me the choice for die hard Repubs are clear: continue with the Bush doctrine or not. McCain is already proving to the nation that he is a Bush clone, albeit more competent. My choice on the GOP side if I had a say would be, well no one. Every person from Condi to Guiliani have no domestic credentials and offer nothing to the American public but more of the same. Spare me the talk about Giuliani, one day does not a president make.
Friday, March 03, 2006
political goner
According to this newly released poll, Bush and GOP are done like dinner come November. When 60% of the electorate believes you can no longer govern, you are irrelevant.
When in doubt, call him Hitler
"Hitler, too, prophesied the annihilation of the Jews, saying that a world war would result in the "annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe." Most treated this as empty bluster. The history of genocide in the modern era is that, in the rare instances that political leaders publicly threaten to annihilate enemy peoples, they mean it."
This is a new piece in the New Republic by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (tip: DLC'er Bull Moose). Let's make this clear:
Iran - nowhere near a nuke and an insignificant army.
Nazi Germany - massive, dominating military which rolled across Europe with ease.
This is a new piece in the New Republic by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (tip: DLC'er Bull Moose). Let's make this clear:
Iran - nowhere near a nuke and an insignificant army.
Nazi Germany - massive, dominating military which rolled across Europe with ease.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Realism please
Some people are a little late to the party huh?
The pile on George W Bush has begun in his own club. People like George Will, Pat Buchanan, William Kristol etc are churning out opinion on Iraq and the Bush presidency as a whole. He was supposed to be the guy to return us to Reaganism again. Remember Reaganism? Secret wars, disdain for the working class, a yuppie gilded age. At least Reagan could sell his brand. Bush sold conservatism down the river and potentially into the wilderness for at least four years.
Yours truly is not a conservative on the domestic front. The people matter to me, the people that are losing once secure jobs to outsourcing and "free trade." When given a choice, conservatism always sides with the plutocrat each and every time. Conservatives want small government, no matter the cost. Progressives want government to work for people who want it. Because of the Bush presidency, both conservatives and liberals will be hard pressed to get anything they want in the coming years for the adventure of neoconservatism in Iraq has drained the governments ability to even respond to disasters at home let alone a fiscal reorganization.
Let the pile on continue.
The pile on George W Bush has begun in his own club. People like George Will, Pat Buchanan, William Kristol etc are churning out opinion on Iraq and the Bush presidency as a whole. He was supposed to be the guy to return us to Reaganism again. Remember Reaganism? Secret wars, disdain for the working class, a yuppie gilded age. At least Reagan could sell his brand. Bush sold conservatism down the river and potentially into the wilderness for at least four years.
Yours truly is not a conservative on the domestic front. The people matter to me, the people that are losing once secure jobs to outsourcing and "free trade." When given a choice, conservatism always sides with the plutocrat each and every time. Conservatives want small government, no matter the cost. Progressives want government to work for people who want it. Because of the Bush presidency, both conservatives and liberals will be hard pressed to get anything they want in the coming years for the adventure of neoconservatism in Iraq has drained the governments ability to even respond to disasters at home let alone a fiscal reorganization.
Let the pile on continue.
Bushie, you did a crappy job
What more can be said about Katrina and its aftermath. Plenty.
This White House is a bundle of contradictions, during the Katrina hearings you couldn't get this crew to hand over pertinent stuff. Now, after the release of the Bush tape in which he is clearly frustrated over his lack of brush clearing time, the GOP release their own tape somehow showing Bush was on the ball.
Listen, I didn't believe the red herring about the levees not being funded as a reason for New Orleans ruin, but at some point you have to say enough is enough. To me , this was a no brainer:
Large catastrophic storm coming
Respected weatherman says levees might not hold
Levees don't hold, New Orleans inundated with water
Federal government doesn't respond until four days later
POTUS says "we couldn't have anticipated the levees breaking"
No one thought planes would be used as weapons, no one thought there would be no WMD, no one thought the levees would break, no one actually believed I could govern. I don't hate this man, just pity him.
UPDATE: The folks at Liberal Oasis expound on my passage above.
This White House is a bundle of contradictions, during the Katrina hearings you couldn't get this crew to hand over pertinent stuff. Now, after the release of the Bush tape in which he is clearly frustrated over his lack of brush clearing time, the GOP release their own tape somehow showing Bush was on the ball.
Listen, I didn't believe the red herring about the levees not being funded as a reason for New Orleans ruin, but at some point you have to say enough is enough. To me , this was a no brainer:
Large catastrophic storm coming
Respected weatherman says levees might not hold
Levees don't hold, New Orleans inundated with water
Federal government doesn't respond until four days later
POTUS says "we couldn't have anticipated the levees breaking"
No one thought planes would be used as weapons, no one thought there would be no WMD, no one thought the levees would break, no one actually believed I could govern. I don't hate this man, just pity him.
UPDATE: The folks at Liberal Oasis expound on my passage above.
Duped into war
Thanks to the reporting of Murray Waas of the National Journal we can now finally saw without a shadow of a doubt that this country was duped into entering a preemptive war of choice. Bush and Co clearly made false statements throughout 2002 and 2003 that conflicted with the information they were getting from experts on Saddam and WMD.
The president's supporters, namely the die hard neoconservatives still clinging to this president will give us the standard "we couldn't take a risk" load of garbage. Neoconservatism doesn't mind risks and guesses as long as its goal is fulfilled: experimental democracy by force. And guess what? It's time for a little bit of hindsight is 20/20 time on the strongest of believers in a democratic Iraq. How many pages and pages in both print and the blogosphere have been wasted on this country?
Now don't get me wrong, when Iraq crumbles under the weight of its past you won't find me rubbing my hands together with glee, however it will be confirmation that the disease to America that is neoconservatism is in critical condition.
Wonder if Christopher Hitchens is still wearing his Iraqi flag pin.
The president's supporters, namely the die hard neoconservatives still clinging to this president will give us the standard "we couldn't take a risk" load of garbage. Neoconservatism doesn't mind risks and guesses as long as its goal is fulfilled: experimental democracy by force. And guess what? It's time for a little bit of hindsight is 20/20 time on the strongest of believers in a democratic Iraq. How many pages and pages in both print and the blogosphere have been wasted on this country?
Now don't get me wrong, when Iraq crumbles under the weight of its past you won't find me rubbing my hands together with glee, however it will be confirmation that the disease to America that is neoconservatism is in critical condition.
Wonder if Christopher Hitchens is still wearing his Iraqi flag pin.
Discovering Cash
I didn't know very much about Johnny Cash before watching "Walk the Line" last night. Now I want to know everything about this legend. This film is fantastic with performances that are nothing less than legendary by Phoenix and Witherspoon.
Forget the love story (it is a powerful story), it's the music that drives this picture, or maybe the promise of it. We get to see Cash scrap his way to the top. The scene that stands out for me is his first show on his first tour and the band breaking into "Get Rhythm," one of his earliest rockabilly hits. Cash's music is so incredibly easy to get into because its so simple and honest.
About a month ago, I picked up the Essential Johnny Cash for $.99 at a local cd shop as a prep as I knew I would want to see this movie when it came out. Best 99 cents I ever spent. Cash was the man and I am honoring him by wearing black for the rest of my life.
Forget the love story (it is a powerful story), it's the music that drives this picture, or maybe the promise of it. We get to see Cash scrap his way to the top. The scene that stands out for me is his first show on his first tour and the band breaking into "Get Rhythm," one of his earliest rockabilly hits. Cash's music is so incredibly easy to get into because its so simple and honest.
About a month ago, I picked up the Essential Johnny Cash for $.99 at a local cd shop as a prep as I knew I would want to see this movie when it came out. Best 99 cents I ever spent. Cash was the man and I am honoring him by wearing black for the rest of my life.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
infiltrated by Al-Qaeda
Think progress has the scoop here on the UAE and the number one terrorist organization in the world.
Kill this deal now.
Kill this deal now.
He lied
Andrew Sullivan thinks Bush either lied when he said he never anticipated the levee's would break or he was sleeping through the newly released video of his video conference calls with FEMA.
I vote for the former. This is a president who is detached from actual governance. He can't be expected to stop a hurricane now can he? For God's sake he was on vacation strumming that guitar! And I must say I look at this past summer's favorite scapegoat Michael Brown in a whole different light. He was up against a brick wall in Bush. Consider me duped this past summer as I following the lead of people like Michelle Malkin and berated Brown in these pages.
How will this be spun by the usual suspects? Need I remind them of the floating bodies and abandoned people on their rooftops.
I vote for the former. This is a president who is detached from actual governance. He can't be expected to stop a hurricane now can he? For God's sake he was on vacation strumming that guitar! And I must say I look at this past summer's favorite scapegoat Michael Brown in a whole different light. He was up against a brick wall in Bush. Consider me duped this past summer as I following the lead of people like Michelle Malkin and berated Brown in these pages.
How will this be spun by the usual suspects? Need I remind them of the floating bodies and abandoned people on their rooftops.