I've left the comments that were posted on the SJR agenda, because I wouldn't want to be accused of censorship, now would I? The agenda itself was just clutter, and didn't say anything important anyway.
I also don't want to remove the evidence the person left of genuine mental illness.
I want to point out that ALL of the comments that aren't clearly identified as being from me - the ones signed "Logically Negative" - were written by the same person. Even the supposedly "sensible" one signed "Stop Bashing..." was written by the same moron who wrote the insane rants.
I didn't know that when I replied to "Stop Bashing" but I do now. Jonathan.
Rich Miles
Monday, December 04, 2006
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Gas Prices are Down! Let's All Vote Republican!
Gee, gas prices sure have gone down a lot lately...from around $3.00 a gallon about a month ago, the cheapest prices in my area are $2.14/gal, a reduction of 29% in about a month. At this rate, gas will be free by election day.
In case you wonder why, our president has actually told us that HE knows why, and that the national press should "watch it carefully". I don't remember the last time a president of the United States telegraphed his intent and his knowledge of what is going to happen in the future so clearly.
The following link is to Dan Froomkin's blog at the Washington Post Online. The quotes below the link are selections from that blog. The quote was given in the same interview with conservative columnists in which Bush referred to the Third Awakening".
Check well down the page for the relevant exchange:
Dan Froomkin's WaPo Blog for 9/14
Gas Watch
Does Bush have some insider information about gas prices, which appear to be conveniently dropping just in time for the mid-term election?
Fred Barnes writes in the Weekly Standard: "Bush said the price of gasoline, which has been falling rapidly, is one of the 'interesting indicators' that the press should watch carefully. 'Just giving you a heads up,' he added."
Just for your added interest, the same blog contained the following excerpt:
Believe It or Not
Evan Thomas of Newsweek actually believes that Bush has read more than 60 books in the last year -- then marvels at how little he knows about history.
In case you wonder why, our president has actually told us that HE knows why, and that the national press should "watch it carefully". I don't remember the last time a president of the United States telegraphed his intent and his knowledge of what is going to happen in the future so clearly.
The following link is to Dan Froomkin's blog at the Washington Post Online. The quotes below the link are selections from that blog. The quote was given in the same interview with conservative columnists in which Bush referred to the Third Awakening".
Check well down the page for the relevant exchange:
Dan Froomkin's WaPo Blog for 9/14
Gas Watch
Does Bush have some insider information about gas prices, which appear to be conveniently dropping just in time for the mid-term election?
Fred Barnes writes in the Weekly Standard: "Bush said the price of gasoline, which has been falling rapidly, is one of the 'interesting indicators' that the press should watch carefully. 'Just giving you a heads up,' he added."
Just for your added interest, the same blog contained the following excerpt:
Believe It or Not
Evan Thomas of Newsweek actually believes that Bush has read more than 60 books in the last year -- then marvels at how little he knows about history.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Monday, July 03, 2006
Have I hit a nerve?
by Rich Miles
Note the by-line. I'm going to change all of them when I have time. It was a dumb pen name anyway. I was just too chicken to put a name out there, but I think it's time to come out from behind it.
So my last post, "He's Not Leaving" was published on Buzzflash, and while I expected a bit of response, and that some of the responders would call me a nutcase, what I didn't expect was 23 emailed responses, ALL of them agreeing with at least the plausibility of my argument: Bush is going to attempt to stay in office beyond January 2009.
Now, 23 replies is not a lot - better-known bloggers get that many comments or replies in a morning, and guys like Kos probably gets that many in 5 minutes. But considering that nobody knows who the hell I am, I consider that figure to be a clear indicator that I've said something that needs to be said, and something that other people have thought or said before me.
Here is a sample of what some of my respondents said (last names removed to protect anonymity, and all samples unedited):
=====================================================================================
Hey!
Just read your article at Buzzflash. The same thought occured to me quite awhile back. I am not so sure that anyone, even some Republicans, especially the libertarian wing, would be likely to sit still for an amendment to the consttitution just to keep Junior in the White House.
But I do see the possibility of a national emergency: Declaration of martial law, suspension of the constitution and no voting in Novemeber, 2008. Hell, it could be anything. "Al Qaeda attacks" in New York and L.A. with whatever. The Avian Flu, for that matter would be just as good or bad. Either one of these scenarios could be arranged much easier that people think.
Talk about tinfoil hat time, all they would have to do is make sure Hillary is elected and everything will go away, just like Iran/Contra went away when Bill Clinton was elected.
The Bushites are going to try to steal the elections again this year. Can it be done on a state-by state basis? Just ask Max Clelland in Georgia. This is where they did their trial run.
Dot
Georgia
====================================================================================
Mr Rich,
Thank you for putting "flesh" on what I expressed to my family and friends just before "Rove's War" began.
We are in deep "shit" in our country.
Elections are a farce, this administration controls the vote count for all 50 states. This administration controls with fear, I have fear, fear that we are unable to rid our country of this tyranny.
Bring back paper ballots,
David H
=====================================================================================
Hey Rich:
Just read your article concerning Bush staying on for a third term. Well, you're not the only one thinking of such a fiasco. I myself, who am marginally politically astute, have considered such a scenario myself. It's looking like the beginning of the end in oh so many ways. Good article.
Best, Karl G
=====================================================================================
Say it isn't so. You sure have spelled it out for them. Don't give these bastards any ideas. It is too painful.
Flowkay
=====================================================================================
I loved your article for Buzzflash. I have been saying the same thing since 2000 when he was first selected by the SC to be pResident.
I have also been saying that not only was 9/11 an inside job, but that if dumbya need another one to stay in power it would happen.
I want to do all I can to circulate your article, if you don't mind. I want to e-mail it, print it, post it, and spread it around in its entirety with full credit to you. Please let me know if this is OK.
Keep up the good work.
=====================================================================================
Good morning, Rich
Your article scared the hell out of me because it doesn't sound the
least bit far-fetched.
Don't I wish the Jesus that these neo-Cons swear to love so much returns
to Earth to chomp on their asses as well as more so-called "private
parts."
Sincerely
Lisa N, in the Greater Boston area
=====================================================================================
Dear Mr. Miles:
Kudos for your subject essay which expresses many of the very same thoughts I've fearfully entertained, and not for a minute do I doubt the possibility of such an atrocious outcome.
To play on an old cliche', "when you snooze, you lose" has never before been in such evidence during my rather extended lifetime as our citizens of today obviously are snoozing away our freedom.
Thank you for having the honesty and courage to offer such food for thought, and may there be a massive awakening before all is lost to the forces of lust for power and insatiable greed.
Yours very truly,
Jacquelyn W - TN
=====================================================================================
Dear Rich-
You know, I think you got it right. My SO has been muttering about this very thing for 6 yrs, and at first I said, nah, that's just.....then in the utter dark of all these nights, I realized, how the fuck COULD they leave? And if you'll 1/steal the presidency, 2/plan/be complicit in an attack on US soil just so you can be King of the Mtn, and 3/all that other shit they keep doing/not doing in order to just majorly fuck us all up, then what's a 3rd term, eh?
About to click over to your reg site, whatever that may be. Probably pretty good. I'm from Kaintuck myself, down ca Bowling Green. Migrated up to the NYC area long ago. Sorry your governor is such a jerk....we're about to get rid of our moron and possibly get a rather cool one--Spitzer. Works for me!
Thanks for the Buzzflash letter....
Sally L
=====================================================================================
Dear Sir,
I have been trying to tell all of my friends about the very real possibility of what you said in your article, but they all laugh and try to tell me that I'm a nutcase. I am going to make a copy of your article and show it to as many friends and people that I know, if you don't mind.
I believe that GW and friends are fascists and will stop at nothing to retain power and screw over the american people.
Thanks for your article.
Signed,
Paul B
=====================================================================================
Like you, I do not believe that the Bush gang will leave willingly. First they claimed the unconstitutional prerogative of something called the “unitary president” which you know places them above the law. They have also floated the idea of a thing called the “continuity presidency” which essentially allows POTUS to remain in office during a national emergency. The notion comes from the legal mind of Alberto Gonzales. On the bright side, the Supreme Court just slapped George’s wrist, but he will blow them off just like he has the Congress. In fact, Congress is so subservient it will probably help him do it. History may note that the 1st American Republic ended on December 9, 2000, the date the Supreme Court issued its injunction stopping the Florida recount in preparation for handing the presidency to Bush. Every disaster than has befallen since was fomented by that decision.
They’ve already taken control of the country. The only issue is how to take it back and what the 2nd American Republic will look like.
TikalMujer
===================================================================
So - not a representative national sample perhaps, but do you think maybe, just maybe, this is a thought that someone had before me?
RM
Note the by-line. I'm going to change all of them when I have time. It was a dumb pen name anyway. I was just too chicken to put a name out there, but I think it's time to come out from behind it.
So my last post, "He's Not Leaving" was published on Buzzflash, and while I expected a bit of response, and that some of the responders would call me a nutcase, what I didn't expect was 23 emailed responses, ALL of them agreeing with at least the plausibility of my argument: Bush is going to attempt to stay in office beyond January 2009.
Now, 23 replies is not a lot - better-known bloggers get that many comments or replies in a morning, and guys like Kos probably gets that many in 5 minutes. But considering that nobody knows who the hell I am, I consider that figure to be a clear indicator that I've said something that needs to be said, and something that other people have thought or said before me.
Here is a sample of what some of my respondents said (last names removed to protect anonymity, and all samples unedited):
=====================================================================================
Hey!
Just read your article at Buzzflash. The same thought occured to me quite awhile back. I am not so sure that anyone, even some Republicans, especially the libertarian wing, would be likely to sit still for an amendment to the consttitution just to keep Junior in the White House.
But I do see the possibility of a national emergency: Declaration of martial law, suspension of the constitution and no voting in Novemeber, 2008. Hell, it could be anything. "Al Qaeda attacks" in New York and L.A. with whatever. The Avian Flu, for that matter would be just as good or bad. Either one of these scenarios could be arranged much easier that people think.
Talk about tinfoil hat time, all they would have to do is make sure Hillary is elected and everything will go away, just like Iran/Contra went away when Bill Clinton was elected.
The Bushites are going to try to steal the elections again this year. Can it be done on a state-by state basis? Just ask Max Clelland in Georgia. This is where they did their trial run.
Dot
Georgia
====================================================================================
Mr Rich,
Thank you for putting "flesh" on what I expressed to my family and friends just before "Rove's War" began.
We are in deep "shit" in our country.
Elections are a farce, this administration controls the vote count for all 50 states. This administration controls with fear, I have fear, fear that we are unable to rid our country of this tyranny.
Bring back paper ballots,
David H
=====================================================================================
Hey Rich:
Just read your article concerning Bush staying on for a third term. Well, you're not the only one thinking of such a fiasco. I myself, who am marginally politically astute, have considered such a scenario myself. It's looking like the beginning of the end in oh so many ways. Good article.
Best, Karl G
=====================================================================================
Say it isn't so. You sure have spelled it out for them. Don't give these bastards any ideas. It is too painful.
Flowkay
=====================================================================================
I loved your article for Buzzflash. I have been saying the same thing since 2000 when he was first selected by the SC to be pResident.
I have also been saying that not only was 9/11 an inside job, but that if dumbya need another one to stay in power it would happen.
I want to do all I can to circulate your article, if you don't mind. I want to e-mail it, print it, post it, and spread it around in its entirety with full credit to you. Please let me know if this is OK.
Keep up the good work.
=====================================================================================
Good morning, Rich
Your article scared the hell out of me because it doesn't sound the
least bit far-fetched.
Don't I wish the Jesus that these neo-Cons swear to love so much returns
to Earth to chomp on their asses as well as more so-called "private
parts."
Sincerely
Lisa N, in the Greater Boston area
=====================================================================================
Dear Mr. Miles:
Kudos for your subject essay which expresses many of the very same thoughts I've fearfully entertained, and not for a minute do I doubt the possibility of such an atrocious outcome.
To play on an old cliche', "when you snooze, you lose" has never before been in such evidence during my rather extended lifetime as our citizens of today obviously are snoozing away our freedom.
Thank you for having the honesty and courage to offer such food for thought, and may there be a massive awakening before all is lost to the forces of lust for power and insatiable greed.
Yours very truly,
Jacquelyn W - TN
=====================================================================================
Dear Rich-
You know, I think you got it right. My SO has been muttering about this very thing for 6 yrs, and at first I said, nah, that's just.....then in the utter dark of all these nights, I realized, how the fuck COULD they leave? And if you'll 1/steal the presidency, 2/plan/be complicit in an attack on US soil just so you can be King of the Mtn, and 3/all that other shit they keep doing/not doing in order to just majorly fuck us all up, then what's a 3rd term, eh?
About to click over to your reg site, whatever that may be. Probably pretty good. I'm from Kaintuck myself, down ca Bowling Green. Migrated up to the NYC area long ago. Sorry your governor is such a jerk....we're about to get rid of our moron and possibly get a rather cool one--Spitzer. Works for me!
Thanks for the Buzzflash letter....
Sally L
=====================================================================================
Dear Sir,
I have been trying to tell all of my friends about the very real possibility of what you said in your article, but they all laugh and try to tell me that I'm a nutcase. I am going to make a copy of your article and show it to as many friends and people that I know, if you don't mind.
I believe that GW and friends are fascists and will stop at nothing to retain power and screw over the american people.
Thanks for your article.
Signed,
Paul B
=====================================================================================
Like you, I do not believe that the Bush gang will leave willingly. First they claimed the unconstitutional prerogative of something called the “unitary president” which you know places them above the law. They have also floated the idea of a thing called the “continuity presidency” which essentially allows POTUS to remain in office during a national emergency. The notion comes from the legal mind of Alberto Gonzales. On the bright side, the Supreme Court just slapped George’s wrist, but he will blow them off just like he has the Congress. In fact, Congress is so subservient it will probably help him do it. History may note that the 1st American Republic ended on December 9, 2000, the date the Supreme Court issued its injunction stopping the Florida recount in preparation for handing the presidency to Bush. Every disaster than has befallen since was fomented by that decision.
They’ve already taken control of the country. The only issue is how to take it back and what the 2nd American Republic will look like.
TikalMujer
===================================================================
So - not a representative national sample perhaps, but do you think maybe, just maybe, this is a thought that someone had before me?
RM
Friday, June 30, 2006
He's not leaving
Author's note: This piece was published on Buzzflash as He's Not Leaving on June 30, 2006
by Rich Miles
This idea has been rattling around in my brain for a while now, but as we approach November's elections, it starts to look less and less insane, as much as we might wish it to be. In fact, an editorial on Buzzflash recently called Darkness at Noon for Democracy has made it look a little more likely, rather than less. Here's my prognostication:
Bush is not going to relinquish the office of the presidency on January 20, 2009.
No, seriously - don't write off the idea quite yet. Think about what it would take for him to stay on beyond his constitutionally-mandated term of office:
Method One: A Third Term
1) There would have to be a constitutional amendment to repeal the 22nd amendment limiting presidents to two terms - difficult, but not impossible. We did it with the 21st amendment, which repealed Prohibition. From congressional passage to state ratifications to law of the land was a scant 9 months. Of course, that involved booze, which is much more important to most people than who is in the White House - but still, it can happen.
2) Then, there would have to be a major turnaround in Bush's popularity that would allow him to be elected to a third term by another 50.7% margin or so (never mind the arguments about how he was not really elected to the first term - that's for another rant.)
3) And all of this would have to happen between November 2006 (no way in Hell it even gets mentioned before the midterms) and July 2008, to allow at least the appearance of freely selecting Bush as the nominee again, and a convention, and a small semblance of a campaign.
In other words, in political terms all this would have to happen at the speed of light - again, not impossible, but really really difficult on so many levels, not least of them that more and more people genuinely hate the sumbitch, making it harder for him to steal another election. Or there's...
Method Two: Martial Law
1) Along about, oh I don't know, September or October of 2008, there will be another 9/11-style attack on American soil, or perhaps a genuine act of war against us by another recognizable state - North Korea perhaps, though there are numerous other candidates. As in 2001, we will retreat into fear and give away the constitutional farm, as long as Bush will promise not to let the boogeymen get us
2) As a result of this event, Bush will suspend the Constitution, dissolve Congress, declare martial law, suspend the '08 elections, reassert himself as Commander in Chief, and claim that he does not have to give up the presidency because, hey, the Constitution is what says he has to, and that's suspended. He'll do all this in the name of "national security", and we'll let him get away with it for at least a little while because despite our national penchant for bloodlust and sabre-rattling, we are at heart a bunch of pussies who will, in times of national crisis, follow anything that moves, as long as it promises not to hurt us.
Freedom of the press? Gone. Freedom of assembly? Pffft. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness? Out the effin' window. Suspending the Constitution also conveniently makes him unimpeachable, a not-inconsiderable side benefit
3) And so, America will be plunged into a level of crisis nationally and internationally that will make the Civil War look like a church picnic.
Now look - never mind how unlikely all this is. Never mind how unlikely it would be to be successful if things did go down this way. Even as I write this, I know how conspiracy-freakish it sounds. But can you say with certainty that what I describe here CAN'T happen? Can you look back at the past five-plus years, at all the laws that have been broken or simply ignored by this administration, and say no way? I can't.
At the very least, I'd like to believe that some combination of the armed forces and American patriots would thwart such a clearly criminal enterprise at the top of our government.
But do we really want the military to bail our sorry asses out in this way? They already know they have the manpower and the weapons to take over the government, but do we want to ask them to do so? How do you get that genie back in the bottle?
But consider the consequences for Bush, Cheney, et al. if they leave office quietly, like every other president has done: if a Democrat is elected (more and more likely), every single document, everything the Bushies have done, is going to see the light of day. Classified documents - suddenly available to the public. False justifications for war - clearly on the table. Circumventions of the law - no longer deniable or spinnable. And criminal charges? Not out of the question, even after they've left government. And most of this can happen even if the next president is a Republican - what better way to seal the deal on your re-election than to show you're more honest than the last guy, even if it's a member of your own party you have to hang out to dry?
No, they can't leave in January of '09. (See my post titled Time To Set a Precedent - 2/27/06 for more reasons why.) This stuff is not going away just because they leave office, and they know it. Even a country-club prison is still a prison.
And if you think I'm the only person this idea has ever occurred to, that I'm just a loose cannon of a conspiracy nut and this kind of thing can't happen in America - and if you don't think that the other people who are thinking about this topic are in the White House and environs - then I have some land in Florida I'd like to sell you. That is, if Gov. Bush doesn't already own it.
by Rich Miles
This idea has been rattling around in my brain for a while now, but as we approach November's elections, it starts to look less and less insane, as much as we might wish it to be. In fact, an editorial on Buzzflash recently called Darkness at Noon for Democracy has made it look a little more likely, rather than less. Here's my prognostication:
Bush is not going to relinquish the office of the presidency on January 20, 2009.
No, seriously - don't write off the idea quite yet. Think about what it would take for him to stay on beyond his constitutionally-mandated term of office:
Method One: A Third Term
1) There would have to be a constitutional amendment to repeal the 22nd amendment limiting presidents to two terms - difficult, but not impossible. We did it with the 21st amendment, which repealed Prohibition. From congressional passage to state ratifications to law of the land was a scant 9 months. Of course, that involved booze, which is much more important to most people than who is in the White House - but still, it can happen.
2) Then, there would have to be a major turnaround in Bush's popularity that would allow him to be elected to a third term by another 50.7% margin or so (never mind the arguments about how he was not really elected to the first term - that's for another rant.)
3) And all of this would have to happen between November 2006 (no way in Hell it even gets mentioned before the midterms) and July 2008, to allow at least the appearance of freely selecting Bush as the nominee again, and a convention, and a small semblance of a campaign.
In other words, in political terms all this would have to happen at the speed of light - again, not impossible, but really really difficult on so many levels, not least of them that more and more people genuinely hate the sumbitch, making it harder for him to steal another election. Or there's...
Method Two: Martial Law
1) Along about, oh I don't know, September or October of 2008, there will be another 9/11-style attack on American soil, or perhaps a genuine act of war against us by another recognizable state - North Korea perhaps, though there are numerous other candidates. As in 2001, we will retreat into fear and give away the constitutional farm, as long as Bush will promise not to let the boogeymen get us
2) As a result of this event, Bush will suspend the Constitution, dissolve Congress, declare martial law, suspend the '08 elections, reassert himself as Commander in Chief, and claim that he does not have to give up the presidency because, hey, the Constitution is what says he has to, and that's suspended. He'll do all this in the name of "national security", and we'll let him get away with it for at least a little while because despite our national penchant for bloodlust and sabre-rattling, we are at heart a bunch of pussies who will, in times of national crisis, follow anything that moves, as long as it promises not to hurt us.
Freedom of the press? Gone. Freedom of assembly? Pffft. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness? Out the effin' window. Suspending the Constitution also conveniently makes him unimpeachable, a not-inconsiderable side benefit
3) And so, America will be plunged into a level of crisis nationally and internationally that will make the Civil War look like a church picnic.
Now look - never mind how unlikely all this is. Never mind how unlikely it would be to be successful if things did go down this way. Even as I write this, I know how conspiracy-freakish it sounds. But can you say with certainty that what I describe here CAN'T happen? Can you look back at the past five-plus years, at all the laws that have been broken or simply ignored by this administration, and say no way? I can't.
At the very least, I'd like to believe that some combination of the armed forces and American patriots would thwart such a clearly criminal enterprise at the top of our government.
But do we really want the military to bail our sorry asses out in this way? They already know they have the manpower and the weapons to take over the government, but do we want to ask them to do so? How do you get that genie back in the bottle?
But consider the consequences for Bush, Cheney, et al. if they leave office quietly, like every other president has done: if a Democrat is elected (more and more likely), every single document, everything the Bushies have done, is going to see the light of day. Classified documents - suddenly available to the public. False justifications for war - clearly on the table. Circumventions of the law - no longer deniable or spinnable. And criminal charges? Not out of the question, even after they've left government. And most of this can happen even if the next president is a Republican - what better way to seal the deal on your re-election than to show you're more honest than the last guy, even if it's a member of your own party you have to hang out to dry?
No, they can't leave in January of '09. (See my post titled Time To Set a Precedent - 2/27/06 for more reasons why.) This stuff is not going away just because they leave office, and they know it. Even a country-club prison is still a prison.
And if you think I'm the only person this idea has ever occurred to, that I'm just a loose cannon of a conspiracy nut and this kind of thing can't happen in America - and if you don't think that the other people who are thinking about this topic are in the White House and environs - then I have some land in Florida I'd like to sell you. That is, if Gov. Bush doesn't already own it.
Friday, May 19, 2006
STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!
by Rich Miles
Attn: Radical Right-wing Republicans who still support Bush: Don't you know you are destroying America? Seriously, it's not the liberals who are killing America. It's you - and you have to stop soon, before it's too late!
Can you possibly have your heads so far up George Bush's backside that you can't see how badly he, and by your complicity you, are destroying everything - everything - that distinguishes America from the rest of the world? Can you possibly be so filled with fear and hatred that you can't look past today's ration of same to see how your hero, George W. Bush, is trying to turn America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, into a fascist police state controlled by the worst men ever to hold power? Can you say 'kakistocracy'? Do you have any idea what it means?
I know I'm not the first person to say these things, and I sincerely hope I will not be the last. But the latest madness issuing from your 'Beloved Leader' just makes me want to puke. Even more than the last bunch of pandering to the alleged 'base', the anti-gay hate rhetoric that would write discrimination against a class of Americans into the U.S. Constitution, made me want to puke. It's a helluva way to lose weight.
Can you really not see that the whole immigration issue is nothing more than an appeal to the worst, most xenophobic, hate-filled instincts of red-state America? Can you really imagine that building a wall across the Mexican border, at HUGE cost, is really going to solve the problem of illegal immigration? Can you not see that, if Bush federalizes the National Guard, again at HUGE cost in both dollars and manpower, he has in effect hired his own private army, who will then be entirely under his command? Do you understand what the Posse Comitatus Act even means?
Sure, it's necessary to control immigration, no matter where the emigres come from. But that's not what's at work here. What is at work here is nothing less than the demonization of an ethnic group for the political gain of a majority party that is in danger of losing majority status. The actions now being taken or considered are NOT going to do anything to correct the problem - but it WILL get a lot of Mexican immigrants legal or otherwise, and more to the point Mexican-AMERICANS, U.S. citizens, beat up or worse.
The Senate passes - not just reports out of committee, but PASSES - a law making English the "national language" - and you applaud this as a needed action to save the Republic. Fuck the Meskins, if they don't want to learn the language let them go back to Mex-land where they came from!
You don't even NOTICE all the things the Republican-controlled Congress and the Bush administration they kowtow to have done to take money out of your pocket, to hurt YOU, to consolidate control over all of us, not just the lefties you so despise. You think your one-party government is going to do everything you want them to do, and liberals can just go fuck themselves if they don't like it.
Do you not understand that Bush is NOT INFALLIBLE? Is it that hard for you to let go of your worship of him, even if continuing means serving your children up to him on an olive-drab platter? Does it not even cause you to raise an eyebrow when the president of the United States says that God speaks directly to him? Are you really that unreality-based?
Something like 63% of you say, as some polls have shown, that you're willing to give up a little personal freedom and privacy, as long as Daddy W will keep you safe from the bad old Osama and friends. And you haven't read enough history to even KNOW that Benjamin Franklin warned us against this very phenomenon more than 230 years ago:
"Those who would surrender essential liberty for a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin
Ben Franklin's Thirteen Virtues
It's not just a clever little phrase from some old leftie. It's our future. And you - those who think it's OK for the government to spy on us because you have nothing to hide (and believe me - everyone has SOMEthing to hide) are the ones who are making America into a collection of gulags, and an international pariah.
Have you traveled outside of America lately? To Europe perhaps, or Africa or Asia?
Of course not, sorry I asked. They don't have NASCAR in those countries, and the animals you would hunt in those other places are not squirrels and rabbits and deer, they are big and scary, and actually require some skill to bring down. So you've probably never been there, and thus you don't know:
We are HATED around the world. Yes, we've always had some enemies, but we've also, historically, had lots of friends the world over. But no more.
My wife is Scottish, so I go to Scotland once a year to visit the Auld Folk. One of the friendliest countries in the world to Americans - until last year, 2005. Last year, the people I had met in prior years, and the strangers I liked to talk to in pubs, had a sort of suspicious air about them. They were willing to forgive us for electing a madman once - but when we did it a second time (and I still don't acknowledge we did) , they had to wonder if they'd placed too much faith in good ol' American know-how. And that hurt me, because it made a country I had loved feel not quite so much like a second home.
So stop it, OK? Stop letting a total sociopath who cares NOTHING for you, who considers you and us merely tools to achieve his goals, run our country into the grave. Stop thinking he's on your side. Stop believing he can give you anything you want, or keep you safe, or make the nasty old liberals go away, because he can't. All he can do, and he's done that remarkably well, is to make the rich richer, and the rest of us poorer, and America despised around the world.
If you can't think of any other reason, can you at least consider: what if the power you're giving Bush now, one day devolves into the hands of Hillary Clinton? Will that scare you enough to rein him in?
Attn: Radical Right-wing Republicans who still support Bush: Don't you know you are destroying America? Seriously, it's not the liberals who are killing America. It's you - and you have to stop soon, before it's too late!
Can you possibly have your heads so far up George Bush's backside that you can't see how badly he, and by your complicity you, are destroying everything - everything - that distinguishes America from the rest of the world? Can you possibly be so filled with fear and hatred that you can't look past today's ration of same to see how your hero, George W. Bush, is trying to turn America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, into a fascist police state controlled by the worst men ever to hold power? Can you say 'kakistocracy'? Do you have any idea what it means?
I know I'm not the first person to say these things, and I sincerely hope I will not be the last. But the latest madness issuing from your 'Beloved Leader' just makes me want to puke. Even more than the last bunch of pandering to the alleged 'base', the anti-gay hate rhetoric that would write discrimination against a class of Americans into the U.S. Constitution, made me want to puke. It's a helluva way to lose weight.
Can you really not see that the whole immigration issue is nothing more than an appeal to the worst, most xenophobic, hate-filled instincts of red-state America? Can you really imagine that building a wall across the Mexican border, at HUGE cost, is really going to solve the problem of illegal immigration? Can you not see that, if Bush federalizes the National Guard, again at HUGE cost in both dollars and manpower, he has in effect hired his own private army, who will then be entirely under his command? Do you understand what the Posse Comitatus Act even means?
Sure, it's necessary to control immigration, no matter where the emigres come from. But that's not what's at work here. What is at work here is nothing less than the demonization of an ethnic group for the political gain of a majority party that is in danger of losing majority status. The actions now being taken or considered are NOT going to do anything to correct the problem - but it WILL get a lot of Mexican immigrants legal or otherwise, and more to the point Mexican-AMERICANS, U.S. citizens, beat up or worse.
The Senate passes - not just reports out of committee, but PASSES - a law making English the "national language" - and you applaud this as a needed action to save the Republic. Fuck the Meskins, if they don't want to learn the language let them go back to Mex-land where they came from!
You don't even NOTICE all the things the Republican-controlled Congress and the Bush administration they kowtow to have done to take money out of your pocket, to hurt YOU, to consolidate control over all of us, not just the lefties you so despise. You think your one-party government is going to do everything you want them to do, and liberals can just go fuck themselves if they don't like it.
Do you not understand that Bush is NOT INFALLIBLE? Is it that hard for you to let go of your worship of him, even if continuing means serving your children up to him on an olive-drab platter? Does it not even cause you to raise an eyebrow when the president of the United States says that God speaks directly to him? Are you really that unreality-based?
Something like 63% of you say, as some polls have shown, that you're willing to give up a little personal freedom and privacy, as long as Daddy W will keep you safe from the bad old Osama and friends. And you haven't read enough history to even KNOW that Benjamin Franklin warned us against this very phenomenon more than 230 years ago:
"Those who would surrender essential liberty for a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin
Ben Franklin's Thirteen Virtues
It's not just a clever little phrase from some old leftie. It's our future. And you - those who think it's OK for the government to spy on us because you have nothing to hide (and believe me - everyone has SOMEthing to hide) are the ones who are making America into a collection of gulags, and an international pariah.
Have you traveled outside of America lately? To Europe perhaps, or Africa or Asia?
Of course not, sorry I asked. They don't have NASCAR in those countries, and the animals you would hunt in those other places are not squirrels and rabbits and deer, they are big and scary, and actually require some skill to bring down. So you've probably never been there, and thus you don't know:
We are HATED around the world. Yes, we've always had some enemies, but we've also, historically, had lots of friends the world over. But no more.
My wife is Scottish, so I go to Scotland once a year to visit the Auld Folk. One of the friendliest countries in the world to Americans - until last year, 2005. Last year, the people I had met in prior years, and the strangers I liked to talk to in pubs, had a sort of suspicious air about them. They were willing to forgive us for electing a madman once - but when we did it a second time (and I still don't acknowledge we did) , they had to wonder if they'd placed too much faith in good ol' American know-how. And that hurt me, because it made a country I had loved feel not quite so much like a second home.
So stop it, OK? Stop letting a total sociopath who cares NOTHING for you, who considers you and us merely tools to achieve his goals, run our country into the grave. Stop thinking he's on your side. Stop believing he can give you anything you want, or keep you safe, or make the nasty old liberals go away, because he can't. All he can do, and he's done that remarkably well, is to make the rich richer, and the rest of us poorer, and America despised around the world.
If you can't think of any other reason, can you at least consider: what if the power you're giving Bush now, one day devolves into the hands of Hillary Clinton? Will that scare you enough to rein him in?
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Divider Not a Uniter
by Rich Miles
Ever see the movie "Matewan"? It's a fictionalized account of a real incident in the coal fields of 1920's West Virginia, showing the beginnings of coal miner unionization efforts. Stars Chris Cooper ("American Beauty", among others) and Mary McDonnell ("Dances With Wolves", again among others.) I recommend it to your attention.
The reason I mention it now is that I saw it again the other day, and Cooper has a really great speech along about the middle of the picture, when the white miners are highly resistant to the idea of letting black miners, who were originally brought in as scabs to break the union, join them in their organizing efforts. I'll paraphrase a bit, but here is approximately what he says:
"They got you all fighting each other - white against colored, native against foreigners, holler against holler. That's what they want you to do - that plays right into the Company's hands, if they can keep you fighting each other, you don't think so much about fighting them."
As I say, that's a close approximation, but it resonated with me, because it's exactly the strategy our government is using today to keep us from thinking so much about fighting them.
Pres. Bush's speech on immigration Monday night was pretty much a useless mishmash of half-formed and inconsistent ideas, self-evident observations, and unfunded commitments of our National Guard. But more than that, it was practically an invitation to the white majority in this country to tap into their deepest racist fears about, as Bill O'Really? put it, the "browning of America".
Bush (and O'Really) have been really good at pitting us against each other for as long as he's been in office. Democrat against Republican, Right against Left; pro-Iraq war vs. anti-war; pro-choice vs. anti-choice, pro-gay marriage vs. anti, radical Christians against leftie liberals, and on and on.
And for Bush, the net result of this has been that he is still in office, and not in a federal prison somewhere.
Because if we - the American people - were ever to put aside the ancillary points of disagreement that keep us at each other's throats and just agree to disagree, and live our lives according to our own values, and allow others to do the same, it would give us the time and the leisure to take a closer look at how our government is screwing us in so many ways.
And that sort of scrutiny just can't be permitted by this president - and the very fact that it's starting to happen anyway, despite Bush's best efforts to distract us and set us against each other, scares the living hell out of him. That's why I wrote the post He's not leaving back on May 2 - because he's going to keep trying to scare the hell out of US so he can cook up some really good reason not to let go of power in January of 2009, so he can continue to stay out of prison.
We're the ones with the power ultimately. Bush is trying his damnedest to keep that simple fact from us, as he does so many others.
Ever see the movie "Matewan"? It's a fictionalized account of a real incident in the coal fields of 1920's West Virginia, showing the beginnings of coal miner unionization efforts. Stars Chris Cooper ("American Beauty", among others) and Mary McDonnell ("Dances With Wolves", again among others.) I recommend it to your attention.
The reason I mention it now is that I saw it again the other day, and Cooper has a really great speech along about the middle of the picture, when the white miners are highly resistant to the idea of letting black miners, who were originally brought in as scabs to break the union, join them in their organizing efforts. I'll paraphrase a bit, but here is approximately what he says:
"They got you all fighting each other - white against colored, native against foreigners, holler against holler. That's what they want you to do - that plays right into the Company's hands, if they can keep you fighting each other, you don't think so much about fighting them."
As I say, that's a close approximation, but it resonated with me, because it's exactly the strategy our government is using today to keep us from thinking so much about fighting them.
Pres. Bush's speech on immigration Monday night was pretty much a useless mishmash of half-formed and inconsistent ideas, self-evident observations, and unfunded commitments of our National Guard. But more than that, it was practically an invitation to the white majority in this country to tap into their deepest racist fears about, as Bill O'Really? put it, the "browning of America".
Bush (and O'Really) have been really good at pitting us against each other for as long as he's been in office. Democrat against Republican, Right against Left; pro-Iraq war vs. anti-war; pro-choice vs. anti-choice, pro-gay marriage vs. anti, radical Christians against leftie liberals, and on and on.
And for Bush, the net result of this has been that he is still in office, and not in a federal prison somewhere.
Because if we - the American people - were ever to put aside the ancillary points of disagreement that keep us at each other's throats and just agree to disagree, and live our lives according to our own values, and allow others to do the same, it would give us the time and the leisure to take a closer look at how our government is screwing us in so many ways.
And that sort of scrutiny just can't be permitted by this president - and the very fact that it's starting to happen anyway, despite Bush's best efforts to distract us and set us against each other, scares the living hell out of him. That's why I wrote the post He's not leaving back on May 2 - because he's going to keep trying to scare the hell out of US so he can cook up some really good reason not to let go of power in January of 2009, so he can continue to stay out of prison.
We're the ones with the power ultimately. Bush is trying his damnedest to keep that simple fact from us, as he does so many others.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
IOKIYAR NOKIYAD
by Rich Miles
Ah, that famous acronym - It's OK if you're a Republican, not OK if you're a Democrat. The modus operandi of Right-wingnuts for the past at least 12 years, and now in full flower in the indictment of our - no, wait - THEIR governor.
Ernie Fletcher, alleged governor of our fair state of Kentucky, has been indicted for, in essence, being an arrogant jerk, and surrounding himself with MORE arrogant jerks who all seem to think, like our ludicrous excuse for a president, that they are above the law. Of course, that's not the charge shown on the indictments, but to non-lawyers like me, this would be a reasonable layman's interpretation.
So then, what is the first official act of the indicted official and his sub-demons? To accuse the attorney general, who has been on this case for more than two years now, of "political motivation" in bringing the charges, and then file a motion in court to have the attorney general removed from the case.
Now, let's look at that accusation for a minute, because this tale of woe is going to be heard a lot in days to come, and from folks a lot higher up in the political food chain than Ernie Fletcher's puny self and his pals. In fact, I fully expect it to be heard from the White House in not too many more days.
First, is it possible that Atty. Gen. Greg Stumbo has his sights set on a run for the governorship next year? Yes, in fact it's a virtual certainty.
Second, is it also possible that Stumbo has some, shall we say, "personal animosity" toward Fletcher et al.? I would call that too a near certainty, since the Republican administration has called Stumbo and his staff every foul name imaginable over the course of the two-year investigation that has led to these indictments. One does tend to develop a negative opinion of people who do such things.
But third, is it even remotely imaginable that someone who intends to run for the highest office in the state would pose these sorts of accusations against a potential political opponent without rock solid evidence that the charges have some basis in reality?
Do the Fletcher sycophants really think Stumbo is that stupid?
See, this is the biggest mistake the whiny, "I'm the victim of the liberals" Republicans make, over and over - thinking that their opponents are as stupid and venal as they are. Sometimes, I'm sad to say, they're right. But in this case, if Stumbo is indeed that stupid, to bring charges against a sitting governor with only flimsy backup, then it's best we know this now, instead of next year when we might accidentally elect him.
But frankly, I don't think that's the case. And I don't think it's going to be the case when the White House starts saying it either - it's pretty clear that Patrick Fitzgerald is a whole lot better lawyer than Greg Stumbo, and he's not even running for anything.
The "pol-mot" excuse is simply not on any longer. Even the base - Fletcher is, in addition to being a physician, also an ordained wingnut minister - are starting to wake up a little. For the wrong reasons, it's true, but they're still abandoning their godheads left and right: in a recent NY Times-CBS poll the percentage of respondents who think the Dems more accurately represent their moral values is at 50%. Who would ever have imagined that being possible back in November of '04?
And by the way, if I were Fletcher, I would ask myself why
- David Williams, Republican KY State Senate President,
- Darrell Brock, previously-indicted and Fletcher-pardoned chair of the state Republican Party,
- Rep. Anne Northup, (R-KY 3)
- Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY 4) and
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Fletcher's political mentor and the highest-ranking Republican in the state
were "unavailable for comment" on the day the indictments were handed down.
(Rep. Ron Lewis (R-KY 2) and Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) said nothing either - they just didn't SAY they were saying nothing, and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY 1) went all wingnutty on us. According to Bluegrass Report, he issued the following statement:
...Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-1st District who served in the U.S. House with Fletcher, said the governor “is a conscientious man of high moral character, and this indictment is nothing more than the continuation of a politically-motivated effort to discredit the governor and to bring down his administration..)
They're hanging you out to dry, Ernie! It couldn't happen to a nicer arrogant jerk.
Ah, that famous acronym - It's OK if you're a Republican, not OK if you're a Democrat. The modus operandi of Right-wingnuts for the past at least 12 years, and now in full flower in the indictment of our - no, wait - THEIR governor.
Ernie Fletcher, alleged governor of our fair state of Kentucky, has been indicted for, in essence, being an arrogant jerk, and surrounding himself with MORE arrogant jerks who all seem to think, like our ludicrous excuse for a president, that they are above the law. Of course, that's not the charge shown on the indictments, but to non-lawyers like me, this would be a reasonable layman's interpretation.
So then, what is the first official act of the indicted official and his sub-demons? To accuse the attorney general, who has been on this case for more than two years now, of "political motivation" in bringing the charges, and then file a motion in court to have the attorney general removed from the case.
Now, let's look at that accusation for a minute, because this tale of woe is going to be heard a lot in days to come, and from folks a lot higher up in the political food chain than Ernie Fletcher's puny self and his pals. In fact, I fully expect it to be heard from the White House in not too many more days.
First, is it possible that Atty. Gen. Greg Stumbo has his sights set on a run for the governorship next year? Yes, in fact it's a virtual certainty.
Second, is it also possible that Stumbo has some, shall we say, "personal animosity" toward Fletcher et al.? I would call that too a near certainty, since the Republican administration has called Stumbo and his staff every foul name imaginable over the course of the two-year investigation that has led to these indictments. One does tend to develop a negative opinion of people who do such things.
But third, is it even remotely imaginable that someone who intends to run for the highest office in the state would pose these sorts of accusations against a potential political opponent without rock solid evidence that the charges have some basis in reality?
Do the Fletcher sycophants really think Stumbo is that stupid?
See, this is the biggest mistake the whiny, "I'm the victim of the liberals" Republicans make, over and over - thinking that their opponents are as stupid and venal as they are. Sometimes, I'm sad to say, they're right. But in this case, if Stumbo is indeed that stupid, to bring charges against a sitting governor with only flimsy backup, then it's best we know this now, instead of next year when we might accidentally elect him.
But frankly, I don't think that's the case. And I don't think it's going to be the case when the White House starts saying it either - it's pretty clear that Patrick Fitzgerald is a whole lot better lawyer than Greg Stumbo, and he's not even running for anything.
The "pol-mot" excuse is simply not on any longer. Even the base - Fletcher is, in addition to being a physician, also an ordained wingnut minister - are starting to wake up a little. For the wrong reasons, it's true, but they're still abandoning their godheads left and right: in a recent NY Times-CBS poll the percentage of respondents who think the Dems more accurately represent their moral values is at 50%. Who would ever have imagined that being possible back in November of '04?
And by the way, if I were Fletcher, I would ask myself why
- David Williams, Republican KY State Senate President,
- Darrell Brock, previously-indicted and Fletcher-pardoned chair of the state Republican Party,
- Rep. Anne Northup, (R-KY 3)
- Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY 4) and
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Fletcher's political mentor and the highest-ranking Republican in the state
were "unavailable for comment" on the day the indictments were handed down.
(Rep. Ron Lewis (R-KY 2) and Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) said nothing either - they just didn't SAY they were saying nothing, and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY 1) went all wingnutty on us. According to Bluegrass Report, he issued the following statement:
...Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-1st District who served in the U.S. House with Fletcher, said the governor “is a conscientious man of high moral character, and this indictment is nothing more than the continuation of a politically-motivated effort to discredit the governor and to bring down his administration..)
They're hanging you out to dry, Ernie! It couldn't happen to a nicer arrogant jerk.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
KY Governor Indicted
Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher has been indicted on misdemeanor charges in relation to a state merit-system hiring scandal. For more, go to The Bluegrass Report. Mark has better facilities for following a breaking story like this.
Update 610pm: Mark Nickolas is all over this at Bluegrass Report - has much better coverage than the two biggest papers in the state, The Louisville Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader (though the Herald is much better than the Courier). Take note of his update - so far, it's a scoop as far as I can find - on Brett Hall sniveling that he's gonna file suit against the state attorney general for "malicious prosecution" - nobody else has that yet.
Update 610pm: Mark Nickolas is all over this at Bluegrass Report - has much better coverage than the two biggest papers in the state, The Louisville Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader (though the Herald is much better than the Courier). Take note of his update - so far, it's a scoop as far as I can find - on Brett Hall sniveling that he's gonna file suit against the state attorney general for "malicious prosecution" - nobody else has that yet.
Of Biblical proportions
by Rich Miles
"Every terror that haunted me has caught up with me,
and all that I feared has come upon me."
Book of Job 3:35, New English Bible
And then some....
Back in November of 2004, I wrote a little piece called Memo To: Red States in which I expressed my utter dismay and anger at the Red States, whose votes for the Usurper got him close enough to steal the election a second time. In short, I pointed out my perspective on the mistake they had made by putting their trust in a man who was cynically using them for the enrichment and empowerment of himself and his friends and cronies. I laid out a list of things that it was clear the "faith-based" community (as opposed to the "reality-based" folks) couldn't possibly know about Bush - because if they did, even they wouldn't have voted for him.
And ya know what? An awful lot of the things I said in that piece have turned out to be far too mild. I expected a second Bush term, when he no longer needed fear the electorate, to be a disaster for pretty much all of us. But I never dreamed he'd create a worldwide disaster of Biblical proportions, and rattle his sabre even further by threatening to create an even worse one.
Who ever dreamed that a U.S. president or his administration might:
- Spy on U.S. citizens accused or suspected of no crime?
- not only refuse to prohibit, but actually approve of torturing prisoners of war
- threaten to use nuclear weapons - nuclear weapons - on a country that has not attacked us, and that will not have even the most rudimentary ability to produce a nuke of their own for at least 10 years
- alienate every ally we had on Earth, and do his level best to further antagonize our enemies
- hold suspected criminals for years without trial or legal representation
- lie to us about the offensive capabilities of a country so as to justify a "pre-emptive" war against them
- repeatedly hire unqualified cronies to lead government posts and for judgeships, even after it's shown that such actions lead to disaster
- approve government funding of religious organizations
- deny that global warming exists despite overwhelming scientific evidence
- ignore or discredit scientific research that conflicts with religious dogma or administration policy
- give Presidential Medals to people who have failed miserably to perform their jobs
- allow the energy industry to dictate energy policy, the pharmaceutical industry to dictate government health care policy, and the business community in general to dictate their own laws and regulations
- go from some of the largest surpluses of the past 5 decades to the largest deficits, both in dollars and percentage of GDP, ever
- and all while cutting taxes over and over and over again
- conduct a war whose costs are completely off the books, thus making the deficit even higher than it appears by hundreds of billions of dollars, or
- ignore his own GAO, the American people, the 9/11 Commission, Congress, any judge who hands down a contrary opinion, and anyone else who disagress with his preconceived ideas?
It's exhausting. The list could go on for another 5000 words, and not even get close to being finished.
Never before has America been led by someone who cares less about the wellbeing of our country or the world. Never before have we been led by a greater cabal of sociopaths and screwups.
In my worst nightmares, I never imagined how bad a Bush presidency untethered from any considerations of being re-elected could be.
And you want to know the really scary part? 31% of Americans, according to recent polls, still approve of him.
What is wrong with those people?
"Every terror that haunted me has caught up with me,
and all that I feared has come upon me."
Book of Job 3:35, New English Bible
And then some....
Back in November of 2004, I wrote a little piece called Memo To: Red States in which I expressed my utter dismay and anger at the Red States, whose votes for the Usurper got him close enough to steal the election a second time. In short, I pointed out my perspective on the mistake they had made by putting their trust in a man who was cynically using them for the enrichment and empowerment of himself and his friends and cronies. I laid out a list of things that it was clear the "faith-based" community (as opposed to the "reality-based" folks) couldn't possibly know about Bush - because if they did, even they wouldn't have voted for him.
And ya know what? An awful lot of the things I said in that piece have turned out to be far too mild. I expected a second Bush term, when he no longer needed fear the electorate, to be a disaster for pretty much all of us. But I never dreamed he'd create a worldwide disaster of Biblical proportions, and rattle his sabre even further by threatening to create an even worse one.
Who ever dreamed that a U.S. president or his administration might:
- Spy on U.S. citizens accused or suspected of no crime?
- not only refuse to prohibit, but actually approve of torturing prisoners of war
- threaten to use nuclear weapons - nuclear weapons - on a country that has not attacked us, and that will not have even the most rudimentary ability to produce a nuke of their own for at least 10 years
- alienate every ally we had on Earth, and do his level best to further antagonize our enemies
- hold suspected criminals for years without trial or legal representation
- lie to us about the offensive capabilities of a country so as to justify a "pre-emptive" war against them
- repeatedly hire unqualified cronies to lead government posts and for judgeships, even after it's shown that such actions lead to disaster
- approve government funding of religious organizations
- deny that global warming exists despite overwhelming scientific evidence
- ignore or discredit scientific research that conflicts with religious dogma or administration policy
- give Presidential Medals to people who have failed miserably to perform their jobs
- allow the energy industry to dictate energy policy, the pharmaceutical industry to dictate government health care policy, and the business community in general to dictate their own laws and regulations
- go from some of the largest surpluses of the past 5 decades to the largest deficits, both in dollars and percentage of GDP, ever
- and all while cutting taxes over and over and over again
- conduct a war whose costs are completely off the books, thus making the deficit even higher than it appears by hundreds of billions of dollars, or
- ignore his own GAO, the American people, the 9/11 Commission, Congress, any judge who hands down a contrary opinion, and anyone else who disagress with his preconceived ideas?
It's exhausting. The list could go on for another 5000 words, and not even get close to being finished.
Never before has America been led by someone who cares less about the wellbeing of our country or the world. Never before have we been led by a greater cabal of sociopaths and screwups.
In my worst nightmares, I never imagined how bad a Bush presidency untethered from any considerations of being re-elected could be.
And you want to know the really scary part? 31% of Americans, according to recent polls, still approve of him.
What is wrong with those people?
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Anyway, sorry for lifting FDR's famous line for the title of this post, but it seems the only appropriate way to start this.
George W. Bush has used his first presidential veto in 5 1/2 YEARS to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, HR 810.
As if there were any doubt before, now it's official. The president of the United States is a religious fanatic who has no shame in pandering to the other religious fanatics in his "base" (Arabic translation: Al Qaeda - and I'm not kidding, trolls, that's really what it means.) He has not the first whit of concern for the American people at large, only those who can move his political (not leadership, POLITICAL) agenda forward.
Yahoo News reports that Bush has stamped his little feet and threatened a veto 141 times before this, and this is the one that is important enough for him NOT to flip-flop on? The one that makes America look like an ignorant, Luddite backwater full of snake-handling knuckle-draggers? Good job, George. Good job!
If this doesn't ensure a Democratic landslide in November and again in 08, then there is no hope for the Dem party, and they deserve what they get. Or don't get, as the case may be.
And if this veto is not overridden, then Congress might as well draft legislation to make Bush King for Life, because if they don't beat him into submission on this one, they'll never have any power or oversight again. Not that they have very much of it now.
Q: Islamic religious fanatic - Christian religious fanatic. What's the difference?
Anyone want to try that one on?