JANEDALF

And so it came to pass that Janedalf, the progressive pilgrim whose sparks of snark are heralded as the flame of the west came to the fork in the road where the fellowship of the hoblogits of Nutmeg would part. They begged the wizardress to linger, for she was a chieftain of the High Order and wielded great power, for their was much left to do. She laughed a merry laugh, and as she did, a cool breeze wrapped about the company, fresh born from the snowy crests of distant mountains that marched on the margins of view. And in answer, a nearby sycamore tree that housed a multitude of colorful birds; a curious mix of Striesandols and Kadylanes burst into a song of hope and rainbows, and the pasture at nigh blanketed with whortle and midsummer niphredels kissed the bees and butterflies.

"My dear Nutmeggers," she began with a sparkle in her eye, which never dimmed after the battle, "I have other deeds in this long campaign against the Dark Lord and his good buddy Dubya. But you no longer need my help. You have grown, indeed you are now giants. The deeds you have performed, the battles you have fought and the victory you have achieved have entered the councils of the great and shaken the foundations of tyranny. Indeed, even if the chief Kossack of the High Council Himself, Master of us all, summoned all his minions throughout the four corners of the land to the impenetrable fastness of Townhouse Castle, verily you four would sit in honor at the head of the table, two on his right hand, which holds thunder and lightning and two on his left hand, which hold wisdom and mercy. Or is that gold and silver?"

TRex, a vaguely domesticated carnivore whose diet consisted exclusively of racist wingnuts, cared little about meetings spelled without an a, and didn't feel slighted by being overlooked. His keen green eyes furtively scanned the field in search of athelas, or kingsfoil, a known numbing agent for a cramped bowel. It had been a very target rich environment lately, but TRex had vowed not to release his captives save only on the steps of the Dark Lords palace. He wanted to leave a glistening display to the wingnuts future prospects. Not spying any athelas, TRex casually uprooted a small thirty foot tall pine tree for a toothpick. Hair of the dog, he mused.

Somehow, Spazeboy, the intrepid documenter of battles, didn't feel like much of a giant. He looked at his friend CT Bob, who understood his mind at once.

"But Janedalf, we have dealt a grievous blow, to be sure, but Saurilooserman still walks yet, and continues to gnaw the ends of his broken schemes." The two battle scarred warriors, Ed and Keith, glanced nervously at one another sitting in their battle wagon, powered by the Poodles of Doom, still dragging their trophy of the beaten-but-not-destroyed hideous two headed foe.

Janedalf stiffened in her saddle, and the four had not marked how tall and Queenly she was; an unrevealed power shone through that lifted the hearts of the righteous and caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth of evildoers and their stenographers.

"Behold," she thundered. "A great shadow has been removed from the East. But it can return. As you must straight away. Remove all the foundations of Saurilooserman and circumcise the false flesh away from the wolves wearing sheeps clothing. Remember our battle cry; Kos to the fore, skins or not."

And with that, Janedalf departed, and the four warriors headed for Nutmeg, TRex galloping happily behind the warriors, wagging his thunderous tail clearing acreages of timber on both sides of the road. He felt the scours coming on.

Authors note: This is my response to the silly claims of the power wielded by the far-left bloggers. It's the message, stupid, not the medium. Artwork provided by the incomparable Darkblack. Go bloggers!

...And Down The Stretch We Come

cross-posted at firedoglake

The Connecticut Primary reminded me of George and Lorraine and Biff. You remember, from Back To The Future. Mild mannered, always polite and courteous, George McFly was constantly ridiculed and beset by the foul, uncouth and obnoxious Biff. It's just the way it was. Biff nearly broke George's arm, and still, he would not defend himself. But when Biff manhandled Lorraine, The object of George's love down to his very soul, his density as it were, that tore it. With a punch delivered from three counties over, Biff was snoring before he hit the ground.

And so it was in Connecticut. Americans tired of thugs mauling and sullying the reputation of their country fought back against those who enable such atrocities. The collective heads across America snapped to the East to witness--and I'll paraphrase Tweety here, "The smote heard 'round the world." However, grim business is before us, and the high-fives and towel snapping will have to wait. Joenabler refuses to concede, and the peoples choice in Lamont still has no job. No one is interested in living off this latest round of press clippings.

Before this victory, the Reich-Wing gleefully hung the goose egg around the neck of left-wing political blogger victories. Now we are dangerous far-left hippy peaceniks. Yawn. The dog barks but the caravan rolls on. And now we are not alone. Death, destruction, corruption and fluent incompetence are the Bush legacy and his Rubber Stamp Republican Lickspittle sycophants. And George McFly is not happy.

We are down to the final quarter. This is where the coach calls a gut check. Well, how bad do you want it? Donate all you can to your local candidates. Turn your evening stroll into doorhangings/knockings and over-the-fence visits. Write Letters to the Editor. Pitch in to a phone bank. Check with local nursing homes about rides to the polls. Any other ideas?

What About Joe?

Everytime he opens his mouth, we'll be there. And again, this time we will not be alone. Perhaps someone feeding from the same donation troughs will gently urge the feedmaster to invest their money more wisely. After all, Joe is obviously headed to the pasture of punditry, where him and his good buddy, Joe Klein, can generously fertilize the same fields as the crap they spew is so similar. Even Pox News may see the coming progressive tide and offer them a spot to represent the Democratic viewpoint. The Joe/Joe Show. They can copy the graphics of 60 minutes, but instead of a stopwatch going tic, tic, tic, they can put up a nagging mother going tsk, tsk, tsk.

A Very Dark Chapter

Sorry to have been away so long kids, but Papa has been busy supplying an addicted nation. So let's dive right in, shall we?

Can you feel it? I sure as hell can, and it's not a little spidey sense thing either. The turn is occurring in our political make-up. I can feel it and it is palpable. The natives are truly restless. People are coming too and realize they no longer live in a country they recognize as America. Being mislead into a disastrous occupation of a country that was not a threat and did not attack us, costing us the sons and daughters of our country, Billions of dollars, worldwide sympathy and goodwill has taught us this administration is not strong but stupid. The entire worldview of the Bush junta diplomacy is summed up in the final scene of Scarface. Say hello to my little friend.

They brought us Abu Grahib, Gitmo, Abramhoff, Delay, Alito, Enron, Exxon, Cheney deals made with Big Oil behind a door sealed by the Supreme Court, stripped us of civil rights, K-street earmarks, Duke Cunningham, 9/11, voter fraud, fear, racism, war profiteering, gross negligence in the Katrina aftermath, Terri Schiavo, civil war in Iraq, nuclear arms by North Korea quadrupled, Iran on the brink of nuclear abilities, Osama in the wind and worldwide contempt.

Just to hit a few highpoints.

This is the tedious drip, drip, drip that is soaking by osmosis into the American consciousness. Folks are starting to get the hint that running a Republic is not a spectator sport. It is very serious shit when you are the world superpower, and when fanatical idiots like the ones we have now hold the reins of power, we get the government we deserve. Clearly the Bush cabal is all about talking points and marketing, but they have no clue how to govern. This is simply a matter of a group of people stealing our nation blind. Seriously, no one with an IQ over room temperature can give a coherent argument that these guys really give a shit about anything at all except their own fortunes.

I feel people are tired of the Mid-South Wrassling/Carney Pitchman crap they spew. Regular folks don't care how high you jump when you preach, but how you walk when you hit the ground. And Joe Lieberman got thrown under the bus the other day in favor of a real progressive, Ned Lamont. Everyone is all atwitter over them nasty radical hippy McArthyite anti-war bloggers dragging the Democratic party to the far left, where they can't win elections. Pshaw!

Let's deal with that, shall we? First off, welcome to the 21st Century, dickheads. Iraq is a civil war and we are involved in an occupation. See that? Their war, our occupation. Their war caused by stupidity, not by strength. We need somebody besides Scarface, or worse, Kindasleezy Rice, to figure out that mess. And wassup with the pounding the innernets? Sure, journalists maybe don't like it, cause it is not a one way medium like newspapers, teevee and radio, or two way like telephones. It is a multi-way medium. Still, it is nothing more than a message and information system. Ned had the right message and Joe did not. Instead of Ned and Joe paying the innernets to get out their messages, we did it for free and gave them the opportunity to allow us to pay them. Pretty fucking outrageous, huh. I know, it stands the God of Media culture, Marshall McLuhan on his head. It is the message, not the medium.

Joe still wants to play though. Seems all them voters for Ned are al Qaida sympathizers. Yup. Ol Joe Nomentum said something very similar to that. That may shock some people, and if it does, it just means you haven't been paying attention. You see, all us nasty left-wing anti-war hippy bloggers knew along time ago Darth Cheney had turned Joe into his own widdle sock puppet. A three-way race? Fuhgedaboudit. Other Dems are looking for ways to look more progressive. Hell, even Hillary was heard bitchslapping Ronald Dumsfeld the other day. It's a tough thing for a chick to try and look tough while distancing herself from a hawkish position. I'm willing to cut her a hell of a lot of slack on that deal. Joe, not so much.

I wish I could conclude this hopeful post by declaring a complete takeover by both houses by Democrats in November, but I can't. You see, the people want some entirely different shit happening in the halls of power, you know like honesty and restraint and diplomacy and non-stop investigations, indictments and froggermarches, but the remaining Dems in power, especially in the Senate (I'm talkin' about you Chuck) aren't quite ready for all that for some reason. Oh, well every dog has his day.

SCOTUS Bitchslaps POTUS

and his little Chief Justice too!

The Supreme Court of the United States shot down the Presidents attempt of setting up a kangaroo court to try Gitmo detainees. Chief Justice Roberts had already ruled in favor of the Bushco end run around the law before he nabbed the top slot at the top court, so he had to sit on the sidelines and watch his decision get overturned. The majority opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens:

What the hell are you thinking, you stupid motherfucker? You ain't the boss of the world. You have no earthly idea what the hell you are doing, do you? Well, if you don't know, you better axe somebody. Like maybe congress. And read the directions for chrissakes, their in the constitution.

Okay, so maybe I paraphrased a little bit. The wingnuts have their viagra infested knickers in a twist over this activist court impeding the authoritarian cult train, insisting this 5-3 decision is actually a 5-4 decision as they count John Roberts vote in favor of Bush. This of course overlooks the fact that it was a 5-4 decision that gave us this nitwit for a President to begin with. But they head for the feinting sofa clutching their pearls at the thought terrorists will be given the same due process as military personnel or even trials in our civilian courts. And they tremble at the fact terrorists, who belong to no country, who are not signatories to the Geneva Convention protections, will nonetheless be offered the protections outlined therein.

Okay, so here's the thing. We go into Afghanistan to take out the Taliban and al Qaeda. We don't really know who the bad guys are, unless they are shooting at us, so we offer a reward of $5,000 to the locals for turning in bad guys. Now, this sounds good on paper, but it can have very bad results. Say, for example, a guy has a problem with his neighbor. He can get rid of him, start banging his neighbors old lady and smack his bratty kids around and pick up a cool five grand in the process. The poor sap that got lied on finds himself under the control of the military, under orders from Ronald Dumsfeld that it's okay to torture these assholes, because the Geneva conventions don't apply. And we're not talking about fraternity pranks here that just involve panties on the head; their have been over 130 documented fatalities.

So, it might be the case that quite a few of these "detainees" are nothing more than victims being punked, unless of course the right wing wants us to believe everything we are told by swarthy mid-easterners, which of course includes the detainees themselves. This decision also affects the issue of torture as it brings the detainees under the protection of the Geneva convention. Bush is the President of torture. McCain passed a bill with overwhelming support, over the objections of the VP of torture, Darth Cheney. After Bush signed the veto proof bill into law, he filled out a Presidential signing statement that said--neener neener, Kings X. Of course, all experts agree that torture doesn't work. Victims say whatever you want them to say, regardless of whether it is true or not. In fact, the reason we are in Iraq right now is because a torture victim named curveball supplied the bogus information that Saddam was collaborating with al Qaeda. Okay, bad example, maybe that one did work if you own stock in Halliburton.

In Search Of Single Women

Republicans vote, so the half of the country who do not vote are who the Democrats should be talking to. Twenty million unmarried women did not vote in 2004. These figures clearly show where the democratic party should be searching for victory. The question is how do we change apathy into participation? How do we reach out to those who do not participate and extend an invitation and even a welcome to cast a vote? They do not exist on direct-mail voting lists, newspaper circulation is in decline and the electronic media is becoming increasingly fractured (this blog is a testament to that fact). Not to mention the HUGE pressures placed on single parents who simply don't have the time or energy to be politically involved. The number one group in America that Democrats can help are disenfranchised by the economic pressures placed on them by hostile policies of their government.

There is, of course, only one way to reach those who do not vote and that is with an in-person visit. In my neighborhood, I am conducting a voter participation drive. I have a clipboard with squares drawn on it to represent homes that I have visited. I let them know I'm a neighbor ("I live in that brown house over there") and ask them if they are registered. If they aren't I let them know about the tag agency just up the road where they can register--a very simple process. For those who do not vote, my message is very simple and clear; "I would like to extend a personal invitation for your help in running this country. Too many people don't vote and I think the only ones talking to our politicians are lobbyists, and I think that's a shame, don't you?"

These are sales techniques. People generally want to help, especially by personal invitation. Asking their opinion after a statement is called a test close. Make no mistake, this is truly a sales call. The sale is an intangible idea of the future of the country and our priorities. I spend very little time with registered voters--I merely thank them for their participation and move along. Those who don't vote, are encouraged to share opinions on various subjects, our occupation of Iraq, healthcare, etc. I am inviting them to participate and I want them to start right now. My own opinions are subdued, as I see them as irrelevant to their participation. To close the sale I say, "If I can get everyone else on this block to vote, you would do it too, wouldn't you?" No one likes to be the killjoy and nearly always you get a yes. I jot down yes on their little square on my clipboard, thank them and move on.

So, how effective is this? It definitely works, as I got the idea from this article several months back.

[...]

Another aspect of their work that was different was the choice of who to canvass. There were many groups making similar efforts in New Hampshire at the time. Some spoke only to registered voters, some only to registered Democrats, some only to registered Republicans. Swing the Vote decided to talk to everyone, Democrat or Republican, registered or unregistered.

Each volunteer was given a specific goal: so many doors per day, per week, per month. They wore out the shoe leather in Troy, Alstead, Swanzey, Keene, Dublin, Jaffrey, getting people to talk about what concerned them in the upcoming election. If people weren't registered, they explained how to register. They let people know that New Hampshire allows same-day voter registration, and if they wanted to, they could go down to their polling place on election day, register right there, and vote.

It worked. On election day 2004, Cheshire County saw the largest voter turnout in recent memory. Some 6,000 unregistered voters came out, people who had not been targeted by any other group because they were not on any voter roll. They registered, and they voted. Cheshire County went blue, and for only the third time since 1948, New Hampshire was won by a Democratic presidential candidate.

[...]

Yes, this is hard work, but a huge Democratic constituency is wandering in the wilderness with no voice in the path to prosperity. If we can bring them into the fold, then there exists a vast new voice concerned with daycare, and healthcare, and good wages, and clean water and air. If we can deliver this constituency, the political dialogue will turn forcibly to address these issues. We may even be able to build a world-class civilization.

How To Build A World-Class City

(cross posted at Firedoglake)
This is a story of hope, of bold visionary leadership, and grassroots political action successfully improving the lives of its citizens. A message very important in these dark days of rudderless and incompetent leadership.

Welcome to Oklahoma City!

A blast from a cannon announced the birth of Oklahoma at high noon on April 22, 1889. The children of these pioneers have overcome tremendous obstacles to make their sires proud at the close of the last century and the beginning of the new. In true pioneer spirit, they saw a better future over the horizon and dug deep to put forth the most massive quality of life package ever devised in this nation. A total of nine whopping projects, each one being massive enough to stand alone for voter approval. Oklahoma law requires tax increases to be approved by a vote of the people. To build a world-class city, the requirements are 1) A need 2) leadership and 3) value.

The need.

Oklahoma City was in pretty bad shape. Huge expansion had made it the largest city in the nation when I was a kid. The running joke in the 60s was Fidel better straighten out or we'll send them OKC boys down there to annex Cuba. The SCOTUS "white flight" decision brought blight to our inner city, as it did throughout the country. "Urban renewal" just made things worse, by eliminating a lot of housing and the oil bust of the mid 1980s was ruinous to our economy. Penn Square Bank collapsed, followed by a whole slew of others. If it was Thursday, more banks would fall. Personally, I could not find work in the oilfields of Oklahoma and took other work, each one paying less than the last. And when poverty knocks at the door, love flies out the window. My wife left me with three small children, the youngest in diapers. To try and improve our future prospects, I enrolled full-time at college, swallowed my pride, and took a part-time job flipping hamburgers.

Leadership.

Mayor Norick took office in 87. He was picking cotton in the arena of public service in the huge shadow of his father, former Mayor Jim Norick, who oversaw the expansion of the 60s, modernized our water system and built the convention center, and other large projects. The needs were huge and the funds were non-existent. The push was on to lure major employers. Large corporations, knowing their worth, require tithes for consideration. Three times Mayor Norick called for, and received a vote to increase sales taxes for the benefit of these jobs. All three times the employers chose to go elsewhere. The natives were growing restless. Our infrastructure was crumbling. The ADA was going to make our baseball park obsolete, the Canadian River that divides the town from north to south drained so well we had to keep it mowed. The livestock area of our state fairgrounds were dilapidated as was our convention center and civic center. Mayor Norick joined with other city leaders to address these needs and instead of making a "Sophies Choice" the decision was made to bundle all of them together and offer an all or nothing choice to the people. The nine projects were:

The river project. City leaders, sensitive to the "dust bowl" image suffered by Oklahoma, proposed creating a series of river lakes by building a series of three dams. This "crown jewel" project cost a total of $52 million.

A brand new 20,000 seat indoor sports/entertainment arena. Total cost $64.8 million.

Renovation of the Civic Center performing arts building. Total cost $51 million.

Renovation of the Myriad Convention Center and the addition of 100,000 square feet of new ballrooms and meeting rooms over the north plaza. Total cost $63.1 million.

State Fair renovations. The loss of the National Finals Rodeo to Las Vegas in '85 was a severe blow to OKC. Updating the fairgrounds arena and other equine facilities was seen as mandatory to prevent future hemorrhaging. The fairgrounds project was the only one to be completed on time and on budget. Total cost $14 million.

Public transportation linkage to the projects. Originally planned as a light rail system, that got railroaded by our very own congresscritter Earnest Istook R-Warr Acres, who blocked matching Federal funds as a waste of money. City leaders pivoted to 9 rubber tire trolley replicas. Total cost $5.3 million.

A shiny new baseball field located in Bricktown. The Oklahoma Redhawks is the farm team for the Texas Rangers, and the ballpark was fashioned after Dubyas old sandbox located south of the red river, in the state we refer to as "Baja Oklahoma." This 12,000 seat facility was rated in the top two nationwide for minor league play. Total cost $34.2 million.

The Bricktown Canal. Bricktown was one of the more blighted areas of downtown. An old brick warehouse district that virtually sat in the evening shadows of the downtown skyscrapers defiantly jutting out of the plains. Some going concerns remained, but most buildings were vacant, sporting broken windows and housing unsavories. The idea was to model it after Dallas' famed "West End" with the canal being reminiscent of the San Antonio riverwalk.
the canal would be a mile long, have water taxis, and link downtown to Bricktown to the river. Did I mention vision yet? Total cost $23.1 million.

The Library/Learning Center. Four stories tall and 110,000 square feet it has been called the "Ft. Knox of learning". Boasting meeting centers and all forms of modern multi-media state of the art gizmos, the aptly named Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library provides those seeking wisdom a one stop shop. Just call Ronnie "the bus driver" cause he's taking us all to school. Total cost $21.5 million.

So there you have it. Nine projects totaling $329 million dollars and is not related to directly recruiting a major employer. The vote would be a county-wide one cent sales tax increase for five years. A real tough sell for a city that was broke and closing banks in the throes of a major recession. It was obvious this was a "pie in the sky boondoggle."

Value

As a major in journalism, I became acquainted with Dave Sellers, the owner and publisher of the Capitol Hill Beacon, a community paper serving South (of the river) OKC. He hired me out of college as an adman, because "there isn't a lot of money in journalism." Dave, just like Dave Thomas of Wendy's, sported hokey short sleeve dress shirts and was the salt of the earth. I had been with the paper for a couple of years before the Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPs) vote came up. Southside, where I have lived most of my life, is very strong blue collar, and at the time, mostly democrats. The Beacon had been publishing newspapers since five years before Tolstoy died. Since the community didn't seem to support a subscription based newspaper, the Beacon elected to be a free paper, delivered to every home in South OKC (appx 46,000) every week. The regular Joes and empty nesters frequently voted down bond issues and such and was viewed as a negative area by the "silk shirts" that resided to the north. In short, the issue would fail without the support of the Southside.

I heard many refer to this negativity issue, and I resented it. One day, the President of Southwestern Bell came to visit Dave. I was sitting there when he asked Dave "What's wrong with the people on the Southside? They are so negative and vote down bond issues. Dave smiled, more to show his teeth than to show his pleasure, "It's a question of value." Did you catch that? Five words, none more than two syllables. Can he edit or what?

Dave saw the value and decided to support the measure. We were to put out a special publication spelling out all the details and benefits. My role was to generate the funds to get this message out. There isn't a damn thing free about the press. Dave knew the no vote was always built in. To counter it the choices are to suppress it or increase the yes vote. The vote passed by a narrow margin on December 14, 1993. The Southside also supported it by a very narrow margin.


And now, thirteen years later, you can't find anybody who voted no. The river we used to mow now has national boat races. Bricktown is shiny and buzzing and full of eateries and classy fashion stores and dance halls. Our new indoor arena just completed hosting a season of professional basketball (a first professional anything for OKC) by the New Orleans Hornets, due to the loss of their stadium from Katrina. Promoter boasts of private investment of $140 million were wildly off the mark; they have topped $500 million. Coffers are full and rainy day funds are being created. I'm so fuckin' proud I could just bust. The word for this success is "progressive".

My next project is:

How To Build A World Class Civilization.

Can I get a little help over here?

An Invitation to Bill Frist

I feel Senator Frist has some explaining to do about getting kittens from animal shelters and treating them as pets before killing, dissecting and testing their cuddly little furry bodies. He was in medical school after all where he was not majoring in humanity. I just hope he doesn't have any trouble with my pet moderator. He really frowns on kittenstompers. So come on down Bill, pull up a keyboard and win some hearts and minds and votes.

Energy & The Environment: A Progressive Position

So everyone is all atwitter over Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth. Expert hacks, paid by the wingnut welfare system and big oil, are making the rounds denouncing claims that fossil fuels are contributing to global warming. I admit, it is much too lofty a claim for me to defend or refute, but the jury is not out on the harm to our environment. I plan to kill any dissent to this fact right here and right now.

I invite any naysayers (especially the "ex-sperts" [has-been drips under pressure]) we see on teevee and read articles they publish, to conduct the following experiment. After a grueling day of spewing smoke-filled distortions on the mighty right-wing wurlitzer to the courtier class stenographers, our wingnut retires to his home, located nicely in the flat earth society nestled on the banks of de nile.

Having dined with his homeschooled wingnutlets, who are nourished with a rich diet of racism and homophobia, he retires to bed with his wife, sans sex, who prays thankfully for the poolboy. After everyone is asleep, our ex-spert sneaks downstairs and starts the engine on his Huge Chrome Detroit Land Yacht parked in his garage. Leave the garage door shut, and the door to the house open since this is a test of environmental harm. Go upstairs and pleasant dreams you stupid motherfucker.

Now that's just crazy talk. Everyone knows no one will get out of that house alive. Now think about that for a moment. Our atmosphere is a closed system. It's our house--it's where we fucking live for chrissakes. If anybody hears anybody spitballing Al Gore tell 'em to take my test. We won't have to listen to them anymore.

Suggested Progressive Agenda

We need cleaner fuels provided by numerous competitors to break the Big Oil monopoly and to save our environment. A recent tax-giveaway of 14.5 Billion was recently given primarily to the wildly profitable oil companies. The Gubmint giveth and the Gubmint taketh away. Maybe double. Nearly $30 Billion should be pretty good seed money to say, I dunno, save our planet? We should call it the "Big Oil Gashole Tax". Lot's of providers of cleaner fuel would guarantee competition at the pump which would dramatically lower prices. It might even put the fossil back in fossil fuel.

The Illegitimate President

In a withering article written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in this weeks Rolling Stone Magazine the facts were laid bare on the stolen 2004 election. I was as guilty as most others in living in the world of denial and dismissing such claims as these on the internet as tin-foil-hatty conspiracy theorists. We were all duped into this position by the Corporate medias refusal to view this administration in a cynical fashion, which is the duty of the fourth estate. The talking heads of the MSM draw down huge salaries which is contingent upon access to power. To report on the huge and systematic criminal enterprise of voter suppression and outright fraud would have threatened their seat on the cocktail weenie circuit, and the criminal enterprise, (aka the republican party) has made it perfectly clear that if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.

So, the Bush crime family stole not one, but two Presidential elections. They found they could not win on their agenda, one particular heinous part is the PNAC, and had to resort to thuggery and outright crime on their march to worldwide rape, pillage and plunder of resources, environment and civil rights. The lame talking points they use for campaigning was insufficient to get the job done, so the morally superior party of "personal responsibility" and "family values" felt the need to disenfranchise vast swath's of Americans who understood what their code words really meant. "Reduce taxes" and "states rights" really mean they hate niggers. "Family values" means they hate queers. Why do they hate Americans? The trampy little Jesus pimps they drag up like Ralph Reed, who uses gambling money to fight off other casinos to the benefit of the gambling donors, who preach about the evils of gambling. Huh?

The Party of Law and Order (not to be confused with the cheap and illegal labor fans who enjoy immaculate lawn order) must be hoist by their own petard. Prison is said to be a good deterrent against criminal activity. The results of this particular crime is absolutely breathtaking in its global nature in lives and environment and can actually be measured by monetary damages in the trillions of dollars. Americas position in the world is in shambles, our treasury has been looted with the debt falling even unto our grandchildren, our military has been spent and our constitution has been shredded.

The article in the Rolling Stone is already being denounced by those in wingnuttia. They carefully expose all of the flaws in the data and expose it for the partisan hatchet job that it is. Okay, so I made that part up. They actually say nothing about the merits of the article or any information contained therein. Instead, they attack all things Kennedy and go back to the Kennedy v. Nixon race. Yawn. Whadda bunch of fucking dickheads. I guess they are in favor of criminals. Weak on crime they are. What do you expect from people who get their news from phone sex enthusiasts and degenerate junkies. The whole time their heads bob up and down like a fake dog in the back window of an El Dorado. Puleez.

Beware of False Prophets

Jesus pimp Ralph Reed is running out of cheeks:

"The radical left, the Big Labor Union Bosses, and Bill Clinton want to pass a law preventing Chinese from coming to work on the Marianas Islands," the mailer from Reed's firm said. The Chinese workers, it added, "are exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ" while on the islands, and many "are converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand."

A year earlier, the Department of the Interior -- which oversees federal policy toward the U.S. territory -- presented a very different picture of life for Chinese workers on the islands. An Interior report found that Chinese women were subject to forced abortions and that women and children were subject to forced prostitution in the local sex-tourism industry.

[...]

This is the same guy who took gambling money to fight gambling in his Jesus pimpy sorta way. So I guess Ralphie was for gambling before he was against it and against abortion before he was for it. Oh, wait, that was forced abortion and prostitution he was for. So, I guess it's just the choice part he's against. Ya got no choice, bitch, because old white guys hold the title to your womb. It is important to remember that the DoI report cited came out before Gale Norton and "Jack in the Box" Abramoff moved in.

Mr. Reed obviously has no moral center. He defends and promotes slavery. He condones and profits from child prostitution and forced abortion. He defiles the blood spilled by the Marines who died in the fight to free Saipan, now known as the Marianas, by supporting sweatshop owners, and sex slave traffickers. I guess he thinks its okay for the Chinese slaves to be raped by America, as long as they have a good book to read while they are getting fucked. How can anyone possibly lose a political race to this asshat? He makes me sick.

The French Respond!

Recently, I wrote an email to AT&T asking them about the rumors on the internets about handing over all phone records over to the Federal Government. They kindly responded and I would like to share it with you, along with my translation of what they sent:

Dear Ms. Andrews- 

Not off to a very good start, since I most definitely have two chromosomes, as well as other male physical attributes!

ATT cares about your privacy. We understand your concern and want to
stress that we  vigorously protect our customers' privacy. 

Unless, of course, it interferes with our sharing of cocktail weenies with those capable of creating multi-tiered internets and stifling such pesky bloggers such as yourself.

It's our policy not to comment on matters involving national security
or
litigation.  However, rest assured that AT&T follows all laws with
respect to requests for assistance  from governmental authorities.  

Now, I specifically asked them not to include "national security" in their response. I'm an oilfield truck driver fer cyin' out loud. I saw "Matlock" once and I heard them say something about probable cause. And these fucks have the balls to tell me to calm the fuck down because the echo chamber of the Bushco Crime family's consigliere branch nods with approval? We continue...

There has been a lot of speculation in the news media.  The fact is,
AT&T does not allow  wiretapping or give customer information to law
enforcement authorities or government  agencies without legal
authorization.

Hmmm, speculation, yeah right. This is all we have since the Runaway Executive has avoided judicial review even more than congressional overlook. He is a fugitive from justice. Also I noticed the "without legal authorization" curiously did not contain the words subpoena or warrant. Maybe they have a permission slip from Torture Memo Abu Gonzales.

We have an obligation to assist law enforcement and other government
agencies  responsible for protecting the public welfare, whether it be
an individual or the  security interests of the entire nation.

We have an obligation to assist the Republican Party, and all their crony filled branches are protected from dissident Oklahoma truck drivers and all those who would threaten our supply of cocktail weenies, er, I mean, protect us from screaming brown meanies.

We prize the trust our customers place in us. If and when AT&T is asked
by government  agencies for help, we do so strictly within the law and
under the most stringent  conditions. Beyond that, we can't comment on
matters of national security. This is a  national security issue and
needs to be addressed on a national level.
We do appreciate hearing from you and we value your business.

Thank you for contacting us.

Sincerely,
Privacy Policy Mailbox Manager

There is only one way that I can read this letter. I mean did you notice what I noticed? There is entirely too much tippytoeing around going on in this statement. I read it as saying, yes, we handed over all calls that you made and all calls that were made to you because the feds showed up and said the magic words, "national security." I mean, they used that phrase like twelve times in this missive. This was by no means a denial. It wasn't even a non-denial denial. They did it. And now, to quote Uncle Junior Soprano, "That fed is so far up my ass I can taste brylcreme."

Dot Dot Dot, Dash Dash Dash, Dot Dot Dot

In case you forgot, that title is morse code for S.O.S. Just finished writing an email to SBC which is now AT&T asking about the story in USA Today where the NSA has asked, and received everyone's calling lists, creating the largest database ever assembled in the history of the world. Taking a cue from T-Rex and Siun, fellow FDLers, this is what I sent them:

I am very concerned with the story in USA Today that states AT&T is providing the NSA with all of my calling records. I would like assurances that you are not giving my private information to the Federal Government. If this was legal then I'm sure that QWest would have been forced to comply as well. Unless they are operating under a different set of federal laws. Some say this is a matter of National Security. Please do not include this in your response. This is a legal issue. I certainly hope you have not violated any laws as your stockholders will have to pay dearly if you have.

If you have been supplying the Federal Government with this information, please count on me to contact the numerous pension fund investors of your stock and explain the legal jeopardy you have placed their pensions in. Then I'll continue to wade through all of your financial supporters to whittle away at your cushy little insulated bubble. And so will all my friends that are on my calling and email and bloglists that you so blithely handed over to the Federal Government. Sort of a "Reach Out And Touch Someone" campaign. So, did you, or did you not decide to try and bankrupt your shareholders?

Impatiently Waiting

We gotta play hardball with these people folks. If money is what they understand, we'll just have to talk to them in that fashion. Then follow through.

How Stupid Is This?

War profiteering apparently bring on stupidity:

Halliburton Solves Global Warming
SurvivaBalls save managers from abrupt climate change

An advanced new technology will keep corporate managers safe even when climate change makes life as we know it impossible. [Speech, photos]

"The SurvivaBall is designed to protect the corporate manager no matter what Mother Nature throws his or her way," said Fred Wolf, a Halliburton representative who spoke today at the Catastrophic Loss conference held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Amelia Island, Florida. "This technology is the only rational response to abrupt climate change," he said to an attentive and appreciative audience.

[...]

At today's conference, Wolf and a colleague demonstrated three SurvivaBall mockups, and described how the units will sustainably protect managers from natural or cultural disturbances of any intensity or duration. The devices - looking like huge inflatable orbs - will include sophisticated communications systems, nutrient gathering capacities, onboard medical facilities, and a daunting defense infrastructure to ensure that the corporate mission will not go unfulfilled even when most human life is rendered impossible by catastrophes or the consequent epidemics and armed conflicts.

"It's essentially a gated community for one," said Wolf.

[...]

You just gotta see them pictures. I just wish they had one of them "bubble boys" giving a one finger salute to the rest of us.

(h/t to SandyH)

Update:

According to commentor Anonymous, the actual Halliburton URL does not contain the word "contract" in it. He surmises that the spoofers apparently cribbed several bonafide pages of Halliburtons onto this to make it appear legit. Still, careful perusing through the sidebars and such bring additional joys. So I've been punked I guess. And after minutes of exhaustive research I didn't catch that error. Oh well, at least it wasn't about WMD's. I'm doin a heckuva job.

It Must be Cold There, In Our Shadow

The latest poll has Bush at a below freezing 31 job approval rating, the lowest in his Presidency.
[...]

Bush's approval rating, at 34 percent a week ago, tumbled on declining support from conservatives and Republicans. The poll found 52 percent of conservatives and 68 percent of Republicans approved of Bush's performance, record lows in both categories.

Bush's approval rating has been mired in the low and mid-30s in most surveys amid public unease about the Iraq war and rising gasoline prices. His plummeting standing has caused growing worry among Republicans about November's elections, when the balance of power in Congress will be up for grabs.

[...]

Most pundits place his sliding poll numbers to the quagmire of the illegal war in Iraq.
However, his spending like a drunken soldier could be a key reason why his conservative base is slipping away.

[...]

With passage of the budget, the House will have raised the federal borrowing limit by an additional $653 billion, to $9.62 trillion. It would be the fifth debt-ceiling increase in recent years, after boosts of $450 billion in 2002, a record $984 billion in 2003, $800 billion in 2004 and $653 billion in March. When Bush took office, the statutory borrowing limit stood at $5.95 trillion.

[...]

A curious thing is happening over in the land of wingnuts. Criticisms leveled at Bu$hCo by the reality based community over expanding Federalism, nation building, secrecy, torture, warrantless wiretapping of Americans and exploding deficits were all shouted down as treasonous against our Commander-In Chief and accusations were leveled of giving aide and comfort to our enemies.

[...]

Rove last night also criticized Democrats for responding weakly to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Rove said.

[...]

Okay, so Rove is a dick. But now that Bush's approval rating is about the same as several social diseases, in order to save face of conservatism, wingnuts now claim Bush has always been a liberal.

Yesterday, I referenced an article in National Review by Jonah Goldberg in which Goldberg argued that the two most glaring examples of failed Republican presidents -- Richard Nixon and George Bush -- weren't conservatives at all, but were actually liberals. I characterized this claim as "dishonest" because, as I pointed out, virtually no conservatives were claiming that Bush was a "liberal" when his popularity ratings were in the 60s and he was perceived as some sort of heroic, beloved political figure. It is only now that his approval ratings are reaching historically low levels, and it is becoming unavoidably apparent that his presidency is dying and failed, that conservatives are seeking to claim that Bush's failure is not a failure of conservatism because -- as it turns out -- Bush was really a liberal all along. Alas, Bush's failure is simply the latest instance of the failure of liberalism.

[...]

As a political reality, conservatives are responsible for Bush's presidency. They claimed him as one of their own and engineered both of his elections. The newfound recognition that -- hey, what do you know? -- Bush, after all, turns out to be a liberal, is prompted by the collapse of his presidency, the collective realization that he has been a grand failure, and a desire to shield conservatism from the fallout. If this labelling of Bush as a "liberal" were prompted by genuine and intellectually honest observations, then the claim from conservatives that Bush is really a liberal would have been made long before he tumbled to 32%. It wasn't, and that is what makes it so dishonest.

[...]

See, conservatism cannot fail, but people can fail conservatism. But the definition of conservatism on answers.com doesn't say anything about fiscal responsibility.

1. The inclination, especially in politics, to maintain the existing or traditional order.
2. A political philosophy or attitude emphasizing respect for traditional institutions, distrust of government activism, and opposition to sudden change in the established order.
3. Conservatism The principles and policies of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom or of the Progressive Conservative Party in Canada.
4. Caution or moderation, as in behavior or outlook.

I guess it just doesn't apply anymore. The tax and spend liberal is just a cute little talking point that just holds no water. Since LBJ left a small surplus in the national treasury in 1969 it was over three decades before it happened again. In between we had Nixon and Nixon and Ford and Carter and Reagan and Reagan and GW Bush and Clinton. That's six R's and one D, Clinton doesn't count because he didn't make a happy plate. Apparently Republicans can't be trusted with security (9/11) foreign affairs (name it) or our checkbook. By looking at the definition above a truthful campaign slogan would be: Vote For Me, I'll Leave Everything Just Like It Is. Sorta like the Ruins maintenance department for the Parthenon.

The Runaway Executive

Somebody needs to take away his crayons.

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

This is a very serious article written by Charlie Savage at the Boston Globe. Waytago Chuck, or as they will say at the Stenogr... er Correspondents Dinner, No Soup For You!!

Still, using words like disobey to describe a serial criminal is a little like putting lipstick on a pig. But see, our Prez Nit doesn't think he's breaking any laws. He doesn't veto anything. After he signs legislation, he breaks out his crayons and writes the real law. This makes him the Legislature-In-Chief. He can do this see, because he got a shiny new decoder ring from Battle Creek Michigan, that lets him judge what is constitutional. This also makes him a judge, or the Decider-In Chief.

The Rubber Stamp Republican controlled congress really don't want to make much of this highly illegal tactic since the Prez Nit is, well, a Republican. And midterms are so near. Democrats are just hoping for subpoena power that comes with being in the majority. Besides, it is pretty clear that congress is powerless to reign in this runaway executive, short of cutting all funding for his exploits or impeachment. It's clear that Bush thinks Congress' cute little laws are pretty irrelevant.

Good thing none of the laws the Prez Nit is violating are anything serious like murder or torture and shit. Oh wait, they are that bad. After torturing several prisoners the Administration decided they better get a legal okeydokey in case The dems ever got in control. As soon as they got their judicial "get out of jail free" card sewed up it was croney city. One of the judges that gave them permission was awarded the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court nomination four days later. The judge who originally came up with the signing statement idea got the other seat, Sam Alito.

The idea that America does not torture is lost on this Prez Nit. John Yoo, a key legal architect in Bush's post 9/11 soft dictatorship shares this chilling theory:

Cassel: If the President deems that heÂ’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the personÂ’s child, there is no law that can stop him?
Yoo: No treaty.
Cassel: Also no law by Congress. That is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo.
Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.
(emphasis mine)

Dear reader, Yoo is referring to you. The Prez Nit can declare you an enemy combatant, throw you in jail with no charges, no lawyers, no judges, nada. He doesn't have to notify congress and he can drag your kid in front of you and start to mash his testicles. Or do unmentionables to your sweet little girl. Our fourth estate is nothing but stenographers of the Bushit cocktail weeney circuit. If it weren't for guys like Chuck and Sy and a few over at Newsweak and a handful of blogs, we wouldn't know about this stuff. It's time to get active locally. Do what you can to get progressives elected so we can put a stop to this outrage. Had Enough?

Immigration Redux

Just when you think the country couldn't get any more divided, it does. The huge immigration protests has put a finer point on a different type of divisiveness. The "law and order" branch of the Republican party demand the illegal immigrants be sent packing immediately and don't want to hear any noise about "path to citizenship." The Republican corporate paymasters want a cheap, abundant, fearful and powerless workforce to exploit. The "blue collar dems" see the doom of good wages in the face of illegals and the unions see the potential salvation of their falling membership.

And then there's my sister.

She lives in Southern California, and I can tell, she's just tired of this fucking shit. Trying to drive around in Southern California, knowing that a HUGE number of the cars on the road are being driven by people who don't belong there is immensely frustrating. She sends me emails, usually without comment, like this one:

From the L.A Times

1. 40% of all workers in L.A. County (L.A. County has 10 million
people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This was because they
are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card.

2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal
aliens.

3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are
illegal aliens.

4. Over 2/3's of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal
alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.

5. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are
Mexican nationals here illegally.

6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living
in garages.

7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are
most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.

8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.

9. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish speaking.

10. In L.A.County 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million
speak Spanish (10.2 million people in L.A.County).

(All 10 from the Los Angeles Times)

Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops but 29% are
on welfare.

Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over
90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration.

The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a
NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year, [Profess or
Donald Huddle, Rice University].

The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for
the average adult Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE

29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.

If they can come to this country to raise Hell and march by the
thousands, Why can't they take charge over the corruption in
their own
country? We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue.

I guess she thinks I don't geddit. Trust me Sis, I geddit. The only solution is to prosecute the exploiters. If the jobs are eliminated, illegals will self-deport. The truly criminal element of illegal immigrants must be dealt with harshly. We have plenty of homegrown crooks without these interlopers coming in. Depolarizing the magnet is the only true solution. Building a wall is worthless. Seems like I heard of someone building a wall before. Oh yes, in China. It is a big wall. No, strike that. It is a great wall. Probably why it's called the Great Wall of China. So great, in fact, that it is the only man-made structure on the planet that can be seen with the unaided eye from the surface of the moon. But it did not save the Ming Dynasty. So, what's all this shit I keep hearing about a wall? Methinks it's coming from the cyclone fence and ACME brick lobby.


I doubt we will ever see anything spectacular happen for a while. Several social diseases have higher approval ratings than Bush, who still has higher ratings than the Republican controlled congress, who has higher approval ratings than Deadeye Dick. With midterms at six months away and counting down I wouldn't be expecting any startling legislation to pass. Time to get busy at your local level and do all you can to support those who share your views. Be the change.

In Support of the DNC

So Dean is trying to build a 50 state Democratic infrastructure. I feel this is very farsighted. I've often felt that no one ever learns anything when things are going fairly smoothly. Education truly begins when "we've always done it that way" is demonstrated as a path to apathy.

During the late 80's and early 90's, here in Oklahoma, we had a Democrat and a Republican as U.S. Senators. I was working as an advertising executive for a widely circulated and well-received (circulation appx 50K) community newspaper in a strong Democratic area of OKC. This area of OKC, is geographically referred to as South OKC, since it is located on the southside of the Canadian river, and was deemed by many "Northsiders" or "Silkshirts" as we referred to them, as being negative for voting down many bond issues and such.

I met several local politicians and became fairly politically active myself. A city self-improvement project, called the Metropolitan Area Project, (MAPs) came up in '93. It was a grand plan that would require a huge investment by passing a countywide one cent sales tax for five years with a vote of the people. It would fail without the support of the southside. Our publication endorsed the project and published a special edition spelling out all the details.

I was relentless in obtaining advertising revenues for the support and distribution of this message. Face it, there is nothing free about the press. I was the top five revenue providers for that publication. At the watch party, I was next to Tom Keilhorn, a local political polling god when the results came in from the south. He was incredulous as he looked up at me from his chair and speechlessly shook my hand. Governor Ron Norick did the same.

It was not a blowout. Only about 52% in favor countywide, which was about the same as the southside. Soon after that, I had a career change, Senator Boren retired and Oklahoma fell firmly into the Red State column with Inhofe and Coburn for Senators.

If a solid infrastructure, like the one Dean is trying to put together now, was in place back then, perhaps I could have been urged by someone on the lookout to further aid the Democratic party. There can be no doubt that it is needed. Full-time paid political operatives constantly looking for new recruits. Isn't that what being a democrat is all about? Just wanting to help someone needing help?

War On Iran

Apparently it has already started. No windy congressional debates, no podium pounding speeches from our politicians televised and hashed out by the talking heads of the corporate media. We already have boots on the ground in Iran, and have for quite some time, according to retired Colonel Sam Gardiner who taught at the National War College, the Air War College and the Naval Warfare College. He is somewhat of an authority in Bushco truthiness as he uncovered the urine soaked liar sheets of the bogeyman scare machine that brought us Iraq. As he said recently on CNN.

GARDINER: And let me say this -- I'm saying this carefully. First of all, Sy Hersh said in that article which was...

CLANCY: Yes, but that's one unnamed source.

GARDINER: Let me check that. Not unnamed source as not being valid.

The way "The New Yorker" does it, if somebody tells Sy Hersh something, somebody else in the magazine calls them and says, "Did you tell Sy Hersh that?" That's one point.

The secretary point is, the Iranians have been saying American military troops are in there, have been saying it for almost a year. I was in Berlin two weeks ago, sat next to the ambassador, the Iranian ambassador to the IAEA. And I said, "Hey, I hear you're accusing Americans of being in there operating with some of the units that have shot up revolution guard units."

He said, quite frankly, "Yes, we know they are. We've captured some of the units, and they've confessed to working with the Americans."

The evidence is mounting that that decision has already been made, and I don't know that the other part of that has been completed, that there has been any congressional approval to do this.

My view of the plan is, there is this period in which some kinds of ground troops will operate inside Iran, and then what we're talking about is the second part, which is this air strike.

And we have the ex-speaker Newt, who is still Newt and still speaking, saying crap like this:

The United States, Europe and Israel face massive destruction by a nuclear attack, Gingrich told University of South Dakota students and faculty. "This is one of the great deciding points of history," Gingrich said, opening a question-and-answer session at Farber Hall.

Folks, we cannot allow this to happen. These guys are absolutely nuts to even be considering a nuclear strike against another country. First, another word for pre-emptive war, is war. This is totally up is down Orwellian crazy talk. Prevent a war by dropping bombs on another country, maybe even nuclear bombs? How's this for sanity? To prevent war, don't start one.

It's clear that Bush has already thrown congress on the heap of irrelevance, what with his signing statements basically saying how cute he thinks their little laws are, but he's gonna do whatever he wants to do and they can't stop him. He don't need no stinking warrant! But just maybe his little Republican buddies might need a little boost in an October Surprise move so the bedwetters will scamper to the polls for protection against the screaming brown meenies.

If you don't think Georgie would start a war just to get a few votes then you haven't been paying attention. That's as far as his planning goes. Any plans for an actual war would likely bring up those pesky details like uniting Iraqi Shia with Iranian Shia and the wholesale slaughter of our forces currently in Iraq that would be sitting ducks. And the instantaneous worldwide outrage of America becoming a rogue nation, using nuclear weapons on a non-nuclear state. All our debt Bush has run up that is now in the hands of foreign countries? Whaddya think the next day is gonna look like? If George Bush, Darth Cheney and Ronald Dumsfeld drop nuclear bombs on Iran, they will become instant war criminals.

People, these guys have got to go. Generals are rebuking them. They are internationally hated and nationally not so popular either. And yet the feeling is another impending march to doom. They need to be impeached, jailed or both. Democrat led, Republican led, I really don't care. I don't even care for what reason they are impeached, the reasons are numerous, just pick one or use a dozen and make it a multiple guess kind of thing.

We are being hijacked by a leader described as having a "messianic complex" who feels he only has two years left to save the world. Rummy has consolidated American international intelligence under his own complete command and control with virtually all congressional oversight removed.

Not that that's all that important since the "Rubber Stamp Republicans" oversite is actually overlook, and congress will only be in session for like 12 days this year. Make no mistake, the situation here is totally fucked. We really need to run these guys out of town. Seriously.

Gingrich Not Welcome In Whoville

Newt wants to be welcomed into the rising ranks of war critics after having said this:

"I think it's quite clear as you point out, Sean [Hannity], that from this tape, that bin Laden and his lieutenants are monitoring the American news media, they're monitoring public opinion polling, and I suspect they take a great deal of comfort when they see people attacking United States policies."

One should be highly suspicious of newly arrived war critics who attempted to stifle any Bush aggression policy critics of treason. Remember the parable of the frog and the scorpion.

Unable to cross the river, the scorpion asked the frog for aid. The frog refused, saying the scorpion would sting and kill him. The scorpion pointed out, that since he couldn't swim, it would be folly to do so. The frog relented and midway across the river, sure enough, the scorpion stung the frog, because, as the scorpion pointed out, "that's just the kind of son-of-a-bitch I am."

Newt, as well as many other "recent converts" should not be trusted. As Billmon points out:

I don't think Newt is criticizing or second-guessing the administration's policy in Iraq so much as he is front-running it – probably in an effort to polish his credentials as a foreign policy heavyweight (“See, I suggested we should drawn down our forces in Iraq, and they listened to me.”)

[...]

If IÂ’m right, we should hear more about it fairly soon, as the semi-official media begins to shift from the old to the new party line, which may be something along the lines of: Those ungrateful Iraqis had their chance at democracy, but now itÂ’s time for us to go, and the first step is to consolidate all our troops in a few key bases. Or maybe it will be: Even if there isnÂ’t a government, the Iraqi Army is in great shape, and we can start bringing home the troops. Or maybe it will just be: Mission accomplished. On to Tehran.

With Newt leading the way – rhetorically, I mean.

And sure enough, low and behold, the ex-speaker never learned the art of silence. Newt, leading the way:

The United States, Europe and Israel face massive destruction by a nuclear attack, Gingrich told University of South Dakota students and faculty. "This is one of the great deciding points of history," Gingrich said, opening a question-and-answer session at Farber Hall. The situation is heightened, Gingrich said, by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's promise to "defeat the Anglo-Saxons and wipe Israel off the face of the earth."

"How is that deterred, where your religion tells you that dying in Armageddon is cool? Where you have suicide bombers with atomic weapons?" Gingrich asked. "You have to take them out. You have to change the regime. Just to take out the (nuclear) facilities is a loser game. When they develop atomic weapons, they will sell them to somebody, and that will be dangerous."

It sounds like he just wants to move the battlefield and break out the big guns. No, we should not welcome people like Newt into the reality based community when they are clearly batshit insane.

Iraq Answer Lives In Omaha

As I have repeatedly said about Iraq, we will not be able to force them to live together, but we probably can help to separate them:

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- In a move decried by some as state-sponsored segregation, the Legislature voted Thursday to divide the Omaha school system into three districts - one mostly black, one predominantly white and one largely Hispanic.

Supporters said the plan would give minorities control over their own school board and ensure that their children are not shortchanged in favor of white youngsters.

Apparently they ended the forced busing, and to deal with the minority districts being financially shortchanged, the Omaha legislature and Republican Governor, punted. This shining example of bigotry should be held up as an example for the Iraq quagmire, as well as a demonstration of Americas own overt and still alive racism.

Hateful Bigots

Me thinks the wingnuts cannot help themselves. Recently, Hugh Hewitt, part of the rightwing noise machine educated Wolfe Blitzer on the well behaved right compared to the fever swamp left. Moonbat left wing bloggers have since been scouring the wingnut sites to expose the hideous bigoted underbelly of the "morally superior" bigotsphere. I'll not foul this blog with their quotes. I only question how are people like this created? How can so much hate be so rampant in one party against such a diverse group? They must start when they're very young and reinforce it over and over. I have come up with a mock dialogue to assume how this could happen. It takes place between a stay-at-home mother and her eight-year-old son in an affluent neighborhood. I'll call the son Sean H.

"Sean, it's time to get up. You don't want to grow up to be a Democrat, now do you?" Little Sean sits up, wiping the sleepy from his eyes with one hand and grooming his cowlick with the other. "What's a Democrat?" he asks. "Why Sean, It's people who want to come in here and take all our nice things, that we have worked so very hard for, and give it to layabout minorities."

I remember no such conversations in my house. Certainly I was exposed to numerous racial epitaphs, but that in itself shouldn't cause the degree of hate that exists with wingnuts. Our worldview is just so much different. I had occasion to visit Baltimore Maryland on a bolt hunt (don't ask). The only place that carried them was located in what would be called "the projects." Miles and miles of hideous multi unit dwellings. I got ill. How can any child being raised in those conditions stand a 10 percent chance of doing any good at all? I can only imagine what a winger would say seeing the same sight. "See, They're animals. That's your welfare working for you right there!" Such compassion.

Is the superiority they feel genetic? The old nature, nurture question. An early memory I have is seeing a little girl, on our way to school, giving pieces of silver, her lunch money in fact, to some boys so they would quit frying ants with a magnifying glass. That was my first experience with love at first sight.

The Republic Is Wounded

Folks are pretty busy. They don't have the time to look over the minutiae of every bill proffered, seek out consultants and experts and such. So we vote somebody else to do that for us. Unfortunately, our representatives tend to become beholden to lobbyists who finance the ability to campaign for reelection. Rates for media buys for politicians tend to be somewhat different than for regular businesses. By that I mean higher. This is how they can afford the overpriced newsreaders who trade reporting the truth for the safer and easier path of 'he said she said'. So the fourth estate is beholden to revenue streams, as are our representatives. The disconnect from the voters is being filled nicely by the netroots. Surely, not everyone has access to the internet, and most who do do not read blogs. However, blogs can have an impact on the corporate media and elected officials alike. Bloggers are not separate from the electorate, merely a concentrated slice of it. We tend to be more informed and feel it is our civic duty to shine the light of careful analysis on current events. Being voracious readers of the corporate media, as well as other blogs, some of us tend to get close to the truth of various issues. Lightening fast feedback to sloppy reporting is no doubt irksome to lazy reporters and sloppy editors, not to mention extremely uncomfortable to the Delays in congress. But if the Republic wasn't wounded, their would be no need for us. So don't worry, we're only here to help.

Guest Worker Program

We need to watch this one. I'm afraid it could end up being the 21st century version of slavery. Will the 'guests' have any rights whatsoever? And if so, what protections will be afforded to some 'uppity messicans'? Is this the introduction to a revolving door of indentured servitude serfdom of guests? Legislation that authorizes exploitation with provisions for 'use "em and lose 'em" is patently inhumane and un-American. We have grown past slavery and torture, woops. Any legislation must include a path to citizenship. The numbers must be controlled by punishing the exploiters. Fences and walls will not stop those in desperate need nor those willing to prey on them. Criminalizing those who set forth, with hope as the only means they have in abundance, to a new land, has already happened here before. The debate needs to be how many immigrants do we need each year, and then absolutely control that number. Each immigrant that legally enters our country should be provided with a path to citizenship. Those found exploiting undocumented workers must be fined an exorbitant amount. If we need to employ displaced union workers to root these bastards out, so be it. No one else seems to have the gonads to do it.

It's The Trust, Stupid

Corruption and cronyism has virtually bankrupted our country. Gone are the days of surplus budget into the days of ancient history. To find such a time, one must travel back to the beginning of this century, 2000 BB (before Bush).

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton announced Wednesday that the federal budget surplus for fiscal year 2000 amounted to at least $230 billion, making it the largest in U.S. history and topping last year's record surplus of $122.7 billion.

[...]

This represents, Clinton said, "the largest one-year debt reduction in the history of the United States."

[...]

In June, the administration predicted the surplus would be $211 billion, and would increase by as much as $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

And now, after five years of Bush the Republican controlled Congress has had to boost the Treasury Departments credit line four times for a total of $3 trillion. That now puts our debt ceiling at nearly $9 trillion. To spend $1 trillion, one would have to spend a million dollars a day for a million days, or 2,739 years. Multiply that by nine times.

Apologists for the Republican looting of our National Treasury will blame 9/11 and the war on "Terra" in Iraq. I just love the nifty way they link the two in the same breath/sentence and later deny they ever intended any linkage.

Certainly 9/11 and the unrelated and illegal war provided ample opportunity for Republicans to demonstrate their mettle. The only surprise that should exist is the scale of thievery. Slowly, this crap will percolate up and people will become aware that this criminal band of brothers, aka Republicans, are not moral and godly people. The religious right was hoodwinked into believing they had anointed godly men to positions of power. The reality is the Jesus pimps went on a mission of sacking our country for their own worldly gains. And people died in the process. Delay now cries "Uncle" and wants to further fleece the flocks for Republican support.

Democrats wanting to restore credibility to Congress must do so by being credible. After writing laws for 225 years it is dubious that any new such laws can stop this kind of activity. As the Danny DeVito character "Larry the Liquidator" said in Other Peoples Money, "Pass all the laws you want. Guys like me don't go away, we adapt." Honest stewardship of the peoples trust. That is the key first and foremost. Certainly new laws might be appropriate after all is rooted out and methods are exposed. But bottom line, It's the Trust, Stupid.

Latest Republican Wedgie

Millions of Latinos and their supporters flooded the streets recently showing opposition to republican legislation making illegal immigrants felons. Sporadic protests continue, coupled with the heated camel creation (a horse built in committee) debate in congress, treating Americans to another brilliant civics lesson. The issue has driven a wedge between the law and order branch and the cheap and abundant labor business interests of the republican party. The law and order branch wants them deported because illegal means illegal. The cheap and abundant labor business interests wants the illegal immigrants to stay because they are narcotically hooked to high profits. The wedge on the democratic side is between, primarily, unions and civil rights activists. Unions fear the decline of wages in the workforce and civil rights activists protest against the exploitation and creation of a permanent underclass.

The focus has been on a guest worker program and whether undocumented immigrants should be able to earn citizenship. And border security. The "earn citizenship" hampers the argument that undocumented workers only do jobs Americans won't do. Once they earn citizenship they become the Americans that won't do that kind of work anymore. Hence the need for more undocumented workers. If the guest worker program does not include a path toward citizenship it stretches the imagination to see people lining up to participate in it. Border security is mandatory and has no opposition. But it will be ineffective.

The Civics Lesson

American history is marked by dramatic events that forced changes. Many events created causes and these causes had leaders. Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel leading the suffragette movement. Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor, Dr. Martin Luther King, etc. But today we are saddled with an illegal war, a President who violates the law by spying on Americans without a warrant, has expanded the federal government by thirty percent and cut taxes delivering a crushing deficit to our children. But the huge protests are from people wanting to become Americans. Are Americans truly what other nations accuse Bush of being? Are we a bunch of arrogant bullies happy to live off of the heroic press clippings of our forebearers? Must we import our public dismay for our elected officials?

Where do we go from here?

Yeah, protect the borders. But those who exploit undocumented workers must be punished.

A report by the Government Accountability Office last year found the number of penalties issued to companies suspected of hiring illegal immigrants across the nation plummeted from 417 in 1999 to only three in 2004.

Wow. 12 million undocumented workers and three fines. It doesn't seem like this Administration is interested in enforcement. The only solution to stemming the tide of illegal immigrants is to eliminate the jobs. Fines must be so devastating that the risk would be akin to hiring a serial sexual abuser/crack headed workers comp pro. Employers who whine about not running a police station or extra paper work should not ask for a urine sample or authorization for a credit check. So what would a good enforcement program look like? It's a cinch it wouldn't resemble anything we have now. The laws should be absolutely clear, with no wiggle room. Open a brand new government agency, completely independent of congress by being self financed by the fines they levee and staffed entirely by displaced union workers. Start this out very small in one metro area with an undocumented labor problem. The pressures would be immense to bribe or coerce the agency to turn a blind eye to certain exploiters. The system would have to be tweaked and watched but we really need to try something different. I mean, c'mon, three fines?

Just as consumers demand competition between merchants to foster low prices, it is only fair employers have the same opportunity. We should have a healthy flow of LEGAL immigration to America to aide in this. No business should be forced to overpay some lazy bastard due to no other options. If we can't get off our asses enmasse to protest the abuses foisted on the world by Dubya, then maybe we need some new pioneers with the grit to cross deserts, rivers, fight banditos on both sides of the river just to make a life. They have a hell of a path to citizenship and they're showing us the way. Feel free to take notes.

Illegal Immigration

Illegal means illegal. Both Mexico an America's leaders have utterly failed to address this problem. Mexico is not as most people believe, a poor, third world county, completely dependent on its big brother to the north. They are actually a very wealthy country, the richest country in Latin America by a long ways. Unfettered capitalism has consolidated wealth and power into the hands of the ruling elite, leaving a very small middle class and about half the country living in poverty. Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics said:

"Basically, it's up to Mexico to solve its problem, and basically the wealthy classes do not want to tax themselves, period. It's basically an attitude of look out for yourself."

He points to the fact of taxes in Mexico being only 14% of GDP as opposed to Americans at 25 to 28%. Seems like the wealthy want to live off the fat of the land without having to pay rent. Bush is not likely to tell President Vicente Fox to raise taxes on the rich. Hufbauer continues:

"Basic social services and infrastructure are awfully lean for a country that wants to move ahead. While I'm not usually an advocate for larger government, Mexico is a country where public investment, done wisely, could pay huge dividends."

Both Presidents, however, are on the same leash to wealthy and powerful interests. American companies want cheap and abundant labor, not to do the jobs Americans won't do, but to do the jobs they can't export. Like construction of our homes and buildings, roads and bridges, and the jobs available in natural resources like oil and gas.

There can be no doubt that the wages would be substantially higher and unemployment would be substantially lower if 12 million (est) illegal immigrants were deported. Nearly half of the illegal immigrants wire money to Latin America regularly, which amounted to $32 Billion in 2002. That's nearly a 40% increase since 2000 and doesn't sound like lettuce pickin' money either.

Bear in mind that money cycles in a community, unless of course it's wired out of the country. The feeble minded legislation meant to put a surcharge on these wire transfers is simply electioneering. If someone is resourceful enough to break into a country, swim rivers, cross deserts, get a job and a check, I imagine they can find a legal buddy to wire the money home, for a smaller fee than the govt. wants.

Bush is simply out Foxed at his own game of delivering the goods to the arrogant and rich. By refusing to raise taxes and invest in infrastructure and utilizing his country's abundant resources that would create jobs, his desperate citizens flee to America and wire dollars back. No need for expensive social programs for him since America already has all that.

Unfortunately our leaders have ignored this problem for entirely too long. To export 12 million illegals would be difficult on a biblical scale. I truly empathize with their plight, but we have problems too and we were here first. All these protest marches they are conducting throughout America are taking place in the wrong country. They need to tell it to Fox, and I don't mean the news (?) program.

The first thing that needs to be done is to close our borders. Bush scolds Iran and Syria and Pakistan for not sealing their borders. That's like being called ugly by a frog. Seal the damn borders, then we'll talk about step two.

Oilfields, by Oilfieldguy

Probably the dumbest thing I've ever done is run out of gas with money in my pocket. I mean it's so much easier to carry fuel in the tank than it is to carry it in a can. I've made most of my living working in the 'Oil and Gas Binness', only in the mud end of it. Sorry, that's sort of an inside joke. The point being, my Masters Degree was earned at the University of OJT. And I'm here to tell you that oil fields play out. It takes a while, and usually the 'suits that run the store' use heroic efforts, akin to doctors trying to squeeze every precious additional heartbeat into a dying patient, to extract oil from the field.

So they go and drill somewhere else. But I think most of the lowlying fruit is pretty well picked. Sure, new fields will be discovered, maybe even a few bonanza finds, but c'mon, face it, we're headed for a real disaster.

"Peak oil" theorists posit that global production is at or near its historic ceiling and will begin a long, inexorable decline. They worry that America is not ready for the downturn, for skyrocketing prices and even shortages.

That quote comes from a story about a bonafide Billionaire oil tycoon. He's worried because he's been paying attention by reading everything he can get his hands on. We know that fossil fuels are a finite resource but the need for energy is not. More people are becoming dependent on oil, like China, and our oilfields are playing out. We need to begin a national strategy now or face catastrophic economic chaos in the very near future. T. Boone Pickens, legendary oilman recently claimed he felt we are at Peak oil now. Some say by 2010 and others say Peak oil will occur about 2035. The sooner we act, say experts, and non-experts like me, the better the transition will be and less disruptive. We will have to change. Look at the fuel gauge on the dash. We don't want to run out of gas with no money in our pockets.

Bush V. Feingold

So Russ proposes a censure for Bush's admitted and repeated violations of the constitution and his fellow Democrats run from him like he smells like a skunk getting a perm in a slaughterhouse septic tank. Pundits shriek that Russ has wobbled the Democrats off message and handed the midterm victories to the Republicans. It is apparently unusual for an elected official to do their job. It raises quite a fuss when one is caught doing so.

It seems quite a fuss was made when Clinton apparently violated FISA by conducting a physical search of some rat bastard selling Government secrets. Come to find out, FISA did not cover "physical searches" and the Clinton white house worked with congress to amend FISA to cover physical searches as well. The reason I think this is important is that this administration has admitted to violating FISA, and for some reason everyone just assumes it is the wireless surveillance portion of it. Can they just kick down your door in the name of national security? Maybe they thought they heard someone tell someone once that they heard you were involved with someone who knew someone who was involved with a commie sympathizer. All of this is naturally sorted by some NSA algorithm.

I am amazed the press continues to give this President the benefit of the doubt when he has earned no such benefit. His spectacular failure in all phases of Iraq (pre-conduct-post), devastating economic policy, cake eating during Katrina, 9/11 (as you can tell, these are not in order, just as they occur to me.) Dubai, this mans leadership is fluently stupid. Our congress has become an outlaw regime enabler and our MSM continues to fail miserably in their duty to inform accurately facts and truths, preferring to lazily rely on inside the beltway analists (sic?)

Senator Feingold should be surrounded by Democrats with no daylight separating them from their outrage at this administrations illegal activity. Certainly we were attacked by terrorists and we should be ever vigilant. Someone should inform the President with a Presidential Daily Briefing that says at the top in bold type Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside The United States or something like that so we could get ready. But this administration is attacking our very way of life by a creeping soft dictator system. He doesn't need to be investigated; he needs to be stopped.