V. Edward Martin's BLOG of Critical Thinking

The Inauguration of Hope

2009-01-17T07:03:00.002-06:00

The inauguration of the nation’s 44th President is less than a week away, and the period finds my soul a kaleidoscope of mixed emotions. I am happy, I am anxious (a rarity for me), I am contemplative, I am troubled, I am tired, and I am exasperated, yet exhilarated. My soul embodies all of those emotions, but the one that rises to the top is pride. I am proud that to be an American, not a just Black American—thought certainly my pride in hue and tenor of my skin never wavers—but an American, who at long last is fully able to partake in the America of Martin Luther King’s imagining. It is most fitting that the day after we celebrate that great man’s birth, we inaugurate this nations first Black President!

I feel as though my long, oft-times lonely and seemingly fruitless ideological believe in the Principles undergirding the founding of this great nation—as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and Federal Constitution—have been finally justified by that actions of the majority of my fellow citizens. A broad spectrum of Americans from all walks of life elected Barak Obama to be our next leader because they saw past the color of his skin and embraced the content of his character. Many, many, Black Americans never thought they would live to see this momentous day come to pass, but here it is upon us, and now even the world, yes the world, is holding it collective breath, placing its hopes on a renewed America—and all that purports— squarely upon the shoulder of this man of African and American decent.

The nation is going through the worst economic upheaval since The Great Depression thanks in no small measure to the lack of stewardship and leadership of the outgoing Republican Administration. Now it is up to Obama to correct the course, to steer the ship of state back to calm, prosperous waters wherein the American Dream can once more flourish and be realized by all Americans without the scourge of corruption, or the ugliness of greed. Of course I am mindful that he cannot do it alone, but he can and does provide the leadership, vision and wisdom necessary to see us through to a brighter tomorrow.

To quote James Taylor: “Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King, and recognize that there are ties between us, all men and women living on the Earth; ties of hope and love; sister and brotherhood.” Barak Obama’s Inauguration Day is our day, let all Americans rise to the occasion and throw off the shackles of partisanship, racism, trepidation, hatred, and doubt that may divide us and celebrate the coming of what we all (should) hope will be a new dawn for our nation and indeed the world!

Republican Views on Auto Bailout Show A Stunning Lack of Vision

2008-11-16T13:36:00.010-06:00

Republican Party lawmakers who are scratching their collective heads and wondering why they are now the party of the margins need look no further than the American automobile bailout for the answer as to why they are no longer trusted with the nation’s governance.

Despite the national economic meltdown, caused in large part by a free-market run aground upon the shores of unfettered greed, Republicans in Congress have suddenly found their conservative voices and refuse to vote affirmative on a proposal to float the "Big Three" auto-makers (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) low interest loans to help them make it to next spring intact. Despite the abject failure of the free market to self-correct time and again in American history without government guidance; i.e. oversight, Republicans continue to claim that “it” knows best. I loudly and strongly disagree.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a proponent of the free-market, a well-regulated free-market that is. An unfettered, unwatched, and unregulated free-market is not in the best interest of any human society, because not all citizens benefit, and human greed eventually proves corrupting and disastrous. I contend that a little socialism mixed with capitalism is the way to go.

And to that end I support floating a loan to the Big Three, because their demise would swell the ranks of the unemployed by some 3 millions according to most estimates. And it would weaken national defense and place an undue and unnecessary burden on an already sinking economy. Not to mention that a failed U.S. auto industry would severely hamper our ability to wean ourselves from foreign sources of energy. Yes, Toyota, and Honda build hybrid vehicles, but they are not American companies and therefore not vested in seeing that America become energy independent.

And yes, the Big Three (and the congressional delegation from Michigan) are partly to blame for placing the nails in their own covens and nailing them shut. Their foolish short-sided thinking the slavish devotion to quarterly profits blinded them to the inroads the completion was making into hybrid technology, so now they are playing catch-up. And instead of supporting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards, they were a bulwark against them year after year, after year, to the determent of themselves, the American consumer, and the nation.

But, the current morass the Big Three find themselves in is not entirely of their own making. They are playing on an uneven field. Toyota, Honda, BMW, Daimler-Benz, and Hyundai do not have the active employee/ retiree health care and pension obligations that American car makers do, nor are their factories unionized. Health and traditional pension benefits place and enormous financial burden on American automakers, obligations the aforementioned foreign concerns do not share. True, GM did reach an agreement with the UAW late last year to move 340,000 retiree (or surviving spouses) health care cost off its books and onto the unions’ shoulders, but it cost them a staggering $30 billion to do so.

What is needed to prop up the Big Three for the short term is imaginative thinking. The government needs to lead in the fight to wean America from the teat of foreign oil. Instead of loans the government could and should invest directly in the Big Three in the form of stock. Government intervention in the auto industry is not unprecedented; it has taken action in the past; in the 1980’s the government floated Chrysler low interest loans and bought the company’s K-cars in order to help it stave off bankruptcy. It worked. Chrysler came back from the brink, the government made back it money, Americans kept their jobs, and Chrysler went on to start a new car segment. In short everybody won.

The infusion of cash into the Big Three would not only help keep the companies afloat, but also give them the capitol need to invest in hybrid technology. That would be step one.

Step two: replace the entire fleet of government owned vehicles with hybrids made by the Big Three. The U.S. government owns and operates some 642,233 vehicles according to GovCentral. In order to show the American people that it is serious about moving the country in the direction of energy independence, the U.S. government should take the lead in purchasing and operating hybrid vehicles of all types; e.g. plug-ins, hydrogen, and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), wherever feasible. In addition, the federal government should encourage state governments to follow its lead, and dramatically increase the tax incentives for private citizens to switch hybrids built by American car companies.

Step three: support and partially subsidize the building of an energy infrastructure that will support hybrid vehicles. This means an Energy Department led initiative to see the placement of at least one pump at every major gas in the nation devoted to hydrogen and CNG.

Would this cost a lot of money? Yes, in the short term it would, but short-term thinking is what got us (the U.S.) into this economic and energy mess to begin with. Its way past time to start thinking about long-term energy solutions for the nation. In the long term, this is a win/win proposition, because the United States has some of the largest know natural gas reserves in the world. And hydrogen is the most abundant naturally occurring substance in the universe; we don’t have to pay for it, just extract it, and man has been doing that for more than a century. Lets us not forget that water is two parts hydrogen!

Would we still need oil? Of course, but as we replace oil and gasoline with other forms of energy we would gradually import less and less and in time rely solely on domestic stock.

The United States is facing an economic earthquake on par with the Great Depression. The time for Pollyanna economic models that have heretofore proven largely unequal to the task of "forming a more perfect Union" should be set aside in haste to make room for other models that work in favor of all Americans. Letting the Big Three fail, thereby throwing millions more Americans out of work (remember 1.2 million Americans were let go in 2008 alone, and Citigroup just announced a layoff of 10,000 more) and all that entails to cling to a failed economic model that seeks to enrich to the few at the expense of the many is the kind of foolish, conservative, rose colored thinking that our nation can no longer afford.

HE WON!!! Now He Must Govern!

2008-11-05T18:34:00.002-06:00

As a Black-American (African-American if you prefer) man, I was keenly affected by President Barak Obama’s victory last night. I have never been more proud to be an American. Last night Americans showed the world and each other that we are not a static society stuck in the morass of our racially charged past. We, the United States, have come a long way since the days of Jim Crow and all of the pain and suffering it ushered in for the countries Black citizens.

Last night that light upon a hill shinned much brighter, the Constitution gleamed in its enduring ideological strength, and Martin Luther’s Kings words, spoken so long ago, reverberated around the country and the world. Americans have chosen their President based on the content of his character and not the color of his skin!

But, now he must govern, not from the left or right, but from the center. He has a mandate from the American people and his character thus far suggests that he will not squander it on needless. He will lead, but will the Republican’s in Congress let his govern without too much partisan luggage? Time will tell, my fellow Americans, time will tell.

Hope Floats as Obama Speaks

2008-08-29T06:52:00.003-05:00

Anticipation and emotions ran high last night on the eve of Barak Obama’s acceptance speech and rightfully so. He needed to define himself for the American voter, frame his presidency, and show that he had the strength to battle John McCain on the tough issues facing our Republic while maintaining some semblance of civility. Barack hit it out of the park and his words of hope, spirit of harmony, and drive to restore the promise of America reverberated across the globe!

"America, we are better than these last eight years…[We] are a better country than this."...Barack Obama

...And I am proud; a proud American, a proud Black man. Prouder still than when some 23 years ago as a young Petty Officer 2nd class I manned the rails of the battleship U.S.S. Iowa (BB-61) as she silently, slowly, and majestically slipped into the port of La Harve France. She was the first American warship to do so since WWII and along the banks of the walls and jetty’s that surrounded the port French citizens waved hands and small American flags. Up until last night I had never been so proud to be an American!

And I am hopeful. Hopeful that my fellow citizens will see what and my wife and millions of other Obama supports see in this man: optimism for the future of our nation; a renewal of the America’s can-do spirit that has been sapped by eight long years under the heels of an incompetent gangs of fools, and; a restoration of American moral suasion and standing that Bush and his minions so ineptly squandered.

"This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st Century, the American promise alive."...Barack Obama

These are no mere words at least not to me. Bush and his ilk have managed to sully America’s image abroad, and diminish hope here at home. The majority’s willingness to sacrifice freedom and well established American values for the promise of security has appalled me over these last eight years. But more than that, the Bush Administration unchecked shredding of our founding papers has put at risk the very Republic so many look to as the last best hope for freedom and democracy in the world. Four more years under another Republican Administration would further erode our nation’s intellectual and moral base, leading to an almost irrevocable slide towards meritocracy, and indeed threatens the very nature of our representative democracy! Is that what we want for our children and our children’s children?

"America, we cannot turn back…[W]e cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to walk into the future."...Barack Obama

At the end of Mr. Obama’s speech last night I sat in stunned silence for long moments taking in what I just heard and saw. And truth be told, I had to hold back the tears! More than ever I am convinced that we need this man as our next President; he is a leader, a husband, a father, a proud Black man with a healthy, beautiful Black family. Barack is a symbol to all Americans, indeed the world, a living example if you will of the American dream lived, the American promise fulfilled; he is the very embodiment of these hallowed words: “We the People in Order to Form a more Perfect Union.

We have come to a nexus in our history where as a nation we either throw off the shackles of fear and hopelessness and rise to new heights of achievement, self reliance and world leadership under an Obama Administration, or we continue our downward slide toward economic stagnation, dependence on foreign energy and foreign money as well as world marginalization and isolation under a McCain Administration.

Wise men and women will cast their lot and those of their children with Obama; those not so wise, those hemmed in by the narrow thinking of yesteryear, those frozen with fear and devoid of empathy, will cling to the hollow promise of McCain who promises more of the arrogance short-sided thinking of the Bush Administration.

I’ve made my choice, and I chose HOPE!

Is Hillary insane or just incredibly desperate?

2008-04-22T00:17:00.001-05:00

“Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton confirmed Monday that as president she would be willing to use nuclear weapons against Iran if it were to launch a nuclear attack on Israel.”

Is this woman insane or just that incredibly desperate to win the nomination? The lack of judgment that allowed Bush to rush headlong into war with Iraq is rearing ignorant head once again. Has Israel ever shown the world that it is incapable of defending itself? What vital interest does Israel have (or protect) that a United States under Hillary Clinton’s leadership(?) would be willing to risk all out nuclear war to protect? She is sounding more and more like George Bush and his America-owns-the- world-and-answers-to-no-one-foreign policy everyday!

Do we really want to elect someone so thoughtless and dare I say, witless again? Don’t we already have such a personage sitting in the Oval Office? I don’t know about you, but I am so very tired of war and killing, and chest thumping; not to mention American arrogance and short-sightedness. Enough already, ENOUGH!

“Clinton said it was vital that the United States create a new “security umbrella” to reassure Israel and its other allies in the region that they would not be threatened by Iran. She said she would tell them that ‘if you were the subject of an unprovoked nuclear attack by Iran, the United States, and hopefully our NATO allies, would respond to that.’”

And note to Hillary: the Europeans have no love for Israel and I doubt very seriously if they would stand behind the U.S. Israel after all is not part of NATO.

Army, Marines give waivers to more felons

2008-04-21T21:21:00.002-05:00

Ah, yes let’s all hear it for the all volunteer professional land forces of the United States of America. Tell me again why draftees are such a bad idea? How could we have gotten our choice of President so incredibly wrong? Oh yes, that’s right I didn’t vote for the moron! This is not my America, is it yours?

HUD Chief Inattentive To Crisis, Critics Say

2008-04-13T09:36:00.001-05:00

Yes, yet another government institution discredited!

Bush Slows Down Troop Withdrawal

2008-04-10T14:07:00.002-05:00

You have to give Bush credit for having balls! Big brass ones at that! Despite the American public’s—you know, We The People—overwhelming desire to see an end to the illegal Invasion of Iraq, Bush refuses to bring the troops home. Instead he slows down the withdrawal of American troops and shortens their tour of duty as if that might satisfy the American people.

Remind me again how this mediocre thinker, this self professed average achiever, this anti-visionary; this arrogant, unenlightened moron came to occupy the White House? Oh yes he was (supposedly) elected!

John Yoo’s legally flawed Memo of Ghost Presidential Powers released

2008-04-04T14:03:00.003-05:00

...The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States...Article II, Section 2, United States Constitution.

Many a disparaging word has been said about the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) but I am proud to say that I am a card carrying member. Occasionally, the organization that fights for the Civil and Fundamental right of all Americans comes down on the wrong side of an issue, but this is not one of those times. The Justice Department declassified and the Pentagon recently released the now infamous, 2003 formally classified memo written by then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, wherein the Justice Department provided "military interrogators with broad latitude for the use of harsh techniques in questioning prisoners in Afghanistan."

We have the ACLU to thank for shedding light on yet another chapter in American history wherein our government proved to be the enemy within.

The now discredited memorandum written chiefly by Yoo—now a Law Professor at Berkley University—undergirded its argument by asserting that the President has wide latitude in times of war as Commander-in-Chief, saying criminal statues outlawing torture "would conflict with the Constitution's grant of the Commander in Chief power solely to the President."

Here is the problem: the Constitution says nothing about the President’s inherent power to ignore U.S. and legally binding International Law in times of war. A war I hasten to point out that the Congress (Article I, Section 8, Clause 11, United States Constitution) did not declare. And since the President cannot declare War on his own how then was the United States at war and how could the president exercise there newly found powers?

And even if the country were in a congressionally declared war, where in the Constitution does it state that the President has the power to ignore the law in times of war or otherwise? It doesn’t! Article II, Section 2, only states that he shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy; the Article say nothing of additional powers to be exercised (inferred) in connection with the title.

In other words John Yoo’s assertions of supreme presidential power in wartime have no legal basis or underpinnings in either in the Constitution, or U.S. Statutory Law. The President of the United States is not above the law in a nation where the rule of law holds sway. Bush is not a dictator, nor is he a sovereign; he is bound to the same laws that bind all American citizens. To assert otherwise is folly not only to the nation, but to the very Constitutional construct the president swore to uphold and protect!

And shame on Congress for letting the man travel such a destructive path unchallenged as it were by the vocal and legislative curves of descent. The Republican-led congress only validated Yoo’s ill-advised memos by keeping silent on the issue. And no the Republic was not rightly served by the minority Party’s lack of clear vocal dissent.

The much vaunted American system of checks and balances broke down after the attacks of 9/11 and the American government once more became the enemy within. This episode once again proves that our government is only as good as those elected and yes, hired, to administer it. We The People can never let elected officials forget their oath of office in which they swear to Uphold and Defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. Veer in that commitment and the nation and her peoples suffer the possible yoke of tyranny!

Watch This Frontline episode: Bush's War, please!

2008-03-30T19:17:00.003-05:00

The PBS news program Frontline just aired a 4.5 hour special called Bush’s War. This episode of Frontline is outstanding and breathtaking, both in its scope, and depth of investigative journalism. For those who still doubt that the War in Iraq was and is the biggest foreign policy blunder/fiasco in the history of the United States, watch this compelling two part show either on television or on-line at PBS.org here.

I implore you to watch this episode before you cast your vote in November, possibly for the same party that got us into this mess; watch this program with an open mind and an eye to the future of our nation. Do we really want to continue to be lied to? Do we really want to be in Iraq for nest 100 years? How many more Americans will lose their lives in this debacle? Enough is enough; it’s time for We The People to take back our government! Watch this program, and be informed!

Can We Please Banish The word NIgger!?

2008-03-30T18:48:00.001-05:00

The word Nigger has once again found itself prominently on display in yet another Black American theme theatrical release as if the two were somehow forever connected by some disrespectful umbilical cord. It was used so frequently in this movie that it should have gotten its own credits billing. The movie is Chris Rock’s 2007’s I Think I Love My Wife.

In my Black American household the word nigger is never used, among adults, or children. And among my siblings the word is not uttered, nor is it used regularly at family gatherings, nor do I, or my black male friends, use it to greet one another.

It’s long past time to bury to the word nigger once and for all; it is stale and disrespectful no matter whose lips it slips past. And the continued use of the word diminishes the person uttering it, but does harm to us all. Nigger harkens back to an era in American history we would all assume put behind us! Time to move on, time to move forward as a people, time to remove the shackles of self hatred that allows black Americans to still refer to one another using such a derogatory term!

I'm BACK!!!!

2008-03-30T18:31:00.002-05:00

I’ve been away for a while, living a far too busy life that has left me too little time to write strictly for pleasure and purpose. But I am back now, trying to carve out enough time write in this space. The current political climate is far too charged and dare I say, interesting not to write. So I am back…

CNN.com - Israel strikes militant stronghold in Beirut - Jul 15, 2006

2006-07-15T22:41:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Israel strikes militant stronghold in Beirut - Jul 15, 2006

I support Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas, both of which refuse to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist. And it is my belief that Islamic extremists need to be stamped out lest they threaten the freedom of us all. Their brand of hatred and vitriol is on par with the Nazism over 40 million humans gave their lives to stamp out. The people of Lebanon, like the Palestinians, voted a known terrorist organization into elected office and now they must suffer the consequences of their (misguided) actions.

CNN.com - Police bypass subpoenas to get Americans' phone records - Jun 20, 2006

2006-06-21T04:51:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Police bypass subpoenas to get Americans' phone records - Jun 20, 2006

The fourth amendment what’s that, we don’t need that old thing! This is the War on Terror, it’s a different kind of war, on in which we must defeat ourselves before we defeat the enemy!

They Bear The Mark of Fascism’ Creeping Shadow

2006-05-11T11:19:00.000-05:00

I wondered as a sat in front of my computer screen reading this article, steam and anger rising from my freshly shaved head, if Congress has had enough yet! Loyalty to Party is one thing, but how far do you take it? Isn't time for the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to start doing their jobs and call for Impeachment hearings and stop being the lap dogs for our law breaking President?

From the CNN article:

AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth telephone companies began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers' phone calls to the National Security Agency program shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, USA Today reported, citing anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement

"It is our government, it's not one party's government. It's America's government. Those entrusted with great power have a duty to answer to Americans what they are doing," said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

I know I, and many, many, of my friends have had enough of this Administration and its secrets and its unlawful, deceitful, and un-American behavior. The Bush Administration is continually and habitually breaking the law! And what has Congress done? Nothing! Less than nothing really, since it has ceded its authority to Bush and his horde of arrogant, smirking, law-breaking neo-conservatives who would burn the constitution on the bonfire built of Fascist logs if they through they could get a way with it.

What next? Where does this lawlessness end? What else is the Bush Administration doing? What other laws are they breaking in our name? What is happening to our Republic at the hands of these diabolical unethical immoral people? I have said it more than once and it bears repeating now more tan ever: the Nazi’s did not take power by force, they were elected by the German people and corrupted the system from within. The Bush Administration is cancer eating away at the very principles that made (I said made) this country the envy of the world. Shame on those who through short-sided ignorance and self-serving arrogance, voted for this man and his court spawned from the pages of George Orwell’ prescient 1984. War is Peace! We have to take away your constitutional rights in order to preserve them! And we have to break the law I order to preserve democracy and the rule of law!

We deserve much, much, much better! Or do we? Do we now have the government we deserve? Are those who voted for this (simple minded) man proud of their handiwork? How can you defend the indefeasible? Oh Benjamin Franklin was so right: those who give up liberty for security deserve neither.

The Quietly Deceitful Un-enlightened Despot

2006-05-10T12:59:00.000-05:00

As if we needed further proof that Bush, and Rasputin's specter George Cheney are moving the Presidency closer and closer to that which we formed the country to vanquish, comes word that the Bush has taken to interpreting the Constitution, a duty heretofore left that other (Co-Equal) branch of government, the judiciary.

Boston Globe reporter Charlie Savage has reported that our august President who would be King, "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."

The White House in rebuttal stated that the President is doing anything former Presidents have not done, never-mind that the practice is illegal! To use the White House’s line of reasoning, if former President’s had snorted lines of cocaine in the Oval Office, Bush should be allowed to do it too. It is clear that the Bush Administration has an overly broad understanding of its own power as defined by the Constitution. And the Administration--Cheney in particular--feel as though the Office of the Presidency lost too much power as a result of the ensuing public backlash and reforms passed by Congress in the wake of Watergate.

The Constitution of the United States in its three main articles makes it quite clear that Congress has the power to craft the laws of the land, and that the President has a duty "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

"Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to '"execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional." Ignorance of the law for the common citizen has never been defense against not obeying the law, and the last time I checked We The People do not have the luxury of ignoring laws we believe to be unconstitutional. We the People can not form such judgments on our own, but must present our cases before a court of law. Where then, if the President works for the American people, and ours is still a government of, for, and by the people, does the President derive the power to ignore any law duly enacted by Congressed and sign by his own hand? Most certainly this power to circumvent the law is neither implied, nor implicit in the Constitution I read.

The globe article went on the state:

Phillip Cooper, a Portland State University law professor who has studied the executive power claims Bush made during his first term, said Bush and his legal team have spent the past five years quietly working to concentrate ever more governmental power into the White House.

'There is no question that this administration has been involved in a very carefully thought-out, systematic process of expanding presidential power at the expense of the other branches of government," Cooper said. ''This is really big, very expansive, and very significant.'

Is this now a justifiable case for Impeachment? I say it is, the President has to be stopped for he in his unenlightened stupor is being manipulated into systematically destroying our Republic. The President in our system of government is not supposed to be all powerful. Just as Congress and the Courts cannot assign power to themselves not spelled out in the Constitution, neither can the President, alleged wartime or not.

It is quite clear that Bush, with his limited knowledge of constitutional doctrine and jurisprudence, governmental affairs, and the proper functioning of our Republican system, is being led down a dark and dangerous path by Cheney and like minded folk. And in the process he (Bush) is circumventing the other two branches of government and severely eroding the system of check-and-balances the Founding Fathers built into the our Republican form of governance. And it is equally as clear that Congress and the Federal Courts cannot, and should not, let this blatant illegal power grab stand.

From the Boston Globe article:

Bush is the first president in modern history who has never vetoed a bill, giving Congress no chance to override his judgments. Instead, he has signed every bill that reached his desk, often inviting the legislation's sponsors to signing ceremonies at which he lavishes praise upon their work.

Then, after the media and the lawmakers have left the White House, Bush quietly files ''signing statements" -- official documents in which a president lays out his legal interpretation of a bill for the federal bureaucracy to follow when implementing the new law. The statements are recorded in the federal register.

In his signing statements, Bush has repeatedly asserted that the Constitution gives him the right to ignore numerous sections of the bills -- sometimes including provisions that were the subject of negotiations with Congress in order to get lawmakers to pass the bill. He has appended such statements to more than one of every 10 bills he has signed.

'He agrees to a compromise with members of Congress, and all of them are there for a public bill-signing ceremony, but then he takes back those compromises -- and more often than not, without the Congress or the press or the public knowing what has happened,' said Christopher Kelley, a Miami University of Ohio political science professor who studies executive power.

Is this the kind of underhanded deceitful nonsense we want from our President? Is this kind of below the covers governance reminiscent of the worst dictatorships, really the form of Executive Branch we want going forward? Isn’t the President supposed to be the highest ranking law enforcement official in the nation? If so what kind of example is he setting by such deceitfulness? If Clinton taught a generation of children the blowjobs were no big deal, certainly Bush is teaching them that flaunting laws one does not agree with is acceptable behavior; I ask you my fellow Americans, which behavior is more detrimental the well being of Republic?

And I ask again, is the Impeachment of this President out of order? Isn’t this the kind of misconduct the Impeachment process is supposed to correct? Isn’t Impeachment the ultimate check on Presidential power? We all know the Republican led Congress will once again abdicate its responsibility to the American people, to the country and constitution that they swore to uphold, so it falls to the people to see that this Un-enlightened Despot (they) elected King is throw down from on high.

Have you had enough yet?

Confident Democrats Lay Out Agenda

2006-05-07T09:40:00.000-05:00

Confident Democrats Lay Out Agenda

They have my vote!

The Wrath of the Republican Right, or Bush Gets a Spanking

2006-05-07T09:31:00.000-05:00

I wonder, I muse, and I ponder as Bush's approval ratings sink to an all time low, approaching Nixon territory, whether or not those who voted for Bush in the last election are now having gross buyer's remorse? It is so very evident, despite the less then rosy just released job numbers, and Bull market, that America is heading in the wrong direction with Bush at the helm.

The list of troubles vexing the American Republic are long and growing as the Republican led Congress and Republican led (and I use the term led very loosely--I always feel the need to qualify that pronouncement) Executive branch continue to fiddle while the all America burns as a result of their staggering and criminal incompetence. The illegal immigration issue and ever-looming energy crisis are just the latest problems the Republicans have failed to address in a meaningful and intelligent manner resulting a further mortgaging of our countries future, and a further decline in America’s standing as the lone Superpower and "can-do" nation.

And now the Conservative Right is angry at Bush (and the Congress) because he has failed time and again to deliver up the nation and its laws on a silver platter fashioned from the pages of the Holy Bible. According to the Associated Press "[A]ngry conservatives are driving the approval ratings of President Bush and the GOP-led Congress to dismal new lows, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that underscores why Republicans fear an Election Day massacre."

We the American people can only hope (and pray) for such a massacre because the country cannot take much more of this mediocrity masquerading as leadership offered up by the Republican Party. Not that the Democratic Party has much more to offer in the way of leadership, but at least the Republicans with their ill-informed allegiance to the denizens of the Holy Spirit land, will be out of control of our (supposedly) free society. And then perhaps, just perhaps common sense will return to government and the people we elect to do our business, you know We The People--can get down to it and address some of the issue that threaten our nations viability.

But until that happens I am enjoying the spanking Bush is getting in the hearts and minds of those who would see most of us relegated to Hell in order to build their fantasy based utopia here in America, or is that the other way around?

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Key Senate, House and Governor Races

WP: Pfizer faulted over Nigeria drug trials - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

2006-05-07T08:50:00.000-05:00

WP: Pfizer faulted over Nigeria drug trials - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com: "That finding is detailed in a lengthy Nigerian government report that has remained unreleased for five years, despite inquiries from the children's attorneys and from the media. "

Life imitates art, or is it art imitates life, ala The Constant Gardener last years breakout hit starting Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz in which an unnamed British drug company experimented on unsuspecting African patients and then killed to cover it all up.

The Washington Post reports that “A panel of Nigerian medical experts has concluded that Pfizer Inc. violated international law during a 1996 epidemic by testing an unapproved drug on children with brain infections at a field hospital.

That finding is detailed in a lengthy Nigerian government report that has remained unreleased for five years, despite inquiries from the children's attorneys and from the media.”

CNN.com - Powell wanted more troops?in Iraq - Apr 30, 2006

2006-05-01T04:59:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Powell wanted more troops?in Iraq - Apr 30, 2006

CNN.com - Hundreds seized in immigration raids - Apr 20, 2006

2006-04-20T06:43:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Hundreds seized in immigration raids - Apr 20, 2006

It's about time!

CNN.com - Bush: 'I'm the decider' on Rumsfeld - Apr 18, 2006

2006-04-18T14:47:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Bush: 'I'm the decider' on Rumsfeld - Apr 18, 2006
Eloquent as always!

Afghans selling stolen military data - South and Central Asia - MSNBC.com

2006-04-14T05:04:00.000-05:00

Afghans selling stolen military data - South and Central Asia - MSNBC.com

CNN.com - Libby court papers: Cheney said Bush OK'd intelligence leak - Apr 6, 2006

2006-04-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Libby court papers: Cheney said Bush OK'd intelligence leak - Apr 6, 2006

CNN.com - Rice: Thousands of errors in Iraq - Mar 31, 2006

2006-04-02T18:27:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Rice: Thousands of errors in Iraq - Mar 31, 2006

Illegal Immigrants Are Already Felons

2006-03-24T13:11:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is one issue in which the Republican's and I see eye-to-eye. The illegal immigration problem in this country has been out of control for far too long and it about time Congress stepped in and did something--anything--concrete about it.

At the very base level illegal immigrants are breaking the law, so in effect they are already felons the moment they step foot in this country without the proper documentation and with benefit of a proper Customs screening, green card, Visa, passport, etc. etc. The borders of the United States are porous, but especially the Southern border, which leaks like a washer-less faucet. I am all for building a wall to keep those who would willingly break the law from doing so on U.S. soil. Yes, Mexico and Central America are hell hole’s with corrupt governments and stagnating economy’s, but we cannot continue to absorb the downtrodden masses of people that decide its better to flee their countries, then to fight to make them better places to live and raise a family. What would happen for instance of 30,000 or more people routinely took the street of Mexico City and demanded better living conditions?

And I reject the notion that illegal immigrants are essential to the U.S. economy. And I future reject the oft-repeated notion that illegal immigrants perform jobs Americans do not want. In certain sectors like agriculture where there is a long history of immigrant migrant workers performing tasks, this may be so. But this is not the case with services industry, or construction, or warehousing, or the meat-packing industry. There are plenty of Americans who could and would fill those jobs, but those companies find it far more profitable to employee easily exploitable illegal immigrants who have little recourse but to accept the long hours and low wages, and no benefit, presented to them.

And I reject the notion that illegal immigrants give back to the U.S. revenue base in the form of income taxes. If you are working here illegally with false or no documents how are you paying anything other then the occasional sales tax? If you filed a tax return using your fake SSN, you would risk getting caught, would you not? Why would I pay income tax unless I had to; if I am off the government’s income tax radar why light myself up by paying taxes?

And no, illegal immigrants should not be allowed to get drivers licenses, or get free healthcare, or other public services including education. Only those who abide the law and play by the rules should be allowed access to services my tax dollars pay for. After all I have to play by the rules; if I do otherwise I will see jail time in my future. Why should the standard be any different for a non-citizen who is in this country illegally?

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York is quoting as stating, "[T]his bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself." Note to Hillary Clinton: if Jesus were breaking the law, he too would have to be held accountable. And equating what Jesus did in helping the truly down trodden with the current situation is severely disingenuous and beneath the office you currently hold: stop pandering!

And I feel no pity for thos--charity or private citizens--hat would help illegal immigrants set up shop in this country; i.e. feed them, cloth them, house them, and find them jobs. Those who engage in such behavior are in fact aiding and abetting a crime(s) by harboring and or assisting illegal immigrants, and there should be consequences for breaking the law. Would we as a society look the other way while charities aided and abetted other know felons?

The evidence is mounting that illegal immigrants are costing far more in dollars then they contribute in the form of taxes across a broad spectrum of American society. From public schools to county hospital, to social services, to housing, to law enforcement, illegal immigrants are an ever increasing drain on the dwindling coffers of American cities.

And let us not forget, if illegal immigrants can gain such easy access to our country so can terrorists!

So I welcome House Resolution 4437 as a no nonsense beginning. It is by no means the only measure we as a nation have to take to finally put and end to the fragrant and continual violations of our immigration, tax, and labor laws. American business needs to be held accountable for hiring illegal immigrants and fined to such a degree that it is cost prohibitive for them to employ illegal immigrants if they are caught doing so. Remove the number one incentive--job--for illegal border crossing and they will stop coming in such large numbers.

I understand the human need to feed, house, and cloth ones family, and I know that America with its high standard of living, easy access to decent paying jobs, and social welfare safety net, is attractive to those south of the Rio Grande. But the influx of illegal immigrants has to stop. Our society does not have unlimited resources and at some point we have to put the welfare of the nation ahead of feel good politics and misplaced moral platitudes. That point is now...

See also these stories related to this issue:

Sandra Day O’Conner Speaks Out Against the Dangers of Undermining the Judiciary

2006-03-18T08:09:00.000-06:00

In a little covered speech last week former Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Conner opened up on the Republican Right, decrying their proclivity of late for calling the Federal courts on the carpet for doing their constitutional duty. Warning against the dangers of undermining the judicial branch, O'Conner stated that they (right wing Republicans)

challenge the independence of judges and the freedoms of all Americans.

I have long wondered what the Justices of the Supreme Court thought of the ill-informed, ignorant, and salacious attacks perpetrated by the agents of the fundamentalists’ religious right in Congress upon the federal judiciary, the third branch of government. Now I know the thoughts and feeling of at least one of the (former) members, and I share them. It's no secret that the Republican Right has little respect for the independent judiciary and would just assume see it abolished to the determent of all. Bush in his latest State of The Union address deliberately and irresponsibly snubbed the members of the Supreme Court by welcoming the members of the elected branches of government to the occasion! He didn’t even acknowledge the presence of the Supreme Court as the third branch of our federal government, and in so doing give it the respect and dignity the institution deserves.

Of course Bush failed to mention that he is the only freely elected member of the Executive Branch of government, since we do not vote for the Vice President on his or her own ticket. And of course he failed to point out that out of some 4 million plus federal workers, only 435 are directly elected by the populace and that they have a dismal record of late in representing the American people.

The Republican Right's unrelenting attack on the federal judiciary show a fundamental lack of respect and a growing distain for our system of constitutional government, and for the fundamental rights of the American people. O'Conner a moderate Republican pointed this out when she stated,

[T]he nation’s founders wrote repeatedly that without an independent judiciary to protect individual rights from the other branches of government those rights and privileges would amount to nothing. But, as the founding fathers knew statutes and constitutions don’t protect judicial independence, people do.

The court system in this country at all levels, but especially at the federal level, are seen by most (thinking) Americans as the last bulwark against the tyranny of the increasingly Republican Executive and Legislative branches of government, who if left to their own whims, would see the Bill of Rights shredded, and the Constitution (state and federal) replaced by the Holy Bible as the foundation of American governance. Perhaps I exaggerate the case, but perception is increasingly becoming reality within the hall of Congress (and increasingly state legislators) as (Republican) elected representatives in both houses openly attack the courts for doing their jobs.

Of this O'Conner stated:

[C]ourts do have the power to make presidents or the Congress or governors, really, really angry. “But, if we don’t make them mad some of the time we probably aren’t doing our jobs as judges, and our effectiveness, is premised on the notion that we won’t be subject to retaliation for our judicial acts.

I have often been drawn the ire of my readers by even hinting that there might be some similarities between fascists regimes of the past and the current Bush Administration (and it’s Republican Right champions) with its love for secrecy, open distain for the rule of law, rapid militarism, and thinly veiled adoption of religious dogma into the pages of foreign policy. But as Ms. O'Conner pointed out,

[I]t takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, she said, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings.

Like it or no, my fellow Americans the Bush Administration and it Republican Right backers are those beginnings, at least in this writers mind…

And the Fiddles Play Dixie

2006-03-15T21:38:00.000-06:00

And now for those who still stick stubbornly to the belief that health care in America is still top-notch comes this study. I may sound like a broken record by now, but the sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling and the American Republic is being crushed under the weight of its own love affair with Capitalism and unchecked greed.

What further evidence do the doubting Thomas’s of the rural America need to finally admit that our country is going in the wrong direction and we need a serious course correction? Where is our national pride? Where is our national self-respect? The naysayer’s who stubbornly cling to the free-market mantra when it comes to every aspect of American culture are sowing the seeds of our American dismemberment.

American Institution after American Institution is failing and yet some among us refuse to address the issues at hand. Again what will it take for those who support "W" and his ilk and their failing free-market is the answer to every ill philosophy, to finally admit that like Communism, unfettered Capitalism is a failure? We need to strike a balance and we need to do it quickly! Because. Our country is burning, slowing and inexorably towards its demise and I can hear the fiddles plying Dixie in the background.

Health care crude for many in New Orleans

NBC/WSJ poll: Bush ratings keep falling - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-03-15T19:29:00.000-06:00

NBC/WSJ poll: Bush ratings keep falling - Politics - MSNBC.com
I’m wondering if I should feel sorry for Bush; sorry fleeting thought. It’s hard to feel sorry for a man who never should have assumed the Office of the Presidency in the first place. So feel sorry for “W” I think not. As a matter of fact we can only hope his poll number drop even lower.

WP: Infighting plagues intelligence panel - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

2006-03-12T07:18:00.000-06:00

WP: Infighting plagues intelligence panel - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

The evidence is mounting that the Senate is indeed a broken Institution and we the American people are the losers. And it also further evidence that our Republican form of government is breaking down, fracturing, disintegrating at the very time when we need bi-partisan cooperation.

The terrorists need not strike us again in order to bring about the demise of our Republic we are quite capable of doing the deed all on our own with this senseless and pointless partisan bickering. And in defense of a man and administration that do not deserve such loyalty. We the American people do however…We need a viable third party!!

Would eavesdropping bill snag reporters? - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com

2006-03-10T21:22:00.000-06:00

Would eavesdropping bill snag reporters? - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com

And so it continues. In the name of national security they (Republican Congressman and Women) would systematically strip Americans of their freedoms. So begins the end of the American Republic; the Islamic Extremists have won the war after only one attack. We are doing what they predicted we would: destroying our beloved principles and hence our Republic from within…

CNN.com - South Dakota?law bans nearly all abortions - Mar 6, 2006

2006-03-06T14:44:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - South Dakota'law bans nearly all abortions - Mar 6, 2006

As if we needed any further proof that America is slipping back into a religiously inspired dark ages, here we go again! What does the word freedom mean to the average Republican? Nothing apparently unless of course the freedom you are trying to exercise conforms to their version of morality.

Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Kerry!

2006-03-05T16:28:00.000-06:00

"In the long run, he understands that extremists can be defeated by freedom and democracy and prosperity and better education"...President Bush said of Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf on occasion of his visit to the dictators, yes dictators homeland. Yes, our president continues his trip down Quaalude lane while the world in its fascination and amazement laugh aloud.

Is our ever dimwitted President unaware that Musharraf is a dictator, a man who came to power October 12, 1999 after a coup d'état—with the full backing of the military—and assumed the title of president of Pakistan on June 2001. Ever since then he has promised to hold elections but somehow that always falls through. Oh but he has promise to try again next year.

So Bushes claim that Musharraf “understands that extremists can be defeated by freedom and democracy and prosperity and better education,” all the things the people of Pakistan lack, is hysterical and sad bordering on the ridiculous. And it invites the question: does Bush ever, ever, ever, live in the same world as the rest of us? Is it possible to be this divorced from reality and not be on some sort of mind altering drug? And yes this is a serious question, not one designed to poke fun of our somewhat intellectually hobbled head of state.

And it begs another question: if Bush and his Neo-con infested Administration are so keen on bringing democracy to the down-trodden masses of the Asia and the Middle East, why not Pakistan a place where most able-bodied terrorists are hatched? Is it that Musharraf is seeking a small measure of legitimacy for his illegitimate regime by helping the U.S. whose power, prestige, and influence slips a little more everyday Bush is in office? Any halfwit who has been paying even the slightest attention to the world knows that Musharraf is taking only baby steps toward stamping out the terrorist assembly-line now turning out aspirant Muslim extremists at an alarming pace. But not Bush.

“Only hours before Bush's appearance, the Pakistani government cracked down on political leaders and others planning to protest the president's visit. In the city of Rawalpindi, about 10 miles from Islamabad, police arrested about 20 members of Tehrik-e-Insaaf, a small political party, as they staged a noisy but peaceful demonstration, beating some of them with bamboo sticks as foreign journalists and camera crews recorded the scene.” Sounds like democracy to me…

Whenever Bush embarrasses our country before the world—and lets face it, it’s every time he opens his mouth—I used to find solace in the fact that my votes were not cast his way in either election. But as the time wears on and our country sheds it principles one-by-one and loses its moral center, I no longer find comfort in the words: “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Kerry!”

Profile: Genral Pervez Musharraf

WP: White House targets media leaks - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

2006-03-05T08:26:00.000-06:00

WP: White House targets media leaks - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

Is there anyone left on the country that still thinks the Bush Administration is not a threat to our very way of life in this country? Nothing is off-limits to this man and his quest to morph American into a defacto dictatorship. Somehow knowing I didn’t vote for him brings me little solace…

CNN.com - New Florida town would restrict abortion - Mar 2, 2006

2006-03-03T05:13:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - New Florida town would restrict abortion - Mar 2, 2006

Isn’t this interesting, the forces of religious fundamentalism are on the march in Florida with the blessing of the governor. And America continues down the road to fractionalization based on cultural and moral differences. We are no longer one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The battle lines are being drawn, is a religious inspired Civil War at hand?

Alba demands Playboy pull issue over cover - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

2006-03-02T20:56:00.000-06:00

Alba demands Playboy pull issue over cover - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

CNN.com - U.N. troops in 'heavy fighting' with Congo militia - Feb 28, 2006

2006-02-28T19:59:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - U.N. troops in 'heavy fighting' with Congo militia - Feb 28, 2006

So what is going on here?

Much Ado Over Nothing?

2006-02-23T15:42:00.000-06:00

Oh the trials and tribulations of the embattled Bush Administration; if it is not one thing its another; in this case the rising and rather rancorous debate over Dubai Ports World’s assumption of the terminal operations in six American ports. With visions of terrorists dancing in their wee little heads, Congressman and women took to the airwaves in strenuous opposition. I say it all much ado over nothing.

This all began when Dubai Ports World a state-owned company based United Arab Emirates (UAE) bought London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which current runs the terminals in the American ports in question. Peninsular and Oriental runs commercial operations at ports in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans and Miami.

The initial reports had had internationally helmed Dubai Ports World taking over the ports in their entire, or at least gave the impression that that would transpire. Predictably the Democrats accused the Administration of compromising America’s port security. And the Republicans not wanting to be left scratching their legacies on an issue of National Security quickly and amazingly, piled on, in (very) rare bi-cameral, bi-partisan unison, bashing Bush and threatening to pass legislation to stop the deal.

Bush quickly countered that he would, gasp, veto such a bill. And later, yesterday, we all learned that Bush knew nothing about the bill until he learned about it in the news; boy that inspires confidence in his leadership, and stewardship of our government.

But the real story of the port operations is a lot less dramatic then they would have use believe; in other words my fellow Americans we are bring duped and manipulated again.

Here is the 411 on the ports: All American ports (foreign ports as well) are divided into terminals (a pier where ships tie up and off-load and or load cargo), with each terminal then being leased to a company or set of companies to manage on a daily basis. Security is still managed by the U.S. Customs Enforcement Agency, and the U.S. Coast Guard, and the employees on the docks are overwhelmingly American.

For example, the Port of New York and New Jersey, which is jointly owned and run by the two states under the guise of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The port has six terminals, which the Port Authority leases out. Two of the terminals are leased to American companies, and the rest are leased to foreign run companies. Dubai Ports World, which runs terminals in other countries, would lease one terminal in partnership with a Danish firm which is already in place. Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. currently holds the lease. In addition Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. also holds leases to terminals in six other east coast ports.

According to a report from National Public Radio (NPR), roughly 40% of the terminals on the eastern seaboard of the United States are managed by foreign companies, while 90% of the terminals on the West coast are leased to foreign companies, including a large percentage to Communist China.

So as you can see, Dubai Ports World would hardly be “running” the ports; they would in fact be running the operations of a terminal, or terminals within the port. Much ado about nothing? You decide. It would appear to me as though Congress and the majority of the American media are getting the story wrong. For the politicians the doom-and-gloom spin is probably 70% spin and 30% ignorance. As far as the media is concerned (NPR and PBS are the exceptions), there is no excuse for the gross misinformation and resulting hysteria.

NPR: Q & A: The Issues Behind the Port Security Uproar
NPR Audio: Dubai Ports World a Multinational Corporation
NPR Audio: Port Newark Not Worried by Dubai Purchase Plan
MSNBC: Ally in ports deal is valued by U.S. military
Washington Post:Bush Reasserts Ports Deal Poses No Threat

Accused Holocaust denier gets 3 years - Europe - MSNBC.com

2006-02-21T19:53:00.000-06:00

Accused Holocaust denier gets 3 years - Europe - MSNBC.com

Now people are being arrested and thrown in jail for their opinions? Does this sound like the principles of a free and open society, even if it is in Europe? Denying the Holocaust ever took place certainly brands David Irving and ignoramus, but a criminal, I don’t think so.

No rational learned person will deny the German atrocities of World War II, after all they are well cataloged in photos and in (German) writings; the Germans after all kept very detailed records of what they were doing and why. Their records coupled with those of the Allies as they liberated the Nazi death camps, and the eye witness accounts of the Holocaust survivors, Jewish and otherwise, will forever mark 1938 -1945 as one of the darkest, if not the darkest, periods of man’s short existence on this planet.

But cataloging the atrocities has not been a bulwark against it happening again and again and again, while the world waits and watches, reluctant to do anything except talk about it happenstance. And while the United Nations talks, and bickers, and hesitates, millions more people have died at the hands of those who practice Genocide; do Serbia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Sudan, and Croatia ring a bell?

And it is ironic that Europe, including Austria, has historically and habitually thrown their support behind the Palestinians and other Arab groups that seek to ouster Israel from its now well established home on the banks of the Mediterranean. And correct me if I am wrong but don’t some of the group supporting the Palestinians in their cause, just or no, deny the Holocaust ever took place. Can you spell Hamas?

So excuse me if I think it a might bit hypocritical and nonsensical for the Austrians to throw a man in jail for three years because he dared write a book and made two speeches calling into question the passage of the Holocaust some 17 years ago.

Whatever happened to freedom of expression and of speech? In light of the current carton debacle this sentence is laughable. Or is derision reserved for those with brown skin? Yes, the Holocaust was horrific, but denying its rightful place in the annals of human history should brand one a criminal.

WP: Chinese Wikipedia finds fans, censors - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

2006-02-20T15:35:00.000-06:00

WP: Chinese Wikipedia finds fans, censors - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Abbas warns of financial crisis

2006-02-19T18:33:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Abbas warns of financial crisis

Ahh, the old ode “you lie down with dogs you wake up with fleas,” has never been more apt. I have heard throughout the press that the poor, average Palestinian people are going to suffer because the (cash) aid will be cut off by the West. But isn’t it the poor average Palestinian people who vote for Hamas in the first place? Should the West support an avowed terrorist group that has killed hundreds of innocent Israelis and no doubt some Americans? I don’t think I want my tax money supporting such a group of murders, do you?

I think its past time for the Arab world to step up and support their Palestinian brethren with more than just angry words and empty rhetoric designed to inflame the ignorant mind.

Greenland's glaciers losing ice at faster rate - Science - MSNBC.com

2006-02-16T19:32:00.000-06:00

Greenland's glaciers losing ice at faster rate - Science - MSNBC.com

Anyone not living under a rock will attest to the fact that this winter has been a crazy, wild ride. Just today in Chicago we had thunderstorms! Thunderstorms in the middle of February! What is it going to take before the United States starts to take this growing problem seriously, when New York City is under fifty feet of water and Long Island is all but a memory? The threat is real and it isn’t going away.

The Real State of Our Union as Seen Through the Eyes of an Average American

2006-02-12T12:49:00.000-06:00

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient...US CONST, Art II, § 3

The President gave his State of The Union Address on January 31, which painted an overly optimistic and largely false picture of the true state of our Republic. He said our Republic was sound when the sane among us know that it is anything but.

My fellow Americans I believe the state of our union is weak, perhaps as weak as it has been at anytime in our history save the period preceding the Civil War in 1861. The problems vexing the nation are many and complex, but our government(s) and people seem to lack the political and moral will to resolve them. As the nation becomes more culturally diversified, we are pulling further and further apart as a society, and nothing can be agreed to without a fight; the spirit of compromise and mutual respect that are supposed to mark a great working democracy, is vanishing. And this disunity of purpose across a broad range of issues leaves the nation vulnerable to all manner of negative internal and external influences that play on emotions at the expense of intellect informed by the principles that founded this nation, and the Constitution.

The Rising Threat of the Christian Right

While we fight the unending battle with Islamic fundamentalism that threatens our way of life from without, the rise of Christian fundamentalism here at home threatens our Republican Democracy from within. The continued matrimony of religion and politics across the broad spectrum of American politics threats our very way of life.

Abortion, Pray in Schools, the Pledge of Allegiance, Gay Marriage, The Ten Commandments in the public square, Stem Cell research, Intelligent Design, Abstinence only Sex Education, Terry Schivo(sp), and the Air Force religious regulations are all part of the Fundamentalists Christian Right’s crusade to fashion an America to their liking. The Christian Right see an America where the Constitution is but a quaint document whose time has come; who needs a document fashioned by flesh and blood man who is after all fallible, when we have the Holy Bible fashioned by God—a God no one has ever seen, and no one can prove even exists I hasten to add—to guide us. Sound familiar?

The irony is that the real threat to our American way of life, our American Dream, comes not so much from without, as the Bush Administration would have us all believe, but from within, which is the way all great civilizations have fallen. Fundamentalism is born of conservative thought, and conservative thought seeks the status quo in order to keep those in power, well in power. Fundamentalist hate changes in the form of progress because it weakens their power base by spreading the wealth so-to-speak. A civilization has never prospered under the thumb of Fundamentalism, and evidence of America’s backward slide is palpable in almost every facet of society.

I believe that religions were and are formed by men seeking to subjugate others (traditionally women ad minorities), and maintain power for themselves. Christianity’s noble underpinnings and principles have long been perverted by those with less than noble intent.

And as we (America) dwell on the false issues that the Fundamentalists bring to the table, which by the way are all of matter of freedom of choice, or fall well within well establish constitutionally established doctrine, the nations real problems remain unaddressed, and are allowed to fester. The doctrine of Separation of Church and State is a sound one based on history and Constitutional underpinnings, and the wall separating the two should not be allowed to be breached further.

The Culture of Corruption and Incompetence

Our president is a liar, and hence corrupted! The political talking heads on the Sunday morning talk show dance around the word by calling Bush’s statement misleading, but the man—a professed born again Christian, an Evangelical—is a lair. He lied about the reasons we went to war with Iraq; he lied about the intelligence he used to justify his little war; he lied about the cost of the Medicare Reform Act; he lied about the governments response to Hurricane Katrina; he lied about the NSA’s domestic spying program; he lied about knowing Jack Abramoff; the man is a liar. And if that were not bad enough, Bush is incompetent and the twin maladies have pervaded the entire government.

The Senate is broken and what we witnessed this past week is further evidence of its demise. –Senator John McCain

We know have a Culture of Corruption and Incompetence that seems to have pervaded the American government at all levels. If Clinton taught American teens that oral sex was no big deal, Bush has taught Republican politicians that it’s alright to lie, and be totally incompetent. But it’s alright, because apparently more then half the electorate (those with deep fundamentalist Christian roots) doesn’t seem to mind as long as you label the opposition amoral. It’s apparently more important to the Evangelicals (fundamentalists Christian) to have a candidate who opposes abortion than it is to have one who tells the truth and abides by the Constitution. Never mind that he has sinned by lying. It’s more important to talk about being moral than it is to actually exhibit the behavior yourself. It doesn’t seem to matter to more than half of the American populace that their government, on all levels, is increasingly failing them, as along as Jane Roe cannot have an abortion, and those darn Gays aren’t allowed to marry.

What was Medicare Part D? What was Katrina? What was the Energy Bill? Surely these are signs of growing government corruption and incompetence. The Senate, once widely respected as the world’s most deliberative body is dysfunctional; so too is the House of Representatives. And the federal courts are slowly declining because Congress fails to act on filling vacancies and giving the courts the funding they need; shameful!

Whatever happened to intellectual discourse guided by mutual respect and a common goal? What ever happened to shared values and the “can do” culture that used to exemplify America? What has happened to our national pride? Do our founding principles no longer matter to the vast majority of us?

What Cost Liberty?

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. –Benjamin Franklin

Across this great land our Fundamental (Constitutional) Rights as guaranteed under the federal constitution are being eroded both by the state and federal governments and by the people as we seek security at any cost. Once again, our society faces the greatest threat from within. It is not the terrorist who will strip or Constitution of its meaning and influence in the name of security, it’s our own government.

The USA Patriot Act (how ironically named), and the domestic spying debacle are just two examples of government morphing slowly into Big Brother. The NSA has been spying on Americans for some four years now without our knowledge; what else is the Bush White House up to without our knowledge? Are we as a nation really willing to sacrifice liberty at the alter of security at any cost. And once we achieve that security, what value will it be if we are not a free society?

Growing Leadership Vacuum

The signs of our demise are all around us, if we only care to look. And we lack the leadership to safety navigate the morass. Laura Bush recently stated that Senator Hillary Clinton should show some empathy when discussing the current occupant of the White House. Why? Its time to start calling a spade a spade; Bush is no leader; he is in fact a follower, a puppet, a face. The real power lies behind the man, and that is the problem. The President has to be his own man, he has to be a leader, and Bush is not; he is incompetent, inarticulate, and ill-suited to the job. Bush is a dullard, he lacks the vision and wisdom needed to fulfill the mission at hand, and We The People and the country are the losers. His Presidency should go down in history as the worse since the Grant Administration(s) following the Civil War.

And this lack of leadership does not confine itself the White House, it pervades the Congress, and the state government as well, with every few exceptions. Oh if we only had a leader! Bush is long on rhetoric and short on substance. What again is hybrid animal-human cloning?

In closing my fellow Americans, I state for the record, that the state of our nation is weak and decomposing by the day. From failing primary education to an ever increasing dependence on foreign oil; from incompetent and dysfunctional government to the rise of Evangelical Christianity and all that purports; from the War in Iraq, to the decreasing American influence abroad; from the growing immigration situation to the lack of leadership to resolve it; from the growing lower class, to the continued decay of our major cities; from the continued erosion of our manufacturing base to the growing health care crisis; from our ballooning national debt to our ballooning trade imbalance, we are a nation tittering on the edge of collapse; we are not sound by any measure…

TIME.com: Miss Independent -- Feb. 13, 2006

2006-02-11T19:34:00.000-06:00

TIME.com: Miss Independent -- Feb. 13, 2006 -- Page 1

I think Kelly Clarkson is enormously talented, but that on her second CD Breakaway that talent was somewhat eclipsed by the driving rock beats that accompanied her. The lyrics of the song themselves are worthy of mention and Ms. Clarkson shows some amazing emotional depth in their creation, but her beautiful voice was smothered loudness.

I enjoyed Thankful—Ms. Clarkson’s first release—far more than Breakaway and I only hope we get to hear more of her voice on her next release. Rock has never been to my tastes and perhaps that is part of the problem. BTW, the black jumper would work better if Kelly has a little more (well a lot more) upstairs to put in it.

CNN.com - Brown says he's been made Katrina scapegoat? - Feb 10, 2006

2006-02-10T14:44:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Brown says he's been made Katrina scapegoat! - Feb 10, 2006

Where it wine and cheese? But he is right and wrong.

The man was incredibly incompetent, and the bush Administration did make him the scapegoat for the unbelievable, stupefying, and embarrassing failures of leadership leading up to, during, and following Katrina. Who would have thought our government—at all levels—could fail so miserably!

NBC: Libby defense to allege Cheney role - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-02-09T19:43:00.000-06:00

NBC: Libby defense to allege Cheney role - Politics - MSNBC.com

Abramoff says he did indeed meet Bush - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-02-09T19:37:00.000-06:00

Abramoff says he did indeed meet Bush - Politics - MSNBC.com

The article speaks for itself. More lies, more lies, more lies…

GOP senator calls spying reasons ?unrealistic? - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com

2006-02-05T17:05:00.000-06:00

GOP senator calls spying reasons ?unrealistic? - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com: "Sen. Arlen Specter"

Finally a Republican who is willing to speak out against the Bush Administration and call what the “All The Presidents’ Men” were doing—and are doing—in the name of national security.

“Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ explanations so far for the Bush administration’s failure to obtain warrants for its domestic surveillance program are ‘strained’ and ‘unrealistic,” Senator Arlen Specter, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said on Sunday.

How right the Senator is, and Gonzales as the nation highest law enforcement officer, should know better. Can you say Impeachment?

Lebanese protesters torch Danish mission - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

2006-02-05T11:11:00.000-06:00

Lebanese protesters torch Danish mission - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

Is this complete and utter madness or what. Is the finest example of human evolution? Muslims around the world wonder why their image suffers from the blight of negatively and is forever tainted with the stain of violence and intolerance need look no further than the events of the past week to enlighten them.

In many ways Muslims (mostly men) are still laboring in the 11th century, believing that their religion is beyond reproach and or the critical or satirical pen(s) of the world. So while thousand of Muslims take to the streets in all over the world in protest of a cartoon(?!), and acting like Jr. High School bullies walking hand-n-hand with elementary school babies throwing a tantrum, the West (and any sane person) looks on again and roundly condemns such tomfoolery.

Senate passes $70 billion tax-cut bill - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-02-02T21:56:00.000-06:00

Senate passes $70 billion tax-cut bill - Politics - MSNBC.com

More of that fantastic Republican leadership! Let’s hear it for the Contract With America!

USATODAY.com - Bush to propose trimming Army Reserve

2006-01-29T15:39:00.000-06:00

USATODAY.com - Bush to propose trimming Army Reserve

And now for the ultimate insult; is Bush kidding? Cut the Army Reserve? Is he living in the same world as the rest of us? A very scathing report (two actually) just detailed how the U.S. Army is on the razors edge of desegregating because of ongoing and continuing operations, 30% (and rising) of which is made up of Army Reserve and National Guard units, how can any sane Commander-n-Chief think of cutting forces? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS ADMINISTRATION?

Try using some of that tax cut money to boaster the nation’s defense in a time-o-war! We are at war aren’t we?

Audit: Funds for Iraq rebuilding squandered - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-01-29T15:21:00.000-06:00

Audit: Funds for Iraq rebuilding squandered - Politics - MSNBC.com

Dealing with the Bush Administration and its ever growing record of ineptitude is troubling for We The People and the world. WHAT IS GOING ON? Has an administration ever been this unethical, immoral, and totally without leadership? Bush makes Nixon look like a Teletubby, the pink one. How could we have elected this simpleton a second time?

Exclusive: Direct Talks?U.S. Officials and Iraqi Insurgents - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-01-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

Exclusive: Direct Talks?U.S. Officials and Iraqi Insurgents - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com

So much for the proclamations that the United States does not negotiate with terrorists, a label the Bush Administration has used to describe the Sunni insurgency. And yet another lie told to the American people and the world, and yet another betrayal of our trust. It’s a terrible thing to mistrust your government…

Pharmacists sue Walgreen over contraceptives - Women's Health - MSNBC.com

2006-01-28T18:00:00.000-06:00

Pharmacists sue Walgreen over contraceptives - Women's Health - MSNBC.com
Here’s hoping they lose! Does that sound mean? I don’t know about you but I am tired of Christians foisting their (alleged) morals on the rest of us. I steadfastly oppose the Pharmacists’ assertion that they should be able to refuse treatment to those with legitimate prescriptions from their doctors. And who are they—the Pharmacists—to interfere in the doctor/patient relationship?

They were given an out, but in their arrogance refused to take it. Why not work a shift where they were not the only Pharmacists on duty, so they could refer the patient/customer to a collogue? Or why not accept Walgreens offer to move to another Pharmacy out of state? I can hear the argument: why should they have to move, but turn it around; why should a patient be denied legitimately prescribed medication? Keep faith out of the workplace, out of government, and out of licensed professions.

Hamas captures election majority, officials say - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

2006-01-26T14:49:00.000-06:00

Hamas captures election majority, officials say - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

The Middle East just got a whole lot more interesting…

CNN.com - Army stretched to breaking point, report says - Jan 25, 2006

2006-01-25T13:37:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Army stretched to breaking point, report says - Jan 25, 2006

I wondered how long it would take before a report like this hit the streets. Of course it will make few waves in the ocean of the American publics’ opinion of the war, or their attention span. There will be no public outcry, nor demonstrations on the streets of campuses of our nation; everyone is too preoccupied with themselves to care about the nations soldiers.

I have long advocated the creation and staffing of at least two new Army Corps each in Iraq and Afghanistan; an Army Corp consists of between 20,000 and 45,000 men. But what is really needed is a whole new theater Army consisting of 50,000 men plus, just in Iraq alone.

This of course would mean re-instituting the draft which no one in Congress or the Bush Administration has the courage or leadership to propose, let alone act on. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army fight for it life, and will be left ill-prepared to fight an all out war for years to come. Iran can breathe easy; the U.S. will not be invading anytime soon, thanks to Bush and his crooked little war.

The strange, sad, maddening, and increasingly puzzling thing is that the military by-and-large still support Bush (scratching head).

Rove: War on terrorism central in elections - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-01-20T22:04:00.000-06:00

Rove: War on terrorism central in elections - Politics - MSNBC.com
The groundhog has emerged from his hole—ahead of schedule I might add—but just in time to spew his lines of lies and slander for the up-coming elections. Who is this seriously troubled man anyway, that any American should give him heed?

“Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world. And Democrats have a pre-9/11 view of the world…That doesn’t make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong — deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong.”

Yes, the Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world, and in it America is no longer a Democratic Republic, for, by, and of We The People, but a country slowly turning towards dictatorship and radical Christian fundamentalism. The Republican view of America sees the Constitution discarded to be replaced by the absolute power of the Executive Branch cheered on by the Christian Right. The Republican view of America would see the populace ruled by fear; fear of terror and fear of their own government. The Republican view of America would see trust in government by the People replaced by the mistrust, deceit and the erosion of our once lauded Civil Institutions. The Republican view of America would see Common Law replaced by the God’s law with the Holy Bible at its center.

Yes, let us all hail the Republican view of America…

CNN.com - Junk-food suit targets Nickelodeon, Kellogg - Jan 18, 2006

2006-01-19T08:13:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Junk-food suit targets Nickelodeon, Kellogg - Jan 18, 2006

“Wakefield, Massachusetts, mother Sherri Carlson said she tries her best to get her three kids to eat healthy foods…” Questions for Ms. Carlson, and the other plaintiff in this silly case: who is the parent in this situation; who buys the groceries; does your television have an on/off switch and channel changing knob or button; have you ever heard of the word NO?

I have children and they ask for sugary food, and I say NO! And guess what it works for me, Nickelodeon characters notwithstanding. Note to blubbering parents: don’t blame television and a cereal company for your lack of parenting skills! Let’s hope this one gets throw out of court…

CNN.com - High court dodges abortion ruling - Jan 18, 2006

2006-01-19T08:06:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - High court dodges abortion ruling - Jan 18, 2006

And so it begins; the slow piece-by-piece dismantling of Roe and the right of American women to have a legal abortion. It continues to dismay me why more women are not up in arms about their continued subjugation at the hand of White American males, God notwithstanding. Women have made tremendous strides in this country to come out from under the thumb of men, but on this pivotal issue famine America is mostly mute. What is at stake here is far more than the right to have an abortion; it is the fundamental right to privacy, and to be secure in our persons…

I can understand abhorring the practice of abortion, I do so myself, but the right to have one should be a personal decision left up the woman who has to carry the baby to term. Who is any male to tell a female that she must carry a baby to term, father or no?

It is interesting, ironic, and disturbing that the interest in sustaining human life by most Christians ends when the baby is born. This is starkly illustrated by the almost fanatical resistance by most Americans—the majority of which claim to be Christians—to socialized medicine, and support for the death penalty.

With the certain confirmation of Sam Alito, American women should prepare themselves for back alley abortion, or be prepared to go to Canada or Mexico for the procedure. It is the beginning of the end, of legalized abortion in the United States.

U.S. fights insurgents? grip on Iraqi oil city - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

2006-01-19T07:46:00.000-06:00

U.S. fights insurgents grip on Iraqi oil city - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com
This story speaks volumes about the need early on in the Iraq War for adequate numbers of troops. You cannot occupy a country—any country—with air power and smart bombs, you need boots on the group, you need presence. Because the civilian leadership in Washington lead by Bush failed the military, young men and women continue to die unnecessarily, the lesson of Vietnam all but forgotten, but the stain of that war is worn on every American uniform, a vivid reminder of failed and inept civilian leadership.

High court upholds Oregon assisted-suicide law - The Changing Court - MSNBC.com

2006-01-17T13:20:00.000-06:00

High court upholds Oregon assisted-suicide law - The Changing Court - MSNBC.com

“authority claimed by the attorney general is both beyond his expertise and incongruous with the statutory purposes and design.” --Justice Anthony Kennedy

Lets here it for states rights, and the right to determine when and where you die! Isn’t interesting and ironic that three Republicans (conservatives) on the court, who are supposed to be champions of states right’s dissented? Once again, Republicans are straying from their stated philosophy and platform?

Abramoff scandal threatens GOP ascendancy - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

2006-01-16T08:18:00.000-06:00

Abramoff scandal threatens GOP ascendancy - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

I always wondered when Holier-the-Thou Christian foot shoulder, The Right Hand of God, Ralph Reed would fall from grace and in what form that tumble would take. I thought it would be the usual, sex, but instead it greed (one of the seven deadly sins), and lying (one of the Ten Commandments). It was never a question of if the man would fall, but when; the self-righteous always have something to hide, some darkness lurking in the basement of their lily white personas.

Should I gloat? Not now, but after he loses the Lt. Governors race; then I’ll do a little jig!

Rep. Bob Ney temporarily quits House post - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-01-15T21:49:00.000-06:00

Rep. Bob Ney temporarily quits House post - Politics - MSNBC.com

And oh the wretched wicked, crooked Republicans are falling like leaves from the New England trees in autumn, but they are not nearly as colorful or beautiful, just sad and pathetic.

Support for DeLay erodes at home, poll finds - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-01-15T12:52:00.000-06:00

Support for DeLay erodes at home, poll finds - Politics - MSNBC.com

Tom Delay’s woes only worsen as time spin inexorably towards the mod-term elections in November of this year. Will he remain in office? At one time I would have answered no, of course not, how could he? But now I am uncertain, after all a majority of my fellow citizens thought is wise to elect Bush, not once, but twice! In country filled with such misguided loyalty to Party and willful ignorance of the world anything is possible. We can only hope enough Americans have sobered up to vote for someone else. Someone not so overtly corrupt, and who might actually give a damn about their needs.

Democrat says Alito hearings may be pointless - The Changing Court - MSNBC.com

2006-01-13T07:46:00.000-06:00

Democrat says Alito hearings may be pointless - The Changing Court - MSNBC.comWhat a pretty impasse we’ve come to as a country, as a Republic. The acrimony is so deep, and the partisanship so thick that our system of governance is breaking down piece by fractured, dysfunctional piece, and We The People are the losers. Speaking on the Today show today Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., stated that, “The system's kind of broken.”

He was of course referring to the Senate’s Constitutional duties of advice and consent, and the current confirmation proceedings of one Samuel Alito. As I have listened to the proceedings, one thing is abundantly clear: the Democrats are asking all of the questions, and the Republicans are making all of the grand speeches and pronouncements in support of Judge Alito. The Republicans are in effect acting as character witnesses for the Judge who would be justice and as such are abrogating their responsibility as impartial Senators. It would actually be amusing the watch and listen to if it were not so sad and wholly predictable.

My respect for the Republican Party never very high to begin with is almost non-existent. Do any of them have a voice of their own? Except for John McCain, they all act like Stepford Wives, acting, speaking, and voting as one. Whatever happened to integrity and loyal to country before Party?

Biden went on to say on the Today show: “Americans should know how a nominee interprets the Constitution on key social views, but since nominees refuse to discuss their interpretations, citing the possibility they’d have to rule on them in the future, the hearings serve no real purpose…”

Sadly I couldn’t agree more with the Senator…The American government under Bush’s leadership continues to decay and fracture. Lets us hope the American people come to their senses and turn the failed Republican leadership team in Congress out at the end of this year; the country and the Constitution can’t take much “Republican leadership and moral suasion.”

States Intervene After Drug Plan Hits Early Snags - New York Times

2006-01-08T07:52:00.000-06:00

States Intervene After Drug Plan Hits Early Snags - New York Times
The Bush sponsored Culture of Incompetence that seem to be infecting the federal government, remains on track this year; how refreshing! I have personal experience with this nonsense; I waited over an hour for my mother-in-law to fill her prescription(s) at the local Walgreen’s. She ended up having to pay full price for the medications because the pharmacist could not verify her enrollment information; he kept getting a busy signal when he called the Medicare Help Desk.

Members of Congress should be ashamed of themselves for passing such an outwardly stupid and counter-productive law. Our senior citizens deserve better then this; the program is a national disgrace. How many of us predicted this would happen? If your Congressman voted for this abysmal law, show him, or her, your displeasure by voting them out of office! They are messing with people’s lives here; the free market should be damned!

Analysts: Bush spying rationale legally shaky - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com

2006-01-06T22:11:00.000-06:00

Analysts: Bush spying rationale legally shaky - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com
“It appears unlikely that a court would hold that Congress has ... authorized the NSA electronic surveillance operations here under discussion.”

Can you say Impeachment? Not while the Republicans are in charge of both chambers of Congress, they lack the political will, moral suasion, and courage. And so too do the Democrats who remained largely silent on this issue of gross Presidential misconduct; oh if they (the Democrats) only had a backbone. My fellow Americans we are losing our Republic, can you hear the sounds of the chains clinking in the hallowed halls of Congress and on the stately benches of the Supreme Court?

While we were shopping the messy aisles of the local Wal-Mart the Republicans were stealing our freedoms, doing from within what Osama longs to do from without. What constitution is this lying on the floor with muddy boot print of Republican oppression firmly affixed to the words We The People?

While We The People cower in fear, the denizens of conservatism draw ever near with hands extended and at frightful leer, they aim to close the door to liberty all to the rousing cheer of the security mom and the NACAR dad guzzling a cold can of beer.

As Detroit falters, Asian makers pick up speed - Road Work Ahead - MSNBC.com

2006-01-05T21:29:00.000-06:00

As Detroit falters, Asian makers pick up speed - Road Work Ahead - MSNBC.comWhy are American auto maker so foolishly short-sided? Way back in the later seventies and early eighties the Japanese automakers showed they had what it took to build the cars Americans wanted, and the juggernaut has not stopped since then. Any moron could predict that fuel prices were going to rise once more; oil after all cannot last forever.

With all the cash and engineering talent the Detroit Three have at their disposal, how could they not have come up with at least one decent hybrid vehicle. GM should have devoted Saturn to this cause, with every car they produce a cost conscience, fuel efficient car or truck. How hard can that have been? I mean really?

When will American industry take its eye off the quarter and adopt a five-year plan? How about some vision, some leadership, some INNOVATION! And oh yeah UAW wake and smell the future before you don’t have one! Earth to UAW, ever heard of a partnership, compromise?

Top lobbyist to plead guilty in casino cases - Politics - MSNBC.com

2006-01-03T10:05:00.000-06:00

Top lobbyist to plead guilty in casino cases - Politics - MSNBC.comFinally! Now maybe we’ll get some movement on the investigation into crooked members of Congress, no matter what Party they belong to. But honestly I hope this is the beginning of the end of Tom Dely’s career in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Twas The Night Before Christmas

2006-01-02T09:00:00.000-06:00

Right before Christmas my eleven year daughter announced that it didn’t feel like Christmas, that something was off this year. It wasn’t the lack of snow and cold that usually accompany Christmas into town like a welcome friend; there were plenty of both in the air. It was something far less tangible, but nevertheless equally as vital in order for Christmas to have real meaning.

Perhaps it’s the War in Iraq that seems to drag on without end, despite the far too rosy gloss applied by the Bush administration; or perhaps the perpetual death cloud that hangs over the place and threatens to cover the entire world with its stench; or perhaps it’s the unending downward spiral of the African sub-continent as its people struggle to enter the 21st-century alive. Or perhaps it’s the lingering, festering problems here at home; the widening morass in New Orleans where everything seems to spark an argument and the leadership vacuum continues to vex; or perhaps it’s the feeling that America is heading in the wrong direction under the quasi-leadership of a man without a clue; or perhaps it was the Religious Rights’ insistence that everyone in the country celebrate Christmas their way by bring pointless lawsuitsand boycotts against those who dared declare Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.

Or perhaps it’s a combination of all of these factors that left me and mine with a feeling that Christmas 2005 was just another day; the spirit of the day had been leached off little-by-little until there was nothing left to celebrate. The reason for the season was immaterial, lost in an ever increase deluge of violence, whining, bad behavior, and bad feelings. And let’s not forget the endless store sales and sales number that have little to do with the birth of Christ, but have supplanted him as the reason to celebrate Christmas.

When I was a child Christmas was a magical period despite the fact that we had very little, and got very little on Christmas day. The whole month of December was filled with the stuff of Christmas; finding the right tree and decorating it; watching the Christmas; watching the same Christmas cartoons year after year, hoping for the first snow to come in time for the holidays; and the excitement of Christmas Eve. These were all part of growing up in America as a child; not anymore. Trees are increasingly artificial (including mine), the cartoons are all but gone, and so are the special feelings…

It is true that few adults find magic in Christmas anymore, but up until this year, I did look forward to the holiday (somewhat). But this past year, even my wife who loves Christmas, was glad to see it come and go its un-merry way. Has America with its now incessant infighting and bickering over the smallest of topics and myopic pursuit of money and material over all other pursuits, finally succeeded in killing Christmas? Has it become just another day off, yet another excuse to shop? Will the magic ever return, will it ever be a Merry Christmas again? What would Jesus think?

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Break The Law and Spy on Americans

2005-12-24T10:29:00.000-06:00

Well the (domestic spying) plot thickens and so do the lies told by the Bush Administration in an effort to deceive the American people. In case you haven’t heard, Bush authorized (in his secret Executive Order) the NSA to tap into telecommunication hubs throughout the United States—all without a warrant—in an effort to get those ever elusive terrorists.

To its credit, the Administration reluctantly admitted half of the truth, but of course left the juicer tidbits on the White House basement floor for the real patriots to shift through and expose the appalling truth to the world. Yes, fellow American, our President (and I use the term very, very loosely) has morphed into an un-enlightened despot while the majority of us were cowering in our basements muttering “give me security, make me safe Mr. President, I’m afraid of everything. I don’t give a damn about my Fundamental or Civil Rights; the Bill of Rights, what is that?” But I digress.

From the New York Times Article:

“Citing current and former government officials, the Times said the information was collected by tapping directly into some of the U.S. telecommunication system’s main arteries. The officials said the NSA won the cooperation of telecommunications companies to obtain access to both domestic and international communications without first gaining warrants.”

As other enlightened pundits have pointed out, liberty is stolen from the populace in bits and pieces usually under the guise of protecting national security. But I ask you, fellow Americans, if we loose our freedom, will this American society, this American Republic be worth defending? Our government, led by our slow-witted and malleable President is slowly turning America into what we are supposed to be fighting, and in the process defecating on the very Constitution they have sworn to uphold and protect. Never forget, the Nazi’s were voted into office, and those who ignore history’s life-affirming lessons do so at their peril. Aren’t you tired of being lied to?

CNN.com - Bush?acknowledges allowing eavesdropping - Dec 17, 2005

2005-12-17T14:49:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Bush?acknowledges allowing eavesdropping - Dec 17, 2005

CNN.com - Report: Bush eased domestic spy rules after 9/11 - Dec 16, 2005

2005-12-16T07:44:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Report: Bush eased domestic spy rules after 9/11 - Dec 16, 2005
As a former member of Naval Security Group who routinely participated in foreign intelligence operations on behalf of NSA, I state categorically state that what the President authorized is a violation of Federal law. Before each mission it was drilled into our heads that we were not to target Americans anywhere! If we encountered communications by Americans we were to cease and desist.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Bush Administration is a threat to the American way of life. No American is supposed to be above the law of our nation even the President. If proven, this is grounds for impeachment!

Autumn of Discontent - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com

2005-11-12T16:00:00.000-06:00

Autumn of Discontent - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com
Ahh, the American people are coming to their collective senses…the poll says it all, I need not say more…

CNN.com - Frist concerned more about leaks than secret prisons - Nov 10, 2005

2005-11-10T15:58:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Frist concerned more about leaks than secret prisons - Nov 10, 2005
Every time I start to get a warm and fuzzy about Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, he opens his month and says something really stupid and ruins it all. So the man is more concerned about leaks—which are a part of Washington politics as scandals, sex with interns, and graft—but he is not concerned about the undermining of American ethics and values, not to mention a gross subversion of the law! Is it okay to use the word Nazi and Frist in the same sentence, or would that be considered poor taste?

"My concern is with leaks of information that jeopardize your safety and security -- period," Frist said, but the continued ill-treatment of Muslims and others does nothing to undermine the so-called War on Terror? We have become that which we despise; we are the bully, the aggressor, that country that spits on the façade of the Scales of Justice; that nation whose people think themselves above the law. We are no longer a nation whose government respects the rights of others, but a nation whose government looks, acts, and speaks like a third world dictatorship. We are the nation that no longer respects human rights, we are the nation other nations should and do fear, we are no longer the shinning light on the hill (as if we ever were), we are instead the hill itself, dark, hard, and unfeeling. Our Constitution is dying a slow wicked death at the hand of men without principles our moral suasion. God (if there is one) no longer blesses us…

Dover voters oust intelligent design supporters - Science - MSNBC.com

2005-11-09T13:24:00.000-06:00

Dover voters oust intelligent design supporters - Science - MSNBC.com
Ahh, the voice of reason and sanity still exists in America! Go Dover PA!

CNN.com - Kansas school board redefines science - Nov 8, 2005

2005-11-08T20:09:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Kansas school board redefines science - Nov 8, 2005
Just when you thought it was save to learn again in Kansas the level-headed, radial folks on the state Board of Education have once again proved that ignorance comes in the form of religion and religious intolerance. Though the proponents of Intelligent Design insist that religion does not play a part in the fabrication of their fantasy, those with half, hell a quarter of a brain can make the connection between God and ID.

Pity the poor children of Kansas, and shame on the parents who would allow their children to be mis-educated, misled, and disadvantaged by such nonsense.

CNN.com - Eyes On the Off-Year Election Prize!

2005-11-08T13:19:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Eyes focus on tight New Jersey, Virginia races - Nov 8, 2005
Time to see if the American people have awoken from their 9/11 induced stupor in which half of us were led to believe that the Republican Party was the answer to all ills; that its members had the lock on leadership, even if their collective vision and common sense was hampered by a haughtiness that would do Hitler proud (did I say that?).

In addition, it is time to see if the citizens of Detroit, MI have had enough of a corrupt Mayor who acts more like an African dictator then mayor of a dying (major) American city, whose inhabitants are close to 85% Black. How about citizens of Detroit do you deserve better, or are you content to see your once proud city dye while Kwame Kilpatrick parties the night away on your dime(s)?

And in California, the experiment in true Democracy—albeit failing—is once more rearing it ugly head, spurred on as it is by the actor turned terrible Governor. Will the largely Democratic state—the largest in the Union in terms of population—tell Arnold not to bother coming back for a second term? Lets hope so!

BBC NEWS | Europe | Timeline: French riots

2005-11-07T18:02:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | Europe | Timeline: French riots

BBC NEWS | Europe | French plan curfews to stop riots

2005-11-07T18:00:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | Europe | French plan curfews to stop riots
What is going on in France? Who would have thought 12 days ago that such a thing could happen in France? But racial tensions have been brewing under the veneer of French society for quite some time now. And France is not alone in its immigrant tribulations; Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, indeed most of Western Europe also have large immigrant populations. Might rioting in one, some, or all of these nations be next? How long before the French get fed up wit the systematic destruction of their cities and resort to violence the put down the uprising?

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Tough French warning for rioters

2005-11-05T09:22:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Tough French warning for rioters

Embattled ex-chairman resigns from PBS board - TELEVISION - MSNBC.com

2005-11-04T13:08:00.000-06:00

Embattled ex-chairman resigns from PBS board - TELEVISION - MSNBC.com
Anyone who listens to or watches NPR or PBS on a regular basis is well aware of the dark cloud of Conservatism surrounding Tomlinson’s tenure as head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Saying that NPR and PBS were biased towards the liberal viewpoint, Tomlinson tried his best to move both institutions to the political right, much to the chagrin and amazement of longtime listeners who know better like myself.

I, for one am glad he is gone, and is taking with him his skewed viewpoint of the world.

AP: E-mails show new dimension in DeLay case - Politics - MSNBC.com

2005-11-03T20:29:00.000-06:00

AP: E-mails show new dimension in DeLay case - Politics - MSNBC.com
And the liar lies get darker and Delays betrayal of the American people grows deeper. Are these people (Republican Congressman) so near-sided that they lost touch with the real reason they entered public service? The whole episode is nauseating in the extreme.

CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

2005-11-02T09:28:00.000-06:00

CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com
What kind of country has Bush and his Republican Party turned the U.S. into. Are we now morphing into a country where the rule of law is no longer respected? What is happening to us; are we becoming that which we fought so long to overcome. What happened to our moral suasion, our principles as Americans? Have we brought to power a Party that is so arrogant that they believe that they do not have to follow the Constitution? Absolute power corrupts absolutely; never has this maxim be so apt…

BBC NEWS | Europe | Paris riots prompt extra security

2005-11-02T08:25:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | Europe | Paris riots prompt extra security
Who knew the French were so passionate. France has long had a love/hate relationship with its growing immigrant population, most of whom come from former French colonies across Africa. It just so happens that many as Muslim as well, which only adds to ardor of the immigrant population whenever they feel Islam has been slighted.

I am growing increasingly convinced that religion does more harm then good in human communities. Perhaps it time we divested ourselves of it and began to accept the world as it is and not how we might want it to be.

CNN.com - Bush Nominates Alito to Supreme Court - Oct 31, 2005

2005-10-31T13:01:00.000-06:00

CNN.com - Bush nominates Alito to Supreme Court - Oct 31, 2005
Listen can you here it, listen closely, it’s a chorus of conservative right wing Republican religious zealots praising Bush’s latest appointment t0 the nation’s highest court. They finally have “their” man, the judge who is going to help them push their narrow minded religious inspired and informed agenda upon America. Who needs freedom anyway?

Judge Alito is widely considered to be the Scalia clone the Conservative Right has been clamoring for; MSNBC cataloged some of Alito’s most notable decisions:

ACLU v. Schundler
168 F.3d 92 (3d Cir. 1999)
Wrote the opinion in a case that said a Christmas display on city property did not violate separation of church and state doctrines because it included a large plastic Santa Claus as well as religious symbols.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey
947 F.2d 682 (3d Cir. 1991)
Disagreed with the majority in a ruling striking down a Pennsylvania law that required women to notify their husbands if they planned to get an abortion.

Fatin v. INS
12 F.3d 1233 (3d Cir. 1993)
Agreed with the majority that an Iranian woman seeking U.S. asylum could establish eligibility by showing that she had an abhorrence of her country's "gender-specific laws and repressive social norms," or because of a belief in feminism or membership in a feminist group.

BBC NEWS | Indictment rocks Bush administration

2005-10-28T14:24:00.000-05:00

BBC NEWS | Indictment rocks Bush administration
Two Down…

How many will fall before this widening scandal is quit? What ever happened to vaunted Republican virtue, integrity, and moral suasion? All seem to have been lost in a virtual maelstrom of corruption, greed, arrogance, hubris, myopic pursuits, and damned lies. It is refreshing however, that the American system of justice is working, albeit slowly to bring these thugs to heal; stay tuned…

CNN.com - Gov. Bush: Wilma response will 'be better' - Oct 27, 2005

2005-10-27T10:24:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Gov. Bush: Wilma response will 'be better' - Oct 27, 2005
I am in total agreement with Governor Bush on this issue, and I applaud his courage and his willingness to tell it like it is. The residents of Florida are no strangers to the strength, ferocity and capricious nature of hurricanes; the state is the target of at least one of the storms almost every year; hell three hit the state last year, and one so far this year. So the cries and harping fall on deaf ears.

And it is not as if Hurricane Wilma cropped up overnight and blew ashore with little warning; Floridians had a week and a half to prepare for the Category Three storm, so there is no excuse for the level of complaining we now hear coming from the state’s residents, and no excuse for the long line we see as people wait for food, water, ice handouts. And wouldn’t the prudent person fill up the gas take BEFORE the storm hit? There isn’t a resident in the state—unless he or she was living in complete isolation—that will get to believe that he or she was caught off-guard by the storm; please!

Have we Americans become so accustomed to the government taking care of us that we have lost the ability to take care of ourselves? Increasingly there is a case to be made that too much government help is detrimental to the proper functioning of any society. Citizens owe so level of responsibility to themselves and society to take care of their persons and family; certainly having three days of food, water, and other essential supplies on hade in a state prone to natural disasters is not an unreasonably request.

And let us not forget, that our fellow citizens lack of proper preparation for an event that should be second nature to them by now, costs us all…

CNN.com - Miers Withdraws Her Name From Consideration!

2005-10-27T08:21:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News
She’s out! And I do not know where I stand on the issue. On the one hand I think Ms. Miers would have made a fine jurist, but on the other hand the ground swell of opposition from almost every conservative corner made it increasingly difficult for even Republican Senators to throw their full support behind her.

Now I wonder, with the Right Wing of the Christian movement so adamant to get “their person” on the Supreme Court, who will Bush nominate next? Will he stay in the center or Kowtow to the religious zealots and thrust an ultra-conservative down our throats. These are dark days indeed for the country, and we are all holding our collective breathes…

Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them

2005-10-26T16:49:00.000-05:00

I thought the Bush Administration was supposed to usher in an era of American politics and leadership, one which returned honesty, humility, and integrity to the White House and Capitol Hill. No so it would seem, not so at all; every day seems to bring revelations of new Republican wrongdoing. One has to wonder where will it all end.

Today Tom Delay admitted that he had once again thumbed his pasty nose at the law and the rules of the House by failing to disclose contributions to his legal defense fund. Senate Majority leader Bill Frist continues to obfuscate the truth about his HCA stock sell which netted him million of dollars days before the company reported deepening losses. And then there is what is now being referred to as Plamegate a deepening scandal in which now the Vice President may now be knee deep in, and has lied about, both to the American people and perhaps to a Federal Grand Jury.

It is the height of irony and hypocrisy that some high ranking Republican politicians and political pundits actually have the audacity to advance the notion that perhaps lying to Federal Grand Jury is not such a bad thing after all. Excuse me, but didn’t the Republicans impeach a President over perjury charges? How now is it okay for high government officials to stay in office for the same offense? Do they (the Republicans) think our memory that short? They must to spew such nonsense.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US death toll in Iraq hits 2,000

2005-10-26T16:03:00.000-05:00

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US death toll in Iraq hits 2,000
Is it enough to be disgusted at the obscene waste of human life this very ill-advised war has cost on both sides? Is protesting enough if impassioned cries to get our of Iraq land on deaf ears, closed minds, and cold hearts?

In America this is the poor mans war; it was recently reported that a disproportionate number of the U.S. Serviceman being killed in Bushs’ War are from rural America. Those in the city apparently have better things to do with their time and lives. City dwellers seem detached from this War, it has become a side show, an occasional annoyance on the evening news. Life for most of us goes on as it always had, and perhaps that needs to change.

2000 Americans dead and rising, and we may never know how many Iraqis have given their lives for this unjust, un-noble and illegal cause. Was, and is the War worth the sacrifice of so many for so little tangible gain? I say NO, NO, NO!! But how are we now to disentangle ourselves from the morass Bush and his arrogant posse have led us into? We cannot cut and run, for Iraq is already become Afghanistan II only worse for what better proving (and hunting) ground could terrorist hope for then the one we’ve provided for them in Iraq? It is maddening to give prolonged thought to, and maddening still to think that more then half the population of America thought it was a good idea to invade and occupy a sovereign nation.

2000 Americans dead and rising…for what, for what, for what?

Bush: Military action against Syria Last option - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

2005-10-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

Bush: Military action against Syria Last option - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com: "former Lebanese premier Rafik al-Hariri."
So are we in the business of invading other countries (as a last option of course) because they oppose us on well, anything? What is the ludicrous talk of invading Syria as a last resort? Are we back in 1914 when all it took the simple assassination of one man to start a World War and bring about the death of millions? Has the United States under George W. (kick me I’m stupid) Bush becomes the world’s bully, threatening counties with military action if they don’t kowtow and give us what we demand?

Not that Syria has much to fear from the United States military, sad to say. The Army is in no condition to invade Marco Island, let alone a large country like Syria with a rather large standing Army; ditto for the Marines. The most Syria has to fear is a few cruise missiles fired its way from U.S. Navy ships in the Mediterranean of Air Force bombers, probably out of Iraq. Little more could be done, and even that is nonsense.

If the Syrian government is responsible for the assignation of former Lebanese premier Rafik al-Hariri, then the United Nation should hold the country account. The United States should not act unilaterally, or in concert with Great Britain; use the U.N. and let that be the end of it. Enough talk of WAR, WAR, WAR!!

Prelude to a Leak - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com

2005-10-24T12:58:00.000-05:00

Prelude to a Leak - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.comOh what a tangled web they weaved when first they sought to deceive—the American public, and the People trust. The much lauded and ever changing goals for the Iraqi invasion have all gone by the way side, side lined and supplanted by the stupefying ineptness in which the invasion and resulting occupation is being handled. War is always supposed to be a last resort, a nasty little thing we never aspire to unless America and Americans are directly threatened.

As time and numerous news stories have revealed, Saddam was no threat; at least not to America or its citizens. Now 2000 dead American serviceman and as yet un-enumerated dead Iraqis later, the Middle East is worse off then when we invaded. Bush ruins everything he touches, and his Administration is an abysmal failure, mired by scandal, and shoot through with corruption and ineffectual leadership at every level.

It is becoming increasingly evident to this American citizen that Bush and his arrogant cronies have set up a shadow government and are keeping their own counsel, creating a family of inbred siblings who have taken America down a dangerous and disastrous road to ruin. I would like to thank my fellow citizens—those who voted for Bush not once, but twice—for their lack of reflective thought and hysterical political blindness. Are you proud?

CNN.com - Arrest warrant Issued for DeLay - Oct 19, 2005

2005-10-19T18:31:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Arrest warrant Issued for DeLay - Oct 19, 2005
Excuse me while I rosin up my bow and tune my singing voice! Who said a little bit of humility is good for the soul? Well Tom Delay is about is about to be humbled before the American people, whose interests he has worked so long and hard to undermine. V. Edward to Tom: please, please rise to the occasion and refuse to appear before the Court! That way the music can continue as they haul you away in handcuffs; what a party that would be!

Did Vanity Fair lighten Beyonce's skin? - Access Hollywood - MSNBC.com

2005-10-18T20:46:00.000-05:00

Did Vanity Fair lighten Beyonce's skin? - Access Hollywood - MSNBC.com
Despite protestations to the contrary, there is a fair chance that Vanity Fair has lighten Beyonce’s skin. Magazines have been lightning Black folks skins for decades; I guess they thought we wouldn’t notice, or just blame it on lighting. It’s a shame that that in 2005 the face of beauty still has to come wrapped in a white or near off-white package in order to be appreciated.

Black—or-brown—is beautiful and every time I look at my wife I sigh, she is so damn beautiful!

CNN.com - Chertoff, Chao promote guest worker program - Oct 18, 2005

2005-10-18T12:49:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Chertoff, Chao promote guest worker program - Oct 18, 2005
All I can say is: it’s about time! The U.S. immigration policy has been just plain stupid for far too long; an illegal immigrant should be an illegal immigrant no matter what his or her nationality. It has taken the Bush Administration far too long to address this issue; it is now some four years after 9/11 and we are just now moving to close our Southern Border!!

But for all of the bravado this announcement entailed, predictably a crucial element was missing; namely a promised crackdown on employers who employ illegal aliens. After all without jobs, there would be little reason to risk life and limb to come here. And no I do not buy the argument that illegal aliens are filling jobs Americans do not want. Granted they may be true in some very low level service jobs, but not in industries such as construction, warehousing, food service, call centers, highway construction, and other (living wage) jobs that have traditionally gone to lower class or teenage Americans. The runaway greed of American business must be addressed with equal vigor if the illegal immigration problem is ever going to brought under control.

CNN.com - E-mails show FEMA infighting, frustration - Oct 18, 2005

2005-10-18T07:06:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - E-mails show FEMA infighting, frustration - Oct 18, 2005

It is quite clear to the American citizen that Bush’s culture of incompetence has permeated every corner of the Federal Government save the military and they have had their moment over the last five years. FEMA used to be a government agency that worked and worked well; not so under Bush and the Republican regime.

There is general feeling among those of us who did not vote for Bush (those of use still capable of rational and reasoned thought) that the man has ruined our country—both internationally and domestically; the can do country and society has devolved into the cannot nation. Bush’s mediocrity has sickened the nation with a cancer, and it will take bold leadership to cure it. Bush’s lack of leadership, intellect, vision, wisdom, and inability to see beyond his arrogant nose has led us to this place. But I don’t blame him, he never claimed to be a deep thinker and has proved this time and again; I blame the people who were dim-witted enough to put him in the White House, not once, but twice. Shame on you!

CNN.com - Bush's job rating continues to drop - Oct 17, 2005

2005-10-17T19:17:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Bush's job?rating continues to drop - Oct 17, 2005
I would cry if I weren’t so happy! Gloat, gloat, gloat! I wonder how many, if any Republicans are having buyer’s remorse? Its still hard for me to believe that more then half the voting public reelected this Moron to a second term…

Iraqi constitution seems likely to pass - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

2005-10-16T14:55:00.000-05:00

Iraqi constitution seems likely to pass - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com
And so it begins, and continues, but to what end, to what end? Given the s0-called low level Civil War already underway in Iraq, can a piece of paper no matter how noble really make a difference of the people do not believe in its cause? The Iraqi Constitution is already flawed, and as written has already sowed the seeds of oppression into the soured soil of the fledging Iraqi democracy.

I have long asserted that the tough decisions have yet to be made. There is a logical division within the failed Iraqi stated that with the right guidance, leadership and vision (never happen) could divided into three separate and equal states. To my thinking, this is the only way to bring real lasting peace to the war-ravaged country.

CNN.com - Crowds gather?for Millions More Movement - Oct 15, 2005

2005-10-15T20:02:00.000-05:00

CNN.com - Crowds gather?for Millions More Movement - Oct 15, 2005
I am not sure what to think of the Million More March on Washington DC in view of the fact tat the Million Man Mach didn’t amount to any tangible change in the life of Black American males. Nor did it do much to change the fortunes of Black American families. There are stall far too many Black American families headed by Black women, and still far too many or our brethren in prison.

I think it is disingenuous of Farrakhan and the gang to charge America with “criminal neglect,” without taking the Major of New Orleans to task as well. It was he and not the federal government who was responsible for evacuating his city. I think the whole exercise is a waste of time and energy. What good will come of it all, probably nothing, but time will tell…