~ NEWS FLASH ~ BUSH SAYS WE'RE OIL ADDICTS

Neocon hypocrisy hit a new low Tuesday night after our Texas oilman president and allegedly "recovering" boozer and coke head George Bush, pointed out that we Americans are "addicted to oil".

Isn't that a bit like your crack dealer telling you you're a drug addict?

Bush - the man who did more than anyone to get us in this mess - has the gall to TELL us to look ourselves in the mirror and admit that we have an oil addiction.

Because the blame certainly does not lie with his administration who just happens to be in the pocket of the oil lobby.

The blame doesn't lie with Bin Laden family friend Bush Sr. who has met with more Mideast leaders to cut oil deals than any other former president in history.

The blame doesn't lie with Dick Cheney who mapped out an energy policy by excluding the input of conservationists and appointing a committee that included indicted Enron exec Ken Lay and oil company CEO's. A committee whose report was so damning Cheney took Justice Scalia duck hunting to make sure the report was never made public.

The blame doesn't lie with Dubya, who has declawed every conservation law on the books and gutted funding for alternative energy research.

The blame doesn't lie with the republican controlled congress who has backed every law promoting increased oil use (including drilling in the pristine Alaskan wildlife refuge) while voting against any incentives to reduce U.S. dependence on Mideast oil.

The blame doesn't lie with the auto companies who have heavily marketed gas guzzling SUV's for two decades while stubbornly refusing to produce more energy efficient vehicles.

The blame doesn't lie with oil companies who have raked in billions at the expense of our country's economic viability and national security.

And the blame certainly doesn't lie with those who lied about WMD's in order to get us into the Iraq war, all the while promising that Iraqi oil production would quickly pay for the war and provide us with a virtually endless supply of cheap oil.

The blame lies with US, the American people - because we are addicted to oil.

Hell, I'll drink to that.

The L-Word

Thanks to JACK abrahamOFF, we now have another L-Word to join the pantheon of etymological monikers that make people cringe, rage or otherwise shutter. For along with “lesbian” and “liberal” we can now add the right wing’s latest contribution – “lobbying”. Admittedly, influence peddling has not been an art form relegated solely to republicans and it isn’t today either. However, by partnering with Big Business to create a literally corporate controlled government, the republican-led congress has taken the act of selling legislation and votes to new and unprecedented realms. The congressional country club goes a long way toward explaining how out of touch our government has become to the struggles of average Americans. The cruelty of legislation coming out of Washington reflects a level of arrogance that is nothing short of astounding. Several examples include recently enacted bankruptcy laws that favor unscrupulous lenders who drive customers into debt with easy credit. This legislation creates a new underclass of financial slaves. People who have been enticed into getting themselves deeper and deeper in debt and who now have little recourse or ability to dig themselves out from under it.

Additionally, the Bush administration's contempt for government has created a deficit that threatens to plunge our country into its own debt-induced nightmare. This is the conservative solution to creating "smaller" government. By burdening the nation with debt, legislators then have an excuse to gut "liberal" social programs. The idea here is to literally drown our government in a budget deficit of tsunami-like proportions. However, in true conservative fashion, money is no object when it comes to spending on war. The $2 trillion fiasco in Iraq, largely financed by government debt, has been Bush’s way of financially euthanizing the U.S. government. Now who says Bush doesn't believe in assisted suicide? In any case, it's easy to see how one could persuasively argue that this financial recklessness has far exceeded any terrorist inflicted damage to the United States. Of course one must first suspend some disbelief in order to convince themselves that Bush himself isn't a terrorist.

All of these shenanigans largely benefit, first and foremost, Big Business. What I’ve mentioned are just a few of the myriad legislative acts perpetrated over the past five years that harm average citizens and help corporations. Debt slaves and the “off shoring” of American jobs make for a wonderfully desperate and powerless labor force. Reduced environmental regulation and the corporate welfare inherent in a military industrial complex are the hallmarks of our new corporate led government. None of this could have been achieved without the help of corrupt legislators bought outright by Big Business via a loophole-ridden lobbying system.

So now the bums are finally caught with their hands in the cookie jar. And like the vermin they are they’re scrambling like cockroaches to escape their sudden exposure to the switched-on kitchen light. But instead of scurrying under counters or behind appliances they seek cover behind meaningless lobbying reform. Republicans and democrats alike are engaged in a bidding war to “fix the system” knowing full well that the legislative "reforms" they are suddenly touting will do nothing to change the institutionalized bribery in Washington. The only silver lining I see is for shareholders of Proctor & Gamble, makers of Pepto-Bismol. Why? Because the nausea-inducing hypocrisy of congressional criminals now offering solutions for reform is bound to spur a nationwide feeding frenzy on the famous pink liquid. These creeps should be “run out of town on a rail” (to quote Mr. Potter from “It’s a Wonderful Life”). Instead, it looks to be like more business as usual in Washington where once again the American people are the real “losers” - an L-Word that will likely be a final addition to the Alphabet Hall of Shame.

American Irony

Why has individuality become so unfashionable lately? Although I can’t prove it, I sense it has a strong correlation to both the rise of political and social conservatism and religious fundamentalism. Cultural repression is not the byproduct of these; it is their Blue Plate Special. Historically, individuality in a culture of extreme conservatism usually gets you in big trouble. For many (Oscar Wilde springs to mind) it buys new lodgings - usually smallish accommodations with cheap furniture and bad lighting.

Present day America seems to be especially susceptible to this war on independence, individuality and “uniqueness” (for lack of a better word). What is shocking is how suddenly all this has come about. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were told, “don’t be afraid to change”, “dare to be different”, or Apple Computer’s famously ungrammatical “Think Different”? We once celebrated the diversity of America as a cultural asset that made us better than homogeneous societies. Our individual differences and those ideas we brought from the varied cultures of whence we sprung opened the doors to free thought and expression. These concepts don’t work with political and religious conservatism. It is all about fitting in. If you are different and don’t at least make a great attempt to hide those differences (i.e. don’t ask, don’t tell) you are, at best, ostracized and at worst, damned for eternity.

How did we get here? Isn’t this what we all came to America to get away from?

After some thought, I have my own idea about why we are so susceptible to this dangerous groupthink that damns individuality, intellectual rebelliousness and free thought. Many American’s have ancestors who did not come here by choice. They were plucked from their homeland and brought here against their will. That is a factor of our culture so broad in scope that this short article is not worthy to address it, so I won’t begin to try. However, virtually everyone else in America left their native homeland to come here or is descended from those who did. We did so not because we had socially conquered the societies we came from and had nothing better to do. Sorry folks, we were not the belles of the ball or stars of the society pages. That being said, let’s get something straight. We are a nation of castoffs. We were the bottom rungs of our homelands, the political prisoners, the oppressed, the poor and the huddled masses yearning to be free. There! I said it! So what!

When we start to embrace this rather than frantically try to hide it, we shed a cultural neurosis that is a huge burden on our country today. Materialism, alcoholism, racism, violence, intolerance in the guise of religion, workaholic behavior, eating disorders, OCD – each of these are the byproducts of a sick society. We are sick because we don’t accept ourselves for what we really are. We are trying so hard to fit in because we (or our ancestors) didn’t fit in with the people and places we ran away from. We all came here with a chip on our shoulders. “I’m gonna show them. I’ll have more money and a bigger house than they do. I’ll be something someday. They’ll see, those elitist bastards!” We are obsessed with attaining the status we didn’t have as “huddled masses”. So we weren’t included on the guest list - get over it.

We have become the oppressors we ran away from. Just as oppression begets oppression, Elitism begets more elitism and ultimately we become that which we most despise. It is a deliciously American irony. Religious fundamentalism, political conservatism and the resulting loss of tolerance in our society is just another name for fitting in at all costs. God forbid we be different or question that which we know in our hearts to be wrong. It’s truly sad that most people aren’t willing to point out the cow manure we’re all standing in. I refuse to ignore the stench of hypocrisy and intolerance in America today. As a result I don’t necessarily “fit in”. It’s not always comfortable; it’s not always easy. It used to bother me a lot, that need to fit in. It bothers me less now. I probably suffer in my own way because of it but I’d suffer a lot more by selling out. True freedom for me comes from not really needing to get society’s approval. I’m not great at it. Heck, I’m not even good at it. But I’m getting better. I hope in this season of celebrating peace and sharing with others, we allow ourselves the joy of shedding the need for approval from a dysfunctional society. It is truly liberating to do so. Our petty need for societal approval is the nemesis of free thought and perhaps the demise of our culture.

More Deception From The White House

I've made the parrallel between Bush and Nixon before but this is getting creepy. 31 years after Nixon resigned following Watergate and 25 years, to the month, after John Lennon's murder, the current president is embroiled in a scandal involving illegal wiretaps and the Pentagon is caught collecting data on anti-war peaceniks. As you may or may not remember, Nixon did some of his own secret wiretap dances and John Lennon's outspoken advocacy for peace got him his very own dossier at the FBI and no doubt a captive audience for his many telephonic performances.

Anyone who is still not convinced that this is the most secretive and ethically impaired White House since the Nixon administration is either completely divorced from reality or more dangerously, believes this administration isn't accountable to its own laws. I am relieved that a number of people from Bush's own party are at least feigning shock and awe at recent revelations of his secret "subpoena-free" and apparently illegal wiretaps on American citizens.

Apparently the courts are a burdensome impediment in the war on terror. I mean come on people we're trying to save freedom, liberty and "justice for all" here. We don't have time for silly warrants and court orders. Those are the luxuries of peacetime and in case George Bush hasn't reminded you in the last 10 minutes, we are at war you know. Besides, subpoenas are for liberal pussies like Ted Kennedy anyway.

Now having the benefit of hindsight, it appears the inferno that took down the World Trade Center was hot enough to incinerate the Constitution because, under this administration, it has become an increasingly irrelevant relic of a more naive era in American history.

So here we are. It's deja vu all over again as George W. Bush once again struggles to squirm his way free from a web of his own making. The boy who cried wolf has become president and the American public is once again subjected to more lies and deception. Bush is yet again lashing out at the media for doing its job, which includes exposing the facts of a secretive government. He justified the secrecy of his wiretap program not because it might actually be illegal but because we have to keep our methods secret from the terrorist. Does he really think we're going to buy this crap from him yet again? Bush continues operating under the influence of irresponsibility - where unfettered power and a complete departure from the fundamental checks and balances inherent in our government is the only way to "protect the American people".

George, YOU are the terrorist we need protection from.

I hope the shock emanating from republicans in Congress is genuine and that yet another investigation is launched into the comings and goings of this White House and what now appears to be an impeachable offense.

This story isn't over. Bush's many ethical fender benders have finally ended in a head-on collision. It was bound to happen. Ever since he was elected, Bush Jr. has been taking the credibility of our government on a drunken joy ride.

Torture And The Karmic Boomerang

What a surprise!

Add this to the growing list of Bush-related foreign policy blunders and deceptions.

The New York Times reports that the Bush administration based its account of a pre 9/11 link between Iraq and Al Qaeda on statements provided by an Egyptian prisoner who arrived in the land of the Nile all expenses paid via the CIA express. Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess why the U.S. sent him to Egypt or what lovely vacation accomodations awaited him. I'm sure this guy was no angel - but that's beside the point. The U.S. policy of "torture by proxy" has again proved itself suspect since the prisoner later admitted (this time not under duress) that he fabricated his assertions in order to escape harsh treatment at the hands of his captors.

"The new disclosure provides the first public evidence that bad intelligence on Iraq may have resulted partly from the administration's heavy reliance on third countries to carry out interrogations of Qaeda members and others detained as part of American counterterrorism efforts."

Does all of this sound vaguely familiar? It should. As you may recall the other major reason for our invading Iraq was a specious claim of an imminent attack on the U.S. by an Iraqi dictator with huge stockplies of WMD's. Turns out this too was based on fabricated evidence in the form of phony documents from Niger's embassy that suggested Saddam was shopping for Uranium.

Karma isn't just a new-age mantra chanted by yoga-infused spiritual wanna-be's on the West Coast. It is a very real phenomenon that exists in most every religion and secular philosphy. It's called other things. The Golden Rule, vindication, judgement day, "you get what you give". Call it whatever you want, its truth has been well proven over the millenia.

You see, Curious George, what happened with your fallacious Egyptian lead is what the experts mean when they say "torture doesn't work". Beyond that however, is a little thing called morals and values. It is the other pillar you rested your argument on for the invasion of Iraq. That pillar crumbled long ago. Are all these things starting to sink in, George?

Karma is a boomerang. If there is one thing that gets me to the next day in these horrible times it is the fact that this too shall pass. That through this darkness will come the light of reason. I do believe everything (even the current evil at home and abroad) happens for a reason. Obviously this country has much to learn and can only do so through the painful process of experience. It is my fervent hope that we learn our lessons now, for the other thing I believe is this; the lessons you don't learn now are the ones you're destined to repeat, over and over, until you do. History only repeats itself because of simple human obstinance. Humility and a willingness to learn from experience on a global scale would allow us to finally make a new and better history. Unfortunately, for now that is not meant to be. And that, my friends, is Karma.

A Victory In The War (on words)

Ok, so maybe there is no correlation but last week I posted a piece that questioned the makeup of the Iraqi insurgency. No, they haven't switched from Maybelline to Max Factor. Rather, the fact that the insurgency is mostly Iraqi's trying to rid their country of unwanted occupiers and not a mythical cadre of international terrorists that Bush's propaganda machine would have us believe.

Well, coincidentally, a week following my post, the Bush administration is no longer referring to an insurgency. Below are excerpts, from a recent post by Arianna Huffington titled, Bush's New Plan for Victory: Stop Saying 'Insurgents':

So “the insurgency” really is in its “last throes”.
No, not the effort to drive U.S. forces America out of Iraq -- that continues unabated. I’m talking about the Bush administration’s decision to stop using the words "insurgency” and “insurgent” to describe the rebel forces…
Yesterday, Donald Rumsfeld said that “over the weekend” he’d had “an epiphany” that “this is a group of people who don’t merit the word ‘insurgency’”…
President Bush apparently had the same epiphany because in today’s big speech on Iraq he went to great pains to rebrand the enemy…
So “insurgents” are out and “rejectionists, Saddamists, and terrorists” are in…. While calling them “the smallest” of the enemy groups, they are still clearly Bush’s favorite: he mentioned “terrorists” 42 times in his speech

Well isn't that special. Keep tuning in people - I'm telling you, I know what I'm talking about! And maybe its even making a difference (well at least I'm going to pretend it is!)

p.s. Mark my words. Karl Rove's days are numbered.

A Manifesto For Government Reform Part 4 of 4

This is the final installment of our weeklong series on government reform.

Problem #4: Party Hack ≠ Election Commissioner

.....................The Face That Launched a Reform Movement

You may recall (no pun intended) Katherine Harris, Hanging Chad’s best friend and the other iconic symbol of Election 2000 Republican Party hackery. She infiltrated and perverted Florida’s election process in the most sublime and unscrupulous manner imaginable. She did everything possible to prevent a recount short of personally shredding the ballots herself. “Never again!” are the words that spring to mind when I think of old Wicked Witch of the South. Yet incredibly, party chairs continue to assume the roles of Election Commissioners, Secretaries of State and Certifiers of Ballots (remember Ohio ’04?). This, unlike computer voting machines IS a no brainer. Remove party hacks from the election process altogether and do it YESTERDAY. Give states leeway in how they want to conduct state and local elections but for national elections all states should maintain relative consistency of the electoral process. Although it has been the idea du jour since 9/11, a cabinet level non-partisan Department of Elections may not be such a bad idea. Something akin to the non-political Federal Reserve although without presidential appointment, having instead, perhaps a bipartisan board with equal party representation. This department would be tasked with instituting all manner of election reforms and oversight. This body would be to the election process what the SEC has so successfully been to the process of underwriting, issuing and trading securities.

Just a Couple Constitutional Amendments
So that’s my two cents on election and lobbying reform. Will it happen? I doubt it but we’ve begun the conversation and that’s a start. So with that, I will leave you with two other electoral reform ideas. Both are, I admit, pipe dreams that I never expect to come to fruition but who knows? Pipe dream number one is getting rid of the Electoral College. Everyone seems to think they know what the Founding Fathers “intended” (and I frankly cringe every time I hear it) but I truly believe that if the old dudes could witness our current election process they would agree the Electoral College has outlived its usefulness (if it ever had any) and needs to go! Sorry Sam Alito, I’m a “one person, one vote” kinda guy. It is patently unfair that urban regions, who pay far more of the tax revenues it takes to run the country, should be further abused by a vote apportioning system that is rigged against them. Under the Electoral College, rural voters get somewhere on the order of two votes to every one urban vote. It is condescending and arrogant to think that we don’t all know who benefits from this lopsided equation. Having an election process, which the majority of voters perceive as unfair, undermines the integrity of the whole system. The result is voter apathy, which compounds the problem of disproportionate representation. Those with votes that count as double will go to the polls while those with votes that count less will stay home. This will only last for so long. Sooner or later, if we don’t fix this someone smarter and decidedly less conservative than Karl Rove will find their own way to get around the Electoral College.

Finally, forget the marriage amendment, we should amend the Constitution such that U.S. citizens no longer have a right to vote but an obligation to do so. In other words, you want to live here, you have to get up off your fat ass once every two years and go vote. I see it as a small price to pay for liberty. And if you don’t meet your constitutional obligation to vote, you have to pay a fine, get deported, or listen to Celine Dion non-stop for a week. I guess the latter punishment would violate that darn “cruel and unusual” clause though wouldn’t it? Oh well, if we’re only dreaming what’s one more constitutional amendment?

A Manifesto For Government Reform Part 3 of 4

This is the third of a 4-part article being serialized over as 4 days.

Problem #3: The Hanging Chad

We all remember the hanging chads. That iconic symbol of just how archaic, unfair and broken our electoral system was (and still is). We all know most of the issues here and I won’t waste bits and bytes rehashing them all. What I will say is that electronic voting is light-years ahead of paper punch. However, as any company that has migrated from paper filing to computer systems will tell you, it ‘ain’t a no-brainer. There are a myriad of problems when a paper ballot become a series of bits on a hard drive. A couple of these problems include outsourcing the development and monitoring of electronic voting systems, or administrators who don’t understand the programs and how the systems work. The process by which contracts for computer voting systems are awarded is an area that, left unchecked, is ripe for abuse. How are recounts administered? Should we supply voters with paper printouts? Fraud is much easier when one moves from the paper world to the cyber world. Ideally, election reform should actually fix the system rather than breaking it further. People joked after the last presidential election that Diebold, longtime Bush contributors, "programmed" their electronic voting machines such that all votes were fed to Karl Rove’s laptop computer.

(By the way, did we ever figure out whether Dubya was wired for audio assistance during the second presidential debate?)

Hopefully, the Diebold joke was just that but it does, at an extreme, highlight the potential for abuse and the ease of computerized vote tampering. Regardless, I think that getting rid of hanging chads is a good start.

More importantly, we should develop a national “Voter’s Bill of Rights”. This should include better-trained and more closely monitored poll volunteers, as well as easier access for elderly, handicapped and others who need assistance getting to polling stations. And by all means, relatively short wait times for all voters. Local election commissions should be held accountable if they overly restrict the access of “certain” voters, engage in outright voter intimidation, or create unreasonably long lines at “certain” polling locations. We can pretty much all agree that these things are inexcusable but in reality there have been few negative consequences for those who undermine the election process. Now I realize many localities are financially strapped and for this reason, are not able to accommodate large numbers of voters. It is for this reason that the way we fund the voting process needs to change. I’m not sure there is an easy answer to this problem but perhaps we should take some of the obscene amounts of money currently lining the coffers of the candidates and funnel some of it to pay for the election process itself, so that ALL districts can afford to properly plan, manage, and monitor their polling places. We have to send the message that anything less than free and fair voting for all will not be tolerated. If Fedex can manage to deliver a letter anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours and do it every day of the year – than all citizen, regardless of race, locality or socioeconomic status, should be able to cast a vote within an hour, one day out of 730.

To be continued...

A Manifesto For Government Reform Part 2 of 4

This is the second of a four-part article being serialized over 4 days.

Problem #2: Good Old Influence Peddling

Money has always been the grease the moves the wheels in politics. However, the blatant corruption and level of congressional dancing on the fine line of ethical misconduct is reaching a point not achieved since the Democrats maintained majorities in both houses. Goes to show that corruption is about the only bipartisan phenomenon in Washington. What to do, what to do? Here we can take a page from the conveniently recent and numerous corporate scandals. One of the things they have reminded us is that all the laws in the world aren’t going to change things if no one follows those laws to begin with. Corruption is, by definition, a flouting of laws. It is especially unsavory when the lawbreakers are the very people who write them in the first place. The answer here is less obvious but no less simple. Clearly, corruption begets corruption. In any organization, individuals are going to take their ethical cues from everyone else around them. If you are driving on the highway and everyone is going 65 mph you are far less likely to speed than if everyone is driving 90 mph. It is for this reason that I put much of the blame on the Bush Administration and the Republican majority in congress. Now I know that Democrats have an equally pathetic ethical track record but they are not currently the party in power. Yes, Wright, Rostenkowski and their cronies were the Tom DeLays and Bill Frists of their day, but the Democrats aren’t running the show right now, the Republican’s are. If you want marquee billing you’re going to have to accept responsibility when the critics pan you in Washington Follies. Since Republicans control three houses, they are the ones who must set the tone for what is tolerated in Washington. Beginning with the obscene election of 2000 it’s been “anything goes” in the ethics department ever since. Unlike redistricting however, this is a problem that the system will most likely remedy on its own when a truly rip-roaring angry electorate throws the incumbent Congress out of office, en mass.

That being said, lobbyists are out of control and desperately need to be reigned in while still allowing constituencies to have fair and equal access to members of Congress. The concept of lobbying is a good one. However, well-heeled lobbyists shouldn’t have better access than anyone else. If anything, lobbyist access should be based on proportional representation and the size of the constituencies they represent, not the number of perks they throw at legislators. A better effort needs to be made to remove big money from the political process. When drilling in Alaska (something that polls have shown a huge majority is against) becomes a likely political outcome simply because those in favor are deep-pocketed corporations; you know the current system isn’t working. In fact, in the current money-driven system, when individual interests go up against corporate interests, big business is going to win every single time. So the simple prescription is to make tougher laws (something Congress wants us to think it’s really good at) and increase oversight of both lobbyists and legislators. The current laissez-faire or “hands off” philosophy of government clearly doesn’t work. Contrary to what conservatives would like us to think, government oversight is necessary and probably one of the only areas of government that has actually gotten smaller under George W. Bush.


So why are we electing people to write our laws who clearly have nothing but contempt for them? This is the catch-22. We are doing so because the system is broken. But we can’t fix the system until our election process better reflects the will of the people. But our election process won’t reflect the will of the people until we fix it. And that, my friends, is the lovely little quandary our democracy is in.

To be continued...

A Manifesto For Government Reform Part 1 of 4

This is the first of a four-part article to be serialized over the next 4 days.

Corruption in politics is nothing new to the United States. In fact, our country’s long and sordid history of back room, wink and nudge, quid pro quo politics has become so ubiquitous to our understanding of the political process that it has become largely cliché. From the Tammany Hall scandal in the 1800’s to the infamous presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, corruption in politics is as American as steroids in baseball. As a result, American’s have become desensitized to the buying of influence and votes in Washington while simultaneously outraged to an extent unprecedented in recent history.

Admittedly, some of you may be thinking that we’ve witnessed many political reforms in this country and you would be absolutely correct in doing so. Women’s suffrage, civil rights, better access to education, labor involvement, the grass-roots political movement, student protest and many other factors have brought previously disenfranchised groups into the political process for better or worse (depending largely on where your political allegiance lies). But once you’ve had fresh, frozen never tastes quite as good. People who finally become a part of the process only to later feel disconnected from it are going to be a lot more upset than if they never felt empowered to begin with. It is perhaps for this reason that the recent actual or perceived rise of political scandals, big money lobbying, ethical breaches and electoral problems have left a particularly sour taste in the mouths of so many Americans. So the question becomes, are we finally, like the anchor Howard Beale in Network, "Mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore"? Is this the beginning of true government reform? One can only hope. The U.S. political system is broken to the point of embarrassment. What is so remarkable, though, is how easy the system would be to fix with a little bipartisan cooperation. Are we, as a nation ready to commit to such a task?

A Few BIG Problems
There are a myriad of problems with our legislative and electoral system and some of them (like the electoral college) are unlikely to be fixed anytime soon. However, I've isolated 3 or 4 big problems that would be relatively easy to fix, moving us a long way toward taking money, fraud, voter apathy and disproportionate representation out of national politics.

Problem #1: Redistricting Redux
One of the biggest and easiest-to-fix problems in our political system is the fact that the electoral process, for reasons so obvious they don’t bear outlining, should be completely bipartisan, fair and unbiased. If you are like me, you probably naively thought it was - until the 2000 election made us all instant experts on just how partisan, party-driven and inconsistent the whole process of electing our leaders really is. A feature of many U.S. electoral maps has been the gerrymander: electoral districts drawn, sometimes ludicrously, to favor one party over another. This is a defect in the electoral system that both parties have taken advantage of. Gerrymandering is hardly new, I've included a cartoon that pokes fun of the ridiculously serpentine district map of Massachusetts in 1812.

Over the past 8-10 years, Republicans have reaped the benefits of partisan redistricting on the national level, winning consistent majorities in congress and two successive terms in the White House. On more local levels, partisan redistricting has allowed many states, counties and municipalities to keep one party in power for generations. Earlier this month both California and Ohio had hugely unsuccessful election reform initiatives to make the drawing of district maps more bipartisan. This doesn’t bode well for future reforms in this area but stay tuned. The fact that this previously obscure topic is now in the forefront of national consciousness is a very positive sign. Here the fix itself is pretty easy, its actually getting it implemented that is the real challenge.

To Be Continued...

The Terrorist Insurgency?

The following excerpts are from Vice President Cheney’s recent speech to the American Enterprise Institute:

“…and the terrorists hope to overturn Iraq’s democratic government and return that country to the rule of tyrants. The terrorists believe that by controlling an entire country, they will be able to target and overthrow other governments in the region.”

“…those who advocate a sudden withdrawal from Iraq should answer a few simple questions: Would the United States and other free nations be better off, or worse off, with Zarqawi, bin Laden, and Zawahiri in control of Iraq?”

“It is a dangerous illusion to suppose that another retreat by the civilized world would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone. In fact such a retreat would convince the terrorists that free nations will change our policies, forsake our friends, abandon our interests whenever we are confronted with murder and blackmail. A precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would be a victory for the terrorists, an invitation to further violence against free nations, and a terrible blow to the future security of the United States of America.”

“Our forces will keep going after the terrorists, and continue training the Iraqi military, so that Iraqis can eventually take the lead in their country’s security and our men and women can come home.”

“But this nation has made a decision: We will not retreat in the face of brutality, and we will never live at the mercy of tyrants or terrorists.”

Cheney’s entire line of argument suggests that we are fighting a terrorist insurgency in Iraq. Yet the reality is entirely different. A recent report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) concludes that 90% of the “insurgents” are Iraqi’s.

The Iraqi insurgency is, for the most part, NOT made up of terrorist. They are not foreigners infiltrating borders. They are Iraqi citizens who believe we are aggressors and occupiers and want us the hell out of their country!!

Sen. Murtha and others know that leaving Iraq now will immediately end the "insurgency" because the "insurgents" are not terrorists trying to establish a sanctuary to plot and stage terrorist attacks. That is wartime propaganda brought to you by the same people who lied in order to secure a U.S. presence in Iraq to begin with. The same people who, without a shred of remaining credibility, are lashing out at anyone who suggests a better way of dealing with this nightmare. The Iraqi people do not consider us liberators. They consider us unwelcome aggressors who are plundering their country. It is becoming increasingly apparent that they are correct.

If we do not even have the backing of the people we are supposedly "liberating", our continued presence in Iraq puts our foreign policy and national security in further and deeper jeopardy with each passing day.

Bush Now An Official Liability To His Party

Following last Tuesday's election results around the country there is, for the first time in his presidency, clear-cut electoral evidence that George Bush is officially a drag on the republican party. His last minute cameo in Virginia, followed by the decisive defeat of that state's republican gubernatorial candidate, is evidence of Bush's arrogance and obliviousness. A president with approval rating in the high 20s to low 30s has no business stumping for republicans who should have "just said no".
This is what happens when fundamentalism and greed, in the form of laissez-faire run rampant, combine with the military industrial complex. If this administration isn't a conspiracy of big money special interests, I don't know what is. It represents every failure inherent in our comendable but highly broken political system. So the fact that Fearless Puppet is officially a political liability is the best news I've heard in 5 long years.
George Bush is now "Box Office Poison". He probably already took the pruning shears to some defenseless "bush" (ironic, no?) in the Rose Garden ala Joan Crawford. For the moment at least, I'm thinking he won't recover. He will play defense as Lamo Ducko for the next 3 LONG years and we'll have blissful Washington Gridlock. A scenario that, with no pending: "American Revolution, The Sequel" on the horizon, is about the best we can hope for.
These are all positive developments for those of us addicted to reality, common sense and human decency. Bush and everything he represents is evil (in my humble opinion) and represents the epitome of everything that is antithecal to this country's values. So, either I am more out of touch than he is, in which case these scumbags really do represent this country's values (in which case I should start my holiday immigration shopping) or we are FINALLY getting some vindication that the system really does work - that a junta of well-financed special interests doesn't fly and that, in relatively short order, the current perversion of democracy will be an important and infamous historical landmark for many years to come. A political landmark of what happens when we don't properly safeguard the hard-won governmental institutions, put in place over many generations, that protect the interests of the common people. Institutions that are often the only check against the ever present threat of extremism and manipulation by the rich and powerful, whose hatred of true democracy is second only to their greed.

Bush is now an official liability to the republican party - and an embarrassment to the nation. That inescapable realization may well be the start of something better for all of us.

Fascism: Now & Then

Hey Kids!
Are you tired of rap music?
Sick of the same old reality TV?
Is huffing paint losing it's novelty?

Well, guess what?

Neo Fascism's all the rage these days!!

It's easier to learn than Disco dancing.
More fun than protesting!
And you don't have to wear tie-dye!!
Older folks can join in too!
It's the political ideology that brings the whole family together!
So dust off your monicle, iron your swastika and shine those marching boots!
You'll be goose-stepping in no time!
For your convenience and viewing pleasure we've included a handy photo montage that will help orient you to the "new" old fad that's really a hit!!

*

. NOW ........&......... THEN

Propoganda Ministers Rove and Goebbels

*

NOW ......&... THEN

Masters of Torture Rumsfeld and Himmler

*

NOW ...&... THEN

Guantanamo Condi and Bergen-Belsen Bothe

*

NOW ..&0... THEN

Deputy Fuhrers Cheney and Goering

*

AND LAST BUT OF COURSE LEAST...

*

NOW .....&....... THEN

Monkey Boy and Uncle Adolf

VH1 Presents: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ~ ~ The Founding Fathers

Benjamin Franklin

Ben's appearances have been substantially limited lately as he remains sporadically plagued with bouts of rheumatism. He turns 300 in January (making him almost as old as Joan Rivers). Health permitting, he plans to "party-downward" at the start of next year. "You only turn 300 once in your life and dammit, I'm still fond of the ladies and they are still fond of me."

Following the disasterous presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, Ben eliminated the electoral college because, as he put it, "Aside from the whoppee cushion and healthcare, it was the stupidest invention I ever had."

George Washington

Following the "Washington Scandal" in the year..well, pick any...George got fed up with politics and went back to his farm in Virginia.

George has reportedly mellowed in his old age and friends say he is much more pleasant to be around. His live-in nurse put it this way, "He says it's because he doesn't have to commute to work anymore. I think it's the fact that he finally got rid of those rotted wooden teeth and got himself some of them fancy dental implants. I mean the guy's been eating nothing but applesauce for 250 years! Wouldn't you be moody? One things for sure, his breath is a lot better."

Alexander Hamilton

Many people aren't aware that aside from being the first Treasury Secretary, Alexander (Al, by his friends) founded the Bank of New York in 1784 as America's first nationally chartered financial institution and the oldest U.S. Company still operating under its original charter.

Alexander still works as a part-time teller for the bank. "Well, it was either this or collecting shopping carts at Wal-Mart." However, his 3% annual salary increases have really added up and he is currently making $48 billion a year. "Don't you just love compound interest?"

John Hancock

"Ah, the signature." sighs John in a recent appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. "No matter what I accomplish, its what I'll always be remembered for. I guess there are worse things. I'm very lucky. I have my health, a great career and a boyfriend who really cares about me. My signature wasn't the only thing flamboyant about me Ellen and it feels so good to finally be honest about my sexuality."

Yes, not only was John Hancock once governor of Massachusetts, he was instrumental in the recent adoption of the state's same-sex marriage rights. "I am Mitt Romney's worst nightmare" he boasts. When John isn't stumping for gay-rights, he flourishes his creativity as a women's wear designer at the House of Dior.

Thomas Jefferson

A creature of habit, Tom still wears his powdered wig and has a strong disdain for today's short hairstyles.

In 1998, Tom was forced to declare personal bankruptcy after it was found that he owed child support to 67 million mixed-race American's who could genetically prove they were his direct descendants.

Never before displayed to the public, Tom wrote a very rough early draft of the Declaration of Independence. Below is an original proof, heavily edited by Ben Franklin.

That's all for this weeks episode of VH1 Presents: Where are they Now?. Join us next week when we take an inside look at the current lives of the world's most notorious Dictators.

Copyright 2005. VH1 is a production of Viacom International. All rights reserved.

The REAL War

I’ve just come back from battle. Another wounded but victorious soldier of war. No, I wasn’t in Iraq. I was blogging. And the war I was fighting in is the culture war. The “right vs. left” war to end all wars. The REAL battleground for freedom and democracy.
It has similarities to Iraq. It is a war based on lies and deception. A war whose outcome is uncertain and purpose seems hazy and constantly shifting. A war where, like Iraq, one also scratches their head wondering who the REAL enemy is?
Like Iraq, this war has also been planned and executed by the current administration. George Bush and Karl Rove have engineered a strategy of cultural sabotage so effective they still control at least the tenor of political discourse in this country. They also control a very efficient army of conservative soldiers to advance their spin through effectively state-controlled communication channels. Is this any different from the infamously effective propaganda machine designed by Joseph Goebbels 70 years ago?
I don’t know. I am but a lowly blogger. One of thousands of my ilk who have taken up arms in a cyber-revolution that I see as no less than an attempt to save the republic. I am a minuteman, a patriot, an ornery New Englander with a loaded keyboard who is fed up with Redcoats from red states trying to steal my country.
The REAL War isn’t in Iraq (and I mean that with all due respect and reverence to the countless slaughter of soldiers and civilians of every nationality). The REAL War is here at home. It is a war equally perpetrated by this government. Political discourse has been reduced to screaming matches with no hope of either side changing anyone else’s mind. But that’s not even the point. The point is that by keeping Americans engaged in a “debate” about well, everything, you effectively prevent the electorate from honing in on a real crisis of leadership in this country. It is a political version of the Romulan cloaking device in Star Trek. While we’re bickering, Cheney is dickering, undetected and unaccountable. Deception and division are the weapons used by out-of-control conservatives who will do anything to maintain power and forward an agenda that is politically extreme, an affront to liberty and finally recognized as utterly suspect. Field Marshals and Generals mired in the blog, the time has come to rally your troops.

Color Me Skeptical

October 28, 2005 - A day to remember!

• It FINALLY happened!
  
• Indictment Day = Independence Day!
  
• Joy abounds in the hearts and minds of angry, fed up liberals around the country! We are finally getting some vindication after years of jaw-dropping arrogance and division from this corrupt administration!

Think Again
What have we really gotten? More arrogance, vindictiveness and division. Karl Rove gets away with murder once again. Bush and Cheney merely praise their indicted employee. No apology, no shakeup. No recognition of any problems whatsoever. Business as usual.

I myself am guilty of the following recent fantasies:

§ It really is going to be different this time.

§ America is finally waking up.

§ I think democrats are going to win in 2006 and 2008.

§ Bush is too extreme. He’s a puppet of the religious right and it is really beginning to turn off the vast majority of Americans.

etc., etc., etc.

Am I the only one who has a hangover from last week? Cause here’s the thing. Republicans are masters at “smoke and mirror” politics. I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned at least the timing of some of the recent mishaps a solid year before elections. This way they let off steam and then start the “deception process” again, with plenty of time to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people who are proving themselves to be utterly herd-like in their collective thinking.

We all know the litany of reasons why Bush and his goon squad are toast. I will grant you, things are looking incredibly bad for conservatives. Even republican pollsters and pundits are dismayed at how far and how rapidly things have gone wrong. The same individuals admit that it will be very difficult for Bush & Co. to turn things around in time to salvage election prospects in 2006 and 2008. DON’T BE FOOLED.

There is a long 12 months until the midterm elections. As horrible as they are at running the country, republicans are masterful at deception, lies and dirty tricks, all of which will help them greatly in the upcoming elections. Besides, many things can happen between now and the next elections. I wouldn’t put anything past these guys - including a "Wag The Dog" style “staged crisis” or “homeland security incident” so President Bullhorn can look like a hero and republicans can shift the political winds back in their favor.

We are living through scary times. I would like to believe that we are finally witnessing the implosion of the neo cons and their party of the ‘born again’. I am very skeptical. As far as political gain for the democrats, “the check is in the mail” isn’t going to work for me this time. I won’t exhale until these guys really are gone. Color me skeptical but I suggest not getting overly excited about recent events. American voters have a sorrowful track record of acquiring collective amnesia every first Tuesday of every other November.

George Bush As Jimmy Swaggart

George Bush Nominates Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court

What a suprise!! LAMO DUCKO, in nominating Alito, is performing his pennance for the Radical Religious Right (RRR) that totally control this puppet president. After the Miers fiasco, Bush is now doing his best Jimmy Swagart imitation with crocodile tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I have sinned against the right by choosing Miers. I have seen the error of my ways. But I promise to be a good puppet. PLEASE FORGIVE ME OH HOLY BIBLE THUMPERS. LET ME LICK YOUR CHRISTIAN NAZI BOOTS...WAAAAHHH!!"

What a LOSER.

AMERICANS SHOULD DEMAND ROVE'S RESIGNATION

Why Does Rove Still Have A White House Job?

I've heard a couple of times now that Scooter Libby is the first sitting White House official to be indicted since the Grant Administration's "Whiskey Ring" scandal in 1875. That can't be true, can it? What about Watergate?
It turns out that even Tricky Dick Nixon had more morals that George W. Bush. Nixon forced H.R. Haldeman, John Erlichman, and five other staff members to resign rather than be indicted in office. Bush continues to crave and depend on the succor of Karl Rove.
Pathetic.

How does a politically wounded, enormously unpopular, lame duck president get away without having to fire his "Minister of Dirty Tricks" following this unprecedented scandal?

Plamegate, like Watergate, obviously goes deeper than Rove and Libby. If Fitzgerald's investigation is truly ongoing, eventually Bush will be forced to eat his young and deep-six turd blossom to protect his own sorry ass. The key is to keep the pressure on. Bush and his cronies are banking on the fact that feeding Libby to the lions will close the book on this scandal. They are already "strategerizing" (bushspeak) Dubya's comeback. Americans should not let this happen.

Yesterday's indictment should launch a major White House investigation. If the Democrats have any balls at all, they will demand a further review of the case made for going to war and the subsequent cover-up by this administration. Congress authorized Bush to go to war under false pretenses. That is the REAL scandal.
WHEN IS AMERICA GOING TO STAND UP AND DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THIS RABBLE OF CROOKS THAT HAVE HIJACKED OUR COUNTRY???
Call and write your representatives in Congress. If the radical right can put the kibosh on Harriet Miers right out of the gate, we the people should be able to deep-six dough boy!!!

WE HAVE THE POWER TO THROW TEXAS TRASH OUT OF OFFICE. IT IS TIME TO STAND UP AND DEMAND BETTER LEADERSHIP IN THIS COUNTRY.

A Sad Day For America

INDICTMENT DAY

October 28, 2005

As much as I would like to relish any event that damages this evil administration, this is not the day to do it. This is a sad day for America for two reasons.

1. Karl Rove was not, and should have been, indicted. It appears highly unlikely that he will be indicted in the future. This dashes my hopes for a completely just conclusion to this disgusting saga and a free pass for a key player. Rove once again gets away with breaking the law.
2. This indictment is another example that all Americans are losers when we are led by unethical, greedy, corrupt, evil people who are willing to do anything to forward a dangerous agenda. These people may have very well damaged our country forever.

The consolation is that this does damage Bush politically. That point is a positive development. As I have said previously, I believe today's indictment is the beginning of the end of Bush's presidency and for that, I will tomorrow, be quietly grateful.

Why Is This Man Smiling?

WOULDN'T YOU BE SMILING IF YOUR COMPANY EARNED $10 BILLION IN 3 MONTHS?

EXXON CEO, JABBA THE HUT, DISCUSSES THE COMPANY'S STRATEGY FOR WORLD DOMINATION

Plame Speaking

THE VICE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

JUNE 2003

Apparently I Know What I'm Talking About

I'll try not to break my arm patting myself on the back but...
In a recent and quite well-written post (if I must say so myself) I stated:

"In the business world, mega corporations will realize they are too big and unwieldy and will eventually unwind... In fact, once there are no more good mergers left, investment banks will push spin-offs again so they can justify their purpose and continue filling their coffers simply by switching gears."

My predictions have materialized sooner than I thought:

"Cendant, the $18 billion conglomerate that was built through the acquisitions of dozens of the nation's most prominent businesses like Century 21, Avis, Days Inn and Orbitz, is planning a radical breakup into four different companies.
The move, which company announced today, is perhaps the most vivid acknowledgment that the latest era of conglomerates built through mergers and acquisitions may be over." [New York Times, 10/24/2005]

We'll see if my predictions on Rove and Libby are as equally prophetic.

Forget Illegals, Start Deporting Religious Radicals

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Cory Burnell wants to set up a Christian nation within the United States where abortion is illegal, gay marriage is banned, schools cannot teach evolution, children can pray to Jesus in public schools and the Ten Commandments are posted publicly.

To that end, Burnell, 29, left the Republican Party, moved from California and founded Christian Exodus two years ago with the goal of redirecting the United States by "redeeming" one state at a time.

First up for redemption is South Carolina.

Burnell hopes to move 2,500 Christians into the northern part of the state by next year and to persuade tens of thousands to relocate by 2016. His goal is to fill the state legislature with "Christian constitutionalists."

The push comes at a time when Christian fundamentalism is a growing force in U.S. politics, displays of the Ten Commandments in government buildings are spurring litigation and President George W. Bush is touting the evangelical Christian credentials of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.

Chrisitan Exodus, huh? More like Christian "Exit-US" and the sooner the better.

RAIN DELAY: Prosecutor Smart To Wait a Day Before Indicting Whitehouse Aides

It is 10:00am EST and no news on Rove or Libby indictments. My prediction did not take into account Hurricane Wilma or Bush's nomination of a new Fed Chairman, both of which would overshadow the media impact of any indictment announcements made today.

Any prosecutor worth his salt realizes the importance of media and the timing of announcements in a high-profile case like this.

Patrick Fitzgerald, special prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation, is clearly doing the right thing by holding off a day or two so as to get the lead story on any indictment.

Stay Tuned!!

Auf Wiedersehen Karl, Au Revoir Scooter

I'm going out on a limb here but my prediction is that the early news cycle tomorrow will report official indictments against Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

I also predict they will both step down.

The details of the indictments, what exact charges are brought, etc. I won't guess but they will be serious.

My timing may be off by a day or two but if these events do not transpire by the end of the week I (and much of the nation) will be shocked.

In a larger sense, I think these indictments will mark a major turning point in current American politics and signal the beginning of the end for the Bush administration and this horrible, horrible chapter in our nation's history.

We can only pray.

Friday Roundup

Let’s recap what this politically wounded president is doing to improve his standing with the American people, shall we?

This from yesterday's New York Times:
Mr. Bush was also asked about the impact of the many distractions now weighing on the administration, including the Iraq war, the C.I.A leak investigation, and the embattled nomination of Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court. .
"There's some background noise here, a lot of chatter, a lot of speculation and opining," he said, unsmiling. "But the American people expect me to do my job and I'm going to."
How freakin’ out of touch do you have to be to say something like that? Apparently the American people, namely the mother of a dead soldier who wants to know why her son was killed, are but “chatter” and “background noise” in George Bush’s empty, echoing skull. Either that or all the coke he’s snorting is making him hear voices…
But it gets better...

• New bankruptcy legislation took effect this week. This is Bush’s cruel joke on struggling American’s. It is also his “thanks for buying my re-election" gift to the corrupt banking lobby. Bank of America had double-digit profit growth last quarter but apparently that's not enough. They also require the legal right to financially enslave hardworking Americans who have the audacity to undergo an unaffordable illness or layoff.
• Bushies are also desperately trying to pass $50 billion in budget cuts for food stamps, veteran’s healthcare and other programs that benefit the neediest Americans (and which have surprisingly escaped being completely gutted already).
• In addition, as though the above bill is not cruel enough, arrogant republicans are attaching an amendment to the same bill that will allow drilling in our once federally protected Alaskan wilderness. One of the last remaining parcels of unspoiled land in America. This has been a top priority for Bush since becoming president.
• “Hey boys and girls, be the first kid on your block to own a handgun!” In a final parting gift to his bestest of friends (even better friends than bankers). Bush really went over the top in showering the gun industry and the NRA with early Christmas gifts. Now, we have rarely seen a more evil industry (and there are many). The gun group is second only to cigarette manufacturers as being the great purveyors of death in this country. Bush is getting ready to sign legislation that grants retroactive immunity to these murderers. Obviously pro-business conservadroids have learned their lesson from the plight of the poor darling cigarette conglomerates who have been subjected to paying out a fraction of their blood money just for marketing death sticks to children.

Finally and MOST disturbing, Condi Rice is dropping little hints that the Iraqi conflict may expand into Syria (at least). Clearly, Bush imperialism is going to continue unabated and like any good dictatorship it will do so regardless of public sentiment or political opinion. Lamo Ducko could care less. He has become the very Saddam he worked so hard to depose. How's that for painful irony?

Recipe For Prison Pruno

What is Pruno? For those of you who don't know (and I hope it is most) it is basically a concoction of smuggled fruit and juice that inmates add yeast and sugar to. Once it starts turning rancid the yeast and sugar produce alcohol. Think "prison Moonshine" only it tastes like rancid sewage. Yum, pour me some!!

So what is the point of this? Well, you know I'm googling "prison" and "pruno" just to see what life is going to be like for Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. Anyway, I come across this poem written by a death row inmate in San Quentin. Now I'm no literary genius but this poem effected me in a way nothing I've ever read has. It is so powerful it just knocked the wind out of me. Read for Yourself.

Recipe For Prison Pruno
Jarvis Masters

Take ten peeled oranges,
Jarvis Masters, it is the judgment and sentence of this court,
one 8 oz. bowl of fruit cocktail,
that the charged information was true,
squeeze the fruit into a small plastic bag,
and the jury having previously, on said date,
and put the juice along with the mash inside,
found that the penalty shall be death,
add 16 oz. of water and seal the bag tightly.
and this Court having, on August 20, 1991,
Place the bag into your sink,
denied your motion for a new trial,
and heat it with hot running water for 15 minutes.
it is the order of this Court that you suffer death,
wrap towels around the bag to keep it warm for fermentation.
said penalty to be inflicted within the walls of San Quentin,
Stash the bag in your cell undisturbed for 48 hours.
at which place you shall be put to death,
When the time has elapsed,in the manner prescribed by law,
add 40 to 60 cubes of white sugar,
the date later to be fixed by the Court in warrant of execution.
six teaspoons of ketchup,
You are remanded to the custody of the warden of San Quentin,
then heat again for 30 minutes,
to be held by him pending final
secure the bag as done before,
determination of your appeal.
then stash the bag undisturbed again for 72 hours.
It is so ordered.
Reheat daily for 15 minutes.
In witness whereof,
After 72 hours,
I have hereon set my hand as Judge of this Superior Court,
with a spoon, skim off the mash,
and I have caused the seal of this Court to be affixed thereto.
pour the remaining portion into two 18 oz. cups.
May God have mercy on your soul.

1992, California State Prison-San Quentin
San Quentin, California

I guess this poem affected me so powerfully because beyond the briliant counterpoint of a mundane recipe interspersed within a legal death sentence, it made me realize how we in America distance ourselves from the fact that every crime has many, many victims. It is a long road and the confluence of many tragic events that creates a death row inmate. Its easy to just say "monster" and lock them away. It is more complicated than that. However, we mostly choose to turn away from the problems that create these "monsters" in the first place. By doing so we have helped create the very criminal society we are so desparately trying to fix (by locking up more and more people). To think otherwise is to take the easy way out and perpetuate an environment that fosters the continuation of this broken, dysfuntional society. It reminds me of the mantra, do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?

An Open Letter to Conservative Pundits

Quite a bit of the conservative commentary I've been reading lately has centered around a certain theme. It is basically that poor Republican's are working hard, doing the "peoples' business" nominating judges, slashing budgets, pretending to help disaster victims, getting indicted, etc. etc.

These same hardworking conservatives are darn well sick and tired of taking it on the chin day after day while lazy democrats do nothing but sit around and stir the pot and make things difficult for these warm, fuzzy, hardworking republicans.

EXUSE ME?

I mean I have to say, I really wish these armchair pundits would acquire at least a passing acquaintance with the study of politics. “democrats are happy to sit by and let blah blah blah”.

Now I realize conservatives are in a very bad mood these days. Heck, they have every reason to be. However, commentary like this simply demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of the most basic principles of political theory.

You see, there is this concept known as “political capital”. It is the very currency by which Washington, and by extention, America (and by extension the world) operates. Heck, George Bush used his to launch a senseless war for oil that ended up doubling gas prices!!

Lesson #1: Political capital is a VERY precious commodity. You expend it wisely and you definitely do not expend it when you don’t have to. With that in mind, why, for heavens sakes, would democrats do anything but sit back and watch the Republican Party implode. They have everything to gain without expending an ounce of political capital. This moment has been hard earned. For five long years liberals have expended political capital in order to make the point that the Bush administration (aka the Texas Mafia) is corrupt, arrogant, cruel, lying and contemptuous. These same liberals did so to rousing and unrelenting criticism. Democrats appear to be finally reaping the benefits of these now prescient observations. This moment is simply a time for them to sit back quietly and watch the fireworks.

My advice to whiny conservative pundits that are all in a stitch about do-nothing democrats: your lack of political prowess may explain why your party is in such disarray. As for us simple-minded liberals, hope you don’t mind if we sit back and chew on some texas bluegrass.

A Little Leak, A Huge Lie

It's Bush-Cheney, Not Rove-Libby
By Frank Rich
The New York Times

[Bush's] stonewall may start to crumble in a Washington courtroom this week or next. In a sense it already has. Now, as always, what matters most in this case is not whether Mr. Rove and Lewis Libby engaged in a petty conspiracy to seek revenge on a whistle-blower, Joseph Wilson, by unmasking his wife, Valerie, a covert C.I.A. officer. What makes Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation compelling, whatever its outcome, is its illumination of a conspiracy that was not at all petty: the one that took us on false premises into a reckless and wasteful war in Iraq. That conspiracy was instigated by Mr. Rove's boss, George W. Bush, and Mr. Libby's boss, Dick Cheney.
Mr. Wilson and his wife were trashed to protect that larger plot. Because the personnel in both stories overlap, the bits and pieces we've learned about the leak inquiry over the past two years have gradually helped fill in the über-narrative about the war. Last week was no exception. Deep in a Wall Street Journal account of Judy Miller's grand jury appearance was this crucial sentence: "Lawyers familiar with the investigation believe that at least part of the outcome likely hangs on the inner workings of what has been dubbed the White House Iraq Group."
Very little has been written about the White House Iraq Group, or WHIG. Its inception in August 2002, seven months before the invasion of Iraq, was never announced. Only much later would a newspaper article or two mention it in passing, reporting that it had been set up by Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff. Its eight members included Mr. Rove, Mr. Libby, Condoleezza Rice and the spinmeisters Karen Hughes and Mary Matalin. Its mission: to market a war in Iraq.
Throughout those crucial seven months between the creation of WHIG and the start of the American invasion of Iraq, there were indications that evidence of a Saddam nuclear program was fraudulent or nonexistent.
It was not until the war was supposedly over - with "Mission Accomplished," in May 2003 - that Mr. Wilson started to add his voice to those who were disputing the administration's uranium hype. Members of WHIG had a compelling motive to shut him down.
When Mr. Rove was asked on camera by ABC News in September 2003 if he had any knowledge of the Valerie Wilson leak and said no, it was only hours before the Justice Department would open its first leak investigation. When Scott McClellan later declared that he had been personally assured by Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby that they were "not involved" with the leak, the case was still in the safe hands of the attorney general then, John Ashcroft, himself a three-time Rove client in past political campaigns. Though Mr. Rove may be known as "Bush's brain," he wasn't smart enough to anticipate that Justice Department career employees would eventually pressure Mr. Ashcroft to recuse himself because of this conflict of interest, clearing the way for an outside prosecutor as independent as Mr. Fitzgerald.
"Bush's Brain" is the title of James Moore and Wayne Slater's definitive account of Mr. Rove's political career. But Mr. Rove is less his boss's brain than another alliterative organ (or organs), that which provides testosterone. As we learn in "Bush's Brain," bad things (usually character assassination) often happen to Bush foes, whether Ann Richards or John McCain. On such occasions, Mr. Bush stays compassionately above the fray while the ruthless Mr. Rove operates below the radar, always separated by "a layer of operatives" from any ill behavior that might implicate him. "There is no crime, just a victim," Mr. Moore and Mr. Slater write of this repeated pattern.
THIS modus operandi was foolproof, shielding the president as well as Mr. Rove from culpability, as long as it was about winning an election. The attack on Mr. Wilson, by contrast, has left them and the Cheney-Libby tag team vulnerable because it's about something far bigger: protecting the lies that took the country into what the Reagan administration National Security Agency director, Lt. Gen. William Odom, recently called "the greatest strategic disaster in United States history."
Whether or not Mr. Fitzgerald uncovers an indictable crime, there is once again a victim, but that victim is not Mr. or Mrs. Wilson; it's the nation. It is surely a joke of history that even as the White House sells this weekend's constitutional referendum as yet another "victory" for democracy in Iraq, we still don't know the whole story of how our own democracy was hijacked on the way to war.

Mr. Fitzgerald, I'm Ready for My Perp Walk

KARL ROVE INDICTED!!

(well, almost)

Sounds like the indictment of Karl Rove is just around the corner. My prediction: this is going to snowball and eventually becomes Bush's Watergate. Get yer popcorn, this should be a very interesting floor show. Here's an excerpt from an article on Salon.com:

Rove's return to the grand jury: A "stunning" and "ominous" sign
So Karl Rove is returning to testify before the grand jury investigating the outing of Valerie Plame, and he's doing so without any guarantee that Patrick Fitzgerald won't prosecute him. How big of a development is this? "Stunning," a former federal prosecutor tells us. "There is no reason for Rove to make this appearance unless he and his counsel believe he is at serious risk of indictment. None."
It's always risky to go before a grand jury. You can't take your lawyer into the room with you, and you don't know what the grand jury knows or doesn't know. It's especially risky if you've already testified once -- or, in the case of Rove, three times -- before: The odds of introducing inconsistencies into your testimony increase each time you give it. That's why, the former prosecutor tells us, a defense lawyer would advise his client to make a return appearance before the grand jury only in extreme circumstances...(continued)

-- Tim Grieve

Bush Says "Give a Me Torture, or I Break a You Legs"

Defying a veto threat from the White House, the Senate agreed to regulate the treatment of prisoners held by the military.

File Under: Compassionate Conservatism.

Quid Pro Quo

"During Bush's first term as governor, Gonzales used information turned up by Miers [Bush's recent nominee to the Supreme Court] to persuade a local judge to excuse Bush from jury duty, a civic task that would have forced him to disclose his 1976 arrest for drunken driving in Maine."
- AP Wire Service

The Cronyism continues.

Separated at Birth? You Decide

~ ~ ~ HARRIET MIERS ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~THE SEA HAG

There Is No Iraq

Of all the articles I've read on Iraq, this is the one that seems the most plausible to me. This guy clearly knows what he is talking about. Unfortunately, it is chilling.

Basically the only prescription - break up Iraq into ethnic sects, get the three or four new countries mildly stable and get the hell out of there. And that's our best option!! What a god-awful mess we're in. Thanks a lot President Dickhead, you've really screwed things up good. It's now going to take a generation and thousands of lives all so you could get a hard-on as a "war president". This is what incompetent leaders do people.

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There is no Iraq
Cenk Uygur
Huffingtonpost.com

Everyone is wrong -- from the arrogant neo-clowns who brought you this war to the mindless bureaucrats who maintain it to the well-intentioned intellectuals that are grasping for a decent and humane way out. Humpty Dumpty has fallen off the wall and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Iraq back together again.
Whether people want to leave or stay, the assumption is that they have what is best for Iraq in mind.
But there is no Iraq.
Today General Casey and General Abizaid admitted in the United States Senate that after two and a half years, they have only been able to train one Iraqi battalion. One! You could blame this on the incompetence of the Pentagon or the administration – and one is tempted to because that is usually the correct answer these days – but there is a better explanation. The Iraqis have no allegiance to their central government. They do not wish to serve in its army or to die for its goals.That is because the West misunderstands the local culture of Iraq. An Iraqi Sunni is a thousand times more loyal to his fellow Sunnis than to some theoretical Iraqi government. The same is true of Shiites and even more true of Kurds. They don’t care about Iraq – we do.The Iraqis are perfectly capable of fighting with passion and effectiveness. Just look at the insurgency – those are Iraqi fighters (at least 90% according to the various Pentagon sources). Look at the Kurdish peshmarga militia that maintains order in the north. Look at the Badr brigades and the Mahdi army of the Shiites in the south. All of these forces are perfectly capable and willing to fight – just not for the Iraqi army.They are ready to fight for their sects. The only thing keeping them together in the short run is the US occupation. But the US occupation won’t last forever and can only keep a lid on sectarian ambitions for so long. At some point, the levees will be breached.The Sunnis have already rejected the constitution and the Shiites don’t appear to be overly concerned about their lack of approval. It is wishful thinking bordering on fantasy to think that these different sects will get back together and live peacefully ever after. Eventually, the Shiites will have just as much trouble controlling the Sunni areas as we do. Their occupation will not be any more effective than ours. The Kurds will drive the Arabs from Kirkuk, and the separation will be complete.There is no Iraq. It does not exist in the minds and souls of the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. There will be three different countries in the place we call Iraq, whether we like it or not.Now, the question isn’t whether our troops stay or withdraw. Neither action would help towards a long term solution because we are headed the wrong way. If we stayed a thousand years, we couldn’t keep Iraq together. If we left now, there would be instant, horrific bloodshed. Neither accomplishes anything.
What we should be doing is working towards a realistic goal – a relatively peaceful transition towards three different countries in the area. We might not be able to keep these people together but we could probably help them to separate.Of course, there are tremendous downsides to this solution. Allies like Turkey will be enraged, the Sunnis will rebel (so, what’s new) because they will be left without oil, there will be displacements and small massacres. Believe it or not, that is now the best case scenario. If you don’t believe me now, you will believe me many years from now after thousands more have perished trying to do the undoable. And then we’ll go through the painful transition I’m referring to anyway, because it is inevitable.
Of course, the real downside to this solution that is going to prevent us from doing what is necessary has nothing to do with Iraq, and everything to do with American politics. If we say now that we should split up the country, we will look like we made a mistake by going in the first place. It will be a major admission that we were wrong in thinking we could keep the country together. Our politicians would lose face. And that is the one price they are not willing to bear.
That is why we must make them bear it. The longer they protect their pride, the longer we keep on dying. All the while, going the wrong way.As any sports player or fan knows, if your team’s heart is not into it, you will lose the game. Right now, the Iraqi army – all one battalion of it – doesn’t have its heart into it. They keep running from fights and battles because it is not their battles. Nor is it ours.
Let’s start fighting a fight we can win. Let’s create countries that people care about and are willing to protect not only through violence, but also through peace. The Sunnis might not care about keeping Basra or Mosul safe because they are Shiite and Kurdish towns, but they will care about bringing peace to Ramadi and Tikrit once they have ownership of them. Let’s give them a reason to care.This war is a disaster of epic proportions. Iraq presented no threat to the United States before the invasion, now it presents a tremendous threat. There was almost no al-Qaeda presence in Iraq before the war, now there is a tremendous presence. Iran was in a position of weakness before the war, and now it has a powerful new ally in Shiite led Iraq. Terrorism is on the rise. Osama bin Laden has been left alone to pursue his new attacks. There is instability in the Middle East. And this administration has absolutely no idea how to make it better.George Bush still talks about freedom and democracy, as if they have relevance in the complicated sectarian strife in Iraq. Whose freedom, George? Whose democracy? It doesn’t feel like freedom to the Sunnis when they have been squeezed out of the Shiite and Kurdish controlled Iraqi government. That’s why they are fighting us – not because they hate their freedom but because they want it back.In this quagmire full of nuance we have a president who is proud that he “doesn’t do nuance.” We’re in a lot of trouble. Our president is overmatched. Not by the Iraqis, but by the gravity of his office. The man is a simpleton in complicated times.Our only recourse is to elect a completely new Congress that will force him in the direction of reality. The people who voted for this war and brought you this debacle are not going to be the ones who bring you out. We need new direction here at home so that we can have a new direction in Iraq, or what’s left of it.