December 30, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
SADDAM CREATED BY U.S.
Poet John Donne famously wrote that the "death of any man diminishes me." I do not mourn the late Saddam Hussein. Like so many dictators, he was guilty of monstrous and brutal crimes. But it should have been the Iraqi people who overthrew Saddam. The trial should have been a real trial, not a kangaroo court. And the people who allowed Saddam to commit his crimes should also face justice. But presidents and prime ministers of "developed" countries don't go to trial. They don't go to the gallows. They build libraries and get eulogized when they die. This article by Robert Fisk is at news.independent.co.uk:
No, Tony Blair is not Saddam. We don't gas our enemies. George W Bush is not Saddam. He didn't invade Iran or Kuwait. He only invaded Iraq. But hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are dead - and thousands of Western troops are dead - because Messrs Bush and Blair and the Spanish Prime Minister and the Italian Prime Minister and the Australian Prime Minister went to war in 2003 on a potage of lies and mendacity and, given the weapons we used, with great brutality.
In the aftermath of the international crimes against humanity of 2001 we have tortured, we have murdered, we have brutalised and killed the innocent - we have even added our shame at Abu Ghraib to Saddam's shame at Abu Ghraib - and yet we are supposed to forget these terrible crimes as we applaud the swinging corpse of the dictator we created.
Who encouraged Saddam to invade Iran in 1980, which was the greatest war crime he has committed for it led to the deaths of a million and a half souls? And who sold him the components for the chemical weapons with which he drenched Iran and the Kurds? We did. No wonder the Americans, who controlled Saddam's weird trial, forbad any mention of this, his most obscene atrocity, in the charges against him. Could he not have been handed over to the Iranians for sentencing for this massive war crime? Of course not. Because that would also expose our culpability.
THE D. C. SNOBOCRACY
From their perches on high the D. C. pundit class tells us about the world. We have the likes of Cokie Roberts or David Broder dictating what is right and wrong. Unfortunately, the D. C. pundits aren't much aware of the real world outside the Beltway. In fact, they consider those outside the Beltway to be beneath contempt. This article by Ernest Partridge is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Read closely both on and between the lines of Washington (so-called) "journalism," and you will find evidence of an unelected "shadow-government"of comfortable, self-appointed and self-satisfied DC elites, composed of lobbyists, pundits, publishers, diplomats, military, and, of course, politicians. This is the Washington "snobocracy." It decides, through its "establishment" media, what news, information and opinion are worthy of the public's attention. And it determines if a politician's life in the nation's Capital will be comfortable and productive or an unremitting misery, as Bill and Hillary Clinton were to discover.
The snobocrats share a bond of community that is unperturbed by such mundane concerns as partisanship. This non-partisan conviviality is typified by the ownership of a Washington steakhouse, "The Caucus Room," which opened in August, 2000:
Friday, December 29, 2006
December 29, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
REPUBLICAN "REVOLUTION" UTTER FAILURE
A dark moment in our history was the election of the Republican Congress in 1994. We were told it was a "revolution." We heard about the "Contract With America." We saw a group of right-wing reactionaries come into power whose major objective was to demonize opponents, bring the government to a screeching halt, and push through tax cuts for the rich. Even the claims that they would reduce the size of government have proved to be bogus. This column by Paul Krugman is at www.roziusunbound.blogspot.com:
After first attempting to deny the scale of last month’s defeat, the apologists have settled on a story line that sounds just like Marxist explanations for the failure of the Soviet Union. What happened, you see, was that the noble ideals of the Republican revolution of 1994 were undermined by Washington’s corrupting ways. And the recent defeat was a good thing, because it will force a return to the true conservative path.
But the truth is that the movement that took power in 1994 — a movement that had little to do with true conservatism — was always based on a lie.
The lie is right there in “The Freedom Revolution,” the book that Dick Armey, who had just become the House majority leader, published in 1995. He declares that most government programs don’t do anything “to help American families with the needs of everyday life,” and that “very few American families would notice their disappearance.” He goes on to assert that “there is no reason we cannot, by the time our children come of age, reduce the federal government by half as a percentage of gross domestic product.”
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
REPUBLICAN "REVOLUTION" UTTER FAILURE
A dark moment in our history was the election of the Republican Congress in 1994. We were told it was a "revolution." We heard about the "Contract With America." We saw a group of right-wing reactionaries come into power whose major objective was to demonize opponents, bring the government to a screeching halt, and push through tax cuts for the rich. Even the claims that they would reduce the size of government have proved to be bogus. This column by Paul Krugman is at www.roziusunbound.blogspot.com:
After first attempting to deny the scale of last month’s defeat, the apologists have settled on a story line that sounds just like Marxist explanations for the failure of the Soviet Union. What happened, you see, was that the noble ideals of the Republican revolution of 1994 were undermined by Washington’s corrupting ways. And the recent defeat was a good thing, because it will force a return to the true conservative path.
But the truth is that the movement that took power in 1994 — a movement that had little to do with true conservatism — was always based on a lie.
The lie is right there in “The Freedom Revolution,” the book that Dick Armey, who had just become the House majority leader, published in 1995. He declares that most government programs don’t do anything “to help American families with the needs of everyday life,” and that “very few American families would notice their disappearance.” He goes on to assert that “there is no reason we cannot, by the time our children come of age, reduce the federal government by half as a percentage of gross domestic product.”
Thursday, December 28, 2006
December 28, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
INSANITY SQUARED
When Senator Barry Goldwater ran for president in 1964 many people in the country considered him an extremist. It was said of Goldwater "In your heart you know he's nuts." Now Barry Goldwater seems the epitome of rationality. Right-wingers put forth a flurry of ideas that are nothing short of insane. We've resisted some of them, such as privatizing Social Security, but the insane ideas keep coming. The solution to violence in the schools, according to the lunatics, is to arm the teachers. The bigots on the right would have gay people wear arm bands denoting their sexual orientation, much like the Nazis made Jews wear the Star of David. Fascism is never dead. It only needs the right stimulus to grow again. This article by A. Alexander is at www.progressivedailybeacon.com:
It isn't by accident that Newt Gingrich has suddenly championed the anti-American concept of censoring the internet and limiting free speech. They weren't joking when the neo-theocratic-wing of the Republican Party suggested that, perhaps, gay people should wear armbands denoting their sexual preference. There isn't a smirk on any Republicans' faces when they say the so-called "war on terror" has morphed into a "Third World War." And the jackboots in the GOP, those who are championing the absurd idea that school teachers should be armed, are deadly serious.
Censorship, limiting free speech, Nazi-like Star of David armbands for gay people, a world at war, and sending our children into schools with authoritarian figures armed to the teeth - kind of makes Terry Schiavo and warrantless wiretapping seem almost benign. But it does highlight the way in which extremism escalates - how, in order to survive and thrive, it must become increasingly radicalized.
The vast majority of the Republican Party platform isn't based upon sound and meaningful political ideas and policies, but rather it has been predicated upon fear-based wedge issues. Republicans have never tried to win-over converts to their way of thinking, they've only tried to find a way to use the peoples' fears in order to peel or "wedge" support away from the Democrats. And, of course, the cornerstone of the Republican "wedge" campaign has been, as a whole, to make the Democratic Party appear scary and demonic.
NO TEARS FOR FORD
It seems almost obligatory to offer praise for the dead, especially if they occupied places of power or wealth. So now we will hear the praise for Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president of the United States. Ford assumed office upon the resignation of Richard M. Nixon in 1974. We'll hear that Ford helped "heal the nation" after the Watergate scandal. Ford pardoned Nixon rather than allow the legal process to take its course. He paved the way for the right-wing monstrosity we have now. His foreign policy featured aid to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and giving a green light to Indonesian dictator Suharto to slaughter 200,000 Timorese. This column by Matthew Rothschild is at www.commondreams.org:
On foreign policy, Ford was damnable.
He fronted for Pinochet in Chile, and kept aid flowing to that vicious strongman.
And on December 6, 1975, Ford and Henry Kissinger flew to Jakarta to meet with dictator Suharto and to give him a green light to invade East Timor.
According to a declassified State Department cable, here was part of their conversation.
Suharto to Ford and Kissinger: “We want your understanding if we deem it necessary to take rapid or drastic action.”
Ford: “We will understand and will not press you on the issue. We understand the problem you have and the intentions you have.”
Kissinger: “We understand your problem and the need to move quickly, but I am only saying that it would be better if it were done after we returned.”
Ford and Kissinger returned to the United States, and Suharto launched his invasion hours later.
Suharto’s invasion and occupation cost the lives of 200,000 Timorese.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
INSANITY SQUARED
When Senator Barry Goldwater ran for president in 1964 many people in the country considered him an extremist. It was said of Goldwater "In your heart you know he's nuts." Now Barry Goldwater seems the epitome of rationality. Right-wingers put forth a flurry of ideas that are nothing short of insane. We've resisted some of them, such as privatizing Social Security, but the insane ideas keep coming. The solution to violence in the schools, according to the lunatics, is to arm the teachers. The bigots on the right would have gay people wear arm bands denoting their sexual orientation, much like the Nazis made Jews wear the Star of David. Fascism is never dead. It only needs the right stimulus to grow again. This article by A. Alexander is at www.progressivedailybeacon.com:
It isn't by accident that Newt Gingrich has suddenly championed the anti-American concept of censoring the internet and limiting free speech. They weren't joking when the neo-theocratic-wing of the Republican Party suggested that, perhaps, gay people should wear armbands denoting their sexual preference. There isn't a smirk on any Republicans' faces when they say the so-called "war on terror" has morphed into a "Third World War." And the jackboots in the GOP, those who are championing the absurd idea that school teachers should be armed, are deadly serious.
Censorship, limiting free speech, Nazi-like Star of David armbands for gay people, a world at war, and sending our children into schools with authoritarian figures armed to the teeth - kind of makes Terry Schiavo and warrantless wiretapping seem almost benign. But it does highlight the way in which extremism escalates - how, in order to survive and thrive, it must become increasingly radicalized.
The vast majority of the Republican Party platform isn't based upon sound and meaningful political ideas and policies, but rather it has been predicated upon fear-based wedge issues. Republicans have never tried to win-over converts to their way of thinking, they've only tried to find a way to use the peoples' fears in order to peel or "wedge" support away from the Democrats. And, of course, the cornerstone of the Republican "wedge" campaign has been, as a whole, to make the Democratic Party appear scary and demonic.
NO TEARS FOR FORD
It seems almost obligatory to offer praise for the dead, especially if they occupied places of power or wealth. So now we will hear the praise for Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president of the United States. Ford assumed office upon the resignation of Richard M. Nixon in 1974. We'll hear that Ford helped "heal the nation" after the Watergate scandal. Ford pardoned Nixon rather than allow the legal process to take its course. He paved the way for the right-wing monstrosity we have now. His foreign policy featured aid to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and giving a green light to Indonesian dictator Suharto to slaughter 200,000 Timorese. This column by Matthew Rothschild is at www.commondreams.org:
On foreign policy, Ford was damnable.
He fronted for Pinochet in Chile, and kept aid flowing to that vicious strongman.
And on December 6, 1975, Ford and Henry Kissinger flew to Jakarta to meet with dictator Suharto and to give him a green light to invade East Timor.
According to a declassified State Department cable, here was part of their conversation.
Suharto to Ford and Kissinger: “We want your understanding if we deem it necessary to take rapid or drastic action.”
Ford: “We will understand and will not press you on the issue. We understand the problem you have and the intentions you have.”
Kissinger: “We understand your problem and the need to move quickly, but I am only saying that it would be better if it were done after we returned.”
Ford and Kissinger returned to the United States, and Suharto launched his invasion hours later.
Suharto’s invasion and occupation cost the lives of 200,000 Timorese.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
December 26, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
UNBELIEVABLE CORRUPTION
When you check American history for corrupt presidential administrations it's interesting that they're Republicans. Ulysses S. Grant was an honorable man who presided over a corrupt administration. Warren G. Harding was in office during the Tea Pot Dome scandal. Richard Nixon is noteworthy for his corruption. Yet all these past administrations pale in comparison to the administration of George W. Bush. Billions of dollars have disappeared in Iraq or gone into the pockets of Bush's friends. We're seeing the same thing with federal money for Hurricane Katrina victims. No-bid contracts get awarded to Bush cronies and fraud grows exponentially. We have the equivalent of a Mafia family running the country, but without even the ethics of a Mafia family. This article by Hope Yen is at www.cbsnews.com:
Already at $1 billion, the tally for Hurricane Katrina waste will balloon next year as investigators shift their attention from fraudulent aid to the lucrative government contracts awarded with little competition.
Several of the contracts were hastily given to politically connected firms in the aftermath of the 2005 storm and were extended without warning months later. Critics say the arrangements promote waste and unfairly hurt small companies.
In January, federal investigators will release the first of several audits examining abuse in more than $12 billion in Katrina contracts. The charges range from political favoritism to limited opportunities for small and minority-owned firms, which initially got only 1.5 percent of the total work.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
UNBELIEVABLE CORRUPTION
When you check American history for corrupt presidential administrations it's interesting that they're Republicans. Ulysses S. Grant was an honorable man who presided over a corrupt administration. Warren G. Harding was in office during the Tea Pot Dome scandal. Richard Nixon is noteworthy for his corruption. Yet all these past administrations pale in comparison to the administration of George W. Bush. Billions of dollars have disappeared in Iraq or gone into the pockets of Bush's friends. We're seeing the same thing with federal money for Hurricane Katrina victims. No-bid contracts get awarded to Bush cronies and fraud grows exponentially. We have the equivalent of a Mafia family running the country, but without even the ethics of a Mafia family. This article by Hope Yen is at www.cbsnews.com:
Already at $1 billion, the tally for Hurricane Katrina waste will balloon next year as investigators shift their attention from fraudulent aid to the lucrative government contracts awarded with little competition.
Several of the contracts were hastily given to politically connected firms in the aftermath of the 2005 storm and were extended without warning months later. Critics say the arrangements promote waste and unfairly hurt small companies.
In January, federal investigators will release the first of several audits examining abuse in more than $12 billion in Katrina contracts. The charges range from political favoritism to limited opportunities for small and minority-owned firms, which initially got only 1.5 percent of the total work.
Monday, December 25, 2006
December 25, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE END OF PNAC
A few years ago the "intellectuals" at PNAC had grandiose plans to reshape the world in their own image. One of their ideas was to turn Iraq into a democracy at the point of a gun, which is an oxymoron in the strongest sense. This article by Paul Reynolds is at news.bbc.co.uk:
"The Project for the New American Century" has been reduced to a voice-mail box and a ghostly website. A single employee has been left to wrap things up.
The idea of the "Project" was to project American power and influence around the world.
The 1997 statement (written during the administration of President Bill Clinton) said:
"We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan Administration's success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibilities."
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE END OF PNAC
A few years ago the "intellectuals" at PNAC had grandiose plans to reshape the world in their own image. One of their ideas was to turn Iraq into a democracy at the point of a gun, which is an oxymoron in the strongest sense. This article by Paul Reynolds is at news.bbc.co.uk:
"The Project for the New American Century" has been reduced to a voice-mail box and a ghostly website. A single employee has been left to wrap things up.
The idea of the "Project" was to project American power and influence around the world.
The 1997 statement (written during the administration of President Bill Clinton) said:
"We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan Administration's success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibilities."
Saturday, December 23, 2006
December 23, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE RIGHT WING PUNDIT CLASS
Well-funded and well-paid right-wing pundits have had a major impact on U. S. opinion, domestic policy, and foreign policy. Some of the worst policy ideas in our history have emanated from think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute. Perhaps the worst U. S. foreign policy disaster in our history came from the "thinkers" at the Project for a New American Century. Loud mouth pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have spewed hate, lies, and intolerance for years. This is an open letter to the right-wing pundit class from Margie Burns is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
You, gentlemen, ceaselessly promoted war with Iraq, regime change, an intensified arms race against lightly armed poor people around the globe, or all of the above. You promoted this dishonesty, greed and bloodshed with collectively hundreds of articles, on-air commentaries, endless panel discussions and quasi-academic or quasi-military conferences. You promoted the candidates for public office who supported your demented policies. You smeared, slandered, rebuffed and rejected candidates, scholars, and journalists who opposed them or even demurred at them, questioned them or tried to get them clarified. It would be far better that you – each of you, members or signatories or officers of the entities listed above – voluntarily shoulder the obligation of providing some small correction. You should go to Iraq -- you yourselves, not a picture – and you should stay there. Go to Iraq and work with your hands, your heads and your hearts for as long it takes.
(N.b.: If you genuinely cared about conservatism, you would have done it already. There is nothing conservative about what is going on now. Genuine conservatives do not police the world; drive a nation into deficit financing even for the sake of reducing a huge, self-confident middle class or working class to submission, debt and dependency; or attack individual civil liberties, the Bill of Rights and habeas corpus. The fact that these policies are not “liberal” does not make them “conservative.” Even states’ rights are a thing of the past, and without a peep from the “Federalist Society.” -- The what Society? The Federalist what? – Were “states’ rights” merely a code for upholding illegal segregation, as some of us suspected?)
MY YEAR IN REVIEW
After Christmas we'll start to get a series of "year in review" segments on the news. We avoided catastrophic hurricanes this year, but New Orleans still lies in ruins from Hurricane Katrina last year. The Democrats regaining control of Congress should get mentioned. We had some successful space shuttle launches, but I worry about the integrity of the shuttle. Space travel is risky enough without the creaky shuttle program we have now. Iraq has turned into nothing but a bloodbath with no good end. Despite right-wing propaganda, the economy is shaky. We owe way too much to other countries, wages are flatlining for most of us, the health care system is a mess, and global warming is an ominous and growing problem.
Personally, I got laid off without any notice, temped for a while, and went back to my old job a few weeks later. During my temping experience I had a truly miserable job at a place called Inland Star Trucking. I was treated worse on this job than any job I've ever had. I had another truly miserable job at a place called Health Comp stuffing envelopes. The manager there might have been a plantation overseer in a previous life. People should remember, but by the grace of the economy, they too might wind up temping somewhere.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE RIGHT WING PUNDIT CLASS
Well-funded and well-paid right-wing pundits have had a major impact on U. S. opinion, domestic policy, and foreign policy. Some of the worst policy ideas in our history have emanated from think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute. Perhaps the worst U. S. foreign policy disaster in our history came from the "thinkers" at the Project for a New American Century. Loud mouth pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have spewed hate, lies, and intolerance for years. This is an open letter to the right-wing pundit class from Margie Burns is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
You, gentlemen, ceaselessly promoted war with Iraq, regime change, an intensified arms race against lightly armed poor people around the globe, or all of the above. You promoted this dishonesty, greed and bloodshed with collectively hundreds of articles, on-air commentaries, endless panel discussions and quasi-academic or quasi-military conferences. You promoted the candidates for public office who supported your demented policies. You smeared, slandered, rebuffed and rejected candidates, scholars, and journalists who opposed them or even demurred at them, questioned them or tried to get them clarified. It would be far better that you – each of you, members or signatories or officers of the entities listed above – voluntarily shoulder the obligation of providing some small correction. You should go to Iraq -- you yourselves, not a picture – and you should stay there. Go to Iraq and work with your hands, your heads and your hearts for as long it takes.
(N.b.: If you genuinely cared about conservatism, you would have done it already. There is nothing conservative about what is going on now. Genuine conservatives do not police the world; drive a nation into deficit financing even for the sake of reducing a huge, self-confident middle class or working class to submission, debt and dependency; or attack individual civil liberties, the Bill of Rights and habeas corpus. The fact that these policies are not “liberal” does not make them “conservative.” Even states’ rights are a thing of the past, and without a peep from the “Federalist Society.” -- The what Society? The Federalist what? – Were “states’ rights” merely a code for upholding illegal segregation, as some of us suspected?)
MY YEAR IN REVIEW
After Christmas we'll start to get a series of "year in review" segments on the news. We avoided catastrophic hurricanes this year, but New Orleans still lies in ruins from Hurricane Katrina last year. The Democrats regaining control of Congress should get mentioned. We had some successful space shuttle launches, but I worry about the integrity of the shuttle. Space travel is risky enough without the creaky shuttle program we have now. Iraq has turned into nothing but a bloodbath with no good end. Despite right-wing propaganda, the economy is shaky. We owe way too much to other countries, wages are flatlining for most of us, the health care system is a mess, and global warming is an ominous and growing problem.
Personally, I got laid off without any notice, temped for a while, and went back to my old job a few weeks later. During my temping experience I had a truly miserable job at a place called Inland Star Trucking. I was treated worse on this job than any job I've ever had. I had another truly miserable job at a place called Health Comp stuffing envelopes. The manager there might have been a plantation overseer in a previous life. People should remember, but by the grace of the economy, they too might wind up temping somewhere.
Friday, December 22, 2006
December 22, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
MONEY FOR WAR AND NOTHING ELSE
How long have we heard about how "fiscally conservative" conservatives are? Any money that would be spent on social programs is too expensive, according to right-wingers, but they have no problem with money for war. George W. Bush's unnecessary war in Iraq is bleeding the treasury dry. But I guess, according to right-wingers, that's perfectly fiscally sound. This commentary is at www.first-draft.com:
Overall, the war in Iraq has cost about $350 billion. Combined with the conflict in Afghanistan and operations against terrorism elsewhere, the cost has topped $500 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
Keep this story in mind when Republicans tell you any and all proposed health care reforms will be too expensive.
Keep this story in mind when Republicans tell you it's useless to keep "throwing money" at failing public schools.
Keep this story in mind when Republicans talk about how hospitals can't afford to treat the uninsured, or immigrants, or children of immigrants, or the poor, and should be allowed to turn patients away because there's just not enough money, apparently, to go around in this country anymore.
Keep this story in mind when you read about the homeless, as you assuredly will, this being the season when local news does their one segment on homelessness, and people grumble about supporting the poor.
ZUGSWANG
"Zugswang" is a chess term that means that every possible move results in a worse position. Maybe George W. Bush should replace "Mission Accomplished" banners with a "Zugswang" banner. Bush and his neocons have created a mess in Iraq that may not be repairable. This article by ExecBranch4Dummies is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Now that conservatives and even neo-conservatives are scattering like rats when it comes to Iraq policy, it's interesting to see Kristol stick to his man Bush while admitting that nothing has gone as well as we had been told it would go. Kristol is not an idiot; he forms complete sentences and does not scream and whine when cornered usually, though he did a little Poor Pitiful Me act last night when Jon Stewart slapped him silly.
Here is the important part of the neocon true believer mentality. We CAN'T lose in Iraq. It CAN'T happen, because it means a terrible loss of American prestige and influence, and more to the point for them, it leaves the architects of this war open to criminal charges.
So we will waste billions of dollars, hundreds (or thousands) of more American lives and thousands (or tens of thousands) of more Iraqi lives trying to fix an unfixable mess. At least in Vietnam, when things got this bad we were actually having negotiations, but that's out of the question in Bush World.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
MONEY FOR WAR AND NOTHING ELSE
How long have we heard about how "fiscally conservative" conservatives are? Any money that would be spent on social programs is too expensive, according to right-wingers, but they have no problem with money for war. George W. Bush's unnecessary war in Iraq is bleeding the treasury dry. But I guess, according to right-wingers, that's perfectly fiscally sound. This commentary is at www.first-draft.com:
Overall, the war in Iraq has cost about $350 billion. Combined with the conflict in Afghanistan and operations against terrorism elsewhere, the cost has topped $500 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
Keep this story in mind when Republicans tell you any and all proposed health care reforms will be too expensive.
Keep this story in mind when Republicans tell you it's useless to keep "throwing money" at failing public schools.
Keep this story in mind when Republicans talk about how hospitals can't afford to treat the uninsured, or immigrants, or children of immigrants, or the poor, and should be allowed to turn patients away because there's just not enough money, apparently, to go around in this country anymore.
Keep this story in mind when you read about the homeless, as you assuredly will, this being the season when local news does their one segment on homelessness, and people grumble about supporting the poor.
ZUGSWANG
"Zugswang" is a chess term that means that every possible move results in a worse position. Maybe George W. Bush should replace "Mission Accomplished" banners with a "Zugswang" banner. Bush and his neocons have created a mess in Iraq that may not be repairable. This article by ExecBranch4Dummies is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Now that conservatives and even neo-conservatives are scattering like rats when it comes to Iraq policy, it's interesting to see Kristol stick to his man Bush while admitting that nothing has gone as well as we had been told it would go. Kristol is not an idiot; he forms complete sentences and does not scream and whine when cornered usually, though he did a little Poor Pitiful Me act last night when Jon Stewart slapped him silly.
Here is the important part of the neocon true believer mentality. We CAN'T lose in Iraq. It CAN'T happen, because it means a terrible loss of American prestige and influence, and more to the point for them, it leaves the architects of this war open to criminal charges.
So we will waste billions of dollars, hundreds (or thousands) of more American lives and thousands (or tens of thousands) of more Iraqi lives trying to fix an unfixable mess. At least in Vietnam, when things got this bad we were actually having negotiations, but that's out of the question in Bush World.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
December 21, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
HEARING THE VOICES
Every so often you'll hear a story about a parent or guardian who has killed his or her children, and claiming that God told them to kill the children. Most of us would conclude these people are either lying or delusional. Yet we have a man occupying the Oval Office who has claimed that he was chosen by God to be President of the United States. Considering his reckless disregard for the truth and morality, you have to wonder why George W. Bush would have been chosen by the Deity to do anything. Bush had all kinds of warnings not to invade Iraq. Even his own father, George H. W. Bush, warned of the dangers of occupying Iraq. Millions around the world demonstrated against this war. The U. N. weapons inspectors found nothing to indicate that Iraq was a danger to the United States. There was nothing linking Saddam Hussein to the terrorists who attacked the United States on 9/11. But Bush launched his war, and now he doesn't want it to end. This article by Joseph L. Galloway is at www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16250266.htm:
The power brokers in Washington spent the week carefully arranging fig leaves and tasteful screens to cover the emperor's nakedness while he was busy pretending to listen hard to everyone with an opinion about Iraq while hearing nothing.
Sometime early in the new year, President Bush will go on national television to tell a disgruntled American public what he has decided should be done to salvage ''victory'' from the jaws of certain defeat in the war he started.
The word on the street, or in the Pentagon rings, is that he'll choose to beef up U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq by 20,000 to 30,000 troops by various sleight-of-hand maneuvers -- extending the combat tours of soldiers and Marines who are nearing an end to their second or third year in hell and accelerating the shipment of others into that hell -- and send them into the bloody streets of Baghdad.
These additional troops are expected to restore order and calm the bombers and murderers when 9,000 Americans already in the sprawling capital couldn't. They're expected to do this even when Bush's favorite (for now) Iraqi politician, Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki, refuses to allow them to act against his primary benefactor, the anti-American cleric Moqtada al Sadr and his Shiite Muslim Mahdi Army militiamen who kill both Americans and Sunni Arabs.
NEW ORLEANS, 2006
I just watched the classic movie A Streetcar Named Desire that was set in New Orleans in the early 1950's. Here we are approaching the end of 2006, almost a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We're over a year past the time when George W. Bush made his photo-op speech from Jackson Square and promised, promised, promised that the federal government would do everything possible to restore New Orleans. The city still lies mostly in ruins. A good part of the population is gone. It's another indictment of the incompetency, greed, and callousness of this administration. This column by Bob Herbert is at www.welcome-to-pottersville.com:
Whatever you’ve heard about New Orleans, the reality is much worse. Think of it as a vast open wound, this once-great American city that is still largely in ruins, with many of its people still writhing in agony more than a year after the catastrophic flood that followed Hurricane Katrina.
Enormous stretches of the city, mile after mile after mile, have been abandoned. The former residents have doubled-up or tripled-up with relatives, or found shelter in the ubiquitous white trailers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or moved (in some cases permanently) to Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and beyond. Some have simply become homeless.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
HEARING THE VOICES
Every so often you'll hear a story about a parent or guardian who has killed his or her children, and claiming that God told them to kill the children. Most of us would conclude these people are either lying or delusional. Yet we have a man occupying the Oval Office who has claimed that he was chosen by God to be President of the United States. Considering his reckless disregard for the truth and morality, you have to wonder why George W. Bush would have been chosen by the Deity to do anything. Bush had all kinds of warnings not to invade Iraq. Even his own father, George H. W. Bush, warned of the dangers of occupying Iraq. Millions around the world demonstrated against this war. The U. N. weapons inspectors found nothing to indicate that Iraq was a danger to the United States. There was nothing linking Saddam Hussein to the terrorists who attacked the United States on 9/11. But Bush launched his war, and now he doesn't want it to end. This article by Joseph L. Galloway is at www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16250266.htm:
The power brokers in Washington spent the week carefully arranging fig leaves and tasteful screens to cover the emperor's nakedness while he was busy pretending to listen hard to everyone with an opinion about Iraq while hearing nothing.
Sometime early in the new year, President Bush will go on national television to tell a disgruntled American public what he has decided should be done to salvage ''victory'' from the jaws of certain defeat in the war he started.
The word on the street, or in the Pentagon rings, is that he'll choose to beef up U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq by 20,000 to 30,000 troops by various sleight-of-hand maneuvers -- extending the combat tours of soldiers and Marines who are nearing an end to their second or third year in hell and accelerating the shipment of others into that hell -- and send them into the bloody streets of Baghdad.
These additional troops are expected to restore order and calm the bombers and murderers when 9,000 Americans already in the sprawling capital couldn't. They're expected to do this even when Bush's favorite (for now) Iraqi politician, Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki, refuses to allow them to act against his primary benefactor, the anti-American cleric Moqtada al Sadr and his Shiite Muslim Mahdi Army militiamen who kill both Americans and Sunni Arabs.
NEW ORLEANS, 2006
I just watched the classic movie A Streetcar Named Desire that was set in New Orleans in the early 1950's. Here we are approaching the end of 2006, almost a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We're over a year past the time when George W. Bush made his photo-op speech from Jackson Square and promised, promised, promised that the federal government would do everything possible to restore New Orleans. The city still lies mostly in ruins. A good part of the population is gone. It's another indictment of the incompetency, greed, and callousness of this administration. This column by Bob Herbert is at www.welcome-to-pottersville.com:
Whatever you’ve heard about New Orleans, the reality is much worse. Think of it as a vast open wound, this once-great American city that is still largely in ruins, with many of its people still writhing in agony more than a year after the catastrophic flood that followed Hurricane Katrina.
Enormous stretches of the city, mile after mile after mile, have been abandoned. The former residents have doubled-up or tripled-up with relatives, or found shelter in the ubiquitous white trailers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or moved (in some cases permanently) to Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and beyond. Some have simply become homeless.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
December 20, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH'S SOLUTION: SHOPPING
In a so-called news conference where George W. Bush indicates he will continue the slaughter in Iraq he advised Americans to go shopping. The economy is on the edge of recession, according to many economists. There are some problems here. First, it's awfully shallow to think about shopping while the bloodbath in Iraq continues. Second, since so much wealth has been transferred to the top, many of us don't have much money to go shopping. This article is at www.thinkprogress.org:
Today, President Bush held a news conference where he discussed the “way forward” for the economy in 2007. Renowned Morgan Stanley economist Steven Roach says the “odds of the U.S. economy tipping into recession are about 40 to 45 per cent.” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman notes that “the odds are very good — maybe 2 to 1,” that the U.S. will teeter toward a recession in 2007. Bush’s solution? “Go shopping more.”
A NIXONIAN ECONOMY
Sometimes you have to think that George W. Bush has tried to out-Nixon Richard Nixon. Bush has run an administration even more corrupt than the one run by Nixon. He has subverted civil liberties more than Nixon. Unlike Nixon, Bush started a war of choice that has no apparent end. At least Nixon could claim he inherited Vietnam. During the Nixon years we had something called "stagflation." It was a combination of a recession and high inflation, which is never supposed to happen. Now we have the U. S. economy teetering on recession, and we just had breathtaking inflation reported in November. This article by MARTIN CRUTSINGER is at news.yahoo.com:
Inflation at the wholesale level surged by the largest amount in more than three decades in November, reflecting higher prices for gasoline and a host of other items.
The Producer Price Index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, was up 2 percent last month, the biggest advance since a similar increase in November 1974, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
Economists had been expecting a rebound in wholesale prices following two months of big declines. However, the 2 percent jump was four times bigger than the 0.5 percent increase they had forecast. Even excluding volatile energy and food prices, core inflation posted a 1.3 percent advance, the biggest jump in 26 years.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH'S SOLUTION: SHOPPING
In a so-called news conference where George W. Bush indicates he will continue the slaughter in Iraq he advised Americans to go shopping. The economy is on the edge of recession, according to many economists. There are some problems here. First, it's awfully shallow to think about shopping while the bloodbath in Iraq continues. Second, since so much wealth has been transferred to the top, many of us don't have much money to go shopping. This article is at www.thinkprogress.org:
Today, President Bush held a news conference where he discussed the “way forward” for the economy in 2007. Renowned Morgan Stanley economist Steven Roach says the “odds of the U.S. economy tipping into recession are about 40 to 45 per cent.” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman notes that “the odds are very good — maybe 2 to 1,” that the U.S. will teeter toward a recession in 2007. Bush’s solution? “Go shopping more.”
A NIXONIAN ECONOMY
Sometimes you have to think that George W. Bush has tried to out-Nixon Richard Nixon. Bush has run an administration even more corrupt than the one run by Nixon. He has subverted civil liberties more than Nixon. Unlike Nixon, Bush started a war of choice that has no apparent end. At least Nixon could claim he inherited Vietnam. During the Nixon years we had something called "stagflation." It was a combination of a recession and high inflation, which is never supposed to happen. Now we have the U. S. economy teetering on recession, and we just had breathtaking inflation reported in November. This article by MARTIN CRUTSINGER is at news.yahoo.com:
Inflation at the wholesale level surged by the largest amount in more than three decades in November, reflecting higher prices for gasoline and a host of other items.
The Producer Price Index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, was up 2 percent last month, the biggest advance since a similar increase in November 1974, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
Economists had been expecting a rebound in wholesale prices following two months of big declines. However, the 2 percent jump was four times bigger than the 0.5 percent increase they had forecast. Even excluding volatile energy and food prices, core inflation posted a 1.3 percent advance, the biggest jump in 26 years.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
December 19, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE BORROW AND SPEND ECONOMY
When Ronald Reagan came into office in 1981 the United States was the world's largest creditor nation. Since then we've become the largest debtor nation. Our balance of trade deficit is huge and growing. We don't make things anymore. Instead, we buy cheap consumer goods made in places like China. We also send good-paying middle class jobs abroad to create the labor market to make those cheap goods. Eventually, our ability to buy those goods will be gone because there won't be any more money except for the wealth controlled by the economic elite. We have been suckered into thinking that happiness is a new SUV or a plasma TV. This article talks about the class warfare that has been waged in the United States. The article by Joel S. Hirschhorn is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Many common folks are deluding themselves that they have a fair shot at joining America’s super-rich — those households worth at least $10 million. According to an Elite Traveler poll, they will be spending 25 percent more this year than last on holiday parties, travel, and shopping. Among the top holiday spending categories: spirits for entertaining (up 57 percent to $22,300) and yacht charters (up 12 percent to $410,600). The awesomely affluent will also be averaging $91,100 on holiday jewelry, $36,400 on designer fashions, $52,000 on luxury watches, and $25,700 on flat screen TVs and other electronics. Nearly 25 percent of them will travel by private jet just to shop for holiday gifts. Of course, there are many Americans who do have a good chance of joining the super-rich. They are the rich Americans.
Any regular person who does not understand that Americans are in a class war is out of touch with our economic reality. Rich and powerful elites that are running and ruining our country have the upper hand. Wiping out the middle class to create a two-class society nationally and globally suits them. The Upper Class can steer most wealth to themselves and spread a small amount around to keep the Lower Class content enough not to revolt. Ordinary people have a powerful weapon to fight their oppressors, yet have not yet used it. It is their money, more specifically their discretionary consumer spending. The reasons for not controlling and politicizing their spending merit examination. Time is running out to understand why millions of supposedly rational people spend themselves into economic slavery.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE BORROW AND SPEND ECONOMY
When Ronald Reagan came into office in 1981 the United States was the world's largest creditor nation. Since then we've become the largest debtor nation. Our balance of trade deficit is huge and growing. We don't make things anymore. Instead, we buy cheap consumer goods made in places like China. We also send good-paying middle class jobs abroad to create the labor market to make those cheap goods. Eventually, our ability to buy those goods will be gone because there won't be any more money except for the wealth controlled by the economic elite. We have been suckered into thinking that happiness is a new SUV or a plasma TV. This article talks about the class warfare that has been waged in the United States. The article by Joel S. Hirschhorn is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Many common folks are deluding themselves that they have a fair shot at joining America’s super-rich — those households worth at least $10 million. According to an Elite Traveler poll, they will be spending 25 percent more this year than last on holiday parties, travel, and shopping. Among the top holiday spending categories: spirits for entertaining (up 57 percent to $22,300) and yacht charters (up 12 percent to $410,600). The awesomely affluent will also be averaging $91,100 on holiday jewelry, $36,400 on designer fashions, $52,000 on luxury watches, and $25,700 on flat screen TVs and other electronics. Nearly 25 percent of them will travel by private jet just to shop for holiday gifts. Of course, there are many Americans who do have a good chance of joining the super-rich. They are the rich Americans.
Any regular person who does not understand that Americans are in a class war is out of touch with our economic reality. Rich and powerful elites that are running and ruining our country have the upper hand. Wiping out the middle class to create a two-class society nationally and globally suits them. The Upper Class can steer most wealth to themselves and spread a small amount around to keep the Lower Class content enough not to revolt. Ordinary people have a powerful weapon to fight their oppressors, yet have not yet used it. It is their money, more specifically their discretionary consumer spending. The reasons for not controlling and politicizing their spending merit examination. Time is running out to understand why millions of supposedly rational people spend themselves into economic slavery.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
December 17, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE INEQUALITY TRAP
Not so long ago it was easy to talk of banana republics elsewhere in the world. You would associate banana republics with Latin America in particular. In the past few years the United States has been taking on characteristics of a banana republic. We had the stolen presidential election in 2000, and undoubtedly a stolen election in 2004. The gap between the rich and poor in the United States is also characteristic of a banana republic. In this column Paul Krugman talks about the inequality trap Latin America found itself it, and points out that we're in danger of the same thing. The column is linked at www.makethemaccountable.com:
The economic pie is getting bigger — how can it be true that most Americans are getting smaller slices? The answer, of course, is that a few people are getting much, much bigger slices. Although wages have stagnated since Bush took office, corporate profits have doubled. The gap between the nation’s CEOs and average workers is now ten times greater than it was a generation ago. And while Bush’s tax cuts shaved only a few hundred dollars off the tax bills of most Americans, they saved the richest one percent more than $44,000 on average. In fact, once all of Bush’s tax cuts take effect, it is estimated that those with incomes of more than $200,000 a year — the richest five percent of the population — will pocket almost half of the money. Those who make less than $75,000 a year — eighty percent of America — will receive barely a quarter of the cuts. In the Bush era, economic inequality is on the rise…
The social and economic failure of Latin America is one of history’s great tragedies. Our southern neighbors started out with natural and human resources at least as favorable for economic development as those in the United States. Yet over the course of the past two centuries, they fell steadily behind. Economic historians such as Kenneth Sokoloff of UCLA think they know why: Latin America got caught in an inequality trap. For historical reasons — the kind of crops they grew, the elitist policies of colonial Spain — Latin American societies started out with much more inequality than the societies of North America. But this inequality persisted, Sokoloff writes, because elites were able to “institutionalize an unequal distribution of political power” and to “use that greater influence to establish rules, laws and other government policies that advantaged members of the elite relative to non-members.” Rather than making land available to small farmers, as the United States did with the Homestead Act, Latin American governments tended to give large blocks of public lands to people with the right connections. They also shortchanged basic education — condemning millions to illiteracy. The result, Sokoloff notes, was “persistence over time of the high degree of inequality.” This sharp inequality, in turn, doomed the economies of Latin America: Many talented people never got a chance to rise to their full potential, simply because they were born into the wrong class.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE INEQUALITY TRAP
Not so long ago it was easy to talk of banana republics elsewhere in the world. You would associate banana republics with Latin America in particular. In the past few years the United States has been taking on characteristics of a banana republic. We had the stolen presidential election in 2000, and undoubtedly a stolen election in 2004. The gap between the rich and poor in the United States is also characteristic of a banana republic. In this column Paul Krugman talks about the inequality trap Latin America found itself it, and points out that we're in danger of the same thing. The column is linked at www.makethemaccountable.com:
The economic pie is getting bigger — how can it be true that most Americans are getting smaller slices? The answer, of course, is that a few people are getting much, much bigger slices. Although wages have stagnated since Bush took office, corporate profits have doubled. The gap between the nation’s CEOs and average workers is now ten times greater than it was a generation ago. And while Bush’s tax cuts shaved only a few hundred dollars off the tax bills of most Americans, they saved the richest one percent more than $44,000 on average. In fact, once all of Bush’s tax cuts take effect, it is estimated that those with incomes of more than $200,000 a year — the richest five percent of the population — will pocket almost half of the money. Those who make less than $75,000 a year — eighty percent of America — will receive barely a quarter of the cuts. In the Bush era, economic inequality is on the rise…
The social and economic failure of Latin America is one of history’s great tragedies. Our southern neighbors started out with natural and human resources at least as favorable for economic development as those in the United States. Yet over the course of the past two centuries, they fell steadily behind. Economic historians such as Kenneth Sokoloff of UCLA think they know why: Latin America got caught in an inequality trap. For historical reasons — the kind of crops they grew, the elitist policies of colonial Spain — Latin American societies started out with much more inequality than the societies of North America. But this inequality persisted, Sokoloff writes, because elites were able to “institutionalize an unequal distribution of political power” and to “use that greater influence to establish rules, laws and other government policies that advantaged members of the elite relative to non-members.” Rather than making land available to small farmers, as the United States did with the Homestead Act, Latin American governments tended to give large blocks of public lands to people with the right connections. They also shortchanged basic education — condemning millions to illiteracy. The result, Sokoloff notes, was “persistence over time of the high degree of inequality.” This sharp inequality, in turn, doomed the economies of Latin America: Many talented people never got a chance to rise to their full potential, simply because they were born into the wrong class.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
December 16, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
NOT "ALL THAT BAD"
If you want to journey into the surreal, just read the letters page of The Fresno Bee. Today's wingnut classic tells us that Sean Hannity, that journalist in the class of Edward R. Murrow, journeyed to Iraq and talked to soldiers there. The soldiers "to a man" said things weren't as bad as the media have been saying. I would trust something put out by Sean Hannity about as much as I would something by Joseph Goebbels. Our Pollyanna didn't mention the daily documented reports of bombings, torture, and murders occurring in Iraq, or that U. S. deaths are approaching 3,000. He didn't mention that even several former generals have very pessimistic views of Iraq. It's a little like putting your hands over your eyes so the monster won't get you.
CHRISTMAS TREES AND CHRISTMAS
The latest tempest in a teapot controversy over the "war on Christmas" occurred when officials in Seattle wanted to take down Christmas trees because a rabbi wanted equal time with the placement of a menorah. Then the officials decided to put back up the trees. It's ironic that Christmas trees aren't even Christian. They're a part of pagan tradition that has been melded into the Christmas celebration. This article by Geov Parrish is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
And the Hell of it is (there's that word again), the Christmas tree is not a Christian symbol. It predates the birth of Christ by a couple thousand years. As does the yule log, mistletoe, gift giving, the works. That whole just-after-the-longest-night rebirth of life thing. I'm even betting the fat guy with the reindeer and sleigh didn't come from old Judea, either.
Most of what we know as Christmas, in other words, originated with the pagans (and, in some cases, the Romans), and was appropriated by Christians to celebrate the birth of Christ at the one time of year He couldn't possibly have been born. The Bible is imprecise on this point, but we do know the shepherds were out tending their flocks -- which doesn't happen in the dead of winter. Desert winter nights are cc-c-o-l-d.
So, speaking on behalf of all Neo-Pagan and Wiccan types out there, perhaps I should threaten to sue Sea-Tac to include our religion, too –- but that's no good, because they're already using our symbol! Christians attacked us! (And isn't that the way of the world?) More precisely, Christians attacked Christmas. But they were just the first of a long list.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
NOT "ALL THAT BAD"
If you want to journey into the surreal, just read the letters page of The Fresno Bee. Today's wingnut classic tells us that Sean Hannity, that journalist in the class of Edward R. Murrow, journeyed to Iraq and talked to soldiers there. The soldiers "to a man" said things weren't as bad as the media have been saying. I would trust something put out by Sean Hannity about as much as I would something by Joseph Goebbels. Our Pollyanna didn't mention the daily documented reports of bombings, torture, and murders occurring in Iraq, or that U. S. deaths are approaching 3,000. He didn't mention that even several former generals have very pessimistic views of Iraq. It's a little like putting your hands over your eyes so the monster won't get you.
CHRISTMAS TREES AND CHRISTMAS
The latest tempest in a teapot controversy over the "war on Christmas" occurred when officials in Seattle wanted to take down Christmas trees because a rabbi wanted equal time with the placement of a menorah. Then the officials decided to put back up the trees. It's ironic that Christmas trees aren't even Christian. They're a part of pagan tradition that has been melded into the Christmas celebration. This article by Geov Parrish is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
And the Hell of it is (there's that word again), the Christmas tree is not a Christian symbol. It predates the birth of Christ by a couple thousand years. As does the yule log, mistletoe, gift giving, the works. That whole just-after-the-longest-night rebirth of life thing. I'm even betting the fat guy with the reindeer and sleigh didn't come from old Judea, either.
Most of what we know as Christmas, in other words, originated with the pagans (and, in some cases, the Romans), and was appropriated by Christians to celebrate the birth of Christ at the one time of year He couldn't possibly have been born. The Bible is imprecise on this point, but we do know the shepherds were out tending their flocks -- which doesn't happen in the dead of winter. Desert winter nights are cc-c-o-l-d.
So, speaking on behalf of all Neo-Pagan and Wiccan types out there, perhaps I should threaten to sue Sea-Tac to include our religion, too –- but that's no good, because they're already using our symbol! Christians attacked us! (And isn't that the way of the world?) More precisely, Christians attacked Christmas. But they were just the first of a long list.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
December 14, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BLOODY CATASTROPHE
It's easy to imagine some future editor of The Oxford English Dictionary adding a new synonym for "catastrophe." "Bush" will be forever made a part of the language and associated with one rotten decision after another. "What a Bush that play was," some critic may write. Unfortunately, there's nothing humorous in death, destruction, maiming, and homelessness. This article by Timothy Garton Ash is at www.guardian.co.uk:
What an amazing bloody catastrophe. The Bush administration's policy towards the Middle East over the five years since 9/11 is culminating in a multiple train crash. Never in the field of human conflict was so little achieved by so great a country at such vast expense. In every vital area of the wider Middle East, American policy over the last five years has taken a bad situation and made it worse.
If the consequences were not so serious, one would have to laugh at a failure of such heroic proportions - rather in the spirit of Zorba the Greek who, contemplating the splintered ruins of his great project, memorably exclaimed: "Did you ever see a more splendiferous crash?" But the reckless incompetence of Zorba the Bush has resulted in the death, maiming, uprooting or impoverishment of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children - mainly Muslim Arabs but also Christian Lebanese, Israelis and American and British soldiers. By contributing to a broader alienation of Muslims it has also helped to make a world in which, as we walk the streets of London, Madrid, Jerusalem, New York or Sydney, we are all, each and every one of us, less safe. Laugh if you dare.
THE CREDIT CARD VULTURES
I've noted before that war profiteers are about as low as you can get. But credit card companies are in the same class. They market their cards to people who really can't afford to accrue a lot of debt. They build in despicable fees for late charges and universal defaults. They raise the limits frequently to tempt the unwary into going into more debt. They lobby Congress to make bankruptcy almost impossible. This article by Charles Sullivan is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
The booming credit card business is one of the most profitable and destructive industries to ever emerge from the inventive capitalist mind. Citibank is raking in more money than Microsoft and Wal-Mart. Obscene profits are realized without lifting a finger to perform any physical work. In 2004 a single credit card company—the MBNA—realized 1.5 times the profits of fast food industry giant McDonald’s. Collecting on credit card debt is a very lucrative business.
With origins in South Dakota, the modern credit card industry began realizing obscene profits as a result of deregulation. The Supreme Court also played a pivotal role in expanding banking industry profits by lifting limits to the amount of additional fees credit card companies could charge their customers. The sky is the limit now. Industry deregulation has resulted in the systemic fleecing of consumers by practices that can only be described as willful and predatory in nature.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BLOODY CATASTROPHE
It's easy to imagine some future editor of The Oxford English Dictionary adding a new synonym for "catastrophe." "Bush" will be forever made a part of the language and associated with one rotten decision after another. "What a Bush that play was," some critic may write. Unfortunately, there's nothing humorous in death, destruction, maiming, and homelessness. This article by Timothy Garton Ash is at www.guardian.co.uk:
What an amazing bloody catastrophe. The Bush administration's policy towards the Middle East over the five years since 9/11 is culminating in a multiple train crash. Never in the field of human conflict was so little achieved by so great a country at such vast expense. In every vital area of the wider Middle East, American policy over the last five years has taken a bad situation and made it worse.
If the consequences were not so serious, one would have to laugh at a failure of such heroic proportions - rather in the spirit of Zorba the Greek who, contemplating the splintered ruins of his great project, memorably exclaimed: "Did you ever see a more splendiferous crash?" But the reckless incompetence of Zorba the Bush has resulted in the death, maiming, uprooting or impoverishment of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children - mainly Muslim Arabs but also Christian Lebanese, Israelis and American and British soldiers. By contributing to a broader alienation of Muslims it has also helped to make a world in which, as we walk the streets of London, Madrid, Jerusalem, New York or Sydney, we are all, each and every one of us, less safe. Laugh if you dare.
THE CREDIT CARD VULTURES
I've noted before that war profiteers are about as low as you can get. But credit card companies are in the same class. They market their cards to people who really can't afford to accrue a lot of debt. They build in despicable fees for late charges and universal defaults. They raise the limits frequently to tempt the unwary into going into more debt. They lobby Congress to make bankruptcy almost impossible. This article by Charles Sullivan is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
The booming credit card business is one of the most profitable and destructive industries to ever emerge from the inventive capitalist mind. Citibank is raking in more money than Microsoft and Wal-Mart. Obscene profits are realized without lifting a finger to perform any physical work. In 2004 a single credit card company—the MBNA—realized 1.5 times the profits of fast food industry giant McDonald’s. Collecting on credit card debt is a very lucrative business.
With origins in South Dakota, the modern credit card industry began realizing obscene profits as a result of deregulation. The Supreme Court also played a pivotal role in expanding banking industry profits by lifting limits to the amount of additional fees credit card companies could charge their customers. The sky is the limit now. Industry deregulation has resulted in the systemic fleecing of consumers by practices that can only be described as willful and predatory in nature.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
December 13, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
LIBERAL WASHINGTON POST?
The cliche about the "liberal media" is almost a Pavlovian response among right-wingers. The media are right on, of course, if there is criticism of Democrats or liberals. But if the media dare criticize the manifold failings of conservatives they suddenly morph into "liberals." So it's interesting that the Washington Post editorial page wrote an almost glowing tribute to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. A tyrant is a tyrant is a tyrant. This commentary from Glenn Greenwald is at www.glenngreenwald.blogspot.com:
That is why it is so jarring and amazing to read the Editorial Page of the Washington Post -- in the form of Fred Hiatt -- defend and laud one of the most vicious and reprehensible tyrants of the last 30 years.
What kind of media do we have where one of the most prominent editorial voices views the slaughter of political opponents, pervasive torture, death squads, state-sponsored terrorism, military coups, and merciless, bloody tyranny as nothing more than some necessary, perhaps unfortunate measures, benevolently invoked to preserve order and mitigated -- even justified -- by the pursuit of free market economics? That is just perverse for anyone to argue, but particularly perverse for a newspaper editorial page.
It is not the least bit surprising to see the National Review hold a "symposium" in which its authoritarian-loving participants gush with admiration for the lawless and violent despotism of Augusto Pinochet. That is who they are.
But to see the "centrist" Post Editorial Board join them in paying homage to this despicable, murderous dictator -- a tyrant who, even ten years after his coup, was so brutal and inhumane that even the dictator-loving Reagan administration eventually tried to help push him out of power -- reveals all one needs to know about how radical our political dialogue and newspapers have been transformed in a relatively short period of time.
THE PHONY "WAR ON CHRISTMAS"
If a retailer doesn't say "Merry Christmas" right-wingers tell us Christians in the United States are being persecuted. If a Nativity scene isn't permitted on government property, it means Christians are under attack. Conservatism in general is ridiculous, but the "war on Christmas" takes it to a new extreme. Assuming these people read, they should read some history about real persecution. Real persecution meant things like crucifixion, torture, prison. What makes the "war on Christmas" even more ludicrous is the mixing of commercialism with religion. Do these people really want their religion to be associated with a big sale on Game Boys? This article by R. J. Eskow is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Question: What's motivating these guys who go around claiming there's a "War On Christmas," besides self-promotion and political cynicism? Answer: Whiny 60's-style self-pity, and the notion that their feelings matter.
Word to these self-described Christians: Jesus didn't talk about your feelings. He talked about your deeds. History is filled with the example of Christians who sacrificed for their beliefs by suffering poverty, imprisonment, even torture and death. (See Tom Fox for a recent example.)
Here's your idea of martyrdom: Some business people asked their staff to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." You heard about it. And that made you feel bad.
As trials and tribulations go, it beats getting stoned to death like St. Stephen. These businesses are only trying to be considerate toward the feelings of others, but the airwaves are ringing with your howls of anguish.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
LIBERAL WASHINGTON POST?
The cliche about the "liberal media" is almost a Pavlovian response among right-wingers. The media are right on, of course, if there is criticism of Democrats or liberals. But if the media dare criticize the manifold failings of conservatives they suddenly morph into "liberals." So it's interesting that the Washington Post editorial page wrote an almost glowing tribute to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. A tyrant is a tyrant is a tyrant. This commentary from Glenn Greenwald is at www.glenngreenwald.blogspot.com:
That is why it is so jarring and amazing to read the Editorial Page of the Washington Post -- in the form of Fred Hiatt -- defend and laud one of the most vicious and reprehensible tyrants of the last 30 years.
What kind of media do we have where one of the most prominent editorial voices views the slaughter of political opponents, pervasive torture, death squads, state-sponsored terrorism, military coups, and merciless, bloody tyranny as nothing more than some necessary, perhaps unfortunate measures, benevolently invoked to preserve order and mitigated -- even justified -- by the pursuit of free market economics? That is just perverse for anyone to argue, but particularly perverse for a newspaper editorial page.
It is not the least bit surprising to see the National Review hold a "symposium" in which its authoritarian-loving participants gush with admiration for the lawless and violent despotism of Augusto Pinochet. That is who they are.
But to see the "centrist" Post Editorial Board join them in paying homage to this despicable, murderous dictator -- a tyrant who, even ten years after his coup, was so brutal and inhumane that even the dictator-loving Reagan administration eventually tried to help push him out of power -- reveals all one needs to know about how radical our political dialogue and newspapers have been transformed in a relatively short period of time.
THE PHONY "WAR ON CHRISTMAS"
If a retailer doesn't say "Merry Christmas" right-wingers tell us Christians in the United States are being persecuted. If a Nativity scene isn't permitted on government property, it means Christians are under attack. Conservatism in general is ridiculous, but the "war on Christmas" takes it to a new extreme. Assuming these people read, they should read some history about real persecution. Real persecution meant things like crucifixion, torture, prison. What makes the "war on Christmas" even more ludicrous is the mixing of commercialism with religion. Do these people really want their religion to be associated with a big sale on Game Boys? This article by R. J. Eskow is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Question: What's motivating these guys who go around claiming there's a "War On Christmas," besides self-promotion and political cynicism? Answer: Whiny 60's-style self-pity, and the notion that their feelings matter.
Word to these self-described Christians: Jesus didn't talk about your feelings. He talked about your deeds. History is filled with the example of Christians who sacrificed for their beliefs by suffering poverty, imprisonment, even torture and death. (See Tom Fox for a recent example.)
Here's your idea of martyrdom: Some business people asked their staff to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." You heard about it. And that made you feel bad.
As trials and tribulations go, it beats getting stoned to death like St. Stephen. These businesses are only trying to be considerate toward the feelings of others, but the airwaves are ringing with your howls of anguish.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
December 12, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE BUSH-PINOCHET CONNECTION
Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet died a few days ago. I don't think Pinochet has many mourners except some loons on the far right who consider a dictator a good guy if he advertises himself as anti-Communist. The United States helped inflict Pinochet on Chile by overthrowing the democratically-elected government of Salvador Allende. Pinochet proceeded to murder and torture for seventeen years. It's not surprising that the Bush family has connections to Pinochet. Robert Parry spells out the Bush-Pinochet connection in this article at www.consortiumnews.com:
Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s death on Dec. 10 means the Bush Family can breathe a little bit easier, knowing that criminal proceedings against Chile’s notorious dictator can no longer implicate his longtime friend and protector, former President George H.W. Bush.
Although Chilean investigations against other defendants may continue, the cases against Pinochet end with his death of a heart attack at the age of 91. Pinochet’s death from natural causes also marks a victory for world leaders, including George H.W. and George W. Bush, who shielded Pinochet from justice over the past three decades.
The Bush Family’s role in the Pinochet cover-up began in 1976 when then-CIA Director George H.W. Bush diverted investigators away from Pinochet’s guilt in a car bombing in Washington that killed political rival Orlando Letelier and an American, Ronni Moffitt.
PINOCHET AND THE FREE MARKET
One reason Augusto Pinochet is a hero to right-wingers is that Pinochet implemented many of the crackpot free market ideas dear to right-wingers. Pinochet did things like abolish the minimum wage, privatize the pension system, and slash taxes on business. The consequences were a fiasco, and should be a warning to us. This article by Greg Palast is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
In 1973, the year General Pinochet brutally seized the government, Chile's unemployment rate was 4.3%. In 1983, after ten years of free-market modernization, unemployment reached 22%. Real wages declined by 40% under military rule.
In 1970, 20% of Chile's population lived in poverty. By 1990, the year "President" Pinochet left office, the number of destitute had doubled to 40%. Quite a miracle.
Pinochet did not destroy Chile's economy all alone. It took nine years of hard work by the most brilliant minds in world academia, a gaggle of Milton Friedman's trainees, the Chicago Boys. Under the spell of their theories, the General abolished the minimum wage, outlawed trade union bargaining rights, privatized the pension system, abolished all taxes on wealth and on business profits, slashed public employment, privatized 212 state industries and 66 banks and ran a fiscal surplus.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE BUSH-PINOCHET CONNECTION
Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet died a few days ago. I don't think Pinochet has many mourners except some loons on the far right who consider a dictator a good guy if he advertises himself as anti-Communist. The United States helped inflict Pinochet on Chile by overthrowing the democratically-elected government of Salvador Allende. Pinochet proceeded to murder and torture for seventeen years. It's not surprising that the Bush family has connections to Pinochet. Robert Parry spells out the Bush-Pinochet connection in this article at www.consortiumnews.com:
Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s death on Dec. 10 means the Bush Family can breathe a little bit easier, knowing that criminal proceedings against Chile’s notorious dictator can no longer implicate his longtime friend and protector, former President George H.W. Bush.
Although Chilean investigations against other defendants may continue, the cases against Pinochet end with his death of a heart attack at the age of 91. Pinochet’s death from natural causes also marks a victory for world leaders, including George H.W. and George W. Bush, who shielded Pinochet from justice over the past three decades.
The Bush Family’s role in the Pinochet cover-up began in 1976 when then-CIA Director George H.W. Bush diverted investigators away from Pinochet’s guilt in a car bombing in Washington that killed political rival Orlando Letelier and an American, Ronni Moffitt.
PINOCHET AND THE FREE MARKET
One reason Augusto Pinochet is a hero to right-wingers is that Pinochet implemented many of the crackpot free market ideas dear to right-wingers. Pinochet did things like abolish the minimum wage, privatize the pension system, and slash taxes on business. The consequences were a fiasco, and should be a warning to us. This article by Greg Palast is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
In 1973, the year General Pinochet brutally seized the government, Chile's unemployment rate was 4.3%. In 1983, after ten years of free-market modernization, unemployment reached 22%. Real wages declined by 40% under military rule.
In 1970, 20% of Chile's population lived in poverty. By 1990, the year "President" Pinochet left office, the number of destitute had doubled to 40%. Quite a miracle.
Pinochet did not destroy Chile's economy all alone. It took nine years of hard work by the most brilliant minds in world academia, a gaggle of Milton Friedman's trainees, the Chicago Boys. Under the spell of their theories, the General abolished the minimum wage, outlawed trade union bargaining rights, privatized the pension system, abolished all taxes on wealth and on business profits, slashed public employment, privatized 212 state industries and 66 banks and ran a fiscal surplus.
Monday, December 11, 2006
December 11, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
NO MAGIC ELIXIR
In right-wing land the magic elixir is tax cuts for the rich and "privatizing" functions previously performed by the government. Then we all will live in Lollipop Land and drink from lemonade springs. Unfortunately, the right-wing magic elixir is pretty toxic. Tax cuts for the rich just produce massive deficits and massive inequality. Privatizing produces corruption and inefficiency. Paul Krugman looks at the results of privatizing under George W. Bush in this column linked at www.welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com:
It’s now clear that there’s a fundamental error in the antigovernment ideology embraced by today’s conservative movement. Conservatives look at the virtues of market competition and leap to the conclusion that private ownership, in itself, is some kind of magic elixir. But there’s no reason to assume that a private company hired to perform a public service will do better than people employed directly by the government.
In fact, the private company will almost surely do a worse job if its political connections insulate it from accountability — which has, of course, consistently been the case under Mr. Bush. The inspectors’ report on Afghanistan’s police conspicuously avoided assessing DynCorp’s performance; even as government auditors found fault with Landstar, the company received a plaque from the Department of Transportation honoring its hurricane relief efforts.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
NO MAGIC ELIXIR
In right-wing land the magic elixir is tax cuts for the rich and "privatizing" functions previously performed by the government. Then we all will live in Lollipop Land and drink from lemonade springs. Unfortunately, the right-wing magic elixir is pretty toxic. Tax cuts for the rich just produce massive deficits and massive inequality. Privatizing produces corruption and inefficiency. Paul Krugman looks at the results of privatizing under George W. Bush in this column linked at www.welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com:
It’s now clear that there’s a fundamental error in the antigovernment ideology embraced by today’s conservative movement. Conservatives look at the virtues of market competition and leap to the conclusion that private ownership, in itself, is some kind of magic elixir. But there’s no reason to assume that a private company hired to perform a public service will do better than people employed directly by the government.
In fact, the private company will almost surely do a worse job if its political connections insulate it from accountability — which has, of course, consistently been the case under Mr. Bush. The inspectors’ report on Afghanistan’s police conspicuously avoided assessing DynCorp’s performance; even as government auditors found fault with Landstar, the company received a plaque from the Department of Transportation honoring its hurricane relief efforts.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
December 10, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUBBLE BOY
George W. Bush in his usual syntax-butchering way once said something about "being encapsulated in a bubble." Bush seems to reside in a permanent bubble. After the much advertised Iraq Study Group report, Bush doesn't seem inclined to change his disastrous course in Iraq. This column by Jonathan Chait is at www.latimes.com:
And now that the Baker-Hamilton report is out, the commissioners are carefully patronizing the commander in chief. As this newspaper reported, "Members of the commission said they were pleased that Bush gave them as much attention as he did, a full hour's worth. 'He could have scheduled us for 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for the cameras,' said former Atty. Gen. Edwin M. Meese III." Wow, a commission devoted hundreds or thousands of man-hours to addressing the central conundrum of U.S. foreign policy, and the president gave them a whole hour of his time!
In return for these considerations, the commission generously avoided revisiting the whole question of who got us into this fiasco and how. As the Washington Post put it, "The panel appeared to steer away from language that might inflame the Bush administration." Of course, "inflame" is a word typically associated with street mobs or other irrational actors. The fact that the president can be "inflamed" is no longer considered surprising enough to merit comment.
Indeed, everybody seems to understand that if you want to help amend the disaster in Iraq, the No. 1 rule is that you can't acknowledge it's a disaster in Bush's presence. Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred Barnes, the court stenographer of the Bush administration, recently reported that this was a key factor in the hiring of Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
DEATHS IN VAIN
You have to think that anyone who dies in a war on the losing side has died in vain. People who die, but are part of the winning side, would have had the satisfaction at least of seeing their cause prevail. What is even more in vain is dying when a war is already lost. That is what we're seeing in Iraq. Except for bubble boy George W. Bush and his closest sycophants, there is no doubt this war is lost. Every death now, every wound, is for nothing. Doug Thompson discusses it in this column linked at www.makethemaccountable.com:
The death toll for Americans stands at more than 2,900 and is closing in on 3,000. About the only thing any of us knows for sure is that many more will die before America extricates itself from a war it can’t win and never should have launched.
And let’s not forget the thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians who have died and continue to die. Some estimates put the civilian death toll at more than 100,000, a figure that the United States, of course, disputes. But the bottom line is that too many Americans and Iraqis have lost their lives because of George W. Bush’s madness and the madness must stop…
The Iraq Study Group is correct when they say Iraq is a colossal failure by Bush and his minions. It will go down as the worst military, diplomatic and political debacle in this country’s history and will define forever George W. Bush’s failed, miserable, pathetic, insane Presidency…
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUBBLE BOY
George W. Bush in his usual syntax-butchering way once said something about "being encapsulated in a bubble." Bush seems to reside in a permanent bubble. After the much advertised Iraq Study Group report, Bush doesn't seem inclined to change his disastrous course in Iraq. This column by Jonathan Chait is at www.latimes.com:
And now that the Baker-Hamilton report is out, the commissioners are carefully patronizing the commander in chief. As this newspaper reported, "Members of the commission said they were pleased that Bush gave them as much attention as he did, a full hour's worth. 'He could have scheduled us for 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for the cameras,' said former Atty. Gen. Edwin M. Meese III." Wow, a commission devoted hundreds or thousands of man-hours to addressing the central conundrum of U.S. foreign policy, and the president gave them a whole hour of his time!
In return for these considerations, the commission generously avoided revisiting the whole question of who got us into this fiasco and how. As the Washington Post put it, "The panel appeared to steer away from language that might inflame the Bush administration." Of course, "inflame" is a word typically associated with street mobs or other irrational actors. The fact that the president can be "inflamed" is no longer considered surprising enough to merit comment.
Indeed, everybody seems to understand that if you want to help amend the disaster in Iraq, the No. 1 rule is that you can't acknowledge it's a disaster in Bush's presence. Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred Barnes, the court stenographer of the Bush administration, recently reported that this was a key factor in the hiring of Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
DEATHS IN VAIN
You have to think that anyone who dies in a war on the losing side has died in vain. People who die, but are part of the winning side, would have had the satisfaction at least of seeing their cause prevail. What is even more in vain is dying when a war is already lost. That is what we're seeing in Iraq. Except for bubble boy George W. Bush and his closest sycophants, there is no doubt this war is lost. Every death now, every wound, is for nothing. Doug Thompson discusses it in this column linked at www.makethemaccountable.com:
The death toll for Americans stands at more than 2,900 and is closing in on 3,000. About the only thing any of us knows for sure is that many more will die before America extricates itself from a war it can’t win and never should have launched.
And let’s not forget the thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians who have died and continue to die. Some estimates put the civilian death toll at more than 100,000, a figure that the United States, of course, disputes. But the bottom line is that too many Americans and Iraqis have lost their lives because of George W. Bush’s madness and the madness must stop…
The Iraq Study Group is correct when they say Iraq is a colossal failure by Bush and his minions. It will go down as the worst military, diplomatic and political debacle in this country’s history and will define forever George W. Bush’s failed, miserable, pathetic, insane Presidency…
Saturday, December 09, 2006
December 09, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH'S LACK OF CURIOSITY NOT FUNNY
George W. Bush's lack of intellect has provided fodder for late night comedians. But his lack of curiosity isn't funny. The leader of the world's most powerful nation should be curious. He or she should be able to add something to the dialogue about important policy decisions. He or she should care enough about their job to get all the available information about issues like war and the economy. George W. Bush, the "decider," is either so incredibly arrogant he doesn't believe he needs other viewpoints, or so devoid of intellect he doesn't comprehend the job. This article by Cenk Uygur is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Never has there been a public official more unequipped to be President of the United States of America than George W. Bush. The man is simply not up to the job. Even if he really wanted to be or cared to be an effective president, he ... could ... not ... do ... it.
He can't do it on a boat, he can't do it with a (pet) goat. He can't do it in the Green Zone, he can't do it back at home. This man cannot be a good president, Sam-I-Am.
He flat out does not have the intellectual capacity to carry out the requirements of the job. This is not some mean-spirited speculation as to the level of his intelligence. The facts are in. There is nothing left to speculate on. And today we have yet another example of his sheer inability to form a cognitive thought.
Lawrence Eagleburger is a Republican. He was the Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and was a prominent figure in the Reagan administration. He is a party stalwart and one of the bastions of the Republican establishment. This man obviously wants George W. Bush to succeed. When he met with President Bush, along with all of the members of the Iraq Study Group, he said that after they presented their findings - Bush asked no questions.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH'S LACK OF CURIOSITY NOT FUNNY
George W. Bush's lack of intellect has provided fodder for late night comedians. But his lack of curiosity isn't funny. The leader of the world's most powerful nation should be curious. He or she should be able to add something to the dialogue about important policy decisions. He or she should care enough about their job to get all the available information about issues like war and the economy. George W. Bush, the "decider," is either so incredibly arrogant he doesn't believe he needs other viewpoints, or so devoid of intellect he doesn't comprehend the job. This article by Cenk Uygur is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Never has there been a public official more unequipped to be President of the United States of America than George W. Bush. The man is simply not up to the job. Even if he really wanted to be or cared to be an effective president, he ... could ... not ... do ... it.
He can't do it on a boat, he can't do it with a (pet) goat. He can't do it in the Green Zone, he can't do it back at home. This man cannot be a good president, Sam-I-Am.
He flat out does not have the intellectual capacity to carry out the requirements of the job. This is not some mean-spirited speculation as to the level of his intelligence. The facts are in. There is nothing left to speculate on. And today we have yet another example of his sheer inability to form a cognitive thought.
Lawrence Eagleburger is a Republican. He was the Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and was a prominent figure in the Reagan administration. He is a party stalwart and one of the bastions of the Republican establishment. This man obviously wants George W. Bush to succeed. When he met with President Bush, along with all of the members of the Iraq Study Group, he said that after they presented their findings - Bush asked no questions.
Friday, December 08, 2006
December 08, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH'S FOLLY
Iraq is a daily and continuing tragedy that should never have happened. George W. Bush and his neocons were determined to attack Iraq, mostly for its oil, partly to establish United States hegemony in the region. September 11th provided the cover Bush wanted. He massaged the intelligence to link Saddam Hussein first to nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, which he claimed were a threat to the United States, and later to terrorists like the ones who attacked us on September 11. All of the stated rationales for this war were lies. Bush ignored all the warnings of what would occur if the United States occupied Iraq. Even his own father and former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft warned of the quagmire an occupation would become. Now there has been needless carnage and there is no good end to this fiasco. This column by Paul Krugman is at www.welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com:
And so it was with those who warned against invading Iraq. At best, they were ignored. A recent article in The Washington Post ruefully conceded that the paper’s account of the debate in the House of Representatives over the resolution authorizing the Iraq war — a resolution opposed by a majority of the Democrats — gave no coverage at all to those antiwar arguments that now seem prescient.
At worst, those who were skeptical about the case for war had their patriotism and/or their sanity questioned. The New Republic now says that it “deeply regrets its early support for this war.” Does it also deeply regret accusing those who opposed rushing into war of “abject pacifism?”
Now, only a few neocon dead-enders still believe that this war was anything but a vast exercise in folly. And those who braved political pressure and ridicule to oppose what Al Gore has rightly called “the worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States” deserve some credit.
THE LORDS OF LOUD
Among the many bad things that happened during the Reagan years was the end of the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine simply said that opposing political points of view had to be given equal time on the public airwaves. When Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine it opened the door for full-time propagandists like Rush Limbaugh to spout their venom and lies without a counter viewpoint. With the major repudiation of the Republican party in the last election let's hope it will mean the demise of right wing radio. This article by Steve Young is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Twelve years of unmerited influence and half-truths swathed in red, white and blue patriotism met its demise this past Tuesday with a dagger to the heart served up by revelations from the Iraq Study Group substantiating that everything right wing talk radio had said was right about the Iraqi, was wrong.
Born the day Rush Limbaugh mid-wifed Newt Gingrich's Contract For (On) America, RWTRR lived a healthy and wealthy life duping a great portion of the America public into voting against their own best interests.
Right wing talk grew larger and louder over its lifetime, adding names like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Dennis Prager and many more imitators. They each spent three hours a day catchphrasing words and thoughts - no matter how rickety their evidence (if any) - that the mainstream media would give equal time and space along side the truth.
All of a sudden, the truth was only worth 50% of any issue.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH'S FOLLY
Iraq is a daily and continuing tragedy that should never have happened. George W. Bush and his neocons were determined to attack Iraq, mostly for its oil, partly to establish United States hegemony in the region. September 11th provided the cover Bush wanted. He massaged the intelligence to link Saddam Hussein first to nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, which he claimed were a threat to the United States, and later to terrorists like the ones who attacked us on September 11. All of the stated rationales for this war were lies. Bush ignored all the warnings of what would occur if the United States occupied Iraq. Even his own father and former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft warned of the quagmire an occupation would become. Now there has been needless carnage and there is no good end to this fiasco. This column by Paul Krugman is at www.welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com:
And so it was with those who warned against invading Iraq. At best, they were ignored. A recent article in The Washington Post ruefully conceded that the paper’s account of the debate in the House of Representatives over the resolution authorizing the Iraq war — a resolution opposed by a majority of the Democrats — gave no coverage at all to those antiwar arguments that now seem prescient.
At worst, those who were skeptical about the case for war had their patriotism and/or their sanity questioned. The New Republic now says that it “deeply regrets its early support for this war.” Does it also deeply regret accusing those who opposed rushing into war of “abject pacifism?”
Now, only a few neocon dead-enders still believe that this war was anything but a vast exercise in folly. And those who braved political pressure and ridicule to oppose what Al Gore has rightly called “the worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States” deserve some credit.
THE LORDS OF LOUD
Among the many bad things that happened during the Reagan years was the end of the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine simply said that opposing political points of view had to be given equal time on the public airwaves. When Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine it opened the door for full-time propagandists like Rush Limbaugh to spout their venom and lies without a counter viewpoint. With the major repudiation of the Republican party in the last election let's hope it will mean the demise of right wing radio. This article by Steve Young is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Twelve years of unmerited influence and half-truths swathed in red, white and blue patriotism met its demise this past Tuesday with a dagger to the heart served up by revelations from the Iraq Study Group substantiating that everything right wing talk radio had said was right about the Iraqi, was wrong.
Born the day Rush Limbaugh mid-wifed Newt Gingrich's Contract For (On) America, RWTRR lived a healthy and wealthy life duping a great portion of the America public into voting against their own best interests.
Right wing talk grew larger and louder over its lifetime, adding names like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Dennis Prager and many more imitators. They each spent three hours a day catchphrasing words and thoughts - no matter how rickety their evidence (if any) - that the mainstream media would give equal time and space along side the truth.
All of a sudden, the truth was only worth 50% of any issue.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
December 05, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE UNSAVORY BUSH DYNASTY
It's amazing to think of the impact the Bush dynasty has had on United States history in the 20th and 21st centuries. The Bushes have had their tentacles throughout the U. S government, intelligence agencies, and in foreign policy. It has mostly been a negative impact on the United States, but profitable for the Family. Look at Prescott Bush's dealings with theNazis. Look at George H. W. Bush's tenure at the CIA, and now his war profiteering with the Carlyle Group. Look at the connection to the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Look at the strong connections to the Saudi royal family, and to the bin Laden family. This article takes a hopeful look at what we hope will be the end of the Bush dynasty. The article by Stephen Lendman is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Above all, this is a family that formed strong ties to the institutions of power that began in industry and Wall Street and was parlayed to become a powerful political dynasty that included a US senator, two governors, a congressman, vice-president, CIA director and two presidents (the current president's father, of course, having been a congressman, CIA director and vice-president before being elected president in 1988).
Prescott, the president's grandfather, had a particularly unsavory connection as recently declassified documents show. He was a director of New York based Union Banking Corporation (UBC) that was a holding company for the Nazis and represented the German steel industrialist Fritz Thyssen who was intimately involved with the Nazi regime. He was also a director and shareholder of various other companies involved with Thyssen. UBC bought and shipped millions of dollars of gold, oil, steel, coal and US treasury bonds to Germany that helped build and support the Nazi war machine. Prescott was also with Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) when the firm did business with the Nazis during the 1930s that continued during the early years of WW II until the company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
THE UNSAVORY BUSH DYNASTY
It's amazing to think of the impact the Bush dynasty has had on United States history in the 20th and 21st centuries. The Bushes have had their tentacles throughout the U. S government, intelligence agencies, and in foreign policy. It has mostly been a negative impact on the United States, but profitable for the Family. Look at Prescott Bush's dealings with theNazis. Look at George H. W. Bush's tenure at the CIA, and now his war profiteering with the Carlyle Group. Look at the connection to the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Look at the strong connections to the Saudi royal family, and to the bin Laden family. This article takes a hopeful look at what we hope will be the end of the Bush dynasty. The article by Stephen Lendman is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Above all, this is a family that formed strong ties to the institutions of power that began in industry and Wall Street and was parlayed to become a powerful political dynasty that included a US senator, two governors, a congressman, vice-president, CIA director and two presidents (the current president's father, of course, having been a congressman, CIA director and vice-president before being elected president in 1988).
Prescott, the president's grandfather, had a particularly unsavory connection as recently declassified documents show. He was a director of New York based Union Banking Corporation (UBC) that was a holding company for the Nazis and represented the German steel industrialist Fritz Thyssen who was intimately involved with the Nazi regime. He was also a director and shareholder of various other companies involved with Thyssen. UBC bought and shipped millions of dollars of gold, oil, steel, coal and US treasury bonds to Germany that helped build and support the Nazi war machine. Prescott was also with Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) when the firm did business with the Nazis during the 1930s that continued during the early years of WW II until the company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
December 03, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH'S DISCONNECT
George W. Bush continues to make astonishing claims about Iraq. The latest is the claim that the insurgency is an al-Qaeda "plot." I resist calling Bush totally delusional because that might give him an excuse for starting this horrible war in the first place. It wasn't lying, you see, or massaging the intelligence; it was because Bush was delusional. I think he deliberately lied us into the war, and maybe lying has become so habitual it's the first response. In this column Frank Rich looks at the pathetic figure Bush has become, and the tragedy he has inflicted. This column is at roziusunbound.blogspot.com:
The most startling example was his insistence that Al Qaeda is primarily responsible for the country’s spiraling violence. Only a week before Mr. Bush said this, the American military spokesman on the scene, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, called Al Qaeda “extremely disorganized” in Iraq, adding that “I would question at this point how effective they are at all at the state level.” Military intelligence estimates that Al Qaeda makes up only 2 percent to 3 percent of the enemy forces in Iraq, according to Jim Miklaszewski of NBC News. The bottom line: America has a commander in chief who can’t even identify some 97 percent to 98 percent of the combatants in a war that has gone on longer than our involvement in World War II.
But that’s not the half of it. Mr. Bush relentlessly refers to Iraq’s “unity government” though it is not unified and can only nominally govern. (In Henry Kissinger’s accurate recent formulation, Iraq is not even a nation “in the historic sense.”) After that pseudo-government’s prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, brushed him off in Amman, the president nonetheless declared him “the right guy for Iraq” the morning after. This came only a day after The Times’s revelation of a secret memo by Mr. Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, judging Mr. Maliki either “ignorant of what is going on” in his own country or disingenuous or insufficiently capable of running a government. Not that it matters what Mr. Hadley writes when his boss is impervious to facts.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH'S DISCONNECT
George W. Bush continues to make astonishing claims about Iraq. The latest is the claim that the insurgency is an al-Qaeda "plot." I resist calling Bush totally delusional because that might give him an excuse for starting this horrible war in the first place. It wasn't lying, you see, or massaging the intelligence; it was because Bush was delusional. I think he deliberately lied us into the war, and maybe lying has become so habitual it's the first response. In this column Frank Rich looks at the pathetic figure Bush has become, and the tragedy he has inflicted. This column is at roziusunbound.blogspot.com:
The most startling example was his insistence that Al Qaeda is primarily responsible for the country’s spiraling violence. Only a week before Mr. Bush said this, the American military spokesman on the scene, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, called Al Qaeda “extremely disorganized” in Iraq, adding that “I would question at this point how effective they are at all at the state level.” Military intelligence estimates that Al Qaeda makes up only 2 percent to 3 percent of the enemy forces in Iraq, according to Jim Miklaszewski of NBC News. The bottom line: America has a commander in chief who can’t even identify some 97 percent to 98 percent of the combatants in a war that has gone on longer than our involvement in World War II.
But that’s not the half of it. Mr. Bush relentlessly refers to Iraq’s “unity government” though it is not unified and can only nominally govern. (In Henry Kissinger’s accurate recent formulation, Iraq is not even a nation “in the historic sense.”) After that pseudo-government’s prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, brushed him off in Amman, the president nonetheless declared him “the right guy for Iraq” the morning after. This came only a day after The Times’s revelation of a secret memo by Mr. Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, judging Mr. Maliki either “ignorant of what is going on” in his own country or disingenuous or insufficiently capable of running a government. Not that it matters what Mr. Hadley writes when his boss is impervious to facts.
Friday, December 01, 2006
December 01, 2006
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
GEORGE WILL'S SLEAZY ETHICS
Columnist and TV pundit George Will has been a major media presence for decades. You can count on Will to put a shinier gloss on truly repulsive policies. Will should not be accorded the title "journalist" because he has demonstrated he has absolutely no ethics. His latest outrage is to doctor quotes to make George W. Bush, who was acting arrogant and like a creep once again, look like a good guy in an encounter with Senator-elect Jim Webb. Will coached Ronald Reagan years ago and then went on television posing as an objective observer about Reagan's debate with President Carter. This column by R. J. Eskow is at news.yahoo.com:
The Carter/Reagan debate, and Will's role in it, changed journalism forever. Will went on national television that year to comment live and "objectively" on
Ronald Reagan's debate performance - without disclosing that he was working for the Reagan campaign and had helped Reagan prepare for that very debate - using stolen property.
This unethical behavior set a new low for journalistic ethics. What was equally ground-breaking was the fact that, once his behavior was made public, he paid absolutely no professional price for it. No censure, no widespread criticism, no loss of employment.
GINGRICH VS. THE CONSTITUTION
I remember when conservatives took high umbrage about any interpretation of the Constitution that wasn't "strict constructionist." Now right-wingers can't wait to dismember the Constitution. The Bush administration has attacked civil liberties at every level. Serial adulterer and former Speaker Newt Gingrich has suggested that we have to curtail freedom of speech because of the "war on terror." The First Amendment really is inconvenient for right-wingers. Those terrible clauses about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion give them the vapors. This article by Cenk Uygur is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Newt Gingrich started the attack against the US constitution in the beginning of the week. He launched operation shock and awe by striking against one of the most cherished principles of this country - the freedom of speech. It worked, because after all we've been through in the last six years, I was still shocked by this.
The first amendment! I am not sure I can name something more sacred to the principles of America.
Then Dennis Prager came in and delivered the second blow to the first amendment (if you don't know him, don't worry, you're not alone; he is a buffoonish conservative talk show host who has made a cheap living desperately trying to copy Rush Limbaugh his whole life). Prager went after the establishment clause. He argued that every member of Congress should show their allegiance to the Bible in order to be allowed into Congress. The first amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." How much clearer did they have to be?
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
GEORGE WILL'S SLEAZY ETHICS
Columnist and TV pundit George Will has been a major media presence for decades. You can count on Will to put a shinier gloss on truly repulsive policies. Will should not be accorded the title "journalist" because he has demonstrated he has absolutely no ethics. His latest outrage is to doctor quotes to make George W. Bush, who was acting arrogant and like a creep once again, look like a good guy in an encounter with Senator-elect Jim Webb. Will coached Ronald Reagan years ago and then went on television posing as an objective observer about Reagan's debate with President Carter. This column by R. J. Eskow is at news.yahoo.com:
The Carter/Reagan debate, and Will's role in it, changed journalism forever. Will went on national television that year to comment live and "objectively" on
Ronald Reagan's debate performance - without disclosing that he was working for the Reagan campaign and had helped Reagan prepare for that very debate - using stolen property.
This unethical behavior set a new low for journalistic ethics. What was equally ground-breaking was the fact that, once his behavior was made public, he paid absolutely no professional price for it. No censure, no widespread criticism, no loss of employment.
GINGRICH VS. THE CONSTITUTION
I remember when conservatives took high umbrage about any interpretation of the Constitution that wasn't "strict constructionist." Now right-wingers can't wait to dismember the Constitution. The Bush administration has attacked civil liberties at every level. Serial adulterer and former Speaker Newt Gingrich has suggested that we have to curtail freedom of speech because of the "war on terror." The First Amendment really is inconvenient for right-wingers. Those terrible clauses about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion give them the vapors. This article by Cenk Uygur is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Newt Gingrich started the attack against the US constitution in the beginning of the week. He launched operation shock and awe by striking against one of the most cherished principles of this country - the freedom of speech. It worked, because after all we've been through in the last six years, I was still shocked by this.
The first amendment! I am not sure I can name something more sacred to the principles of America.
Then Dennis Prager came in and delivered the second blow to the first amendment (if you don't know him, don't worry, you're not alone; he is a buffoonish conservative talk show host who has made a cheap living desperately trying to copy Rush Limbaugh his whole life). Prager went after the establishment clause. He argued that every member of Congress should show their allegiance to the Bible in order to be allowed into Congress. The first amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." How much clearer did they have to be?
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