October 26, 2006


IMPEACH BUSH




IMPEACH CHENEY


BIRDS OF A FEATHER

The cliche says that birds of feather will flock together, so it's illustrative to see who pigs like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity support. Limbaugh finds ways to go lower than low. During the Clinton years he compared Chelsea Clinton, a child, to a dog. He has made numerous racist statements on the air. He mocks the poor. He has said drug abusers should go to prison, although he evidently exempts himself from that fate. Now he has attacked Michael J. Fox, a victim of Parkinson's disease. The Republican party has been only too happy to have Limbaugh and his ilk represent them on the air. This article by Molly Ivins is at www.workingforchange.com:

It's a race to the bottom. For misinformation and cruelty, not to mention plain old dreadful manners, it is so hard to beat Rush Limbaugh. We can only measure the Great Blowhard against himself.

Even by Limbaugh standards, his recent attack on Michael J. Fox, the actor, is several levels lower than tacky. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, has done some political ads favoring candidates who in turn support stem cell research.

"He is exaggerating the effects of the disease," Limbaugh told his listeners. "He is moving all around and shaking, and it's purely an act. This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting. This is the only time I've ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has."

The reaction from Parkinson's experts was swift and angry. "It's a shameless statement," said John Rogers of Parkinson's Action Network. "It's insulting. It's appallingly sad, at best."

THE ASSAULT ON WORKING PEOPLE

In my lifetime I've heard lots of talk about war. There was the war on poverty and the war on drugs. The past few years it's been the alleged "war on terror." But a war that hasn't been quite so attention grabbing has been the war on the majority on us who are working class. Since the Nixon years we've seen wages stagnate or fall while the richest people in this country get even richer. The trend has been far more pronounced since Bush grabbed the White House in 2000. Bush had the audacity to talk about gay marriage being a threat to American families. His economic policies are a far greater threat than any gay union. This article by Caryl Rivers is at www.alternet.org:

The low-wage/high-work world and the two-earner world are with us for the foreseeable future. As is the rapidly growing world of shift work, with mom working one shift and dad another. American families are facing enormous stress, and a reasonable society would be looking at ways to shore up the family with something other than platitudes. After all, it is the crucible of future generations, the matrix of our tomorrows.

The degree to which we are not doing this is astonishing, according to Harvard's Global Working Families project:

* 37 countries guarantee parents some type of paid leave when children fall ill. The U.S. does not.

* 163 countries offer paid maternity leave. The U.S. does not.

* All industrialized countries except Australia offer paid family and medical leave. The U.S. does not. And Australia guarantees a full year of unpaid leave, while the U.S. offers only 12 weeks.

* 45 countries offer paternity leave. The U.S. does not.

* 96 countries mandate paid annual leave. The U.S. does not.

* 84 countries limit the maximum work week employers can require. The U.S. has no limit on mandatory work.

* 40 countries have mandated evening and night wage premiums. The U.S. does not.

* The U.S. is tied for 39th with Ecuador and Surinam for enrollment in early childhood education for 3- to 5-year-olds, and tied for 91st out of 151 countries in preprimary student-to-staff ratios.