February 06, 2007
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
WORSE THAN VIETNAM
Financial expenditures for the debacle in Iraq will soon exceed what we spent in another debacle in Vietnam. The war in Iraq has already gone longer than the Second World War against the Axis powers. And where are we? Iraq is the world's greatest recruiting ground for terrorists. It's the greatest training terrorists could ask for. To pay for this disaster Bush is slashing health care spending for the elderly and for the poor. Just how is this guy "pro-life"? This article by Ewen MacAskill is at www.commondreams.org:
President George Bush is proposing to slash medical care for the poor and elderly to meet the soaring cost of the Iraq war.
Mr Bush's $2.9 trillion (£1.5 trillion) budget, sent to Congress yesterday, includes $100bn extra for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for this year, on top of $70bn already allocated by Congress and $141.7bn next year. He is planning an 11.3% increase for the Pentagon. Spending on the Iraq war is destined to top the total cost of the 13-year war in Vietnam.
The huge rise in military spending is paid for by a squeeze on domestic programmes, including $66bn in cuts over five years to Medicare, the healthcare scheme for the elderly, and $12bn from the Medicaid healthcare scheme for the poor.
Mr Bush said: "Today we submit a budget to the United States Congress that shows we can balance the budget in five years without raising taxes ... Our priority is to protect the American people. And our priority is to make sure our troops have what it takes to do their jobs."
Although Democrats control Congress and have promised careful scrutiny of the budget over the next few months, Mr Bush has left in them in a bind, unwilling to withhold funds for US troops on the frontline. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said the days when Mr Bush could expect a blank cheque for the wars were over but she also insisted the Democrats would not deny troops the money they needed. Democrats could block Mr Bush's proposed cuts to 141 domestic programmes.
MOLLY IVINS ON BUSH'S ARROGANCE
Molly Ivins tried to warn the country about George W. Bush. While the major media fawned over the aw-shucks good 'ol boy ways of Bush Molly talked about his sense of entitlement because he was born rich and about his lousy record as Governor of Texas. This column by Bill Gallagher is at www.smirkingchimp.com:
Ivins had Bush's number way ahead of the pack. If only the nation had listened. She was especially tuned in to his machismo.
She presciently wrote in her 1999 book with Lou Dubose "Shrub:The Short and Happy Political Life of George W. Bush" about his cowboy arrogance: "For an upper-class white boy, Bush comes on way too hard-ass -- at a guess, to make up for being an upper-class white boy. But it's also a common Texas male trait. Someone should probably worry how all this could affect his handling of future encounters with some Saddam Hussein, but that's beyond the scope of this book."
Ivins richly merits her rest in paradise. The rest of us must worry about the hell we're in, and the madman she warned us of and what he might do next.
Showing posts with label Ivins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ivins. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
January 31, 2007
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH LINKED TO PLAME OUTING
Right-wingers like to throw around the word "treason" at anyone who doesn't support the war in Iraq. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft and other members of the Bush administration have suggested that any dissent from the war gives aid to the terrorists. I wonder how right-wingers who have backed this war will react to the apparent link between George W. Bush and the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Outing Ms. Plame compromised intelligence vital to the security of the United States. It has emerged in the trial of I. Lewis Libby that Bush may have been directly involved in outing Plame. This story by Jason Leopold and Marc Ash is at www.truthout.org:
Copies of handwritten notes by Vice President Dick Cheney, introduced at trial by defense attorneys for former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, would appear to implicate George W. Bush in the Plame CIA Leak case.
Bush has long maintained that he was unaware of attacks by any member of his administration against [former ambassador Joseph] Wilson. The ex-envoy's stinging rebukes of the administration's use of pre-war Iraq intelligence led Libby and other White House officials to leak Wilson's wife's covert CIA status to reporters in July 2003 in an act of retaliation.
But Cheney's notes, which were introduced into evidence Tuesday during Libby's perjury and obstruction-of-justice trial, call into question the truthfulness of President Bush's vehement denials about his prior knowledge of the attacks against Wilson. The revelation that Bush may have known all along that there was an effort by members of his office to discredit the former ambassador begs the question: Was the president also aware that senior members of his administration compromised Valerie Plame's undercover role with the CIA?
Further, the highly explicit nature of Cheney's comments not only hints at a rift between Cheney and Bush over what Cheney felt was the scapegoating of Libby, but also raises serious questions about potentially criminal actions by Bush. If Bush did indeed play an active role in encouraging Libby to take the fall to protect Karl Rove, as Libby's lawyers articulated in their opening statements, then that could be viewed as criminal involvement by Bush.
Last week, Libby's attorney Theodore Wells made a stunning pronouncement during opening statements of Libby's trial. He claimed that the White House had made Libby a scapegoat for the leak to protect Karl Rove - Bush's political adviser and "right-hand man."
WE'LL MISS MOLLY
Firebrand columnist Molly Ivins died today of breast cancer. Molly was one of the most perceptive and wittiest columnists I've ever read. I thought in the early years of the Bush administration she was too soft on Bush. She talked about his time as Governor of Texas and that he was personable. But, in general, her commentaries have been right on target. This article by Kelley Shannon is at www.commondreams.org:
Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as "Shrub," has died after a long battle with breast cancer, the managing editor of the Texas Observer said Wednesday. Ivins was 62.
The writer, who made a living poking fun at Texas politicians, whether they were in her home base of Austin or the White House, revealed in early 2006 that she was being treated for breast cancer for the third time.
More than 400 newspapers subscribed to her nationally syndicated column, which combined strong liberal views and populist-toned humor. Ivins' illness did not seem to hurt her ability to deliver biting one-liners.
"I'm sorry to say (cancer) can kill you but it doesn't make you a better person," she said in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News in September 2006, the same month cancer claimed her friend former Gov. Ann Richards.
IMPEACH BUSH
IMPEACH CHENEY
BUSH LINKED TO PLAME OUTING
Right-wingers like to throw around the word "treason" at anyone who doesn't support the war in Iraq. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft and other members of the Bush administration have suggested that any dissent from the war gives aid to the terrorists. I wonder how right-wingers who have backed this war will react to the apparent link between George W. Bush and the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Outing Ms. Plame compromised intelligence vital to the security of the United States. It has emerged in the trial of I. Lewis Libby that Bush may have been directly involved in outing Plame. This story by Jason Leopold and Marc Ash is at www.truthout.org:
Copies of handwritten notes by Vice President Dick Cheney, introduced at trial by defense attorneys for former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, would appear to implicate George W. Bush in the Plame CIA Leak case.
Bush has long maintained that he was unaware of attacks by any member of his administration against [former ambassador Joseph] Wilson. The ex-envoy's stinging rebukes of the administration's use of pre-war Iraq intelligence led Libby and other White House officials to leak Wilson's wife's covert CIA status to reporters in July 2003 in an act of retaliation.
But Cheney's notes, which were introduced into evidence Tuesday during Libby's perjury and obstruction-of-justice trial, call into question the truthfulness of President Bush's vehement denials about his prior knowledge of the attacks against Wilson. The revelation that Bush may have known all along that there was an effort by members of his office to discredit the former ambassador begs the question: Was the president also aware that senior members of his administration compromised Valerie Plame's undercover role with the CIA?
Further, the highly explicit nature of Cheney's comments not only hints at a rift between Cheney and Bush over what Cheney felt was the scapegoating of Libby, but also raises serious questions about potentially criminal actions by Bush. If Bush did indeed play an active role in encouraging Libby to take the fall to protect Karl Rove, as Libby's lawyers articulated in their opening statements, then that could be viewed as criminal involvement by Bush.
Last week, Libby's attorney Theodore Wells made a stunning pronouncement during opening statements of Libby's trial. He claimed that the White House had made Libby a scapegoat for the leak to protect Karl Rove - Bush's political adviser and "right-hand man."
WE'LL MISS MOLLY
Firebrand columnist Molly Ivins died today of breast cancer. Molly was one of the most perceptive and wittiest columnists I've ever read. I thought in the early years of the Bush administration she was too soft on Bush. She talked about his time as Governor of Texas and that he was personable. But, in general, her commentaries have been right on target. This article by Kelley Shannon is at www.commondreams.org:
Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as "Shrub," has died after a long battle with breast cancer, the managing editor of the Texas Observer said Wednesday. Ivins was 62.
The writer, who made a living poking fun at Texas politicians, whether they were in her home base of Austin or the White House, revealed in early 2006 that she was being treated for breast cancer for the third time.
More than 400 newspapers subscribed to her nationally syndicated column, which combined strong liberal views and populist-toned humor. Ivins' illness did not seem to hurt her ability to deliver biting one-liners.
"I'm sorry to say (cancer) can kill you but it doesn't make you a better person," she said in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News in September 2006, the same month cancer claimed her friend former Gov. Ann Richards.
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