A True Friend of Israel

The Israeli government and its lobbyists will tell us that out of all the preceding Presidents, Bush has been the best friend to Israel. This means he gave Israel money and weapons, turned a blind eye to the so-called Targeted Killings, all while condemning any aggressive action coming from the Palestinians’ side by using the key word of the day, Terrorism.

But what has Bush really achieved in Israel and Palestine? Empty calls for Democracy were mixed with suppression of Palestinian hopes for a viable State. Just add the missing ingredient—inadequate oversight over funds and the ensuing Fatah corruption—and you get the perfect recipe for the rise of Hamas. Rockets from Gaza to Israeli towns continue. Palestinian laborers are denied entry into Israeli territory, which means growing unemployment and desperation for Palestinians and the opening of immigration gates in Israel to illegal workers, who are brought in and kicked out on the basis of cheap-labor supply and demand.

So what has Israel gained from Bush’s friendship? Illegal immigration has given rise to a new frustrated underclass, a battlefield of gangs in Gaza could restart at any time, more rockets, the descent of moderate Palestinians, and the rise of those vowing for struggle. And a big, ugly wall.

A Democratic candidate cannot hide his or her inaction behind slogans like Friendship and Special Relationship. A true friend of Israel will not see Palestinian action and Israeli reaction but a cycle of violence that must be stopped. A true friend will see that half of the Israeli population struggles for peace and that the Jewish vote will follow a strong candidate who will have the chutzpah to say, “The world is tired of inaction. The world is tired of ‘facts on the ground’ settlements, roads, and trains that run through East Jerusalem and cut at the heart of Palestinian hope and Israeli prosperity, the world is tired of people in Israel being afraid to board buses in Tel Aviv and leave for work in Sderot. The world is tired of the word Terrorist.”

The time has come for a true friend of Israel to say, "Mr. Olmert, tear down this wall."

The Presidential Elections (Time-Travel Edition)

Just wanted to say I might be busy for a while with the baby and all, and when it comes time to comment on the results of the elections, I possibly will not have time to write a post. So I think that now, while the baby is asleep, might be the perfect time to link to three possible commentaries. Of course, only open the link if and when it applies.

• In case Hillary wins the Democratic nomination

• In case Obama wins the Democratic nomination

• In case a Republican wins the elections

Thanks again. And God bless America.

Impeachment Now

Saw this at The Peace Tree. Spread it around. Let's get this thing out there.

We the people want impeachment NOW

Yesterday, George Bush decided to let Scooter Libby, the one man who was convicted for the lies around the Iraq war, avoid serving out his prison sentence. Even Paris Hilton served more jail time than he will. And letting Libby off the hook is only the most recent example of a consistent Bush administration pattern of obstruction of justice. Warrantless wiretaps, Alberto Gonzalez, the original outing of Valerie Plame; we're all familiar with the numerous past transgressions by these criminals.

As they say in civics class, America is a country of laws, not of men. It's time for Congress to stand up and use those laws to rid our country of the men who are systematically dismantling our constitution and ignoring the checks and balances that have always protected our democracy. Bush and Cheney think their administration is above the law. That's un-American, and this July 4th it's time for Congress to re-assert its constitutional authority and stop the administration's obstruction of justice.

Congress can start by demanding answers from the Bush administration about the Iraq war and their illegal spying program, and not backing down until they get them. Cheney won't testify? Subpoena him. He won't come? Hold him in contempt of Congress and send over the police. And if that doesn't work, impeach the guy. We just can't let President Bush and his administration continue to wipe their feet on our Constitution.

Let's celebrate Independence Day by reaffirming the basic, founding idea of our government: No one, not even the president of the United States, is above the law. Sign this petition to urge Congress to act NOW! If enough of us make enough noise, and for long enough, and from all corners of our country, then perhaps this Congress will stiffen it's spine and move to remedy the poison that has seeped into our land for far too long now.

After you've signed the petition and pestered your own Congress critter, join me by copying this post to your own blog, and adding your blog to the list below. Let's take this message of unity and support to every corner of America, and show just how many of us are ready to take back America!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Instructions:

1.- Copy and paste this message as a new post on your own blog.

2. - Replace one of the “Impeach NOW” tags in the matrix below with your anchor text (Blog name) of choice with your blog’s URL (Don't hesitate to e-mail me if you have questions about this!). Please keep anchor text to a max of 3 words to keep the matrix size manageable.

3. - Encourage and invite your readers to do the same and soon this can grow virally.

4.- The above steps will not only add your voice to the chorus for impeachment, but will also increase your Technorati stats as an added bonus.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We, the undersigned bloggers of America, agreeing that dissent is the truest form of patriotism, hereby publicly voice our unanimous discontent with the Bush administration and beseech the Congress of the United States of America to provide redress by immediately initiating impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.

Left in Aboite Fort Wayne Left Left of Centrist Monticello America Weeps Get Your Own Der Parson's Rant The Katrinacrat Let's Talk About It Carol for Peace Divided States bu$hmeriKa Dizzy Dayz Anti-bush pro-usa States-a-Mind Life’s Journey A Poetic Justice The Peace Tree Poets For Peace The Anti-War Theatre APJ Photomontage LeftwingNutJob The Sirens Chronicles Sumo Merriment People in the Sun Moondanzer Delivers Lionboi Blues & News ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW ImpeachNOW

About Those Damn Mexicans

So there's this buzz going on right now on the left. Bush has made a political mistake and turned his so-called base against him. Some on Free Republic call for his impeachment. And I say, if only someone on Free Republic could spell impeachment...

Now's our chance. Finally we can get the higher ground by getting tough on immigration. We can take the Democratic Party away from the Move Ons and into victory by building this high wall and kicking immigrants back home. It's not just our right, it's our duty, now more than ever.

But why is that? We get our opinions or at least our water-cooler topics of conversation from the media. Why are we talking about immigration now and not four years ago? Simple. Four years ago we were busy debating the sanctity of marriage. Why haven't we talked about illegal immigration twenty years ago? Because we were talking about crack cocaine. Why haven't we been talking about damn Mexicans until now? Because we were talking about AIDS. And about hunger in Ethiopia. And the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And Iran and Lybia and Vietnam and inner-city violence and drugs and the morality of euthanasia.

And now? We have endless wars all over this crumbling planet, inner-city violence rises and wage decreases, people still go hungry due to economic policy dictated by the greed of the few, and people still die of AIDS. Yet somehow we dare talk about illegal immigration.

They're destroying our culture and our way of life - What culture are you talking about? I don't like to watch cars driving around in circles. I don't like backyard fireworks. I don't like wrestling. But it doesn't destroy my culture, just like my activities don't destroy your culture. When they cancel a Nascar race for an emergency discussion about Nabokov we'll talk. Meanwhile, drink your beer and shut up.

Security!!! Now more than ever!!! - It's been said before and I hate to repeat the obvious here, but the 9/11 attack wasn't done by illegal immigrants. This country was relatively safe without a wall, and it will continue to be relatively safe. People die from preventable car accidents, from an ill-conceived war on drugs, from poverty and hunger and even from boredom-driven suicide. People die. It's a fact of life.

They're stealing our jobs - Spend more time looking for a job rather than going online. Go to school and learn a trade. Become a philosopher. And what's so wrong about having people driven to work and succeed in a country that has lost its sense of self-pride? Democrats love to put their heads in the sand and hope for the best. They apologize to people in other countries, saying "Don't blame me. I didn't vote for him." But they're just as guilty as the Free Republican ignorant xenophobes, because one day they woke up, and not knowing why, they said, "Maybe he does have those weapons." The next morning they woke up and said, "I'm all for equal rights, but why do they have to call it marriage?" And yesterday they woke up, after five hundred years of illegal immigrants coming to this country, and they said,

They don't even speak English - Then teach them. Help them. You'll feel better about yourself in the morning.

Tony Blair's Legacy - A PostGlobal Comment

Wrote a comment on PostGlobal. It's on the main page for now, which is pretty cool, I suppose:

I was living in London when Blair became Prime Minister. I remember the May Day celebrations that year. Finally, we all thought, finally we have one of us in charge. He was a man of the people, talking about labor rights, and about prosperity for all, and about education, education, education--meaning a reform of the public school system to ensure England would be again a world-leader. This was not to be achieved through colonialism and violent control over other countries' resources, but by looking after England's own resources: the future generation of scientists and thinkers, brought up by the public school system.

Then he put his son in a private school, and his moment was gone. He was no longer a man of the people, but one of the "Them" young people hated so much and overwhelmingly voted off power. He smiled his way into power, courting us all with the image of reform, but in the end we didn't matter at all.

His son went to a private school and England's children went to Iraq. That will be Blair's legacy. He rose up to power due to hatred of corrupt government only to redefine corruption. He gave us hope that our children were special, and then he sent them to die.

Eric Cantor!!! You Eagle Nose Douchebag!!!

Following a link from Eschaton, I visited a Think Progress post about Eric Cantor's partisan and ridiculous attack on Nancy Pelosi, where he asks his supporters to call House Democrats and let them know how angry they are about Pelosi.

I couldn't help posting a comment on Cantor's site:

Mr. Cantor, how's the "Stop Pelosi" thing going for you so far?

Don't listen to all these Liberals who are angry at you for not mentioning the Republican traitors. Stick to truthiness.

And one more thing, I tried calling the numbers above to let them know what I think but everyone on the other line speaks Arabic now. NANCY!!! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!

Problem is, comments are moderated on Cantor's site, which means that now the comment above has been changed to this:

Don’t listen to all these Liberals. Stick it to them.

Is that even legal?



Update: Five hours later, the altered comment has now been taken completely off the site. However, Argonaut's altered comment is still there, changed from this:

Dear Eric; I just called my congressmen like you wanted me to. I told him that I completely support everything Ms. Pelosi has done since January 20th. I did not tell him what a wanker you are, so your secret is safe for now.

To this:

I just called my congressman like you wanted me to. I told him that I want ms. pelosi to stop everything she has done since Jan 20th.

On the Israel-Lebanon War and the Possible US Escalation in Iraq (or, Just Say No)

A short while ago I wrote a post about my army service in the West Bank. This wasn't simply a redemption piece but also an attempt to reflect on the situation American soldiers face in Iraq. Like them, I was certain I was doing the right thing, and like them, I thought everything I was doing was done in the (self-)defense of my country. Similarly, the implications of the recent Israeli war in Lebanon should be considered with Iraq in mind.

Like the US, the Israeli army was undoubtedly going in with superior military force for what was supposed to be a short offensive, and like in Iraq, it was immediately shown to be a mistake. Many Israeli soldiers died, attacks on Israeli civilians increased, and radical Islamic forces legitimized their relative control. A month into the conflict, the Israeli government was forced to choose what many considered the best of two evils: a retreat or an escalation.

Now, as Americans are divided about the future in Iraq, and as Democratic hopefuls are still afraid of saying the US should leave immediately, it is important to see what happened after the Israeli army left Lebanon. First, and most importantly, the number of casualties on both sides, including civilians, was about 2000 for the one month of conflict (between mid-July and mid-August of 2006). There is no reason to think this trend would have decreased if the fighting had continued at the same pace, and an escalation would have undoubtedly only increased the number of fatalities.

Second, as one of the reasons for remaining in Iraq is a flawed domino theory that scares us into thinking a retreat would destroy American prestige and, more importantly, its power of deterrence, we can first look at the current situation, where the war has created a diminishing American military might, encouraging other nations to rise up, at least rhetorically, against US hegemony. And second, we need to look again at Israel. Retreating after one month from the Lebanon mistake did not diminish Israeli hegemony in the region. If anything, Israel has since regained the power it had lost during the war. Moreover, while the war helped legitimize the Hezbollah, its victory did not create the nightmare scenario the Israeli government was advancing before the war to convince the public this was a no-choice war. Neither Hezbollah nor Syria have any more control over the Lebanese government then they did before, and the risk of Israeli destruction or of future attacks has not grown.

When Democratic hopefuls are asked about their solution for the war, they often either avoid the question by stating the obvious (It's Bush's mess), or endorse a phased, "dignified" withdrawal. This is not enough, not anymore. When the Republican keyboard warriors come with catchy, meaningless slogans like Cut-and-Run, the answer should be Study the Israel-Lebanon War. Sure, it's not as catchy, but it happens to be the truth. When the Israeli government chose retreat over escalation, it put the safety of its citizens first and political prestige second. The future leaders of America should have the courage to do the same.

My Weekend Round Up - Wesley Snipes Included

A quick recap after getting a new job, a visit to New Orleans, and a Christmas parade. Finally time to look at the news:

• Hastert has been negligent, but apparently not criminally negligent. You can't be responsible for stuff when you turn your head the other way, can you?

• Bush does an impersonation of the three monkeys by putting his hands on his eyes, his ears, and his mouth when the Iraq Study Group Report comes up.

• Conservative bloggers leave their mouths open. They don't like the report; it seems to contradict the idea that God put Bush in the White House. It contradicts the idea that the US is invincible.

• Speaking of USA Number One: The U.S. has the most prisoners in the world.

"The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's incarcerated population. We rank first in the world in locking up our fellow citizens," said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports alternatives in the war on drugs.

• Wesley Snipes?

• Fiji, anyone?

• As part of his final farewell world tour, Rumsfeld says a victory depends on staying power. Immediately after his speech, he gets the hell out.

Wish me luck on my new job. In return, I will wish you luck. One hand washes another. Reciprocity is what this world is all about.

Global Power -- A PostGlobal Response

Here's my answer to the PostGlobal Blog question:



From where you write, who's gaining power, who's losing it, and who is coming in fast from the outside?

China has been the big winner in international politics, silently making its way as a global power in an emerging new cold war. The signs are all here, with second and third-world countries allying themselves with China in direct opposition to the US.

Meanwhile, while President Bush is losing the American popular vote, the US is losing the popular vote abroad. It used to be that in the American continent only Cuba dared to form alliances against the US, but now it's the popular thing to do. North Korea and Iran, strengthened since Bush's Axis-of-Evil speech, flaunt their defiance at the US and at the ever-weakening UN.

And who can blame them?

But there is hope for a peaceful existence for the citizens of the US, Venezuela, China, Iran, Israel, Palestine, and Iraq. That hope lies in bold leadership in all of these countries, and an active effort to reform the UN. Right now, though, all we have is opportunistic power-grabbers on all sides and a UN stuck with creating empty resolutions used cynically to bring forth an agenda of destruction instead of the promotion of peace.

The US veto power must be checked, as well as that of countries actively involved in supporting militant organizations. Otherwise, the cycle of violence will continue forever, and the real losers in the global arena will continue to be--as they've always been--the people.

The Soul of the Democratic Party

It's been a while without much writing. I wish I could say I've been working on the final touches of my NaNoWriMo but it's been more like post-election fatigue. Here we were, pushing and pushing as hard as we could, arguing our points online and during family dinners, hoping America was tired of war and corruption, and here we are now, the winners, like Dustin Hoffman at the end of The Graduate, asking ourselves "What now?"

So it's not easy, the sinking feeling that even if things change they will take their sweet time doing so. After all, we're dealing with huge bureaucracies filled with constant power struggles and tailored for a system that protects a status quo many of us don't believe in, no matter who is in the majority.

They will tell us things take time, and they will threaten us with insignificance when we get impatient. "Remember Lamont," they will say. They will point their fingers at us and say we sit on the margins of public opinion; the flip-side of the far Right.

But in spite of it all, we must continue our work to pull the Democratic Party away from the so-called middle and into a defined position on issues we care about.

After three years of membership in Democratic Underground, I had to get away after a comment I made was deleted. I dared to criticize a Democratic candidate who is an opportunistic career politician. This man, who destroyed his Democratic opponent and used corrupt and racist policies to fight his Republican opponent didn't deserve our votes. I called for people to stay home. My comment wasn't simply argued against; it was deleted. Apparently, no one needed to hear this kind of argument, or as Skinner, the founder of DU wrote me, "Our policies are clear about telling people not to vote for the Democratic candidate."

This is what we should fight against, first within ourselves and later in public: We do not support the Democratic Party's agenda because we support the Party; we support the Party because its values closely resemble our own. We must fight for the soul of the Democratic Party to keep it from moving to the Right. We must stay away from Tony Blair's "Third Way Labor Party," an empty political entity with no values and no backbone. We must reject Democratic leaders who will vote to ban gay marriage and abortions, we must reject those supporting an increase for defense spending for endless, pointless wars. Now that the Democratic Party has won the election it's time we won back the Democratic Party.

Only by standing up for our values rather than blindly following our Party leaders do we stand a chance of influencing the way the Democratic Party looks in the future; only by singling out and kicking out Democrats by-name-only do we stand a chance of the Democratic Party not becoming a party of Liebermans. Only by keeping our struggle do we have a chance of making history.

Santorum: The World's Greatest

Hanging around YouTube, one finds pretty amazing stuff.

I won't be offended if you don't make it to the end of the video. It's basically the same: giving out gigantic checks, hanging out with soldiers, and posing with the family.

Advice for Leaders

Another Washington Post blog question:

What one recommendation would you make to the members of the U.S. House and Senate who will be elected Tuesday?

Now, being a busy man, I'm afraid I didn't have time to write recommendations for Tuesday's election, so instead, I cut-and-paste the recommendations I made in the previous elections. I hope that's okay:

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has been a great pleasure to see you in your hour of victory.

Now listen: I know it's hard to be a part of a system; a giant bureaucracy. I also know you may have to make some hard choices, at times vote against the immediate needs of the people. That's understandable. I will also look the other way when you support or oppose legislation along party lines if you believe that in the long run it will benefit the state, the country, and even the world. Go ahead, take a golf trip with a lobbyist; if you're going to talk business, you might as well do it in style, that's what I say. If you oppose the war but feel that going public with your opinions might be bad for your Party, rethink your opinions. Anyway, your opinion about the war is just an opinion, and nobody cares what you think--you represent the people, not your own personal ideology, and pollsters say your voters support the war, so you may as well be silent. It's not like you know anyone serving in Iraq, so what do you care anyway?

The next advice is not for all of you, so if you're straight feel free to talk amongst yourselves. Now, all you closeted lawmakers, nobody will ever know. This is the same advice I give Evangelical leaders, so you know it's a good one. Feel free to shout in public that gay people ruin America and that marriage is a holy institution given to us by God for some reason. Take a megaphone and drive around town calling homosexuals depraved sinners. It's for the good of the country. Trust me.

Now, about immigration... I know a large society is built on the sweat of cheap labor. The biggest open secret no one cares about. And I know you know about all that and I know you don't care. Still, for the sake of your party make an effort. Call for a fence. An electronic fence, what the hell. Don't worry, it's impossible to stop illegal immigration, so spreading xenophobia must be a victimless crime.

Sell your office to the highest bidder, lie your way to leadership posts, ride on the backs of people with dying family members and give them false hopes, support an endless war, look the other way when civil rights are taken away to be replaced by propaganda and media consolidation, let the eagle soar. If Bush and Chaney say it's good, that's good enough for me and should be good enough for you. No one ever achieved anything by being contrarian. Look what happened to Jesus, for Christ's sake.

And most importantly, have fun. After all, this won't last forever.

On the Republican Base

There is a slight fear; a slight deja vu feeling to it all. Here we are, two years later, and events seem to be repeating themselves:

Most people are against the war and critical about the way it has been run by Rumsfeld, and even a seemingly good economy doesn't mean a thing to most struggling Americans.

Yet, just like two years ago, with gay marriage in the news, is the topic of conversation about to be changed again?

You can bet Rove was celebrating the New Jersey Court decision of last week. Here was finally what the Republicans have been hoping for since Bush's "I have a mandate" speech backfired and started the downfall of the Republican Party. Here was, finally, a hope of restoring the faith of the Republican base.

But much has changed in the last two years, which makes the New Jersey decision meaningless for Republicans, and this is clearly evident in debates and Republican talking points: While in 2004 the GOP was successful in creating an illusion of positive All-American values, the topics of conversation are different now.

They try to scare voters with threats of taxes, trying to paint themselves again as the party of laissez-faire small government, but ask any Republican who had invested money and time on gambling websites and it's evident that the GOP is now considered by a majority of Americans the Big Brother party. Billions of Dollars in deficit is not something they can hide with threats of taxes or with speeches about trickle-down theories. The more they mention taxes the more people think about what the last six years have done to the country's economy and the more hypocritical they all seem.

Speaking of hypocrisy: between a book detailing the contempt Republican leaders feel for religious leaders and daily scandals involving Republicans, it is clear the religious "base" is not motivated anymore. "If we mobilize all our voters, we'll do well on Election Day," says John Boehner. Well Mr. Boehner, you should have thought about that before you gave away the government to lobbyists and mobsters, before you let pedophiles ruin the lives of children, before you let incompetent fools run FEMA and the Pentagon, before you gave the Vice President a gun permit, before you claimed a brain-dead woman smiled at her birthday as you let thousands drown in New Orleans.

John Boehner and Carl Rove want to mobilize the base, and they hope a threat of gay marriage will do that, but when people who actually feel threatened by the prospect of gay marriages have two parties to chose from, they cannot vote for the party of scandals and world-wide destruction. The days of the Republican Party base are over.

Jesus! Brick Walls! Matching Yellow! Bad Facial Hair! Laboranashbinashak!

The Vietnamization of Iraq - On Today's Press Conference

They still call it "the liberation of Iraq" and "the defining challenge of our era."

They used to say timetable was a dirty word but now they say "Success in Iraq is possible and can be achieved on a realistic timetable."

They call the corrupt government "a beacon for the entire Middle East."

They use euphemisms like adapt and adjust, as well as assess and alter.

Then they tap each other's back and say, "we have continuously adapted to stay ahead of the enemy and to ensure that our service men and women have the proper tools and support they need to accomplish their missions."

They talk about 12 to 18 months.

But we all know what's really going on here, don't we?

For a moment, we can at least be content knowing we were right all along: that the Iraq war was a terrible idea and that maybe humanity has learned that wars in general cannot be won in this age. But two points need to be clear:

1. Iran is mentioned five times and Syria seven times. Our generals have learned nothing, and they seem to be eager to continue their crusade.
2. People are still dying for nothing, and will continue to die for nothing while the US is in Iraq. We can't wait 12-18 months. Like Kerry said before he became a politician and had to be more careful not to upset anyone,

How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?

And finally, many people are torn. Is Bush an idiot or a madman? Are we experiencing another Vietnam-era tactic resurgence, namely, the Madman Theory?

A School Opens in the USA, Yet the Media Focuses on Republican Scandals. Typical.

Weekend Edition

Foley's excuse, Rev. Macaca, admits he'd done something wrong, but he's not quite sure what it was. He was just a little bit too high. Damn.

The Great-Centrist-Hope threatens to kill himself if Democrats win the election, yet fails to support a Republican, leaving him hanging with a sign and an empty promise... Just because he's involved with the Foley cover-up.

We were about to settle down and reflect on the Republican Scandal of the Week, involving a corrupt family in a Republican stronghold, a whistle-blowing campaign staffer, Serbians, the Russian mob, Kuwaiti businessmen, money laundering, and real estate.

But then, of course, another day, another October surprise: the FBI searches the office of a California Republican congressional candidate to find the source of a letter threatening immigrants with possible deportation if they try to vote. The letter was written in Spanish, which is very considerate.

But the FBI can't leave those poor Republicans alone for a second. Here's another investigation. This time the man received classified information, put it in an ad, and then denied knowing it was illegally obtained, saying "he did not know how the information was obtained, but that if it was done illegally, whoever did it should be held responsible." Yea...

With all these FBI investigations and cover-ups and scandals and the terrible month in Iraq, one has to ask oneself, why doesn't the media report on the good things that happened last week? I'm sure somewhere in the US there was a school opening, right? And what about the pseudo punk winning Project Runway? And the Baltimore Flugtag? IE7? Keith Urban is in rehab, shouldn't that be at the top of the news? Isn't it time for Janet Jackson to expose another nipple?

Another View From the Right

Ten soldiers were killed today in Iraq and the Right is not afraid to talk about it!

Michelle Malkin attacks Angelina Jolie while giving us the real reason behind the war:

You want to talk about wasted resources? That $10 billion Saddam Hussein siphoned off in the U.N. Oil-for-Food debacle could have fed a lot of hungry people...

Malkin brings up the Oil-for-Food scandal. I guess that makes the war worth it. Here we have the new justification for war: not WMDs, 9/11 connection, or reverse domino theory, no. We went to war in Iraq because Saddam reportedly stole $10 billion Dollars.

What else?
LGF talks about Iraq, especially about the great work the government (sorry, the anonymous Iraqi exiles' group) is doing in the war against terror, specifically targeting suicide bombers. An ad, produced by an LA company and filmed with American actors, shows the effect of suicide bombings Matrix style. That's a step in the right direction for winning hearts and minds in the Middle East. Now, if only we can rebuild the Iraqi infrastructure, all while putting an end to the civil war, ridding the country of US-installed corrupt officials, ressurecting 655,000 people, and oh, getting the hell out of there.

And of course you can always count on Free Republic to bring out the irony lover in you. Discussing a speech by Rumsfeld:

You can not help but come away positive and upbeat to know that such a man is at the top of the military under a President who knows what the military is for and how well it does what its mission is...whatever that may be.

Isn't There A War On?

After a long battle, "Bully" is finally cleared.

Many have tried to remove violence from video games; good people like Hillary Clinton and Ricky Santorum. George Carlin's book, Brain Droppings, includes this truism: "The word bipartisan usually means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out." For example, this was true in the Tipper Gore-Joseph Coors collaboration, creating the PMRC, which tried to stop black kids from listening to rap music that told them white people didn't understand their problems. As an English major I appreciate irony.

That Santorum was there shouldn't surprise anyone, but Hillary... Here's just another disastrous cause for a main-stream Democrat. When will they understand there are bigger problems than gay people and video games and Marijuana? Will Main stream Democrats ever get a voice of their own, or are they doomed to pick and choose Republican talking-points to support or oppose? With all the recent Republican scandals, it seems like the word Republican is about to become an offensive term for an entity on a self-destructive route. Now is the time for Democrats to find their voice.

Hillary, we forgive you; you didn't know what you were doing. You had bad advisers telling you video games destroy our youth. Eight years ago, a small group of people petitioned Congress to forget about nonsense and concentrate on running the country. Now that the game has been approved, can we finally move on?

Betrayed

That must have felt great.

For years they had to make a choice between the lesser of evils--two parties with meaningless differences--and so, they didn't vote. Who cares about taxes or even gun control when both parties had been led by people religious only in photo-ops before elections? Sure, abortions were a serious issue, but still, there was a feeling that no one really cared.

Then came Bush, a born-again Christian admitting to his addictions and sharing his regrets; one of us: fragile yet decisive.

He cared about the life of Terri Schiavo (he cared so much, he even tried to save her life in the middle of his vacation), and he cared about the sanctity of marriage, and he cared about the ten commandments, and he cared about the lives of those poor stem-cells, as if anyone even knows what it means.

So they stood by him. So many of them voted for Bush, even Diebold executives were left in shock. They supported the war in Iraq and Social Security reform, and they averted their eyes when the budget tanked and their civil liberties were taken away. Heck, they could even stand an Abramoff or two, and a Delay and a Kerik and Halliburton and CIA outing and Abu-Ghraib and Guantanamo torture and Afghanistan and Iran and North Korea and... Gosh help us all... even the Foley cover-up.

How said is it for them to find out it was all a lie; that trying so hard to reach God, they had signed a deal with the Devil? First, Little Tucker admits "elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power," and then the excerpts from a revealing new book by David Kuo, which claims "some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as 'the nuts.' . . . 'ridiculous,' 'out of control,' and just plain 'goofy.'"

It must have been great to imagine the party in power cared about them.
Stay home next time. Nobody cares.

Now Can We Have Our Rights Back?

First thing I thought when I watched the news was October Surprise, where any diversion will do.

But then I realized that this is the proof of Bush's six years of bullshit. He can roll up his sleeves on aircraft carriers and come to us with frightening speeches about good and evil, but no one can stop a plane from hitting a building in New York, not even "A War President" that's supposed to be tough when it comes to the war on terror.

They told us 9/11 changed everything in relation to Iraq, Iran, military budget, tax cuts, abortions, and civil liberties, but today all these argument have been debunked.

When you can stop a plane from hitting a building in NYC you can start tapping my phone again.