Ken Lay And Jeff Skilling – Good Bye And Thanks For All The Campaign Contributions

This week when "Kenny Boy" Lay and Jeffery Skilling were convicted my friends expressed surprise. They expected the Washington political machine to somehow delay the trial for so long it would be irrelevant or that Bush would pull the right strings and let them walk. Though I am still not convinced that Bush in his final days might not pardon both of them, I was not surprised by the guilty verdicts. Their appeal chances look slim as well.

Lay and Skilling are damaged goods to the GOP. They are no longer powerful, and they are tainted with the stench of scandal. The GOP and more specifically Bush has dropped them like hot potatoes. That was evident when the Enron scandal first broke. Bush, who had been so chummy with Lay as to give him the moniker Kenny Boy, acted as if he had only met him at a cocktail party.

Why the cold-shoulder? Because Bush and Company are opportunists and power brokers. You are only as useful as your money and votes. If you no longer serve their purposes, you are persona non-gratis. They are in it for the money and power and there to make more money for their backers. Those backers, Halliburton, Carlyle Group, Boeing, Mobil/ Exxon and the other companies should take note. Make one big mistake and you are gone. Thanks for the money and help, now swim for yourself.

Jack Abramoff was a regular visitor at the White House, but the scandal makes him suddenly a nobody. His leverage is that he has rolled over and is spilling the beans on the whole gang. Had Ken Lay disclosed what really went on in those energy policy meetings at the White House, he might have leverage too. Blackmail, money and power all speak in the Bush and company world. I suspect that all these wiretaps and phone record probes will eventually reveal that the administration has been using them to blackmail lawmakers and keep them in line.

The more I look at the situation in Washington, the more I think Bush and Company has modeled their administration on the family of Don Corleone. And now, they kiss Lay and Skilling, whispering in their ear, "you will keep our secrets or you sleep with the fishes."

Give Me That Old Time Religion And Phone Sex

Pillsbury Baptist Bible College may sound like the place the doughboy gets religion, but it is a small school in Owatonna, Minnesota. Seems one of their students broke a few commandments recently by stealing his roommates debit card and then proceeding to run up a $2300 bill on a phone sex line.

The student made the calls from March 23 to May 13. That's a lot of phone sex even for a Bible College student. The strange thing is he said he made he calls from public pay phones. That's hardly the kind of privacy I'd want for phone sex!

Washington Post Features Republican Softcore?

When was the last time you read this in the Washington Post?

"Frist smiled and spoke unremarkably from the lectern, reeking of silverback testosterone."

It's part of an incredible puff piece on Bill Frist titled "A Doctor At Heart". It comes as close to romance novel journalism as I have ever seen. With descriptions of Frist in his " jungle-pattern surgical scrubs and a pair of hairy, toned biceps" and purple prose about "The stink of ape sweat and gorilla testosterone soaked his hair and clothes."

OK, this is a description of Frist volunteering at the zoo to help the vets with a silverback gorilla, but puh-l-eeze!

Nancy Pelosi Has Brass Balls - Thank God!

Looks like the Democrats have finally awakened, at least House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has, and she has asked William Jefferson (D-LA) to resign from the Ways and Means Committee.

Jefferson was the Congressman with the freezer full of marked bills that the FBI allegedly slipped him in a bribery sting. Now I understand many on both sides of the aisle are upset with the FBI for raiding the Congressman's private offices under what lawmakers of both parties said were unconstitutional circumstances. But I think the Democrats should hold themselves to a higher standard, and when one of their own is embroiled in this kind of corruption, they should seek his resignation until his case is cleared to avoid the least appearance of impropriety.

Call me old fashioned, but I think what is good for the goose is gravy for the gander. Time for our elected officials to play by the rules.

Pat Robertson - Snake Oil Salesman

From calling for assassinations to wacko interpretations of the Bible, Pat Robertson has reached a new low. He is selling snake oil, or at least recipes for it. His "Pat Robertson's Age-Defying Shake" is touted as giving him the strength to leg press 2000 pounds! ThinkProgress.org has the stats on how impossible that is, but besides that his own web site states that his recipe and it's benefits are a lie. The disclaimer at the bottom of the page states:

Disclaimer: Consult with your physician before starting this or any new
health regimen or supplement program, especially if you have allergies to any of
the listed or related products, or are under the care of a physician or other
medical professional, or have any other health problems. No specific health
benefit is implied or promised from this recipe. (Highlight is mine.)

I guess there is a fine line between a tent show revival and a medicine show, and the web has become the latest venue for it.

Help Block The Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Our Constitution was written to protect our freedoms not to institutionalize discrimination. The Senate has approved an amendment designed to discriminate against a large group of Americans. The so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment" is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to pander to the radical religious right.

More than 100 groups actively oppose this amendment and you can join the fight by signing a petition at Clergyforfairness.org. Help stop the institutionalized hatred of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans.

Pakistan May Hang Innocent Man - Great Allies, Eh?

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Crucifixion, Madonna and Leathersex

I love Madonna. I have to applaud Madonna for continuing to popularize fetishwear and as a Leatherman, I am gratified to see fetish clothing going more mainstream. But the singer always tries to push the envelope a little in each of her many reincarnation. The latest tour is no exception.

Madonna opens a worldwide tour with a mammoth production worthy of any Las Vegas showroom and the only thing that leads the headlines is "Madonna Hangs From Cross At Gig". I can hear the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments from the fundamentalists now.

They will scream Satanist; blasphemer and other lovely invectives and they will totally miss the point of the act. She donned a crown of thorns and was suspended on a stylized mirrored cross for the song "Live to Tell". The message, splashed across huge video screens of world poverty and hunger will be missed by many who only see any image of Jesus as that of a redeemer and personal savior. The same folks who will complain the loudest will likely be the ones who feel that being a good Christian involves only "accepting Christ" and spreading the Good News. For many Christians that Good News only involves the dispensation granted to us by ChristÂ’s death. Many will miss almost all the words that were uttered by Jesus in respect to the moral way to live.

Some themes rings loud and clear in Jesus teachings: make peace, feed the hungry, heal the sick, advocate for the prisoner, treat every human being as you would like to be treated, carry this message to others that they may know the good news.

Her point was clear, we cannot claim to be a godly people when we ignore poverty and oppression. The World Food Summit proposed in 1996 that world undernutrition be reduced 50 percent by 2015. The total cost would be $60 billion over 15 years, or $4 billion per year in increased spending. Only $4 billion! That is less than the record profits made by Mobil/Exxon last quarter. It is the cost of only a couple of B2 bombers or the cost of a few more bridges to nowhere in Alaska.

Wake up people! Artists and humanitarians use symbols like the cross to get our attention and to dramatize truths that need to be heard. Why should it take a pop star to shake the affluent countries of the world into action? After all, we had the Son of God give us this information over 2000 years ago and apparently that hasn't worked either.

Another Heterosexual Predator Teacher

A female heterosexual high school teacher from Virginia who is accused of having sex with two of her students, both boys in special education classes, was caught inside the home of her students. The boys mother found the teacher in a darkened bedroom with two boys ages 14 and 15, and though they were fully clothed, her conduct violates school policy.

The teacher, 35 year old Bonnie Davis now faces far more serious allegations: six counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor; two counts of sodomy and one charge of having sex with a 14-year-old.

This case again shows the danger of having heterosexuals teach our children. In a similar case a coach in Weatherford, Texas is accused of having sex with a female student. Though the student was 18 at the time this still is a violation of school policy. When will we stop putting these inherent predatory heterosexuals in charge of innocent children.

(Note for the benefit of the Religious Right, Republicans and others who lack critical thinking skills:

This article uses irony. It is a literary device used in this case to emphasize the fallacious arguments used by the radical right to paint homosexual men as child molesters. In both cases it is an un fair generalization, however in the case of heterosexuals, they far outnumber gays in cases of child abuse and exploitation. )

Bush's Brilliant Idea To Raise Money - Tax Teenagers Too Young To Vote

As part of his tax cut bill, Bush slipped a secret little provision that would shift more tax burden from the rich to not only the poor but to those too young to vote. A win-win for the GOP!

Contrary to what he pledged in 1999, he has managed to find a way to weasel money from teenagers who might have savings or investments in college savings funds. According to a story in the New York Times:

"Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be
taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term
capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed
at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at
as much as 35 percent."

Good to know that Bush still finds ways to stick it to a portion of the American public that can't fight back at the ballot box. So much for higher education, Exxon and Halliburton need that money more than they do.