Bush Approval Back In The Low 30's

Looks like the president has failed to boost his numbers this summer. I hope he thinks about what he has done over his vacation in Crawford. According to a new AP poll he is back down to 33% approval rating, matching his low rating in May of this year. This and his continued poor judgement on almost every international issue has caused many even in his own party to shy away from him.

Guess Joe Lieberman must be feeling a little lonely right now as well.

30% Of Americans Are Brain Dead

OK, so our country is hopelessly stupid. I rarely like to generalize, but when a recent poll showed 30% of Americans can’t remember the year 9/11 happened, we are in big trouble. The attention span of Americans is apparently only a few minutes, so no wonder our leaders lie, cheat and commit war crimes and no one seems to hold them responsible. The awful truth is: THEY CAN’T REMEMBER!

I have to ask myself, is this the result of home schooling, or has the government been putting something in the water?

Justice Kennedy, "The Freedom Of The Next Generation Hangs In The Balance"

When a Supreme Court Justice makes statements like, "the freedom of the next generation hangs in the balance"; my ears automatically perk up. What’s more, when he is speaking to the American Bar Association he is not just using rhetoric.

Justice Kennedy further stated, "We are at another turning point in the history of the law," discussing the independence of the Judiciary branch of government. Sounds to me like we should be concerned.

You can view a video of the speech here.

A New Mexican Revolution?

During the early eighties, I lived in Mexico City. I worked for the a television network, the largest media conglomerate in Mexico at the time. I fell in love with the city and it’s people. Mexico City is like Hollywood, New York Paris and Washington, DC all rolled into one, with no parking and wall to wall pollution. It is like no other city on earth and even though it has monumental problems, it’s still an incredible place.

The reason I left was two-fold. One, my partner at the time lived in Texas and commuting was really putting a strain on our relationship. Two, I saw the incredible poverty and inequity in a frantic economy that left millions to live in cardboard shacks with no water, sewers or electricity. All this in the world’s biggest city in what was touted as a burgeoning first world country.

The truth of Mexico is less romantic than the images we see in tourist publications. If you are well off in Mexico, life is pretty good. You have access to cultural institutions, world class cusine, fabulous housing and all the luxuries life can offer. If you are poor in Mexico, it's a different story.

Every upper class house has a second family living there, they live out back and take care of the house and grounds. They are called housekeepers or gardeners, but they are almost indentured servants who owe the very roof over their head to the houses owner. We even had them at our offices, living in a small building behind the main office.

If you are rich, and there are those who are fabulously wealthy in Mexico, you live like royalty. You never get a traffic ticket, police bribe easily. You drive 8-cylinder gas guzzling cars that are illegal to import, but for the rich nothing is forbidden. And politics? Well, as long as you support the government, at that time the PRI, you could do no wrong.

I found myself on pins and needles waiting for the next revolution that I was sure to come any day. That was over 20 years ago and today it looks like that revolution might just happen. The recent highly disputer election is threatening to wake Mexico from it’s slumber and unleash the millions of ordinary folks who are being used by the corrupt system.

According to an article in Truthout, presidential candidate "Lopez Obrador vowed to defend Mexico's democracy by transforming the country's institutions, which he said have always been subjugated by "money and power." He urged supporters to keep the acts of civil disobedience he began on July 30 peaceful." They are starting to turn ugly, and that will bear watching.

I am torn by all this. On one had I want to cheer on the protests, but on the other hand I know they could tear the country apart. I only pray the Mexico can work through this rough patch and become a true democracy. They have the potential for real greatness, and I will always love the land and people living to my state’s south.

Bob Ney Says Nay To Reelection

I rarely quote scripture, but today seems like a good day for it. Romans 6:23 – "For the wages of sin is death…" Well, at least political death for Bob Ney. The man who got a standing ovation from fellow Republicans when he refused to resign even if indicted in the Abramoff scandal. Well today, 90 days later he has withdraw from the reelection race in Ohio.

Wonder if Conrad Burns of Montana is thinking the same way? He took over $150,000 from Abramoff, more than any other congressperson. "Vengeance is mine," sayeth the voters.

New Survey Shows 50% Of Americans Believe Anything They are Told

Let’s cut to the chase: THERE WERE NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN IRAQ. So for those 50% of Americans who just can’t seem to figure out the difference between the lies spouted by right-wing talk shows and the lies spouted by our President, the deceiver here it is again. The US, that would be you and me, Americans, funded a 16-month, $900-million-plus investigation. The U.S. weapons hunters known as the Iraq Survey Group declared that Iraq had dismantled its chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs in 1991 under U.N. oversight.

Get it? We searched for 16 months and found ZIP! So screw your head back on straight, (not a sexual reference) and repeat after me, "There were no WMDs".

I guess it’s true, that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.