I don't often encourage people to put names on a prayer list but I will today. Molly Ivins, the brightest star in Texas journalism was hospitalized today. She has been fighting cancer for several years and doctors say she may be able to go home as soon as Monday.
Her tough Texas girl persona, along with her unapologetic liberalism was a refreshing change from the usual right-wing reporting that is common in the Lone Star State. Her frequent jabs at "Dubbya" and the Texas "ledge" always brighten my reading.
Get well soon, Molly.
Friday, January 26, 2007
New Mexico Lawmakers Call For Bush Impeachment
Well one thing about New Mexico aside from the natural beauty of the land and the inferno like summers, the state lawmakers have balls. State lawmakers there have floated an Impeachment resolution in the New Mexico legislature.
If more states showed this kind of initiative, the US Congress might get off its collective ass and do something. Right now the hearings have started but they promise to be slow and cautious. When will a Congressperson stand up and state the obvious, this President has broken the law numerous times.
Write your representative and demand impeachment now.
If more states showed this kind of initiative, the US Congress might get off its collective ass and do something. Right now the hearings have started but they promise to be slow and cautious. When will a Congressperson stand up and state the obvious, this President has broken the law numerous times.
Write your representative and demand impeachment now.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Outrageous Video Of Iraqi Troops Beating Suspects While US Troops Laugh & Watch
This video shows some of the brutality that is taking place in Iraq. It is disturbing and raw, and speaks volumes about the lack of focus to our mission in Iraq. Posted on Raw Story it was reported by Channel Four.
Rummy Has Not Left The Building
Just when you thought Rummy had left the building, he’s back! Seems Donald Rumsfeld has a job at the Pentagon as an unpaid consultant. The excuse for this is so he can sift through all the papers he generated to find those he may need for memoirs or library etc. To do this he has a staff of two military officers and two enlisted men helping.
So, it seems from the date he resigned, in early November until the day he officially left the Pentagon just before Christmas, was not enough time to get things in order.
I have to wonder if the shredders aren’t working full time in that office and that "top secret" stamp isn’t running out of ink. With this administration everything becomes secret and no evidence is left in the public record. They must have taken their cues from Enron.
So, it seems from the date he resigned, in early November until the day he officially left the Pentagon just before Christmas, was not enough time to get things in order.
I have to wonder if the shredders aren’t working full time in that office and that "top secret" stamp isn’t running out of ink. With this administration everything becomes secret and no evidence is left in the public record. They must have taken their cues from Enron.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Exonerated
IN a country with a President who claims to believe in a "culture of life" why do we still have the death penalty?
Diebold Voting Machine Keys On The Web!
So you want to throw an election? Well, Diebold, the same people that brought you those bug-filled voting machines have provided detailed directions in the form of a photo of the master key that opens all Diebold voting machines. How stupid are they, or more precisely, how much do they want their machines hacked to throw an election? Anyone with a little talent, a file and a key blank can cut the required keys and voila, you got an election in the bag!Brad Blog has the story and a video of the homemade keys opening a Diebold machine. Write your Congressperson and demand paper ballots!
Democratic Response To State Of The Union Speech
Below is the transcript of the Democratic Response delivered by Senator Jim Webb. It is not only good, it's terrific, and far more truthful and inspiring than the clap-trap Bush delivered. Read it and be grateful that the Democrats have begun to recover their true identity as liberals and true patriots.
Good evening.
I'm Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown – an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.
It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President's message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.
Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.
There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy – how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy – how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.
When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it's nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.
Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.
In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.
In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy – that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.
And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in ten years, and the Senate will soon follow. We've introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We've established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We're working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.
With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.
I want to share with all of you a picture that I have carried with me for more than 50 years. This is my father, when he was a young Air Force captain, flying cargo planes during the Berlin Airlift. He sent us the picture from Germany, as we waited for him, back here at home. When I was a small boy, I used to take the picture to bed with me every night, because for more than three years my father was deployed, unable to live with us full-time, serving overseas or in bases where there was no family housing. I still keep it, to remind me of the sacrifices that my mother and others had to make, over and over again, as my father gladly served our country. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, serving as a Marine in Vietnam. My brother did as well, serving as a Marine helicopter pilot. My son has joined the tradition, now serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq.
Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues – those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death – we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm's way.
We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us – sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.
The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable – and predicted – disarray that has followed.
The war's costs to our nation have been staggering.
Financially.
The damage to our reputation around the world.
The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism.
And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.
The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.
On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.
Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.
Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves "as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other." And he did something about it.
As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.
These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.
Thank you for listening. And God bless America.
Good evening.
I'm Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown – an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.
It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President's message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.
Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.
There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy – how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy – how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.
When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it's nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.
Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.
In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.
In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy – that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.
And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in ten years, and the Senate will soon follow. We've introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We've established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We're working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.
With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.
I want to share with all of you a picture that I have carried with me for more than 50 years. This is my father, when he was a young Air Force captain, flying cargo planes during the Berlin Airlift. He sent us the picture from Germany, as we waited for him, back here at home. When I was a small boy, I used to take the picture to bed with me every night, because for more than three years my father was deployed, unable to live with us full-time, serving overseas or in bases where there was no family housing. I still keep it, to remind me of the sacrifices that my mother and others had to make, over and over again, as my father gladly served our country. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, serving as a Marine in Vietnam. My brother did as well, serving as a Marine helicopter pilot. My son has joined the tradition, now serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq.
Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues – those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death – we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm's way.
We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us – sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.
The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable – and predicted – disarray that has followed.
The war's costs to our nation have been staggering.
Financially.
The damage to our reputation around the world.
The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism.
And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.
The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.
On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.
Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.
Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves "as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other." And he did something about it.
As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.
These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.
Thank you for listening. And God bless America.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
It's Fitzmas! Opening Statements In Scooter Libby Trial Finger Cheney and Rove
Well finally it's Fitzmas! Just read the live blog from the trial written by Firedoglake.com and looks like Fitzgerald has taken off the gloves and is hitting hard. His scathing accusations of perjury against Libby are only the start. What is really news is how deep this whole shebang goes. Looks like Rove was a bit player and Cheney was the top dog on the whole disinformation project regarding Joe Wilson and his wife.
More soon.
More soon.
Libby Testifies Cheney Source Of Leak - Destroyed Evidence
Oh the pigeons are coming home to roost! Scooter Libby testified under oath that Dick Cheney was the one who told him Valerie Plame was a CIA agent. To cover that fact up he even destroyed evidence, a note from Cheney regarding the issue.
What interesting news on the eve of the State of the Union. Seems like the state of this Union is pretty sad. We have a government rife with corruption and fraud and it goes all the way to the top.
I can only guess that in the next few days much more will come out regarding this case and perhaps the Democrats will grow the cajones to actually do something about it. Impeachment would be one option.
What interesting news on the eve of the State of the Union. Seems like the state of this Union is pretty sad. We have a government rife with corruption and fraud and it goes all the way to the top.
I can only guess that in the next few days much more will come out regarding this case and perhaps the Democrats will grow the cajones to actually do something about it. Impeachment would be one option.
Bush Approval Rating Now 28%
According to a new CBS poll, on the eve of his State of the Union speech, Bush’s approval rating has sagged to 28%. Pitiful, and yet no member of Congress is ready to stand up and demand investigations into the unlawful acts by this man. I have to wonder why Congress is still so cowed by Bush? Does he have secret scandals on them he has collected through the wiretaps?
I hate to belabor the point, but if you haven’t written your Congressperson to demand action, you are part of the problem. Americans need the same sense of outrage we had at the end of the Vietnam War to motivate us. Too bad it takes a parade of caskets to get it.
I hate to belabor the point, but if you haven’t written your Congressperson to demand action, you are part of the problem. Americans need the same sense of outrage we had at the end of the Vietnam War to motivate us. Too bad it takes a parade of caskets to get it.
Monday, January 22, 2007
State Of The Union?
The State of the Union speech will probably not cover any new ground, and one note that I suspect will not appear is the Bush budget cut to the National Cancer Institute. Bush who spouts rhetoric about a "Culture of Life" apparently doesn’t give a flying fig about the lives of American’s with cancer. If pressed on the issue I suspect he would babble some crap about the private sector…blah, blah, blah. What he means is unless there is a profit, why bother?
Bush proposed cuts would shave 36 million dollars from the budget of the Cancer Institute, which would represent a cut of around .8%. And as millions of Americans continue to die of cancer, I certainly hope they ask about this alleged "culture of life." Again not to belabor the point, but IMPEACHMENT NOW!
Bush proposed cuts would shave 36 million dollars from the budget of the Cancer Institute, which would represent a cut of around .8%. And as millions of Americans continue to die of cancer, I certainly hope they ask about this alleged "culture of life." Again not to belabor the point, but IMPEACHMENT NOW!
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