House Republicans Jabber On For 40 Minutes About Bush The Lionhearted

I have heard people tell me that I live in a fantasy world to expect that things will change after the election of Barack Obama. They tell me Washington is always Washington and it will always be. Well, I choose to believe otherwise. I think I am living in the reality and the others have been blinded by the fog of fantasy. As proof I offer this note about the House Republicans yesterday.

Thay held a 40 minute floor speech extoling the virtues of President Bush. One quote was particularly telling when Trent Franks (R-AZ) said, "President Bush often had to walk like a knowing lion — like a knowing lion, Mr. Speaker, through the chattering of hyenas. … [I]f those critics do not devour themselves in the meantime, Mr. Speaker, they may face the bared teeth of an enemy that will make us all wish the lion still walked among us."

Well Mr. Franks you got your spelling wrong, "Bush walked as a LIAR among us", would be a more correct quote.

Talk about living in a fantasy!

State Department Celebrates Arrival Of "Glinda"

A few days ago after the inauguration I posted the Wizard of Oz clip "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead". Little did I know it was an apt comparison, but this time it is from the State Department.
Word is they are having a "Glinda Party" next week, comparing Condi Rice to the Wicked Witch of the West.

Amazing!

NSA Spied On All Americans - Focused On Journalists

After watching an interview with Russell Tice, a former National Security Agency analyst on Rachael Maddow, I have to wonder when Cheney and Bush will be indicted. The NSA, so the latest revelations tell, was monitoring all, ALL electronic communications. That is not a typo, they were listening to it all, especially concentrating on journalists.

How illegal is this? Comletely and absolutely illegal and punishable by jail time.

Write your Congressperson and let them know how you feel about this!

White House Web Site Updated With Pro LGBT Agenda!

Here is real change we can believe in. The White House web site updated last night and includes this lengthy section on civil rights for LGBT Americans:

Support for the LGBT Community

"While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."

-- Barack Obama, June 1, 2007

• Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.
• Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
• Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
• Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
• Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
• Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
• Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma -- too often tied to homophobia -- that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
• Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.

Ding Dong!

Thanks so much to the folks at AmericaBlog for this clip! I am sure a lot of us feel the same way!

Washington Bursting At The Seams - Inauguration Day

It's only 9:30 in DC and already the National Mall is at capacity. This shot from CNN really makes the point.

Bush Leaves As A Failure

I couldn't have said it better than this quote from a German news magazine:

"A weak leader, Bush was just overwhelmed in the job," said Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung under a headline: "The Failure." "He confused stubbornness with principles. America has become intolerant and it will take a long time to repair that damage."

I feel a lot like the Winkies must have felt when the witch melted.

Bishop Robinson's Prayer Absent From HBO Coverage

HBO for whatever reason did not include the invocation by Bishop Robinson for the Inaugural Gala last night. Here is a YouTube video of it.



Word from the Obama people is as follows:

"We had always intended and planned for Rt. Rev. Robinson’s invocation to be included in the televised portion of yesterday’s program. We regret the error in executing this plan – but are gratified that hundreds of thousands of people who gathered on the mall heard his eloquent prayer for our nation that was a fitting start to our event."

I really wonder if this is true? If so HBO really showed its ass, if not, well Mr. Obama, "you got some 'splainin to do".

On The Steps Of The Lincoln Memorial

I guess I am just sentimental, but watching the Inauguration Gala last night from the Mall in Washington, DC, I was crying. My partner and I started watching it not expecting to be as moved as we were, but the historic import of the events this week really hit us both.

As a kid, I remember watching the March on Washington on TV. That August I was sitting in my parents house watching Dr. King speak on a black & white TV. More than a little ironically, our housekeeper, a wonderful woman who came in once a week to help my mother out with ironing and cleaning was sitting behind me at the ironing board. She and I were talking about the incredible sight we watched.

Clara, our housekeeper, was African-American, in those days we called her colored, but she was almost a part of our family. She cleaned for my aunt, both my grandmothers and an uncle. Her life and our family's lives were intertwined. Though she worked for us, she was always treated like one of our family. She even ended up inheriting our family car when we bought a new one.

She told me once how her great grandmother had been a slave, and the stories she used to tell of that time. Her great grandmother had lived to almost one hundred years of age, and so Clara got the family history passed directly to her. Now, we both watched as 250,000 people crowded the mall and listened to Dr. King speak.

That day came rushing back to me as I watched Barack Obama speak from the very spot where Dr. King once stood. No wonder I was emotional.

On this anniversary of Dr. Kings birth, I am grateful I could see both these historic speeches and sincerely hope the years ahead fulfill King's dream. "Free at last, free at last. Thank God I am free at last."

Gitmo Going Out Of Business Sale!

Madoff Only The Tip Of The Iceberg

I sometimes find that real life is so fantastic it would never be believable as fiction. Take Bernie Madoff. Here is a guy who somehow got a reputation as a financial genius. He managed to get people to give him billions of dollars to invest without any oversight and as long as he returned profits they never questioned him.

We all know the rest of the story. One day people stopped investing and his Ponzi scheme came crashing down. Now it turns out he may never have invested a cent, he just sent out transaction statements showing the investors making a big profit and everyone slept well. The latest in this story came from an investigation hat says he may never have made any trades at all.

Red flags must have been going up all over the place but greed blinded the people who kept putting money into his hands. What they received was money from other investors in a giant pyramid scheme with Bernie skimming millions off the top.

Now comes word of a missing fund manager in Florida. Arthur Nadel left a cryptic note for his family and disappeared. Apparently his fund bilked $350 million out of its investors and he either went off to commit suicide or just went on the lamb. Either way it was another scheme where people were blinded by greed and never asked the right questions.

I guess it was only a matter of time before the super-rich were knocked back down to normal. I always figured it would be some sort of cosmic karma that did it but it apparently was their own negligence and greed. On second though maybe that was the karma at work?

For most of us, the idea of giving millions to someone we hardly know to "manage" for us seems pretty crazy. I would figure people with that much money spent at least some time investigating and vetting any fund or asset manager extensively. I guess it just shows how little those who become rich really "deserve" their wealth. The myth of the hard working billionaires is fast being put to rest.

I always like listening to super rich peolle who speak of their fortunes as though they did something either incrediblly clever or somehow just worked hard enough to get the fortune they hold. In reality, most rich people either inherited their wealth or gained it through a series of fortunate events much of which they had nothing to do with. For the doubters, read Malcom Gladwell's "Outliers". The "self made millionare" is usually only a partial truth.

If hard work was all it took to get rich, then welfare mothers holding down two jobs and raising a family alone would be in the Fortune 500. Hard work only results in sweat. Success comes from both hard work, luck and circumstances more than anything and much of that is beyond our control.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of foolish rich folks out there just waiting to give you their millions and not ask questions. If you have no scruples and a good wardrobe, go for it! Maybe a few more Bernie Madoff tales will finally wake people from their slumber and get them to consider exactally what they are doing with their money.

Great Moments In Bush Speeches. Video!

These are the moments I will miss the most from the Bush Presidency.

Unique Ad Campaign - Bye Bye Mr. Bush!

I had to publish this, it's way too tasteless and funny.

PETA, Sea Kittens, And The Pets It Kills

To follow up on the ludicrous "re-branding" effort by PETA to call fish "Sea Kittens" (not a joke) I did a little research on these alleged animal rights activists. What I found was not all that surprising.

PETA exists to raise money. Like many non-profit organizations they survive on funds contributed by ordinary folks. It would be one thing if they really believed what they sell, but according to information released by the State of Virginia, a PETA facility there killed almost 90% of the animals in its care from 1997 to 2007. The local SPCA manages to get almost 70% of its animals adopted.

Now that doesn't sound very ethical to me, especially from a group who does not even want people eating fish!

Next time you see a PETA protester, ask them about these figures and look at their wardrobe. If they are wearing leather shoes or a leather belt, point out that it came from a cuddly bovine. Ask if they ever eat meat or fish. I'll bet few are really ethical vegans and most are just confused.

Sure I love animals, I have two delightful "land fish" (cats) at home and I care for them like they were my children. I do not support needless cruelty toward animals, but I also love a good steak and occasional sushi. I wear leather not just because it is my fetish, but also because it is ethical. People slaughter cows for food, why should the animal's skin be wasted. The world will never go vegan, meat is too efficient a source of protein and it's been part of our diet forever. Granted we probably eat too much of it, but that is a healt issue not one for animal rights.

My message to PETA: Spend some of that money on a "no kill" shelter. We have them here in my home town in Texas and surely you , a big organizatino that raises millions a year can do that!

Miracle On The Hudson And Basic Human Nature

Our soon to be ex-president is always a big one to highlight heroes in his speeches. He often uses them as props and human shields to mask his agenda of scamming the country's wealth and invading our privacy. It is puzzling that he didn't even mention the heroes in New York yesterday afternoon who without a second thought sprang into action to rescue the passengers of the US Airways flight that had crash landed in the Hudson River.

Ferry pilots, small craft owners and their passengers and crew headed toward the downed jet and immediately began taking aboard the stranded passengers on the wings of the plane. That act reminded me of how basically good people are. That goodness shined through and it betrays the basic political tennent of the conservatives.

Leave it to me to find political significance in this event, but it was so obvious I couldn't avoid it.

Here is the deal. Conservatives believe that the basic of human nature is to turn toward evil. Therefore people always need a strong paternal hand to keep the populous law abiding. It's the "strong father" model of government, and though the GOP rails against big government they love the paternalistic approach to governing. Father always knows best whether its Uncle Sam or big business, its a top down approach.

Liberals believe in the basic goodness of people. Government is there to create a safe place for them to thrive and grow. A nurturing parent model wold be the best analogy. If a populace is free from oppression and has its basic needs met, the good human nature of the people will make it a great country.

Both those definitions are very simplistic, but the underlying premise is true. What happened on the Hudson yesterday shows that basic goodness. It was not just a display of how New Yorker's pull together, but a display of how people care for each other even if they are strangers.

It is that basic goodness that makes us a great country.

Live Blogging - Bush Says Goodbye - Finally!

I am watching the LAST Presidential Address by George W. Bush and I am underwhelmed as usual. He is speaking before an invited audience, once again papering the house with assured positive responses.

He is giving best wishes to President Elect Obama and in the same breath thanks VP Cheney. Kind of makes me feel dirty hearing those two names in the same sentences.

He said he remembers the "first time I addressed you from this house, September 11, 2001". Funny that he didn't give any addresses prior to that day?

It is no surprise he mentions 9/11 since that is all he has going for him, and his response to it has been a dismal failure. The legacy is abridged human rights, less privacy, torture and an illegal war.
You betcha I will remember you Mr. Bush.

Update: Blah, blah, blah. Thank our military...blah, blah, blah...terrorists, fanatics...blah, blah!

Freedom, God, blah, blah, blah.

I could have phoned this speech in and done a better job.

Update: He just patted himself on the back for rescuing the economy! Say what?

Now he is saying he has always had the best interest of the country in all his decisions. Followed by more talk of terrorists and attacks. He is really a "one trick pony"!

Holder Intimates Possible War Crimes Investigation For Bush & Company

Looking at testimony from Eric Holder's confirmation hearing today I get the feeling the folks in the lame-duck Bush Withe House are preparing their pardons right now. Holder was asked the question if waterboarding qualified as torture, Holder didn't mince words.

"If you look at the history of the use of that technique used by the Khmer Rouge, used in the inquisition, used by the Japanese and prosecuted by us as war crimes, we prosecuted our own soldiers in Vietnam, I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture,"

When asked directly if the President could authorize torture he was pretty direct.

"No one is above the law," said Holder. "The president has a constitutional obligation to faithfully executive the laws of the United States. There are obligations that we have as a result of treaties we have signed and obligations to the Constitution."

That mention of war crimes should send a red flag up for Bush and Cheney. If Holder considers what the White House authorized as a war crime, then he as an obligation to investigate and prosecute as he sees fit. This sounds like potential good news for the thousands of people who have backed the idea of investigating the potential war crimes of the Bush administration.

Now if President Elect Obama will only let Holder do it!

Jan. 19 - National Day of Service

PETA Goes Off The Deep End - Fish Are Now "Sea Kittens"!

PETA, that wonderful group who goes around splashing red paint on fur has come up with the strangest idea yet. They have decided people would treat fish differently if they "re-branded" them as "sea kittens". I am not joking!

In a quote on Huffington Post:

"A lot of people don't realize that fish are capable of feeling fear and pain, that they develop relationships with each other, and even show affection by gently rubbing against one another," says Ashley Byrne, PETA's sea kitten campaign co-ordinator. "Knowing that the fish sticks in the school cafeteria are really made out of tortured sea kittens makes most kids want to lose their lunch."

Excuse me, but PETA makes me want to lose my lunch. I will remember this next time I have a California Roll with raw sea kitten. Puleeze!

These folks started out with good goals, preventing animals from being unnecessarily tortured for frivolous research. However, they have become militant vegans whose message is so muddled with ideas like "re-branding" fish that they are easy to dismiss.

Meanwhile I will continue to feed my real kittens, fish, not "sea kittens".

Bush Press Conference Filled WIth Fake Reporters

It's called "papering the house", and when I worked in show biz, it's what you did to assure the theater looked packed to the gills. You gave away a lot of free tickets to fill seats. Why? Nothing is worse than attending a show with a small audience in a big theater.

Well, Mr. Bush, the president who arguably has emphasized form over substance more than any other, took a lesson from Broadway. At his farewell press conference he ordered White House interns to fill empth seats so the room looked packed. I also assume it gave him an advantage when it came to applause or laughs. The working press has had their fill of Bush and his tired attempts at jokes often fall flat.

His last press conference was filled with excuses and shrugs. Bush seems intent on frosting his legacy with as much misinformation as he can. Admitting that the "Mission Accomplished" banner was a mistake, (Something which previously he denied having any part in) was about it when it came to mia culpa's. No sorry about the wiretapping, torture and infringements of citizen's rights. No wonder the press was not buying it!