Morals...? Values...? We don't need no steenkin' morals and values!

The irony of the party, which swept into office on a rising tide of 'morals and values', setting itself above the moral and ethical standards THEY set for THEMSELVES is almost too much to bear.

House Reichpublicans decided to change their own ethics rules to allow their leadership to remain in their leadership roles should they be indicted, tihs on behalf of one of their more ethically challenged members...Tom DeLay. Such hypocrisy is, apparently, becoming part and parcel of the Reichpublican ethos.

Given their leader, George W. Bush, this should come as no surprise though. In Dubbyuh we have the embodiment of a man who has never been held accountable for his actions. From his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct to his insider trading at Harken Energy, Dubbyuh has been bailed out by family and family friends, absolved of all wrongdoing by the mere mention of his family name. Were he not the son of George H.W. Bush and grandson of Prescott Bush, he would be pumping gas in some dusty little Texas hell-hole, drinking his brains out and beating his pit-bulls every night.

Instead, though, he has America bent over the proverbial brass-rail, it knickers around its ankles, its skirts over its head, suffering the humiliation of his unwanted attentions.

The Artful, but Tactless, Dodgers

With any and all who have failed to toe the Administration line, or embarrassed the Administration in any way, dropping like flies, it behooves us to examine just what Dubbyuh is up to.

What he is doing, is further insulating himself from the real world. His appointments to his cabinet are based, not upon ability, but upon personal loyalty to Dubbyuh and his policies. This will squeeze the last vestiges of dissent out of his administration, and leave him in an ideologically pure vaccum.

This new cabinet will only serve to further isolate Dubbyuh from the consquences of his actions. But its nothing more than the logical extension of Dubbyuh's dodging of responsibility since he was a teen-ager.

Speaking of dodging responsibility, it appears that House Reichpublicans...er...Republicans are about to change their own rules of conduct to protect one of their own from certain leagal entanglements. I'm speaking, of course, of the the head of the GOP's Committee on Gerrymandering, Tom DeLay.

Apparently, if the leader of the House Reichpublicans is indicted for a felony, he/she must give up his post. Since three of DeLay's staffers have been indicted in Texas, and Tommy seems to be next on the list, the House GOPers are taking pre-emptive action. They are seeking to change the ethical guidelines which would require Tommy to give up his position as Majority Leader, should he be indicted. They're calling the investigation into his fund raising activities "politically motivated". I think it's up to the courts, and not the House leadership to make decisions as to Tommy's guilt or innocence.

The utter hypocrisy of this stance should be obvious...The Reichpublicans swept to power this year on a wave of concern for "values and ethics". Apparently they have neither of these qualities.

Colin and Condi-mima

So, Colin Powell resigns. No surprise that, but he should have done so when it became clear that Dubbyuh was up to no good in waging war on Iraq. But no...He sat before the United Nations and lied, and you could tell he was pissed off at having to repeat the bullshit the Administration was spewing. But did he do the right thing...? Did he resign in protest...? No. He played the "good soldier" and followed his marching orders without question. But you know what...? From Nuremberg forward, obeying orders hasn't shielded war criminals from responsibility for their actions.

Yes, Colin turned to the dark side. He, not always quietly, lapped up the excrement the Administraion put forth as manna from heaven and did nothing to stem its abuses of power.

But now, we have the "New and Improved" Condi-mima as Secretary of State. And we thought Colin was Dubbyuh's lap dog.

What Price Security?

For those of you who remain unconvinced as to Alberto Gonzales' willingness to ignore, not only the Constitution, but also international law, I suggest you goto "Alberto Gonzales: A Record of Injustice". It provides a full disclosure of his past actions with links to the memos(pdf) in question.

Now, let me ask you...Why are you willing to give up the freedoms, paid for by the blood of our forefathers, so easily? Why so eager trade these hard won freedoms for a small measure of illusory security? If it's for fear of further attack, that is the price of living in a free and open society. Unless you are willing to live in a closed and tightly controlled state, you should be careful what you wish for.

I know I feel safer...

Dubbyuh's disconnect from reality continues to grow. While 15,000 troops are slogging through Fallujah, the guerillas are striking at will throughout Iraq, Mosul has all but fallen to them...All this under a state of martial law declared by Iraq's puppet prime-minister. In Dubbyuh's little world, however, everything is absolutely peachy.

Dubbyuh and his merry band continue to underestimate the forces arrayed against our troops in Iraq, and their policies reflect that lack of understanding. But all those loyal Bushies voted for him. Now, despite the spectres of war, poverty, soaring healthcare costs, a crumbling social safety-net and budget deficits as far as the eye can see that still ahunt us, at least we are now safe from the horror of same-gender couples being able to have the same rights, benefits and responsibilities of straight married couples. I know I sleep easier at night.

Homeland...? Security...?

Today in a small town just south of Columbus, OH, Dick(less) Cheney spoke of the Bush administration's commitment to preventing NBC attacks on US soil. This commitment rings hollow in light of the facts.

Our seaports are largely unsecured, and only a tiny fraction, about 5%, of cargo containers entering the US are inspected. More money is spent on the war in Iraq in 3 days than has been spent on securing our seaports in the last three years.

Thanks to the Republican controlled Congress a bill to tighten security at nuclear facilities and petro-chemical plants was scuttled. "It would cost too much..." industy lobbyists poor-mouthed. 123 of the sites are in areas where 1 million or more people could be sickened injured or killed outright.

Nearly half of all cargo on US airliners is screened, and instead of no-fly zones over US nuclear and chemical facilities, they are instituted over Disneyworld, Disneyland and the SuperBowl.

Nearly $99 billion is needed to bring US first responders up to even mininmal capacity to deal with large scale attacks, yet in its 2006 budget, cuts are made in funding to firefighters and first responders, with funding for police cut nearly in half.

Yes boys and girls, America is (not) safer under the firm hand and steadfast leadership of the Bush administration and the neocon chicken-shits...er...hawks that currently infest the halls of our nation's capitol. So, you can('t) sleep safer tonight knowing that the Bush Administration is(n't) on the ball and (sure as hell) is(n't) working hard to keep America secure.

The president who can't be mistaken

By Ellen Goodman,

Globe Columnist | October 13, 2004

NOW THAT her 15 minutes of fame are over, may I tip my hat to Linda Grabel? It isn't easy to give the president of the United States a pop quiz. But at the second debate, the 63-year-old legal secretary asked: "Please give three instances in which you came to realize you had made a wrong decision and what you did to correct it."

By now it's well known that the president couldn't come up with a single mistake except, shucks, maybe an appointment or two. The question, as he restated it, was, "Did you make a mistake going into Iraq?" And his answer was: "Absolutely not."

Was anyone really surprised? George W. Bush is now officially The Man Who Wouldn't Ask Directions. This candidate doesn't do windows or introspection. He's running on an alchemy platform as the politician who transforms inflexibility into strength.

Inflexible...? Indeed, but it goes far beyond that . It is a philosophical and epistemological rigidity that makes the hardest steel look positively mushy. But the harder the steel, the more brittle it is...The more easily it breaks. Lacking the flexibility to bend and then spring back, it snaps at the point of stress. And so it will be with Bush...His mental rigidity will lead him to break at the point of greatest stress. Can we really afford that in our president?

Unease Shadows Bush's Optimism

Noting the administration's request to divert $3.4 billion in Iraq reconstruction money to a series of emergency measures, including efforts to improve security, conservative Rep. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said: "Now, that does not add up, in my opinion, to a pretty picture, to a picture that shows that we're winning. But it does add up to this: an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble."

The committee's moderate Republican chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, expressed exasperation at the administration's rosy prewar assessments that as soon as Hussein was deposed, a euphoric Iraqi population would embrace democracy.

"The nonsense of that is [now] apparent," he said. "The lack of planning is apparent."

And so, the Republicans begin to feed on their own...They begin to question the wisdom of the man they recently nominated in New York, shamelessly politicizing 9/11 and the "war on terror". The light of truth begins to intrude upon their unquestioned allegiance to Dubbyuh and his administration. And all that needs to be said to them is, "Told ya so..."

U.S. Intelligence Paints a Darker Picture Than Dubbyuh Would Have Us Believe

By DOUGLAS JEHL

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq, government officials said Wednesday.

The estimate outlines three possibilities for Iraq through the end of 2005, with the worst case being developments that could lead to civil war, the officials said. The most favorable outcome described is an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous in political, economic and security terms.

The NIE, pooh-poohed by Mark McClellan as being "pessimistic" gives lie to the Administration's rosy picture of Iraq and its future. The best case scenario is one of a future little different from the present in Iraq. THe Worst case is outright civil war between the Sunnis, Sh'ias and Kurds. It should be pointed out that the word "pessimist" was created by optimists to describe realists.

Tom DeLay and Denny Hasturt: Special Interest Whores

Tom DeLay and Denny Hasturt wouldn't let an extension of the assault weapons ban come to the floor for debate, let alone a vote. The NRA drew them aside and whispered sweet nothings in their ears, and being the eager whores that they are, they promptly rolled over and spread their legs squealing, "Do me! And do me, NOW!"

With this act of blatant political prositution, Tom DeLay and Denny Hasturt proved, unequivocally, that America is no longer a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. America is now a nation wholly at the mercy of corporate interests, a situation exacerbated by this Administration and its Republican cronies in Congress.

Never mind that some 65% of the American people WANT the assault weapons ban to remain in effect. Never Mind that law enforcement agencies all accross the country support extending the assault weapons ban. Never mind that some 57% of GUN OWNERS support the assault weapons ban. Never mind that a MAJORITY of Americans, gun owners and non-gun owners alike support tightening the ban The NRA, with its siren song of more campaign contributions, renders all of that moot. A parliament of whores...Indeed!

What he really said...Part 1

I believe every child can learn, and every school must teach so we passed the most important federal education reform in history. Because we acted, children are making sustained progress in reading and math, America's schools are getting better, and nothing will hold us back.

Unfortunately he forgot to mention that his “No Child Left Behind initiative was underfunded to the tune of $9.4 billion, or that 38 educational programs would be cut from the budget in 2004.

I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor America's seniors so I brought Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen Medicare. Now seniors are getting immediate help buying medicine. Soon every senior will be able to get prescription drug coverage, and nothing will hold us back.

Yet Medicare Chief Actuary, Richard Foster was told to keep quiet about the actual costs of the recently passed Medicare legislation. Nor, was the fact that the government is barred from negotiating for lower drug prices under this scheme mentioned. Also not mentioned was the fact that some 60% of the new “drug benefit” actually goes to the pharmaceutical companies.

I believe in the energy and innovative spirit of America's workers, entrepreneurs, farmers, and ranchers so we unleashed that energy with the largest tax relief in a generation. Because we acted, our economy is growing again, and creating jobs, and nothing will hold us back.

Unfortunately, the estimates for the federal deficit now stand a some $5.2 trillion over the next ten years. Also the tax cuts Dubbyuh ramrodded through Congress shifted more of the tax burden to the middle-class. Oh…and, by the way…the Administration’s budget estimates don’t even include the costs of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Dubbyuh left Texas’ economy a smoking crater in the earth. We won’t know the damage he’s done to the US economy for a while as the mushroom cloud is still rising.

I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.

This is the administration that cut requested FBI counter-terrorism funding by 2/3 after 9-11.Bush also opposed creation of the largely ineffectual Department of Homeland Security and the 9-11 Commission. Also “on His watch”, a bill to strengthen security at US nuclear and petrochemical sites was scuttled by the Republican controlled House and Senate. And our seaports remain largely unsecured.

New dirt thrown in squabble over candidates' war records

By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

The controversy over John Kerry's Vietnam War record looked set yesterday to escalate into a duel between the two competing presidential campaigns, after new, unflattering details emerged about George Bush's much questioned National Guard service in Texas and Alabama in 1971-72.

The widow of one of the Bush family's closest confidants of the period alleged that the reason the young Mr Bush was transferred to Alabama was that his drunken, boorish behaviour was becoming a political liability for his father - who was serving as US ambassador to the United Nations - and the family was keen to get him out of Texas.

Linda Allison said she never once saw him in uniform in Alabama, despite the Bush family's protestations to the contrary. Instead, he was attached to the Republican Senate campaign that her husband Jimmy was running. Corroborating earlier first-hand accounts, she said George W would sleep in late after all-night benders, arrive at the office around noon and leave early.

On election night, when it became clear that the campaign to unseat the incumbent Democratic senator, John Sparkman failed, Ms Allison said she encountered Mr Bush urinating on a car in the campaign parking lot. She later heard that he had yelled obscenities at police officers.

Ms Allison's account, which she gave to the online magazine Salon.com, was one of a number of indications of a backlash against the President after weeks of attacks on Senator Kerry's Vietnam War record by a group of ardent pro-Bush Republicans calling themselves Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Like the proverbial turd in a punchbowl, the sordid truth of Dubbyuh's "war years" floats to the surface. Yessiree folks, this is the man who want to steer the ship of state. The only problem is he's about to gut the ship on the reefs of the real world rather than sail on the seas of his ETOH impaired vision of the world. Twenty plus years of alcohol abuse leaves a permanent mark on one's cognitive abilities, as Dubbyuh so readily demonstrates. It's time to throw the cap'n overboard and get a steady hand at the helm.

Zell slips off the deep end...

Yeah buddy! Ol' Zell, he's a veritable paragon of reason and sanity. F'r instance, how's about where he went off on Chris Matthews who chided him for the "defending America with spitballs" comment. That's when Miller slid off the deep end and said that he wished he "could get a little closer up into your face" and that he lived in a time "where you could challenge a person to a duel".

Yep ol' Zell, he's a great DINO (Democrat In Name Only)...Soon he and his kind will be extinct, or at least live out their lives as curiosities kept in carefully controlled reserves with other breeds of conservative. There they will be protected from the harsh relities of the world around them, and they will always have their rose colored glasses.

Does Dick CHENEY no he's not really on the ticket?

HYPOCRITES!!!!!!!!!!!

And they said they wouldn't use the memory of 9/11 for political ends...Did anyone really believe that fatuous lie? To say that the Riechspartei...er...Republican National Convention is manipulative is like saying Marcel Marceau was a little quiet.

Yes indeed folks the keynote for Tuesday night was "Never forget 9/11...", As if we could. But we were presented with a long string of speakers who reminded us of 9/11 with every breath.

And the evening was kicked off by John McCain (sellout) and Rudy Giulianni (adulterous dog), who are both also known for their courage and leadership...Two qualities Dubbyuh would like to have associated with him.

All in all this outpouring of beteiligt-geist has been most nauseating, and one can only hope these hypocritical fuckers are beaten like a gong come November and whipped naked and howling into the wilderness

"Meet the New Boss..."

Bush Pretends He Never Gave Secret Prison Order

Two weeks ago, President Bush appeared on Arab television claiming that he wanted to stop the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and implying that he had nothing to do with the policies that led to them. During his appearance Bush said, "We want to make sure that if there is a systemic problem -- in other words, if there's a problem system-wide -- that we stop the practices"1. However, a new report appears to show that the President and top Administration officials may have authorized procedures that led to the abuses in the first place.

A new investigation by Newsweek "shows that President Bush, along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft signed off on a secret system of detention and interrogation that opened the door to such methods" of abuse and torture as documented at Abu Ghraib2. The secret orders were designed "to sidestep the historical safeguards of the Geneva Conventions, which protect the rights of detainees and prisoners of war. In doing so, they overrode the objections of Secretary of State Colin Powell and America's top military lawyers."

The President has repeatedly said he wants to "usher in an era of personal responsibility"3. Yet, despite these revelations, the White House has yet to admit any culpability. When asked whether a crucial Presidential legal memo4 attempting to skirt the Geneva Conventions5 helped to create the atmosphere that led to the prison abuses, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "Absolutely not"6.

Sources:

1. President Bush Meets with Al Arabiya Television on Wednesday, 05/05/2004.

2. "The Roots of Torture", Newsweek, 05/24/2004.

3. President Bush Discusses Progress in Education in St. Louis, 01/05/2004.

4. "Memos Reveal War Crimes Warnings", Newsweek, 05/19/2004.

5. "Report: White House Memo Backed Abuse", San Francisco Chronicle, 05/17/2004.

6. Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan, 05/17/2004.

(emphasis mine)

"Personal responsibility" is a concept on the dim and distant horizon of Dubbyuh's consciousness, trotted out only when it seems politically expedient. Also, that Antonio Gonzalez expressed concerns about these actions violating provisions od the Geneva Convention and the War Crimes Act is telling. But since he also stated that the Geneva Convention was "quaint" and "obsolete", those reservations can be taken with a grain of salt. More telling is that the Dubbyuh and his band o' thugs didn't let such concerns stand in their way. It is but the latest example of the Administration's complete and utter disregard for international law, except where it directly benefits US interests.

Having utterly abandoned the moral high ground and descended to the level of such human rights luminaries and Stalin and Pohl Poht, this administration has abdicated its stated goal of bringing democracy to Iraq and the Middle East. "...Meet the new boss, same as the old boss..."

Pentagon distorted Iraqi casualty issue, says new report

Press Release, Project on Defense Alternatives

20 February 2004

18 February 2004 -- Weapons of mass destruction is not the only Iraq war-related subject clouded by misinformation. According to a new study, the Pentagon conducted "perception management" campaigns during the Afghan and Iraq wars that also obstructed the public's awareness of civilian casualties.

These activities included Pentagon efforts to "spin" casualty stories in ways that minimized their significance or cast unreasonable doubt on their reliability. Efforts also may have included the placement of misleading news stories. Such activities are "antithetical to well-informed public debate and to sensible policy-making," according to the report's author, Carl Conetta.

The report, Disappearing the Dead: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Idea of a "New Warfare", was released Wednesday by the Project on Defense Alternatives at the Commonwealth Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Besides examining several case studies, the report reviews the "news frames" promoted by defense officials to shape the public debate over casualties.

Among the suspect stories promoted by US officials were reports that the Hussein regime was stockpiling cadavers before the war in order to stage phony casualty incidents and blame them on the coalition. Another story asserted that the Iraqis were procuring uniforms like those of US troops so that they might commit atrocities that would be attributed to the United States. As in the case of Iraq's reputed possession of prohibited weapons, neither story was subsequently verified.

Hmmm...Sounds like one more unsettling parallel to Vietnam, which was another politically driven war.

Bush Chooses the F.D.A.'s Chief to Run Medicare and Medicaid

By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 — President Bush announced on Friday that he would nominate Dr. Mark B. McClellan, the food and drug commissioner, to run Medicare and Medicaid, the health insurance programs for more than 70 million Americans. The Republic is dead, long live coporate America!

Dr. McClellan faces a huge logistical and political challenge: to provide prescription drug coverage to the elderly while fending off Democratic attacks on the new Medicare law, which Mr. Bush sees as his greatest achievement in domestic policy.

If confirmed by the Senate, Dr. McClellan will become administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which spends more than $480 billion a year and regulates nearly every sector of the nation's health care system.

While firmly committed to the president's free-market policies, Dr. McClellan has shown a knack for working with members of both parties in a pragmatic way that blends science, economics and politics.

Dr. McClellan, a physician and economist, has received rave reviews from drug companies for his work as chief of the Food and Drug Administration, a post he assumed in November 2002. He served earlier at the White House, as health policy coordinator and a member of Mr. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. In the Clinton administration, he worked on domestic policy, as a deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury in 1998-99.

Dr. McClellan, 40, will need all that expertise and more to carry out the new Medicare law successfully.

Under that law, Medicare beneficiaries can obtain drug discount cards this June and full-fledged drug benefits starting in January 2006. But the law also gives private health insurance plans a big new role in Medicare, and Democrats, who attack the legislation as overly generous to pharmaceutical and insurance companies, want sweeping changes, which the administration is resisting. As commissioner of food and drugs, Dr. McClellan has tried to stamp out, on safety grounds, a wave of support for allowing imports of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada.

Dr. McClellan is the brother of the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, and a son of the Texas comptroller, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who has hinted that she may run for governor in two years.

Can you say cronyism?...I knew you could.

It's also another case of selling out the interests of the American people to the folks who have been camping out on Dubbyyuh's ass for years. The Republic is dead! Long live corporate America!

Iran Parliamentary Elections:Iranians Vote in Election That May End Reform Drive

By Parinoosh Arami and Paul Taylor
Fri February 20, 2004 06:24 AM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Urged by prayer leaders to "slap America in the face," Iranians voted Friday in a disputed parliamentary election set to tighten hard-liners' grip on power and end President Mohammad Khatami's faltering reform drive.

A short, lackluster campaign was overshadowed by a ban on most reformist candidates and a crackdown on pro-reform media amid apparent public indifference. The main uncertainty concerns the turnout, with even the size of the electorate in dispute.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, among the first to cast his ballot, said the Islamic Republic's enemies were trying to deter young people from voting -- an apparent reference to a boycott by blacklisted reformist lawmakers and student groups.

"You see how those who are against the Iranian nation and the Islamic revolution are trying so hard to prevent people from going to the polls," Khamenei told state television.

Conservatives seem certain to dominate the new assembly after the Guardian Council, an unelected panel of hard-line clerics, disqualified 2,500 mainly reformist aspirants and a further 1,179 contenders withdrew.

As I, and many others, predicted the rhetoric against Iran and the actions of Dubbyuh's administration in the Middle East have lead to a retrenchment of Iran's hardliners. This will set back the progressive reforms that have been under way in Iran by several years, if not decades.

So long as Dubbyuh and his merry band remain in control of this nation, we can only expect more, and more serious, blowback from their policies.

A Comparison...

I've taken to watching C-SPAN when they braodcast procedings in the House of Commons, and I must say that the difference between Britain's Parliament and America's Congress is striking.

The level, speed and quality of the repartee in the House of Commons is, at times, breathtaking. The representatives are always there, and are not speaking before an empty gallery as theire counterparts in Congress often are.

And although he's Dubbyuh's lapdog and his intellectual superior (most anybody is), Tony Blair answers all of his critics cogently and with a sense of humor. I simply cannot see Dubbyuh engaging in such a rapid fire debate in Congress. He would stutter, stumble, get pissed off and storm out of the room.

Were it not for his daddy's name, Dubbyuh would be pumping gas in some dusty little Texas hell-hole and drinking what few brains he has out every night