REPUBLICANS, THE PARTY OF DEADBEATS

I'm noticing a trend among people who vote republican. Whenever I get into a conversation of voting republican vs. democrat, it seems that the first thing they say, goes something like, "Well, if a democrat gets elected, just watch your taxes go up"... People who are otherwise intelligent, perfectly nice people, keep repeating this like a mantra. It just goes to show how pervasive these propaganda like talking points of the republican party are. Never mind the slaughter of our young people in a useless war brought on by a republican administration, not willing to give an inch to try to end it. Doesn't bother them that the current republican administration won't even admit that there is a global warming problem, and in fact has manipulated scientific research to try to deny it, while the glaciers are melting, the bees are dying and the planet is running a fever. Not concerned that our president has run roughshod over the Constitution, ignoring the parts he doesn't agree with. It all comes down to the almighty dollar. Not that I'm against keeping my money for myself, but I don't think taxes are the evil plague that republicans do. What kind of a place would this be if we didn't pay taxes? I'm willing to pay my fair share, why aren't republicans? It is, after all, a republican administration that has turned our surplus into a deficit in the trillions, but it's always the republicans who whine the loudest about actually having to pay it. Don't we all have to pay our bills eventually? Why does it seem that the party of 'moral values' is always trying to weasel out of this sad fact? Besides, if you believe that this president is concerned with the middle class taxpayer, then you're probably in that small minority that still believes that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. It just isn't the case. The lions share of his tax cuts went to the richest 2 percent in the country. So, I can see why Paris Hilton might vote republican, but I'm always amazed at middle class working Joes who just keep regurgitating the lies they've been fed.

THE GAMES THEY PLAY

Okay, how ridiculous is it for Bush, and other do nothing republicans to keep accusing the dems of 'playing politics' with the war in Iraq. First of all, why is it that whenever the dems challenge the administration on anything, it's portrayed as 'playing politics'? Isn't politics their job? They are POLITICIANS after all. Accusing them of playing politics is like accusing a doctor of playing medicine. It's just another example of the republican penchant for throwing around meaningless, stupid phrases when they have nothing of substance to offer. You wanna talk playing politics? The republicans are falling all over themselves telling the press how they confronted Bush about his failings in Iraq, but over and over, the main point they made was how they were losing support in their home districts, and with the election coming, they're under the gun to break ranks with the Bush plan, or risk losing to democrats. It all comes down to votes for them, while paying lip service to supporting our troops. The only thing they're interested in saving are their political hides. In the meantime, Bush vows to veto the second bill the Congress sends him, with no compromise, while blaming the dems for holding up funding for the troops. The troops would be better off if King George would play a little politics, instead of always playing dictator.

BUSH WHACKS THE ENVIRONMENT

This is a posting by my sister Jack, who hates Bush even more than I do, if that's possible..


So the polls now show that voters are more interested in national security and the economy than in our environment - easily understandable since this administration has presided over the worst economic and security issues in recent memory. However, I feel that the biggest threat to America and our beloved way of life is this president’s kowtowing to big business, allowing financial interests to overshadow the destruction of our planet.
We can recover from a failed economy; we can secure our borders and protect interests abroad once this administration retires into the life of obscene wealth that is obviously the ultimate of goal of men like George Bush and Dick Cheney, after padding their pockets with the favors of their protected industries. But the destruction of our land that they are condoning cannot be reversed.
EPA enforcement has dropped 58%, federal wetlands protection and lake and stream cleanup mandates have been drastically reduced, along with the repeal of regulations prohibiting companies from dumping waste into local waterways. Our national forests are being depleted, and while this administration’s opinion is that "the jury is still out" on global warming, 27 of 38 glaciers in Glacier National Park are gone!
Does any of that affect us directly? How about the fact that Bush has shifted the burden of clean up from the corporate polluters to the average American? How about the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned pregnant women and children against eating tuna fish, because of the mercury emissions from power plants, regulations against which this president has relaxed until well into the next decade? I fear for the world my grandson will inherit. How much more irreversible damage will this lame duck president allow, without the need to at least give the appearance of environmental responsibility for the sake of reelection?
How can a presumably intelligent leader of the free world show such complete disregard for our future? Perhaps the answer lies in his response to Bob Woodward’s question of how history will remember him: "History? We’ll all be dead".

McCAIN CALLS ASS

I almost had to laugh, if it wasn't so pathetic. The sight of John McCains nervous smile, after declaring, at the republican debates, "I'll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell", was the funniest part of the whole charade. No wonder he had to smile, I don't see how he could have kept a straight face after that bullshit line. John McCain has rubber stamped everything this administration has done, (and hasn't done) in the miserable failure they call 'The War On Terror'. Follow bin Laden to the gates of hell?! They didn't even try to follow him to where they think he is. Bush even said he really wasn't concerned with bin Laden anymore, and McCain has endorsed every line of crap they put out. Now all of a sudden, he's calling ass on bin Laden. I'd say that's just too little too late.

EYES WIDE...CLOSED

So, let me get this straight. Nancy Pelosi goes to Syria and has a productive dialog with their leaders, reiterating the Bush position, and she is vilified by the right wing as a traitor. Some were even suggesting that she be charged with a crime. What a coincidence though, that since her visit, about a month ago, the incidents of insurgents crossing over into Iraq has dropped significantly. So much so, that now Condoleeza Rice has been sent to hold talks with President Bashar al-Assad and his ambassadors, and there is a possibility of real progress being made. Even though the totally bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended that the U.S. start talking to Syria, and Iran about what role they could play in stabilizing the Middle East, the Bush administration stubbornly refused to even discuss it. Instead they just kept pursuing their 'stay the course' policy, and while they fiddled, Iraq burned. Doesn't this tell you that when it comes to foreign policy our president and his advisers are flying by the seat of their pants? And it's frightening to think that our leaders are so hard headed that they just dismissed the Baker-Hamilton report, out of hand, because they might have had to admit that mistakes were made in the planning, ( I use that term loosely), and prosecution of this war. So it takes Nancy Pelosi, and moderate republican Dave Hobson, to jump in and try to end the stalemate. Of course, Condi will be hailed as a hero if progress is made here, while Nancy was being called treasonous, and it's just this attitude that is responsible for the fact that this nation has not been able to accomplish much of anything since the scorch and burn republicans first came into power during Bill Clintons term. They are so busy trying to march in lockstep with each other, that common sense has been thrown by the wayside. There is no compromising. You're either with them, or against them. Do you ever wonder where we might be now, if Bush had actually listened to different opinions, of which there were many, instead of just listening to the neocons he's surrounded himself with? What if he'd actually read the reams of info Bill Clinton left him with, like how Al Qaeda and bin Laden were one of the biggest threats facing our national security? I wonder if things might have turned out differently. But we all know Bush doesn't much like reading, so I'm sure he never even saw that little tidbit. What a shame.

BUSH DOES THE CONSTITUTION

Isn't it funny how now, when the democrats have a little power, and are trying to force an end to the miserable failure in Iraq, Bush all of a sudden has this noble respect for the Constitution? According to the Decider in Chief, the Dems cannot put a withdrawal timeline into the war funding bill because it would be unconstitutional to infringe on the powers vested in the presidency, as the Commander in Chief. Or as W so eloquently puts it, "The question is, who ought to make that decision, the Congress, or the commanders?....I'm the commander guy"...Up until now, W's respect for the Constitution has been sorely lacking. He wasn't worried about it when he and his republican henchmen pushed the Patriot Act down our throats. Never worried about warrantless wiretaps. Habeus Corpus..Schmabeus Schmorpus..Well, you get the idea..

THE WAR ON STRIPPERS

With all the problems facing Ohio, and the nation right now, you'd think our politicians in Columbus would have enough on their plate. But right now, they're actually wasting time debating Senate Bill 16, which is a fast track bill that would prohibit strip clubs from operating between the hours of midnight and 6pm, and dictate a 'six foot rule', keeping the dancers at least 6 feet away from the customers at all times, even if the dancers are fully clothed. Why is it that when our politicians get things done quickly, it's usually some silly nonsense like this? With the school funding crises still in full bore after decades, and no solution in sight, can't these people find a more productive way to spend their time? And why is it always some right wing Christian zealot group, like the one pushing for this bill, the Cincinnati based Citizens for Community Values that our politicians always kowtow to? They gave them the gay marriage amendment, now they have to go after strippers? I mean, whose values are they espousing anyway? Why do they speak for the whole community? You give these people an inch and they'll take a mile. Next thing you know they'll come up with some other value they think everyone should share, and go after that. They'll declare a "War On Recreational Sex", or a 'War On Jerking Off" or some other bullshit that's none of their business..They must be stopped!

MORE REPUBLICAN SHIT

If people really knew how corrupt the Bush administration, and most of the republican party really is, there is no way any of them would still be in power. Of course, most people are aware of some of their most blatant abuses of power, like contracting out the rebuilding of Iraq to Halliburton, or, selling out our elections to Diebold, which is run by the head of the Bush 2004 campaign. However, those 2 examples, egregious as they are, are just the tip of the iceburg. There are many other examples of their unmitigated gall coming to light every day, but unfortunately, nothing ever comes of it. The Associated Press reported today that The Army Corps of Engineers is being investigated for rigging the contract that was given to a company called Moving Water Industries Corp. (MWI), which supplied the pumps that were installed into canals at the start of the 2006 Hurricane season. The pumps have now proven to be defective. As it turns out, top MWI officials are major contributors to the (gasp!) Republican party, and First Brother Jeb Bush used to work for the company, (kinda like Cheney and Halliburton), marketing said pumps in the 80's. The Army Corp of Engineers even went so far as to copy word for word, the technical specifications, including typos, from the MWI's catalog into it's solicitation for the bids. Hmmm..Of course, the politically connected MWI was awarded a 32 million dollar contract, and once again, the taxpayers are left paying the bill, not to mention what could have happened had the 2006 hurricane season been anything like the 2005 season of Katrina. Now, I realize this may not be a sexy, exciting news story, but wouldn't you think more people would be outraged at these all too common scratch my back Repugs? When history looks back at this era in American politics people will be appalled that they were able to pull the wool over the eyes of the people, again and again. People need to get involved, if only to educate themselves about what they're doing to this country. They work for us.

CHENEY vs THE TRUTH

Once again, the Bush administration has unleashed it's most vicious attack dog, Dick Cheney, against truth, and common sense. This time, he's going after Harry Reid, for comments supposedly made about the administrations current war strategy. Reid is being quoted as saying "the war is lost", by some in the press, and by the neocons who are responsible for the mess in Iraq. First of all, this comment has been taken out of context. The first part of that statement was, "as long as we follow the presidents path in Iraq... the war is lost". Of course, Cheney and his lapdogs in the media have cleverly decided that the American public doesn't need to hear that part of the statement. It doesn't fit into their attack and smear agenda. Their strategy to hold onto the waning support for this utter failure in Iraq has always been to drag out the tired old phrase, 'undermining the troops', whenever anyone challenges them. This attitude is what is really harming our troops, and our country. Bush and Cheney would rather send more soldiers to their possible slaughter, rather than admit that their so called plan isn't working. Everything Cheney has said about this war has been wrong. He told us that Al Qaeda had a definite connection with Saddam, which was false, He claimed Saddam had amassed nuclear weapons, again false. Our soldiers were not greeted as liberators, and the insurgency was not in it's last throes, as Cheney told us 3 years ago. Not to mention, how our troops were sent into Iraq without proper armour, no exit strategy and woefully undermanned. Yet anyone who mentions any of that is accused of 'undermining our troops'. Even the generals charged with fighting the war were either dismissed, or reassigned when they complained about the way this war was being prosecuted. Bush and Cheney have refused to listen to anyone who doesn't march in lockstep with their neocon agenda, and look at where that has gotten us. Thank God for Harry Reid, John Murtha, John Kerry and others who are willing to stand up to this bunch of liars in the hopes of stopping more American blood from being spilled for nothing.