....AND FURTHERMORE

I'm still steamed about the Bush/Republican reaction to the MoveOn.org ad on General Petraus! (See Sept. 21 posting) Bush blasted the Dems in Congress for not unanimously condemning the ad, that called him 'General Betray us'. Since when is it the duty of Congress to condemn, or approve statements made by citizens, exercising their right to free speech? Has the Congress ever been asked to condemn the likes of Ann Coulter, when she spews her anti liberal hate rhetoric? Are they going to monitor every stupid comment Rush Limbaugh, or Bill O'Reilly makes from now on? Hell no they won't because it's only liberal free speech they aim to squelch! If this president had his way, there would be no free speech. The sad thing to me is that 22 Dems succumbed to Bush's bullying tactic, and signed the resolution. Hillary Clinton was not one of them. I'm liking her more and more. We need someone with balls to stand up to these republican assholes, and I think she may be the one who can do it..

BUSH THROWS ANOTHER HISSY FIT

"It was a sorry deal", Bush mumbled at the end of the press conference. He was finishing up his tirade about the MoveOn.org ad that has the Republican panties in a knot. In the neocon minds of W and his cronies, the insult to Petraus, (calling him Betray Us) is somehow the fault of the Dems. And, never one to miss an opportunity to further divide the nation, the self proclaimed 'Uniter' used his bully pulpit to lash out at the Dems, instead of answering legitimate questions being asked by the real (meaning not Fox News) journalists.
For this president, and his current crop of scheming, manipulative, hypocritical yes men to pick this particular molehill to make a mountain out of, just shows how little regard they have for the intelligence of the electorate. Bush owes his entire 2 terms in office to his willingness to insult and belittle our war heroes. First, he did it to John McCain. when he was campaigning against him in the primaries for the 2000 election. Then, again in 2004 when he, (and make no mistake about it, it came from Bush and Rove) accused Max Cleland, who lost 3 limbs in Vietnam of being a 'cut and run coward', when he spoke out against the Bush/Cheney war. John Kerry, who in reality is a war hero, with 3 Purple Hearts and a Silver Medal Of Honor, for saving lives, was turned into a liar, and mocked because, presumably, he wasn't injured enough. I will never forgive the Bushies for the spectacle they made at the 2004 Republican Convention, wearing little purple band-aids with hearts on them, on their smug, shameless faces. And now, because a left wing group prints something they don't like in the New York Times, they have the audacity to malign the entire Democratic party for allegedly insulting our military heroes? That, my friends, is truly a sorry deal.

'STICKLIE, YOU'RE DOING A HECK OF A JOB'

Recently, a reader posted a comment to the speak up column of my local newspaper, wondering 'how long it would take the democrats to blame President Bush for the Utah mine collapse". Well, not to disappoint, here are but a few of the reasons why the Bush administration is to blame for the deaths of these, and other miners. The coal mining industry has donated over 10 1/2 billion dollars to GOP candidates since Bush took office, and you'd have to be incredibly naive to believe that this huge multi billion dollar industry is giving away that kind of money for nothing. The first order of payback business for Mr. Bush, was to appoint a new 'mine safety czar', Richard Stickler, who was much more amenable to looking after the monetary interests of the mine owners, than in actually making the industry safer for its workers. What's more, Sticklers safety record as a mine operator was so poor that his appointment was twice rejected by both parties, but in true Bush fashion, he was snuck in the back door, in a dubious recess appointment. So much for our system of checks and balances, which means nothing to this administration. Sticklers first order of business was to approve the controversial 'retreat mining method', an extremely risky maneuver, that ensures that the mine owners can extract even more coal, for bigger profits. Prior to Stickler, the man appointed to this position by Bush in his first term, was industry insider, David Lauriski, who wasted no time in firing more than 200 coal mine inspectors, and dropped over a dozen safety initiatives in place since Bill Clinton was in office. He also vowed to be "less confrontational" with the mine operators, and to cooperate with them more on safety issues. In addition, he filled top spots in the MSHA, with like minded former executives from the mining industry. What's truly frightening, is that all of this is just the standard M.O. for this administration. Safety and environmental standards have been reduced and eliminated in this country so that our power obsessed president and his enablers can appease the big business interests that pay them off. If people fail to make the connection between the Bush administration, and these recent mining accidents, they must have their heads in the sand.

THE FAR REACHING STENCH OF THE BUSH/CHENEY OUTHOUSE.

When are the citizens of this country going to demand that the Bush administration be held accountable for their total lack of morality and downright criminal actions in office? This administration, with the assistance of the notoriously right wing talk radio, have done nothing but lie and scheme and power grab for the past 6 years. They have used fear, and intimidation to control the masses, and run their neo con agenda on a largely ignorant and uninformed populace. Whenever one of their many scandals flares up, they manage to change the subject, either by issuing a bogus terror warning, or by accusing the democrats of 'playing politics'. The latest scare tactic involved a couple of blocks of cheese, and a DVD battery charger, along with an old ladys leaking gel pack. This warning has now been totally discredited, but that didn't stop this administration from leaking these incidents to the press, trying to knock the latest chapter in 'Gonzogate', off the news and headlines. Alberto Gonzales, the top law enforcement official in the nation, blatantly lies to congress, and the administration responds by saying that the congress is spending too much time and effort trying to hold them accountable, rather than 'conducting the peoples business'. Well, as I see it, bringing these lying cheats to justice is the peoples business. We are a nation of laws, and as the old saying goes, 'Shit rolls downhill'. If the people that we have charged with protecting and enforcing our laws at the highest level are so openly corrupt, so dismissive of the truth, then it's only a matter of time before the complete breakdown of our system, as we know it. It's already happening. The Bush/Cheney stench is permeating every branch of our government, and when confronted, they thumb their noses at the laws they are supposed to protect and uphold. I'm truly sorry that Nancy Pelosi has 'taken impeachment off the table'. What message does that send to future leaders about honesty and integrity in office? This is a slippery slope we are descending, and the harm this president and his apologists are reaping on this country will continue to be felt for years to come.

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".