Yet Another Cherrypicked Story (YACS)
At this point is there anyone that doesn't believe the Bushco administration didn't handpick stories to support the mission they'd already agreed on?
Former chief of the CIA's Europe division, Tyler Drumheller has an interview running in
Germany's Spiegel magazine (Oh My God, talking bad about the US in a foreign journal). He talks about a story that he thought had been buried showing up in General/Secretary of State Powell's UN speech.
Okay, maybe some of the people that frequent the FreeRepublic and LittleGreenFootball blogs.
I think of myself as moderate and had tried to join these groups to balance the heavily biased Huffington Post I'd been reading.
You need a special dispensation from God to get into LGF, and I got banned for life from Free Republic. Was I going in as a liberal troll causing trouble? No, my sin was not perfectly toeing the party line on Iraq and what a great idea it was. Guess what guys, it's still not a good idea and Bushco still isn't conservative. And you're killing and maiming a lot of the American soldiers you say you support.
Your posting privilege has been revoked.
Reason:
troll
I find a really simple difference between the Kos and Freeper sites. At Kos, anyone is welcome to join and offer different opinions as long as you don't start fights.
At Freeper you're welcome to start fights (on liberal blogs) as long as you don't have a different opinion.
And on LGF you're just not welcome to join.
registration Register (closed)
Manage Your
Account
Forgot Your Password?
Preferences
They'd probably go into apoplectic shock if they saw a unique and original opinion in their midst.
I guess I understand why the left goes crazy over the loss of civil rights and the new conservatives don't care. I guess none of the Republicans remember Barry Goldwater and Libertarians.
We now have No Child Left Behind teaching the conservative memorize-and-regurgitate credo rather than the creative thinking of times past. No one is interested in elections or bothers to show up. And the NSA and Google watch our every move. Hi Guys.
The Man or the Machine?
Bushco® is making much of how Congress confirmed General
Petraeus but disapprove the surge.
But it's not the general that sets policy, Bush does. The confirmation merely means that the general is capable of commanding efforts in Iraq.
And he may not be all that the press is making him out to be. He was in charge of training Iraqi replacements, and we all know how that is gone.
Here's an eye opening article by William
Arkin at the Washington Post.
AWOL Politicians, Or How to CYA
Washington was the site for a large anti-Iraq war demonstration on Saturday. Tens of thousands of
protesters were said to have shown up, many bussed in from states all over the east coast.
If you go with the theme Go Big or Go Home, over 70% of Americans think we're on the wrong course in Iraq. Bush's plan is seen as just enough of a surge to get more people killed, but probably not enough to make a difference.
The 2006 elections are viewed by most outside of Connecticut (thanks for supporting the war Connecticut) as a clear message that it's time to get out from between warring factions in Iraq.
Yet the only federal politicians to show up at the rally organized by
United for Peace and Justice were the usual suspects. Dennis
Kucinich, Maxine Waters, John
Conyers, and Lynn
Woolsey.
The news organizations were all a-twitter over Hillary in Iowa, missing the real story of Senator Clinton refusing to take a stand on the war despite being from a very Democratic state.
Where were
Brownback, Boxer,
Obama, Wilson, and all of the other politicians. I'll excuse Senator Chuck
Hagel, who's "if you want a safe job sell shoes" line is a classic.
It's too bad that the politicians are more interested in keeping their job than doing it. And haven't learned the lesson of 2006 that they're both one in the same.
PR Stunt? In Hollywood?
There are those that say Isaiah Washington's entry into rehab is a public relations stunt. I'd say the stunt started when he first called his fellow actor a name that wasn't politically correct.
I used to live next to a retired public relations manager. He had great stories which I'd rarely believe until he dug out news clippings and autographs.
Gods speed Dave and thanks for the education.
The Workings of Court
It seems so odd to be remoting back and forth from political pundits to HBO's Rome. Dana Priest, that outstanding reporter from the Washington Post, once talked about mercenary run wars and royal courts bickering as a sign of old empires. I don't know if we're a tired empire looking for gaudy entertainment, but we certainly have the spectacle of court thanks to Libby, Cheney, Rove, and Novak.
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fizgerald is peeling back the layers and showing us machinations that would have made Mark Antony proud.
Cathie Martin has been testifying giving us a peek into the administration that believed control was all important. Next week we'll hear from former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer as he testifies under immunity and now we learn that
Karl Rove and counselor Dan Bartlett have both been issued subpoenas.
I still don't understand why Libbby didn't just shut up, take a sentence and a pardon. But I'm certainly glad he didn't. But if I do get bored there's always Rome, or is it the other way around?
Age Appropriate Employment
It's a bit disheartening watching the video clips of Google employees. Being close to 50 and looking for employment I notice right away what's missing. Anyone over about 35, or who grew up in the fields, or anyone without the sun starved look of the young academic.
Even senior managers look homogeneous to me.
Are computers and the Internet only for young people? The same has been said about many industries as people look for excuses to hire people more like themselves. Whether young, old, black, Japanese, we've seen many bigotries over the centuries. Google and high tech just get by with it more than previous employers.
Apple tried to get rid of all of their senior people at one time. Old timers worked slower, worked fewer hours, and cost more. What they realized after slimming their ranks is that experience was worth a lot, even in the newer multimedia technologies. They worked slower but their code worked first time, was easier to maintain, and had a longer life because it was designed with changes in mind.
As much as Google would like to be the big new thang, there's really not that much that's new under the sun, just different speeds and names.
So to get my qualifications up to date I've been taking some time off and working on some certifications. It seems odd to be forced into taking tests on equipment I designed and helped build.
I interviewed at Home Depot for at least some income while working on all of this. And to be honest, it will be nice to be around people with a bit more balanced personalities. There was a good mix of ages, races, and ethnicities as I walked through the store. It seems that construction supply has been around long enough to know that it's the diversity of people that makes their company strong.
True, Google has been very successful with their hiring requirements. But it seems odd that electronics and high tech, which depends on a mixture of materials added to germanium or silicon to get transistors to work, is so intolerant of this mixture in their work force.
Over 4 Million Votes Unserved
There was an odd debate in the House the other day.
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer (D-MD) were debating the rights of four delegates to vote.
When the Republicans took control of Congress in 1995 they took away the (mainly symbolic) vote of four delegates representing the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the Virgin Islands. Since the Republicans are concerned about these areas actually having representation and a voice in politics I'll assume they're probably Democrats.
The District of Columbia has long chafed at not having a say in their governance. But being small and mostly minority no one paid them much attention. But
Puerto Rico includes over 4 million people, much larger than the typical 600,000 or so constituents.
Rep.
Hoyer argued well and he put Blunt on the defensive. Being the minority Blunt won't have a lot to say about it anyway.
I was just at the
Alamance Battleground in North Carolina where Regulators first protested unfair representation by royal governor William
Tryon. That was in 1771. It seems odd that 236 years later we're still having that battle.
HWCV (How Would Conservatives Vote)?
It's interesting to hear how little support Bush has for the escalation in Iraq. Those supporting him have arguments like
Duncan Hunter's. He says that the new troops are badly needed reinforcements and that stopping them would be tantamount to isolating our troops at the Alamo.
Joe Biden (D-DE) quickly tore that down since the new troops have a new mission. That mission seems to be as targets if you accept
William F. Buckley's assertion that there are unlimited insurgents with unlimited IEDs. More troops just mean more possible targets while the troops will have little to no affect on the acts of the enemy.
The accusation that leaving Iraq will only embolden the irrepressible boogeyman Al Queda is as misleading as accusing Hussein of having ties with them. If we leave the majority Shia's will take control and turn all of their energy towards dispatching the Sunni terrorist group. They'll be gone much faster than if we stay in country, providing them both a target and safety from the Shia's.
The Kurdish will have a safe area if they can still the temptation to attack the Turks.
The Shia's are controlling the rest of the country anyway and once left alone will work out differences between Badr and Sadr.
The best part will be getting rid of that body known as the government of Iraq. It doesn't work, the constitution is regularly ignored, and the people are suffering more at the hands of official police than from illegitimate militias.
The largest problem would be leaving the Sunni's as ready victims. Perhaps we could split Israel and give part of it to this minority group. Okay, that's an evil thought. But Baghdad would have to be split akin to Jerusalem, a divide that has never worked well.
There are also some minority Christian and Jewish groups that we've put in danger because of the general rise in violence. An end to the general mayhem might make them safer as a result.
Sunnis argue that a division of the country would mean they would lose control of both major oil fields. This is also misleading as US companies are taking control of the oil fields.
The Independent has seen drafts of the new Iraqi hydrocarbon law that would give a lion's share of profits to US companies. The small amount of revenue left could easily be distributed by KBR at a pay window.
One clear message is that we need to go back to the conservative credo of staying away from nation building. From Iran to Chile we've never done a very good job of that and someday we'll learn our lesson.
A Question For Carter re: The Hostage Rescue
I was stationed in Turkey when the fall of the Shah of Iran occurred. Planes flew into Iran from our base rescuing stranded Americans and bringing with them what little they could.
The planes flew round trips into Iran from our base, then were transferred to other planes to be taken up to Germany on their way to various locations.
While we were in a secure area and well protected by the Turkish military, who despite US spin about the Iraq invasion have always been a great friend of the US, we still wore battle garments and worked 12+ hour days.
This military preparedness caused all kinds of rumors to form and whirl around. But one that I'd love an answer to was concerning who went into Iraq for the hostage rescue.
The rumor was that a team experienced in desert operations had been training for weeks to rescue the hostages. They had desert gear, filters on their helicopters, and knew the people and area.
The rumor goes that at the last moment a Vietnam era general had convinced President Carter to send his own (untrained) troops in for the glory. The result was an ill-equipped and trained force that attempt and failed the rescue.
On the Sunday morning talk shows President Carter said the failing was in not sending in an 8th helicopter. But I've wondered if the failing wasn't the ego of a general seeking one more medal at the cost of many people's lives, a truly Vietnam era tradition.
Fox Unemployment Assistance Program
I haven't seen Dennis Miller in a while. But flipping through Fox News tonight I saw him ranting about the incident in San Francisco in which the Yale Baker's Dozen
a capella all-male group got caught in unfortunate attack by some local males.
The Yale Herald says no one knows quite what happened, but since a parody of the National Anthem was sung Sean Hannity and Dennis Miller have decided that it was a San Francisco anti-patriotism beating.
While there are several versions of the story still swirling around, Dennis Miller's rants were neither funny nor satirical. Mostly, they were just sad and attempted to support Hannity's stand on the issue. Hannity's points are rarely based on reality and this one seems no different since the "National Anthem" ended with lines about beer drinking and was obviously meant as a joke. However by the end of the rant he'd been able to insult all of San Francisco and blame the whole thing on Nancy Pelosi.
Dennis adds nothing to the national discussion on this the newest act of violence in America. He neither breaks the tension with humor nor shows us insights with poignant jibes. It's just hate mongering and boorish at best.
Were it not for Fox News Dennis would be slumming at the nearest John Birch bar. Thank goodness for Roger Ailes and the Fox unemployment assistance program.
The Rules of Weiqi
US Defense forces often "game" war plans using advanced mathematics, super computers, and creative theories and hypothesis.
On the other hand, the Chinese use a game known in the US as Go,
or Weiqi, as it's traditionally called. This is a simple game with a board, white pebbles, and black pebbles. The goal is to surround your opponent's stones so that you can remove them from the board. This game has historically been used to train Chinese and Japanese generals in strategic thinking.
Like the Russian solution of using a pencil in space to solve the problem of writing without gravity, it's often the elegant solutions that serve best.
I think the Chinese see a failing imperialistic country in the US and are afraid we would trigger our excessively large military to prove our power as the internal structure of the empire withers.
So we've seen quite a few moves to build their own martial power in the last few years. Espionage of US military secrets, successful rocket launches, blue water submarine development, cornering of energy contracts, and a budget increase that had Donald Rumsfeld constantly questioning the need.
The need of course is to protect their country from the US as the great wall protected their country from the Mongols.
China again
extended their capability by a large leap today when they tested a satellite killer that knocked out an old weather satellite.
US warfare is extremely reliant on satellite systems to guide missiles, communicate around the world, and get images of enemy troop movements. Many of our advanced, or smart, weapons systems would be useless without satellite assistance.
Slowly, inexorably, the Chinese are preparing to confine the death throws of a failing empire. While we, with all of our advanced gaming and super computers, watch men with pebbles surround us.
It's All a Game
I've often thought that the reason evangelical leaders rant on homosexuality is that they know the issue is a hot button that will get people, mostly men, to send in money.
Certainly with all of the violence, homeless, drug addicts, and global warming being gay is not a high priority threat to anyone.
Yesterday,
MoveOn.org ran an ad against presidential hopeful John McCain and his Iraq stance. Why McCain? Why not Duncan Hunter, who won the
Phoenix area straw poll? Could it be that attacking McCain will get more people to send in donations?
Now McCain has responded in an email to his exploremcain.com list asking for money to respond to MoveOn.
In order to respond to these negative attacks we need your financial support today for Senator McCain's Presidential Exploratory Committee. Please consider making an immediate contribution of $500, $250, $100, or whatever you can afford by visiting the following link:
Am I the only one that thinks we're the shuttlecock in a game of make money badminton? I've heard that Kerry and Bush spent around $35,000 on ties for the last election. I think the main point of all of this is just to make these people rich.
Outsiders At Large
The US raid of an Iranian facility in the Kurdish north area of Iraq the other day has a lot o f people questioning whether the Prez is getting ready to attack Iran.White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe would not comment on Thursday's raid.
"But the president made it clear last night that we will not tolerate outside interference in Iraq. And that's what the Iranians are up to," Mr. Johndroe said.
This reminds me of an exchange between Senator Ted Kennedy and a British soldier in British controlled Ireland.
"Why don't you go home?" sneered the British guard. "Why don't you?" replied the Senator. I'm quoting here from memory and may not have the quote exact.
According to a Sep 2006 poll of Iraqis 71% wanted the US out of their country within a year. Now we're increasing our footprint there just enough to cause more problems but not enough to stop the violence.
There's an oft quoted wisdom that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. Isn't it time we stopped the insanity?
Oversight? Not So Much Says Lieberman
"There has been a near total lack of cooperation that has made it impossible, in my opinion, for us to do the thorough investigation that we have a responsibility to do," Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, said at Tuesday's hearing of the Senate committee investigating the response. His spokeswoman said he would ask for a subpoena for documents and testimony if the White House did not comply.
So said Senator Lieberman a year ago of documents that might have shed light on the fiasco of the Katrina Hurricane aftermath. And more importantly, on what President Bush and vice-president Cheney's role in all of this was. Because from what we've seen Browny was right, he was framed.
So now that Senator Lieberman is Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Democrats have subpoena power to get answers, we're going to find out what happened, right?
Well, er, no. Lieberman, Bush's personal other party adviser on the Iraq war, has decided it's
no longer so important.
... according to Leslie Phillips, the senator’s chief committee spokeswoman. “The senator now intends to focus his attention on the future security of the American people and other matters and does not expect to revisit the White House’s role in Katrina”
It's not Lieberman's fault says his spokesperson in response.
All legislators must work in a bipartisan manner with the other party and the White House if they want to get anything done.
So it's you pat my back and I'll pat yours. I only had poly sci 101, but I thought the reason we had three houses was so they could keep an eye on each other. I guess I was wrong.
And oh yea, thanks Connecticut.
They're Coming Fast & Furious
The announcements are coming so fast that it's hard to keep up.
We already have Dems
Mike Gravel of Alaska,
Edwards of
North Carolina,
Vilsack, and
Kucinich.
Not to mention Repups
Cox of Illinois, McCain,
Hunter of
California,
Smith of Oregon
Since John Edwards announced over the holiday we've added these people interested in running
Jim Gilmore of VirginiaMike Huckabee of ArkansasGuiliani of New York City
Brownback of Kansas and Creationism
Romney, who was a liberal before he wasn't
Thompson of Wisconsin and
abstinence anonymousOn the Dem side
Joe Biden of Delaware - and you thought Clinton's speeches were long
Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
Kerry is thinking of making a fool of himself, er, running again.
Hillary is either planning on running or fundraising for more expensive parties.
Everyone is waiting to see what rock star
Barack Obama is going to do, and Republicans are already so worried they're already smearing him.
Al Sharpton is thinking of running to provide some badly needed comic relief.
On other fronts, Jim Gilchrist of California and
Minuteman battling illegal immigrant fame is looking at running via the
Constitution Party.
When you realize that pretty much every Senator and most Representatives would like to run for president there could be a lot more. But since the entry fee for a run is around
$100 million these days, most of the riff raff and original thinkers will be left out.
$tate Department's Benjamin Franklin Award
Why they call it the Ben Franklin Award.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is supposed to announce a new award to honor a company, academic institution or other nongovernmental agency that does the most to stem the bleeding of the deeply wounded US reputation overseas, according to
the Washington Post. The award is to be called the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy.
They blame the downhill slide of the US reputation on the Iraq war fiasco. But I think ridiculing "Old Europeans" like Germany and France, antagonizing Russia, ridiculous policy towards the island of Cuba, threatening Turkey and Pakistan, legalizing torture, and throwing out the Geneva Conventions might have something to do with it.
So instead of actually doing things that better the government's reputation, they've created a coalition of public relations companies to artificially pump it up. I guess Karen Hughes just found the job too hard.
They'd better add lots of Benjamin Franklins ($100 bills) to the award. Because I can't see this administration's reputation getting better in the next two years. Having an ethnocentric president and a vice-president that takes joy in shooting sitting ducks (or pheasants) means little chance of changing course now.
In other news Rice announced
Zalmay Khalilzad to serve as America's Ambassador to the United Nations. He actually seems like a good choice, but I'm still waiting to hear what the move of Negroponte, who was
for terrorism before he was against it, to State makes.
Dere Goes da Judge
Interesting retreat in President Bush's alleged ultra-conservative judicial nominees yesterday. Four judges were withdrawn one of which,
District Judge Terrence W. Boyle of eastern North Carolina, has been a nominee for Virginia's conservative 4th Circuit Court of Appeals since 1991.
I can understand wanting to push through a more conservative judge in San Francisco's famous 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. But rather than nominate someone that was simply conservative he nominated William G. Myers III, a former lobbyist for grazing and mining interests that was
decidedly anti-environmentalist. Bush's pro-oil and drilling activities has so isolated him that even the
NRA is being forced to take a stance against the administration.
The Virginia based 4th circuit is relied on by the DOJ to limit civil rights in terrorist prosecutions. But his nominee Judge Terrence W. Boyle isn't known to be especially conservative when it comes to civil rights and rules of evidence. Mostly he's known for getting caught up in a feud between Jesse Helms and Democrats, with then
Senator John Edwards last taking a position against him for his civil rights record.
With the last renomination of these candidates just a few days after the 2006 November elections when the Democrats won the House, these nominations seem to be more of a poke in the eye to Democrats than any real strategic positioning.
If Bush couldn't get them through even with a Republican majority and post 9/11 inertia I have to wonder if he didn't look for the most contentious nominees he could find.
Like so many of the efforts of the Bush administration, the move seems more to cause polarity than to serve any real function.
Mercaptan or What's That Big Stink?
New Yorkers are finally admitting the city stinks. An odor like natural gas
is being reported around the island of Manhattan.
Of course, the odor of natural gas isn't the flammable gas at all. It's
mercaptan, also known as
methyl mercaptan. One of the components is
sulphur, which gives it that rotten cabbage smell. It's mixed into natural gas, normally odorless, so you can detect a leak before it becomes a boom.
The odor can also come from such diverse sources as feces, algae, cheese and nuts.
Maybe the warm weather is causing a problem. Maybe it's just time to clean up the streets. I'm just glad I don't have to smell it.
Granny Grab Your Gun
Something I thought I'd never live to see is the NRA supporting Democrats. Yet it seems the Bush administration has sunk so low that even the NRA is aligned against him. Or at least thinking about it.
According the the
Washington Post article the reason is two fold.
First is the issue of access to hunting and fishing lands. The Bush administration has been opening huge tracks of prime game areas to oil and gas drilling companies. They've rolled back the Clinton era roadless areas and allowed companies in despite the arguments against it from governors, game and fish agency managers, and many hunting and fishing groups.
The second is that the Democrats aren't pushing gun control, with neither Pelosi or Hoyer mentioning any plans on bringing up gun control.
The Democrats trying to take guns from the ownership of rural dwellers has never made sense. Trying to control illegal sales of guns in cities may make sense, but hunting is an ingrained part of the American life in the country and backroads of the US.
The Democrats have let the Republicans control the message on issues like gun control and abortion. The Democrats have slowly been changing their message, led by Howard Dean.
As he says, no one is for abortion. No one wants there ever to be another abortion. The difference is in how you deal with it.
And we shouldn't be against guns, just the use of guns in violent crimes. Canada, where guns are easily available, has far less gun related violence. The answer is in the culture, not in the tool.
Falling on Both Sides of the Escalation
It's interesting to see the positions that people are taking on the Iraq war 'surge' or escalation, whatever you want to call it.
I'd expect Senator Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to be against it.
Biden: "I have reached the tentative conclusion that a significant portion of this administration, maybe even including the vice president, believes Iraq is lost. They have no answer to deal with how badly they have screwed it up."
McCain and Lieberman (I still don't understand how Connecticut could re-elect him) are staunchly pro-surge, though this may be posturing.
McCain: “
the surge must be substantive and sustained”. Lieberman not only supports an escalation in Iraq but appears to be ready to expand into Iran as well, declaring that there was “
an axis of evil with headquarters in Tehran.”
Somewhat more surprising was
Charles Krauthammer's column in the Washington Post where he showed complete contempt of the neo-con dream. "
We should not be surging American troops in defense of such a government."
Also coming out anti-surge is conservative
Ollie North, who has spent a lot of time on the ground (behind the troops) in Iraq. A "surge" or "targeted increase in U.S. troop strength" or whatever the politicians want to call dispatching more combat troops to Iraq isn't the answer.
Dan Senor penned an op-ed in the über conservative
Wall Street Journal calling not just for a surge, but a large surge. "
10,000-15,000 more troops would be insufficient to stabilize Baghdad and at the same time maintain a strong presence in Anbar."
General Keane wants a surge that lasts 12 - 18 months and lives and eats with the Iraqis. "
What is different is you bring in a 24/7 force and they stay in those neighborhoods and they do not go back to their bases. They stay in the neighborhoods,"
Keane said.
It's going to be a battle. With Democrats unwilling to cut budgets but having no other influence on the outcome, Bush can do anything he wants. Still, it won't be without a lot of verbal jousting.
As
E. J. Dionne Jr. says, "The surge... is seen by most Democrats and some Republicans as a rebuke to the majority whose November ballots signaled a negative verdict on the Iraq war."
To me, it still seems like watching someone sitting in front of a slot machine in Las Vegas, sure that if they just put in one more coin they've got to win.
All Hat No Cattle
Jane Harman has posted an essay on the Huffington Post today calling for Bush to submit the Iraq budget as part of the regular budget process.
So far Bush has been getting special emergency expenditures for the Iraq war. This aids in two ways.
One, the budget busting costs are counted as part of the Federal budget.
Two, the ways these funds are spent aren't accounted for.
As we've seen much of the money going to Iraq has been going straight into the pockets of contractors with little benefit for the military or the Iraqis.
Harman states that
'I predict this will be the last "emergency" supplemental'. The question is, why is this supplemental being contemplated. Granted, the only budget the past Republican Congress passed was the Defense budget, but I'm sure there are ways to handle this with the general budget and show some accountability.
Harman saying
"just one more" sounds like a crack addict saying
"just one more hit". Both ring false.
Pass the Sunscreen Frosty
Long Islanders are enjoying an especially balmy winter.
Brookhaven Lab out of Upton, New York is reporting the warmest winter on record. The latest trend has been up sine 1967, with warmer than average weather for the last decade.
The National Arbor Day Foundation has just updated their hardiness zone maps as a result of warming. They've moved zone 7 all the way from North Carolina to Washington DC. The warmer weather has allowed people to plant crepe myrtles in the previously frigid area.
Image courtesy Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Labels: warm weather climate change
The Agony of Da Feet
It's interesting to hear the tenor of the stories changing as the Democrats take power. Nancy Pelosi was "spot on" in her speech yesterday.
Harry Reid was gracious in not stealing the limelight and didn't even approve any parties celebrating his new role as majority leader.
At the same time, the
Republicans were whining about minority rights, are lost and returning to
their roots.
Having the leadership in the House will make a big difference in the stories that get out because it's going to be a purely Democratic agenda. The Senate will have more Republicans stars because there are fewer of them and the split allows less control by the majority party.
Bush has the big bully pulpit and has had ever since the networks refused to put him on in prime time. I don't know what the administration did after that, but since then he's been on every time he sneezes. Still, as caught up in Iraq as he is it's going to be difficult to push any other agenda.
I'm sure he'll do what he can. As Bush says,
it's hard work.Even in the agony of da feet.
Annoying Rachel Ray
Am I the only one that finds Rachel Ray really annoying? Okay, maybe me and Anthony Bourdain.
Her empire seems to really have taken off since her early Food Network days. She seems to be guesting everywhere and now has a broadcast talk show. Now there's even talk of Ray taking over the Oprah Winfrey empire when she retires.
I like to cook and I like to travel. But I don't like Ray's travel show, cooking style, mother, and I especially don't like her raspy voice.
Yet she appears to be everywhere these days. My only hope is that like all fads she'll fade and disappear. I hope, I hope, I hope.
I Got Out Just In Time
I hope stupid isn't catching. From my old home town of Longmont, Colorado.
Longmont police have arrested George Alex Martinez III, identified as a 34-year-old transient, in connection with three bank robberies in the city over a nine day period.Martinez was identified as a suspect based on witness statements and evidence found at the scene of the most recent bank robbery.That evidence? His wallet.
Fun On the Hill
They may be bi-partisan, but the Democrats are still getting their digs in.
First House Speaker Pelosi ousted
outgoing Speaker Hastert's from the Robert H. Michel suite of offices. This will be the first time in 50 years that a Democrat has been in those offices.
Now
Representative Charles Rangel has claimed the offices loaned to Vice President Cheney during the Republican reign. Said Rangel gleefully
"I'm trying to find some way to be gentle as I restore the dignity of that office," Rangel chuckled at the time. "You gotta go, you gotta go."Rangel is on record as calling the veep a "son of a bitch". I wonder what will happen on the senate side, where
Cheney told Senator Leahy to "fuck yourself".
There may be talk of bi-partisanship, but clearly the Democrats are telling the Republicans they're not going to forget the last 12 years.
A Jefferson Twist
There's an intersting twist in the brouhaha over new Congressman Keith Ellison's intention to use the Qur'an for the unofficial swearing in photo opportunity.
Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, will use a Qur'an once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Well, it's an English version of the Qur'an originally published in 1764. It's believed that Jefferson used the Qur'an as an alternative text on early law.
Bigot in chief Virgil Goode continues to proclaim his "stop them over there so they don't get over here" tired old WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) message. This is the same thing we've heard about Chinese workers, Irish Catholics, and Vietnamese immigrants. He wants to stop Muslims from immigrating into the US.
Since Ellison's family has been in the US since the 1700's I guess we'll need to close all of the mosques and stop allowing conversions too.
So far Virginians seem to support him, which to me just means some people in the state are still smarting over the civil rights act.
One of my best friends is a Pakistani muslim and holds a high level position in a high tech company. He's also one of the kindest, gentlest people I know. Other than not drinking and answering his phone "Selam aleykum" at home you'd never know his religion. With about a fifth of the world Muslim it is blatant bigotry to paint the entire religion as terrorists.
And as a nation founded on the right of religous freedom it seems really hypocritical to condemn Ellison for practicing his own faith. Religion doesn't mean just your particular flavor of protestantism.
GOP Call 1-800-WAA-AAAA
The Republicans have had the House for the last 12 years and in that time they've stifled the Democrats by discussing bills without the Democrats being present, bringing votes up for a vote without allowing the Democrats to read the bills first, holding votes open for an extended time to allow the Republicans to flip votes, pulled the microphone plug on the Democrats, shut off the lights on Demcrats when they've disagreed with the Republicans and forced Democrats to meet in the basement.
So now that the Democrats have a well publicized plan for the first 100 hours of session that they want to push through, how are the Republicans reacting?
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) on the Democrats first 100 hours plan.
"In their first one hundred hours of governance, House Democrats will renege on a pledge to fully debate policy alternatives, denying the citizens of this country an open, honest discussion of the issues.
I'm sorry, but if this is the maturity level on which the Republicans are going to conduct business then they learned nothing from the last election. It's also going to be a very long two years.The Democrats have been stifled and finally have a chance to pass a few bills. Then they have to start cleaning up some messes like the budget bill the Republicans punted on and the wartime no-bid contracts.
If the Democrats continue to act this way then yes, I think the Republicans have reason to cry foul. But it would be hard to have too much sympathy for the Republicans. But lets hope not because in the long run it's the nation that loses.
Speaking of whining,
the liberal bloggers are complaining about the media bringing up
Barack Obama's admission to using marijuana in his book
Dreams From My Father. It's called a vetting process, and these are things the public needs to know before sending in donations and voting for Barack. Bush admitted to drinking and refused to comment on cocaine use, so I think the good Senator will be fine.
In fact, the people who have tried drugs and stopped don't bother me nearly as much as the ones that have led such a sheltered life that they've never tried anything illegal.
Just to Be a Contrarian
I have to play devil's advocate. I've seen this administration play the media for fools before.
Everyone from MSNBC to the BBC has decided that Bush will be firing General Casey and stepping on his body to announce the escalation of troops in Iraq.
According to the
New York Times article General Casey represents "Stand the Iraqis up so we can stand down".
The new push is supposed to be to control the nation so we can get a little peace and quiet, then train the Iraqis.
The key part of the new push will be sending a couple of divisions worth of soldiers (10,000 - 30,000) to Iraq to establish peace. In a country of 26 million people.
We'll see. I'm not that ready to seal the deal, as the Bush administration has made a sharp left turn and made the media look foolish before. But for the sake of the soldiers, I hope we're not escalating.
BTW, why is the CIA World Factbook only available on a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection? The population of Iraq isn't a state secret. Are they generally paranoid or is there a benefit to them? Or am I just paranoid? Remember, just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean everyone isn't out to get you.
McDonalds New, er, Health Kick
I just saw McDonalds Activation Station exercise program. McDonalds continues to prove their market is the nations children and their mission is to get them to eat more junk food.
To make sure they have a good image and empty stomachs, they've started putting commercials on Nick featuring the Ronald McDonald clown leading exercises. I'd say the best exercise would be turning off the television and sending the kids outside.
Beware the New Year bug
I've been getting a lot of emails with a worm attachment.
These worm-laden messages are titled "Happy New Year" and contain an attachment called either postcard.exe or postcard.zip, according to experts at VeriSign's iDefense Labs, which provides information on security flaws and exploits. If the attachment is opened, malicious software is downloaded from the internet and can infect computers running Windows operating systems.
Smoke It, Don't Flaunt It
The Los Angeles Times chronicles the perils of operating a medical marijuana shop in California.
There are an estimated 170 medical marijuana dispensaries in the state but the owners are always in a bit of a catch-22. While the state has legalized the dispensing of marijuana on a doctor's recommendation, the federal government has not.
It sounds like the federal government is trying to work out a compromise, allowing some of the dispensaries to operate as long as they stick to selling to real patients.
However, if you make lots of money then flaunt your success they tend to take it badly. So learned Shon Squier and Luke Scarmazzo, who have made themselves rich in their angel of mercy roles. Scarmazzo
even made a video in which he smokes a joint, counts large sums of money and flips off federal agents.
They're now facing IRS and other charges like illegal manufacture and distribution of marijuana after having their Hayward and Modesto operations shut down.
Some cry foul and think going after these entrepreneurs just because they've become filthy rich on an illegal drug is unfair.
Medical marijuana laws are passing in more states all of the time. It looks to me like it's time for the Feds to start working with the state in creating guidelines as to what is and is not allowable. They could even track marijuana through production the way alcohol is tracked now.
On top of that, medical research centers could gain access to marijuana for testing in patients. Determined to keep marijuana illegal, the federal government now denies all of these centers except one the marijuana they need to test the efficacy of the drug.
Oddly enough, this center is run by UC San Diego. Though I'd think it would be more fitting if it was located in Oroville.
See my
Dons Blog of California Politics blog for more, with some medical advice on how to smoke a joint.
* Don't source my image to use on your own site. I regularly replace it with images of pink fairies and other less bad boy images.
More on a Silent Hussein
I've made accusations that the rush to try and execute him was to make sure he didn't incriminate US and British officials and companies in his war crimes.
Variety reports that
"U.S. officials ordered CNN and Al-Jazeera, the pool camera crews, to disconnect their audio equipment".What little footage was left was then censored by the military before it was transmitted back to the US.
This was early in the trial, but it seemed to continue through-out. In IraqSlogger, Nir Rosen reports that
"American minders shut off the microphones and ordered the translators to halt whenever they disapproved of what was being said by the defendants".
It's interesting to note
The New Republic's article reports Arab (Sunni) journalists are being critical of the trial because so many other leaders in the area could also be tried on similar charges to the murdering of 143 villagers in Dujail. Just how many despots are we supporting in the area?
Certainly the entire Iran hostage situation was over the return of the Shah so the people could try their former dictator.
It seems to be a lesson we've never learned. The
reports out of Turkmenistan since the funeral of President-for-life Niyazov show we are still supporting some of the worst regimes in the world.
So why Saddam Hussein and why execute him so quickly? Perhaps so the real criminals will never have to face their own judgements, at least here on earth.
Remembering the Soldiers
A view of "Arlington West" at Santa Monica Beach, commemorating the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that have lost their lives in Iraq.
