Assorted Political Images

Dubya's Paper Trail

One of our fellow bloggers has put together an EXCELLENT summary of Geroge W. Bush's life, especially as it relates to his work.

From Bush Out (by Gandhi) - click here to read more....

"GEORGE W. BUSH

Work Experience

LAW ENFORCEMENT: I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

MILITARY: I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

COLLEGE: I graduated from Yale University. I earned a lot of "gentleman's C's," which means F's that are turned into C's for sons of prominent Americans.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE: I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.

With the help of my father and our right-wing friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Kenneth Lay), I was elected Governor of Texas.

Keeping Up the Big Lie

It's amazing that President Bush can talk his appointees to saying anything he wants them to say, whether there is any truth in the statements or not. Where do you suppose it says in the Bible, "It's okay to lie as long it's for taking over a country and denying basic human rights?"

From the Christian Science Monitor - click here to re read more...

"Seriously underfunded and financially unsustainable in the long run." That's how US Treasury Secretary John Snow described the nation's Social Security system last week.

To New York actuary David Langer, Mr. Snow's statement paints the finances of the nation's public pension system as "more dire than it is" in order to scare the public into approving the Bush administration's advocacy of partial privatization of Social Security.

Actually, Social Security finances are in good shape, argues Mr. Langer. He's become something of a pest to top Social Security officials with his finding that, in the past, the most optimistic of three annual projections of the financial future of Social Security for the next 75 years has proved the most accurate. Social Security might work fine unchanged for the next 75 years, able to provide pensioners their full monthly checks, the disabled their disability payments, and widows and orphans their needed funds.

Oh, To Dream!

Might the Democrats actually win in November?

From the Washington Post - click here to read more...

Democratic leaders, increasingly confident they will seize control of the House in November, are laying plans for a legislative blitz during their first week in power that would raise the minimum wage, roll back parts of the Republican prescription drug law, implement homeland security measures and reinstate lapsed budget deficit controls.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said in an interview last week that a Democratic House would launch a series of investigations of the Bush administration, beginning with the White House's first-term energy task force and probably including the use of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Pelosi denied Republican allegations that a Democratic House would move quickly to impeach President Bush. But, she said of the planned investigations, "You never know where it leads to."

Dewey, Cheatem and Howe

Don't you just wonder what kind of Christianity those in the Bush administration proactice? Torture, War, Bribes - you name it and they practice it. Now another one...

From the UK Times Online - click here to read more...

ALL the ingredients for a spy thriller involving prostitutes, poker, a congressman called Randy and parties at the legendary Watergate complex may lie behind the sudden resignation of Porter Goss as director of the CIA last Friday.

The saga has already been named “Hookergate” and the CIA is buzzing with rumours that there is more to Goss’s departure than meets the eye.

The timing is certainly curious, coming hard on the heels of the CIA’s confirmation last week that Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, the number three in the nation’s spy centre who was hand-picked by Goss, had attended poker games at the Watergate and Westin Grand hotels in Washington with Brent Wilkes, a defence contractor and close boyhood friend.

The Republicans may be over-stepping the rules - will pork outweigh the fear of the deficit?

From the Concord Monitor - click here to read more...

The Senate ignored President Bush's veto threat yesterday and easily passed a $109 billion emergency spending bill for war and hurricane recovery costs that also brimmed with favors for farmers, the fishing industry and the states of Hawaii and Rhode Island.

The two-week debate that preceded yesterday's 77 to 21 final vote was marked by an election-year surge in targeted spending on behalf of constituents and special interests, despite repeated warnings by fiscal conservatives about a swollen budget deficit.

The Senate added money to rebuild a highway in Hawaii; protect riverbanks in California; upgrade a hurricane barrier in Providence, R.I.; and compensate New England shell fishermen for their losses from a red tide outbreak. The Senate also took steps to remove the risk from farming by offering compensation for virtually any scourge, including drought, flood, wildfires and pestilence.

The Prez is Incompetent, That's Why!

The President and Don Rumsfeld are way off base. The article highlighted here points to just one of the problems they struggle with - the military leadership.

From GovExec.com - click here to read more of a very good article...

The matter of Rumsfeld v. the Generals bears close scrutiny. The controversy represents the worst breach in civil-military relations since Harry Truman dismissed Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1951 for his conduct and his criticism of the president during the Korean War. It has proven an unwelcome distraction for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Joint Chiefs, and has added to the already considerable woes of President Bush in his role as a wartime commander-in-chief.

Notably, the calls from a group of recently retired generals that Rumsfeld should resign has also thrust senior military leaders and, by proxy, the uniformed services into the middle of a hyperpartisan political argument -- territory from which the U.S. military rarely escapes unscathed.
Given the nearly unprecedented nature of the controversy, what is perhaps most remarkable is how utterly unsurprising it is to anyone who has spent time with senior military officers, in the field, over drinks at the officers' club, or especially on the ground in Iraq. The fact that the Army chief of staff came out of retirement to take the job after sources say at least three active-duty generals declined it, and reports that the Marine Corps commandant, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, may retire before his term is up, speak volumes about the frayed state of civil-military relations in today's Pentagon.

Still Making the Argument

I can't believe that we're still talking about this. Here we are, in what is supposed to be a civilized, Christian nation, and we're still arguing over toture of prisoners.

From the Guardian Unlimited - click here to read more...

A reprise of last year's tussle between Congress and the Bush administration over the treatment of terrorism detainees could be on the horizon, this time in the run-up to the fall elections.

The Senate Armed Services Committee voted Thursday to require the administration to provide a legal opinion on how it is complying with - and thus interprets - a ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners.

The administration has been fiercely protective about its policies governing the treatment of detainees in the war on terrorism. The Republican-run Congress approved the ban on prisoner mistreatment after overcoming months of opposition by the White House.

The Democrats do have some plans - just not many people are listening. Especially not the President.

From U.S. Newswire - click here to read more of an open letter to President Bush...

Dear Mr. President,

Americans are increasingly uneasy about this nation's energy policies. They see prices at the gas pump that have grown more than 100 percent in the past five years with no relief in sight. They see an Administration and a Congress reward energy companies with billions in tax breaks, even as those companies ring up billions in profits and provide their executives with compensation packages that can only be labeled obscene. And, perhaps most troubling of all, they see our growing dependence on unstable foreign energy sources and your Administration's continued inattention to the threat of global warming, both of which undermine our nation's security.

We write today to urge you to provide the leadership needed to address this crisis by immediately utilizing all of the existing powers of your office and to work with us to fashion sound bipartisan legislative solutions. We believe the energy situation requires greater and more effective action and leadership than shown thus far by your Administration and the Republican Congress. Democrats have repeatedly sought to provide temporary relief from rising energy prices. We have sought urgent action to pass a meaningful Federal anti-price gouging law. We have also sought to make the real investments necessary to rapidly shift the course of the nation's increasing dependency on oil. And we have pushed your Administration to take actions to address the growing concerns of global warming and restore U.S. leadership on this critical issue. Unfortunately, each of our attempts have been blocked by your White House or Congressional Republican leadership.

Starring George Bush and Jack Abramhoff

President Bush wants to reapir the national health care problem by putting everyone's money into the hands of private investors. I've got a retirement account handled by an investment firm and they soak the lving daylights out of me with advisement fees, sales charges and front-end loads. They make all the money and I make nothing. That's the Republican theme - private investment is always better than public investment, and they just aren't always right.

The following is an EXCELLENT article - you might want to take the time to connect and read.

From TPM Cafe - click here to read more...

In his latest column, Paul Krugman of the New York Times points out that covering every American with Medicare would be cheaper than America's current health care system. No doubt that those who profit from the current system will label him a communist, a socialist who wants the government to pick your doctor, or a traitor. Such labels are a price of speaking the truth these days.

Krugman's analysis centers on the "medical cost ratio", which he defines

"as the percentage of insurance premiums paid out to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers."

Krugman states that Medicare spends "about 98% of its funds on actual medical care", while

"Aetna spends less than 80 cents of each dollar in health insurance premiums on actually providing medical care. The other 20 cents go into profits, marketing and administrative expenses."

Dems DO Have Plans

More evidence that President Bush is out of touch with working-class folks (see below for another example).

From Southern Maryland Online - click here to read more...

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after President Bush made remarks on tax and spending to the American Council of Engineering Companies:

"President Bush displayed today why Americans are now giving him the lowest ratings of his presidency on his handling of the economy: He, along with Congressional Republicans, refuses to acknowledge and address the economic challenges being faced by American families. Under President Bush, median household income has decreased by $1,670 and the number of Americans living without health insurance has increased by 6 million. At the same time, American families are faced with skyrocketing prices at the pump and soaring health care costs.
President Bush's comments on government spending read like a passage from Alice in Wonderland. The Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans have taken the record surplus they inherited from the Clinton Administration and turned it into deficits as far as the eye can see, saddling future generations with debt and threatening to damage our country's national security. Republicans' fiscally irresponsible policies have caused the debt limit to be raised four times in the last five years, and have left Americans more vulnerable to global political instability.

The President and his administration have no sense of scale - no ability to judge what is socially acceptable and what is not. Their perceptions are so deeply focused on their own end-game of personal glory that they forget the impact they have on the common man.

From Bush Out (by Gandhi) - click here to connect...

TIrritation grows as residents deprived of air-conditioning and running water three years after the US-led invasion watch the massive US Embassy they call “George W’s palace” rising from the banks of the Tigris.

In the pavement cafés, people moan that the structure is bigger than anything Saddam Hussein built. They are not impressed by the architects’ claims that the diplomatic outpost will be visible from space and cover an area that is larger than the Vatican city and big enough to accommodate four Millennium Domes. They are more interested in knowing whether the US State Department paid for the prime real estate or simply took it.

While families in the capital suffer electricity cuts, queue all day to fuel their cars and wait for water pipes to be connected, the US mission due to open in June next year will have its own power and water plants to cater for a population the size of a small town.

Officially, the design of the compound is supposed to be a secret, but you cannot hide the giant construction cranes and the concrete contours of the 21 buildings that are taking shape. Looming over the skyline, the embassy has the distinction of being the only big US building project in Iraq that is on time and within budget.

The Bush Signing Statements

Finally catching up with the blogs, which reported on President Bush's signing statements several weeks ago, the mainstream media (MSM) are finally getting up on their high horse. In response, some Congressmen are feeling the heat to respond. It's about time.

From The Boston Globe - click here to read more...

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, accusing the White House of a ''very blatant encroachment" on congressional authority, said yesterday he will hold an oversight hearing into President Bush's assertion that he has the power to bypass more than 750 laws enacted over the past five years.

''There is some need for some oversight by Congress to assert its authority here," Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, said in an interview. ''What's the point of having a statute if . . . the president can cherry-pick what he likes and what he doesn't like?"

Hypocrite or Stupid? Vol. 3124

Is the President a hypocrite or is he just stupid? I've been asking the question quite often here and we still don't have an answer.

From the Washington Post - click here to read more...

President Bush declared last week that the national anthem should be sung in English not Spanish, but he evidently never told his own government or campaign organizations.

The State Department posts four Spanish versions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" on its Web site, and accounts from the 2000 election suggest that the song was at times performed in Spanish at Bush campaign events. Critics even turned up one reference to Bush himself singing the anthem in Spanish on the trail, but there was no confirmation.

Fun with Dick and Cheney

Unconstitutional

I think the NSA warrantless wiretaps are unconstitutional...

From OMB Watch - click here to connect...

Democracies die behind closed doors

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) is harnessing the power of the purse string to challenge the Bush administration's self-appointed power of the wiretap. Specter has introduced a legislative amendment that would eliminate funding for the National Security Agency's warrantless spying program unless Congress is kept in the loop about the program's activities. Specter's amendment (SA 3679) to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery would require that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as all members of these committees, receive full, timely information on the NSA spying program.

Iraqi Troops

We're winning the war on terror? Why doesn't someone tell the terrorists (and maybe even our "allies.")

From Bush Out (by Gandhi) - click here to connect...

Riverbend says the new Iraqi army isn’t going as smoothly as Bush and his crew portray.

Today we watched footage of Iraqi soldiers in Anbar graduating. The whole ceremony was quite ordinary up until nearly the end- their commander announced they would be deployed to various areas and suddenly it was chaos. The soldiers began stripping their fatigues and throwing them around, verbally attacking their seniors and yelling and shoving. They were promised, when they signed up for the army in their areas, that they would be deployed inside of their own areas- which does make sense. There is news that they are currently on strike- refusing to be deployed outside of their own provinces.

Bush Support Evaporates

Bush continues to draw fire from all sides. Even the Republicans don't like him much anymore. About the only group of people left who still believe in him are the Morons for Killing Brown People.

From Bush Out (by Gandhi) - click here to connect...

According to the Financial Times :

President George W. Bush had shown disdain and indifference for the US constitution by adopting an "astonishingly broad" view of presidential powers, a leading libertarian think-tank said on Monday.

The critique from the Cato Institute reflects growing criticism by conservatives about administration policy in areas such as the "war on terror" and undermining congressional power.

"The pattern that emerges is one of a ceaseless push for power, unchecked by either the courts or Congress, one in short of disdain for constitutional limits," the report by legal scholars Gene Healy and Timothy Lynch concludes.

The Cato Institute's Wikpedia entry says:
Though officially non-partisan, Cato is heavily linked to the Republican Party and the conservative movement in general. The large donors who fund both Cato and Republican candidates include Fed Ex founder Fred Smith, Australian-born media tycoon and Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch, tobacco-maker Phillip Morris, the John M. Olin Foundation, and Charles Koch. Cato also draws its staff largely from a Washington DC-based pool of Republican writers and lobbyists.

Just Imagine

Imagine - go back in your mind...

From Op Ed News - click here to read the whole article...

Imagine, for a moment, that you could transport yourself back to March of 2000. You land around the block from your home at a point in time just before the 2000 election campaign really begins to heat up. Imagine that you are going to walk around the block and talk to the version of yourself for whom that point in time is their current reality. Take a moment to remember and reflect on what you, the US and the world were like back then, what you believed, what you thought, what your reality was. Then imagine that you would try to explain what was going to happen during the future six years.

Imagine that you would have to explain that as a new President was sworn in, the country would swoon into a forty plus month depression and the new President would not do anything to relieve it. Imagine that you would have to explain to 'the you of the past' that the US would be attacked in the near future, 2400 civilians would die, and the US would respond militarily. Instead of concentrating on retaliating against those who attacked us and the people who harbored them, the new President would expend most of our available forces in the attack on a different country on justifications that turned out to be false. Imagine that you would have to explain that the new President would ask for and pass laws allowing unprecedented invasions of our privacy by the government and secret courts to provide secret warrants and wiretapping of citizens. Imagine having to explain to yourself that despite having passed those laws, the President would exceed even those boundaries and order the NSA to wiretap citizens without even going through the secret courts.

Nincompoop

The question remains - is President Bush stupid or does he know he's lying all of the time in order to cover his imeptness?

From the Washington Post - click here to read more...

The job of a president," George W. Bush used to say almost daily during the 2004 campaign, "is to confront problems, not to pass them on to future presidents and future generations."

Astute observers may have noticed he's been saying that a bit less frequently these days. Yesterday showed why.

The president was over at the Washington Hilton, speaking to the American Hospital Association about his Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. "When I came into office I found a Medicare program that was outdated," he announced. Seeing this "not very cost-effective" program, he continued, "I decided to do something about it. And I worked with the Congress, and we passed critical legislation that modernizes Medicare."

An hour after Bush finished his speech, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow kicked off a news conference announcing the latest on Medicare's financial standing. The "modernized," cost-effective program is forecast to go belly-up in 2018 -- two years earlier than previously forecast.

On Bush and Iraq

Shortly before the first Gulf war, recently retired chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral William Crowe, warned his successor, General Colin Powell in words that resonate even today. He said that a war in the Middle East, killing thousands of Arabs for whatever noble cause, would set back the United States in the region for a long time. (A discernible observer would admit that Crowe's prediction has since come true).

But despite his warning, the Admiral knew that US military intervention was imminent, because it involved presidential prestige. To be a great president, he told Powell, the presidents must have their wars. One has to find a war even if there isn't one. President Bush is credited with both.

Six years into his presidency it is difficult to think of a single, substantial foreign policy initiative that the US President George Bush pursued but that did not involve war or its threat. This is not without a reason. It is one area in which America indisputably reigns supreme, accounting alone for 40% of the global military expenditure and spending; almost seven times the amount spent by its nearest rival, China.

Yet, greatness eludes George Bush. For if the last six years have proved anything it is the limits of military might as the central plank of foreign policy. Indeed, shorn of any meaningful diplomacy or rational approach even to military problems, Bush has clearly failed both on making America any safer and securing its global hegemony. In displaying his hubris and machismo in a brash, brutal, and ruthless manner, Bush could have asserted power, but certainly lost authority and influence both at home and abroad.

For more of the excellent article by M Abdul Hafiz - click here

Damn Blogger is giving me fits tonight - This is the second time I've tried this post from scratch after four failed attempts to edit the first post which is leaving out a link and some text-box colors.

Of the ten countries polled in 2004 and again in 2005 by the Pew research group, the US has fallen in public estimation in eight of them. In only three -- Britain, Canada, and Russia -- did a majority still look upon the US charitably.

The reasons are not hard to find. Only weeks back the country that aspires to lead the free world stood alongside only Israel, Palau and the Marshal Islands in rejecting the creation of a new UN council to protect human rights. Only the US and Somalia (which has no recognized government) have failed to ratify the UN convention on the rights of children.

For long, the US clung to the notion that military strength would always have the last say and none of these syndromes mattered. It could well strut the world stage chanting: "no one likes us, we don't care." Indeed, in the wake of 9/11, it wore its unpopularity as a badge of honour.

But as events in Iraq have soured, the ability of the Bush administration to deliver on these threats has diminished considerably. With its military over-stretched and its diplomatic resources exhausted it has apparently been forced back to a position of relative weakness because nobody trust it or particularly fears it. If anything, both Iran and North Korea have lately been emboldened by the US failures in the Gulf.

To read more of this excellent article by M Abdul Hafiz, click here.