Photo feature is very slow today. Sorry for the lack of images.

It blows my mind to think of the millions of middle-class Americans who vote against their own best interests and support Republicans. I don't get it. It is so clear that Republicans derive most of their support from - then pass legislation favoring - the wealthy and those who most benefit from policies supporting big business. I understand that Democrats support a lot of social issues that may perturb the sensibilities of the ultra-religious, but such policies are far less harmful to the average citizen than what the Republicans do.

There's a great little summary of what the Republicans have done as holders of the Presidency and both houses of Congress. Read the whole article at OpEdNews.com

For over a decade, Republicans have controlled both houses of Congress and have held the Whitehouse since George W. Bush was appointed President in 2000. Since then, Congress has abandoned most of its responsibilities and become little more than a rubber stamp for the Bush Administration's war on the middle class. This week we will look at their record on domestic issues:

They cut taxes; but whose taxes did they cut?

• "The average tax cut for the 20 percent of households in the middle of the income spectrum would be just $20. ...For those with incomes above $1 million, the average tax cut would be $42,000." --Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/11/06

At the same time they were cutting taxes, the Republican Party, which claims to be the party of fiscal responsibility, became the Party of Spending Like a Drunken Sailor (Note: Unlike Congress, drunken sailors spend their own money). The U.S. has to borrow about $2 billion each day--just to keep the government running.

• "Median income for people under 65 is declining, the poverty rate, especially for children, is rising, and 46.6 million Americans, nearly 16 percent of the population, have no health insurance." --Peabody Award winner Bill Gallagher, Niagara Falls Reporter, 9/5/06

In the Boston Herald there's a couple of great paragraphs that expand what I wrote about in my last post (see below). This seems like a pretty astute observation on the state of foreign affairs in the U.S.

But the war, now in its fourth year, devours resources and energy for other global objectives and feeds mistrust about U.S. intentions, experts say.

“I’m not sure they have changed their mind about to what extent to proceed unilaterally and how much to use military force so much as they have run out of options,” said Richard Stoll, a political science professor at Rice University who studies foreign policy and national security.

Are we giving up our role as a world leader just to satisfy the need for President Bush to massage his ego? Face it - a big part of our problem with Iran and most of the rest of the middle east is Dubya's refusal to negotiate. And why won't he negotiate? Bedcause, if he does, he cedes some of his authority to the European leaders who have a better relationship with the leaders in the Muslim countries.

Read more in the Washington Post...

European diplomats are considering a meeting with Iran on the sidelines of next week's U.N. General Assembly in hopes of de-escalating the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program _ but the United States won't be getting an invitation.

The Bush administration, which is pushing for U.N. sanctions against Iran, has said it will join European-led negotiations with Iran only if it stops its uranium enrichment work first.

Mary Landrieu Lashes Out

Here's a great post from Bob Geiger at BobGeiger.Com Vist the site for a link to a video of Mary's speech.

Mary Landrieu Slaps Senate GOP -- Hard!
While I'm very often not the biggest fan of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) -- she votes way too often with the Republicans for my tastes -- she definitely stepped up to the plate yesterday and lashed a couple of her GOP colleagues after they went on a rant about Democrats allegedly not understanding the terror threat facing the country.

"The unfortunate truth is that when it comes to securing America's homeland, the Democrats are dangerously naive. They think if we pull out of Iraq, the terrorists will leave us alone," said Jim DeMint (R-SC), despite the fact that no Congressional Democrat has ever said that. "Now Democrats would have us return to the Clinton status quo--a pre-September 11, head-in-the-sand philosophy of 'don't listen, don't track, don't challenge.'"

Landrieu, who had actually stepped to the podium to address another issue, let them have it with both barrels. Here's what she said:
"In light of the rantings that went on for the last 30 minutes in the Chamber from my two colleagues on the other side, I would like to state for the record that America is not tired of fighting terrorism. America is tired of the wrong-headed and bone-headed leadership of the Republican Party that has sent $6.5 billion a month to Iraq, when the front line was Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

"America is tired of leadership which led this country to attack Saddam Hussein when we were attacked by Osama bin Laden, and which captured a man who did not attack the country and left loose a man who did.

"Americans are tired of bone-headed Republican leadership that alienates our allies when we need them the most. And Americans are most certainly tired of leadership that, despite documented mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake--and even their own party admitting mistakes--never admits that they do anything wrong. That is the kind of leadership Americans are tired of.

"I didn't come to the Senate to have partisan rantings on the floor, but I most certainly am not going to sit here as a Democrat and let the Republican leadership come to the floor and talk about how Democrats are not making us safe. They are the ones who are in charge, and Osama bin Laden is still loose."

Are We Doing All We Can?

Should we pay more for gasoline? It's an interesting proposition and might carry with it some advantages that are not seen just looking at the problem superficially. Duncan Pickard editorializes that we should pay more - and that we should re-examine the way in which government and big oil work together to swindle the American people. A sample of his writing follows the link.

Click here to read Duncan Pickard...

I guess we can be happy that we don’t live in Europe, where prices are really out of control. The British pay almost “a bloody pound per litre” (over $7 a gallon) for their petrol. But there’s a difference between British and American gas: Her Majesty’s Government is directly responsible for the increased price. The British are taxed over $3.64 for every gallon of gas they buy. Compare that to the U.S. gas tax, which in 2005 was just over 18 cents per gallon.

That means that the British pay more for gas, but get more in return in public services like road reconstruction, public safety, and alternative energy research. To contrast, Congress uses taxpayer dollars to subsidize companies already making huge profits. Does ExxonMobil, a $350 billion company, really need a helping hand?

Screwing the Nation

President Bush continues to bankrupt the nation (this year's deficit may break all records) while continuing to reward his good friends in the oil industry with barrels of cash. That's your money he's spending, folks.

From Yubanet

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) today stressed the importance of ending the royalty "holiday" that energy companies drilling in federal waters have enjoyed for more than seven years. Earlier this week, the U.S. Interior Department's Inspector General Earl Devaney confirmed that oil and gas companies have avoided paying the government billions of dollars in royalties due to an administrative error on drilling contracts signed in 1998 and 1999. It has also been reported that the Bush administration may be continuing to draw up new contracts which allow companies to avoid royalty payments.

"The Inspector General confirmed this week that the treasury has lost billions of dollars due to an administrative error that allowed oil and gas companies to drill in federal waters for free despite their record profits," Senator Feinstein said. "At current high prices, companies don't need these additional incentives to drill. Instead, we need to provide incentives for oil and gas companies to renegotiate their leases and end these unnecessary federal handouts. Taxpayers should no longer be forced to bear the burden of $10 billion in lost revenue because of this clerical omission."

Moving Forward

You don't have to be Democrat and you can even be Republican - you've just got to have some brains to see that working together can produce some positive results for all of us. We all benefit when we work for the good of mankind instead of the good of our rich, entrepreneurial friends. As I've noted before in this blog, I love it when positive, forward looking actions are constructed and acted upon. Good for California.

From the Sacremento Bee...

California, as the world's 12th-largest greenhouse gas polluter, simply bypassed the foot-dragging Bush administration in adopting its own environmental policy in line with reigning international standards. The state is set to cap its carbon-dioxide emissions by 2020 at 1990 levels -- an eyebrow-raising 25 percent reduction. Mandatory reductions come into effect in 2012. Under the new law, the California Air Resources Board will monitor greenhouse gas emissions and set policies for carbon credit trading.

The Inmates are in Charge

It's not just liberals who are driven to the point of utter frustration with the Bush administration - even Republicans are feeling a sense of foreboding - a sense that the nation is coming apart at the seams. The following piece comes from the Al Franken blog.

Christopher Buckley, son of conservative icon William Buckley, is jumping off the Republican bandwagon; his piece in The Washington Monthly:

"I voted for George W. Bush in 2000. In 2004, I could not bring myself to pull the same lever again. Neither could I bring myself to vote for John Kerry, who, for all his strengths, credentials, and talent, seems very much less than the sum of his parts. So, I wrote in a vote for George Herbert Walker Bush, for whom I worked as a speechwriter from 1981 to '83. I wish he'd won. . . .

"Who knew, in 2000, that 'compassionate conservatism' meant bigger government, unrestricted government spending, government intrusion in personal matters, government ineptitude, and cronyism in disaster relief? Who knew, in 2000, that the only bill the president would veto, six years later, would be one on funding stem-cell research? A more accurate term for Mr. Bush's political philosophy might be incontinent conservatism. . . ."

Read the whole piece here.

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Are We Moral?

The debate now going on in Congress over President Bush's right to redefine torture according to his view of the world could be a defining moment for the U.S. Do we continue to stand above other nations in the setting of standards for freedom and respect for the average man (or woman) or do we sink to the bottom with nations that plumb the depths?

A few strong willed representatives in Washington are making the stand. Let us hope they prevail.

An excellent editorial on this issue was posted on the Huffington Post by Nathan Gardels. Read more here.

And here's a sample...

McCain's view, like the Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, is that America is exceptional precisely because it has strived, unlike other great powers in the past, not to exempt itself from rules of law and codes of conduct in the name of its own interests simply because it has the power to do so. Haven't all the great philosophers of the West argued that restraint is the wisest aim of the free and powerful?

Other Terrorist Attacks Bush Has Forgotten

I don't know that I can add much to the post below, which came from Crooks and Liars. I'd forgotten. Had you?

Perhaps the single most common refrain from the White House and the president’s allies is that there have been no terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. That’s incorrect — about a month after 9/11, someone sent weaponized anthrax to two Democratic senators and several news outlets. Five Americans were killed and 17 more suffered serious illnesses.

One woman in Florida who was widowed by the attack is still waiting for some answers, and she’s willing to go to court to get them.

Nearly five years after Bob Stevens’ death, the first in the anthrax attacks that terrified a nation, "I want to know what happened," his widow, who’s sued the government, said Wednesday from her lawyer’s office. "I want to go into court and find out what happened. What information’s obviously there. The truth is there."

It’s been five years; where did this story go? The administration stopped talking about it, the media stopped reporting on it, and the public stopped asking about it.

Why is
that?

Looking Upward

Sometimes, when following the news, it is hard to find the "good stuff" in and among the poison ivy. I'm guilty of it. I spend way too much time on this blog focusing on the negatives - but it's hard to come up with the stuff that is smart. But I really like this one proposed bill in Congress which would work to reduce abortions by increasing opportunities rather than by limiting choice...

The legislation contains initiatives including expanded access for contraception for low-income women, adoption tax credits, increased funding for health care for low-income mothers and children, home visits by nurses for new mothers, grants for unintended pregnancy reduction and funding for day-care programs and child-care centers on college campuses.

Read more about the sponsors and the likely failure of the proposal on Vindy.com.

And the Beat Goes On...

The Repubilcans don't just limit, their lying, cheating and stealing to their leadership, they also share the right to rip of the people of the U.S. with their friends in big business. The following post came from a blog called Crooks and Liars, but it refers to a story that appeared in both the LA Times and the Seattle Times...

LA Times via Seattle Times:

Halliburton executives ordered a big-screen TV and 10 large tubs of tacos, chicken wings and cheese sticks delivered to Iraq for last year’s Super Bowl and then billed U.S. taxpayers for their party, according to a lawsuit unsealed Friday.

The Houston company also defrauded the government by double- and triple-billing for Internet, food and gym services to troops, according to the lawsuit by a former employee for Kellogg, Brown & Root, or KBR, the
Halliburton subsidiary that ran dining halls for troops in Iraq.

"The administration is not enforcing the laws against fraud when it comes to contractors in Iraq," said Alan Grayson, the attorney who filed the suit. "When it comes to seeing that the law is executed, the Bush administration is a no-show."

Read on…

Political and Social Commentary Through Images

The Nose Grows Longer

Sigh. The Republicans just won't quit. Sometimes it seems like they lie about stuff even when there's no need - and even when there's a good chance they're gonna get called on it. Why? Is it because it's so hard for them to justify their positions on the issues that it just becomes second nature to make things up?

Sigh again. There must be a lot of people in this country who buy into the lies and then do not believe the truth when it is exposed. Look at recent polls showing that 40+% of Americans still link Iraq and Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks. Even the President has debunked his earlier remarks.

News Channel 4 posts a report and a video on the lies in a recent Congressional report on nuclear development in Iran.

Political and Social Commentary Through Images

Voter Fraud

I guess I'm rally naive - i always thought that the U.S. elections were unbiased and exactly as reported. Recent stories in the news include reports of fixed voting machines, voter registration fraud, irregular voting procedures (such as election officials allowed to take voting machines home with them for several days preceding the vote), tampering with the right of policitcal parties to call their members to get out the vote, and several other stories whose exact suspicions I've lost track of. Sort of sounds like a third-world country, doesn't it?

Living on the Lie Train

The Bush administration never gives up its lies as a means of convincing the general popualtion of the rightness of their wrong ways. Do you suppose they even buy into the bullshit themselves? I'll bet they do.

The following comes from A La Gauche blog with original sources credited...

U.S. officials, seeking a way to measure the results of a program aimed at decreasing violence in Baghdad, aren't counting scores of dead killed in car bombings and mortar attacks as victims of the country's sectarian violence.

In a distinction previously undisclosed, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said Friday that the United States is including in its tabulations of sectarian violence only deaths of individuals killed in drive-by shootings or by torture and execution.

That has allowed U.S. officials to boast that the number of deaths from sectarian violence in Baghdad declined by more than 52 percent in August over July.

Dork-in-Chief

President Bush is not exactly clear on which job he was elected to - President of the U.S. or Supreme Potentate of All Religions. What a dork.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 8, through Sunday, September 10, 2006, as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance. I ask that the people of the United States and their places of worship mark these National Days of Prayer and Remembrance with memorial services, the ringing of bells, and evening candlelight remembrance vigils. I also invite the people of the world to share in these Days of Prayer and Remembrance.

Political and Social Commentary Through Images

Losing Control

President Bush has suggested, in speech after speech, that the war in Iraq is still under control. Further, he has suggested that he is following the leadership of the commanders on the ground in how best to fight the war; he has suggested that the Generals never asked for additional troops nor have they ever suggested that withdrawing might be worthwhile.

In fact, from what I can determine from Bush's speeches and Cheney's speeches, the biggest problem for the U.S. in the war on terror are those Americans who want to pull out of Iraq and end the war now. Sigh. The man is a nitwit. But then again, I'm repeating myself.

The Washington Post is telling us that a report has been filed by a US marine intelligence office which claims that the entire Anbar province in Iraq is now out of our control - the insurgents now rule the entire region west of Baghdad. Read it.

Falling Gas Prices and Cynicism

Gas prices are down here in NY state, as I suppose they are in most places. Why do you suppose that is? Could it be that the oil company executives are feeling sorry for us and that they are cutting their profit margins? No?

Then perhpas the war in Iraq has ended and additional supplies have become available? No?

I wonder what it could be! Perhaps I would be acting too cynical to suggest that it is because the mid-term elections are around the corner and the oil company execs are worried that their Republican friends might not get reelected to Congress if prices are high. No? I'm not being too cynical? Do ya think that prices might be back up to $3+ a gallon by the time Thanksgiving rolls around? Me too.

Read another opinion in the Texarcana Gazette...

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Social and Political Commentary Through Images

The Big Lie

Those of us willing to listen to the truth have heard for quite a while now that the Bush administration claims justifying war in Iraq were based on faulty intelligence and even, perhaps, outright lies. More evidence now of the same in a U.S. Senate report.

"Bush administration claims justifying the war against Iraq were based on fragmented, conflicting, and at times unreliable intelligence, according to two reports released today by the Senate Intelligence Committee."

Read more of the evidence here, at Bloomberg's.

Making Progress?

A recent poll reported on by CNN shows that Americans expect more gridlock from Congress if the Democrats gain a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. I think this is hilarious.

Name one major reform that the Republicans have enacted while controlling all levels of government. They can't get out of their own way. Social Security reform? Nada. Medicare and Medicaid reform? Nothing. Protection of civil rights (NSA wiretapping)? Not concerned. Name something, anything, that the Repub... oops - I almost missed it. They've cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans and ballooned the federal deficit.

I guess they have done something.

Well said...

I love a good turn of phrase - a sentence or two that can really capture the essence of an argument. I've pulled it off once or twice in my life, but in general it is not something that I excel at. Here's a good turn-of-phrase that I enjoyed, from Don Williams at OpEdNews.com...

"* Quicker than we can digest Bush / Cheney's latest efforts to tie the mess in Iraq to Osama bin Laden, the president acknowledges we've been holding prisoners for "questioning by experts" in secret prisons around the world. He says such questioning-a euphemism for torture-has prevented acts of terrorism by these very bad men.

Well, there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth. What else do you need to know about? International law? Forget it. Constitutional protections? Writs of habeas corpus? Facing one's accusers? Bills of alleged crimes? Calls to attorneys? Hey, who needs a Constitution when you have a George? Our Founding Fathers had King George III. True, they got rid of him in favor of Constitutional Law, but that was in the pre-9/11 world. "

Social and Political Commentary Through Images

Moving Away from Gasoline.

There are a lot of negatives to be offered up about our government - especially under the current administration. However, it is good to find articles that have signs of the government moving in a positive direction, even if the steps are baby steps.

News Blaze has an interesting story about the EPA working to promote renewable energy sources, especially biodiesel and ethanol. This points in the direction I hope to see us going - I'd just like to see it happening a little faster.

Building the Power!

George W. Bush's push to centralize power into the hands of a few is a frightening view of the U.S. gone mad. Many of those who follow and support are either those who are comfortable with a strong, authoritarian personality in their life, or they are Christian right-wing extremists who believe that they can control the world for Christ.

John Dean is a conservative who has come to the forefront in an effort to dispel the nation that this is the right way to run the country. People's Weekly World has a great article summarizing some of John Dean's thoughts.

War Video

The U.S. must have some impressive weapons in its arsenal. Visit Not the Nine O:Clock News for a marvelous video of some terrible damage being done by some of our soldiers.

Keep Your Enemies Closer?

In order to wage his war on terror, President Bush has formed some very unusual alliances. None is more troubling than our pact with Pakistan to fight the Taliban.

Pakistan is a Muslim nuclear power. They have forged conflicting agreements with the U.S. and with extremist groups pledging Jihad against us. They have been the home for the organization of terrorist attacks in London, both the bombing of the subways and the planned attacks aboard airliners bound for the U.S.

And still we pamper the leadership in Pakistan. Now, ABC News announces a pact that Pakistan has signed with the Taliban to allow them to make their home in the mountains bordering Afghanistan in Western part of the country, to be untouched by the Pakistani Army. Even bin Laden is to be given free reign as he travels about.

President Bush needs to reexamine this relationship.

He's Crazy!

President Bush is blustering again, just as he did when he declared he would get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive." Now he's making the ultimate threat against Iran.

I don't think that there's a doubt about it - George W. Bush is a madman and he won't stopped until he has nuked Tehran.

Somebody, please, stop him!

Read more about it at Pantagraph.com

Political and Social Commentary Through Images

On The Immigration Issue

I'm pretty liberal about most things in the political realm. I'm probably more conservative than many liberals, however, when it comes to the issue of immigration. The reason why is that I really, really don't think anyone (and that means the President as well - see the following post) should be allowed to break the law and get away with it.

If a law is a bad law, we should change it (legalization of small amounts of marijuana comes to mind), but we ought to obey the law. On the immigration issue, it isn't that I don't welcome Mexicans to the U.S., I just think we have the right to determine which Mexicans and how many enter our country every year.

I think we need to get the borders shut down to the wetbacks - and we need to do it yesterday. Once that issue is resolved, we need to begin dealing with the illegals and those who hire them here at home. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent summary of the situation in Washington as it pertains to the issue. You might want to give it a read.

Screwing With the Constitution

When President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program first surfaced last year, it made me insane. Here's a guy, elected President of the United States, who took an oath of office in front of the entire nation to defend and protect the constitution, who was violating one of the provisions at the very heart of our freedom. Here it is.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

It couldn't be any more plain than that. I swear to God - the man is an egomaniac who believes that he not only transcends the constitution, but he honestly believes that he has powers granted to him by his creator.

Read more about activity on Capitol Hill as Republicans rush all over themselves trying to create a law that circumvents the constitution. Dumb fucks. The Washington Post.

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