In a move that stays perfectly aligned with the far-rights ambition to kill any and all social programs, benefit each other and screw all other Americans, the 1600 crew has made a proposal to shift more responsibility for medicare to the states, you know where we all live and are for the most part facing serious fiscal crisis right now.

The Crew is proposing a modest 12.7 billion dollar increase of money to the states over seven years. Awol of course can't do the math, so here goes: 12.7 billion over seven years (and that's just the proposal, it has to get by DeLay and Co in the House) to 50 states works out to according to my calculator 3.6 million/state/year. Not a real impressive number.

And, Smirky want to toss more responsibility for Head Start and the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to the states as well. CHIP is the program he dissed (Acrobat required) while Governor of Texas, what a shock. Why does he hate Americans so much that he lies down with the Venomous Spiders of the Far Right?

As much as I hate to re-blog, I talked about this in a past blog entry last summer. Today I was sitting at lunch with several coworkers, and the subject of the war with Iraq came up. Being the only veteran at the table, everyone wanted to know my opinion of the war talk and the administration's policy...not the best questions to discuss over lunch sometimes; and at leave the table as friends.

While we were talking, I mentioned the Iraqi attack on the USS Stark back in 1987 while she was on a deployment to the Persian Gulf that cost the lives of 37 crewmen and badly damaged the ship. The Captain, who was later punished for allowing the attack to occur, directed the damage control efforts so well that the ship both remained afloat and got into port for an ultimate return to service.

The bottom line here is that a United States Capital Ship of the Line was ruthlessly attacked by the man we are now calling the Devil Incarnate, and that super-hero of the Republican Party whom they have tried to name every federal structure except the outhouses in Yellowstone after did nothing other than cluck and wring his hands. Of course Bush 1 was his veep, and he too demonstrated an incredible lack of anything approaching leadership or even outrage as I recall.

Back then we were selling weapons, parts, consulting, technical services and other stuff to Hussein, and why attack him when he said it was an accident. We took his word for it.

Thirty seven American Sailors came home in caskets and we took his word for it.

Back then, he was a customer, now he's a madman. Or so say awol and the 1600 Crew. Now. Today.

From the administration that's so goddamn secretive they can't reveal their shoe size to each other we're supposed to believe this was leaked?

Next they'll be putting images of Jane Fonda on that AAA piece in Hanoi on their wholly-owned news media and handing out the picture at the prevARIcator show, and claiming it was taken yesterday in Baghdad.

If there were Iraqi agents connected to al-Qaida stirring up the anti-war sentiment at the demonstrations, and the Ashcroft Justice Department or CIA knew about them, why didn't Johnbo make a big-ass announcement like he did when they arrested Padilla at the airport? Surely busting real live spies would have been newsworthy, and we know that Johnbo hardly shrinks from cameras (or an arrest) the way he shrinks from naked breasts.

If this report is not the biggest crock of ****, I'll write a whole blog piece praising W's intelligence, wit charm and well you get it. Never gonna happen.

It's just a thought but....

In the upcoming Democratic Dogfight to see who the real top dog is to walk (or slog) away with the nomination in 2004, I wish (clicking my heels together three times) that Lieberman, who's Republican lite; Sharpton, who wants to be a power-broker but is still carrying a lot of baggage; Edwards, who needs to finish at least one term in the Senate before embarking on a national adventure; and Gephardt who is almost as perennial a candidate as Harold Stassen was, but finally got the cojones to announce his candidacy since he's probably looking at retiring from the House anyway, would all just get the hell out of the race and leave it to Kerry and Dean.

I know that anyone can run for President (except me..naturalized citizen, proudly became one to accept a commission in the Navy decades ago) but this is hardly the time for squabbles between candidates over who supports what program/policy/spending cut etc... more than the other guy, and that's exactly what it will come down to. And Karl Rove will be sitting there with a sharpened pen and a good wind-up Smirky ready to attack the pack as "inconsistent and liars". Then it'll be a bad day at Black Rock and we'll be waiting 'til 2008 for another chance to change the resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Frames...we don't need no stinkin' Frames

This piece from Slate/MSN just makes you wonder about what corporations are thinking sometimes.

Telcom giant SBC is sending cease-and-desist letters to hundreds of Web site operators, accusing them of infringing on an SBC patent covering "frames," those stationary menus that innumerable Web sites employ to help users navigate sites. SBC says individual infringers owe it licensing payments ranging from $527 to $16.6 million per year. Does SBC own such a patent? And if so, how was it allowed to patent such a seemingly obvious feature?

The answer to the first question is yes. SBC secured its first frame patent in 1999 and a second in 2002.

Now if this is in fact true as the author of this article suggests, and I have no reason to disbelieve him, wouldn't the IETF or some other governing body who wrote the standards for frames also have a claim, or the right to choose not to exercise a claim, and let the idea pass into the public domain?

Patents are not written in stone, and many are successfully overturned amid legal challenges. In 1994, for example, the USPTO overturned a patent it had given to Compton's New Media, which covered a broad technique whereby data is retrieved from CD-ROMs. Had it been allowed to stand, the patent might have squelched the development of digital media since potential competitors would have owed Compton's millions in licensing fees.

Given the lead in the article about SBC sending 'cease and desist' letters to folks with deep-pockets to intimidate everyone else into paying (they hope), I can just see them using the only piece of legislation I know of, more un-American than the Patriot Act, the DMCA to start prosecuting/seeking damages against web sites/developers for not coughing up royalties/license fees.

With any luck at all either a court will rule against SBC or SBC might realize this is a public relations disaster for them, and magnanimously "give" the patents to the W3C or some other organization and grab about a million lines of free copy in the trades, etc...

Or Corporate Greed might set in as is more likely, and they will go after everyone on principle, until they realize that "frames" are not the be all and end all of web pages, or as is more likely, as soon as they get to be real hard-asses someone builds a better mousetrap. Are they going after Tables next as some kind of "reverse engineering" to thwart frames?

Yeesh

And the 1/30/03 ticker sez...

How depressing. Again.

Thanks, awol, you're such an inspiration. Not.

To Rush with Luuuuv...

So I'm no poet. Sue me -heh-.

Limbaugh, Limbaugh why do they listen to you You're half crazy, the liberals you want to screw Oh it won't be so great when you are Without any sponsors you crack-ar But you'll look cool, and be a fool Unemployed and holding a tip jar

Gotta Read it, NOW!

The Other Stupid George, Part 2

From CNN/Crossfire, Jan 29th

Now realize that Begala being the attorney that he is knows that he should not ask a question he already knows the answer to. But here goes the transcript excerpt (it's long...patience Camille)

BEGALA: Senator, let me ask you about this matter of the aluminum tubes. First off, earlier in the year, our president say the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, had a report that said Saddam Hussein would have a nuclear weapon in six months. The IAEA said, "With respect, Mr. President, that's false. There's no such report." Then he told us that there were these aluminum tubes that were going to be used to make nuclear weapons. The U.N. inspectors said that's not the case. The British intelligence, our closest allies, say that's not the case and the American intelligence agencies say that is not the case. Doesn't our president need to level with us instead of making things up?

ALLEN: What do you reckon they're using them for? Making aluminum baseball bats? Pay attention Georgie, the adults are talking now

BEGALA: No, sir, they're actually for conventional -- No, they're for conventional weaponry. They're for conventional weapons and not nuclear weapons.

ALLEN: Right. And do you know that their rocketry and missiles far exceed what the United Nations allows them to have?

BEGALA: Yes, but that doesn't make them nuclear. Why did he say they were for making nuclear bombs when he knew, or should have known...

ALLEN: Well, they could be. They could have been. And Smirky could have actually shown up for his Flight Physical, but it did not happen

BEGALA: So they would have to buy the wrong size tubes and then modify them.

ALLEN: If you want to ignore all the facts and when you use the legal terms...No, stupid we're paying attention to the facts, you and your only intellectual equal in DC are ignoring the facts

BEGALA: Are the Brits ignoring the facts?

ALLEN: Look, some of these facts are stipulated that the president was talking about last night. They're not just from our intelligence. These are facts of and quantities of chemical or biological agents that, several years back, the United Nations said Iraq had and they have not been destroyed. There's no evidence of where they are.
Sure, can you go around there playing find the needle in the haystack, but that's not what this is about. He is supposed to show what's happened to him so that they can be destroyed.
Now, if you all can go around like Pollyanna, thinking Saddam Hussein is not a threat, that's fine. But I think the president has made a convincing case and it's not just evidence, again, from us. The United Nations has had these mandates on him. He has defied them year after year after year. So how long do y'all want to wait?

Did he watch the same speech I saw, or does it look and sound different when you have a naturally low IQ and are off your meds?

I Love Allen's logic and clarity of vision, I was expecting Allen to jump up and yell "you are all yankee demons and will burn in hell because you Dare Question my President from God" in the middle of that last rant.

The Other Stupid George

was on the Jan 29th CNN Crossfire (Begala/Carlson)

Who would that be? Why the senator who makes Rick Santorum look like Einstein, none other than the junior senator from Virginia, George Allen. George the "confederacy-loving" senator was on Crossfire tonight and I can't wait to see the transcript. Begala tossed out the discredited "aluminum tubes" for making nukes thing, even gave the cite as to why it was BS and Allen tried to say that (now follow this) you could use the tubes to build rockets or other things to put nukes on so therefore they were used in the production of nuclear weapons. I really want to see that transcript...he's sooooo stupid, not to mention a wholly owned property of the Religious Far Right (Robertson Falwell and Reed sort of sounds like a law firm, and I hate being that mean to lawyers)

I guess if you had a famous daddy and your name is George, entitlement is your game.

I think even John Warner avoids him. What's that tell you?

See the exact wording in the post above...wrote this from memory while they were all shouting, so it's not as accurate as might be. Just could not wait for the transcript, he's such a maroon.

Join me in welcoming Emma Goldman and her fine blog Notes on the Atrocities to the permanent list. Visit early, visit often.

The most AMAZING thing

was I never saw Cheney's lips moving. How did he do that?

Cowboy Christopher

Hitchens parses the cowboy way to show awol's cowboy credentials. I guess I missed the part where they had 10-gallon hats as part of the school uniform at Andover.

Apparently in Hitch's homeland, Cowboy is synonymous with "fly-by-night"...works for me.

Huh? Nukes are Conventional?

From Free Pie. Does this mean the end of the PRP (Personnel Reliabilty Program) in the Military? The safeguards and controls? Will every private be issued an rifle, a supply of hand grenades and a SADM (a Backpack Nuke) "just in case" they are surrounded? The PRP was one of the cornerstones of control for our Nuclear Weapons Programs; it demanded strict responsibility and accountability from every level of the chain of command. Commanding Officers could lose entire careers for minor screw-ups by subordinates. Are they really contemplating changing this? Say it ain't so, Jo.

Gary Locke?

Was is just me or did Gary Locke sound like a more educated and erudite version of Smirky? I think he spent the first five minutes of his speech agreeing with the unelected fraud.

At least here in Ohio we know that our governor is a republican, as was his daddy, granddaddy, great-granddaddy all the way back to the simians. And I don't really mean to insult early primates, sorry.

So what's up with this Locke guy, is he a right-wing wannabe or what and how in the hell did he get chosen, not Nancy Pelosi?

And on a different subject, I want to congratulate the President and all the Republican Congressmen for their recognition of their fellow Republican African-American members of Congress who were there tonight. Oh, there were none? Never mind.

Noelle Bush will be thrilled, her Unka Smirk cares

I am betting this one never sees the light of day:

Another cause of hopelessness is addiction to drugs. Addiction crowds out friendship, ambition, moral conviction, and reduces all the richness of life to a single destructive desire. As a government, we are fighting illegal drugs by cutting off supplies, and reducing demand through anti-drug education programs. Yet for those already addicted, the fight against drugs is a fight for their own lives.

Too many Americans in search of treatment cannot get it. So tonight I propose a new $600 million program to help an additional 300,000 Americans receive treatment over the next three years.

The Far Right-wingers will turn this into roadkill before spring has sprung. Amazingly enough, you would have thought that Smirky would have personalized this a little bit, it might have sounded better than just the boilerplate that's in about every SOTU since forever.

Right from the Deserter-in-Chief's lips, and he never stuttered...

From the State of the Union, Unelected Smirk (who did a fair amount of that tonight) speaking with two of the other biggest Chickenhawks at his six-o'clock, said these words:

" Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a president can make. The technologies of war have changed. The risks and suffering of war have not. For the brave Americans who bear the risk, no victory is free from sorrow. This Nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost, and we dread the days of mourning that always come. "

Big words from a man who couldn't show up and do his duty/National Guard drills.

Not that they applaud much during a SOTU address anyhow, but did you notice that the JCS were not looking real thrilled, especially when AWOL-boy started on the "preemptive war" theme? Or maybe it was my imagination.

And when will he learn to pronounce "nuclear" like a grown-up?

XML/RSS?

anyone have a clue about the XML/RSS feature on blogspot plus? been trying all afternoon to get it to behave, and even had some help and advice from another very patient, very kind blogger, but could not get it working. Any assistance greatly appreciated, leave a comment of email me.

So ignore that xml link on the right side column for now...it's non-functional, like the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, but can be repaired without an election (I hope).

Smearing McCain and going after Saddam...in 2000!

While I was leaving a set of comments on AWOL-boy on Tacitus' blog, refuting a winger who still thinks that the 1600 Crew would never stoop to political slander and/or libel for expediency, I found this really interesting quote from the Chimp-in-Chief while a candidate well before the election:

"Bush also defended his father's decision to end the 1991 Persian Gulf War without sending troops after Saddam Hussein, and said as president he would ensure Iraq didn't develop weapons of mass destruction."

"If we catch them developing weapons of mass destruction, there won't be any weapons of mass destruction left in Iraq if I'm the commander in chief," Bush told reporters, without giving details. "I'm not going to tell you what I mean, because I'm not going to tell Saddam Hussein what I mean."

He forgot to say "and I'm not going to tell the tax-paying American People who have to send their kids over there what I mean either, because I'm the commander-in-chief.

Sound Eerily Familiar? It's looking more and more to me like the attacks of 9/11 are and have been the pretext to connect Saddam to al-Qaida and to get that oil.

No one has set up the kind of infrastructure planning in Afghanistan that they have in started for post-Saddam Iraq, and there is almost a single-mindedness of purpose, up to and including making up reasons to attack, none of which seem to ever hold water (or oil).

What the 1600 Crew does not want you to see from the "secret" Iraqi disclosure documents

via Buzzflash

Here's a list of companies that sold stuff/did business with Iraq. Save a copy locally, it might just disappear and an archival copy might be useful one of these days.

Question: how many of these companies is Carlyle invested in, and for how long? That sure would be a $$ link to the 1600 Crew and their pre-war profiteering. It runs in the family after all, Prescott did it with the Nazi's, GHWB is on the board of Carlyle and President Too-Stupid-To-Eat-A-Pretzel is a beneficiary of both of them.

Cheney-Halliburton.

'Nuff Said?

If you happen to read German, here's the original list.

Dow 7,989.56 Down -141.45- 1.74%

Thanks 1600 Crew. When do the adults come back again?

Rush and Fascism

Not only is Rush not smart enough to use the term, David Neiwert has an interesting take on Limbaugh as seen through the eyes of Umberto Eco.

An interesting read, especially since Rush can't seem to decide if we on the left are Facists or Communists...or both at once.

Why is Andrew Sullivan surprised?

Sully, man of limited ironical appreciation that he is, seems shocked that the 1600 Crew appointments to the AIDS council would be small-minded, accusatory, and in general not really interested in doing more than blaming gay white guys for infecting everyone who has tested positive.

Well Sully, when the chair of the council is a Gary Bauer approved clone from that bastion of tolerance and goodwill, the Family Research Council, you surely can't expect a lot can you? Why are you so surprised? Do you still believe that the 1600 Crew will do the right thing eventually if you, Andrew Sullivan, are indignant enough for long enough?

How many Patriotic Exhortations will Smirky make?

Besides messing up the only decent night of TV with the State of the Union address on Tuesday night, AWOL will I am sure be exhorting everyone to do something: fight terrorism; support tax cuts for his rich buddies and corporations; buy into the removal of the wall between church and state; and give up more civil rights for some obscure reason; support for Tort Reform from those evil trial lawyers for his corporate buddies. (that makes two for them in one speech...jeez they must have influence or sumpin'!

I wonder if he'll mention the hunt for Osama bin Laden, aid for Afghanistan or unemployment and hunger here at home?

Just a thought.

Political Science

Ever wonder of Smirk ever listened to it?

Boom goes London, and Boom Paree, more room for you and more room for me.

Sounds like the guiding philosophy of the 1600 Crew, just substitute "oil" for "room".

Scary, isn't it?

apologies to Randy Newman, I couldn't help myself.

Bush:152, Saddam: Who Knows?

Glenn Reynolds asks the question: HOW MANY PEOPLE HAS SADDAM HUSSEIN KILLED? in his blog today from an article in the NYTimes. Well, that's a good question. Why is it important to know that number? Hussein is a cold, calculating dictator that many of the 1600 Crew helped put into power and remain there. Surely in the 80's when Rummy was peddling aid and comfort to Hussein for politics and profit, he must have had an inkling that Saddam was not going after the Mother Teresa Humanitarian Award. And the unelected fraud's Daddy left him there after Gulf War 1.

So if the ruler of sovereign country does atrocious things and we either aid or abet them along the way, do we have the right to be morally outraged now (later)? After all, the Sovereign ruler of the State of Texas, AWOL-boy managed to execute 152 prisoners all by himself and even laugh and joke about it.

Although he said he was anguished by the decision, in an interview in Talk magazine, writer Tucker Carlson described Bush mimicking the woman's final plea for her life. "'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me.'"

--Time Magazine

I'll bet Saddam laughs and jokes too.

See they do have something in common after all.

No Astroturf Please!

Last week I embarked on a project to link with mailto:'s to many daily newspapers in the country for you to send an non-Astroturf (not that any of us would use RoveCo tactics to make a point) email to the editor(s) of newspapers in your area to challenge AWOL-boy's service record and ask for full disclosure (yeah, right in this administration), especially his DD-214 and medical records. Of course as I get about through about 29 states, a very wise person points out that right here at AWOLBUSH someone has done all the work already. Not being one to re-invent the wheel or anything, I chose to link to it and add it to my blogroll in the "Daily Papers" section.

I think that by writing to the papers, if the volume of letters gets large enough, someone may finally challenge Ari the PrevARIcator© at a TASS White House news briefing and it might spark some interest with the other media, especially with all the Rummy and Wolfowitz comments lately.

The AWOL-kid needs to have the sun shine on his service record for once and for all. Pick up those pens, and let's do it!!

Update

The Bottom Line: Hold Bush Accountable!

The system works

I hope that the Trial Lawyers take out some full-page ads in all the major newspapers trumpeting the fact that the McLawsuit about the obese kids was tossed. It may seem counter-intuitive, but it was one of the best defenses against all this Tort Reform nonsense for them. It proves that lawsuits that do not belong in court, never get through the initial stage, and that silly Republican Legislation to protect their fat-cat corporate contributors is unnecessary.

Spend the money guys, do the ads, it may make a difference against the 1600 Crew propaganda department's efforts on Tort Reform!

And you're surprised because?

Yahoo/AP

The Mayor of Baltimore (D-Elected) took the 1600 Crew to task in the Democratic rebuttal to the weekly Presidential radio address on Saturday. He correctly claimed that the 1600 Crew has not fulfilled their pledge to fully fund local law and emergency services as they said they would after 9/11.

Your neglect of homeland defense funding has relegated 'the common defense' to yet another unfunded federal mandate for already cash-strapped cities — cities that are still reeling from federal and state tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy," O'Malley said in the Democrats' weekly radio address

Why is this surprising. Karl Rove sent the empty suit to NYC to get accolades for his "strength" and "decisiveness" while the rubble was still smoking. How could he have had those qualities on 9/11 (after he got done running around in AF One), and all the days immediately following, if on 9/10 he was getting dismissed as a corporately-owned dunderhead, incapable of much more than putting on the "right" suit? The imagery of Dubya standing on the rubble at the WTC was powerful, and used to its absolute best advantage by Rove and the 1600 Crew.

The reality is that there was never a chance in hell of the funding coming out of the DC, it would have meant a genuine commitment to working with numbers and making trade-offs that would have annoyed the beneficiaries of the Tax Cut.

1600 Crew: WIN

Tax-Paying Americans who wanted a promise kept: lose

On the Road...again

Just a quick note from the almost-middle of the country, Wichita Kansas

Took a few days off to visit friends out here in Kansas. Having a great time, but have not been able to write much. The economy out here is definitely suffering from the Bush Economic Destruction System (BEDS). I glanced at the local paper today, and one of the biggest employers out here, Raytheon is getting ready to shed about another 600 or so jobs here and in Salina in their Cessna Aircraft Division. Boeing has also laid off quite a few workers. I guess that the money quote for Wichita has to be the one about "Trusting Bush with my Daughter and Clinton with my JOB". Don't know if I would go that far with a family member, but hey, this is pretty Republican out here (although I think they elected a Democrat for Governor in the last gubernatorial election). But they still have that half-wit Brownback as a senator. --sigh--

On a more interesting note, if you ever pass through here, and like Chinese food, I think there are more Chinese restaurants per square mile than any place I have been recently outside of Beijing. My friends tell me that they are pretty good too. Interesting demographic for the midwest. Cold, Corn and Chinese Food....

Congrats and thanks to my 5,000th visitor, and Thank You to all 4,999 who visited also!

Thank You, and come back often!

Another MacNamara?

The last time there was a SECDEF this hands on, the folks on the line had to send a message to Washington asking permission to go to the bathroom.

Rummy tries to weasel out of his own words

Rummy released a statement trying to un-say what he said about draftees. Nice try, here's the statement from his original press conference:

The disadvantages to the individuals so brought in are notable. If you think back to when we had the draft, people were brought in; they were paid some fraction of what they could make in the civilian manpower market because they were without choices. Big categories were exempted -- people that were in college, people that were teaching, people that were married. It varied from time to time, but there were all kinds of exemptions. And what was left was sucked into the intake, trained for a period of months,and then went out, adding no value, no advantage, really, to the United States armed services over any sustained period of time, because the churning that took place, it took enormous amount of effort in terms of training, and then they were gone.

Sorry Rummy, you said it the press whores reported it. Live with it.

AF Pilots still in Article 32 hearing

The two Illinois Air National Guard pilots who are currently in Article 32 hearings for their part in the friendly-fire incident that killed four and wounded over half a dozen other Canadian soldiers are getting taken down by the Air Force to cover up for some major screw-ups by the senior officers/theatre commanders in Southwest Asia.

While the friendly-fire incident was both sad and regrettable, there is sufficient evidence released in the preliminary investigative report to suggest that there was a pretty big breakdown in communications, command and control between airborne and ground controllers, and the pilots. Under questioning at the Article 32 hearing, Air Force intelligence officers who worked in the area, and were/are responsible for knowing things like where friendly forces are, admitted that they knew nothing about Tarnak Farms (the firing range).

I am the last person who would want this white-washed, but it has the stink of "cover-up" and CYA for those of Flag Rank all over it. There was either too much command and control (no one knew who was actually in charge or had the right information), or not enough. Flag Officers and even Senior DoD officials are responsible for the rules-of-engagement and C3I (Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence) at the Theatre level, not Majors in the cockpit.

Even if they are not charged, Majors Schmidt and Umbach have to live with this event for the rest of their lives, especially Major Schmidt who dropped the ordnance. All the Flag Officers involved will eventually retire, get jobs at defense contractors and continue to be cockroaches forever.

Yes, but will he have a Blog?

Kevin Mitnick can get on the internet today. His probation is over. His consulting fees will probably be astronomical. Have a great life, Kevin. Get a Blog.

Word of mouth advertising works, any good businessperson knows that

The 1600 Crew have cancelled the recent $30 million dollar PR/Ad campaign to help make Muslims the world over feel better about their spiritual brothers and sisters who live here in the the US. Now, let's look at this for a minute. We are trying to convince Muslim men, women and children overseas, in countries that are predominantly Islamic, that we love them. It's our government's official line. We are spending money with a high-priced Madison Avenue advertising agency who knows how to sell not just the steak, but the sizzle. And it's not working.

Could it be commentators like Ann "kill 'em or convert 'em" Coulter? Could it be the Right Reverands Falwell, Robertson, Graham et.al. ?

Or could it just possibly be our own governments actions with the round-up and deportations of hundreds of Islamic Males, 16 and up, in many cases to country's that they had left decades before, and were caught here in the ultra-effficient post 9/11 INS Green Card Sweepstakes? I am sure that all the stories of their treatment made and will continue to make a worse impression than any ad campaign however slick paid for with our tax dollars.

But the so-called "Shared values" campaign, conceived by the former advertising executive Charlotte Beers, proved controversial with critics describing it as straightforward propaganda. ... "It was like this in the 1930s and the government was running commercials showing happy blacks in America," Youssef Ibrahim, a senior fellow at the US council on foreign relations told the Wall Street Journal. (there's an image that the Bushies really love) ... Mr Ibrahim said the government should examine its policies rather than simply saying "Gee, there are a lot of happy Muslims here"

But then this administration might be accused of being "sensitive" to some group other than rich white guys and the Saudi Royal Family.

Of course, I expect than none of the families and friends have anything but really, really nice things to say about the Ashcroft Justice Department, and the INS. Word of Mouth Advertising, it'll get ya every time, any businessperson knows it, except Mr. Never-made-a-buck-for-himself

A Victory for everyone? Well, sort of.

From Yahoo/AP

The Bush administration's point person for telecommunications policy, Assistant Commerce Secretary Nancy Victory, allowed wireless phone company lobbyists to help pay for a private reception at her home, and then 10 days later urged a policy change that benefited their industry.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. I am only actually amazed that these companies get to win these Victorys so cheaply.

Bush says "There's still prejudice holding people back."

Well, duh.

And some of it is due to your lack of leadership Mr. Uniter-not-a-Divider. In a speech this evening at the predominantly black First Baptist Church of Glenarden in suburban Washington, Mr. I -am-owned by-the far-right-wing, yes, our glorious leader pitched Unka Karl's carefully crafted message that he "cares" for African Americans. He brought Condi along, who blew kisses to the crowd, which went wild. He even trotted out a new Bushism for the occasion:

"This government of yours must welcome faith, not discriminate faith, as we deal with the future of this great country," he said.

W talked about many things, the crowd applauded again and again.

He forgot to mention he's renominated that racist bastard Charles Pickering to the federal bench. I wonder if they would have kept applauding.

Barbara Streisands legs

Now that I have your attention. Last night over on Tacitus' blog there was quite a heated discussion going between Tacitus, some guy named Gary (R), nerf(D), issuesguy(D), and a couple of others (R mostly) who crept in. Part of the discussion centered around the freepers not wanting to believe that the documents and service record info on awolbush.com and other places might actually be genuine. One of those involved declared that having (those) documents was about as believable as someone declaring that they saw Barabara Streisand shave her legs and signed an affidavit to prove it. THEY would not trust the document. Now what kind of argument is that? Please explain this to me... I'll be happy to listen. Yeesh, no wonder it's hard to have a rational conversation with a wingnut. Tax cuts and Nair...now I know what they're thinking.

New to the Blogroll, Brad Delong (a welcome addition) and Uggabugga...who I can't believe I didn't have on there. I guess I get so used to seeing the charts I did not realize I had not linked to the famous QuiddityQuack. Silly me.

Just say no to Republicans, or at least those who want to wreck the country

With all roads to Voodoo Economics leading to fiscal ruin, what happens when everybody Federal, State and Local finally runs out of money? Do we pay for essential services with our good looks? (Well maybe yours, mine would not get me too far)

As the governors of many states who have signed on with the Bush Economic Destruction System (BEDS) are finding out, life ain't so easy when you actually have to make choices. The days of competing to see who could "cut out the most fat" me or the legislature are over, and now they are having to make some hard choices. The Founding Fathers did not provide that the government be allowed to impose taxes because they were in love with the idea of Taxes, they were in love with the idea and ideal of the country they had created and wanted to it to be self-sustaining, not self-destructing.

It's sad when we all know that our tax policy is being driven by idiots like Grover Norquist and Steve Forbes, two guys who, I am sure, are expecting everything to just work out.

Well, all they need to do is tap their heels together and say those magic words...you know the ones: There's no place that Taxes, There's no place that Taxes.

Maybe they're delusional enough to believe it.

Convictions? Oh, that kind

RogerAiles gestures over to the Moonie Times in his blog, to an op-ed written by some doofus, named Ben Barber. Well ol' Ben has his opinions and I have mine but I agree with a part of the last paragraph in his editorial:

We elect a president to lead us, not follow our opinions. This president has more than enough convictions...

Yup, at least one that we know about for DWI, and he should have one for Desertion

If only the freepers knew when they speak truthfully even by accident...

Deficit Calling

Scene, a balmy evening 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, W is sitting on the couch eating pretzels and drinking O'Douls and...

ring ring

Hello

Yes, I'd like to speak to Mr. George Bush

Uh, wait a minute. Did you say George?

Yes Sir, Mr George W Bush

Oh, that's my father, can I take a message?

No sir, this is a personal matter, I need to speak to Mr. Bush about it

O.K.

Can you tell me when Mr. Bush will be home sir?

No, I do not see him too much anymore. I would be happy to have my brother give him a message

Thank you sir, can you give me your brother's number

No. Sorry, that's personal.

Are you sure this is not Mr George Bush, of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC?

No, this is uhhh...Walker Bush of uhhh....Crabgrass, Texas

Thank you sir, please ask Mr. Bush to call National Deficit Associates at 800-555-1212 and ask for any operator. You have a good evening sir.

ring ring

Don't answer that Laura, it's those damn telemarketers again.

Powell v Bush?

So Colin Powell has the temerity to oppose Bush on Affirmative Action? I know all the reasons that Powell calls himself a Republican, but if he's this out of step with the 1600 Crew philosophy there won't be any cushy job for him at Carlyle when Junior is tossed out next year. Whatever could he be thinking? Oh, about his fellow Americans. What a novel thought for someone in this administration.

Not about Oil

So Really it's not about oil. It's about democracy, sweetness and light. It's about being tough and showing Sadd-am that he can't be the Beast of the Mideast. It's about the Andover Cowboy proving that he's the Commander-in-Chief, during his Stand in the Sand in the "Tigris Smackdown 2", even if he did desert during the only war he was eligible to serve in. It was never about the oil.

Oh, you mean that there's a story in the Post about the new military regime being planned for Iraq, you know the country we are not going to war with?

The administration's plans, which are nearing completion, envision installing a civilian administration within months of a change of government, U.S. officials said. But the officials said that even under the best of circumstances, U.S. forces likely would remain at full strength in Iraq for months after a war ended, with a continued role for thousands of U.S. troops there for years to come.

But why do we need to help them establish an interim government, after all, it might not be the cradle of democracy but some say it's the cradle of civilization.

Ah, so Jo, what do you know?

A primary mission for U.S. forces if hostilities broke out would be to protect the country's oil fields and prevent rival factions from settling scores or grabbing territory. During the initial postwar phase, the U.S. military and its partners would concentrate on maintaining stability and searching for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, officials said.

So we protect the oil fields, I wonder why?

"We would want to internationalize it to the greatest extent possible because there's going to be a lot of work to be done. We want everyone who can make a contribution to be involved," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said in an interview. He added that the United Nations and European Union would likely play roles in the aftermath of any conflict. "Even if the military operation was conducted outside of a U.N. mandate, I think the U.N. would want to play a role."

I think Powell almost gave it all away here: "We want to Multinationalize it to the greatest extent possible..." but was probably stopped by Unka Karl from saying too much.

Finally, there's this little tidbit, which I am sure comes as a great comfort to the folks still waiting for relief from the liberation of their evil oppressors in Afghanistan:

Military commanders expect to handle humanitarian relief operations for several months and will work to clear roads, repair bridges and get water and electricity flowing. In a bid for speedy results, work would begin in some parts of the country even before other regions were under U.S. control, a Pentagon official said.

...

Among the key roles for U.S. forces would be the preservation of Iraq's borders against any sudden claims by neighbors and the defense of the country's oil fields. Oil revenue is considered the primary source of funds for Iraq's reconstruction, and the proceeds of the oil trade are seen as the glue most likely to hold the country's communities together.

Discussions have begun, with no conclusions yet, about who would run the oil business during the early postwar period and who would represent Iraq at meetings of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. A senior State Department official said the administration is committed to an "equal opportunity approach" to the development of Iraq and its oil industry.

HA HA HA HA HA like hell they have. Bush and Cheney between the two of them have probably had a silent auction in the Lincoln Bedroom for the rights to run the Oil Concession for Arbusto Mid-East. Who would represent Iraq at the OPEC meetings, how about a delegation from the 1600 Crew led by Don Evans, good guess?

Guess who wrote it?

A little Friday morning (or Saturday morning) quiz show to see if you are really awake. There's an excerpt of a Doctoral Thesis Proposal on the most excellent ReachM High Cowboy Noose Network blog. It's easy to spot, it's blockquoted in some shade of purple. Read it and try and guess who wrote it. No fair going to the end and cheating to see the author. When you finish,

Discuss among yourselves, and have a great Friday!

Then there's this

A really good link via skippy.

When will the mainstream media get around to this story? Not as long as the 1600 Crew keeps kissing their backsides.

Vets who are "rich" need not apply

via Atrios

Well, the Bush VA has done it yet again. According to this article from Yahoo News/AP the Administration has decided that Vets with a specific income-level who are filing for non-service related coverage can not have access to health care anymore. Well, that's interesting and once again proof that the 1600 Crew will help the those who help them, not to include Veterans.

The interesting part of the article is this quote from the Secretary of the VA, Anthony Principi who says:

I have a son in the Gulf, who may deploy to Iraq, who may fight a war if the president chooses. I think it sends a positive message that the VA is there for those who are disabled in uniform. The VA is there for men and women who come back and within the first two years need VA health care."

Let's look at that last sentence again:

The VA is there for men and women who come back and within the first two years need VA health care."

More disrespect every day, and it will never get better until the 1600 Crew is out of work.

I'm disgusted all over again.

I have seen the future, and it's not so great (OK, I'm kidding, sort of)

So there I sat, watching Crossfire not something I normally spend a lot of time doing, but tonight I was bored. The segment after Kenbo was on, they had Alex Castellanos one of those "Talking Head Republican Consultants" on to discuss the Bush Plan for Fairness to White Guys, and he inadvertently tipped what I think is the new Republican Strategery on the issue of Race in America.

All Democrats Are Racist Because We (You) Do Not Support the Reversal of Quotas and an End to Affirmative Action.

Look for this to become a major inclusion in the Republican Talking Points as Election 04 heats up in the coming months. Somehow, and I think it started tonight, the Right will begin screaming at ever-increasing volume that Democrats are Racist, because they believe that Louder is Right (no pun intended, well maybe a little).

Look for Ted Olsons next major brief to the Supreme Fools to be for the reversal of Brown v. Board of Education. All decisions and laws related to Slavery and Jim Crow will be reviewed shortly and decisions to file appeals will be announced before April 15, 2003 to ensure that all the yahoos who have confederate flags can register to vote in the next election if they are not registered already, or marrying their cousins.

Ken Adelman is a ______

You can fill in the blank.

Kenbo, mouthpiece for the Wolfowitz Policy Board, was on Crossfire tonight. He started out his invective with an attack on Scott Ritter, whom he accused of being a "paid agent" for the Iraqi Government because he got $400,000 from the Iraqis. Maybe it's true. If we are measuring Patriotism, Veracity and Loyalty by money received from the Iraqis, how do we count then the Patriotism, Veracity and Loyalty of the 1600 Crew and their cohorts through all their past and present business dealings with the Iraqis? I'm pretty sure that most generations Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld have made a buck or two off trading with the enemy via Carlyle and other contractors/manufacturers/agents.

Oh, and someone please remind Bob Novak to stop whining about "Bush Bashing", he was damn near apoplectic over Begalas comments tonight on Smirks admission to Yale. I thought he was going to pop a vein out of his forehead, he was so worked up.

Pretty Funny Stuff

The "C" student gets tuff

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, stepping into a politically charged affirmative action case, asserted today that a program of racial preferences for minority applicants at the University of Michigan was "divisive, unfair and impossible to square with the Constitution."

Which is of course what we've been saying about Clarence Thomas for years.

Calling Sherlock Holmes, please find my missing archives...

If you arrived here from a link to an archive, I apologize on behalf of the company that I am paying to make this work. There are just some days...

I'm sure they'll fix it. I hope.

Ah, thank you, Watson.

Mythical Missile Defense or Men (and Women)?

Just when you thought that maybe, just maybe it might be safe to be a soldier/sailor/airman/marine, we find that the Administration that seems to dislike draftees also does not have a real soft spot for their volunteers either. Now they talk a good game, mind you, but this cold, hard, little fact seems to put a different spin on the Pentagon and the 1600 Crew's priorities. There is according to a report issued on September 11, 2002 (love the irony) by the CDC which points out there is not enough funding to support the manufacture and distribution of some vaccines for our troops.

Sept 11, 2002 (CIDRAP News) – The Department of Defense's (DoD's) vaccine acquisition program is poorly organized and underfunded, making it difficult for the department to obtain important vaccines and maintain the supply of existing ones, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM). "Such an inefficient acquisition process puts military readiness at risk," the report states. "Some militarily important vaccines are not available, in whole or in part, because of poorly aligned acquisition processes and an inadequate commitment of financial resources rather than uncleared scientific or technological hurdles."

The numbers from the Defense Budget seem to support the building of a stoopid missile defense program, long discredited as a boondoggle for the Defense industry that is deeply entrenched with the 1600 Crew, as this op-ed piece from the Des Moines Register seems to point out

This is a problem. Iraq has admitted to making thousands of gallons of the botulinum toxin that can kill within hours. There's a vaccine available, but no money to have it made.

It's hard to make sense of this when defense spending rose from $275 billion in 1997 to $345 billion last year. The Pentagon projects it will need $408 billion by 2007. The increase will pay for everything from new missile systems to wage increases for soldiers. Isn't there a half-billion in there somewhere to ensure soldiers get the necessary shots?

So again, here we are, asking the question: Why does the 1600 Crew seem to say one thing to our troops, and support an entirely different policy?

As the 1600 Crew moves more and more troops into the Central Command Theatre of Operations, shouldn't our troops be getting the benefits of our Tax Dollars to support them with EVERYTHING they need? Why is our Tax Money going to defense contractors who produce nothing (but questionable results on the missile defense system) instead of one who produces a vaccine that will likely save our citizen-soldiers on the battlefield. I'm guessing here, but I think that if you asked the troops, they'd want anything that might bring them home alive. It's tough to appreciate whiz-bang missile defense when you are dead or dying of anthrax or botulism or some other biological agent. Grrrr.

Does the 1600 Crew really care?

Remember those mattress tags about prosecution, well coming to a CD or DVD near you...

In the you read it, you decide category is this article in SFGate.

Lobbyists for some of the nation's largest technology companies will use the new agreement to oppose efforts in Congress to broaden the rights of consumers, such as explicitly permitting viewers to make backup copies of DVDs for personal use or to copy songs onto handheld listening devices

...

The agreement also could affect fledgling efforts such as those by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Rick Boucher, D-Va., to further define consumers' rights under U.S. copyright laws. Lofgren, for example, wants it made clear that consumers would be allowed to resell or give away music or movies they purchase, and would be protected if they deliberately broke anti-piracy controls that interfere with these rights.

I think I decided. We're gonna get screwed. Again.

How long 'til the Chesapeake looks like a Garbage Dump?

From the Washington Post, whose readers elected this boob and now have to live with him for the next four years, here's the "new and improved " heh, to someone, Governor of Maryland, environmentalist and you know friend to the poor and downtrodden masses -heh-heh- and all around humanitarian, "Chopper Bob" Ehrlichs environmental philosophy:

Others noted that Ehrlich seemed to be targeting the environmental legacy of outgoing Gov. Parris N. Glendening before taking office.

While Glendening (D) is an ardent environmentalist for whom preserving land and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay have been cornerstones of his administration, Ehrlich did not make the environment a central theme of his campaign and often has voted against tightening environmental regulations in Congress.

Environmental activists said the dismissals seemed especially odd given that Ehrlich has yet to name new secretaries for the two departments. Ehrlich considered merging the departments into a single agency but has rejected the idea for now

I don't really have a dog in this fight not being a Marylander, other than being someone who enjoys fishing and hanging out on the Eastern Shore occasionally, so perhaps it's time to look somewhere else...

Wave bye-bye to the blue crabs, the sea trout, flounder, beaches and about any other reason to go to Maryland on vacation. And I'm pretty sure you Marylanders can wave bye-bye to the tourist revenue, who wants to vacation on the Love Canal? GOP = Get Over Pristine. Yeah, that's it.

Calling all FOIA specialists

Recently I blogged on 1LT Dubya's Dubious service. I received several emails suggesting that I try and follow up on the missing DD-214 from our glorious leaders service record. Some parts of his service record and another link here have been redacted (gee, that's a shocker) but mostly to conceal personal info like his social security number and his height, weight, and other alarmingly personal details (no, really). However, in the collections of documents that have been released by the Bush Campaign and others, (I think the Bush Campaign might have part of the original source material and we all know how great the media has been in following up on GWB materials, to paraphrase Fox, Ari Speaks they Transcribe. Apologies to the Boston Globe, they "broke" this story originally.

The DD-214, for those of you not familiar with them, is a document given to everyone who separates from the service. The reason it's important is that it contains a "characterization" of the serviceman/woman's service. Pre-1974 or so, the program used what were called Separation Program Codes or Numbers (they are called both) which gave a very interesting set of characterizations to the separating member. Some of them were things like "bed-wetter", "homosexual"; you get the picture. Now for the punchline, a person could get an Honorable Discharge and have an SPC/SPN which was far from a characterization of Honorable. This system was amended in the '70's after it became common knowledge about the unfairness of the system and its often arbitrary application to people who were ummmm not mainstream or just not great performers or just did not show up, but you couldn't Courts-Martial sound like anyone we know?

The reason that this could be interesting, is that the 214 for Bush was most likely prepared not in Texas, where he would have most likely been assured of protection, but by his last command which according to the records is what looks like some part of the Air Force Reserve Personnel Command in Colorado, where his DD-214 would have been prepared by someone who would have been a relatively disinterested clerk, who might have seen that he (1) was off flight status by virtue of disobeying an order to show up for his physical, (2) ordered to extra days to make up for "lost time", (3) officially cited in a fitness report for not "appearing in this base", I am unsure if a clerk in the Air Force would see any previous Officer Fitness reports or not, in the Navy they would not. Why a bad SPC/SPN would not have been easy to expunge is that it takes an appeal to the Board for Correction of Military Records for the appropriate branch of the service to remove or change an SPC/SPN, not any easy thing to do, even for someone who is politically connected.

Also, interestingly about a week after the Supreme Fools appointed Bush, the list of SPC/SPN's on the DoD website was removed as "unnecessary".

So this offers intriguing possibilities. If you are blogrolling me, please mention this to try and get the word out to a FOIA expert who might not read DEMVET (you mean there's someone who doesn't? I'm shocked! Just Shocked!!) Please e-mail any help you might think you can bring/suggestions to usndemvet-at-hotmail.com.

You never know what we'll find, after all, pre-1974 honorable service had many different meanings.

O'Neill speaks, Republican lawmakers with a brain should listen

Well it's doubtful that the White House can bring the kind of pressure to bear on Paul O'Neill it brought on John Diulio, like pressuring his employers, academic funding etc...after all O'Neill was modestly comfortable before joining the 1600 PA Crew. But now, in a surprising announcement from a group of tight-lipped advisors from the Oval Office sort-of-inner-circle, O'Neill has come out with a pretty interesting statement:

(AP) -- Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said the president's plan to eliminate taxes on corporate dividends will do little or nothing to improve the nation's economy. "I would not have done it," he said.

I guess that O'Neill's independence from the 1600 Crew will make it more difficult to be brought to heel by Rove & Co. However, he should expect to be taken off the 1600 Crew Christmas Card list.

Now take that for daring to tell the truth, you silly man, you!

Well they are

Tbogg has a great post here with a great headline. The post is about tax cuts...and some of the dissent in the Republican party (I advise those silly Republicans to check out some of my previous post about the Republican Party Soviet and discipline). George Voinovich might get a visit from one of DeLay's enforcers.

Republican senators gathering last Wednesday for their session-opening "retreat" should have been happy, blessed with a regained majority and a popular president. They were not. Instead, they complained bitterly of arrogance by the Bush administration, especially the Pentagon, in treatment of Congress along the road to war.

Well, you can't say we didn't warn them!

So are they revolting or just REVOLTING?

So what is a DeLay?

Here's a story from the Post that explains how the new and improved House of Representatives will work in the 108th Congress. Seems that Denny and Tom have (1) decided to scrap the seniority system for the House of Representatives; (2) scrap Denny's eight year term limit as Speaker, the only way to remove him now is by changing the majority of the House to the Democrats, and (3) begun cracking down on members ability to dissent from within their own (Republican) ranks...just think, if your representative is a Republican and you supported him/her and they do not toe the line, well hell you might as well have a Democratic representative...hey there's an idea!

So what is a DeLay? Well according to Merriam-Webster On-Line it's a verb, no it's a noun no its a...

Function: noun Date: 13th century 1 a : the act of delaying : the state of being delayed b : an instance of being delayed 2 : the time during which something is delayed

That something being getting into the 21st Century

or

Function: verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old French delaier, from de- + laier to leave, perhaps alteration of laissier, from Latin laxare to slacken, from laxus loose -- more at SLACK Date: 14th century transitive senses 1 : PUT OFF, POSTPONE 2 : to stop, detain, or hinder for a time

Yup, he's a verb alright. Except, I don't know if it's for a time or all time. Gosh, I hope it's not the latter.

Snotglass ya got me

But my arguments about "War Hero Bush" still stand. Gee, and I thought I was getting to give my first "fisking". Now I just have to save it all up for another day. In the bloggys is there a category for best impersonation of freeper by a real person?. It must've been the Ann Coulter link.

Ouch.

Mark Kleimans page sent me off the link at Snotglass, and it got me pretty annoyed (dya think?)

OK so most of this is a copy of what I left in his comments to this bit o'blog buggery.

You seem to misunderstand. Bush scored as low as you can score on his Aviator Qualifying Test, and was somehow selected to get into UPG-Jet training. Connections? Perhaps. You make a big deal of his being the exalted rank of Lieutenant like it's some huuuge accomplishment, hate to disappoint, but selection to 0-2/1LT is pretty much automatic, Criteria: never been courts-martialed, fitness reports not placing you in bottom 10% of all officers known to your evaluating officer presently or in the past or be in a training program that leads to a military specialty, like hmmm Aviator!. More telling is that GWB never seems to have reached beyond being a basic "nugget" pilot, which would be far more indicative of his true leadership skills and commitment to the professionalism of military aviation, progressing to (we don't use these distinctions in the USN/USMC/USCG) I think it's Senior and then Command Pilot. An Air force aviators attainment of these is noted by first a star (Senior Pilot) over the shield on their wings, and the then a wreath (Command Pilot) around the star. All the pictures I have seem of W, he only has a plain set of wings, and with the lack of creditable guard flying (due to being removed from flight status for self-imposed medical reasons, not showing up for his annual flight physical, a violation of the UCMJ by the way, if they chose to prosecute...failure to obey and conduct unbecoming an officer) there was no way he could ever have attained an advancement to Senior or Command Pilot, nor the rank of Captain (0-3), which does require that you do something to prove to your CO and and advancement board that you are fit to breath the same air they do and not be a total waste of space. Obviously that argument could not be made for 1/Lt Bush. He had time in service/time in grade to be considered for promotion, a military specialty that would have gotten him to at least be Major or higher with daddy's connections if he had moved up the Professional Aviator Career Ladder, but he left having done no more that waste taxpayers money and contributing nothing to his unit, his state or his country.

Might I also point out, that the military has a way of getting rid of low-ball hitters, some of them include: Non-Promotion, lack of support - as long as a person is trying and sincere, they are usually encouraged to stay around and keep on "going for it", folks who want to be gone generally get their wish and in pretty short order, usually administratively sometimes by committing a criminal act.

In short, I would not be too in love with the idea of making W out to be some kind of AF/ANG Fighter-Pilot hero. Can you now understand why he's so reluctant to really talk about his service, or have the Separation Program Code numbers on his DD-214 released? I doubt they show he was a real team player, and most likely indicate that he is not welcome back, unless the scenario in the movie Red Dawn is imminent (well, he'd find a way out of that too).

Whatever else he did, he did one thing right, showed some serious spine

At the end of the day, maybe it's that his career in politics is more than likely over, or that it was just the right thing to do. But Governor George Ryan of Illinois will be sleeping better for having shown that he is can look beyond the conservative talking points and the whining of the prosecutors who of course never make mistakes or abuse their discretion to put a notch in their belts and add to the tallies to be advertised at reelection time.

Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 residents of Death Row, and Pardoned four inmates from death row. Note to the freepers: a commutation does not mean they get a new suit, $50 and a bus ticket, they are still going to serve Life Sentences. Three of the 167 have some other conditions that might get them released earlier than the paupers graveyard, but I have not seen any information on it.

(CBS) Calling the death penalty process "arbitrary and capricious, and therefore immoral," Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 condemned inmates Saturday, clearing Illinois' death row in a move unprecedented in scale in U.S. history.

Ryan's action, just two days before he leaves office, and a day after he pardoned four other death row inmates, drew immediate angry reaction from prosecutors, the incoming governor and relatives of some of the victims.

[...]

Ryan said he sympathized with the families of the men, women and children who had been murdered, but he felt he had to act.

"I am not prepared to take the risk that we may execute an innocent person," he wrote in an overnight letter to the victims' families warning them of his plans

[...]

With death row inmates he had recently pardoned sitting in the audience as he spoke Saturday, Ryan framed the death penalty issue as "one of the great civil rights struggles of our time."

"Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error - error in determining guilt, and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die," Ryan said. "What effect was race having? What effect was poverty having?

"Because of all these reasons, today I am commuting the sentences of all death row inmates."

Ryan had halted all executions in the state nearly three years earlier after courts found that 13 Illinois death row inmates had been wrongly convicted since capital punishment resumed in 1977 - a period when 12 other inmates were executed.

[...]

Incoming Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, also criticized Ryan's action, calling blanket clemency "a big mistake." Each case should be reviewed individually, Blagojevich said. "You're talking about people who've committed murder."

Of course Blagojevich has a political future to attend to, which means among other things, keeping himself easily defensible from the Law and Order Republicans, and the conservatively-driven victims rights groups. I'll never feel emotionally or even understand intellectually what the families of victims of violent crimes go through, but I feel even worse at the "support" they get from Conservatives with an agenda. With the passage of time, their loved one has still been taken and so has in many cases the victims chance to heal and move on with their lives. Instead I wonder if they are being led to parrot the talking-points to move an agenda forward, that will neither bring back a loved one, stop another crime from being committed, but will most likely get someone elected on a "victims-rights" plank in a "law and order" platform. Shame on the parasites who play that game, instead of discourse for honest systemic reform and change, they cynically sow the seeds of discord, using those least able to be the messengers.

Maybe Mulder was right

The truth is out there. Bush refuses to help widows and classifies silly stuff at Area 51, our country's worst kept secret. Alberto Gonzales must have stayed up all night writing this one-pager for his boss.

Is the Draft Dead? or just AWOL for awhile?

Charlie Rangel of New York has introduced a bill to bring back the Draft, since he feels that our facing a war, or perhaps more than one war with the Deserter-in-Chief living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave requires that we all play to some extent or another. Congressman Rangel calls it Shared Sacrifice and would allow only honorable national service as an alternative to putting on a uniform and joining a unit involved in the fighting or providing support for units directly in harms way. No deferments for daddy's money, no deferments for college (we win, you can come back and finish up), no deferments for questionable medical conditions, there are bedpans at the VA that need to be taken care of. I like this picture. It has all Americans acting like there is something bigger than a Sunday Football game or the season premier of Friends, and might actually engender a generation that gives a shit and starts taking civic responsibility...because it's their America.

Don Rumsfeld recently made the comment that "he" did not need draftees, that they have never been very high-quality soldiers anyhow. They are not his wiz-bang special-forces snakeeaters. The comment was made in the context, one assumes of the Vietnam-era draftee, but I don't think so. I think he was being contemptuous of draftees back through WWII and maybe beyond that. I'm sure his words mean so much to the brave soldiers who watched their draftee-buddies fight and die in battles from the southern pacific to Normandy to Tet. That Rummy, such a fine bureaucrat with his pulse on the plight of the average serviceman and woman.

I support Charlie Rangel. I support a draft. No one wants to see war happen, but when or if it does, then we're all involved and no one gets a free pass out. Period.

Newspeak, getcher Newspeak here

I really like the "newest" feature that's up on Orcinus. He says that his Newspeak watch is going to be a regular feature. I'll be a regular watcher and hope I find an example or two to toss into the lists.

Welcome fellow Navy Veteran Renaissance Grouch

to the blogroll. A nicely designed and very readable site...check the Renaissance Grouch out today! You'll be glad you did!

...dateline Utah...republicans charged with eating their young, news at 11

via BuzzFlash and the The Salt Lake City Tribune proof exists that the Republicans eat their young and then gloat about it. Apparently 11 local Republican Leaders supported (wait for it now...) a Democrat who was qualified to hold office and were dismissed from the local Republican Party power structure by the members of the local star chamber.

Salt Lake County Republican Party officials Thursday night reaffirmed their decision to oust 11 local leaders for the offense of publicly endorsing a Democrat in the November election. The action flew in the face of public criticisms of the so-called loyalty purge by top Republican office-holders, including Gov. Mike Leavitt. It also went against the recommendation of the party's governing Central Committee.

Some of the committee members scoffed at that claim, noting that a few of the purged individuals have since compared the Republican Party's loyalty demands to those of the Communist Party. Member Sarah Thompson argued against restoring the dissidents to their former party offices in what she said would be an act of "misplaced sympathy." At a recent Central Committee meeting Thompson compared the Republican officers' endorsement of a Democrat to committing acts of murder, rape or child abuse.

Spokesmen for the council could not be reached, as they were out gathering kittens from local animal shelters as offerings to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD to grant them favor after completion of their first ritual of eating of the young. Others could not be reached as they were trying to find copies of "Purges for Dummies" to see if they missed anything like deportations, executions, torture or the ever-popular "retouching the photos" to make dissidents disappear.

Unka Joe, Unka Dick and Unka Karl will be so proud.

Welcome Cowboy Kahlil

Drop by and visit the campfire. There's great commentary there.

Another great blog

Another INS round-up...Yippee-Ki-Ay

I understand that we all feel a little less than comfortable in the presence of someone who appears a bit middle-eastern looking (hmmm....like me). And I know that all of the 9/11 terrorists were from Arabic Countries, including the sponsor of all things Bush, Saudi Arabia. But this "registration" thing is patently ridiculous on it's face. Would we also be registering Brits if Richard Reid had been successful (well, we would not have known he was responsible if he had been successful, would we? Except by brilliant deduction or his relatives appearing on "Crossing Over"). Today's Post talks about the "registrations" going on in the DC area; and how badly the INS is both understaffed and apparently underprepared for the influx of "registrants".

It's never been easy to have the courage in this country to admit that we do not racially profile those we viscerally dislike, especially when we feel threatened, we did it to the Japanese who were citizens after Pearl Harbor but not the Germans or Italians, they were allowed to be as free as they liked. In fact white Axis POW's were treated better than African-American and Japanese citizens who were soldiers. Now, 60-plus years later when we have the chance to prove it was wrong to behave like idiots, we have allowed the Administration to take the lead in proving that what happened in WWII was not a fluke, and that our character as a nation is weaker than we admitted after proving that we were wanting on the first try. -sigh-

Once the future did look so bright, I just had to wear shades..but not now

* Gut House ethics rules to enable lobbyists to cater fine meals for members’ offices. Carving a loophole in the 1995 Gift Ban (passed by a 422-6 vote) “big enough to drive a delivery truck through,” this rule change allows members to exceed the normal $50 dollar limit on gifts of “perishable food” to their offices. Now, the limit will apply not to the congressperson’s office as a whole, but to each staff member in that office individually. Now grateful drug company lobbyists can lavish a $1,000 banquet on Mr. DeLay’s office as long as there are 20 staffers there to share it with him. Although he voted for the Gift Ban in 1995, DeLay called it a “ridiculous charade of public virtue.” In the DeLay house, venality needn’t bother to pay any tribute to virtue.
* End embarrassing votes to raise the national debt. Now that Bush policies are producing deficits as far as the eye can see, conservatives are in the uncomfortable position of voting to raise the national debt limit every few months. Originally, conservatives demanded a separate vote before the debt limits could be exceeded to serve as a roadblock to big spending liberals. But now these embarrassing votes are likely to get downright mortifying if any portion of the president’s new tax giveaway passes. Ever ready to abandon principle for partisanship, DeLay found the answer. If you can’t get rid of the growing debt, get rid of the embarrassing vote. Under the new rules, if a spending or tax bill is passed that requires an increase in the debt limit there’s no need for a separate vote. The vote on the bill represents an automatic vote to increase the debt. Tax cut and borrow anyone?
* Mandate voodoo economic analysis of budget bills so tax cuts appear cost-free. The “dynamic scoring” method of analyzing the budgetary impact of tax cuts has long been favored by practitioners of what Daddy Bush called “voodoo economics.” Basically, it is a way of claiming that tax cuts will generate increased tax revenues because of economic growth. Presto, DeLay’s House needn’t worry about how much money will be lost when President Bush cuts taxes. With a “dynamic” approach, giving tax breaks to wealthy contributors can be sold as not costing anything. But don’t bet your Social Security on it. If this nonsense sounds familiar, it should: this was exactly how Ronald Reagan sold his huge tax cuts that helped triple the national debt in eight years.

And to think between Dubya and Delay we'll be lucky if the country makes it to 2004 to even have an election.

Using Voodoo Economics to perform miracles sounds about right, Heaven Forbid someone actually keep any sort of Fiscal Discipline in Washington, and remember the bigger you are, the more you get especially if you gave a buck or two to Bush in 2000.

Borrow and Spend, the conservative philosophy for the 21st Century, brought to you by your friendly Credit-Card Conservatives

What Bush Not Clear...surely you jest?

Here's Fineman:

President Bush — by nature a doer, not an explainer — thinks he’s said enough to prepare the nation and the world for war. He hasn’t. The clarity of purpose that seemed so evident after 9/11 has been lost. He needs to re-explain things, to his own people and to the planet.

No, it's because he can't present a clear and convincing rationale for anything except bankrupting the economy, and mortgaging our kids future to make his rich friends richer.

why that's nothing but a cheap two-bit ring from a crackerback jox

So come on in out of the cornstarch and dry your mukluks off by the cellophane.

Net Zer0

So does this mean that if we keep electing a Bush to the Oval Office, we'll all emigrate to find work and leave the country to the Native Americans? Not that they would object, in fact they'd probably load our bags on the boat for us and wave as we sailed off over the horizon.

Even the White House has admitted that the "new" round of Tax Cuts for the sky-box class will not create many, if any, new jobs. Well, when you are paying off your Corporate Masters, living large in public housing and collecting a paycheck from someone else, why should you care whether or not anyone else works?

Hello Beijing, oh sorry you can't hear me

Mark Kleiman brings us the news that China is now blocking all blogger.com sites. I wonder if they can read the Daily Kos (on Moveable Type) if they can't read Ann Salisbury's wonderful Two Tears in a Bucket (on blogger.com). Certainly they are missing out on my biting wit and sarcasm. But then I guess that there are not too many Democratic Veterans in the PRC anyhow.

Goodbye Beijing.

...with a Wink and a Nod, the Cat's out of the Bag

Looks like the British Foreign Secretary, let the cat out of the bag today. Apparently the Brits made a list, checked it twice and found that they were concerned with keeping a reasonable supply of Oil available. Imagine that. According to the Guardian Jack Straw admitted what we have all suspected for quite some time; it's about the Oil, Stupid. According to the Guardian, oil was one of seven items that are considered essential to the National Security of the UK.

The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, yesterday pinpointed for the first time security of energy sources as a key priority of British foreign policy.

Mr Straw listed energy as one of seven foreign policy priorities when he addressed a meeting of 150 British ambassadors in London.

The US and British governments officially deny that oil is a factor in the looming war with Iraq, but some ministers and officials in Whitehall say privately that oil is more important in the calculation than weapons of mass destruction.

From ZOGBY

Slightly more than one in three voters (35%) say they would vote to re-elect President Bush regardless of who he runs against, compared to 56% who would not vote to re-elect Bush regardless of who he runs against.

WingNut Judges Redux Part Deux

Starting Now.

Here's a link to the Senate, where you can find your Senator's information (if you don't already have this it).

WingNut Judges redux

Seems that Dubya wants to renominate some of his favorite wingnut judges to the Federal Bench again. I'm not a lawyer, but this whole Federal Judge thing is just a little beyond frightening.

Why? Because these folks are life-tenured to sit on the bench. They are therefore allowed to bring all their foibles, stupid ideas, brilliant ideas, true genius or raving lunacy with them and keep it with them under those robes and impose it on you or me at any given moment. It makes not a bit of difference if what they want to do is right, you and I have to wait (unless we're being found not guilty in a criminal case) for some other Judge to perhaps get relief, if we are unfortunate enough to face one of them, from the Left or the Right.

To me this is the most important reason to have judges who are truly Justices (I know it's a Supreme Court kinda word...but hey...) sitting on the bench. The inclusion of ideologues, while not inescapable, should be by random chance not by deliberate design.

Is it just me or is/was this one of the main (re)payments being made to the Christian Right?

And the answer is:

Before splitting from the cold and windy eastern midwest for the sunny, cold and windy plains of North Florida, I asked if someone could Lexis/Nexis the number of time that Dubya actually mentioned Osama bin Laden during 2002. Just a statistic I felt sure might show us all the depth of his commitment to the apprehension of the "evil one". Well faithful reader Trevor, no blog/homepage (sorry)...get a blog Trevor!!! looked it up for us. And here it is

From Trevor:

Could only do the easy one at work - searching the Public Papers of the Presidents for GWB speeches, a combined "usama" (the PPoP preferred spelling) and "al-Qaida" seach produced 205 hits between 1/1/02 and 12/31/02. Searching for "usama or osama" in the same time frame returned 34 hits. PPoP covers all public utterances from the President, so many of these came in interviews or "remarks" after events, not necessarily speeches. From a casual glance, in fact, many occurrences of "usama" or "qaida" in these items really appeared in questions from interviewers or reporters, rather than coming out of GBW's own mouth.

Well that certainly puts an interesting spin on it. Not even once a day, in fact barely once every ten days, and most of the mentions/attributions were from people in the same room as Dubya.

I guess that's what he's Smirking about, he thinks we forgot. --sigh--

An Anti-Flag Burning Amendment? No. Not. Never.

Mark Kleiman blogs that the Flag Burning Amendment is about to raise its ugly head again. Gee, I wonder what took the non-overreaching Republican party so long to trot this one out. I think that the "anger" that those who support this "amendment" feel is just that left-over resentment at the Vietnam-Era peace protesters who burned flags, and draft cards in protest. They (the righties) never got over the whole 1st Amendment aspect of the act of burning the flag. Sorry kidz, that's discourse and dissent, just what those pesky framers were inviting by including such things as the First Amendment. Oh, Sorry. You forgot.

Another point he talks about from a link to the Volokh Conspiracy is including in the Amendment the banning of the "Stars and Bars" as part of the deal. Yeah, that would fly.

Note: It will be interesting to see how the Chickenhawks come out on this one... Rep Randy Cunningham (not a chickenhawk) is the lead co-sponsor or whatever they call the guy who solicits other members.

Check it out!

The link to Matt Stoller's blog is working...check him out. Great commentary, incisive writing, high-powered analysis of topical issues. And he blogrolled me. Happy New Year!

Double Taxation my A$$!

I have not had much time since leaving the Magic Kingdom to read about the "new" republican tax strategery, but the jist seems to be about dividends...so being a good little clone, I googled it. and came up with a really interesting link to a Business Week article discussing dividends.

"In 1978, 66.5% of companies listed on the major stock exchanges paid dividends. By 1999, however, that percentage had fallen to 20.8%"

[...snip]

Why the change? Some critics of "double taxation" blame the increasing rarity of dividends on the fact that such payouts are taxed as ordinary income, while capital gains enjoy deferred taxation until the stock is sold. Then they are taxed at a much lower rate. But that disparity existed both before and after the late 1970s, when dividends were in vogue, so it doesn't adequately explain the recent decline. Since 1978, tax rates on capital gains and on ordinary income have both dropped and at about the same rate. Moreover, an increasing portion of stock holdings are now in tax-deferred retirement accounts, where tax calculations aren't relevant.

As amazing as it appears, seems someone at the White House may not be doing their homework. I can't believe that there are that many fewer companies paying out dividends anymore. Well, I guess that George and the boyz are employing at least one from every company in the current administration, which I guess is a new kind of Welfare Reform...for the rich.

Then I guess their lips have to be moving....

Not such a secret that the boyz in the house...the white one have a huge hard-on for all things secret and spooky. Now, courtesy of the AG, John "I am not a racist" Ashcroft, our tax dollars get to be spent by the Justice Department keeping documents heretofore available to all of us under the decades-old Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) buried at more expense to all of us. Silly me, I thought our government was strapped for cash. Adam Clymer of the NY Times (remember him? one of BushCo's favorite reporters) has this story here's a nice little quote:

A telling example came in late 2001 when Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) announced the new policy on the Freedom of Information Act, a move that attracted relatively little public attention.

Although the new policy for dealing with the 1966 statute that has opened millions of pages of government records to scholars, reporters and the public was announced after Sept. 11, it had been planned well before the attacks. (italics are mine)

The Ashcroft directive encouraged federal agencies to reject requests for documents if there was any legal basis to do so, promising that the Justice Department would defend them in court. It was a stark reversal of the policy set eight years earlier, when the Clinton administration told agencies to make records available whenever they could, even if the law provided a reason not to, so long as there was no "foreseeable harm" from the release.

My, my, my whatever could they want to hide?

Bush to go back to NYC, will he be welcome?

It seems that the Republicans have decided to have their 2004 convention in New York City, home of a lot of pissed-off people who are still waiting for some post-9/11 relief that was promised by the unelected fraud standing on a pile of rubble. Here's the note from the AP:

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Republican Party leaders on Monday chose New York as the site for their 2004 presidential nominating convention.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the decision "a tremendous boost for the city."

"New York is exactly the right place for the president and for the Republican Party," Bloomberg said. The convention will be held the week of Aug. 30. "The labor unions have been exceptionally helpful in assuring the Republican Party that the convention will go forward with all of the efficiencies" the party wanted, he said.

So exactly when do they get their aid? Before or after the top Bush contributors? And will there be new First Amendment Zones...say starting in Bergan County and ending at the GW (no pun intended) Bridge so Dubya won't have to see that not all love and worship him?

I think it would be really funny if the unions sucker-punched the Republicans who just LOVE the unions and struck on the eve of the convention...just because they can (or could).

Life after Disney, 2003 edition....

Need to go to a place where they will pick you up by the ankles, shake out all your pockets and make the imprint on your credit card flatter than if it had been run over by a steamroller? Take a trip to Disney...the Florida resort is suffering from over-pricing and understaffing. I guess they are working on supporting the FL economy 'til the new tax laws get passed. Seriously, talking to a couple of ex-Dizknee employees, it was interesting to learn that the "true believers" among them make like $6 an hour average, but get great benefits which they love. Hmmmm, perhaps we could adjourn to a local library and devise system of government that pays little, but provides for the basic needs of our workers, while ensuring that those on Top stay there....interesting idea. See you at the library, there's a nice one in London where we can have our first meeting.

1. Medicare, CHIP and Headstart headed towards the far-right black hole

   
   

2. A Legitimate Cause for War, long past

   
   

3. Oh, Please

   
   
4. It's just a thought but....In
   
5. Frames...we don't need no stinkin'
   
6. And the 1/30/03 ticker sez...Dow
   
7. To Rush with Luuuuv... So
   
8. Gotta Read it, NOW!If you
   
9. The Other Stupid George, Part
   
10. The Other Stupid Georgewas on