Why Would You Vote for a Democrat?

How about "are you better of now than you were eight years ago?"

Score Another One For the Democrafts

Oh wait, that didn't come out right. But I was sure they were running things now, no more Bush/Cheney crap.

Today our legislators passed immunity from prosecution for all of the telcos that let the government tap US citizens without warrants. That just about rubber stamps Cheney's "the President can do whatever he wants" theory.

Early during the day I read a piece of speculation that the President will pre-emptively pardon everyone involved in any of the interagations or decisions revolving on the United States using torture.

We're not much of a nation for consequences any more are we? You ever get the feeling there are two sets of rules?

Quest communications deserves some kind of medal. I don't know who would give it, but they really do deserve it. When the government came calling, Quest wouldn't give them access without a warrant. What do you want to bet that whatever they might have had in government contracts in the past Quest will find themselves without them now.

Congress immunizes illegal searches.
The President pardons torturers (I bet).
The Fed bails out greedy businesses.

Doesn't sound like of the people by the people for the people.

The people have to remove their shoes at the airport - like that adds 1% to our safety.
The people are paying $4/gal and more for gas.
The people have to wonder who might be listening on their phone.
The people have to worry about extraordinary rendition and waterboarding.

Sounds more like of the police by the corporations for the wealthy.

Maybe it is time for some kind of Libertarian Revolution - the reformation of the American Dream.

I watched Weeds tonight. Part of this week's episode had the uncle looking through the grandmother's house for her hidden cash. She'd survived the Holocaust and was saving money for bribes for when the government turned on her again. That should sound foolish. I'm not sure it does.

Well, maybe something cool will happen tomorrow and I will forget to think about how disappointed I am in our government again.

And Now, The Other Shoe

Quick, while Bush is still President...

BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.

The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations.

The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India. The contracts, which would run for one to two years and are relatively small by industry standards, would nonetheless give the companies an advantage in bidding on future contracts in a country that many experts consider to be the best hope for a large-scale increase in oil production.

New York Times

"There's a word for that..."

Nope, Not Surprised

Iraq Invasion? No.

Karl RoveDick Cheney explains why invading Iraq would be stupid...



Ok, so it was a long time ago. Still sounds about right though.

Well Done, Bushies! Make me Proud to be an American

You people make me sick.

The birth of the U.S. torture program. - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine: "The most damning part of this damning article comes at its conclusion, when Mayer explains that, following years of brutal interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the Sept. 11 attacks, it remains entirely unclear which parts of his voluminous confessions are true and which were fabricated—either to end his abuse or to inflate his ego."

Well Said

A Friend Suggests...

C'mon, someone take one for the team!

We The People

It seems fitting that this editorial should come out on July 4, even more so since the act that precipitated it was scheduled not by the anchor but by the President. I've thought for quite some time that since during the previous presidential administration the congress set the bar for impeachment at lying under oath to a question about personal private behavior that no person in their right mind could possibly think the actions of the current administration haven't eclipsed that standard by far.

Sometimes it feels like the weight of all the issues just makes it too hard to know where to begin, and the parsed, nuanced, practiced actions and statements all clearly calibrated to stay just far enough in front of the rule of law are such that we can feel the pointlessness of trying to enforce the spirit of those laws. But we are a nation of laws, or at least we are supposed to be; and our leaders should actually be held to a higher standard of conduct than one as defined as the letter of the law or maybe the NFL standard of "just don't get caught."

Haven't we long since reached "enough is enough?" Haven't enough rules been re-written? Hasn't our reputation and standing declined enough? Haven't enough people died? Isn't it blindingly clear? And if so, why don't we do something?

From the open wastes of TV political coverage comes an opinion not spoon fed by the administration:



And with that I call upon you to take the lead from the piece above and add your weight. All the opinion of dissent in this nation needs is courage and momentum. Add to that momentum. On independence day, before you go about your celebration of our freedom, exercise some of your personal responsibility for that freedom. Call or write your representatives in congress and let them know you agree with the piece above, that enough is enough, and that this President's administration has severed the public trust to such a degree as to merit impeachment. Maybe the impeachment will fail, maybe it will succeed and will fail in the Senate, or maybe it will remove the sitting president from office; but regardless of the outcome, the actions on record more than demand the action.

You can get the contact information for your representatives HERE.

Take a moment and send your support of disciplinary action, and then forward the message to others you know and ask them to do the same. Something more than half of us didn't vote for the man in the first place, I can't believe that at least that many wouldn't want him held accountable for the actions of his administration. Why are we sitting on our hands? I don't ask people reading my page to forward it to others normally. I make this one exception. The opportunity is now. Let's make sure we don't miss it.

And, so the post isn't a total downer...

Happy 4th of July!

Ok, yes, I know, she's Australian. But the apparel is appropriate.

Well, Fuck.

Think Progress » BREAKING: Bush Commutes Libby Sentence: "President Bush has spared Scooter Libby from a 2½-year prison term, issuing an order that commutes his sentence, the AP reports. Libby will never have to go to jail, but his felony conviction will stand, and he will still serve two years probation and owe $250,000 in fines."

0.2 Score Years Ago...

Think Progress » Four Years Later: “Bring ‘Em On”: "There are some who feel like that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring them on."

Just Wrong

Boing Boing: President's office says FOIA request will take 200 years!: "'The White House 'anti-drug' office told me today that it would take 200 years(!) for them to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request I recently filed.'"

Equal Time I Guess

Bottom News of the Week: George Bush is the Superhero of HIV/AIDS Relief | Jewcy.com: "Today, Bush upped the ante by asking Congress to double the size of his AIDS program, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, to $30 billion over five years. That is a vast commitment that dwarfs past efforts and provides real hope that humanity will in the near future be able to stop the spread of AIDS—an accomplishment akin, at least in scope, to putting a man on the moon. This disease has killed 25 million people so far and is still raging out of control, especially in Africa."

Bush Anoints Himself as the Insurer of Constitutional Government in Emergency | The Progressive

The Progressive: "ith scarcely a mention in the mainstream media, President Bush has ordered up a plan for responding to a catastrophic attack.
In a new National Security Presidential Directive, Bush lays out his plans for dealing with a “catastrophic emergency.”

Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility “for ensuring constitutional government.”"

Crap Weasels

Think Progress » Pump bid for New Orleans may have been rigged.: "When the Army Corps of Engineers solicited bids for drainage pumps for New Orleans, “it copied the specifications — typos and all — from the catalog of the manufacturer that ultimately won the $32 million contract."

A Clean Bill

The President has charged Congress with delivering to him a clean bill for the supplemental funding of the "War on Terror." Seems he feels like he should be able to order up legislation like he's at Burger King: "hold the deadline, no pork projects, special orders don't upset us..."

I'm not sure that a bill for this funding without a deadline for troop withdrawal and without domestic funding measures is such a bad thing. How about this:

Whereas the United States of America states clearly that Saddam Hussein and the sovereign nation of Iraq had no participation in the events of 9/11...

and Whereas the United States of America states clearly that prior to our invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq that Saddam Hussein, his government, and the country he ruled were not providing support to the terrorist network known as Al Qaeda...

and Whereas the United States of America states clearly that regardless of any earlier protestations claiming the sovereign nation of Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction that we recognize there were none....

and Whereas the United States of America states clearly that regardless of any speech given by our President and any of his subordinates claiming that Iraqi agents sought to buy weapons grade nuclear material from Niger that we know those attempts never happened...

The congress of the United States of America authorizes this last supplemental funding bill for the maintenance of the military efforts currently underway in Iraq and Afghanistan. Any further funding of these efforts must be accomplished through the standard appropriations process and this congress states unequivocally that no other military operations are currently authorized.

There. No artificial time line. No partisan pork. All the funding he's asking for.

Sign it.

Did I Hear Him Right?