Deep Thought

If God created the world in seven days, George W. Bush can definitely destroy it in less.

A Week To Remember

As a certified (and probably certifiably insane at this point) member of the news addict crowd in the U.S., I've been cycling through moments of horror and disbelief over the past few days. This has certainly been a week for the books in the annals of U.S. presidential politics.

The horror comes as George W. Bush performs one of the signature moves of his non-governance: raise a valid problem affecting the country and suggest such a ridiculous solution that hardly anyone takes the time to remove their jaw from the floor to stop what he and his murdurous, greedy band of criminal cronies intend to inflict on the world.

It's almost predictable. Junior Caligula swoops in with his proverbial big stick, reprises his role as The Decider, and makes horrible situations worse (often acting a few days later than a real leader would begin showing, you know, competent leadership). Exhibit A: Attacking Iraq as a response to 9/11; Exhibit B: the 2004 tsunami that devastated coastal communities of the Indian Ocean; Exhibit C: Hurricane Katrina.

This week we collectively watched in disbelief as a $700 billion bailout to Wall Street muckity-mucks was proposed to the nation in a prime-time address complete with dilated pupils and vacant expressions of a man who had absolutely no clue what he was talkin' about. $700 billion? Really? Which orifice did they pull that number from? Here's a clue:

"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."

Forbes.com

My friends, this is your brain country on drugs. Or is it lunacy?

I've come to the conclusion that John McCain, for example, has completely lost his mind. I almost feel sorry for him but the schadenfreude is too succulent to pass up. A consensus seems to be building that the abrupt "suspension" of his campaign to fly back to Washington was a total disaster.

If McCain believed he could be a constructive force by busting his way into the center of the delicate negotiations between congressional Democrats and Republicans and the White House, he was not able to show it Thursday. The objective evidence is that things got worse, not better, in Washington after McCain arrived. There was a tentative deal, announced by congressional leaders, when McCain landed in Washington. Hours later, there was chaos and recriminations.

WashingtonPost.com

The quote marks are used above because in this case "suspension" equals "surge". Instead of truly putting the breaks on their campaign, the Palin-McCain ticket had surrogates all over the place peddling spin, both nominees gabbed with Katie Couric (but not David Letterman, which may prove to be a fatal mistake to their bid for the White House), ads continued to run across numerous media markets, and the donate button was kept live on the website.

Can anyone tell me how that all equals a suspension?

Suspension of belief, perhaps. It makes me nearly speechless to see McCain's campaign engage in blunder after blunder after blunder.

Make the focus of the campaign on experience? Pick Sarah Palin, who has little to none.

Make the focus of the campaign on McCain's Mavericky Jedi Skills to bring about change? Use the Karl Rove Handbook to attack the media, lie repeatedly about your opponent's positions, and shut down any investigations with an army of lawyers that could lead to embarrasment.

Make the focus of the campaign on McCain's steady hand in crises? Allow him to behave batshit loony by suspending his campaign, swooping in to Washington to attend a meeting he allegedly called for, saying very little at aforementioned meeting, threatening to pull out of the first debate, and then claim to have won the thing before it even occurs.

...all while there are legitimate problems that need to be solved with the financial system.

Yup, the behavior pattern definitely rings a dissonant chord that we've all been hearing for the past eightish years.

The Madness of King George

Junior Caligula:

Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

John McSame:

Asked if he thought Mr. Obama was an appeaser — the Democratic candidate has said he would be willing to meet with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran — Mr. McCain sidestepped and said, "I think that Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terrorism, that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans, that wants to wipe Israel off the map, who denies the Holocaust. That’s what I think Senator Obama ought to explain to the American people.'’

Heads are asploding all over the place from the left/sane side of the political spectrum at the audacity of Junior to say such things, but really, why should we expect anything different from The Decider and his sycophants? I grow weary of playing defense against an insane opponent. It reminds me of the saying: Never argue with an idiot. They bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

With over 80% of the country agreeing that the United States is on the wrong track, it's become inevitable that he will continue to descend into King Lear-like madness as the end of his term approaches (and it can't come fast enough!) Many of us have known for a long, long time how appalling the actions of this regime have been from day one. Unfortunately, these type of diplomatic temper tantrums will continue until Bush's base snaps out of their patriotic stupor and join the rest of us in bringing the charade to an end.

I know what my preferred method of reprimand is, but if history gets written by untainted quills, that will only be the beginning. George's legacy may end up being more like his actual Nazi-appeasing grandfather's than other various tragic figures.

As the end of Act II approaches, my hope is that the country won't write a sequel in November.

Headlined Understatement of All Time

Oy.

Bush leaving some problems to successors

WASHINGTON - Over and over, President Bush confidently promised to "solve problems, not pass them on to future presidents and future generations." As the clock runs out on his eight-year presidency, a tall stack of troubles remain and Bush's words ring hollow.

Iraq, budget deficits, the looming insolvency of Social Security and Medicare, high health and energy costs, a national immigration mess — the next president will inherit these problems in January 2009.

linkage

Some problems? Some? May I add to the lacking list of already craptacular items? That was rhetorical, I'm gonna do it anyway and take the You Forgot Poland! track.

You forgot...

• Government-sanctioned torture
• Government-sanctioned rendition flights so other countries can torture
• Secret prisons where said torture takes place
• Non-secret prisons where said torture takes place
• the usage of the Magna Carta as toilet paper (probably during torture sessions)

Other examples? There's a plethora

Immigrant Children Get the SCHIP Shaft

Do you hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth today as the news spreads of The Decider's latest exercise of Compassionate Conservativism?

Well, you'll hear none of that from this bloguero; because while SCHIP is a vitally important program that provides essential health care needs to people all across the land, the fact is - the Democrat-controlled Congress threw immigrant children off the bridge last month as they were crossing it to the city limits of Vetoville.

My Congressman, Raúl Grijalva, explained in an Op/Ed on September 19th

During debate, House Republicans sabotaged the spirit of bipartisanship by including an unconnected issue to public health. In their efforts to restate the bill's prohibition of services for undocumented immigrants in their motion to recommit, Republicans needlessly attacked legal, taxpaying, permanent residents.

More discouraging to the fate of children's health insurance is the looming threat of a veto from the president and the uphill battle that must be waged to gather the needed votes to override that veto.

In addition to his veto threat, the president has instituted administrative regulations that will severely limit the number of children covered by this program, thereby violating the original Children's Health Insurance law. These new regulations also violate the Administrative Procedures Act, the law that provides direction for federal rulemaking, as the regulations were announced without official notice or comment periods, which formal administrative rule-making regulations require.

linkage

While Grijalva voted for the reconciliation bill with the Senate, he and other Hispanic (esa palabra me da asco!) lawmakers raised their objections continuously through the process. Going a step further, Rep. Dennis Kucinich voted against it to make a deliberate point that we should not discriminate against any children when it comes to basic human needs such as healthcare.

“I cannot support legislation which extends health coverage to some children while openly denying it to other children,” Kucinich said. “This legislation is woefully inadequate: and I will not support it.

“Legal immigrant children deserve the same quality health care as other children receive. It is Congress’ responsibility to address the main difficulties that prevent legal immigrant children from gaining access to health care. Today, we did exactly the opposite.

linkage

There are many dynamics at play today. We have a situation where SCHIP no longer has any funding, period, which is unacceptable and despicable; but we also see that, once again, scapegoats are picked off the outer edges of the herd without so much as a flinch from the shepherds. In another Op/Ed via the editorial team of El Diario/La Prensa, my thoughts on this are further articulated.

We’ll take your money and run. That’s the message that Congress in effect delivered last week when it excluded immigrant families from its reauthorization of a health insurance program.

Immigrant families with legal status—and many undocumented ones as well—pay taxes that cover vital social services. But when health insurance is out of reach for their children, many are still rendered ineligible for healthcare coverage known as SCHIP.

SCHIP—State Children’s Health Insurance Program—was designed to bridge uninsured children to healthcare. National and local organizations have campaigned for an expanded SCHIP that would reach the 9 million uninsured children in the United States.

linkage

If the U.S.-born American people can spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a war of choice to make sure that bullets and tanks are provided to military personnel, then why are we even having a debate on access to medical care?

It's shameful, and while I despise George Bush's actions today, the fact is many people were/are willing to sell out other children if they can get their own. Enough is Enough.

Más información

• NCLR's reaction
• National Conference of State Legislature's analysis
• National Immigration Law Center's statement

Happy Opposite Day!

If yesterday was Talk Like a Pirate Day, then today must be Opposite Day, because that's the only logical explanation for this

President Bush challenged Democrats on Thursday to quickly renew a popular children's health insurance program and accused them of "putting poor children at risk so they can score political points in Washington."

The State Children's Health Insurance Program is set to expire Sept. 30. Democrats are pushing for a $35 billion spending increase for SCHIP, and Bush has threatened to veto it. He has proposed a $5 billion increase.

linkage

The Decider strikes again. I wonder if he's related to the Peruvian meteorite that struck earlier in the week, because I'm having the same reaction to contact with his lies.

Bush Lackeys Held In Contempt

Here's some forward movement on accountability.

The House Judiciary Committee voted contempt of Congress citations Wednesday against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and President Bush's former legal counselor, Harriet Miers.

The 22-17 vote — which would sanction for pair for failure to comply with subpoenas on the firings of several federal prosecutors — advanced the citation to the full House.

A senior Democratic official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the House itself likely would take up the citations after Congress' August recess. The official declined to speak on the record because no date had been set for the House vote.

linkage

As you will note in the last paragraph, this is only a baby step. I don't understand why Congress will now wait until after their August vacation recess to push forward with something actionable. It's not as if the White House will suddenly have an avalanche of remorse for using the Constitution as toilet paper. They have become quite the experts at defying democratic precedents.

BushCo is going to run out the clock unless things start moving more quickly up on the Hill. Comity be damned - the only way the checks and balances will be restored is if Congress exerts its Constitutionally mandated powers con ganas.

Excuse me while I go on about my day instead of holding my breath.

KeithO Speaks For Me!

His most powerful Special Comment yet



Crooks and Liars has the transcript

Phew, Glad My Gun Is Safe!

I will never, ever, ever understand the amount of mind control that the gun lobby has in this country, especially over the political class.

A White House spokesman said President Bush was horrified by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia.

"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino said

ddd

Dozens of dead at a college campus and the Warmonger in Chief sends out a dog whistle call to the NRA that they needn't worry about their weapons.

Plus, don't get me started on the irony of this man calling for the rule of law to be upheld. Get real, George.

There is No More Patience

"Crappy Anniversary" to quote clammyc.

And right on cue, George the Terrible issues his annual edict to the lowly servants of his empire: Be Patient™

With Democrats pushing for an end to the Iraq war now entering its fifth year, President Bush pleaded for more patience Monday, saying success is possible but "will take months, not days or weeks."

[snip]

He said his plan to send 21,500 additional U.S. troops to secure Baghdad and Iraq's troubled Anbar Province "will need more time to take effect," especially since fewer than half of the troop reinforcements have yet arrived in the capital. Bush added: "There will be good days and bad days ahead as the security plan unfolds."

Now, from the archives of this blog:

[Patience] It might be a virtue, but that doesn't mean it's an unlimited resource

Appealing for patience, President Bush said Friday that Americans should not be discouraged by setbacks in Iraq and said the nation must realize that it is still at war.

The president said there is a "tendency of folks is to say this really isn't a war. People kind of want to slip to the comfortable."

linkage

Now why do I have a rabid case of deja vu? Perhaps because of this, this, this, and this. It's the same, tired speech that takes no responsibility for mistakes made, it's "more of the same" as Kerry remarked during the debates last year.

With all the patience George has for Iraq, I bet Iran wishes their whole situation was based on a typo instead of oil and natural gas.

It should also be noted that the Patience Meme was trotted out during another dark bleat of incompetence on the record of this government: Hurricane Katrina

"Certainly there are some people out there that are frustrated and in need of assistance," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One. "We've got to continue working to get them assistance as quickly as we can."

"There is some level of patience that obviously is going to be required during this time," he said, "but we are urging everyone to move forward as quickly as they can to get people the help they need."

How's that working out?

Are we going to have to wait another year until the political will boils every Congresscritter out of the Sopa de Poder cooking on the stove? Clearly this current batch of ingredients has lost any ability to satiate my appetite for Peas Peace.

In fact, let's fire the chef too.

Toy Soldiers for the Infantile (P)resident

This made me chuckle

Gerardo Fernandez, a spokesman for Mexico's leftist Democratic Revolution Party, arrived in Merida on Monday with a bag of toy soldiers he wanted to leave at Bush's hotel so he could "play war and leave the world alone." When he couldn't get through security, he climbed a rusty metal barrier and threw the plastic troops into the secured area.

What are some other ingenious ways to protest Shrub? Aside from calling in Mayan priests to re-sanctify the tierra desecrated by his very presence.

Here's an idea: let's pelt him with lettuce since he is so fond of picking it alongside lowly subjects of his corporatocracy.

They toured an American military center that provides basic medical care and physician training. He and Laura Bush handed out hygiene kits at an elementary school. And the president helped to load lettuce headed for the global market onto a truck at a farmers' cooperative.

That, he said later, was ''one of the great experiences of my presidency.''

Any other suggestions?

I'm On AntiBiotics For Ted Barlow Disease

Ted Barlow Disease, you ask? I'll let skippy asplain:

let's face it, blogging is only slightly more productive than masturbation, and a whole lot less fun. unless you are one of the lucky more talented ones, like kevin drum, who gets paid for blogging, or lucky smart ones, like atrios or kos who have big enough audiences to command mucho dinero for their blogads, chances are you won't get paid enough for blogging to buy a 15 inch monitor.

so that means one of two things, if you're a blogger. you are either really stupid and like to waste your time writing inconsequential things probably nobody ever reads, or you are incredibly dedicated to your political ideals and believe you are making a difference, as well as being really stupid and like to waste your time writing inconsequential things probably nobody ever reads.

either way, sooner or later reality is going to sneak up and bite you on the ass. and the reality is, life away from the keyboard is not only more tangible and fulfilling than blogging, it's ultimately better on your lower back and eye strain.

Well, amigos, life has certainly snuck up and bit me on the nalgas, BUT, ironically, the political firestorm that is documented everyday in blogtopia (yes! skippy coined that phrase), is the main culprit.

As I type, George Bush is on my television outlining an escalation to the war in Iraq. The propaganda masters have spent the past few days leaking information about the speech, so there isn't much new bile to digest. I'm not a fan of chewing on bile to begin with, so it's not surprising that the prospect of expansive war has taken my mood to a dark place.

It is quite depressing that the War Machine will continue to grind out human chorizo for the unforeseeable future. These prospects have sucked the energy out of me to write, which is why I have not been around as much for the past couple of weeks. There are also technical issues with my laptop, but that's for another day. So, rest assured that I'm on antibiotics from Ted Barlow Disease but there will probably be some lingering symptoms until this pseudo-medical condition improves.

By the way, here is one pill that I'm digesting at the moment, courtesy of AmericaSaysNO.org:

EXTRICATION, NOT ESCALATION

The American people voted for peace last November. Bush is ignoring the people's will and moving to escalate. Is this Viet Nam all over again? Join us! This is the time of our regular weekly peace vigil (since 1981), but this Thursday people are protesting all over the country so lets have a big turnout. Remember - parking meters not enforced after 5 pm so there is plenty of parking.

January 11, 2007
From: 05:00 PM until 06:00 PM

Address

FEDERAL BUILDING, DOWNTOWN 300 W. CONGRESS

Directions

CONGRESS AND GRANADA

The United for Peace and Justice Coalition has another pill, but unfortunately my health insurance doesn't pay enough of the premium for me to take it on January 27th. My heart and my solidarity are with those who do stand up physically against these Imperial Warmongers.

As I've written countless times, I'm sick of war. It is coming to the point, however, that it is making me sick of documenting the atrocities.

To my fellow PeaceMongers - Namaste