Condi's solution to terrorism

The surest way to deal with the ever-increasing numbers of terrorist activities around the globe, despite the assurances of Bush and Rice that the US is winning the "war on terr'r" is to stop publishing the embarrassing statistics. Especially since last year, the administration's attempt to minimize the numbers of attacks was found out and the report revised upward.

So--no more annual report on global terrorism will be submitted by the new Secretary of State. What you don't know won't hurt us, is Condi's motto.

SIP's

This new Amazon.com feature sounds interesting. Surely it's the basis for a new board game.

Where's the outrage?

I'm not posting regularly, nor am I on the Internet much, because I've traveled to Tucson for several days and I'm relegated to a dialup connection. As a result, I haven't yet checked Google News to see whazzup, but I'll be surprised to find broad Mainstream Media coverage of this outrageous situation about armored vehicles in Iraq. This is at least the third separate time the absence of armor has been raised--the first being within three months of the invasion, the second being about three months ago, and still we've heard only muttering about it on the MSM.

Meanwhile, Rumsfeld and his Pentagon minions roll on: mindless, callous criminals. And more mindless and callous than they? The MSM, which allows them to do so.

Bottoming out

I watched a Frontline TV show last night called, "The Architect," devoted entirely to Karl Rove's activities and orchestration of Bush's electoral victories and the rightward shift of the Republican Party which has lately led to its dominance in Washington and in many states. (Rove declined to be interviewed for the show, which was co-produced by The Washington Post).

There wasn't anything new in the presentation for those who follow politics and certainly not for those who've read Bush's Brain. However, I came away with a sense that the Democrats, at least many of those in power, haven't yet gotten the fundamental message that the show demonstrated: The way to achieve political strength is by perseverance, organization and adherence to a resonant message.

Rove's drive as a youth stemmed from Goldwater's loss in 1964, a nadir for the Republicans--and for the conservative message. From that bottom there was nowhere to go but up, and within four years Nixon was in the White House, followed by Ford and, with but a brief interruption, twelve more years of conservative rule, during which time Rove rose in the ranks and plied his trade by carving out a rightist agenda of low taxes and capitalist hegemony over the economy. Now, in the wake of the damaged image of the Democrats caused by the Clinton presidency he's aligned the Republicans with the religious right, armed them with the "war on terror" and is firmly in control of the national pulse, with his candidate cutting taxes, cutting federal programs, opting out of treaties, gaining control over strategic resources and calling out religious slogans to invigorate the faithful to support his causes and his candidate.

Well, the Democrats have bottomed out now, too. True, the 2004 presidential race was no landslide, like those Goldwater, Dukakis and McGovern suffered. But the Republicans hold sway in all three branches of the federal government and in most states. They have the resonant messages, too: The "Ownership society and "culture of life" being the latest.

I've been watching the Democrats in Congress lately, during the confirmation hearings of Gonzales, Rice, Negroponte, and, most recently the brute, John Bolton. With the exception of a few members of Congress, including Barbara Boxer, from my state, the Democrats' responses are pitiful. Where's the outrage that Bush should appoint and retain those who failed America during his first term? Where's the message that we've lost thousands of lives and limbs in a war that wasn't necessary? Where's the demand that these appointees be held accountable?

The Democrats must adopt an affirmative message and a consistent means of its delivery. It has always been the party of the working class, it has always protected minorities, the environment, the freedoms of press and religion--causes that are now being trampled by the Republicans. The Democrats must now, as any twelve-stepper knows, acknowledge the problem and, one day at a time, take steps--forward and upward--to correct it, starting at the bottom.

What a difference two years make

The famous square in Baghdad where Saddam Hussein's statute was toppled is shown in two telling photos. The first--taken as the statue fell--shows the square nearly empty except for some US troops and a handful of Iraqis. The second, taken last week, shows tens of thousands of Iraqis rallying to protest the US occupation. (BTW, during the first anniversary of the invasion the square was blocked off for security reasons.)

What a dolt

When asked about his reaction to attending the funeral of the Pope our wise and eloquent leader had this to say: "It was one of the highlights of my presidency."

I kid you not. The quote was reported by no less stolidly supportive newspaper that the Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/pope/3124793

And there's this gem casting aspersions on the worth of US debt securities, as reported by the NYT. Not just doltish, demonic.

The Whites get richer and the Blacks get poorer

Economic recovery? Compassionate Conservatism? Equality, Liberty, "Ownership"? Not for Blacks in America.

I don't get it

Nascar Dads, whose wages, in real terms, are steadily declining under Bush, and big-money investors, whose stocks--according to the S&P 500, the broadest-based index of publicly-traded shares--have experienced the first-ever five-year decline during Bush's watch, are among his ardent supporters. This can't be based on his performance. How come he's still their darling? Any ideas? What am I missing?

Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Given the benefits of pot smoking--new ones being discovered every day--who caused marijuana to be made illegal? There are hundreds of sites, but check out this succinct recital of the feds' intervention in the age-old debate.

Give that woman a Pulitzer

for reporting, under the name Riverbend, what the media is like in Iraq. And in the US, too.

Surprise, surprise

The US will likely establish permanent military bases in Afghanistan. Who'da thunkit?

Irrational irrationality

Who the fuck does Alan Greenspan think he is, all of a sudden becoming the guru on oil supply, demand and prices? He may know something about the effect of interest rates on borrowing and investing, but what magic wand has he recently found to predict inflation based on future oil exploration and refining?
Answer: None.

Many oil experts, contrary to Greenspan's expression of calm, orderly adjustment to price and demand, have told us the Earth's production has now peaked and that as the third-world nations, particularly India and China, adopt our Western ways, we're in for decades of creeping price increases. And maybe not creeping.

Under the radar

The lack of job growth under Bush's regime (worst job rebound after a recession--ever), as well as the decline, in real terms, of purchasing power by workers over the last four years, has simply slipped out of public debate. We hear about economic growth in the US economy, but there's no expansion of earnings for the middle and lower classes.

Of course, what else should I expect from a Republican administration.

What a fucking hypocrite

Bush has sunk to a new low--and he's already a champion at such sinking--with his "right"eous expressions of condolences on the death of the Pope. Only once in Bush's administration did the Pope's intervention become relevant, and Bush, bleeding from the lips to make war, cast aside the Pope's prayers that he not invade Iraq.

Bush is a man incapable of truth and principle. He's a monster, now, hopefully, seen as capable of anything--even lies and politics--while pretending to mourn over the death of a true spokesman of peace.

If there's an afterlife--as Bush and his minions claim--may Bush rot in Hell.

Neocon-fection

Here's the video of William Kristol's pie-ing during a speech at a college in Indiana--a Red State, BTW.

Is this the United States we want?

We're building military outposts throughout the world, holding onto territories by force of arms. Anyone who fails to see the parallels to all other previously failed empires is blind.

April Fool!

The price of gasoline hits new highs, the number of new jobs created plummets, inflation continues to increase, the stock market drops--and the deceased Terry Schiavo and the soon-to-be deceased Pope dominate the American news. The MSM in the second quarter of 2005 is carrying on in its new-found tradition: without insight, without truth, without genuine purpose except to entertain in the basest manner possible. For Bloomberg's story about today's economic developments, check out this story from a source that's decidedly pro-business.

Democracy?

These stories of lists of persons who're escorted out of Bush's "conversations" is old news, I know. But they trouble me still because nobody's complaining about them. Have we become so complacent about the loss of first amendment rights peaceably to assemble and express ourselves that it's no longer outrageous when those rights are obviously breached?

Riverbend remembers

Two years after the US invasion of Iraq, this woman blogger in Baghdad recalls the endless days and nights of shock and awe--and tells us how hard it is to be shocked and awed by the misery of occupation anymore.

Is it just me?

Or are there a few others out there who don't have a clue why the US peddles armaments to other nations, even momentarily "friendly" nations. I mean, whazzup with that?