A New Years Eve to Remember.

Most New Year's Eve celebrations I don't recall what was done. However, sitting here in Washington over-looking Rock Creek Park there is one New Years Eve that was memorable. I had traveled down from New York by train to enjoy an early New Years Eve dinner with my girfriend before getting on the Amtrak Nightowl back to New York as I had to work overnight in midtown Manhattan.
We went for our early dinner at Beducci's restaurant in Dupont Circle and then headed home where I had a few hours before the train was to leave Union Station. We laid down for a little snuggle and both fell asleep. When I awoke I had fifteen minutes to catch the train which would have been impossible. I wound up having to drive all the way to New York using my girlfriends car to get to work on time after having missed the train.
Even though I had had very little sleep that day I got a second wind in the cold air. I celebrated New Years Eve in my own little way on the Delaware Turnpike (I-95). As midnight came I was one of the few cars on the road. So I flashed my headlights and honked the horn to bring in the New Year. I was rewarded by being able to see the midnight fireworks put on by City of Wilmington Delaware. Sometimes being alone on New Years Eve on a dark highway can be as memorable as house full people. I still recall that drive on New Years Eve in 1998 with fondness even though I was alone. The thing is to enjoy every moment you have in your own special way no matter where you are.

Bad Border Bill? Bad for whom?

One of the nicer presents that the House Congress people gave to the American Taxpayer was passage of a strict Border Security Bill. Which finally starts to address the illegal immigration problem and increases National Security at the same time.
However the Washington Post had an editorial on Wednesday "Bad Border Bill". To which I say bad for whom? I think it's great that Congress is finally trying to deal with the Fedaral problem of border security and illegal immigration and making stiffer penalties for those who violate our laws, use fradualte documents and also go after the businesses that circuminvent employment laws by hiring illegal aliens. Our laws must be respected. Unfortuntely many Democrats along with President Bush and the Liberal media like the Washington Post seemed to have missed that point
Meanwhile, it's the middle class taxpayers who are paying to subsidize this illegal workforce. Not only with increased crime in communities but, also through programs like President Bush's "Faith Based Intiative" where churches provide food kitchens for the illegals to have their meals and the middle class taxpayer pay for that too.

Marquis de Bush.

This quote from an article in today's Washington Post sure does explain a lot.

""In the past, presidents set up buffers to distance themselves from covert action," said A. John Radsan, assistant general counsel at the CIA from 2002 to 2004. "But this president, who is breaking down the boundaries between covert action and conventional war, seems to relish the secret findings and the dirty details of operations."

Sounds like Bush has been reading too many Tom Clancy novels and making them policy.

IRAQ: Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

I'm sure they don't listen to The Who in Iraq but, this story says it all. Gee, I must have missed the ticker tape parade the Iraqis they gave to Vice President Dick "we'll be greeted as liberators" Cheney when he was over there recently too.

Uh Oh! Incurious George Bush is reading again!

Our "wartime" President is reading again looks like we will need some more body bags soon!
Jim Lobe has the details.

Where have you gone James Madison?

In light of yet another Bush Administration scandal this one affecting our liberty. This quote keeps going through my mind:


"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."

~James Madison

George W. Bush dictator in the training?

"The current Bush administration is easily the most secretive, classified-happy administration in history, and probably with good reason, given its cronyism, incompetent appointments, blunders, corruption and deceptions. Compared with George W. Bush, Richard Nixon is beginning to look normal."

Charley Reese has a humorous, yet disturbing look at our dictator in the making George Bush.

If you think that is over the top let's roll back the tape to December 20, 2000 when then "President Elect" George Bush said this after meeting with some Congressional leaders:

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENT-ELECT: "I told all four that there were going to be some times where we don't agree with each other. But that's OK. If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

In light of the recent reports of domestic spying by the NSA all Americans should be concerned about the Bush administration in regards to their plans if this is the way he thinks!

A Patriot Act Christmas

You better watch out!
You better not cry!
You better not disagree!
I'm telling you why.
Dick Cheney is coming to town.

NSA sees you when you're sleeping
FBI knows when you're awake
CIA knows if you've been bad or good
So you better be good for goodness sake.
Or we will take you away to some undisclosed prison where no one will know where you are and you will not be allowed to speak to a lawyer and we may or may not torure you.

Merry Christmas from the Bush Administration!

The Bush Administration gets it wrong AGAIN!

It seems President Bush and those around him can not seem to tell the truth or at a minimum get their facts straight. Maybe its because they have tried to manipulate the American public opinion so much that they just tell whatever they think is reality. The latest piece of Bushit to come out of Whitehouse was President Bush's claim that media leaks tipped off Bin Laden about how the U.S. was monitoring his use of a particular phone he used and he stopped using it. Like a lot of what is coming out of the White House these days it is just plain WRONG! Read about the ever widening credability gap between what the Bush administration says and what the truth is.

The Crazy Chiristian Cult Sesaon

I have just return back to Washington after spending a few days back on the Isle of Long. It seems every year the neighborhood just gets crazier crazier at Christmas time. This year was no exception as it reached new levels in guady displays in the Christian Cult celebration of the Baby Jesus.
New on the over the top displays I see in the neighborhood is the Bubble. This is a five plastic inflatable mockup of the glass bubbles that you shake and watch the fake snow flakes swirl around inside on some scene only these are on the lawn and are lit from the inside and each has a continuious rain of snowflakes thanks to some type of blower that is part of the display. Tacky you bet!
Then there are the seven foot tall inflatable Santas and Snowmen that reach their inflated height by electric blowers and internal lights too. However once the blowers are shut off they collapse onto the lawn. While heading to the Supermarket in the morning I drove past a few of the houses that had these collapsed Santas and Snowmen laying about and was reminded that this is what certain sections of Iraq might have looked like from time to time. Except they are real bodies strewn around the streets not inflatable decorations that are all over my suburban neighborhood. Seeing these deflated human like forms just gave me an erie feeling and just got me thinking about the carnage in Iraq and made me feel me feel that Jesus would be apalled at the guady displays in our neighborhoods.

Ted Stevens Alaskan Oil Blues

Wearing his Hulk tie Alaska's Senator Ted Stevens lost a battle to have oil companies drill for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Trying to use the National Security ruse that we needed to drill for oil there but, never mentioning how much Alaskan citizens would benefit from the oil revenues he lost when he could not muster the votes. As a U.S. taxpayer I often wonder why is it that only Alaska gets revenue from the Oil pumped off of Federal land in Alaska should not all citizens of the U.S. get a yearly check like the citizens in Alaska? Maybe if the oil in this refuge is so important to National Security Senator Stevens would not mind if the U.S. nationalized the refuge and used the oil to supply our Military needs and thereby save ALL U.S. taxpayers some money. If you think he would go for that idea I have a bridge to nowhere in Alaska that I liked to sell.

Dick Cheney's circular reasoning!

"Vice President Richard Cheney said the September 11 attacks on the United States could have been averted, if the government had the power to monitor electronic communications inside the country. "

Hey Vice President Cheney how about this little tidbit of information in the Presidential Daily Breifing not picked up by the George Bush's "National Security Advisor" the clueless Condi Rice let alone Boy George Bush:

"BEN-VENISTE: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6 PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?

RICE: I believe the title was, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States."

Maybe if SOMEONE in this administration had raised some questions about this PDR and maybe gone to the FISA courts for wiretaps but, they didn't. The Bush Administration had the power to wiretap and go to the FISA courts back in 2001 but, they did not use it. It's laughable for Cheny to try and justify Bush's secret wiretaps against American citizens in light of the administrations inaction prior to 9/11 when they had they power and in light of the PDR of August 6th 2001 did not use it. It was thie Bush adminstrations failure to invoke an investigation and not the failure of the FISA statue to prevent the attacks of 9/11.

Protecting Bush's bubble

A little known provision of the Patriot Act will increase the White House spin machines ability to control dissent against their policies at the expense of the liberty and rights of the American citizenry. The amount of media manipulation and stifling of criticism by the administration is already pretty great but, why does there have to be increased suppression against AMERICANS who have a beef with the administration. It is another step in whittling away at the freedom and liberties of the American people under the guise of the Patriot Act and it should be stopped NOW!

Some WMD mysteriously shows up in Iraq.

With President Bush under fire for authorizing NSA spying on American citizens it should surprise no one that a Weapon of Mass Distraction shows up in Iraq. His name is Dick Cheney.

Good news from Washington!

It's not often these days that there is good news out of Washington D.C. but yesterday there were two good things. One was the Senate rejection of the extension of the Patriot Act and on the other side of Congress was the passage of a strict immigration bill that is a step in the right direction in protecting our borders and removing the burden from middle class taxpayers who subsidize the illegal workers so groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce can have cheap labor for their members. It was good news that some of the special interests did not get their way but, personally I am very dissapointed that my Congressman ,Tim Bishop a democrat of New York voted against it's passage. You know his office will be getting a call from this middle class taxpayer on Monday. It seems most of the Congressional Democratics just don't get the message that is coming loud and clear from the American taxpayers and voters about the growing illegal immigrant problem in our communities and it's root cause the failure of the Federal ZGovernment to protect our borders. At least most of the Republicans in congress do!

Here's what's irresponsible President Bush!

"President Bush yesterday called Democratic criticism of the Iraq war "irresponsible".."

George Bush should read this article by Paul Sperry to see how irresponsible his administration was in the run up to the war.

Neighborhood Watch.

There is a corner house for rent at the end of my block here in Centereach Long Island. I noticed it on Tuesday as I turned onto my street after traveling back from Washington. I never knew or saw the person(s) who were livng there as I lived further down the block. What I did notice that they had put up a flagpole and from it flew the Marine flag. It flew all the time and was even lit at night. I last saw it about three weeks ago. On Tuesday as I came home and turned the corner I first noticed the FOR RENT sign on the lawn and then noticed that the flag pole was gone too. Where had the people gone? Was he a Marine reservists called back to Iraq? I just don't know. I hope one day again see that flagpole back flying the Marine Corp flag. At which time I will make a point to thank him for his service. President Bush yesterday gave a speech where he finally started to take the blame for the Iraq war.. That's great George. But, it's people like my neghbor down the street who take the bullets and force of the explosions from the roadside bombs.They are the ones who deserve our thanks and our hope that they get back home soon...

Free Press? My butt!

With all the talk about freedom and democracy by President Dum Dum the story of how the U.S. is paying media outlets to plant stories in Iraq media once again brings down the credibilty of the U.S. another notch. But as usual in the morally bankrupt Bush administration there is again no accountabilty. As both Donald Rumsfeld and National Security advisor Steven Hadley both say they knew were unaware of the program. Which asks the question: Who the Hell is in charge of this war? Apparently no one. Joe Conason has a piece that explains why the actions of the Bush administration in regards to this Bozo operation are harmful to the U.S.A in the long run.

Bush, Justice and lack of accountability

The Bush administration continues to trample American rights and justice but, makes sure that Bush and those around him at the top have no accountability. The Energy Bill is just one example where Vice President Cheney met behind closed doors with executives from the oil , gas and other energy companies but, refused to tell the American people who they meet with. Now comes this story from the Washington Post about changes at the Department of Justice and another attempt by the Bush administraton to hide deeds and descions that affect our democracy without leaving their fingerprints.

Death in Paradise

Seven days ago I was wandering around Palencia Belize. It's a little village of about 500 people whose mainstreet is a sidewalk that meanders past the small colorful houses. It is still an unspoiled little piece of Paradise located along the southern coast of Belize. I had dropped my girlfriend off at the small Anglican church so she could pray for my soul while I walked along the path through the village. I came upon an out door coffee house under a thatched roof and most amazing to me was that they had high speed internet access. Since I had some time I decided to send some emails. After I was done and heading out my ears picked up the audio of a TV tuned to CNN. The newscaster was reporting on the deaths of four American soldiers killed in Iraq as I stepped onto the path.
I arrived back in Washington late last night and awoke this morning that four American soldiers had died in Iraq. After six days of sailing, out of communication with the "wired" It still feels as if I have never left.

Too long on land again.

Tomorrow I will be taking an early morning flight south heading down to Central America where I will board a 42 foot Catamaran on Sunday and be sailing around the Cays off the Belize coast. I won't miss the cell phone the high speed internet connection or the 24 hour news channels. I especially won't miss the sickening feeling I get when I find out that another bucnch of American soldiers have been killed in Iraq.
I'll be back in a week when I hope the news will be better.

Truth, Justice and the American Pays! American Taxpayer that is.

Well Cark Kent they ain't! I guess it should not surprise anyone that the U.S. would plant stories in Iraqi media by paying for them. It should also not surprise anyone who was planting the the stories. Exactly who is this Lincoln Group?

Memo to Ken Mehlman

To: Ken Mehlman
National Republican Committe Chairman

Ken what the f&% were you thinking when you told the Republicans to oppose the rising outcry over the illegal immigration problems in this country. Don't you realize that this outcry and anger by the citizens of this country is because of the failures of the Bush Administration and previous administrations to protect and secure our borders. The Republicans have usually been much better on the invasion of the 13 million illegal aliens who have broken our laws than the Democrats. But, it now appears you are advising them to ignore the voters and coddle the criminals. Yes Ken when someone breaks the laws of our country they are criminals. Can you get that through your head! If you need more proof of crimes I suggest you look here.

Another milestone!

Just noticed that I've made my two hundredth post. Not bad considering my first post was made on March 13th 2005.

The Bush Plan for Victory clarified.

"National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
The following document articulates the broad strategy the President set forth in 2003 and provides an update on our progress as well as the challenges remaining.
"The United States has no intention of determining the precise form of Iraq's new government. That choice belongs to the Iraqi people. Yet, we will ensure that one brutal dictator is not replaced by another. "- February 26, 2005

Holy Shah of Iran Batman! Haven't we gone down this road before?

The Bush plan for victory?

Yesterday the Bush bubble traveled to Annapolis where the White House perception managment team made sure that the backdrop behind Bush which read "Plan for Victory" was in every camera camera shot. Funny, I never saw Bush in 2003 stand in front of a screen that had "Plan for War" maybe because there was none beyond sending troops into Baghdad. However I do recall a "Mission Accomplished" banner.
Bush tells us that he will not cut and run. So is he saying we will stay and die? They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Welcome to the Bush Iraq plan. The Bush plan is I will drive the car off the cliff but, I won't blink. That's fine but, unfortunately we are all in the back seat.

France finally gets it! Bush still does not!

After 200 public buildings were damaged along with 10,000 cars destroyed in rioting earlier this month France is starting to put curbs on immigration. Four years after 9/11 and and after 13 million illegals who have crossed our borders President Bush is just starting to "talk" about the illegal immigration in the United States meantime middle class taxpayers continue to pay the bill so the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups can have cheap labor for their members while U.S. taxpayers subsidize the workers through their taxes. Bush, McCain, Kennedy and the Democrats still do not get it

Conservative pundit cowards and no debate in Scarborough Country.

There is an interesting behind the scenes account of how Conservative media pundit Brent Bozell strong armed the weasels at MSNBC specifically those at the Joe Scarborough's show Scarborough Country on Monday. It's funny how blowhard conservatives from Rush Limbaugh, Brent Bozell to guys like Joe Scarborough don't like to have anyone on to challange and debate them but, they love to hear themselves talk. Fair and balanced my butt! Read all about it here.

More fish to fry!

With the guilty plea of Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham yesterday it was not a long time to go from this to this. While this taxpayer has very little sympathy for any corrupt Congressmen at least Cunningham pleaded guilty in a relatively short time. But, as Josh Marshal at TPM points out there may be other fish to fry in this matter. To which I say turn up the heat!

Bush on the border.

President takes his photo op road show to Arizona todayto make a speech on border security. Let's hope he does not try and use the "A" word amnesty when he talks about border security. Like Katrina the failures of the Federal Government once again show how insecure we really are when 13 million illegals can invade our country and live openly on our street corners because of the Federal failure to protect our borders.
Instead of a photo op at the border perhaps Bush should go to to the 7/11 in Farmingville Long Island and explain how the illegals hanging around on the street got there.
Instead of a photo op at the border perhaps Bush visit the husband of a woman who was raped and murdered by the illegal alien hired by a contracter to work on there house.
Or maybe explain how an illegal alien commited statutory rape was convicted and deported but, manged to come back and then murder the same girl he raped.
Or maybe explain how an illegal alien who driving the bus where 24 elderly people were killed in Texas.
After he explains these failures byt the Federal Government to protect our borders maybe then he shoud be allowed to have his photo op on the border.

Things to be thankful for

Even as information comes out about how the Bush administration wanted to bomb the news organization Al Jeezera in Qatar. Justin Riamondo reminds us what a free press can actually do for us once it is unleashed along with diligent prosecuters like Pat Fitzgerald. We should be thankful for these things but, we should also know that we constantly need to keep turning over the rocks and see what comes crawling out.

First we kill the reporters!

There comes a story out of the British press that in April 2004 President Bush discussed with Tony Blair bombing the offices of Al-Jeezera news channel in Qatar. We live in a country that became as great as it did because of a free press but, it appears that George Bush does not live in the same country. Yes, Al-Jeezera could not be controlled like the U.S. media was and they had the ability to go places U.S. reporters could not. And yes they had a different view of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. What drove Bush and the Neocons who prosecuted this war crazy is that they could not control Al Jerzera. It appears to me as been shown by the fascist tendencies of this administration that what they can't control, they want to destroy as the attack against Joe Wilson and Congressman Murtha have shown. They want total control and will attempt to destroy anyone who gets in their way.
There is outrage in England and around the world about Bush's comments. Meanwhile most Americans are otherwise engaged while the arrogance of the Bush administration destroys another shining American principal and soils the reputation of the United States once again for it's own blundering neocon agenda.

What Cheney needs to do.

Vice President DickCheney went to the American Enterprise Institute the clubhouse for the Neocons who helped push us into the war in Iraq. He lashed out at critics of this admistration's blundering efforts and their questioning of how those in the Bush adminstration "sold" this war to the American people. He called critics "dishonest and reprehensible" and "corrupt and shameless".
I think Cheney needs to look in the mirror when he says those things.

Bush pardons a Turkey

No it was not one of the Neocon staffers accused of obstruction of justice in his administration it was a real Turkey.
An interesting thing on theWhitehouse website they actually had an online poll to name the two Turkeys (they have a backup) The winners were Marshmallow and Yam which beat out Democracy and Freedom by seven percent of the votes. Maybe next years names for Presidential pardons will be:

Rumsfeld and Cheney
Perle and Wolfowitz
Libby and Feith
Bolton and Hadley
the list goes on...

Real Power!

I have spent the past few day working around the house picking up leaves and bringing back to life my solar hot water system. I had the panels installed in 1985 to provide hot water the house. It has two solar hat water panels on the roof and a photovoltaic panel that runs a pump that circulates the heat transfer fluid to the panels. It worked reliably for about ten years. After it stopped working I was too busy working and making a living to spend much time with it and since I was single and did not use that much hot water I let it go and went on with my life and distractions. Recently however the price of fuel and natural gas got me thinking about the system again.. I took a few days changed the fluid and got the pump running. It was a great feeling to feel the heat heading into the storage tank and see the return temperature still hitting 95 degrees on the temperature gauge. I plan to convert it to help provide heat to the house as my hot water needs are minimal. I plan on some more solar projects for the house. While Bush and Cheney and their cronies in the oil industry try to squeeze every bit of money they can out of the American consumer for next couple of years I plan to squeeze as much energy I can out of the sun. To me that is real power.

Libby, lies and lawyers

As the Bob Woodward revelations came out earlier this week about how he was told of the identity of Joe Wilson's wife (who was a covert CIA agent) in June of 2003 by another administration source other than Scooter Libby. Libby's lawyer William Jeffress Jr. said this"

"Will Mr. Fitzgerald now say he was wrong to say on TV that Scooter Libby was the first official to give this information to a reporter?"

Hey, Mr. Lawyer Man! That is not what prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said. He actually said that Jeffress client Scooter Libby "was the first official known to have told a reporter when he talked to Judith Miller in June of 2003 about Valerie Wilson."

Now with the Bob Woodward revelations that he was told the identity of Wilson's wife earlier then Scooter Libby's talk to Judith Miller that does not let his client off the hook. There is this problem of obstruction of justice that Mr. Libby has to answer to. As well he should.

Meanwhile Pat (Bulldog) Firzgerald now has some new rocks to turn over and see what comes crawling out from them. I say go get em Pat. If we had more diligent prosecutors like Patrick Fitzgerald we would have less liars and corruption in our government because people would know "bulldog" prosecutors like Fitzgerald would be on their trail.

Foxhole politics.

So who would you rather be in a foxhole with : Vice President Dick (I had other priorities) Cheney or Democratic Vietnam Vet Congressman John Murtha?
Personally, I'd hang with Murtha who's been there and done that and best of all he comes out shooting like this comment on Dick (Chicken-hawk) Cheney:

"I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."

Go get em Congressman Murtha! It's time for the truth that may save some lives.

White lies and White Phosphorus

Well the good news is the U.S. military in Iraq finally found some chemical weapons. Unfortunately, they were in our stockpile and we used them in Fallujah. Just another incident that continues to erode the high road the United States once traveled in the world. Thanks to Georg Bush and the Neocons who pushed the idea of this war into Bush's feeble, dumb ass, black & white brain.

Then to further destroy America's credibility comes these two statements:

1) "Robert Tuttle, US ambassador to Britain, wrote in a letter published by The Independent newspaper on Tuesday that "US forces do not use napalm or white phosphorus as weapons".

2) "White phosphorus is a conventional munition. It is not a chemical weapon. They are not outlawed or illegal," Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, told the BBC in an interview."

Lt. Colonel Venable makes it all better by saying::

"It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," .

Of course he does not talk about what happens to civilans if they happen to be nearby. Yep, it's incendiary all right Colonel and the heat of outrage will engulf and destroy our country's reputation around the world. We are no longer the White Knights when we start to use white phosphorus in cities.

Happy Support Tom Delay Day!

Happy Support Tom Delay Day! If you are a lobbyist you can support the indicted Republican Congressman Tom Delay by sending a check.
If you are an American taxpayer and voter you can check here to see what it is all about.

President Bush said: "We do not do torture."

President Bush said: "We do not do torture."
President Bush said: "We do not do torture."
President Bush said: "We do not do torture."

Lobbyist for Delay.

Next Thursday Washington's most prominent lobbyists are going to hold a fundraising reception for the indicted Republican Congressman Tom Delay. I think the actions of this crowd speak for themselves. That is the special interests that are controlling Washington but, they dont; speak for the American people.

We don't need no stinking oath!

There was another example of the arrogance of the Republicans in Washington this week by Alaska's Republican Senator Ted Stevens refusal to allow the Oil company executives to give testimony about their record high profits the last quarter under oath. What are Stevens and the Oil executives afraid of. Perhaps having to tell the truth!

Judy Miller out at the New York TImes

Judy Miller is out at the New York Times! I wonder how long it will be before she joins her Neocon fellow travelers at the American Enterprise Institute.

Bad news for the Republicans good news for voters.

Well there is bad news for the Republican machine in Brookhaven Town on Long Island. They lost the Supervisors seat to Brian Foley a Democrat along with several other council seats. Not good news for the Republican party but, good news for the citizens. They lost after years of corruption that finally got to be too much for even the Republican majority in this town. He was helped by the Suffolk County executive Steve Levy (also a Democrat) who was one of the few local officials who actually is attempting to do something about the illegal immigrantion problem in our local communities while the Federal authorities continue to fail as bad as FEMA did in New Olreans. Meanwhile President Bush and Senators like John McCain and Ted Kennedy are attempting to legalize the illegals because they don't want to address the Federal governments failures. Local Democrats like Levy are gaining support because they are actually attempting to address the concerns of voting citizens on issues like illegal immigration as opposed to some of the Republicans who are only addressing the concerns of the businesses who want only want cheap labor subsidized by the middle class taxpayers.

Election Day 2005

On the Isle of Long in a Town called Brookhaven though many residents call it Crookhaven because many Republican officals have been convicted and thrown in jail for various crimes. The Republicans have had a machine like grip on the town for a number of years. Though a curious thing in the run up to this year's electionr is the Republican candidates ads and flyers don't mention that the candidates are Republicans. Could it be after so much corruption over the years because of the Republicans one party grip on this towns government that the people are ready to make a change. It may be a hint of what's to come in next years mid-term elections.

The next Neocon war is coming!

The chicken-hawk Neocons in the Bush administration who pushed the George Bush the blunderer into the Iraq mess are running out of time and they know it. To me many of the neocons who are Jewish have always seemed to have divided loyalties. As one of the great unspoken truths about the U.S. invading Iraq is that by removing Saddam Hussein it would also remove one the greatest threats to Israel. With Saddam gone they have accomplished that. So some of these neocons have left the administration. Some like Scooter Libby because he is accused of lying. Others because they felt their mission was accomplished or perhaps things just got too messy and they did not want to be around and be blamed when their glorious plan did not go all that well. As one blunt Military officer said in a speech the Iraq war is about "O.I.L". He then went on to say that stands for Oil, Israel and Logistics. I think he had that spot on but, of course you don't hear such candor by the weasels in Washington.

The second phase of their plan after Iraq for the Neocons was to go after Syria and then Iran. But, there are some problems with the the Neocons plan. Because of the way things are going in Iraq those who supported the war, also more and more American citizens are questioning the wisdom of it in the first place. And rightly so. The Neocon cabal is running out of time and support to invade Syria. Two stories this morning caught my attention and make me think that the the war against Syria is about to be started by this Neocon cabal running things in the Bush administration. One is this story about the U.S. breaking diplomatic ties with Syria. The other story is out of the Pentagon notifying about 92,000 troops to prepare for rotation in "Iraq" sometime in the middle of 2006. Coincidence? I think not. Just two pieces of the puzzle that when finished will show us an expanded war. Start listening for the war drums to start beating for an invasion of Syria by the usual suspects like Fox News and the Weekly Standard. The military will do what it is told by Neocons like Rumsfeld and as the headlines out of Iraq show us more brave American troops will die along with the uncounted civilians of these countries. And for what? Maybe just O.I.L!

Bush orders staff to attend ethics meetings?

"President Bush has ordered White House staff to attend mandatory briefings beginning next week on ethical behavior and the handling of classified material after the indictment last week of a senior administration official in the CIA leak probe." - Washington Post 11/5/05

Maybe it's a little too late Mr. Bush especially after you've hired people like:

Eliott Abrams- who was promoted to be his deputy national security adviser. A leading neoconservative, who was involved in the Iran-Contra Affair, over which he subsequently pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of unlawfully withholding information from Congress.

Then of course there was John Poindexter who was tapped to be involved with the TIA Total Information Awarness program at the Department of Defense. though he is better known for destroying information than for gathering it. Before a congressional investigating committee in 1986, he admitted that, as President Reagan's national security adviser, he destroyed evidence in connection with the Iran-contra affair.

Here is a tip Mr. President the best way to avoid ethical problems in your administration is not to hire people who have a track record of being unethical in the first place and especially those who lie to Congress and the American people and are caught destroying evidence. Let them get shows at Fox News like Oliver North.

What's Cheney hiding from us now?

Andrew Sullivan has started a Cheney Bunker watch. Perhaps Cheney should use Saddams spider hole technique where he managed to evade our efforts to flush him out for a long time. Of course the Bush administration has been hiding things for a long time too. Remember the Energy Policy they formulated behind closed doors? Where the American people could not even find out who Cheney had involved in the planning? Think about that as you fill up at the pump.

The coming Bush/McCain/Kennedy immigrant mess

If you've been watching the news concerning the riots that have been taking for the past eight nights in France you should note a curious thing. The riots are in the neighborhoods where immigrants have settled. Their beef is that they are not getting enough work and so have turned to riots and violence to express their frustration. Let's hope people like Bush, Senator John McCain and Ted Kennedy and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are paying attention to this situation as they continue to talk about giving an amnesty to the millions of illegal workers who have broken our immigration laws instead of deporting them. The illegals in our country are not going to work at the minimum wage forever but, the middle class taxpayers will continue to subsidize their costs in form of higher taxes for a long long time.

Why can't Congressman Ney say subpoena?

Well I'll be darned. It looks like another Republican congressman (Ohio's Bob Ney) is being asked for information regarding his association and dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Well at least it appears he will cooperate with investigators without DeLay. If you know what I mean. In true Washington sweep it under the rug fashion the annoucement was made on take out the trash day (Friday) by the congressman's office. Even over at Fox News they use the "s" word even if the Congressman's office does not.
Good thing the congressman has already hired some lawyers. Talk about planning ahead!

Wolfowitz on the run.

One of the neocons who help push our blundering President Bush into the mess in Iraq and then slithered away when things did not go as planned is Paul Wolfowitz. He jumped from the sinking ship U.S.S BUSH IRAQ POLICY ( a ship of which he was one of the principal designers) into the lifeboat just in time to become head of the World Bank. I guess he did not row far enough away as this story shows. The Iraq mess he helped create along with his fellow noecons from John Bolton, Vice President Cheney, Scooter Libby, Richard Pearle, Rumsfeld and others threatens to suck them all down into the abyss of failed foreign policy ideas and that is where they all belong.

Prince Charles, Camilla and the American Ghosts

As the mainstream media here in the United States continues the ga ga and vapid coverage of Prince Charles and his new wife's tour in the United States this Patriot is getting quite sickened by the coverage. From the ditzy Rita Cosby on MSNBC to Larry King on CNN we have be treated to such important facts that Camiilla Parker Bowles has bought 50 dresses with her for the trip. Important news? Yeah right!
Then there was the photo op of them placing a wreath and a plaque to honor the 68 British citizens who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Very nicely done. But, How about Prince Charles offering an apology for the use of British Prison Ships in New York harbor during the Revolutionary War and the deaths of thousands of American Patriots that occured on them. The conditions on these ships make Guantanomo look like a Club Med. There was a reason why we kicked them out two hundred plus years ago and we should not forget that or those who died under the hands of the British. The true Patriots of our country need to be remembered as we allow these Royals to revisit the scene of the crime.

The Ken Starr Standard?

An interesting look back at how Whitewater Special Prosecutor Ken Starr looked at Clinton's lying and how that standard should be appiled to people in the Bush Administration namely Vice President Cheney. Read all about it at Crooks and Liars.

Cheney/Libby plan for us on Iraq was: Let them eat Yellowcake!

As the boot of justice gets closer to the butts of some people in the White House. Laura Rozen has the tale of how the White House got the "intelligence" and ran with it. They can't blame the CIA for this one. What needs be remembered is that Cheney and the Neocons driving this country to war always wanted to gather their own intelligence and they did. The Niger Yellowcake story is one to those attempts. Pushing these lies were part of the attempt to get the public to support a war with Iraq. But, when Joe Wilson exposed the truth, their evil side came out and they attempted to not only destroy him but, also his covert CIA wife and in the process who knows how many other CIA operatives who were using the same cover as Wilson's wife. These guys in the Whitehouse are just another form of evil doers who will lash out whenever they are confronted with their own lies.

Oil Company profits soar. Thanks suckers!

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said oil company executives would be asked to appear at a Senate hearing to explain why energy prices are so high. "

That should be filed in the Stupid Senator questions file. The reason why gas prices are so high is that the oil companies love limiting the refining capacity and control over oil distribution with things like the Texas Railway Commissionlwhich for years limited the amount of crude pumped from the Texas oil fields. So successful was Texas Commission in the control over oil it is often forgotten that OPEC was modeled after it.
The oil companies continue to limit the amount of oil pumped and more importantly gas refining. They keep prices high in normal times and when something like Hurricane Katrina comes along and causes any distruption they really make sky high profits. It's supply and demand Senator Frist. They control the supply so they can demand whatever they want. We can all thank those whoe voted to keep Republicans like Bush and Cheney ( two oil men) in the Whitehouse and the Republicans in control over both Houses of Congress. The Oil companies say: Thanks suckers!

The CIA outing and the bigger picture.

As we wait for the indictments here in Washington concerning the leaking of the covert identity of Joe Wilson's CIA wife it is important to remember that the abuse of power by those involved in outing Ms. Wilson goes far beyond her. They also exposed other CIA agents who also used the same cover and also the people who did operations with them. To those who think this is just a story about politics. I say: It's about National Security Stupid!

A Texas technicality.

Here is an interesting comment regarding the White House scandal involving Karl Rove and Scooter Libby and maybe Vice President Cheney

" I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars."

So said Republican Senator Kay Baily Hutchison on Sunday's MEET THE PRESS.

Dear Senator Hutchison: FYI, Perjury is a crime! I believe even in Texas. Though I'm not sure about corruption.

And yes ,she is from Texas.

Not just from Texas but a hypocrite from Texas as shown here at Crooks and Liars.

Hand me the popcorn.

It appears that that some of the neocons will be behind bars soon. Looks like at least some of the neocon chickenhawks will be coming to White House to roost. Time to make some popcorn sit back and enjoy the show. The Rove and Libby show may have a guest appearence by VP Dick Cheney soon. Let us hope so. This is better than watching the West Wing on NBC and too important to our country and the rule of law to ignore.

Just another Born Again corrupt Conservative Christian?

Once again something smells funny and as so often is the case these days that smell of corruption appears to be coming out of Texas!

Where to begin?

I have left the wicked city and traveled to the Isle of Long to do a few things like winterize the boat and have it pulled from the water just in time to avoid the posibility that Hurricane Wilma may clip the eastern end of the island. A lot of news to blog about. Delay, Judy Miller, Bush, McCain on Illegal Immigration, where to begin?.Let's see...

So close yet so far. Bush ignores the future.

I went down to the National Mall here in Washington D.C. last Tuesday to look at the solar houses assembled there from Universities all over the country for the Solar Decathalon. Around 4 pm I heard the sound of helicopters and watched as President Bush returned back to the White House from yet another trip to the Gulf states on Marine 1. It would have been a quick walk from the White House for Bush to see the houses and the efficent ideas that the students came up with. Instead Bush hung out with the dinosaurs of the oil industry and ignored the future.
My feelings about these students and also the work of the special prosecuter Pat "Bulldog" Fitzgerald working the CIA outing case is: "Let the sunshine in."


P.S. Congratulations to the University of Colorado for winning the competition though the work of all the teams makes all of us winners in the long run even without the President of the United States.

Judy, Judy ,Judy!

Here comes New York Times reporter and Bush administration neocon cheerleader Judy Miller shooting herself in the foot

"My recollection, I told him, was that Mr. Libby wanted to modify our prior understanding that I would attribute information from him to a "senior administration official." When the subject turned to Mr. Wilson, Mr. Libby requested that he be identified only as a "former Hill staffer." I agreed to the new ground rules because I knew that Mr. Libby had once worked on Capitol Hill."

So let me get this straight Ms. Miller you not only agreed to help the Bush administration throw mud on Wilson and his CIA employed wife but, you also agreed to help cover up Libby's tracks.

George Will: the elitist conservative hypocrite

While spending some time to organize my constantly overflowing study I came across a George Will colum from 2003 where he was pushing for the confirmation of Miguel Estrada for the U.S Court of Appeals. The contrast of his argument for Estrada (who was also rumored to be on the short list for the next Supreme Court a.ppointment) and his critque of Harriet Miers is interesting, sexist or elitist. You decide. Here is an example:

"Senate Democrats cite Estrada' lack of judical experience. But 15 of the 18 nominees to the D.C. court since President Carter have lacked such experience, as did 26 Clinton circuit judge nominees who were confirmed. And 43 of the 108 Supreme Court Justices (most recently Byron White, Thurgood Marshall and Lewis Powell) including eight of the 18 chief justices (most recently Earl Warren) had no prior judical experience." -George Will 2/28/2003

Here's hypocrite George on Harriet Meyers:

"The wisdom of presumptive opposition to Miers' confirmation flows from the fact that constitutional reasoning is a talent -- a skill acquired, as intellectual skills are, by years of practice sustained by intense interest. It is not usually acquired in the normal course of even a fine lawyer's career."
-George Will 10/4/2005

So which is it George? Or is it just because Ms. Miers is a woman and Estrada was a man.

With Bush administration the whole war is staged.

The Bush "perception managment" team got caught with their pants down as the Bush teleconference "with the troops" yesterday showed. A rehersal before Bush spoke showed that specific questions were directed to specific Captains. No grunts allowed and no surprises for the President. It was not surprising to me because expecting truth and honesty from this crowd around Bush is just not going to happen. From the reasons for the Iraq War to the planted journalist in the Whitehouse Press pool (Jeff Gannon) you really can not believe much of what this Whitehouse says. It now appears the rest of the country is catching on to the BS eminating from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

What drives Karl Rove and what is he driving and why?

I found it interesting watching the media stakeout video on Monday of Karl Rove leaving his house on the way to work at the Whitehouse. I wonder if anyone else noticed the Rove the senior advisor to the flag waving Bush administration pulled out of his garage driving a Jaguar! I can just hear the Republican damage control spin machine retorting: "Well at at least it was not a French auto." Hypocrisy Ho!

Bush at play in the fields of the Oil Industry

As Bush once again heads back to the scene of the crime in New Orleans. One wonders if as his helicopter lifts off from the Whitehouse lawn he will notice a bunch of houses that have sprung up on the National Mall. George Bush gave one speech about how Americans should conserve because of the disaster in the energy fields of the Gulf Coast. But, nowhere this week did he mention the event that was on display within walking distance of the Whitehouse on the Mall. I'm talking about the Solar Decathalon where universities from all over the country have on display their solar houses in a contest for solar and energy efficency. It just another example of how Bush and his energy industry cronies really don't want to promote energy saving technologies they know it will hurt their wallets too much.

Translating George Will

One has to chuckle when right wing conservative George Will says this about George Bush:

"He has neither the inclination nor the ability to make sophisticated judgments about competing approaches to construing the Constitution. Few presidents acquire such abilities in the course of their pre-presidential careers, and this president particularly is not disposed to such reflections."

TRANSLATION: George Bush is one dumb President.

One question to Will and the Christian crazies of the right who are now turning on George Bush . What took you so long to figure out that Bush is not the brightest bulb in the White House.

Texas Welfare, Bushit and the oil companies.

Hello suckers!:
That sucking sound you hear is the sound of money once again flowing out of your wallet taxpayers. The Republicans in the House have become so corrupt that they don't seem to care anymore how much it hurts middle class taxpayers. The latest outrage occurred yesterday with the "Gasoline for America’s Security Act of 2005" . President Bush earlier in the week remarked that there have been no new oil refineries built since the late seventies. Why is that George? It's because big oil knows if they control the supply they control the price and their profits. That's been the story out of Houston since they discovered oil in Texas. Any other excuse is just Texas bullshit! The House bill passed yesterday should have been called the "Let's screw the taxpayer and give the oil companies some more Texas corporate welfare bill."

One GOOD thing about Tom Delay.

If there was one good thing about Tom Delay it was his stance on not giving amnesty to aliens who have entered the U.S. illegally. Let's hope who ever takes over takes the same stance and stands up to the special intrests that want to continue to force the American taxpayer to continue to subsidize these illegals and live with the problems they cause in our communities.

New York Times the bias in the headlines.

In looking at the reporting of the Larry Franklin and his giving classified secret military information to two pro-Israeli lobbyists and an Israel offical. It was interesting to see how the New York Times buried the story on page 21 with the headline:

"Pentagon Analyst Admits Sharing Secret Data"

While the Washington Post carried a more informative headline:

"Defense Analyst Guilty in Israeli Espionage Case"

Somebody's bias is showing at the Times.

Don't try to reason with treason.

"Lawrence Franklin, who previously worked as an analyst in the office of the secretary of defense, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to communicate classified information to an Israeli embassy official and illegally possessing classified documents at his West Virginia home. "

The U.S. government should put him in a cell next to Jonathan Pollard so they can both go to hell together! It's time the government crack down on anyone who gives U.S. secrets to foriegn governments.

Tell Chevron to shove it!

The outrage of the week (so Far) was a commercial I saw on the Chris Matthews Show last week. It was from Chevron. The basis of the commercial was bad mouthing wind energy. I wonder why? The oil and gas companies know the gig is about up but, they are going to try and suck as much money from our wallets as they can. With two Oil men (Bush and Cheney) in the White House things will never be better for them than right now. One way to keep the money flowing in is to eliminate or at least delay any alternative energy sources. Hold on to your wallets these Texans will be trying to rustle as many dollars out of as they can get away with.

Oh, and don't forget to take the BEER CAN POLITICS ENERGY QUIZ while you are here.

Lou Dobbs, Judy Miller and the truth

While ex-jailbird and New York Times reporter Judy Miller attempts to distract everyone from her cheerleading role in pushing this country into war on the pages of the New York Times. Lou Dobbs was practically tongue kissing her with his "exclusive" interview with her. While I too think that reporters should be able to protect their sources so that information can be made public. But, Miller's sanctimonious stance is laughable. Who was she protecting? Neocons in the Bush administration who at the very least used her in an attempt to destroy other people's lives not to mention put people and national security at risk for political purposes. There is no high journalist standard to uphold protecting such scoundrels.
Lou Dobbs lobs a softball question and a biased one at that by saying that "liberals" have questioned her closeness to the administration. HEY LOU! It's not just "liberals" it's people like Justin Riamondo who was Pat Bucahnan's running mate when he ran for President. He's no liberal that's for sure.

Fee fi fo fon I smell a Neocon!

Newsweek has this report that should raise eyebrows about exactly how close Judy Miller was to the neocon cabal in the Bush administration that helped push the U.S. into the Iraq war.

" on Sept. 19, in what participants described as an "awkward" four-way conference call that included Libby, Miller (patched in on a jailhouse phone) and their lawyers. "I'm sorry you're in jail, Judy," Libby said, according to an account provided by his lawyer, Joseph Tate. "I am, too. The food is not very good," Miller replied. Libby then told Miller he wanted to "encourage" her to testify to "help both of us... get this matter behind us." At one point, Libby added "something like, 'We miss you'," according to Tate's account."

The real question is WHO IS THIS WE, MR. LIBBY?

Criminals in our communities.

Here is an outrage that gets this middle class taxpayer really pissed off. Brookhaven Town out on Long Island New York has been cracking down on illegal group homes in it's borders. It happens that most of these are located in a town called Farmingville and are occuppied by illegal aliens most of whom are Latino. Now a Latino group is taking the town to court because they are claiming discrimination in the evictions because most of the inhabitants of these illegal border houses are illegal Latino immigrants. You can't make this stuff up. How long must middle class taxpayers wait before the FEDERAL government protects our borders and stops allowing the illegal's from becoming problems in our communities in the first place.

The Neocon's cheerleader Judy Miller out of jail and into the spotlight.

Well, it seems the Neocon's fellow traveler, one of George Bush's Iraq war enanblers and New York Times reporter Judith Miller is out of jail. This happened after she recieved a phone call from I. Scooter Libby (who works for Dick Cheney) releasing her from protecting her sources. Yeah right! More likely it was about getting their stories straight to protect both of them let alone Karl Rove and the Bush White House. To read and recap about Ms. Miller's and other neocon sins you can't do better than this piece from Justin Riamondo

Tom Delay provides the laugh of the day

"This act is the product personal revenge " -Tom(aka "The Hammer)Delay

Hearing this quote coming out of my clock radio provided a good morning chuckle. I can almost hear his defense: Hey, I'm from Texas corruption is legal there!

Another Federal failure!

"WASHINGTON -- The number of illegal immigrants is increasing despite tighter border security and now outnumber foreigners moving to the United States legally."- AP

Hello, American sucker Taxpayers! Bush's "faith based " churches and organizations will feed us, your unscrupulous businesses will hire us, your school districts will educate us and our children and you middle class taxpayers will pay the bill. Gracias suckers!

Another Bush flip-flop? Or more Texas Bushit?

President George (The Blunderer) Bush called on people to conserve gas. It would be naive to think that Bush and his crony capitalist thieves would really encourage conservation. The Bush administration was so corrupt that they had Dick Cheney create their energy policy in the back room with the likes of Enron and others back in 2001. Conservation my ass! It's more like Howdy suckers! Time to pay the Texans again.

Another Federal failure in the Gulf

Along with hundreds of thousands of U.S Taxpayers displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were thousands of illegal aliens who have broken our immigration laws. While rescuing anyone and everyone in the affected area is important. It is an insult to U.S. taxpayers that groups like Cathloic Charities and other "Faith Based organizations" continue to use U.S. Taxpayer dollars to feed and house these illegals instead of using this opportunity to allow Federal Immigration authorities to round them up and deport them.
Now comes another insult to the U.S. taxpayers. The Bush administration is suspending rules that contracters make sure that the people they hire are legal alien workers. To make matters worse these workers will be living in government subsidized housing. Hola suckers!

Bush evacuates Washington

I could not help but notice that President Bush's preception managment team managed pulled off a good one yesterday. The corporate media made it appear Bush was only leaving to see the preparations for Hurricane Rita in Texas and at the national command center in Colorado. The truth is Bush was always preparing to be out of Washington anyway. There will be a major demonstration against the war in Iraq in Washington today. Cindy Sheehan will be there and he was planning on running away anyway.

Back on land and the news is bad!

I got off the sailboat and am slowly working my way back to the wicked city of Washington even as Bush leaves. The news along the Guf coast is bad and may only get worse as Bush travels to the area this time ahead of the storm. But, he vows not to get in the way. At least he is learning.

George Bush, Katrina and other disasters.

While it was good to hear George Bush to finally own up to some mistakes in his speech last night at the scene of the crime in New Orleans. The one line from his speech that is of concern is this:

"It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces."

After seeing what the neocons in George Bush's administration have done with the power they already had we should not give them any more power. They have already abused our liberties enough!

I pledge allegiance ...

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

It STILL works for me and the country even without the God reference.

Britney Spears baby.

Two days ago some idiot at the CBS radio network news decided that Britney Spears baby was important news for their hourly broadcast. While anything that Ms. Spears or her fellow "entertainers" do or say mean nothing to my life or anyone else when you get right down to it. What struck me about the "news" is that CBS mentioned the "birth" of her baby. Actually Spears had a cesarian section. Her baby was not born but, was surgically removed.

SPEARS BABY UPDATE:
Yesterday CBS radio decided that the Spears and hubby naming the new baby was important news for their hourly broadcast. I'd tell you the name but, it really means nothing to me or you. I am filing that info in my who cares file and you should too.

Hardship on land and sea.

After five days of living onboard a sailboat I finally ran out of ice and decided to head back to shore for a day. Sometime in the last month the boat must have been struck by lightning as I found several systems and electronic components dead or burnt out. It does not appear to have been a direct strike but enough to distrupt plans for some extended cruising. The problems are nothing compared to the hardships and disruptions faced by the people in the Gulf coast left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. Though being a sailor makes one better prepared for such disasters. A sailor at sea can not always depend on help from governments and must prepare for things going wrong and hopefully have backups. A prudent sailor knows there is risk when one steps off the land and heads out on the water. But, what is disturbing after watching and hearing about the tales of New Orleans is that one can not depend on the Government on land too. Sail on sail on Sailor!

Out to Sea!

My posts may not be as frequent for the next two weeks as I will be spending the time in solitude onboard a sail boat anchored somewhere off the Isle of Long. I will be in a semi-blackout from the media which I think is a good thing to do once in a while.
I will keep my journeys back to land to a minimum as well and will not be near computers which is also a good thing to do from time to time. However, there may be times when I do get to blog so keep checking in.
I arrived on the boat to find some of my electronic systems not working. I found out from the guy who runs the boatyard that a few boats had been hit by lightning including one moored near me. I suspect a nearby strike knocked out some of the elctronic tools onboard. But, being a sailboat it still can sail even when the technology fails and that's exactly what I plan to do.

FEMA'S Failure: A heck of a job!

The the head of FEMA Mike Brown is being recalled back to Washington where he plans to walk the dog, hug his wife, eat some Mexican food and have some stiff Margaritas.

"Asked if he was being made a scapegoat, Brown told The Associated Press after a long pause: ``By the press, yes. By the president, no.'' "

No wonder President Bush calls him "Brownie". On September 2nd President Bush said on his first trip to the region "Brownie, you are doing a heck of a job." and with todays statement from Brown I'm sure Bush still feels the same.

Another disaster about to happen in Tall Afar. This is nuts!.

While everyone is still concentrating on the natural and man made disaster that is New Orleans. I came across an article that points to another disaster about to happen in Iraq. Unlike the New Orleans mess caused by government inaction this next disaster will be caused by U.S. Government action. I know most people won't see it and the corporate media may not cover it. But, some innocent people will be killed as the U.S. miltary is about to destroy a city to root out the insurgents and create more of them at the same time as the innocent of that city are about to lose their homes and maybe their lives. Unlike New Orleans the U.S. government will not be able to hide behind an "act of God" for this disaster because the people of this Iraq City will know exactly who to blame and the blowback from that will not make us more friends in Iraq. This is nuts!

Smells like Karl Rove

There is a stench coming from the disaster in New Orleans and the lack of Federal response but, the stench coming out of the White House public relations damage control team is especially odorus. Josh at TPM has the details and it smells like Karl Rove.

Barbara Bush wins Leona Helmsley award for elitism!

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this [she chuckles slightly] is working very well for them." -Barbara Bush 9/5/05

At least she did not add that they are just the poor "little people" who pay the taxes.

No more Texas hospitality for people from New Orleans!

The Republican Governor of Texas is now planning on air lifting people who were sent to Texas from Louisiana. Texas is a big state and is right next to Louisiana. It would be easier to feed and take care of people in one location instead of scattering them around the country further and further away from their homes in New Orleans. It would be easier for the people displaced by Katrina to return back home to Louisiana once condtions improve there.
I think the real reason for Governor Perry scattering these people is that Texas and Washington Republicans are worried that this influx of people from New Orleans may become residents of Texas and upset the redistricting that Republican Congressman Tom Delay spent years setting up so that the Republicans would have a solid majority in Texas and in Congress in Washington.
It's not matter of room and supplies which can easily be handled in the state and it's top notch infrastructure. If they need more room to set up tempory communities I know of 1600 acres in Texas that are not being used at the moment here is a photo of the place. Lot's of room to set up some temporary housing.

Watch this. Especially you President Bush!

As President Bush prepares to head once again to the scene of the crime in New Orleans no doubt for another photo op. I would hope he watches the video of Jefferson Parish President Arron Broussard from Sunday's MEET THE PRESS. It shows what was at stake and the result of the failure of the Federal Government's response in New Orleans. Go to the MEET THE PRESS site and in the free video box click the right arrow until you find the video titled "She drowned Friday night. You won't forget it once you see it.

President Bush and the phoney photo op.

Whie it does not surprise me maybe other Americans will be outraged by spin tactics of the White House . While the American corporate media in the U.S. follows the Perception Mangement machine the White House like the lapdogs they have been this past few years. A German TV crew sticks around and reports what really happened after the U.S. media left Bush's photo op on Friday. It seems the whole thing was staged for the cameras. After Bush left it was packed up. Laura Rozen has the details. Oh yeah, they also grounded the rescue helicopters while he was in the area. Makes for noisy audio for the camera crews there for recording the "event".

President Bush is already talking about rebuilding

President Bush is already thinking about rebuilding, at least Republican Senator Trent Lott's House that is:

"Out of the rubble of Trent Lott's house- he has lost his entire house-there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." George W. Bush 9/2/2005

With Bush's track record of planning and rebuilding in places like Iraq we tax payers better watch out. I wonder if Halliburton will get the contract for Lott's new house.

Why FEMA failed in New Orleans

"Brownie, you are doing a heck of a job." - President Bush Friday September 2, 2005

Amoung the butt kissers in Bush's photo op yesterday in Mississippi was Mike Brown or "Brownie" (as George Bush calls him. You can't make this stuff up!) He's the top guy at FEMA what's his experience for that position?

"Prior to joining FEMA he practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court. He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters. While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services "

Oh yes he was also the former FEMA Director Joe Allburgh's roomate. How's that for additional qualifications.

Thanks to Daily Ko's for bringing this info up from the muck.

New Orleans: Army Corps already covering Bush's butt.

With Bush traveling down yesterday to the Gulf Coast in the Bush bubble with the obligitory photo ops of some victums. Comes this letter posted at Andrew Sullivan's website from someone with some insight into the Army Corp of Engineers. The ACOE are the people who do the alot of the major waterway projects in our cities. Like building and maintainining the levees in New Orleans.

""I've worked closely with Corps personnel for 6 years in various scientific and regulatory capacities on wetlands issues. While the Corps is often maligned by environmentalists, I will be the first to defend the professionalism, commitment and skill of their regulatory field staff.The Corps, however, is Army - the institutional culture is one of top-down control and damn-the-torpedoes, and a deeply-ingrained instinct against criticising the chain of command. In an email yesterday that eventually ended up on Wonkette, I predicted that they would be good soldiers and insulate Bush against charges that the levees weren't finished, and indeed I woke up to Al Naomi saying just that on NPR. And General Strock from HQ had to be brought in to do the real damage control: "I don't see that the level of funding was really a contributing factor in this case," said Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, chief of engineers for the corps. "Had this project been fully complete, it is my opinion that based on the intensity of this storm that the flooding of the business district and the French Quarter would have still taken place." (from Chi Trib).
But there are really TWO questions that must be answered:1) Was the levee complete and at design spec?2) Would a design-spec levee have withstood Katrina?1) The truth is that short of a whistleblower, we may never know the condition of that levee on 8/29. My source on its inadequate condition isn't solid enough. But I know the following things:a) You don't finish levees and walk away. They need regular maintenance - even when you haven't built them on dewatered organic soils that settle every year. b) A District that had just taken a one-year budget cut of $71 million will have had to make some very hard choices about whether maintenance on this particular levee fell (in Corps parlance) "above the line - priority" or "below the line - optional". Their SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) guidance might tell us, but somebody needs to get a FOIA cookin' on this right now.c) The question of levee adequacy breaks down at least into "was it at spec height?" [yes!] and "was it structurally sound to spec?" [oops!]. Because of the nature of the levee failure (not overtopped, but burst), watch for Corp HQ to focus on the first question (which pins the deaths on nature), and ignore the second (which might pin the deaths on budget decisions).2) Over the coming days, the Corps' message will be this: "Katrina was greater than the design storm for this levee." This is at least an open question - purportedly the levees were designed to withstand a direct hit from a Category 3 hurricane. Katrina was a Category 4 at landfall, presenting her weak side to the levees at a distance of some 40-50 miles. The question appears debatable on its technical merits, and Strock's facile answer is far too politically expedient a conclusion to take at face value from Corps HQ. I have seen them fall on their sword for Presidents before, and the need has never been greater.
To sum up: Gen. Strock is asking us to accept that the Army Corps could maintain the structural integrity of every last mile of levee built on subsiding soils in a District that had taken a $71 million budget cut in one year. AND that they would admit it if they hadn't, when the reputation of the President is at stake. All my experience rejects both propositions."

Jonah Goldberg with some Neocon humor about New Orleans.

Sicko Neocons like Jonah Goldberg of the National Review find humor in the tragedy of what is going on in New Orleans. One wonders what the yuks around the water cooler at NR they are having about Iraq. Speaking of Iraq Justin Riamondo has both of these stories in his latest column.

FEMA wants us to give money to who?

On the FEMA website there is a list of organizations that people could donate to money to help the victums of Hurricane Katrina. Most of them are religious based organizations. Near the top of the list is the pro-assisination Christian Pat Robertson's organization Operation Blessing. Spoid,com picked up on it and TPM has more details here.

New Orleans: The Blowback from Iraq

It's easy to feel that some of what the U.S. is experiencing is from the bad Karma our blundering President Bush created when he and his neocon friends rushed into a war of choice when he invaded Iraq where over 100,000 people were killed. But there are also real reasons why things are not happening as fast as they should have in New Orleans. Paul Craig Roberts has a good colum on the subject.

Bush on the Bayou

Our Texass President George W. Bush cut his vacation short by one day to return to Washington. Big F*&cking Deal. The blunderer of Baghdad now wants to get back to Washington to help cordinate recovery of the region. Even the Republican Governor of Mississipi Haley Barbour told him to stay away. The best thing for our simple minded President is to stay out of the way and let the professionals at FEMA and other organizations to handle the situation. Too bad we don't have more National Guard soldiers to come and help out in the aftermath in New Orleans but, they are still busy trying to clean up the mess Bush created over in Iraq.

How a Republican Governor handles corruption

Republican Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher has an interesting way about handling allegations of corruption in his administration.
When a former Democratic Governor gave pardons to former campaign workers current Kentucky Lt. Gov. Steve Pence said:
"Things like that are not going to happen in a Fletcher-Pence administration."

Well, Steve it just did!

The Iraqi Constitution: Who's your daddy?

David Brooks hit a nugget of truth with this quote from his August 26th colum:
"The U.S. has orchestrated a document that is organically Iraqi.
It's their country, after all. "
The key word is "orchestrated" and that is the problem as this news story points out. Meanwhile Paul Craig Roberts is the one asking the right questions.

IRAQ: Why there's no good news reported.

Ever wonder why there is so little good news from Iraq?

Wall Street Journal & Neocon laugh of the week!

It's pretty clear the White House spin machine message this week is:

IRAQ: IT AIN'T SO BAD

The latest laugh comes from Dan Henninger on the Wall Street Journal Editorial Report Show on PBS. Here is what Henninger said:

"The violence that's seen by the outside world is defined in two ways: suicide bombers who blow up Iraqis, and roadside bombs that blow up American soldiers. Subtract those two elements, and it actually looks like a fairly normal place. "

TRANSLATION: Wasn't the play good Mrs. Lincoln except for your husband being shot.

You can't make this stuff up. Henninger obviously read the White House Talking Points. Click here to see some of what Henninger and his fellow neoconpoops consider "normal" in Iraq.

Back from the beach.

I am back at the house located in the geographical center of the Isle of Long. I spent four wonderful days on the beach in Amagansett waking every at around five am every morning to drive to Montauk Point to watch the sun rise. While watching the sunrise I often thought about how the sun rose over in Baghdad that morning and of our soldiers there and if they would all make it through the day without deaths or injuries. I hoped so. I then heard Bush saiy we can't pull out know because we need to honor those that have already died. What Bushit!There was that Christian Killer for Christ Pat Robertson talking about assisinating Venzuelas democratically elected President. I guess his apology following that remark distracted him from praying to deflect Hurricane Katrina from hitting Florida. Not that it would have helped. Iit seems God is really pissed off at some people in the state of Florida for helping George Bush to steal the election in 2000. It may be God or bad karma. Either way there seems to be some type of bad juju happening in that corrupt state.
I had wanted to blog during the week but, the sun and surf kept me near the shore and away from keyboards. Scandals await the return of reporters and congress. There is the AIPAC/Israel spy scandal and also the outing of Joe Wilson's CIA wife. I need to get to bed it will be a long drive to the wicked city and I want to be ready.

Fan of the fan

I don't have air-conditioning in my home on the Isle of Long. I use fans when I need a little cooling when the temperatures reach into the 90's as they did yesterday. I did have an air-conditioner in the bedroom that I used maybe five times. It would dim the lights when it kicked on. I finally took it out and now sits in storage. Now fans and open windows are ways I deal with summer. I still will listen listen to my neighbor complain about the electricity bill as we sometimes meet taking out the trash cans before she heads back into her house as her central air-conditioner unit turns on. I will head out to the deck to enjoy my breakfast enjoying the sounds of a summer morning.

Iraqi Groundhog Day

I awoke this morning to the news that another four U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb. It is almost like the movie Groundhog day. But, I know that it is real because I am able to turn that radio off. What I hear in head however is our smirky Texass President George Bush's macho challange to the insurgents to "Bring them on." It's a voice that I keep hearing whenever I hear the news that another U.S., service person has died in Iraq and I know that voice won't go away anytime soon..

Gaza cry babies and Israeli arrogance.

I have been watching the biased coverage here in the U.S. of the evictions of the settlers from the Gaza strip. As usual the coprorate media here in the U.S. shows only one side of the story. We were shown images of the crying settlers pleading not to be evicted from the lands they took from the Palestinians who previously lived there. Where were the cameras when the Israel's were bulldozing Palestinian houses or the Olive groves that were tended by Palestinian farmers for years. No doubt the Israelis did not allow the press in for those operations "security reasons" you know.
What really gets me is the arrogance of Israel to try and get U.S. taxpayer dollars to help pay to move these "settlers" from the lands they took from the Palestinians. Israel is already the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid and they still owe us BIG TIME for the cost in lives and dollars in removing Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
There are voices of reason and fairness in Israel that know that occupation of Gaza was morally wrong. But, some of these Israel's are also paying the price for removing these settlers. I say good riddance to these pampered settlers. But, now it is also time for the Palestinians to step up to the plate and make Gaza a better place for themselves. They will not have the excuse of the Israeli occupation anymore. *

Gas prices: Sometimes you win and sometimes we all lose..

I left Washington yesterday heading for the Isle of Long for my annual week on the beach out in Amagansett being amused by the Neurotic Yorkers who abandon Manhattan on the weekends. Driving my girlfriends 1986 Honda (with 65,000 original miles on the odometer) I left DC at 5:30 am and stopped at Helens's Sausage House in Smyra Delaware for a sausage breakfast and Pork Chop sandwich to go. I then drove to I-95 and headed north.
Stopping for gas on the New Jersey Turnpike I filled up the tank and was pleasantly surprised to find myself paying $2.38 per gallon for 89 Octane. The gas on the turnpike gas stations is priced weekly and is based on the average price gas at stations in the state of New Jersey. They just updated the price and the gas I bought yesterday would cost an additional 14 cents per gallon this morning. How did this happen?
Of course there are places where we U.S. taxpayers could go to get really cheap gas especially since we are already paying for it.

John Bolton visits Judy Miller in jail?

Arianna Huffington has a report that before he assumed his back door appointment at the UN. John Bolton went to pay a visit to the Bush's Iraq war enabler reporter Judy Miller. What's that all about? Too bad the corporate media has all their resources in Aruba looking for missing white women you might think someone might find it a little curious or at least wonder where that fishy neocon smell is coming from.

Bush hides while Cindy asks why?

The usual Bush game plan is give the baseball bats to others like the folks at Fox News to take care of their "problems". The case in point is the war against Cindy Sheehan.

Lowering expectations and covering their asses.

"The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad." -Washington Post Sunday, August 14, 2005

Lowering expectations is nothing new when it comes to George Bush and his administration. They also need help on their math skills.
What was it nutty neocon fella Paul Wolfowitz said before the war oh yes now I remember.

Bush

'Listen, I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan, She feels strongly about her position, and she has every right in the world to say what she believes. . . . I've heard her position from others, which is, get out of Iraq now. And it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so."-George Bush

No, George the mistake was to go into Iraq in the first place with less troops than needed to secure it. Meanwhile here with 10 million illegals who have walked across our borders and continue to do so our country is a long way from being secure.

Oil and gas prices at record highs! Here is why.

With Bush and Cheney two oil industry men in the White House how is it that oil prices have more than doubled in just a few years? The answer is in this book

"Whenever you wonder why things happen it is useful to ask who benefits?"

Bush Economic team sweating and spinning at the ranch..

While Bush and his economic team meet in Crawford Texas to try and figure out ways to spin how great the economy is doing Treasury Secretary John Snow said this:

"The idea there is to explore the things that produce broad-based prosperity,"

TRANSLATION: I guess we screwed the middle and lower classes with all those tax cuts we gave to the rich after all.

Yeah, and pay no attention to that deficit behind the curtain.

A BCP ENERGY BILL QUIZ

President Bush signed a new Energy Bill yesterday that was created in the back rooms of Washington with Dick Cheney and those wonderful folks at Enron among others in the energy industry. Here is a little energy quiz for you.

Which country has a cleaner, more sustainable and renewable energy policy for the future the United States or China ?

Here is a hint and here is a hint .

Shoreham glad but, Bush's energy plan is bad.

I ran into former New York Governor Mario Cuomo yesterday in Washington. I shook his hand and thanked him for his stand against opening the Shoreham nuclear plant on Long Island. I then mentioned that the NRC had issued a warning to nuclear plant operators that Bin Laden had targeted nuclear power plants and thanked him for removing that target from Long Island. It's too bad President Bush did not read that memo before he pushed the building of more nuclear power plant construction in the energy bill he will sign into law today. But, then again he has habit of not reading important memos.

Meanwhile back at the Ranch

Like the mad dog (not the englishman) he is President Bush is back at his ranch. Jogging in 100 degree heat while our troops fight in 120 in Iraq. On this day I am reminded of August 6, 2001. Bush was back on the ranch that day too when he recieved the following PDB (Presidential Daily Breifing) and then went fishing. The rest is history.

Novak runs but, he can't hide

Something must really be bugging Robert Novak these days or should I say bulldogging him like a special prosecuter looking into the outing of a covert CIA agent by White House officals.

Bush Coffee, Cocaine and Columbia

The photo op in Crawford yesterday with President Bush and the president of Columbia reminded me of a conversation I had onboard a cruise ship heading down the Yangstee River in China a few weeks ago. I was chatting with a couple from Columbia. They mentioned that Columbia had noticed that there was a lot of money flowing back into Columbia from the U.S. and that the government did not know if it was from illegal aliens sending money back or drug money. To me it does not matter since they are both were gained by breaking U.S. law. I wonder if Bush asked about this in his meetings with the Columbian President or even about this story.

Bush is a poor example of intelligent design.

I almost have to laugh when I see the words intelligent and Bush anywhere close to each other. His latest utterance on intelligent design:

"I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought," Bush said. "You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes."

Since when has he been exposed to different intelligent ideas? Yeah, like invading Iraq was such a brilliant idea! Best idea since the Alamo, right George?

Novak's nonsense

Columinist Bob Novak in a column this week tries to defend why he should not be a cell mate with Judy Miller and maybe some Bush Administration officals. TPM has a good look at what is wrong with the picture Novak is trying to paint.

Republican Justice?

As John Bolton enters the UN through the back door. The Republicans in congress may still seek to allow the White House officals an open window to escape prosecution for leaking the name of a covert CIA agent. It's been done before.

The Last Talker.

"Charlie's life has no foreshadowing or ending. As long as wind blows, his life and legacy will continue to twist and turn along courses only wild horses know."

RIP Charles "Charlie" J. Chibitty, the last World War II Comanche code talker

Iraq: Outsourcing security and our tax dollars

As the money spent by the U.S. in Iraq even has the auditors scratching their heads. Along comes this story about how U.S. tax dollars spent to fight the drug war in Columbia are now ending up in Iraq with private security companies benefiting and the U.S. taxpayer reaching into their pockets multiple times. Bush economics at work again.

The Bush administration does not lie?

People in the Bush administration don't lie. Do they? Exhibt A:John Bolton.