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.