Frustrated FL Voter

Bush will veto spending

2007-04-24T19:50:00.000-05:00

OK, I am lame. I haven't posted in almost 18 months. Trust me when I say I have been busy.

This business with Bush not wanting to sign a bill because it put actual 'limits' and 'timeframes' on getting us out of this quagmire of a war he got us into, is ridiculous.

His argument that if we set a deadline that the terrorists will just "mark their calendars" and wait for us to leave to take over Iraq is just silly. On the surface of it, one could make the argument that we will never leave Iraq because the date will have to be set at some time. Somewhere in the future (hopefully soon) we will be leaving Iraq, and the terrorists will know. Doesn't matter when, right?

On a side note, do the terrorists use Outlook to keep track of their appointments? Couldn't we just send a virus to them via Microsoft Update to forward all their calendar appointments, contacts, and e-mails to the NSA or something?

Oh, right...I forgot that the NSA is already reading the terrorists e-mails...along with all my e-mail and blog posts.

Hold on a sec..some one is at the door...

Dick Cheney proves once again that he is one

2005-11-17T09:09:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday evening, Vice-President Richard “Dick” Cheney proved once again that he is the administration’s attack dog, and President Bush left him off his leash to run around Washington while he went off to Asia.

In a speech to the Frontiers of Freedom Institute 2005 Ronald Reagan Gala, the esteemed VP continued the new campaign style attacks on democrats that have the guts to question how in the heck we got into Iraq in the first place. The talking point of the day is that it is ‘Irresponsible’ to question pre-war intelligence and to try to ‘re-write history’.

Are these guys really serious?

In the run up to the invasion of Iraq, which was pretty much a foregone conclusion in early 2003 since we had 100K+ troops already in the region, the overwhelming war cry was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, they would give them to terrorists, and America would not be safe with Hussein in power.

Using the bits and pieces of intelligence that supported the claim, we shunned the world that asked for more time to prove the intel, kicked out the UN inspectors that could not find the WMD’s, and proceeded to invade. Now we are 3 years into this mess, 2000 plus American lives have been lost, countless Iraqi lives are lost, and no WMD’s have been found.

Oops. Sounds pretty ‘Irresponsible’ to me.

On the re-writing history front, if you ask them why we invaded today, you will get the standard “after 9-11 the world has changed…freedom and democracy should spread throughout the middle east…the Iraqi people were under the thumb of a dictator…we fight the terrorists there instead of here” line of Bush baloney. No mention of WMD’s, but Democrats are accused of changing history.

My favorite quote is this:

"…these are elected officials who had access to the intelligence, and were free to draw their own conclusions. They arrived at the same judgment about Iraq's capabilities and intentions that was made by this administration and by the previous administration."

It’s important to point out that the previous administration did most likely arrive at the same judgment about Iraq’s WMD’s. The difference is that they also knew that some of the intel was sketchy, and they didn’t decide to INVADE Iraq to prove a point.

There was NO connection between Iraq and Al-Qaeda before or after 9-11. There were NO WMD’s in Iraq. There were NO terrorists in Iraq until after we invaded and sent the country into chaos.

The American people are hopefully smart enough to see through this massive ‘campaign style’ attack plan that is currently under way. The only WMD’s we need to be worried about are the words of mass distraction coming out of the oval office these days.

Bush decides to respect international law now?

2005-11-10T10:44:00.000-05:00

The latest news on the continuing debate/scandal on how the US is treating people that it has captured and detained involves our Secretary of State, Condi Rice.

Before traveling to the Middle East this week with stops in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, she gave a speech at the American Bar Association meeting on International Law. In this speech she comments that the US is upholding its international agreements.

"For the United States, an essential element of the rule of law has always been and still remains law among nations…We have always respected our international legal obligations and we have led the world in developing new international law."

Yeah, right. I think that we have pretty much thrown out many of the previous international obligations we had signed up for after September 11, 2001. Some of them were even dropped before then. I find real irony in her statement.

1. Kyoto Treaty – In 2001 one of the first acts of a newly appointed Bush administration was to thumb their nose at the world and tell them that we no longer care about the environment and will not endorse the Kyoto treaty to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions. Even though the previous administration had signed up to this international agreement, the Bushies basically said ‘we’re not interested’. One can argue that Kyoto was ineffective and wouldn’t work to curb global warming anyway, but it certainly was a start. And for Bush to claim that he is a long term strategic minded leader, this was a real stinker. Do these names ring a bell? Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Charley, Francis, Ivan, Jeanne?

2. Int'l War crimes Tribunal – Here is another example were we throw out our moral and legal obligation to the world. In 2002, Bush and his cronies decided that the US would not endorse an international war crimes tribunal if the US could not be exempted from prosecution by said court. How is it that we should be exempt from this? The argument that the court might be politically motivated to prosecute US citizens is shallow and false, and leads us back to the Bushies not wanting people to see what is happening in Guantanamo Bay and the CIA’s so-called ‘black sites’.

3. 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty – This one is a real nice slap in the face to Russia. Donald Rumsfeld and his band of merry men decided that we needed a missile defense shield system to protect us from ‘rogue’ states. The problem is of course that we had previous international treaties that prevented us from testing and deploying such a system. So they just decided to throw it out. Of course any terrorist with half of their wits about them will smuggle a bomb in on a container ship and not bother to try to put it on top of a rocket and fire it at us.

For the highest ranking diplomat in the US administration to state that we have an obligation to uphold international law and abide by our agreements is really hypocritical at best, and downright illegal at worst. Time and again the Bush administration has thumbed their nose at the world. What makes them think that the world will listen to us now?

It’s not really that we should not keep and detain people that are a real threat to the US and its interests. My feeling is that we should do it within the boundaries of the constitution that we have held up for more than 220 years. It has served us well, and is flexible enough to change over time in its structure and interpretation. If these people really want to hurt us, put them on trial and lock them up in the federal penitentiary system. It was good enough for the Ramzi Yousef and the blind sheik that supported him in the 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center, it should be good enough for all the other terrorists as well.

Big oil CEOs under fire in Congress

2005-11-09T18:42:00.000-05:00

Alaska Republican Stevens, head of the Senate Commerce Committee, rejected calls by some Democrats to have the executives sworn in, saying the law already required them to tell the truth.

You have to ask yourself...why? Why wouldn't the senator from Alaska let the big oil company executives swear under oath to tell the truth? What difference does it make?

Turns out, big oil has donated more than $10mm to his campaigns over the years.

Ahhh..now it makes sense.

Classes on Ethics and Secure Documents

2005-11-09T09:02:00.000-05:00

White House workers, from presidential advisers to low-ranking aides, began attending mandatory lectures on ethical behavior and the handling of classified documents Tuesday after the recent indictment of a high-level official in the CIA leak case.
So, I have a question...why didn't they do this 5 years ago when the president first took office? Seems like that would be part of the new hire orientation, no?

Republican Corruption

2005-10-28T14:03:00.000-05:00

Breaking News:

Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby indicted today on charges of perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice.

One reporter said it best: “It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up that will always get you in more trouble.”

Shades of Richard Nixon and the Watergate cover-up in this story. Get the underlings to do the dirty work, divert the blame from the POTUS and VPOTUS.

My prediction…Cheney is next.

Iran wants to 'erase' Israel

2005-10-27T07:45:00.000-05:00

I have ranted a bit on the dangers of Iran and North Korea being WAY worse than Iraq ever was…at least with regards to WMD's and general nastiness. But this new development takes the award.

An elected head of state goes to a conference called 'The World without Zionism' and says that another country should be, and I quote, "Wiped off the map".

Did someone give this guy a few pointers on international etiquette and diplomacy before he was sworn in? I mean does he really believe that is going to happen? What are they putting in the water over there in Tehran?

I will say this, I believe that the state of Israel was born on the backs of the Palestinians that lived in that area before and shortly after WWII, and really, that’s just not right. However, that does not mean that the state of Israel should be shut down, deleted, wiped off the map, etc. The Jewish people have had it pretty tough for thousands of years, but then again so have the Arabs in the region. No one ‘wins’ in a situation like that. It seems like they are now coming to the realization that they need to live together in peace, and then, and only then, will EVERYONE win.

That problem notwithstanding, the Iranian president claming that another country should be destroyed, is generally a bad thing. Combine this with their nuclear ambitions, and you have a really bad mix of politics, religion, and atom splitting explosions.

I don’t know if removing them from the U.N. is a realistic idea, but it sounds good on paper. At the very least, the security council needs to get some balls and put some sanctions on Iran for what the IAEA has said is a nuclear program that is not in line with a ‘peaceful’ scientific means of producing power. What’s John Bolton have to say about all this? Isn’t he supposed to ‘reform’ the U.N.? How about helping it to actually have some real power.

Cheney endorses Torture

2005-10-26T11:19:00.000-05:00

Take a look at this editorial in the Washington Post today.

Not only does our beloved Veep CONDONE torture of terrorist suspects, now he wants the government to actually endorse it!

It's bad enough that it is happenning right under our collective noses, now he wants us to stand up and say "Sure, hook their testicles up to electrodes. We don't mind."

What the?!?

Look, I am all for working over a person with some physical, but mostly psychological means of getting them to talk. If we can potentially stop impending attacks on US citizens and interests, then there are plenty of ways to get that info from them without violating international agreements.

And don't give me the 'this is war' speech, cause I am not buying it. We have been through plenty of wars where torture was not part of the S.O.P. for prisioners.

How can we stand up and call ourselves the greatest country in the world, ask others to follow our lead, tell others that they should embrace democracy and all it's rewards...but then toture our enemies.

We were appalled at what happenned to the guy who got his head severed off on video. We are shocked when we see dead bodies after a car/truck/suicide bomber.

Why are we not shocked that the number 2 man in the executive branch of our government actually endorses similar behavior? Why?

Luckily, the Senate has already passed the McCain amendment that runs counter to the VP's desires by a vote of 90-9. Can't get much more bi-partisan than that.

We're on a road to nowhere...

2005-10-22T14:51:00.000-05:00

So, imagine that you are a U.S. Senator. You are faced with a tough choice in the wake of two major hurricanes to hit the gulf coast, and all the expenses that the federal government will have to incur.

One of those expenses is a couple of bridges in Alaska that will cost $450 million to build. These bridges are probably a good idea, and perhaps have some merit, but serve very few people.

You also have the expense of rebuilding and repairing the Interstate 10 bridge across Lake Ponchitrain in LA, which serve hundreds of thousands of vehicles each day and is a critical part of the nation's transportation infrastructure.

You only have enough money to pay for one or the other. Which one do you choose?

If you are the Senator from Alaska that uses this pork spending to make yourself look good back home, you want your pet project. When someone else in the Senate tries to remove the project to help pay for other things, you have a rant on the Senate floor and threaten to resign. Even your own constiuients say that they would like to help the people of Lousiana and give up their bridges to help out. But you don't listen to them, you just have a little hissy fit and say you are going to go home. Good...fine...go home. Be sure and bring a sweater, I hear it's pretty cold up there in AK.

Well...since we have a Republican controlled Senate, and a Republican controlled house, and a Republican controlled White House, none of which have the balls to say no to anyone...you get both.

So where does the money come from? You have to sell more treasury bonds, of course. And who buys these bonds? The Chinese, The Saudis, etc.

Nothing like financing your future on the backs of your friends. Or, are they your friends?

The Chinese don't particulary care for us, and they see us as competition for global resources. Rumsfeld is worried that they are building up their military, as he should be.

The Saudis pretend to like us, but in fact hate our guts. It's a good thing they have all that oil to sell us, thereby keeping a corrupt monarchy in power.

Groups Threaten to Boycott American Girl

2005-10-18T15:03:00.000-05:00

This is a story that really gets me riled up.

The company that makes the American Girl dolls and accessories, uses some of their profits to support charities that help girls. One of those charities is Girls Inc.

Girls Inc is devoted to inspiring girls to be bold, smart, strong, and decisive women. They primarily focus on poor and underprivileged girls, not on purpose, just because that’s how it worked out since they were founded in 1864.

The problem that the AFA (American Family Association) has is that Girls Inc supports such radical causes like abortion rights, preventing violence against women, and (gasp!) promoting that sexual orientation is genetic and not a chosen lifestyle (read ‘lesbianism’).

I am part of an American family, and I can tell you that the AFA does not represent my views on this topic. What they basically want to do is get conservatives to boycott American Girl products because of their support of Girls Inc.

Let’s call them what they are…bullies. Maybe not the push you down on the playground type, but the ‘we don’t like you so we will make a big deal out of nothing’ type of bully.

I have a news flash for the AFA.

1. They are in the minority when it comes to this topic.

2. Abortion is a privacy matter, and also LEGAL, regardless of how they feel about it.

3. Violence against women is a real problem that needs to be addressed with girls from a young age.

4. Your sexual orientation is your own business, and you have no control over it.

Having a young lady in my household that I am raising to be a respectable young woman who can be strong, independent, smart, and able to stand up for herself, is my most important goal in life right now. She likes American Girl products, even if I balk at the prices. I don’t plan to boycott them because some crazy AFA spokesperson in Mississippi told me to.

Fried Chicken anyone?

2005-10-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

Looks like the ability to wean ourselves from foreign sources of fossil fuels is under attack. Maybe if we switch to Solar farms instead of wind power farms, we can all have baked chicken instead of chopped quail?

Propaganda at its best/worst

2005-10-13T18:53:00.000-05:00

ABC News

For those of you that think that the president is doing a great job, and that the troops in Iraq support him, you should see this and do a little critical analysis.

1. Why were they only Officers and Staff NCO's in this little 'town hall' meeting?

2. Why were they all white males?

3. Why were all the questions and answers scripted?

If you want a true picture of propaganda, this is it. I am not sure to what this meeting was meant to accomplish? To boost morale with the troops? There were only 10 of them there, and the other 100K+ were out on patrol.

No one really saw it as far as I know. The only reason I saw it was bacause ABC ran a story on it and was a bit shocked that the white house didn't know that the prep work with a pentagon official was being taped. What were they thinking? I mean cameras were in the room! SHe was telling them all what questions to ask, and what they were supposed to say!

Even if we didn't get to see the back end preparation for this hollywood scripted meeting, I would still be skeptical. If he had been talking to a bunch of marine infantry PFC's and Lance Corporals, I think it would have been a very different conference all together.

What a joke.

Senate Approves Detainee Treatment Rules

2005-10-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

This is kind of a no brainer, and the fact that it was approved by the senate in a 90-9 vote supports my assertion.

Sponsored by Sen John McCain, the only republican that currently gets my respect for his willingness to stand up to the Bushies, this amendment to the military bill outlines how we can and cannot treat detainees and prisoners captured in the war on terror. Since McCain was tortured and abused at the hands of the North Vietnamese, he has particular insight into this matter.

I find it interesting that there is opposition from the White House on this isses. They feel that this will restrict the president's ability to conduct the war. Basically this says to me that they want to be free to toture and abuse people in order to get information from them.

Now, don't get me wrong. I believe that intelligence information on possible terrorist attacks on US Citizens and/or US military personnel is vital. I also believe that if we stoop to the level of these people, we only drive ourselves into that hole that is really hard to get out of.

The purpose of this amendment is to set the guidelines, and tell our people what they can and cannot do. In the end, this will help us in the eyes of the world...and believe me, the world is watching what we do.

Rove Denied to Bush He Engaged in Leak

2005-10-10T12:55:00.000-05:00

One sunny afternoon in D.C. POTUS strolls down the hall to Karl Rove's office and knocks on the door frame.

W: Uh, Karl, I've been hearing from Andy Card that there is a story about the wife of that Wilson fellow who debunked the 'Sadaam wants Uranium from Niger' story. He says that you may have leaked the name.

Turd-Blossom: Yes, Mr. President. I have heard that story too.

W: So, did you do it?

Turd-Blossom: No, Mr. President. I told Novak the name of Valerie Plame, not Valerie Wilson.

W: [confused] oh. Ok then. Thanks Turd Blossom. You can go back to work now.

Turd-Blossom: Thank you sir.

Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD...Argh!

2005-10-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

As someone that is technology driven, and also a big fan of movies and TV, I am really ticked off about this whole High Definition DVD thing.

How many times do we have to repeat history? Does anyone from any of these companies remember the Beta vs. VHS fiasco of the early 80's? How about the recordable DVD -R/+R fiasco of the past few years?

GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE! Consumers do not care which one wins out, just give us HD content in a single disc format...that's all we care about!

I realize that this whole thing is about money. It's always about money. The Blu-Ray camp has lots of money invested in its technology, and wants to make money licensing it. The HD-DVD camp says the same thing. They are both stubborn and they both want to take their ball and go home.

The consumer loses in this battle. Yes, eventually you will be able to buy a player that will handle both formats, but that is YEARS away. In the mean time, we will have to have two seperate players in our home theater setups.

Stupid, just plain stupid.

Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal

2005-10-01T07:42:00.000-05:00

So this is an interesting story from a few months ago. The synopsis is that the Bush Administration hired some guy as a 'consultant' to go on actual news shows to promote the idea that the Bushies actually cared about education. Since their record could not support the idea, they hire someone to go out and say 'Yes, they really do care'. Of course the fact that the administration, and hence the american taxpayer, are paying this guy is not revealed to the people watching him on TV.

The other thing they did was to put together a video, but used the format of a real news story. They even ended the segment with the reporter saying "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."

It's almost like they stole the idea for fake news from The Daily Show...except this story was not funny.

So when all this is exposed, the GAO gets involved and investigates. They find that what happenned was in fact ILLEGAL. Cool! Someone might actually get in trouble for this!

Oh, wait...

"The ruling comes with no penalty, but under federal law the department is supposed to report the violations to the White House and Congress."

So instead of it going to the Justice Department, or the FBI, it goes to the two places where it is guaranteed to be dropped into the nearest trash can.

Now you see why I am the 'Frustrated' FL Voter. ARGH!

Three Successive Bombings in Iraq Kill 60

2005-09-29T15:18:00.000-05:00

More proof that terrorists are working and training in Iraq. A coordinated attack using car bombs to kill and maim people.

So here is a question that we need to ask. What if?

Since terrorists were NOT in Iraq before we invaded, and we had effectively defeated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan before we invaded, where would they be now?

By invading Iraq, and by botching the whole 'reconstruction' effort, we have effectively created a training ground for the terrorists. Keep in mind, there was no real place for them to train before. We had either destroyed, or at least greatly hindered, their ability to command and control anything. Osama is holed up in a cave somewhere in Pakistan, or hiding in a tent with his buddies. He’s not controlling anything anymore.

Now, the whole idea is to ‘fight them there, so we don’t have to fight them here’. But what does fighting them ‘there’ get you?

It gets you more people to fight because they feel like we are picking on them.

It gets you better trained terrorists because they get to ‘practice’ on Iraqi civilians, Iraqi police, and American troops.

It gets you more technically astute terrorists that know how to setup an IED and use a cell phone to detonate it.

Imagine that it’s 5 years from now. We ‘finally’ stabilized Iraq and somehow they have managed to be able to take care of themselves, but of course we are still sending them billions of dollars in aid because we messed up their country in the first place. Now you have all these terrorists that have cut their teeth in Iraq with nothing to do. So they sneak into this country through our highly porous borders.

NOW we have a real problem. Because now we have Oklahoma City, multiplied times 20, 30, or 100. IED’s planted along the interstate highways. Broken levee’s in New Orleans…but this time they are sabotaged with a bomb. Buildings and police stations targeted with suicide car bombs.

Bush is of course now out of office, retired to the ranch in Crawford. His democratic (hopefully) successor is in office, and is getting blamed for all the chaos around the country. Chaos that was born, bred, tested for quality assurance, and exported from Iraq.

Scary stuff.

What if we had NOT invaded Iraq.

Sadaam would still be in power, that’s a given. He had a security structure in place that would make the FBI proud. It essentially provided him with the means to stay in power. He’s still the world’s biggest A-hole, second only to Kim Jong Il. He doesn’t have WMD’s. He doesn’t have Nukes. He’s not a threat to anyone but himself, his own people, and maybe his neighbors in the middle east. That’s about it. Basically where we had him about 10 minutes before we invaded. Contained.

Osama bin Laden has been captured, along with all of his cronies, because we sent in the 50,000 troops needed to do the job. They weren’t busy staging in Kuwait to invade Iraq.

The terrorist network is still alive, but severely crippled because nobody likes a loser, especially the Arab street. Osama is in prison, or dead, so there is no one to rally around. There is no place to train since Afghanistan is stable and democratic, and there is no money flowing in from upset oil sheiks who hate the U.S. The Muslim mullahs have no one to call the great Satan because we are basically staying out of their business. We work to promote democratic changes in Saudi Arabia and Egypt (which we are doing anyway), which makes oppressed Muslims have a good impression of us.

I realize that there may be big holes in my vision of ‘What if’, but it’s a plausible scenario.

DeLay Indicted in Campaign Finance Probe

2005-09-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

This guy is FINALLY getting what's due to him. He is the dirtiest of the dirty when it comes to politicians.

He can cry 'foul' all he wants, he knows he is in trouble now. Just because the prosecutor in TX is a democrat, does not excuse his behavior.

The best part is that the house actually changed the rules for a short time late last year so that he could keep his job as majority leader if/when he was indicted. They quickly changed their minds when the house democrats called them on it. He's probably fuming right now...just stewing...

I love it!

This guy is downright dangerous, and one of the many reasons that absolute power corrupts absolutley. He even called the FAA to find out were the Texas Democrats had gone when they refsued to allow the legislature to redraw districts to favor Republicans.

I hope he gets convicted, and thrown in the clink to be passed around like so many packs of cigarettes.

Florida Homeowners authorized to shoot

2005-09-28T11:42:00.000-05:00

Well, looks like I can use my gun against any republican's that come to my house to ask for donations. Cool!

George W. Bush Resume

2005-09-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

Originally posted on BuzzFlash
--------------

George W. Bush Resume

Past work experience:

Ran for congress and lost.
Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie.
Bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas, company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.
Bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using tax-payer money. Biggest move: Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox.
With fathers help (and his name) was elected Governor of Texas.

Accomplishments: Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union. Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America. Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money. Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history.
Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of my fathers appointments to the Supreme Court.

Accomplishments as president:

Attacked and took over two countries.
Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.
Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.
Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.
Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.
First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.
After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history.
Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history.
In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.
Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.
Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period.
Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.
Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.
Signed more laws and executive orders circumventing the Constitution than any president in US history.
Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.
Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind. (http://www.hyperreal.org/~dana/marches/)
Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.
My presidency is the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history.
Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleezza Rice has an Chevron oil tanker named after her).
Had more states to simultaneously go bankrupt than any president in the history of the United States.
Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.
Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history.
First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.
Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.
Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
Withdrew from the World Court of Law.
Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections).
All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
My biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.
First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)
First US president to establish a secret shadow government.
Took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).
With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.
Fist US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.
First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.
Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.
Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.
Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capitol building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.
In the 18 months following the 911 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.
Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.
In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war.
Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.

Records and References:

At least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).
AWOL from National Guard and Deserted the military during a time of war.
Refuse to take drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.
All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.
All minutes of meetings for any public corporation I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public view.
Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and un-available for public review.
For personal references please speak to my daddy or uncle James Baker (They can be reached at their offices of the Carlyle Group for war-profiteering.)

The Daily Who? What? Huh?

2005-09-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

This is cool. If you have read this blog before, you know that I am a fan of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. This article shows how out of touch many of the people that are leading our country are with how people really feel about them.

My favorite quote was this one:

Reporter: Excuse me, congressman, have you ever watched “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”?

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas): No. I don’t even know who he is.

Tom Delay...the poster boy for what is wrong with politics today. Corrupt, slimy, evasive. He personifies all the evil senators and congressmen that Hollywood likes to portray in movies and cheesy TV shows. Not only does he not watch the show, he hasn't even heard of it. Classic.

Now, the real question is do people like Karl Rove, Scott Mcllean, Andy Card, Condi Rice, Dick Cheney, and the big W himself have any idea who Jon Stewart is? I would love to be a fly on the wall during that meeting.

Karl: We need to get POTUS on the Daily show to do some damage control

Andy: The what show?

Condi: Is that on CNN?

Dick (via video conference from a 'secure' location): Wait...isn't he the guy with the bowtie that got fired?

George W: Can someone pass the cookies?

N. Korea in need of medication

2005-09-21T08:03:00.000-05:00

Here is another on the Bush 'axis of evil' list. Even though I normally don't agree with Bush and his cronies, I think he may be right on this one.

These guys are the weirdest people on the planet when it comes to diplomacy. They have this HUGE inferiority complex and feel like they have to have nukes to play with the big boys. Never mind that earlier in the week they said they would give up their weapons in exchange for a power system that actually works. Now they say that we are trying to trick them and that we will use a nuke to invade and take over.

Like we don't have enough to worry about with Iraq, Katrina, Rita, budget deficits, etc, etc, etc. To be honest, these guys are the scariest country on the planet, but nobody really cares to invade their country. We tried to liberate them in the 50's, and that didn't work, so I think we are happy to leave it at that.

I think they need a Prozac...

Axis of Evil, Part 2

2005-09-18T10:57:00.000-05:00

If you read the story on this link, and you infer what the Iranians are really up to, it has me scared.

Bush had it right on his 'Axis of Evil' speech a couple of years ago when he was talking about Iran and N. Korea, but he was a bit ahead of his time. Now that Iran has a hardline fundamentalist as president, this guy has his sights on the job that Sadaam wanted...ruler of the middle east.

Invading Iraq was a huge waste of time, money, and lives. Sadaam was no more a threat to the US than Canada or Mexico is. No WMD's, no real army, nothing. He was a big talker, but nothing more than a bully. Yes he was a threat to his own people, and to some extent his neighbors, but not to the U.S.A.

Iran on the other hand, is a lot more of a threat. If they succeed in pursuing their nuclear ambitions, we are in BIG trouble. And the guy they just elected is a real hard head. We can't threaten them militairly because we have so much tied up in Iraq now. Plus, given that they are a primarily Muslim country, the perception in the muslim world that we are hell bent on converting them all to christianity will only be reinforced.

John Cleese's Letter to the USA

2005-09-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

A note from a friend of mine:

----------------------

John Cleese's Letter to the USA

To the citizens of the United States of America, in light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II resumes monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy.

Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.8% of you who have, until now, been unaware there's a world outside your borders) will appoint a Minister for America. Congress and the Senate are disbanded. A questionnaire circulated next year will determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid your transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. Look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Check "aluminium" in the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you pronounce it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour'. Likewise you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary."

Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed." There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you should not have chat shows.

2. There is no such thing as "U.S. English." We'll let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u'.

3. You should learn to distinguish English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier). Scottish dramas such as 'Taggart' will no longer be broadcast with subtitles.You must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon." If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1.

5. You should stop playing American "football." There's only one kind of football. What you call American "football" is not a very good game. The 2.1% of you aware there is a world outside your borders may have noticed no one else plays "American" football. You should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls.

Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies).

You should stop playing baseball. It's not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders," which is baseball without fancy team stripe, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

6. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns, or anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because you are not sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you need a permit to carry a vegetable peeler.

7. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday. It will be called "Indecisive Day."

8. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left. At the same time, you will go metric without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

9. Learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't French, they're Belgian though 97.8% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat.

10. The cold tasteless stuff you call beer is actually lager. Only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer." Substances once known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," except for the product of the American Budweiser company which will be called "Weak Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine." This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen, Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

11. The UK will harmonise petrol prices (or "Gasoline," as you will be permitted to keep calling it) for those of the former USA, adopting UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon, get used to it).

12. Learn to resolve personal issues without guns, lawyers or therapists. That you need many lawyers and therapists shows you're not adult enough to be independent. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

13. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

14. Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation.

* John Cleese
[Basil Fawlty, Fawlty Towers, Torquay, Devon, England]

----------------------------

Rush: The Trees

2005-09-15T16:59:00.000-05:00

I was browsing my iPod list, and came across this song by Rush. I always thought that its lyrics were pretty profound, and speak volumes about what happens when one class/race/gender/political party has control over another one

------------------------------
Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunligh
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(and they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made
And they wonder why the maples
Can’t be happy in their shade?

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream `oppression!`
And the oaks, just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
’the oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light’
Now there’s no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet,
Axe,
And saw ...

--------------------------------
What more can I say?

O'Reilly: "drug-addicted … thugs"

2005-09-15T15:26:00.000-05:00

On the September 13 broadcast of The Radio Factor, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly claimed that "many of the poor in New Orleans" did not evacuate the city before Hurricane Katrina because "[t]hey were drug-addicted" and "weren't going to get turned off from their source." O'Reilly added, "They were thugs."

I see. So this is what happens when you have your own show, and have probably never seen a day in your life where you didn't know where your next meal was coming from. You blame the poor, and call them names.

Granted, there were a few bad apples in the city of New Orleans that took advantage of the situation after the flooding began, and law & order started to break down. But to say that New Orleans was full of drug addicts and thugs, and therefore they did not deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, is a crock of s***.

The vast majority of people in New Orleans that could NOT get out after the storm were poor...very poor. In most of these cases, it was probably not their fault. There are many people who grow up in an environment where they are not offered the opportunites that other Americans get. Some of it is their fault, but most of the time it is circumstances. And the vast majority of them are not drug addicts and thugs.

If anything was highlighted in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it was that the dark underbelly of American poverty was finally uncovered. And guess what, New Orleans is not the hub of poverty in the US. There are LOTS of other towns and cities all over the country that have people living at or below the poverty level. We are the richest country in the world, and yet the Bush administration, and the right-wing conservatives in general act like it’s not there. If we ignore it, it will go away…

Sad. Very sad.

Wired 13.09: Reinventing Television

2005-09-15T10:21:00.000-05:00

If you don't watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart...you should.

If you don't TiVo it...you should.

If you don't set your DVR to record it...you should.

It is by far one of the best television shows on the air today, and I rarely miss it. If anyone cannot see the irony in current events, then they are not alive.

When they do a story when one of the 'correspondents' goes out to interview people about a particular issue, I am constantly amazed that the people seem to have no clue about the show and will answer ridiculous questions without cracking a smile. It's as if they have never watched the show...which is probably true. If you have seen the show, you know what I am talking about.

Irony and satire are good for the soul, and the writers of The Daily Show are masters of irony.

A perfect example of this is a story they did on Dayton, TN, the town where the infamous Scopes trial was held.

Click here for Video

The fact that there are people in the United States in the year 2005 that still believe that Evolution is garbage and should not be taught to children in public schools is scary...really scary.

About Me

2005-09-15T09:52:00.000-05:00

Hi there. You may be wondering to yourself, who is this blogger, and why is he so frustrated?

Well, I'll tell you. I'm in my late 30's, have lived in Florida for most of my life, and I am seriously upset with the state of affairs in my country. I list myself as a FL voter to show that:

1. I live in a very strange state when it comes to politics.
2. Florida was the critical state in the election of supreme emperor George W. Bush in 2000.
3. I VOTE every chance I get, so I have the right to complain about who gets elected and the crap that they try to pull over on us.

Yes, I am a registered Democrat. Yes, I tend to lean to the left in my political outlook on things.

I am also a person who can do some critical thinking, and make up my mind about political issues based on the fact, and not the 'spin'.

In my opinion, that is what is lacking in our country today, the ability for rational people to look objectivley at an issue and make a decision on how they feel about it without having Karl Rove or any other right wing conservative lackeys tell them how to feel.

If you regularly listen to the rambilings of Rush Limbaugh (the drug addict), Bill O'Reilly (the sexist), or Sean Hannity (the bully) and actually believe the crap that they spew, then you won't like this blog. If you wish to read it anyway and comment to the contrary of my opinions, feel free, just keep the comments family friendly or I will delete them.

Enjoy!

Do you agree?
	Yes, I had not thought of that
	No, you are a crazy lunatic

Free polls from Pollhost.com