Thursday, December 29, 2005
President Bush’s vacation reading list:
“When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House,”
by Patricia O’Toole
“Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground,” by Robert Kaplan
Technorati Tags: Imperial+Grunts, President+Bush, literature, politics, political+books, When+Trumpets+Call, Roosevelt
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Although the president did not originate any new words thisyear, he had several notable statements, Payack said, citingthe following:
– “See, in my line of work you got to keep repeatingthings over and over and over again for the truth to sink in,to kind of catapult the propaganda,” Bush said in explaininghis communications strategy last May.
– “I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?” Bush asked in a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a U.N. Security Council meeting in September.
– “This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, alloptions are on the table,” Bush said in Brussels last February.
– “In terms of timetables, as quickly as possible – whatever that means,” the president said of his timeframe for passing Social Security legislation in March.
– “Those who enter the country illegally violate the law,”Bush said in describing illegal immigrants in Tucson, Arizona,last month.
Technorati Tags : President+Bush, memorable+phrases, Global+Language+Monitor, Language, FEMA, Payack
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Our Endangered Values : America’s Moral Crisis
The Truth (with jokes)
Team of Rivals : The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
The Assassins’ Gate : America in Iraq
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Friday, December 16, 2005
Today in 1773, Colonists stage their historic Boston Tea Party, as colonists dressed as Indians board three British ships in Boston harbor throw 342 chests of tea overboard in an act of rebellion against unfair taxation represented by England’s enactment of the Tea Act passed earlier that year.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
New Hampshire Democrats launched a public campaign yesterday to preserve their first-in-the-nation presidential primary against intrusions from rival states and the work of a Democratic Party commission. Granite State partisans said the quadrennial presidential spotlight is as vital to the identity of their state as the Derby is to Kentucky and the Statute of Liberty is to New York.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Friday, November 11, 2005
As a veteran myself, I just want to wish all those who have served in our military a happy Veteran’s Day. With so much going on in the world, it’s important to say thanks to those who are still fighting the fight. It’s also important to recognize the contributions of ALL veterans, not just the straight ones. There are over 65,000 gay and lesbians currently serving in the armed forces but they are not allowed to serve openly. The Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN.org) states,
According to the Pentagon, it has discharged more than 10,000 service members for being gay, including nearly 800 with skills deemed “mission critical” by the Department of Defense. Those who have been discharged include linguists, combat engineers, pilots, medical professionals and others. According to statistician Gary Gates, the armed forces could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits by repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” in addition to the 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans already on duty in the active duty, reserve and national guard forces.
This session of congress has finally introduced legislation to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, with 100 members of congress co-sponsoring the bill. The bill is called the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (H.R. 1059). If you want to learn more about the legislation you can check out the SLDN website.
Some may say, “hey this is Veteran’s Day, don’t hijack this holiday to push your own gay agenda, it’s about the veterans not about being gay”. Well it is about the veteran’s but it’s about all of us who served. Have you served? Did you get off your ass and stand up and do your time? If you didn’t, then don’t talk to me about hijacking Veteran’s day. I earned it. I served for 4 years and lived a misserable lie just because I felt being an officer was more important than being gay. With the ban on gays in the military, Veteran’s day is merely a holiday for “everyone else”. Gay veterans have served, fought and died to protect a way of life they could not themselves enjoy and until we are all equal under the law with the same opportunities to pursue our own careers along side everyone else, then there is no such thing as a nice quiet Veteran’s day.
You can take action and tell your representative in congress that you support the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Visit the Human Rights Campaign website for information on sending an email. You may not have served in the military yourself, but you can at least get off your ass this time around and send a simple email. As they say, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
And if you think the ban on gays and lesbians is justified and should continue, then head on down to your local recruiters office and sign up. There’s plenty of room in line for those allowed to serve.
We are a nation of smart, talented and skilled people. Imagine what we could accomplish if we were also equal.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Growing up as a kid, I’d always been tought that God was forgiving and merciful and loving. Apparently, however, with the advent of television and democratic elections, he has become mad, vengeful and quite politcal.
In Dover, Pennsylvannia, all eight school board members up for re-election lost their seats Tuesday after trying to introduce “intelligent design” to high school science students as an alternative to the theory of evolution. Pat Robertson on his television show, “The 700 Club”, stated, “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city,” Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, “The 700 Club.”
“And don’t wonder why He hasn’t helped you when problemsbegin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do,just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And ifthat’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not bethere,” he said.
I don’t think God cares half as much about “intelligent design” in the school’s curriculum as he does about national religious leaders, such as Robertson, spewing hate and vengence. Church isn’t about voting for the right candidate, it’s about faith, forgiveness and tolerance.
Friday, November 11, 2005
ExxonMobil recently announced the largest quarterly profits—$9.9 billion—of any American corporation in history. Of course nobody is going to condemn the right of a business to earn profit, it’s the reason businesses exist and is the cornerstone of a healthy capitalistic society. We are not, after-all, a socialist state. But there are currently congressional hearings going on regarding the recent oil industry profits and whether ExxonMobil is unfairly raising prices while at the same time crushing any and all attempts to fund alternative energy research.
Via MoveOn:
During yesterday’s hearings on recent record oil industry profits, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told the oil executives, “People are concerned about fairness and justice at a time of sacrifice. Your sacrifice appears to be nothing.”….
The only answer to the current energy crisis is energy independence. That’s something we’ll be working on together in the next few weeks—one of the big positive things progressives stand for. And we’re starting with ExxonMobil, the biggest obstacle in the way.
Exxon owes much of its lobbying success to close ties to Republican leaders. Over the last decade, Exxon has given more than $5.2 million to Republicans, while giving less than $650,000 to Democrats.3 This year 91% of Exxon’s political contributions have gone to Republicans.4 In turn, Republican energy policy has amounted to a series of massive handouts to the oil industry. Even now, with Republicans grandstanding with show hearings on television, they refused to make the oil executives testify under oath.5 Together with the coalition, we’ll deliver your petition signature to ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, and we’ll send a copy to Congress to help break Exxon’s stranglehold on our government.
There are four main areas in which Exxon needs drastic change:
1. With gas prices near $3 a gallon, it’s outrageous to watch ExxonMobil rake in record profits while refusing to support greater fuel economy or invest significant amounts in cleaner, healthier energy.
2. ExxonMobil is the only oil company that remains part of Arctic Power, the group lobbying Congress to open the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Congress will cast the final vote on drilling in the Arctic shortly.
3. ExxonMobil has spent over $15 million since 1998 to deny the existence of global warming by funding junk science groups to cloud the debate. The company lobbies against efforts to fight global warming even as it alone is responsible for 5% of the world’s output of the main type of global warming pollution.
4. Remember the Exxon Valdez tragedy? Exxon’s tanker killed hundreds of thousands of seals, otters, birds, fish and whales when it spilled 11 million gallons of thick, deadly crude oil into the waters of Alaska’s pristine Prince William Sound. Yet despite making a record profit of $25 billion last year, ExxonMobil is still shirking payment of the full amount it owes fishermen and natives hurt by the spill 16 years ago!The Exxpose Exxon campaign includes a dozen leading environmental and public interest groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), True Majority, the Alaska Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Defenders of Wildlife, and more.
If you want to learn more about his issue and sign a MoveOn.org petition to ExxonMobil, you can click on this link: http://political.moveon.org/exxon/?id=6320-4350126-2Vyr_9mTzR32AKYeWNjb5g&t=3.
Technorati Tags: ExxonMobil, Movon.org, energy, global+warming
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Today in 1976, Georgia governor and former peanut farmer Jimmy Carter along with Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota as his running mate, defeated incumbent Gerald R. Ford to become the 39th president of the United States.
Today in 1983, in honor of the slain civil rights leader, President Ronald Reagan signs a bill designating every third Monday in January as Martin Luther King Day, the first such federal holiday to be established since the annual celebration of the birth of George Washington.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Just wanted to post a quick entry to note the passing of Rosa Parks. She died today at the age of 92.
Sometimes it’s just a simple act of doing something ordinary that you believe to be right, that makes the world around you a better place. I’m sure she never imagined the events that would follow by her refusing to give up her seat.
Rest In Peace Rosa.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
News travels fast, so I’m sure everyone has already heard, but it’s worth repeating. House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, was indicted by a Texas grand jury on charges of criminal conspiracy. DeLay was indicted along with two other political associates. I briefly discussed these allegations awhile back. At that time most people thought it was just liberal democrats posturing and changing the subject.
Now I’m sure everyone will stomp up and down and say “hey, people are innocent until proven guilty”. Yeah, true but nobody was saying that when President Clinton was going down in flames. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.
Power corrupts… absolute power corrupts absolutely.
House Republican rules require DeLay to give up his leadership post because of the indictment.
Read more at:
MSNBC.com
Political Animal – Delay Update
Yahoo! News – Indicted DeLay leaves House leadership post
Technorati Tags: Tom+DeLay, House+Majority+Leader, Republicans, Democrats, DeLay, House+of+Representatives, Corruption, political+corruption
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
I have no idea why the media would post this image. It’s very creepy. Are they trying to convey a certain image of John Roberts to us?
Technorati Tags: John+Roberts, Chief+Justice
Sunday, September 11, 2005
I’m just passing on an open letter Michael Moore (the film director) wrote today to all those who voted for George Bush. Regardless of what your personal feelings are for Michael Moore or for George Bush for that matter, his thoughts and comments are valid. His perspective may be one sided but his statements are still true and accurate none-the-less.
Take a few minutes and read the letter A Letter to All Who Voted for George W. Bush from Michael Moore.
Technorati Tags: Michael+Moore, George+Bush, President+Bush, 9-11, FEMA, terrorism
Thursday, September 8, 2005
Governor Schwarzenegger is slated to veto the recent law that passed in California legalizing same-sex marriage. Via Political Animal:
In a careful statement, Schwarzenegger press secretary Margita Thompson invoked the voter approval in March 2000 of Proposition 22, which said: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”“The governor believes the matter should be determined not by legislative action — which would be unconstitutional — but by court decision or another vote of the people of our state,” the statement said. “We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote.”
….The California Supreme Court is likely to decide next year whether Proposition 22 and other state laws that define marriage are constitutional.
This is unbelievable. “The Governor believes the matter should be determined not by legislative action — which would be unconstitutional — but by court decision.” Didn’t we just go through this with Bush and all the republicans saying that activist judges were running rampant over the countries laws?? First they say that activist judges should not be left to interpret and mold the law as they see fit, now they are saying that things should be left up to the courts to decide. What a bunch of crap.
Apparently activist judges are only “activist” when it’s against the republican agenda.
Technorati Tags: CA, gay+marriage, same-sex+marriage, proposition+22, California+Supreme+Court, activist+judges
Saturday, September 3, 2005
This has been spreading around the internet like wild fire. During the President’s visit to the areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, he said:
The good news is — and it’s hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott’s house — he’s lost his entire house — there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch. (Laughter.)
It’s unbelieveable that he would joke around during a visit like this and moreso make some reference to a politician losing one of his several houses as a result of the storm. While Trent Lott losing one of his homes is certainly tragic, there are hundreds of thousands of people homeless now, who had only one home and who neither have the money, insurance nor income to rebuild, much less kick back on the porch and have a tall glass of lemonade with the President and enjoy how much better things are now in their new home.
Bush is completely out of touch.
To draw some historical analogies to Bush’s comment, Ezra Klein, has asked readers to come up with their own humorous take on the President’s comments. Read their submissions at ezraklein.typepad.com.
Technorati Tags: Hurricane+Katrina, Katrina, President+Bush, Trent+Lott, disaster+relief, flood+relief
Friday, September 2, 2005
The New Orleans mayor is pissed. He said so in a radio interview. And as well he should be. Things in New Orleans are very bad. Every morning I wake up to read the news and it continues to get worse intead of better. George Bush is on his way in the ravaged area to take charge. A Yahoo! News article reports:
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin blasted the federal government as emotions spilled over in an angry radio interview, saying he was “pissed” at the lack of help the historic city had received.
“I need reinforcements. I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man,” he said. “Now get off your asses and fix this. Let’s do something and let’s fix the biggest goddam crisis in the history of this country.”
“We authorized $8 billion to go to Iraq, lickety split. After 9/11 we gave the president unauthorized powers, lickety split to help New York and other places,” he said. “You mean to tell me that a place where most of your oil is coming through … that we can’t figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need,” said Nagin.
Police have locked themselves in their own headquarters in fear of the looters and shooters.
I’m not in it and I can’t see first hand. Nor am I the Mayor of the city or an emergency services planner, so I can’t just sit here a few thousand miles a way and critique the operation. I can just say how deeply let down I am by what has unfolded. It doesn’t seem possible the the richest nation on earth can completely lose control of one of it’s most famous and charismatic cities. This is the true nature of humanity when it’s starving, thirsty, dying and abandoned without civil rule or law. We all criticize the chaos in the streets of Baghdad and the middle east and we say, “how could those barbaric people treat each other this way and live that way, shooting each other, bombing and looting buildings. How do they get to that point?” Well, this is how. We are watching it first hand.
Read the full article at Yahoo! News.
Technorati Tags: hurricane+katrina, katrina, New+Orleans, Disaster+Relief, flood+relief
Thursday, September 1, 2005
So everyone will say, “Here it comes… the political mud-slinging”. Well, let me say right up front that the horrific catastrophy of Hurricane Katrina is by no means a political issue. It was a natural event and we only have God to question why and how. That being said, I’m paying special attention to how this government and this administration is chosing to explain how we can be left so unprepared for something like this.
How can we invade countries such as Iraq with such extreme precision and meticulous logistics and yet fail to provide adequate planning and support for our own people at home. Am I being too much of a naysayer? I honestly don’t think so. I consider myself pretty objective when it comes to issues of common sense. Seriously, how did the evacuation result in such rediculous conditions? Every single report and prediction about a hurricane of that magnitude hitting New Orleans estimated equally or greater devastation as an almost certainty. Where is the domestic support?
Well I wasn’t too surprised when I ran across this article at Spiegel. Apparently, “In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.” The second most likely disaster was a terrorist attack on New York City. We already know what George Bush did when he took office upon hearing the intelligence reports of a imminent terrorist attack on US soil – nothing. And so it’s not surprising that again, he did nothing to prepare his country for this disaster.
Am I being too hard on GW? Is it back-seat driving? Well maybe I just expect more from our President. Maybe I expect more from our National leadership. Where are the systems in place to keep Americans safe at home? We are spending so much money to secure and rebuild Iraq that we failed to properly fund our own domestic infrastructure.
Nobody can be held accountable for the arrival of the storm, but they most certainly can be for the manner in which they handle, or fail to handle the aftermath.
Read the full story at “No One Can Say they Didn’t See it Coming” – International – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News. [ Via Proceed at your own risk ].
Technorati Tags: FEMA, Hurricane+Katrina, New+Orleans, Katrina, President+Bush
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