Liberalog

Katrina was a Good Thing for These People, says Barb Bush

2005-09-06T13:04:00.000-04:00

Barbara Bush showed her overwhelming lack of caring and compassion for the poor, when she said that the loss of loved ones, and in most cases everything they owned was a good thing. She said that since they were poor anyway, the care that they were getting at the Astrodome in Houston was better for them than the lives that they lived before their tragic losses. It is no wonder that George Bush is so cold and lacking in compassion for those not in his tight circle of elites, if his own mother is this cold and heartless.

WWJA (Who Would Jesus Assassinate?)

2005-08-23T09:23:00.000-04:00

This was a quote from Air America Radio's Rachel Maddow in response to Christo-Fascist right-wing nut job Pat Robertson's call for the United States to assassinate Venezuela's Democratically elected president Hugo Chavez. On his 700 Club television show Robertson called Chavez a "terrific danger" to the safety of the United States. He went on to say:

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

This is just more evidence that what the religious right calls the "culture of life" is only meant to refer to fetuses and brain dead women from Florida.

A Crawford Update

2005-08-22T12:25:00.000-04:00

I just saw video from Crawford from this weekend that has failed to make the Main Stream Media. The mothers and family members of soldiers killed and still serving in Iraq, and returned Iraq War veterans signed a letter to the President, and went to deliver it to his Crawford ranch. They were stopped by Secret Service personnel who said that no one from the administration was available to receive the letter, and refused to deliver it. The mothers and veterans left the letter on the ground at the feet of the Secret Service supervisor where it remained as they left.

If that was not insulting enough, there was video footage from later that day of a Pro-Bush group similarly delivering a letter that was happily received by the previously "unavailable" administration officials. This is a slap in the face to all of those who have been made to sacrifice their loved-ones, and only demand a truthful reason why their soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors were killed.

Return of Liberalog

2005-08-22T10:15:00.000-04:00

I'm back from my brief summer hiatus from posting. I will be posting regularly once again. So much has happened in the past few weeks, that I don't know where to start.

I think that the major story has been Cindy Sheehan, and the rising anti-war movement that has solidified around her Crawford Texas vigil called Camp Casey. This movement has become a major political thorn in the side of the Bush Administration. For this reason alone, I would say that Sheehan deserves our support.

In addition to the grief that Sheehan and her Gold Star Families for Peace Organization is giving Bush, they are highlighting some very important issues concerning the Iraq War. Every day that these people are camped out in front of Bush's ranch, they call attention to the lies that Bush used to get us into the quagmire that the war has become. It also highlights the administration's lack of a realistic plan for post-war Iraq, and the ever changing exit strategy plans that the administration keeps announcing. This has resulted in the Bush approval rating fall to just over 40%.

One drawback of this movement's overtaking the news cycle, is the disappearance of the Karl Rove/Valerie Plame story. We need to work toward keeping this story alive. If we can keep both the Rove scandal, the quagmire in Iraq, and the Abramoff/Delay stories in the news; we have a great chance of regaining both houses of Congress in 2006, and the Whitehouse in 2008!

Bush Once Again Shows Contempt fro Democracy

2005-08-01T12:03:00.000-04:00

President Bush has once again proven that he has total disregard for democracy and the will of the American people by using a recess appointment to place John Bolton as our representative to the United Nations. This action is just a continuation of the Republican abuse of power. The major objection against this appointment, which have not been covered in the mainstream press, is that Mr. Bolton is incompetent. He has repeatedly been removed from projects he was working on at the request of our allies, because of his incompetence and abusive behavior. In the negotiations for disarmament in both Libya and North Korea, diplomats from Britain requested that Bolton be removed from the bargaining team because he was risking the failure of the negotiations. There have also been some accusations that Bolton was one of Judith Miller's sources in the Plame outing incident.

Bush Administration Protecting the Osama bin Laden of Latin America

2005-07-28T10:42:00.000-04:00

The Bush Administration is keeping accused terrorist Luis Posada Carriles in federal detention on charges of illegally entering the US ( a charge typically used against illegal immigrant workers), and refusing to extradite him to Cuba to face charges of killing 73 people in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner. Posada was a paid employee of the CIA since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, and has been implicated in various anti-Cuban terrorist attacks. The Bush administration is showing their hypocritical stance on terrorism by protecting right-wing terrorist groups, and actively opposing leftist, environmentalists, and islamists as the only dangerous terrorists.

Bush's Brand of Democracy

2005-07-20T13:55:00.000-04:00

The Jan 30 elections in Iraq have been repeatedly referred to by the Bush administration as a sign of successful democracy. Little did we all know that he was talking about "Boss Tweed" style democracy! It seems that the fix was in, and "the Administration repeatedly sought ways-including covert action-to manipulate the outcome" of the election. This according to a new report from Seymour Hersh, who uncovered the Abu Ghraib scandal, in this month's issue of The New Yorker. (www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/050725fa_fact) The administration claims that they dropped the plans due to congressional objection, but there are signs that the plan was still completed "off the books." Even if they did drop the plan, this raises some very disturbing questions. Is this the kind of democracy that our troops are giving their lives for? I think that this cheapens their sacrifice. Also, if this how the Bush people think democracy works, there may be some truth to the charges of election fraud in the 2004 election. I think that there will be much more on this issue in the coming months. Just like Hersh's Abu Ghraib story, it will take a while for all the facts to come to light.

Perfect Timing!

2005-07-20T13:25:00.000-04:00

The Bush administration has announced their Supreme Court nominee, conservative judge John Roberts. It couldn't have come at a more politically opportune moment. After repeatedly saying that they would take their time and deliberate over the choice, they seemed to rush out the announcement in a special prime-time speech. This happened to correspond to a rising crescendo of anti-Rove sentiment. Just yeterday a poll was released that showed only 25% of Americans thought that Bush was cooperating with the Plame/Rove investigation. They clearly hope that the nomination process will deflect coverage of the investigation. We cannot let this happen, I will continue to do my part to keep this story alive, and hope that you will do the same.

Bush Flip-Flops on Palme Outing

2005-07-18T12:10:00.000-04:00

This afternoon, President Bush changed his stance on the treatment of those responsible for the leak of Valerie Plame's identity. Initially Bush himself, and through press secretary McClellan have stated that "anyone involved...would no longer be in the administration." Now, just a few hours ago appearing with the Indian Prime Minister, Bush said only those found guilt of a crime would be fired. There are those that will say that this is just a subtle change of language, but this is a huge change in his stance. This is the same kind of word parsing that Republicans accused Bill Clinton of during the Lewinsky debacle, only on a grander scale. We'll see how the mainstream press handle this development, keep the pressure on.

You Too Can Help Get Karl Rove Fired!!!

2005-07-18T10:02:00.000-04:00

The Karl Rove story, despite the best efforts of the Republican machine, is turning out to resemble the Energizer bunny. Even with all of the media attention, it seems that President Bush has no intention of firing Rove. I have heard several radio personalities on Air America characterize this scenario as Charlie McCarthy firing Edgar Bergen. (for those of you too young to know, Bergen was a ventriloquist, and McCarthy was his dummy--This comparison seems appropriate!) I think that there is little chance that Bush will fire Rove without extreme pressure. To keep with the ventriloquist theme--Karl Rove has his arm so far up George W.'s butt that when Karl moves his hand George speaks.

It is up to us to apply the pressure needed to make Bush stick to his word and fire anyone involved in the outing of Valerie Plame. How do we apply this pressure you ask? One way is to sign petitions! Congresspeople respond to large numbers of voters reacting to an issue, and tend to sway with the political winds. Here is a link to the DCCC petition that has a short video about the whole Rove affair http://www.democraticaction.org/firerove/?source=d3cfull. Watch the video, sign the petition and send it on to all of your friends (even the Republicans, ask them to put their money where their mouth is on National Security!). The second and most effective way is to write to all of your representatives. It is especially important if they are Republicans, but write even if they are Democrats--they can use the volume of letters to help sway their Republican colleagues. Here is a link to a site where you can find your Representatives and send them email (www.congress.org), I use it all the time. Exercise your right to free speech and tell your elected officials how you feel. Let's get rid of Karl Rove!

Do Republicans Represent People of Color?

2005-07-15T10:24:00.000-04:00

George W. Bush turned down an invitation to speak at the national NAACP convention for the fifth time. This continues to qualify Bush for the dubious honor of being the first president since Warren G. Harding (president: 1921-1923) to not speak in front of the group. His excuse was that he was "too busy". The president never seems too busy to speak in front of rich white corporate groups. This is more evidence that the Republicans are only interested in the votes of people of color, not in advancing their interests. This just reinforces the statement made by Howard Dean recently that the Republican Party is a "white, Christian party." People of color who continue to vote Republican are definitely voting against their interest.

The Amazing Tap-Dancin' Scott McClellan

2005-07-11T14:57:00.000-04:00

The Whitehouse press pool put McClellans feet to the fire today. He repeatedly said they he would not comment about an "ongoing criminal investigation," even refusing to confirm statements that he had already made while the investigation was underway. McClellan seems to be backing off of his previous statement that Whitehouse Political adviser Karl Rove had nothing to do with the outing of Valerie Plame. This is in response to email evidence from Time magazine that Rove actually did discuss Ms. Plame with journaist Matt Cooper. So the question now is who lied, Rove or McClellan? During the press conference, McClellan also refused to stand by his previous statement that anyone in the administration who was found to be involved in the Plame leak would be fired. It seems that the previous statement would apply to everyone except "Bush's Brain." I guess we can't have a president without a brain can we?

The "Rabid Right" Shows Its True Colors

2005-07-09T08:44:00.000-04:00

In the wake of the London transit bombings, those on the right have begun to show their true beliefs. The Fox News idiots' bantered over the images of the dead and wounded with barely controlled glee. Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade suggested that the attack was "beneficial" in gaining support for Bush's war on terror. Brit Hume's remarks were even more cold blooded and outright selfish: "I mean, my first thought when I heard -- just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, "Hmmm, time to buy."" (quote from Media Matters for America) These people obiously lack human feelings and compassion. They do seem to accurately reflect the position of the Bush administration, who do not hesitate to use the misery and anger associated with 9/11 for political gain.

The attacks in London prove that Bush's war on terror is not succeeding in making the world safer. Before the war there were only a handful of terror attacks every year, now there are dozens every day. There are so many in Iraq that the major news media don't even bother to cover them, unless an American is killed or wounded. American forces on patrol in Iraq are attacked so often that they don't even bother to issue a report unless they recieve casualties. Is this an insurgency that is in its last throes as Vice-President Cheyney has said? Now with what has happened in London it seems that the war on terror may now be spreading to Europe, how long will it be before it spreads to our shores?

Thoughts on Vietnamization, er...um I mean Iraqification

2005-07-08T13:12:00.000-04:00

There has been a low rumble on the left about the parallels between the war in Iraq and Vietnam. The administration has been staging a strong fight to quell these observations in the mainstream press, and has tried to poo-poo all comparisons. But, the parallels are there, and they seem to be multiplying.

The first similarity is the way in which our country became involved in both conflicts, faulty-if not outright fabricated-intelligence. We entered Vietnam because of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, when North Vietnam, supposedly, repeatedly fired on the USS Maddox and Turner C. Joy over a period of two days (Aug 2-3 1964). The facts that have come out from records in the Johnson Library declassified in 2003 indicate that only the initial firing on the Maddox of Aug 2 may have been genuine. These doubts were never shared with the American people. Also kept from the public was the fact that the Maddox and Turner C. Joy were operating in support of South Vietnamese forces attacking target in North Vietnam. If this had been disclosed, I doubt that congress would have approved the resolution that allowed Johnson to commit US forces to the war. The appearance of the Downing Street memo seems to indicate that the Bush administration has similarly used what it knew to be false intelligence that Iraq had both WMD and ties to Al Qaida.

As the US became more and more mired in the quagmire that was Vietnam, the US government had to find a way to legitimize its involvement. In 1967, there was an election that was meant to legitimize the corrupt regime supported by the US. The article found at this link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/GRO502A.html describes this election. While reading the article, South Vietnam could be exchanged for Iraq, and the date could be changed to the present and it would read like an article written several months, not several decades ago.

Another parallel to Vietnam is the treatment of US soldiers. Unfortunately there is a twist to this, it is not the American people (who have seemed to learn the lesson of Vietnam and overwhelmingly honor and support our military personnel) who are disrespecting the vets, but the very administration that sent them. The Bush administration has sent our soldiers to fight without adequate weapons, armor and manpower to win. They are also short changing returning vets by cutting 2006 funding to the Veterans Administration for healthcare by over $1 billion.

Lastly, each war parallels the other in repeated declarations by the Administration that the insurgency is on its last legs, or is about to be defeated. One observation by Vietnam vets about their war was that they repeatedly fought and died for villages or hills to later abandon them, and then return to repeat the process. This seems to be happening in Iraq as well. Reporter Richard A. Oppel Jr. Details (http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/06/15/news/troops.php) how a lack of manpower does not allow US and Iraqi forces to hold towns and Villages that they clear of insurgents. How does this compare to the Bush claims that we have enough manpower on the ground now to win this war?

President George W. Bush has yet to admit that he or his administration has made a single mistake in waging the war in Iraq. I don't know how he can say this with a straight face, I can think of one glaring mistake right off the top of my head: On May 2003, Bush after his "heroic" landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln declared-under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished"-declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq. When he uttered these words only 140 American service members had been killed in Iraq, since then over ten times that number (1752) have died. Only when the president admits that there have been mistakes made, and truly looks for a workable solution to the deepening morass of the war in Iraq.

Karl Rove a Traitor!

2005-07-03T08:18:00.000-04:00

What many of us liberals have held as personal opinions, may prove to be true. There seems to be more evidence that Karl Rove was one of the sources that "outed" Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. If this proves to be true, then Rove, who named Howard Dean and Dick Durbin as traitors for criticizing the Bush administration for human rights abuses and gross negligence in the management of the Iraq war, would be the real traitor. If more concrete evidence does come to light, we must begin to call for the prosecution of Rove for his treasonous actions.

Supreme Court Fight!

2005-07-01T10:38:00.000-04:00

The news that Sandra Day O'Connor is retiring will throw a whole tanker full of gas on the fire that was brewing over the expected fight over judicial appointments! There has already been talk about a fight over the possibility of ole' W. appointing a replacement for Chief Justice William Rehnquist. The dispute was not expected to be too vicious since Rehnquist was a conservative, but now that the more liberal O'Connor is retiring as well all bets are off! This gives the religious right an opportunity to move our laws closer to their vision of a fundamentalist christian theocracy. The news of Justice O'Connor's retirement definitely puts Roe v. Wade, opposition to the Death Penalty, and other liberal causes in jeopardy. I predict that there will be a bitter partisan fight that may the trigger the Republicans threatened nuclear option. Let's hope the George W. Bush and Bill Frist have learned from the recently averted constitutional crisis, and will used the advice and consent of the Senate to come up with exceptable candidates. My prediction is that they have not.

Dean on Hardball

2005-06-30T14:07:00.000-04:00

Last night on MSNBC's Hardball, DNC Chairman Howard Dean called the president's war in Iraq a "huge blunder." Dean voiced an opinion that polls show many Americans share when he said:
"...do I believe the president is doing the right thing? No, I don't. Do I believe he has made gross errors in judgement? Yes, I do. Do I believe he is doing a good job defending the United States of America? No, I don't." A June 28th CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showed that a record 53% of Americans disapprove of the job that Bush is doing. Chairman Dean said that the Bush administration had "failed America...these guys have not been able to do the job that's required of them."

Besides lambasting the president, Dean also discussed his new initiative to rebuild the Democratic Party. He discussed the sleek new website aimed at consolidating the party, and developing an apparatus to help unify the Democratic message nation-wide. The site is also aimed at boosting fundraising by appealing to "ordinary Americans giving us 20 bucks at a time." The party is attempting to build a grassroots fundraisng program to compete with the Republican's special interest fueled influence peddling machine by ecouraging Americans to donate $20 a month. The party has set a goal of one-million such donators in the next 4 years. Dean also discussed the party's program of leaving no state uncontested from now on. The Democrats are "putting organizers in every state...we're going to contest 50 states, not 18."

Hopefully this new campaign will help progressives retake control of the government in 2006 and 2008. Please go check out the new site (there is link to the right of this page), and if you can make a donation.

The Real Threat to the Sanctity of Marriage!

2005-06-29T16:08:00.000-04:00

It seems that Canada has become the third nation to pass a resolution to recognize same-sex marriage. This is an issue that here in the United States still fails to gain widespread support. As more and more countries pass resolutions, the arguements used by the religious right to justify the ban will be revealed for what it really is: outright homophobia and hatred for gays. The most popular arguement used by these people is that they are trying to prevent a rise in the divorce rate. What makes them think that same-sex couples would be any more prone to divorce than heterosexual couples. Theses people who are constantly saying that gay marriage is a threat to the institution of marriage are those same people who are glued to such reality shows as Who Wants To Marry a Millionaire and The Bachelor. These programs that promote the marriage of two people who barely know each other are a greater threat to marriage than the union of two loving people of the same sex. Which couple do you think would be most likely to divorce; the marriage of a foolish rich man to a gold-digger chosen by the Fox TV audience, or a gay couple that has been together for 20 years?

Biden on the Attack

2005-06-29T13:32:00.000-04:00

Joe Biden seems to be the one who has consistently been out in front refuting the lies and misconceptions that George W. Bush is trying to float past the American people. So far, he has been the one to most effectively getting out the Democratic message. Biden has admittedly expressed interest in a 2008 presidential bid, but lately he seems to be the Democrat that has been looking the most presidential. I know that Senator Biden’s close ties to the credit card industry is a turn-off to many on the left, but this is a reality of Delaware politics. Since I am originally from Delaware, I am intimately aware of these realities. Delaware is a very small state that gains much of its revenue from Corporate Taxes. The Corporate tax laws are such that nearly all companies that are incorporated in the United States have their titles held in Delaware. These proceeds allow the state to maintain a balanced budget without high property taxes, or any sales tax. MBNA America is Delaware’s largest employer, and thus wields great power in such a small state (pop. 783,600). If Senator Biden can keep up the pressure on the Bush administration, he may have a chance of presenting a realistic challenge to the presumed Democratic 2008 Candidate, Senator Clinton.

The President's Address

2005-06-28T21:18:00.000-04:00

Tonight the president addressed the nation from Ft. Bragg, NC. Once again he has used our troops as a patriotic backdrop to try and sell us his war in Iraq. He repeatedly tried to connect the war in Iraq to the tragedy of 9/11. He also stated that Iraq is the "central front" of the war on terrorism. This was never the case before the US led invasion. He created this "central front." Bush spoke about the training and experience that fighting the insurgency is giving the fledgling Iraqi military. He failed to mention the training and experience that terrorists are gaining in urban combat operations. These terrorists-that some CIA analysts are referring to as the class of 2005-are becoming hardened urban warfare veterans that are capable of operating in tightly controlled and policed areas. What will be the reaction of Americans when they finally do bring this experience to our shores?

President Bush referred to the $34 billion that the US and other nations have contributed to the effort in Iraq. He failed to mention that only $13 billion of this was to be given by other nations, and most of this has not yet been received. He also failed to mention the $9 billion that has gone missing in the labyrinth of private contractors like Halliburton. That is almost as much as the total that is expected to be given by these other nations combined.

When the President thanked those soldiers who reenlisted during this time of war, he failed to address the thousands of soldiers who have been forced to stay on active duty because of stop loss measures. He went on to say that no commander has asked him for more troops. If this is true, then President Bush must have a selective memory. Army Chief of Staff General Eric K. Shinseki stated before the invasion that several hundred thousand troops would be needed to successfully occupy Iraq. For giving his expert opinion, Gen. Shinseki was replaced. This is why the commanders on the ground are reluctant to ask him for more soldiers. Senator Joe Biden (D, Del.) stated that during his recent (and 5th) trip to Iraq, every major commander that he spoke to said that they needed more troops.

This speech proves that Bush is continuing to use half-truths, omissions and outright lies to try and sell his war of aggression to the American people. This lying is the same behavior that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. While President Clinton was only lying about his private sexual behavior, the lies of George W. Bush have cost us the lives of over 1700 young men and women.

Welcome to Liberalog

2005-06-28T15:48:00.000-04:00

This is the first posting of what I hope will be a great forum for political debate. I will be posting comment on politics and current events from a moderate liberal perspective. I hope that others will post their own comments and opinions, creating a forum for real discussion and dialog.