What Strikes Me

Isn't this LABOR Day?

2007-09-03T14:58:00.001-07:00

The Escalation

2007-08-27T06:57:00.001-07:00

Bush Escalates War on Congress

2007-01-13T10:19:00.000-08:00

This week, we're seeing Bush carry out escalations on all fronts. He is asserting his authority by ordering a 15% increase in troops (or, as Jon Stewart calls it, a "gratuity"). But I think the more important escalation was what happened immediately after his escalation speech: American troops attacked an Iranian Embassy in Iraq.

What's he doing here? First, he's saying and doing explicitly the opposite of what the Iraq Study Group recommended. Instead of engaging Iran with diplomacy, he's saying he'll engage them with fire power.

Second, he's saying to Congress that he's the Commander in Chief, and it doesn't really matter what they think because they granted him broad authority. Unless Congress cuts off funding, which he knows they'll never do, he's going to continue to conduct his war any way he's sees fit.

What Bush/Cheney might really want is to escalate their War with Congress--to push them into rescinding their declaration of war against Iraq. Then we really have a constitutional crisis, as Bush wouldn't have any authority to conduct the war, yet it would go on and on (presumably) until Congress actually did shut off the flow of money or the Supreme Court stepped in somehow.

If Congress didn't stop the flow of money, and it simultaneously rescinded the declaration, then we would have a situation when Bush/Cheney are acting explicitly illegally. Not that this has really stopped them in the past. But what happens then?

I think their brinkmanship with Congress is designed specifically to find out. Would there be an impeachment? A coup? A revolt? Who knows, maybe Bush thinks that's when the Second Coming will occur.

Bush has asserted that he has absolute power to do what he wants. Just because Congress, the American voting public, common sense, and everything else is against him, why should it be any different? That, to Bush and Cheney, is what power is all about. Forget about strengthening the presidency. This is about absolute power just for them.

Webb's the Divider?

2006-12-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

Remark By Webb Arouses Passions - washingtonpost.com

This is hard to believe. Webb is the one being criticized? He won't be able to be a "good old boy" part of the Senate club? It's about time! When has Bush been civil toward the Democrats? Once now? After six years of calling them unpatriotic? You go, Webb!

Maybe the President, and maybe even the entrenched Democrats who voted for this war will wake up to the reality of war. Bodies are being blown to bits.

It's not a parlor game.

Downrounding Outrage

2006-10-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff - washingtonpost.com

Every time one scandal seems ready to completely destroy the Republicans, another one pops up to take away the media's attention. With Foley simply killing Republicans, we get more Abramoff scandal news.

In terms of outrage, Abramoff doesn't compare to Foley. "So," some may say, "they wrote some articles for Abramoff's clients. Who cares? Isn't that just PR 101?" And all of the sudden, Republicans are off the hook in terms of thinking about Foley on the top of pages--literally and figuratively.

It's an interesting strategy, and the only one Republicans seem to have available right now. Instead of doing something good and touting that, they are only in a position to do something a little less bad and try to get us to focus on that.

It just might work, I'm afraid.

Cheney'd

2006-10-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

Cheney Back Delivering the Grim Campaign Speech - washingtonpost.com

With American military deaths and injuries in Iraq far exceeding the toll on 9/11, when are Americans going to realize we have indeed been "hit again" by the terrorists?

Maybe the reason we haven't been hit here is that they don't need such elaborate plans to kill us anymore. They just go to Iraq, get hooked up with some explosives or a gun and wait for Americans to drive by. It may not be the blockbuster of 9/11 as far as publicity goes, but it sure seems to get the job done. Terrorism has just been industrialized, commoditized. Like McDonald's: 100,000 terrorist attacks served.

Just a Comma

2006-10-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

'Just a Comma' Becomes Part of Iraq Debate

There's one simple reason that it seems like Bush doesn't care: he doesn't care!

Bush loves blood. He feels he should cause his serfs shed it, as divine right provided to monarchs. Monarchs don't care about the average citizen. Only their own power. Why this isn't clear by now is hard to understand.

Is Clinton Off-Limits Now?

2006-10-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

After Foley, New Fears For the GOP

Now that Republicans have an even bigger scandal with Foley, is Clinton permanently off the hook? The time to stop talking about how Bill Clinton screwed up the whole world with Monica has long since past, but Republicans still mention him whenever they need to deflect criticism from themselves.

"Haven't gotten bin Laden? Must be Clinton's fault!"

"Corruption in government? Let's just remember Clinton!"

"Americans dying in Iraq? Don't forget Clinton's penis!"

Now, every time Clinton's penis is interjected, we may very well be reminded of the "over-friendly" Foley and the Republicans' failure to do anything about it. Does that mean they all have to shift to finding another culprit?

This week has been the first time I've seen the Republicans truly on the defensive about everything. Iraq sucks, Condi wasn't paying attention to Tenet/Woodward's new book, the Clinton smack-down on Fox News, and now Foley?

The Ultimate Brush-Off

2006-10-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Rice doesn’t recall CIA terror warning

Rice's admission that she doesn't recall the Tenet warning about 9/11 strikes me as the ultimate brush-off. She was apparently so disengaged that she didn't even listen to what they were saying.

Now, we all have times when we're not listening, despite the fact that we're nodding and looking the speaker in the eye on occasion. However, when certain key words come up--something like "disastrous catastrophe with thousands of Americans killed"--we start paying attention again.

Perhaps if Tenet had said "disastrous political ramifications", Rice would have listened. Maybe she was doing some shoe shopping online.

Isn't this just more evidence that the major players were completely asleep at the wheel?

High School Essay from Bush Lover

2006-09-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Check this out. It's an essay from a kid in high school, or maybe junior high.

Why I love Bush!

Why I love Bush!

Americans love power—at least, REAL Americans love power. And Bush is all about power. He doesn’t take any stuff from anyone or anything—including the so-called “real world” or the so-called “facts”. This guy’s above all that, and that’s one of the things I love about him.

I started loving him when I learned about the Texas death penalty cases. Some guys killed some other guys, and they were going to get the death penalty. Now, some of them might have actually been innocent. But Bush doesn’t even care about that. Somebody’s gotta get killed when someone else gets killed. Otherwise we look bad. Yes, it’d be nice if they had the right guy, but even the “innocent” ones are people I’d be happy to get rid of. Just look at ‘em. They’re all pathetic anyway. And Bush is the only one out there who truly doesn’t care about that stuff.

Now, when it comes to Iraq, I love Bush even more. When stuff started blowing up, that shock and awe stuff, I was glued to the TV. I just wish we would have nuked those guys. Except then the small explosions, which are pretty big if you see one up close, wouldn’t happen as much. I know Bush would nuke those Iraqis if he didn’t like seeing those guys get ripped up so bad. I bet he gets all the best clips. I’ve seen some on the internet, but I bet they don’t release the real good stuff. I’d love to sit and watch that stuff with him someday.

Here’s the thing that I love the most. Bush knows he’s set for life. He always knew that. And when you’re set for life, you don’t have to worry about what other people think. I bet that’s awesome. Even if it got real bad for him with his ratings, you know he just doesn’t care. What can they do to him after all? What, they’re going to execute the president? I don’t think so. And even if the global warming and the terrorists and the economy blows up, you know he’s still going to be OK. That’s freedom! That’s what this county is all about.

I used to think it would be impossible to be President. Everybody’s always watching you and judging you. It’s like gym class or something. But Bush changed all that for me. Now I know you don’t have to care what people think at all. It’s kind of fun now when liberals are all pissed off. When I screw up in kick ball now, I just laugh at them when they get mad about it. Then I flip them the bird and laugh some more.

I know that when I’m set like that someday, I’m going to just say screw it and be just like Bush. My mom and dad don’t have any money like Bush does. They got laid off and all and that sucks cause their jobs went to India. We should nuke them too. But I’m going to make it. I know it. Cause Bush made it somehow. And now I got me a role model for how to succeed.

The only thing I don’t love about Bush, which I have to say since this is supposed to be a “critical” essay, is that he shouldn’t have given up drinking. I’d party all the time. I don’t know, maybe he still does, but I think he should just go ahead and say it.

That’s another thing I’d like to do. I’d like to party with Bush. We’d be in front of one of those huge TVs, watching stuff get blown up, and I’d pick his brain about how it is to just be able to waste those dudes and not even care. That’s what I’d love the most.

Scary stuff.

Big Thanks to War Journalists

2006-05-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

2 CBS News crew members die in Iraq

Thanks so much to all the journalists who have put their lives on the line--or given them up completely--to get the story out on Iraq. Without them, we might not know the horrors of war that our brave soldiers and the civilians they're protecting put up with. War is an ugly, ugly business. I hope Bush and his band of merry men understand the sacrifice they have forced upon so many people, but I doubt they do.

Gracias for Telling Us...

2006-05-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

What's Really Important! To George Will, being an American voter means understanding political discourse, especially that of the pallorous, be-spectacled white men living in the swamp-land of Washington DC. Yes, he and others writing for the Washington Post are the ones who will set the agenda of important issues for all people. Just this week, David Broder told us that Hillary's sex life was more important politically than her energy policy. And who are we to argue?

The white, English-only population was knocked for a loop in the past month when our Spanish-speaking future citizenry rose up and took to the streets to tell us they love America just as much as the longer-established immigrants. It was a political movement that really got going on Spanish-speaking radio stations, and it was one of the most impressive set of political demonstrations this country has seen in years.

The main stream media had to play catch up, being totally ignorant of what happens on Spanish radio. It just wasn't on their radar, and it probably would have remained a complete surprise if the demonstrations weren't going to mess up traffic.

In other words, real politics were happening, with real consequences for real people, and we were almost completely ignorant of it. How dare those people try to tell us what's important to this country! That's what George Will is saying. He'll tell us what matters, thank you very much. And, to George, if it doesn't happen in English on MSM outlets, it must not matter.

That he has no idea that his arguments are blatantly racist is appalling.

Over My Indicted Body!

2006-05-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

The Congress will allow this President to walk all over the Constitution...as long as he doesn't leave footprints on their rugs: Return of Jefferson Files Is Sought

Gore Campaign Up to the Media

2006-05-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here we have Fineman on Gore, a nice piece about a guy who would have done a great job for our country. Unfortunately for Gore and the country, he won in 2000--but a variety of evil forces conspired to turn that victory into utter disaster for the world.

Terrorism, global warming, economic strife, massive corruption--those are just a few of the things that come to mind.

Gore danced around the truth in 2000, knowning that Carter, who did force us to look at the truth, made for a disastrous President. Gore knew that was a way to lose. Reagan showed that Americans didn't want the truth. They wanted to feel good about themselves.

But Gore was also wary of talking up his own accomplishments, largely because the media wouldn't give him any room to be right about things. The internet is something that, in many ways, he did "invent", at least through shepherding the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which allowed for the internet boom. For that, he was roasted to a crisp. So, not wanting to talk about the depressing realities of global warming, trying to distance himself from Clinton, and being "discouraged" from talking about his own accomplishments, he was reduced to listening to his advisors on earth tones and other minutiae.

Now, we all adore Gore because of the crappy alternative we ended up with. We all want Gore to run in 2008. But when it comes down to it, would his run be any different than it was in 2000? Wouldn't Chris Matthews continue to roast him instead of admitting he was wrong about the whole thing? Wouldn't the media remember how much it disliked him?

Gore is about to reach the status that Carter has established since his presidency ended. Of course, Gore can be remembered even more fondly than Carter, because he doesn't have gas lines or Iranian hostages to haunt him. What's not to like about that?

When it comes right down to it, he's not dumb and he won't want to live through the hell that was his 2000 campaign again. Only people like Fineman can tell us if it's going to be different this time around. It's up to the media to make him run again, as only they can decide how they'll treat him. Perhaps we'll get a glimpse of this in the coming weeks.

Great Analysis Irrelevant, Again

2006-05-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

This David Ignatius op-ed makes some great points about things that don't really matter in the Bush Administration. No matter how great the analysis or the analysts, if the guys at the top don't listen or try to re-shape it, we'll get bunked up results.

Tenet famously said to Bush the Iraqi WMD issue was a "slam dunk". Those two words are about the only mitigating evidence that Bush cared one way or the other about whether Iraq posed any threat. His due diligence, in this case, took about one second, and that's if we assume Rove didn't make up the whole conversation in exchange for the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In the case of Iran, we're a lot more sure that there are nuclear ambitions, because the IAEA has actually seen the evidence. But whether it exists or not is hardly the issue. The issue is whether this administration will really make war a "last resort". Everything we have seen is that it won't. Direct negotiation is off the table, warships are moving into position, and the rhetoric is stepping up. None of this has to do with the CIA getting it right. Instead of taking up precious newspaper print with analyzing the analyzers, we should instead be analyzing (or maybe psychoanalyzing) the Decider in Chief.

bin Laden Addicted to Court TV

2006-05-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

I guess bin Laden is posting a message that Massaoui wasn't part of the 9/11 attacks. He must not be that deep underground that he can't get the latest news. I can just see him on the edge of his lounge chair's ottoman in a cave, yelling at his big-screen HDTV. Like we were before the OJ Simpson verdict.

What Might Have Been

2006-05-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

Every time I hear about the Taliban rising again in Afghanistan, I think back to the run up to the war in Iraq. We shifted resources away from finding bin Laden, and we largely left Afghanistan to its own on forming a stable democracy free of the the Taliban.

What if we had completed the mission there and allowed the UN inspectors until about now in order to figure out if Saddam was really a threat? My predictions:

bin Laden would have been caught by now.
Afghanistan would be increasingly stable.
Iran's elections wouldn't have put the nutcases back in power--nor would Palestinian elections have done the same, by the way.
The Middle East wouldn't hate us.
Neither would our European friends.
We wouldn't be spending $10 billion a month on Iraq.
And, lest we forget, we wouldn't have 2,500 US military and 10s of thousands of Iraqis dead.

Hmmm.

Don't Just Build a Wall

2006-05-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite sequences in SlingBlade has Billy Bob Thornton's mentally impaired character diagnosing the problem with a lawnmower. Everyone else who's looked at it can't figure out what's wrong. After about a minute, though, he looks and says, "It's outta gas." His boss says something to the effect of "he always thinks of the simiplest solutions first." Of course, it turns out that the simplest solution he comes to in a lot of cases is to hack up a perpetrator. This Washington Post article about the border reminds me of that sequence.

The border is a complex eco-system, not a line in the sand. People live and work there, crossing back and forth to make a living. Our culture and economy is helped by this.

But when conservatives look at the problem, they don't see the complexities. They just want to build a wall so they can get back to watching the 700 Club.

When a lawnmower is out of gas, fill it. When a border is "broken", don't build a wall. The toll on human life doesn't warrant it, even if it's the best way to make the stupid among us feel better. We need some nuance here. We need some compassion, and we need local solutions to this problem. And we need it before people start getting hacked up over the issue.

Right Wingnuts Emboldened

2006-05-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

Through re-districting, we are seeing the emboldenment of the hard core right-wingers. This article about Bush's personal problems with criminalizing illegals is a case in point. Check it out here.

Usually, when the party is losing credibility, the politicians make a mad dash for the center. That's not happening with the immigration debate, at least in the House. There, members are mostly protected through Tom Delay's gerrymandering fixes.

It's actually making for some interesting politics right now. The real whack-jobs are doing their Hitler routine in order to make sure their 30% base of similarly inclined constituents are motivated enough to beat the small minority of centrists in their districts.

This will split the Republican party even more, as some of the Northeastern Republicans will have a hard time watching their party's media dominated by hatred. It will be interesting to see how McCain reacts to all this, as he tries to figure out his strategy for winning the WH.

Stay tuned...

Bush Redefines Poll Numbers

2006-05-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

You thought you knew what you were feeling about Bush. As he says, though, your disapproval is merely a case of being unsettled--like having an upset stomach.

Bush also said that his current approval ratings of 29% are an indication of his work effort, not the total number of "settlers--the ones who are settled." Bush continued, "If you add my 29% now to the 90% I got after 9/11, the American public thinks I'm putting in 119% effort. That' a lot of hard work. When some people see me working so hard on the war, they get unsettled. But the other side of disapproval is effort."

Gregory didn't include that part of the interview, saying Bush's logic was over the head of most Americans and didn't make for a good soundbite. He also cut out the Bush equation about Hurricane Katrina, which he is widely believed to have mishandled. Bush said, "Mishandled? That means the people are constipated. These are nervous times."

Will Starts Making Sense, then Abandons It

2006-05-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

Who Isn't A 'Values Voter'?

George Will doesn't want to be known as a conservative without values. He values the pragmatic, the common sense, instead of the Old Testament moral hatred that social conservatives value. (Most economists would think that people with common sense values should vote for Democrats. I guess George Will values his pragmatic stupidity, then.) He hates that the media labels only social conservatives as "values voters".

That part makes sense. Then, he gives examples of how different groups vote their values. For liberals, he says,

"Today's liberal agenda includes preservation, even expansion, of the welfare state in its current configuration in order to strengthen an egalitarian ethic of common provision. Liberals favor taxes and other measures to produce a more equal distribution of income. They may value equality indiscriminately, but they vote their values."

Uhh, no. Not quite, George. (But I do like how you tried to slip the common media label "welfare state" into the piece that's against media labels. Clever, man. Clever!)

We don't value equality indiscriminately. We do believe in the "all men are created equal." We'll separate ourselves from the social conservatives by putting women in there, too. We do believe that all should have an equal chance--through education, medical care, and decent housing, for instance. We do believe that that all should share a responsibility to keeping the republic functioning through taxes. If you're in a position to pay more, you should pay more. (That fourth yacht may have to wait.) That's not valuing equality indiscriminately. That's valuing common sense.

WH to Lie to Congress...Again

2006-05-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

Briefings Scheduled for Lawmakers

OK, so now the WH will brief members of the intelligence committees on the NSA wiretapping program. I would imagine this a mostly a PR ploy. I believe Congress has been briefed on this stuff before, but then they read the newspapers about a month later, and they find out that Gonzales or Hayden only told them the tiniest little bit about it--you know, the things they already knew from reading the NY Times or USA Today.

If they want to find out what's really happening, they need to go beyond the administration officials that have proven their capacity to lie directly to them. Why don't they subpoena 20 random NSA employees, give them whistleblower protection and anonymity, put them under oath, and actually get the truth about the program? Oh, I forgot, to do that they would actually have to want to know what's happening, and the Chairman of those committees really don't want to know.

The WH considers Congress subordinate. It's not going to reveal anything it doesn't want to. And judging from the Rubber Stamp coalition on the Hill, they are right about their assumptions.

Breaking: Wal-Mart, Mexico Joint Venture

2006-05-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

Bush Rules Out Large-Scale Deportation of Immigrants. Check below for initial details of the Wal-Mexico Sovereign Country Joint Venture.

Wal-Mart, Mexico Exploring Sovereign Country Joint Venture

2006-05-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Deal May Grant Wal-Mexico "Ambassadors" Diplomatic Immunity

With President Bush’s announcement that he will send 6,000 National Guard troops to the border with Mexico, Wal-Mart was forced into “desperation creativity”, according to top executives. Fearing the supply of low-wage workers would dry up, Wal-Mart entered into high-level talks with Mexican President Vicente Fox about establishing a joint venture country on the Texas/Mexico border.

Under leaked terms of the deal, Wal-Mart would buy a 50,000 acre plot of desert from Mexico for an undisclosed sum. The new country, dubbed Wal-Mexico, would consist primarily of airport runways, which would shuttle its citizens to Wal-Mexico embassies—large tent cities baring the Wal-Mexican State Emblem—adjacent to Wal-Mart Supercenters once a month.

“This proposal is a win/win/win situation that could avert a huge disaster for us,” said a Wal-Mart spokesman. “We get the labor we need without the burdensome worker regulations, Mexico will get a small cash payment for useless land its citizens would be welcomed to Wal-Mexico, and Americans no longer have to worry about immigration issues.”

“The 11 million undocumented U.S. workers will be able to apply for instant citizenship at a nearby Supercenter, and they’ll be welcomed into the Wal-Mexico Embassy immediately,” the spokesman continued.

Wal-Mart executives say the benefits to its investors and customers won’t stop there. Wal-Mexico will reportedly tax its citizens a 40% income tax on the $10 per 16-hour day wage it expects to pay its ambassadors. The wage, considered low in the U.S. but comparatively high in the future Wal-Mexico, will result in significant cost savings for Wal-Mart customers. “We’re talking handmade sweaters for $2.49, frozen breakfast burritos at 10 for a dollar” said the Wal-Mart spokesman.

President Bush said the plan had merit. “The guest worker program I proposed isn’t going over so well, so I’m open to alternatives that will satisfy all parties. I’ll be meeting with Vicente at the proposed site near Laredo next week. I’ll be looking into his heart to see if he’s serious about it.”

A sticking point will be whether Wal-Mexicans will be granted diplomatic immunity. Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO), is against the plan. “The Mexicans got here by breaking the laws of the United States. Now, we’re going to give them diplomatic amnesty, too? If they don’t have to follow our traffic laws, for instance, you’ll see 10 ambassadors driving down the road in a beat-up Celica all the time. It sounds like a disaster.”

Wal-Mart executives were cautiously optimistic. "We haven't drawn up a Constitution yet, but we do have an order from China for some very large tents," said one Wal-Mart source who refused to be identified.

Rove Makes Border Policy, Also Approves of It

2006-05-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post covered a story today saying that Rove approved of the WH border control policy to be announced tonight. The fact that he made up the policy had nothing to do with this approval, Rove said.

Rove is expected to issue the details of his plea agreement in the CIA leak scandal at approximately the same time as the President's speech tonight, but he said that this would be purely coincidental timing.

Rove also said that he would resign his post when he was indicted tonight but that his hand would stay inside the President Bush dummy in order to animate its every move until the end of its term.

Update...Washington Post Changes Headline, Ruins Joke. The headline had said "Rove Approves of" the policy. They changed it to "Rove Defends" the policy. They're quick, those guys...real quick.