I SENSE PROGRESS

Ah. . . there seems to be a better week on the horizon.  It might be the arrival of spring after a long and (for us) cold winter but it also may be  just  a smidgen of improvement in the economic/political scene that is giving me a moment’s relaxation.

I watched “60 Minutes” tonight with Ben Bernanke.  I came away liking the Federal Reserve chairman–he is down to earth and intelligent.  He is also a a user of metaphors to get his point across–I like that!  I get the same impression from him that I get from Obama. We have got to resolve this crisis first; then the system gets changed dramatically.  I fully expect 2011 and 2012 to be years of significant change in some of our “systems”–especially if the Democrats can strenthen their power in both the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 2010 elections!

Obama’s first fifty days were stellar.  Guantanamo, health care, education, stem cell research, torture, Iraq, Iran, the economy, the Cabinet and hope.  None of these, save torture, have been totally resolved but all have been significantly addressed.  It is so refreshing to have a President who operates from a positive position instead of trying to instill us with fear and foreboding–like bush and Cheney used to do.  I do believe that the sinister plan to obliterate the American middle class has been dealt a crippling blow–thank heaven’s.

This is not to say that the Republicans are cooperating.  Like a child in a tantrum they just continue to try to derail Obama’s train.  They have nothing nice to say about anything.  Sen. Mitch O’Connell (R), Senate Minority Leader, old “death warmed over” and Rep. John Boehner (R), House Minority Leader, the bronze “god” of the House must steep themselves in  a bath of bitter herbs every night to consistently deliver their bitter, acerbic assessment  of “things” every day!  If Mitch ever genuinely smiled his face would shatter into a million pieces and orchids would bloom in Siberia!

Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina, and some other Republican governors want to forego Obama’s economic recovery monies for political gain.  I sure hope that Obama let’s them do it and simply gives their monies to the nearest Democratic governor who likes the idea of jobs and a strong economy for his citizens. Their visions of political gain will quite rapidly turn to political ruin.

I have always wondered where the Republicans continue to get the Neandrathals they run for office.  I believe I have found the source.  There is a stone throwing chimp in a zoo in  Sweden who has the “ability” to amass stones  and other items to throw at visitors when he becomes irritated at them (the visitors).  The amazing thing is that he can “think ahead” but only for stone throwing, like our dear friends, the Republicans.  Keep in mind that this behavior began in 1994, the same year that Newt Gingrich and his “crew” were elected to take over control of both the House and the Senate.  It could be jusjt be a coincidence but I doubt it. 

And. . . we must never forget that crimes were committed during the bush administration by the bush administration.  We can afford to be somewhat patient but we must never let this administration forget that we want an official accounting of many things–elections, 9/11, preemptive war, torture, spying on Americans, and the Justice Department to name a few.

RUSH LEADING THE G.O.P.!!

Rush as leader–WOW–however, if he’s gonna be leader I want him leading the GOP.  Oh, he’s got a stinging tongue, a belligerent rant and that coveted EIB microphone to rant over but he does not have the intelligence, poise, clear eyes, thoughtful speech, love of country, concern for ALL citizens, amazing wife, gorgeous children or good ears of Barack Obama!!  Barack is a leader of free men in a free nation; I see Rush as a leader of a fat man’s waddling tour or a group of conservative “ditto” heads.  The Pied Piper of Hamlin led the rats out of town, perhaps the “Rushman” can lead the politically stupid into oblivion!!

Monday–supposedly a reversal of bush’s ban on using federal funds for stem cell research.  For a secular society, amorally–good move.  For a person of faith, morally–there’s gotta be another way.  This issue–the embryo, conception, abortion, trimester, partial birth, parental notification–more than any other issue affords the disingenuous national-level Republicans to aspire to political power.  The millions of people who believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that human life begins at conception also believe the disingenuous Republicans when they say, “I oppose abortion.”,  and therefore vote Republican for President, Senate, and House never noting that these “abortion-opposing” Republicans never actually do anything to end abortion at the federal level!! 

bush, for instance, bans the federal funding of stem cell research.  Big deal!  bush would ban the federal funding of anything that would help the average citizen.  To help the pharmeceutical companies in the process–let’s get ‘er done!!  You see, someone who honestly opposed stem cell research would mount an effort to stop ALL stem cell research; bush merely stopped the federal funding of stem cell research.  Federally funded research becomes public property (no money there) ; private, corporate funding of stem cell research could yeild humongous profits so, with bush,  no ban there!!  Nice though.  He got to help out his cronies in the private sector and toss a “bone” to his single-issue voters in the process!!  Of course, the single-issue voters staunchly believe that his ban was totally altruistic.

A secular government creates an enigma for a religious believer.  I do not want a religious government.  I want the secular government with freedom of religion and freedom from religion.  My secular government makes laws, generally based on moral precepts, which must be obeyed and occasionally makes laws not based on moral precepts which must be tolerated until I (we) can educate the populace at large to rescind the “immoral” law.  Education appears to be the answer to the religious beliver’s enigma in a secular society.  Roe vs. Wade is such a case.  If it forced women to get an abortion it would need to be resisted by “drastic measures” for both moral and civil reasons.  But. . . as a choice, it can best be resisted by education and prayer. 

Does anyone else notice how (for the first time in my life) the media is talking about the “real” unemployment figure?  The official unemployment figure is released as, let’s say, 8.2% which was perfectly fine in the past.  Now the reporter opines,  ”But, if you “add in” those who have stopped looking it is “really” 9.6% and if you take “into account” those who work part-time but would like full-time employment it is “really” 10.4%!  These added statements could be made all the time–like the last eight years–but were not made so, why now?  I believe the answer resides in the recent statement made by the leader of the GOP, “I want him (Barack Obama) to fail!  A nice patriotic thought–heh?

Barack is doing well.  The Republicans are envious.  Envious people do not say nice things about the people they envy.  The Republicans are not saying nice things about Barack–pity their envy

WHAT A WEEK THAT WAS!

In the interest of full disclosure this week’s blog is written by a ghost writer who offered to fill in for the vacationing Mike Simpson. So while Mike is away frittering away time as if he was george bush well into his second month of his first term in office, I will humbly attempt to fill Mike’s right-leaning shoes.

I now understand why Mike took the week off – this was a huge week in Washington. Between the financial summit hosted by the President, his address to the joint session of Congress, the release of his proposed budget, and his announcement of new policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, focusing this week’s blog on any one event is impossible. In another telling sign of Mike’s right-leaning tendency, he chose to delegate/avoid that work by leaving it to others.

So what would Mike do with a week like the one that was? There could be an entire blog dedicated to the symbolism underlying the exchange between President and John, perfect straight man, McCain. Oh … I shudder at the near disaster we averted….

With at least three major speeches by the President this week, Mike could also spend ample time furthering his analogy of the patient gardener President Obama continuing to clear and grub the land of noxious weeds, pests, rats, and other detritus from the abused and languishing garden . All the while carefully planning and preparing, inch by inch, row by row, the land for the spring planting always with the fall harvest in mind. He could talk about the substance of any one of the President’s speeches and contrast it to the travesty that preceded President Obama; with george we got “axis of evil” with President Obama we got “access to education” … that sort of stuff.

Mike could spend plenty of time talking about the budget too. This week’s proposed budget would have to represent the deep ripping of the soil in preparation for planting. After years of robbing the soil of its nutrients, air, drainage, a thorough ripping of the soil will begin to restore the soil to allow tender seedlings to initiate good, rigorous root development necessary to sustain bountiful harvests. Higher taxes on income and investment gains on individuals earning more than $200,000 and couples who make $250,000 and above will serve as good slow-release fertilizer for our garden that will sustain vigorous and robust growth. It also became clear that President Obama isn’t just planning simple row crops and pretty annual flowers for our garden, he has visions for long-tem plans for big investment, high return tree fruit type crops such as health care, the environment, energy, and education.

Of course, Republicans (obviously forgetting that george was responsible for the largest expansion in federal government in 50 years) dragged out their ‘job killing, tax raising, big government’ boogey man response to our President’s plans for the garden. But at double digit unemployment, the public is well aware that the Republicans have done their fair share of job killing and it’s time for a new vision.

But shortly after Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress, it became obvious what this week’s blog would be about; Mike would have spent this week eviscerating the Republicans’ mouthpiece and ‘rising star’ of the week, Governor Bobby Jindal.

Bobby, and remember for the purposes of this week’s blog bobby = Republicans¸ quickly declared himself a “pre-existing condition.” Mike would have pointed out that is correctly called “being republican” not a fetus. Bobby went on to assure America that “Republicans are ready to work with the new president to provide … solutions” even though zero (zero!) House Republicans voted for the President’s recovery package.

Then Bobby befuddled his way into a heartwarming, gut wrenching (but made up) tale of life immediately after Katrina, and all of the good folk pitching into help when “some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn’t go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration” later concluding that “the strength of America is not found in our government.” Now, Americans are often criticized for having short attention spans, but given the moment this country is in, the devastation of Katrina, and the “heckofajob Brownie” incompetence of george and the Republicans; not one single person in America watching Bobby forgot for a moment that it was a Republican endorsed bureaucrat that forbade the good folks from pitching in to help. Bobby just gave the nation another lie-infused refresher that “the strength of America is not found in a Republican led government.”

Knowing full well this week’s Republican mouthpiece would have lumbered along for another ten minutes about different approaches, no new taxes, feigning interest in health care issues, wanting to work with the President, with pathetic allusions to slavery and the Great Depression, and finally showing mercy by ending it with a series of “God Bless” this and that, Mike would have been contemplating silencing the boob-tube for the night. But, about the time Bobby attempted to mock the President’s recovery package by deriding “something called ‘volcano monitoring’,” and with the bulging South Sister volcano in his mind and practically his backyard, Mike would have erupted with scoff, turned off the TV, and stormed over to the computer and slammed out Monday’s blog (surely a blog far superior to this one).

If Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Bobby Jindal are the best Republicans have to offer, that party is in serious trouble. If Americans buy into this version (young, female, ‘alternative’ religion, non-white) of the Republican Party in 2010 or 2012 this country is in for far worse times than are upon us now. Not only would we be subject to the Republican theory and ideology (i.e., greed) that got us into this mess in the first place, but we could have ‘leaders’ potentially worse than george. It’s virtually inconceivable, unconscionable, and ghastly, I know, but Jindal’s speech as this week’s nominal head of the Republican Party was foreboding.

Obama, the Master Gardener was correct, in a properly functioning Democracy, “the majority has to be inclusive.  On the other hand, the minority has to be constructive.  What you should see, I think, is the majority saying, what are your ideas; the minority has got to then come up with those ideas and not just want to blow the thing up.” I would add, the minority should not be interested in simply plowing under our garden.

God Bless the American people who made the correct choice in November 2008.

NEVER FORGET WHO CAUSED THIS MESS!!

You would think Republicans would be somewhat chastened.  They have taken a booming economy, a $600 billion surplus, a balanced budget, a world at peace, and historically low unemployment and turned them into a crashing economy, a $12 trillion dollar debt, an annual deficit of $500 billion, two wars still raging after seven years, and unemployment expected to reach Depression Era levels.  That is quite a record for eight years of leadership–a leadership, I daresay, we cannot afford again for 50 to 60 years, if then.  But, are Republicans a bit ashamed of this record?  Oh, no–quite contraire they want, even insist, that we stay on their path to economic Hell!

The Republican plan is a juvenille plan; give all the money to six rich guys (they call them Daddies) and then push, shove, and worm your way into their good graces and ask them for an” allowance”. Ass kissing, etc., is allowed.  For those of us with some modicum of self-respect, we can only hang around the edges of the orgy, try not to regurgitate at the spectacle beheld, and pick up anything that “trickles” down.  It is not the life for a free man. 

President Obama signed the recovery program in Denver this week amidst cheers and jeers.  Guess who was jeering?  “This won’t create one single job.”, as a bridge project in Missouri got underway at that very moment, apparantly with no workers–just machines!  “It’s the size.” “It’s the size” howled the same guys who gave a couple hundred banks $700 billion with a 3-page contract–it takes me 30-pages to finance a used refrigerator!  Barack already has a transparency Web page up–wwwrecovery.com where everyone with cyber connections can follow the of expenditures from the recovery program as they are expended.  This is probably why the Governors of Louisiana and Texas, both Republican, claimed that they would refuse to accept the recovery funds.  Exactly what good is a $40 billion or so for your state if you cannot secretely skim off $5 or $10 billion for yourself and your friends?  Transparency may be “tough” on our Republican friends!

Oh. . . do you want to hear some shocking news?  O.K.  The Republicans do not like Barack’s foreclosure bail-out plan either.  Can you believe that!!? While some of us grew from babyhood to adulthood and learned to cooperate and share to get ahead and get along our good old Republican friends suffer from arrested development–they ain’t gonna cooperate and they darn sure, ain’t gonna share.  I can only imagine what a Republican potluck is like!

Think of Barack as the gardener.  He has just sown some seed in the devastated garden bush left him.  Now. . . most people understand that you do not reap 10 minutes after you have sown the seed.  Not so Republicans, the media, and the stock market–they wanted results even before the seed hit the ground.  And, four days later, they continue to bewail how “poorly” the seed is doing.   Science is not the forte of Republicans,  the “forte” of Republicans comes one year after thirty-nine!

It was nice to see that the federal government, through a lawsuit, actually got the bank records of 250-300 individuals who used Swiss banking secrecy to hide assets.  The better news is that the lawsuit actually seeks the records of 52,000 individuals who used the Swiss bank to hide assests in violation of  of U.S. tax laws.  They will be forthcoming.  Just another “perk” for having a Democratic administration.  Fifty-two thousand!! I would bet that every one of them thinks they are a patriot–the pilfering, tax-evading S.O.Bs!  I like it when my government works for ME!

I got some personally devastating news last week.  I went to my chiropractor for a bad shoulder and in the process of investigating that it was discovered that I lean about five inches to the right.  THE RIGHT!  Holy Hell, will I ever be able to show my face in public again.  This was not some mindless accusation–it was an actual measurement!  Five whole darned inches to the right–I’m sorry!!  I leaned so far to the  right that the X-ray tech called in the doctor to see how she should take the picture!!  The chiropractor assured me that he can, at least, get me back to center and that his record of that humongous lean is totally confidential!

OF BOATS AND BOUYANCY

H’m'm, by this time in george’s first term he had already sunk a Japanese school ship with one of our “nukeler” powered submarines.  It seems that george managed to sink a ship early in his term and was in the process of sinking our ship–America–at the very end of his second term.  (A guy who likes to start fires is called an arsonist; what do you call a person who likes to sink ships?)  Anyway, we are about three-quarters of the way to the bottom and Barack Obama has taken over command of the ship.  Sadly, some of the same old crew is on board and insist that the same tactics that got us into this mess should be used to reverse the dive and return us to bouyancy.  The new captain wants to be cooperative but how long can he really placate stupid?

A casual observer can see that the Republicans are ignoring the needs of the country and focusing instead on the 2010, 2012, and 2016 elections.  They can win in those elections only if Barack does not succeed in returning our “ship” to her normal bouyant self.  Whatever “patriotic”  fervor they had in the bush years has now morphed into a “screw the average citizen during the economic crisis” attitude. ( Loudly proclaimed, false patriots often ditch their “beloved” country for personal gain.  Their patriotism has the lasting power of a firecracker.)  More than likely the lot of them hold group “prayer sessions” for the failure of Barack Obama.  All I ask is: NEVER FORGET ‘EM!! They would have all of us out in the winter cold–naked–while they purchased botties and coats for their pets.

The economic recovery package has passed the House and the Senate and President Obama intends to sign it on Tuesday.  This is good.  However, it still rankles me that $750billion is going to about 1000 banks for their being greedy while everyone else gets to share a mere $789 billion to stave off the wolves from the door–it should be quite a fight!  I hope you noted that all Republicans voted for the bank bail-out and only three voted for us, and they did so only after some major concessions.  If we ever recover from this mess, come back with a vengence for the rich paying their fair share.  Here’s the plan.  Keep it simple.  Don’t get bogged down in details. 

1. Take the cap off Social Security.  Take it off and put it on the shelf.  It will make Social Security solvent for years.  Social Security is now paid on our first $106,000.  Do you make a second $106,000?  How about a third $106,000?  O.K. now, how about “making” 4,000 of those $100,000 incomes.  That is what one oil executive made last year in salary and bonuses–he paid about $15,000 for Social Security whereas his real bill for Social Security  should have been about $60 million!
2. Increase the top tax rate to say. . . oh, 85% for anything above $10 million.   It might need to be higher.  I have no desire to make it easy to become a billionaire in this country.  They end up meddling in my finacial and political affairs.
3. Build some new “launch pads” for all citizens.  Universal, single-payer healthcare or as close as we can get and free or, at least, far less expensive higher education for our citizens.

I would rather see all American citizens have a healthy, educated, well-cared for life and retirement than I would care to see a single, smarmy, or nice, happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care billionaire made from America’s fiscal policies.

NORAD goes up every day to guard our skies–except 9/11.  We, too, must be ever vigilant against Republican knavery.

PROGRESS & DECEPTION

We, me, you, Barack, and the Democrats in Congress, are making progress.  President Obama chastised the greedy CEO’s on Wall Street and then promptly limited the salary of all CEO’s using our money to $500,000.  Great move!!  An even greater move was to forbid any stock options they are given as “perks” to be sold (excercised) before we taxpayers have all the money we loaned them back in our depleted coffers. (These executive orders will only be enforced as long as a Democrat is in the White House)

Every Cabinet position that has been filled is like a fruitful vine working 24/7 to bear fruit.  Hillary Clinton is out there restoring our reputation and working to reestablish relationships around the world; Eric Holder is, hopefully, laying out the case against bush and team for the atrocities they committed upon us and the world; Tim Geithner is putting the harness back on Wall Street executives; Robert Gates, in deference to Barack Obama, is laying plans to exit Iraq and win in Afghanistan;  Ken Salazar is reviewing mining regulations and land sales made by bush; Tom Vilsack is studying “big ag” excesses across the country; Gregg Judd is still under careful watch; Steven Chu, a scientist, is at work on energy independence; Anne Duncan is recovering the staggering losses American education suffered under bush’s “No Child Left Behind” program; and several others are hard at work “for the people” rather then for the filthy rich!  The future reeks with democratic aromas.

Now, the press, the media is doing everything it can to make it seem that Barack is having all kinds of problems.  Questioning the vetting process, Obama’s campaign promises, the ability to “change” the way Washington does business, the use of lobbyists, etc.  It is all fluff–supported only by the ever present Republicans they have on as pundits and their own clapping jaws.  Barack Obama’s Administration will bear great fruit for the average American.

I hope you have noticed how interested in bipartisanship the Republicans are?  The last things they want to see succeed are Congressional bipartisanship and President Obama’s Economic Recovery Program.  Success in either area would sink Republican hopes of recovering power in the 2010 or 2012 election.  They are pretending to be concerned about us hoi polloi and they do want an economic recovery program, too–just one that is doomed to failure and that they can blame on President Obama.  Some people think the election is over–not at all–the election is never over, it just morphs around different issues and candidates.  If Barack restarts the economy; the Republicans lose the next two general elections–it is that simple!  Ergo, the Republicans really want to see Barack fail, really fail.  To heck with your job, your family, your worries, your hopes, your dreams, your future or your life–it is all about the Republicans regaining control of Congress in two years and the Presidency in four.  The best way to achieve this Republican success is to saddle Barack with an ineffective recovery plan.  Give him too little, too late and with the wrong tools to do the job successfully

If a general knows the enemy is moving 20 miles, immediately, to gain control of a strategic pass with 100,000 troops, 500 tanks, 300 pieces of heavy artillery and provisions for three months he would not, twenty days later, send 13 typists, 2 limos, 65 firecrackers and 20 peanut butter sandwiches to confront them unless he wanted his force to fail.   This is exactly what the Republicans want to do to Barack–set him up for failure and then use their two most beloved tools–incessant lying and the media– to make it appear to be Barack’s fault to the citizenry at large.  It’s easier than you would think.

I say, let the Republican’s filibuster.  Get the bill with the right amnount and the right tools to do the job–then work like crazy to pin the lateness of delivery on those who filibustered; precisely where it should be pinned!!

Despite the outcome of the vote, never forget that it was the Republicans who worked hard to give Barack too little, too late and with the incorrect tools to get this nation back on its’ feet!

NO TIME TO REST

 

The bush tax cuts have been in place for about eight years.  The bulk of the cuts benefitted the very rich.  The cuts were supposed to get these rich people to invest their money and create jobs.  Today our economy is in a death spiral with 2 million jobs lost.  bush and his cronies gave the financial industry  $700+ billion to feather their nest; Obama and his cronies want to spend $819 billion to create jobs.  Many Democrats voted for bush’s scheme because, like the vote to go to war, it was taken about a week before the election and was, like the vote to go to war, touted as an absolute emergency by the bush team.   No Republicans have, to date, voted for Obama’s package because:  1.They want to see him fail or; 2.  They want his bill to contain the very same things that made the bush administration fail our economy so miserably–huge tax cuts for the rich!!  There is more afoot with the conservatives than an honest desire to save the economy for all the people.  They cannot be so stupid as not to notice that the old mantra, “Tax cuts for the rich.”, actually put into practice for the last eight years has failed us all  horribly. 

The last President, bush, exited “Stage Right” (thank God) at a time when our economy was in a vertical dive for the bottom of unknown depth.  Now the new President, Barack Obama, trying to stop the dive,  is under constant pressure by Republicans to “own” this crash even while they do everything they can to prevent his bringing us in to a miraculous, soft landing.  Eight years of Republican policy has brought us to where we are today.  In desperation they will talk about the 52 months of growth.  Growth, my patootie!!  It has cost us about 9 to 11 trillion dollars to pretend we were growing,  today our economy is sinking faster than the Titanic and we are paying the piper with record foreclosures, record unemployment, record debt, record trade deficits and record everything negative!!  Americans must never forget where george bush left us because, even now, the Republican “rewrite history machine” is lying about the past as recent as a month ago.  Within two years the Republicans and the media will have successfully blamed the whole mess on the Democrats.  Be like an elephant–never forget!!

Just this last week 100% of the Republicans in the House of Representatives voted AGAINST an economic recovery package focused on jobs for the average citizen; whereas, just three months ago they voted 100% FOR a bail-out package for the financial industry who promptly used the bail-out monies to purchase capital assets and give enormous bonuses instead of loosening credit for the American consumers and small businesses as they were “expected” to do. POOF!–365 billion dollars disappear.  Republicans 100% against the 819 billion dollar middle class package, with oversight, to help 300 million people; Republicans 100% in favor of a 700 billion dollar package, without oversight, to help 400 banks!!  Who do you think they like best??

Sliding back into apathy now is a great danger for our democratic republic.  The dastard, g.w.bush, brought this country to the brink of economic, military, social and international disaster.  There are many more Republicans just like him.  My failure and your failure suits the Republican pursuit of a corporate aristocracy to rule this country just fine.  To reestablish our democracy, our economy, our allies and our international reputation as a free and democratic nation will take years–like 30 to 40.  A great ship (America) can withstand one torpedo (bush) but she cannot survive two hits (another Republican) close together!!

JUST A POST

Barack is in charge!  Did you notice that he, Michelle, Joe Biden and Jill walked g.w. and Laura to the helicoptor on the front steps of the Capitol and then waited. . . and waited. . . and waited until the coptor actually took off.  That showed both good sense and attention to detail.  Refreshing attributes to have once again in our President.  There was no chance for either bush or Cheney (also on the helio) to have second thoughts about leaving under the watchful eyes of Barack, Joe and their, equally watchful, spouses–Michelle and Jill.  Thanks for doing that you guys–we do not want any rubbish from the g.w.bush Administration left in Washington, D.C.

Some people on the progressive side of the aisle think Republicans have no focus, purpose, or leader at this time.  Nix that!!  Republicans always have their eternal leader–GREED–on hand and he provides both focus and purpose for Republicans known as the “same old, same old”.  The only question is: “How long will it take GREED to lie his way back to national prominence?”  I hope never–but realistically GREED already has his minions working overtime to see that his programs regain national prominence as soon as possible.  GREED can only be thwarted by an informed and freedom loving electorate.  Do you want to see GREED in action?

Observe the performance of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Fox News, Mike Savage, Glen Beck, Hannity or any of a host of other right-wing radio, television, or press personalities this week.  Witness all the support they are giving the Commander-in-Chief in his 2nd week in office.  Listen to the Republicans in Congress carp about wasteful spending, Cabinet selections, the new economic bail-out, not being “listened” to, and anything the Democrats try to do.  This after their ham-handed failure in all of these areas.

Oh. . . it is going to be a great four years; and if we are wise enough to federally regulate federal elections, we could be winning for a long time into the future notwithstanding GREED’S irksome, lying ways! 

Speaking of irksome and lying. . . well, at least deceptive. .  what is with all this part-time employment I am getting with no pay and no perks?  Just last night Anne, my daughter, felt the need to get her son a new car seat since he up-chucked in the old one on the way to grandma and grandpa’s house.  We all agreed!!

I did expect to help her install it in the car but. . . I needed a union card, tools, and 1/4th of a full shift to put it together before we could even think of installing it in the car.  It came completely apart (as did I); one bagged piece after another to be assembled on my line, on my time, by my hands, in my house!!

Lots of companies have me on their list of workers.  The garbage company uses me to sort the garbage and to get it positioned on the street for pick-up.  Home Depot and other stores entice me to become a “checker” by having so few of their own on payroll.  Assembly has become a “forte” of mine since creating a lawnmower, a hose reel, a barbeque, two chairs, a table, a bookcase and the car seat from assorted, neatly packaged boxes of parts.  They become useful objects only after blood, sweat, tears, skillful use of language and frequent perusal of the DIRECTIONS written by the Idiot of Indonesia, himself.

Even as I bear these terrible costs of assemblage–guess what?–in every case, either I or a loved one has paid cold, hard cash for these parts so brilliantly pictured in full color and fully assembled on the outside of the box!  If this is not a bait and switch tactic, it is at least as deceptive as the tangerines my wife recently purchased in a bright orange mesh bag titled; “Succulent Susies”.  I do not blame my wife.  The bright orange mesh bag cast the healthiest, sweetest, orange glow over the pathetic fruit inside that even I was fooled!  But really. . . only a practiced Republican could, with a straight face, call those tangerines–succulent!! 

NEVER BUY BAGGED FRUIT.  NEVER VOTE REPUBLICAN. Both are deceptive.

FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST!! (of bush)

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we have a chance for as miraculous a landing for the U.S. economy as U.S. Airways had for its’ plane on the Hudson River last week.  The landing in the Hudson River was orchestrated by a talented, brave, brilliant pilot (or as bush said “driver”) and his crew.  The landing for our economy, presently underway, is piloted by a talented, brave, brilliant Barack Obama and his administration.  Note:  Immense, unselfish efforts were required by citizens after the plane had “safely” crashed to save the passengers; similar efforts will be needed after the economy is “safely” crashed to save our “bacon” as well. Be prepared!!  Be thankful that Flight 1549 was not piloted by g.w. bush.   New York would have lost another 4-30 thosand lives with a single commercial airliner.  Be equally thankful that bush is no longer piloting the economic crash that is underway–we would all end up as serfs!!

The Republican agenda and serfdom are defeated only as long as the electorate remain alert.  Alert to the situation the country is in on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.  Alert to the legislation Barack and the Democrats try to pass to give us a “safe” landing and a free, hopeful future.  Alert to the fillibusters, votes and shenanigans used by Republicans to defeat and derail Democratic efforts to provide a “safe” landing and a prosperous future.  And, very alert to the lies and charges made by Republicans about Democrats during the next two elections. (2010 &2012)  Check the landscape; watch the legislation–both purported and passed. Stay involved.  Stay alert.

The abject failures, bush and Cheney, together with their media allies are trying to put lipstick on the “pig” that was their eight years of failure.  Obama keeping Gates on as Secretary of Defense is, to them, an endorsement of bush policy in Iraq.  Obama increasing the troop level in Afghanistan is, to them, an endorsement of bush policy in the Middle East.  Endorsement, my arse, the change in both cases is THE LEADERSHIP!!  Iraq is a mess!  Hundreds of thousands have been killed, tens of millions have been driven from their homes, millions must be wounded or maimed, the infrastructure is in ruin,  extreme violence occurs on a regular basis and regular crime is rampant and ignored yet, bush, Cheney and the media would have us believe that they have solved the issue.  No, they merely created and exacerbated the mess!  The surge they so frequently tout, ethnically cleansed (the millions of homeless) neighborhoods and the concrete barriers they erected between neighborhoods cut down on the violence for now.  Nothing has been resolved in Iraq and if any good comes to or from that region it is in no way, “thanks” to bush.  The people, the infrastructure and the culture of Iraq were way better off before our invasion than they are at the present time.

Another “pig” they are putting lipstick on is the 9/11 fiasco.  Their claim to fame is that there have been no attacks SINCE 9/11.  WOW!!  Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, BushI and Clinton never allowed any.  Why should bush and Cheney suddenly get a pass on allowing a catastrophic attack to take place on the American mainland?  That huge failure of leadership shoud never be forgotton or forgiven.

Here are some other lies and failures of bush and Cheney that I will never forget and I hope you don’t either:  2000 election, Supreme Court appoints bush, White House and Air Force One trashed by the Clintons, Japanese school ship sunk by plalyful Texans, spy plane and latest spy technology is landed in China, stock market crash of 2001, long summer vacation, 9/11, the cover-up of 9/11, Cheney leaning on the CIA, Powell giving false evidence, the vote to “allow” the nation to go to war taken just before the 2002 elections, yellow cake uranium from Niger, mushroom cloud reference, use of fear, Patriot Act, outing of Valerie Plame, cover-up of the outing of Valerie Plame, derision of our “old” European allies, the preemptive invasion of Iraq,  shock and awe, Swiftboating Kerry, corporate electronic election fraud in 2004, use of torture, loss of habeus corpus, Guantanemo, Abu Grahib, the display of Sadaam’s and his two son’s corpses, having no public appearances for eight years, never attending the funeral of the war dead, the rubber turkey in Iraq at Thanksgiving, the ”bring em on” comment, Katrina response, domestic spying, refusing to vigorously regulate business, $4.50 gas, new bancruptcy law, the tax cuts for the rich, the prescription drug program, No Child Left Behind, Clean Air Act, refusal to acknowledge global warming, no-bid contracts, increase in our national debt, huge trade deficits, the attempt to privatize Social Security, free trade agreements, abuse of our military (akin to a pet owner abusing his dog), corporate exodus overseas, FEMA, “Brownie”, politicalization of the Justice Department, the loss of America’s good international reputation, the dismissal of our environmental laws, Russia’s newfound bellicosity, financial market crash, the $800 billion+ bailout of the banks, the home mortgage crisis, the foreclosure crisis, the lending crisis, the lack of leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and the many thousands more too numerous to list. 

 Any one or two of these items would sink a Presidency not supported by rigged electronic voting machines and a media you have convinced your drones is “liberal”.  The conservative resurgence to power will be supported by those same two phenomona plus an uninformed/misinformed, thus easily duped, electorate.  Please be neither misinformed nor uninformed–I do not want to be a serf at my advanced age!!!

HIGH HOPES II

A few weeks ago in “High Hopes” their was a partial list of changes I would like to see President Obama address.  That list included privacy, media ownership, patents, health care, adulation of the rich, education, taxation, FICA, global corporations, the timing of votes, and protection from a madman along with a brief explanation of each item.

Here is another category I hope Obama addresses:  Commission level investigations  with full subpoena power and sworn oaths for all individuals called before the commission. There is a huge need–even demand–for a thorough investigations into the following items:

NINE-ONE-ONE:  This horrific incident must be laid bare for the public to see.  Cheney and bush, unlike earlier, must testify under oath and separately.We need and deserve honest answers to pre-9/11 warnings, the lack of air defense forces, what hit the Pentagon, what caused the plane to crash in Pennsylvania, why the steel from the fallen Towers was so quickly recycled, why both Towers collapsed so evenly, looking more like a planned demolition than an accidental collapse. There are about 16,000 other questions to accompany these.  Presently, the least likely story is the official story.

THE IRAQ WAR:   Ye gads, what a project unto itself.  Let’s see, we need to check into Cheney’s many visits to the CIA offices pre-war,  Powell’s false information, bush’s State of the Union speech, the timing of the “authority to go to war” vote in the Senate, the pre-emptive strike, the supposed reasons for attacking Iraq, the no-bid contracts, the missing eight billion dollars, Abu Grahib and  Blackwater contractors .

SPYING:  We need to know how extensive this was, who authorized it, and was it Constitutional

FEDERAL ELECTION FRAUD:  Election fraud on a massive scale took place in the 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2008 General Elections.  It involved a myriad of schemes which include but are not limited to:  mechanical voting machines, electronic voting machines, counting machines, caging, intimidation, lies and purposefully erroneous information; involving Secretary’s of State, politicians, national political committees, private citizens, corporations, county official and thugs!  Miraculously, all of these efforts benefited g.w.bush and a few other Republican candidates.  Paper ballots with a paper trail accompanied by other safeguards must be put in place before the “dark side”, yes, the Republican side “fixes” this fraud to such an extent that America never has another reliable election.

THE bush JUSTICE DEPARMENT:  Justice wnt “South” when Ashcroft covered the naked statue of Lady Justice but that was just the beginning. Karl Rove and george bush appear to have made the Department of Justice a political arm of the Republican Party by using the U.S. attorneys to intimidate, tie-up in court, and even imprison opposition candidates.  This is frightening!  A.)  That anyone at the national level would even think to do this with the U.S. Department of Justice, and  B.)  that they would be able to find 50 compliant attorneys to do their bidding.  This charge only came to light because the bush Admin. tried to fire some of the attorneys who they deemed not compliant enough!!  WOW!!  Tie that in with the Department of Justice refusing to issue/execute subpoenas for Congress, approving the use of torture and okaying the spying on American citizens!  Apparently Ashcroft balked at the spying program and was unceremoniously replaced by Mr. Third World, himself, Roberto Gonzales. Hey, we have got to have a just Justice department, heh?

VALERIE PLAME:  The mistreatment of Valerie Plame and her husband, Joe Wilson, is so treasonous and hate-filled that it needs to be laid open to reveal all the participants.  Scooter Libby took the “fall” for outing the identity of CIA agent Plame and was promptly given a “Get Out Of Jail Free Card” by bush. I think that this can be taken to the very top–bush.  Jail is too nice for the bastards who broke the cover of an active CIA agent just to “get even” with her husband for revealing that bush’s claim that Iraq was buying yellowcake uranium from Niger was patently false.

FINANCIAL MARKETS:  Hedge funds, speculators, big banks, mortgage brokers, loan bundling, and the Federal Reserve must be investigated for the legality of issues which brought on our current economic crisis.  Regulations must be properly tightened to prevent this ever happening again.  Basically, we can never allow loans to be granted for the sole purpose of collecting pre-loan fees to fuel our greedy need for golden parachutes and astronomical salaries.

NO-BID CONTRACTS:  Just spend the time to see where the money went.

TORTURE:  We must reveal to the world and our citizens the extent of our use of torture in the “war on terror”  We now have 5-7 low-level military personnel– called, “bad apples” by the bush Administration–in prison.  They should be released and replaced with the 5-7 highest level people who endorsed torture as a national policy.  The sentences should be the same as  are now imposed on the non-coms!!

These are just some of the easily identifiable investigative commissions I hope President Obama establishes during his first term in office.  The commissions shoud be liberal with the criminal sentences where applicable.  Leave no “stone” unturned.  These issues endangered our national security far more than any war, incident or situation since World War II.

P.S.  There are some pardons coming.  Friday? Saturday? Sunday? Monday?