Some things DO get better with age!

It's the last day of February, and it's 83 degrees outside! The doors and windows of the house are wide open, reminiscent of the waning days of last autumn.

Thanks to global warming, which doesn't exist according to the science whores hired by our corporate environment plunderers to justify "business-as-usual, dump more shit into the atmosphere" while our idiot president assures us he's taking us in a direction that will reduce our addiction to oil despite acting as our bad-ass pusher by quenching our addictions to greater needs for more and more by increasing our dependency with fewer industry controls and bigger, more powerful gas guzzling obscenities on our streets, despite all that, I spent an hour or two outside with "Ol' Greenie Boy".

You see, it was eleven years ago this spring that I went shopping for a new car. Having "raised" two generations of Hondas, I was looking to adopt another one. And as my salesman, who had worked for me at one time as a parttime college kid and whose child my wife, as a 3rd grade teacher, later taught, was taking me back to the lot behind the dealership to look over his inventory, he'd made a mistake. He took me there via the side of his dealership abutting the Mazda dealership immediately next door! As much as I was dedicated to the idea of another Honda and wanted to give him the business, the sight of a new 1995 Mazda MX-6 emerging from their showers was more than I could ignore. There, glistening, naked in the sun, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. That turned out to be my salesman's fatal mistake.

I don't remember if it was immediately after leaving my friend and his Honda dealership that I snuck next door to the Mazda franchise, to ogle that MX-6, or I had the courtesy and vague sense of obligation to wait a few days. But inevitably, I wound up next door, inquiring of this car.

The rest is history. My Honda loyalty was lost, I was soon behind the seat of my very own little Mazda, "Greenie Boy"! Although driven by a small V-6, he wasn't fast. After all, this was 1995, before the drive to make most vehicles bigger, thirstier and more powerful. But he had enough "soup" to suit me and the wife. And his mileage wasn't bad either.

Eleven years later, "Ol Greenie Boy's" value has dipped dramatically, despite the fact I've failed to put 600 miles on him each of the past two years. With a total of 39,000 miles, how can I possibly let him go? He's got great rubber, low miles, and has priority in the garage over the newer, junior member of the family, i.e., I love him more than the first day I saw him last millenium. And his value is far greater to us than any blue book would ever concede.

And so, while the president was inside on the TV assuring us--despite evidence to the contrary--that while the standard of living statistics were indicating a decline in quality of life for most Americans, things are really much better, I was outside on this globally warmed day, the last day of February, in 83 degrees "communing" with my friend, "Ol Greenie Boy". As I told a neighbor who'd dropped by to witness the "love" as I bathed him there in public, "IF there's a heaven after you leave here, look for a well maintained '95 Mazda, MX-6 driving around. Most likely, I'll be the one behind its wheel wearing a big grin."

Another losing season for the Pirates.

Pirates team owner, George Bush

General Tommy Franks revisted:

Who can forget, just three days after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, General Franks had this to say.

"This will be a campaign unlike any other in history."

Three years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Dada has this to say.

"Looks like the same old bullshit to me."

Another highly decorated military leader misguided by the rows of multi-colored hubris on his chest and an eagerness to please his delusionary commander-in-chief who speaks with God.

That's a requisite quality, however, of a well trained soldier, to carry out the orders of his leader unquestioningly no matter how misguided those orders are. But that quality of blind faith in one's leader as requisite for martial success, is also the same quality that often leads to the most colossal failures. And then factor in Frank's commander-in-chief's only military experience was dubious at best, criminal at worst. And his previous experience as a leader of men was a foray into baseball team ownership that resulted in more personal financial gain for himself than success for his Texas Ranger's team. One begins to suspect there's a problem.

And if you look at this as baseball instead of a run at global domination, so much of the promises made were of a team leader of a franchise very desperate for a winning season. Tommy Franks, as manager of the Pirates, is now gone. Long since retired, it's obvious what was promised to be something totally unique and special has turned into just another dismal losing season he left for some other bastard to manage. (Hell, the last game wasn't even played in the right stadium!)

A new season, a new campaign!

But it's springtime again and Pirate team owner, George Bush, is looking forward to a new season, a new campaign with renewed optimism. Looking towards a season opener against a different opponent just across the east river in Iran Stadium, Bush is exuding the confidence expressed by last season's manager Franks. And this season will be different, he thinks.

Sadly, however, one has to look at the U.S. military's team record compiled over the past 60 years. With the best damn players, uniforms and equipment money can buy, our Pirates repeatedly fail to live up to their promise. They should be the premiere team of the league, but save for the lowly franchises of a Panama or Grenada, they seem incapable of beating anyone. But other ragtag teams whose only advantage seems to be their home field and a passion to defend that turf lay waste to our team of all-stars.

Maybe the Pirates just don't have the passion of their opponents who seem deeply inspired by the hubris of a general manager like Tommy Franks promising to rout them, or his team owner, George Bush, whose previous experience of dismal failures hints at his incompetence as businessman or incapabilities to successfully lead anybody in anything.

Whatever the reasons, in the past 60 years the U.S. Pirates military team has compiled a truly abysmal won-loss war record. If the U.S. were a sports franchise, wouldn't it have been sold years and years ago to a new, more capable owner and moved somewhere else, like Toronto, maybe?

Doing dishes from years before.

Sunday morning.....

"Where the hell's our dishwasher?" I asked myself, looking at the huge mess left from last night.

Answering myself, I heard me say, "You are the dishwasher, stupid!"

In our house, I do the dishes. My wife would like for me to have a dishwasher, but I defer. Maybe the reason we fight tooth and nail on this dish washer issue is because of mornings like these. Being the only house in this entire end of town sans a dishwasher is a badge I wear with pride at times, particularly on these mornings.

See it's only rare occasions with very special meals like last eve that we even break out the China.

(And note, here, China is a misnomer, because I remember as a very young child when my mother received these cups and plates and saucers. And I remember appreciating the beautiful pieces of that China, even after discovering the conundrum printed on the bottom of each where it was stamped in the tiniest of print, "Japan".


I never mentioned this to my mom. She was so proud of that set of China with servings for 12. Even then, I knew my parents had come thru the hard times of the depression long before I ever came along. This was mom's very first set of China and it meant so very much to her. It would be her only set of China.

But it was post WWII when Japan bore the reputation of the vanquished and anything Japanese was thought of as inferior goods. As junk.

It was only over the years with the rise of Toyotas and Nikons that I began to appreciate our dinnerware. Somewhere along the way, I realized the Japanese were probably the foremost makers of quality China, for wasn't it we Americans who had taught them so well the secrets of glazing and high temperature firings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

And so one of the things I pride myself in yet today is the fact that, as a kid, I never asked my mom of her new dishes, "Mom, why, on the bottom of each piece of China does it say "Japan"?

But you know what I really like about those plates, cups and saucers? Well, it's washing 'em the next morning after an evening with special friends like last night. By hand. Not in some machine with hoses and heating elements.

Because as I clean each one, I'm remembering the history of these dishes. I'm thinking of all the people from my past who ever ate off each plate or drank from each cup. And it amazes me most are now all gone. It's like my personal hall-of-fame of family and friends now departed, but in these few moments now resurrected.

There was my folks, my two older brothers, 17 and 18 years my seniors, whom as a kid I worshipped and looked up to so much. Of old family friends and aunts and uncles and cousins. All dead. Of Christmases and Thanksgivings gone. And hams, pot roasts and turkeys served up with all the trimmings. Of the green beans that sat on my plate and the embarrassment I suffered before so many of those people because I couldn't excuse myself from the table to go outside and play til I'd eaten 'em. And by then they were gaggingly cold.

And so this morning, alone with those dishes as my wife--who'd so deliciously filled them the night before--still slept, I passed an hour's time with those plates, cups and saucers. It seemed like only a minute or two. But before I knew, the dishes were done. And as I replaced them affectionately back on the shelf for who-knows-how-many-more-months before the next special dinner, I put away my parents, and my siblings, and all those friends and family so important to me so very, very long ago.

And you just don't get mystical experiences like that from any dishwasher with hoses and heating elements.

"It's all over, the war is over"

"What the establishment media covering Iraq have utterly failed to make clear today is this central reality: With the exception of periodic flare-ups in isolated corners, our struggle in Iraq as warfare is over. Egregious acts of terror will continue—in Iraq as in many other parts of the world. But there is now no chance whatever of the U.S. losing this critical guerilla war." ~ Karl Zinsmeister, June 2005, as he wrote in The American Enterprise, a politically conservative advocate of free-market economics and a neoconservative U.S. foreign policy.

(DADA NOTE: This probably explains why our heads of state are unable to fly into any middle east nation unless in absolute secrecy, unannounced, and often under the cover of total darkness in grey cargo jets bearing no flags or other markings identifying them as being from the USA.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To our dear leaders, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld and their supporting cast of members to whom we owe so much, the late Jim Morrison of the Doors dedicates these few lines:

The old get old
And the young get stronger
May take a week
And it may take longer
They got the guns
But we got the numbers
Gonna win, yeah
We’re takin’ over
Come on!

Yeah!
~ Five to One
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE WAR ON TERROR

Let's forget the War on Terror. There never was a war on terror. You think Bush's losing sleep at night over the war on terror? No, but he sure as hell hopes you are.

Anyone familiar with the card game Hearts might appreciate what's really going on here. Dealt their hand and making their bid, in the early stages the neocons began their bluff by bitching loudest about their bad cards. About the democrats trying to steal the election they'd won fair and square.

Their loudest moans and groans were heard, however, after 9/11. The poor Bush bastards would have us believe they'd been dealt the old lady of death card, the Queen of Spades. All part of the bluff of innocence every coy player uses when attempting to stiff every other Hearts player.

And so as the hand plays out, there comes a point where players begin to suspect Bush isn't just dumping the bad cards dealt him. He has to reveal his true intent. Some players "get it" before others but, inevitably, the card is laid and the trick taken when every last player at the table realizes the truth: Bush is taking the rest of the tricks and no one can stop him! Bush is running the deck!

I know there's players at the table who still don't know what's going on. (In the game of Hearts, these are the ones to avoid as your partners!) But this latest Dubai/Bush/port security deal has tipped off many more of those playing at this table.

First Bush didn't know about the deal. Then he adamantly asserted he would veto any attempt to block it. Then he said he'd be agreeable to discussing it. Then put it off for awhile. And funny thing, today we learn Dubai is amenable to delaying it for awhile. Let's see, when's the next big holiday? Oh, that'd be Memorial Day weekend. Maybe very late on the Friday night preceding the long three day weekend as Americans are heading for the beach, mountains or the Indy brickyard would be a good time for the takeover of America's port security.

All this uproar about this deal violating the very foundations of our War on Terror. Just remember, there never was a War on Terror. It's only a war against the little players around the table, and Bush is revealing to us all he's running the deck. And you can't stop him!

Hearts is a game played with no jokers. Only suckers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Make a grave for the unknown soldier
Nestled in your hollow shoulder
The unknown soldier

Breakfast where the news is read
Television children fed
Bullet strikes the helmet's head

And, it's all over
The war is over
It's all over, the war is over
~ Doors, The Unknown Soldier

Today's vocabulary lesson.

I ran across a story this morning stating Britain and the United States have dispatched observers to Uganda to verify the fair will of the people is expressed in today's national election being held there. A press release from the U.S. embassy in Kampala said 20 American observers are being deployed around the country for today's referendum.

Is it just me, or does anyone else out there wonder how in the hell the U.S. has the right to oversee the fairness of elections of any foreign country anywhere until they can conduct one, just one, free and fair national election in their own damn country first?

Does anyone in this administration know the word S-A-N-C-T-I-M-O-N-Y ? Or H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y ? How about, B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T-?

At G.E., we bring good things to "light"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush did not know about a deal to hand over operations at six major U.S. ports to an Arab company until after his administration approved it, the White House said on Wednesday.

Yet his National Security Agency has the need to know everything about Americans in violation of their constitutional rights by spying on them.

If you believe Bush never heard of this deal before its approval, you may want to consider replacing your dim bulb upstairs with one of higher wattage. If you have any doubts about the White House claim he didn't know, you may want to consider replacing the dim bulb in the oval office with something brighter.

Texas Western Day at the White House

This is going to be a quiet day, I just KNOW it. It's a day of local pride for many El Pasoans. It was their Texas Western all-black starting team who defeated Kentucky's all white basketball team for the NCAA Championship forty years ago this spring. And president Bush has decided to honor them by inviting the members of that team to the White House this evening to watch the movie, "Glory Road", commemorating their achievment.

Sadly, their Hall of Fame coach, Don Haskins, will not be in attendence. He has been hospitalized with a case of pneumonia. I was going to say something snarky here like "Why does this always seem to happen to Bush's best photo-op laid plans?" but I won't. (Oooh, did I just pull one of those slick politician's tricks outta my basketball shorts?)

After Five Years, Get Used to It.

After my second sip of coffee, I read my first headline of the morning. "Bush Says Ports Deal Will Stand". So I guess that's it. Bush has spoken. Our east coast port security will be in the hands of a United Arab Emirates' company, so everyone just shut the fuck up!

As some have suggested, this is a win-win situation for the administration. Protesting republicans led by the likes of Bill Frist appear more upset about this than many democrats. At least, they're getting more mileage in the MSM from this. (And besides, anyone notice Frist only promising to put off approval of the deal, not to stop it, right? Remember the expiring homeland security act?)

With elections just down the road, protests such as Frist's give congress members some separation from Bush. It appeals to their Bush created nervous Nellies security fearful constituents. And Bush is looking very authoritarian. He's taken out his veto and is waving it in everybody's face. "Oh please! Not over here, I can't stand the sight of it!"

And in the end, cronyism will prevail over security. The UAE's Dubai will secure our ports. Not to worry, Shaky Jakes, when it comes down to a choice between special interests and your security, special interests always trump. Just buck it up.

God, this is gonna be a good day! I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee, it's still dark outside, and already my sarcasm's boiling over.

About sending "mixed signals"

I awoke this morning in my usual good mood. Why, I didn't even think I would blog anything today, because things were going so well. Tsk, tsk. That was only because the only power button I'd hit was to the coffee pot. I had yet to turn on the computer, radio, or TV. But it wasn't long after doing so, I suddenly felt compelled to upload something here. What follows is just a couple of items that got me all "inspired".

They all have to do with Bush sending us, as he said himself, "mixed signals". He was referring to the embarrassing fact that a national renewable energy lab Bush visited in Colorado today just fired 32 employees due to a federal budget shortfall after he assured us in his state of the union address he was really committed--no, really, really, committed--to renewable technologies and green energy reform.

Well, "Egg on my face and call me Shithead!" yes, that seems like mixed signals. It was just supposed to be another great public relations spin around the country for the Americans still dumb enough to swallow Bush's swill.

Fortunately (and transparently), as reported on NPR, CNN and others, a *miracle* happened before Bush showed up at that renewable energy lab, i.e., the Bush administration managed to "find" $32 million to bring those fired people back on payroll.

That's probably enough to keep those poor folk's canned asses on the payroll for another month or two until this whole embarrassment blows over, at which time they'll once more gain unemployment status--this time permanently.

Another amusing story was given me by Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! It's undisputably accepted among true scientists of the (what else?) scientific community (I'm not talking about corrupted scientists who sold out, put on blinders and went to work spinning oil industry propaganda) that global warming is real. No, seriously, real! But what I round amusing was the following from Amy:

Is Sci-Fi Writer Michael Chricton Advising Bush on Global Warming?
"Questions are being raised in Washington if science fiction writer Michael Crichton may be advising President Bush on global warming. A new book reveals Bush met with Chricton in 2004 to discuss his best-selling novel “State of Fear” which suggests that global warming is an unproven theory and an overstated threat.

"The meeting is recalled in a new book by Weekly Standard editor and Fox News commentator Fred Barnes. According to Barnes, Bush is a 'a dissenter on the theory of global warming' and that he was in near total agreement with Chricton. Barnes added that Chricton’s visit, “was not made public for fear of outraging environmentalists.”

"While Crichton’s novel is a work of science fiction, he was recently awarded a journalism award – by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists."

The mixed signals Bush admits to is illustrated in his faux determination to develop green energy out of concern for the environment as he cuts funding for such while seeking confirmation global warming is a lie from a sci-fi fiction writer like Crichton, who often uses a literary technique called "false document" to validate phony science through "fictionalized scientific documents in the form of diagrams, computer output, DNA sequences, footnotes and bibliography." From Answers.com

But of course, the REAL mixed signals that Bush is sending, the story that seems to be overshadowing all others, is his threat to veto any effort to stop a company owned by Dubai to provide security to six U.S. seaports.

Juxtapose this with the fear Bush has instilled in the U.S. for the past four and a half years now and his vow to pursue terrorism to the ends of the Earth and bring bin Laden in 'dead or alive' against his hell bent desire to see a state owned company of one of the United Arab Emirates providing U.S. port security. Ask Bush about bin Laden and you're likely to get a response, "Who?"

Sure, while it appears to be a mixed signal, maybe we shouldn't be so rushed to judge. There may be good reason for Bush's eagerness to permit this deal:

- there's been hints of cronyism. Hopefully more of this will come to light in the days ahead. And this seems perfectly reasonable in that this is a normal Bush modus operandi. Also, there has been talk today of Bush's Carlyle Group cronies involvement (which includes his dad).

- and then there's always the speculations of conspiracists who feel betrayed that an honest and valid investigation into exactly how 9/11 happened was never conducted. Some are now speculating a Dubai company overseeing our port security is another aid to assist terrorists in their next attack on the nation. With all we learned (or did NOT learn) of 9/11, I suppose that's a valid thought.

- there was even radio conjectures this afternoon that Bush is just flat out nuts! Truthfully, that sounds as reasonable a theory as any other at this point.

Whatever the real reasons Bush is so adamant in seeing this deal through are, I have no idea. I'm as confused as anybody by his mixed signals. Of course, "Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President" by Justin A. Frank may help explain a lot about the president. As a dry drunk with multiple pathologies at work inside his brain, Bush's mixed signals may just be the result of some of his crossed wires shorting out .

"A terrible catastrophe awaits"

In my mailbox this morning was an e-mail from Nona over at "Fish Wars on Cars". In it, was a link to a story about Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, telling our Chevron Oil Tanker (and secretary of state), Condoleezza Rice, "Don’t mess with me, girl".

It's a story of remarks made by Chavez in response to Rice after she labeled him "one of the 'biggest problems' for the Western Hemisphere and promised to develop regional alliances as part of an 'inoculation' strategy to expose what the State Department calls anti-democratic behavior in Venezuela."*

"Anti-democratic behavior in Venezuela"? Oooh, strong words from a "democratically elected" U.S. regime.

Is it just me, or does Rice have more balls than a ten foot tree on Christmas morning? Talk about tough! I'm not sure just how much more of this dominatrix testosterone rush other nations will tolerate. Back on Feb. 1 in "It's what the people want," I quoted Paul Craig Roberts who said, "America has become a rogue nation, flying blind, guided only by ignorance and hubris. A terrible catastrophe awaits."

I went on to add that it's my fear, if we, the American people, can't or won't restore order in our house from within, it is only a matter of time before someone attempts to restore it from without.

Hugo Chavez's latest dress-down of Oil Tanker Rice is but one of the growing responses of anger manifesting in strong language and warnings from overseas. But that's not stopping Rice from practicing her ballsy global diplomacy with ominous threats and innuendo.

So Rice not only flails her sword over South America and popularly elected governments there. She, Bush and Israel conspire to damage similarly elected Hamas.

Don't forget, the Oil Tanker's government overthrew democratically elected President Aristide of Haiti.

In congress, she asks for millions to finance regime change of yet another popularly elected government in Iran through a propaganda blitz. (Here, Dada thinks this may be a total waste of "good" money if Bush is simultaneously planning to bomb the shit out of Iran in the very near future.)

Did anyone else here hear the rather ominous warning Russia gave us about making war on Iran? I only heard it once about a week ago. Didn't get much play, but I suspect that's just as Bush and the MSM wants it. "Fuck Russia!" Bush and Rice seem to be saying.

So, while our dear Chevron Oil Tanker globe trots promoting "democracy", it's obvious hers is a democracy similar to the one in which Bush came to power here in the U.S. One of power through its outright seizure. If current governments overseas don't fit the Bush "democracy" model, they must be disposed of and new ones "democratically" installed.

Maybe many Americans can't grasp the hypocrisy dripping from the oil stained lips of Rice, but it's stirring up a hornet's nest of resentment outside the U.S. And what's good for the goose, may just be good for the gander. That is, if we here in the U.S. can't rein in these despots in Washington who think they can globe trot, imposing their will at whim on others with impunity, sooner or later it may be only fitting someone from outside tries to impose theirs on us.

It may be Bush has a plan to halt global warming after all. It's call "nuclear winter". And as Paul Craig Roberts has warned, "A terrible catastrophe awaits."

*Attribution: MSNBC

******************

Is anyone else as impressed as I that the U.S. Marines are halfway around the world in Guinsaugon, Philippines searching for possible survivors from the mudslide a day or two before Homeland Security or FEMA were able to get people on the ground in New Orleans after Katrina? I think this is a credit to Bush. It shows he's learned a lot since since last September.

******************

The Medicare Drug Plan Backlash? was a story on ABC News over the weekend on Bush's new Medicare drug plan that kicked in 1 January. It featured Tom Ball, a lifelong republican, who is NOT pleased at all. Because of a disability, he was mandatorily transferred into the plan. Ball reports when he picks up his medications, both formerly free, it now costs $12 and $90 each per refill. "Everyone else I know is having the same problem," says Ball.

But president Bush reassures folks like Bell that, despite glitches, the new Medicare part D republicans have delivered is "good medicine."

Disabled Ball now realizes his free medications are a thing of the past. But so are his republican political allegiances as well, he says.

ABC also showed "republican lite," senator Joseph Liebermann feigning support of those now paying for their "free" medications under the new Medicare plan that he and other members of congress passed to benefit all Americans, especially the pharmas.

As for Ball and the others who voted for Bush, it's difficult for Dada to empathize, but it gladdens my heart to see Ball sharing in the financing of the exorbitant costs of his government with we who didn't "elect" Bush. Maybe Tom Ball is affluent. If so, maybe the costs of his new prescription bills will be more than offset by the big tax cut his president has given him?

******************

A letter to the editor

I have to share the first two paragraphs of a letter to the editor in today's El Paso Times. It was pretty funny. Here goes....

"King's funeral turned political

"As I watched the televised funeral service for Coretta Scott King, I first became angry at the likes of Jimmy Carter, the Clintons and others turning King's service into a Democratic political event.

"Then I regained my composure as I realized Preside Bush, wife Laura and the president's father, former President Bush, were the only ones displaying aristocratic culture and just-plain good breeding."

It's pretty obvious this writer is among the 50% of Americans Paul Craig Roberts says are "incapable of acquiring, processing and understanding information," in his article Polls Show Many Americans are Simply Dumber Than Bush I wrote about last month.

And I have to conclude, after reading that letter, about half of the people reading this blog are the result of just plain bad breeding. (Oh wait, it's far greater than that, isn't it? We don't have any aristocratic culture people visit this blog. I forgot.)

Amerika, Amerika! God shed his grace on thee.

Perhaps some of you are familiar with the story I just found this weekend online. It's an unfolding story with the lawsuit brought by Deborah Mayer set to go to trial next month. Here's the gist of her story.

In January of 2003, before the war in Iraq began, Deborah Mayer, a public school teacher in Bloomington, Indiana, said to her class that she thought peace was an option to war and that we should seek out peaceful solutions to problems before going to war.

Angry parents objected to Mayer's statement and accused her of being unpatriotic and anti-Bush. They insisted that she not mention peace in her class again and that she be terminated. Peace Month, a traditional time for teaching students about civil rights and peaceful mediation, was canceled.

Mayer, who had until then been acclaimed an exemplary teacher, and who had recently earned her administration credentials, was terminated.

Since that time, Mayer has lost not only her job, but her career, her health insurance, her home, her life savings, and her independence. She cannot get another job. She now resides with her son who is a doctor in Madison, Wisconsin.

In 2004, Mayer, through her attorney, Michael Schultz, filed suit against Monroe County Community School Corporation et al, for violation of her First Amendment right of free speech, (Cause No: 1:04-CV-1695 B/S). The school corporation contends that Mayer's speech was not protected because THE WAR IN IRAQ IS NOT A MATTER OF PUBLIC CONCERN. Unbelievable! Source: Share the Sacrifice

Further details available on "Teacher awaits day in court".

Sunday morning, comin' down

How high's the water mamma?

Perhaps you saw the news that Greenland's glaciers are melting twice as fast as previously thought. If all the ice there were to melt and run into the sea, the Earth's oceans would rise 21 feet. The elevation of our nation's capital stands at 25 feet.

If your first reaction is like mine, "Shit!" relax. Antarctica's ice is also melting faster and faster and that will inevitably contribute to the rising waters. Alarming as the meltdown is, I don't know it will be fast enough to save the Earth from the destructive forces now being unleashed in Washington.


Sinking feelings.

Our Secretary of State, Chevron Oil Tanker Rice, assured us this past week conditions in war-torn Iraq are improving. This was in response to a few senators expressing their frustration at the billions of dollars given the administration to repair Iraqi infrastructure which continues to deteriorate in the post-Saddam era.

A couple of examples cited by ABC World News:

Hours per day of Sadam electricity in Baghdad: 16
Hours per day of Bush electricity: 4

The total Iraqi demand for electricity stands at 7,000 megawatts.

Total Saddam electricity generated = 4,500 megawatts.
Total Bush electricity generated = 3,995 megawatts.

Well, in the masculine dominated world of testosterone and its resultant machismo, if there's any correlation between sexual prowess and dominance, it's obvious from these stats that in Iraq, Bush isn't the man his predecessor, Saddam, was.

However, in fairness to Bush, it should be noted Saddam gave of his electricity freely, it was "a virtual state gift" as ABC noted. Bush, however, charges for his. This makes meeting increased demand with Bush's diminished ability to supply it even more difficult because Iraqis still operate under the old paradigm of free electricy with little incentive to conserve.

And our shaky voiced Chevron Oil Tanker assured senators, what the above statistics don't reflect is the fact Bush has actually increased power generating capacity. This seems to contradict ABC's figures showing an actual decline. But giving her the benefit of the doubt, The Oil Tanker said:

"I think this may be an issue of whether we are talking about delivery or capacity."

As with electricity, the same holds true for water and sewage. Bush has increased clean water capacity for several million Iraqis Oil Tanker said, he just can't deliver it to 'em. This confirmed reports Iraqis must rely on a lack of adequate sewage disposal and unsafe drinking water, as she drenched her parched throat with a bottle of Yuzu Perrier.

Here I'm thinking maybe if we put the Iraqi situation in proper context, we'd better understand. If we were to look at Bush domestic policies, it's easy to draw comparisons to the plight of Iraqis. If we just apply the discussion of Iraq's energy, safe water, and sewage to Bush America's wealth, growth and prosperity, we can use The Oil Tanker's words here as well:

"I think this may be an issue of whether we are talking about delivery or capacity." See, Tanker Rice could just as well be talking about the economic health of Bush's America. There's no question, under Bush, the wealth of the nation has increased, i.e., it's capacity is greater for a few, he just can't deliver it to the many. If anything, under Bush, while there's more of it, there's less to go around, just like Iraq. Makes sense to me!

Is it just me....

....or is anyone else bothered by The Chevron Oil Tanker's shaky voice when, in testimony before senators, she serves up stats that seem to contradict ABC's? That when calling for democracy in Iran by requesting congress give her the money to achieve it (ignore Iranians had an election just last summer, ok?) or, upset with the democratically elected Hamas, she suggests foreign governments cut Hamas aid, that her voice is quivery?

I know I'm being petty. I shouldn't pick on how the Tanker's apparent discomfort manifests itself as a nervousness tic when speaking publicly. But I can't help seeing it as inner self- awareness of her apparent hypocrisy. Of her outright lying.

It's just how I interpret Rice's demeanor from my extensive background in pyschology, which came in a junior college "Psych 1A" class many years ago. But I can't help daydreaming of The Chevron Oil Tanker being hooked up to a lie detector as she speaks before Americans, the congress or world leaders. I wonder if its jumping needle would generate more electricity than the lie detector uses?

If Bush were only a democrat. All our troubles would be over!

So, I'm feeling sooo much better since the president said he accepts Cheney's explanation of what happened this past weekend while hunting birds. (I'm wondering....it must be a bitch eathing those little bastards after you shoot 'em, having to pick out all that shotgun buckshot at the table and discreetly and politely spit them into your dinner napkin unnoticed by other guests, whether it be lodged in the wing of a quail or the heart of that "friend" you shot on Saturday. And that's not to mention the risk to your dentures!)

That aside, my wife and I kinda exchanged dumbfounded looks at Bush's pronouncement of approval, like, "It's important your 'king' approve." At least that's how I interpreted the glances we threw at one another. (From history, we KNOW the consequences if his 'highness' doesn't approve! Which causes me to pause and ponder, where in the hell is this country keeping all our "freedom" guillotines hidden?)

Then there was the story of a new National Security Agency whistleblower on the scene who warns us the current story of spying on Americans may be peanuts compared to this newest program leaked by him that may have compromised the privacy rights of millions Americans!

Speaking of which, you gotta love the story of the Senate intelligence committee investigating the administration's violations of privacy rights by the Executive Branch saying to our dear senators something like, "We'd love to reveal our Bill of Rights intelligence transgressions to your committee that has oversight responsibilities for what we do but, unfortunately, 'You don't have the clearance high enough to know that!' " In other words, the overseers do NOT have the right to know! (Note to congress: Get a clue, take a hint, buy a vowel! Can you deductively reason the implications of that as it applies to the state of the nation?)

Then followed the story that the administration's request for MORE billions for the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan just aren't enough. They've had to jack it up. An angry, wimpering senator or congressman said (honestly, I don't remember which--I was sooo busy wiping the foam from the corners of my mouth), "We ought to have the right to know how or when the administration expects these wars will end," to which Dada says, "Tough shit. You ceded the power, you have no rights, congressional "overseers"!)

This was followed this evening by a story on that "Communist network," you know--NPR-- prefaced by a Disraeli (or Mark Twain, or Jack Abramoff) quote, "There are three kinds of lies: lies , damn lies, and statistics." It featured a question and answer moment about the improving condition of water and sewage in post-war Iraq compared with pre-war Iraq (under control of another despot). It took place between North Dakota democrat, Kent Conrad, and our Secretary of State and former Chevron Oil Tanker, Condoleezza Rice. It was a brief, delicious exchange with our 'Oil Tanker' relying heavily on the third kind of lie, statistics. Very funny (i.e., if by "funny" you're substituting "depressing" as I so often must these days.) It's here.

So, where's 'just another typical day of news' leave us? If it leaves you like it leaves me, each night before you retire, you're bedside as you hear yourself praying in your 'jammies' on your knees just before climbing into bed, pleading, "Please God, let Bush and Cheney turn Democrat."

That's because--by latest count--Bush has committed 15 or 16 impeachable offenses according to Google search results. That means Cheney has committed at least 17 or 18 impeachable offenses. And, as we all know, if they were Democrats, that would mean they would have been impeached 21 or 22 times, and--in Cheney's case--23 or 24 times by now in our Republican controlled senate!

Of course, that's not to be, but I keep praying. In the meantime, my Republican friends who have long since fallen by the wayside, are probably sealing the cotton in their ears with plaster of Paris and tightening their blinders. That would be because they are traitorous, dumb 'sumbitches' with unlimited capacity to endorse the total destruction of the republic in the name of their king, George, and their particular God--whichever one they worship--who dictates that diplomacy is better served by strength--the strength of bombs--than discussion, empathy, and compromise.

And, truth be known, I'm getting pretty sick of the whole damn lot of these sanctimonious bastards.

"God bless America and goodnight you treasonous self-serving sicko fanatical Christian 'mothers'!"

Just your daily outrages

Salon has published the latest photos aired by Australian television showing more graphic images of our treatment of detainees in Iraq by our military. (Click here to view images ). Some of the photographs were withheld by the station, being considered too extreme for public viewing.

A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said the release of the images “could only further inflame and possibly incite unnecessary violence in the world and would endanger our military men and women that are serving in places around the world.”

No shit, Dick Tracy! Wouldn't it have been nice if the Pentagon and Bush had thought about that before all the torture and humiliation they inflicted on the Iraqi prisoners? If they were so concerned for the safety of our soldiers, seems like they would have thought of that beforehand.

Trigger happy Dick!

Well, tsk, tsk, isn't it great to see the mainstream media doing a wonderful job again? I'm talking about their endless fascination with Dick Cheney's hunting prowess that seems to pretty much reflect his M.O. in Iraq. "Just drop the fuckin' bombs, you're bound to kill something."

That's the beauty of a 24 gauge shotgun that splatters buckshot across the landscape. You don't have to be a marksman. Just pull the trigger and you're likely to hit something (or someone), even if you don't kill it (or him).

You gotta sure wonder what the hell is in it for Scott McClellan to go out there, day after day, and face the myopic MSM grillings. It's not that he's even proficient at spin and stonewalling. But he's sure getting practice squirming.

By day's end, I was extremely fatigued by the whole subject. But the administration's handling of Cheney's weekend adventure is much to blame for all the wild speculation that arose yesterday. And, in typical fashion of non-accountability, you have to love the way local law enforcement didn't even bother to investigate the incident right away--as they would have, had you or I pulled that shotgun trigger. Everybody knew it was an accident, the local sheriff said, as they went out the next day to take a look around.

Nor did the White House see it as anything particularly newsworthy. This also fits into typical White House M.O. Ignore it, maybe it'll go unnoticed, go away. Or when the shit finally hits the fan, it's impact will be diminished by time. And besides, waiting for 24 hours as they did, they'll avoid all those Sunday morning "Meet the Press" shows.

But as a result of the WH's complicit silence, there arose all kinds of wild speculation. Cheney had been drinking, he was drunker than a titmouse fallen in a vat of witches' brew. Cheney was angered at something Harry Whittington had said. Maybe Whittington was jumping all over the VP for his misguided misadventurism some of the speculations went. Cheney, in a moment of anger, shot the bastard, but kinda missed. (Or maybe it was just intended as a "warning" to Mr. Whittington.) Jesus, if the White House had only been more forthcoming, maybe all the wild talk of what really happened would never have arisen.

But the White House wasn't forthcoming. They stonewalled so the media ran with it, wondering what they were trying to hide. So we're left to suffer on with this, while the real crimes of Cheney are laid aside.

But the facts in review: Dick Cheney shot someone. As gun enthusiast, a long standing member of the National Rifle Association and well versed in gun safety, it was"obviously an accident". Authorities were slow to investigate. This was in Texas.

I wonder, what if something really bad were to happen to Cheney's victim, Harry Whittington? Say he were to die as a result of too much buckshot to the heart. Would Cheney be made to face manslaughter charges like you or I at least? And if filed, wouldn't it be ironic a war criminal responsible for the intentional deaths of tens of thousands of innocent folks and the torture of thousands more goes unpunished while he'd be charged for a hunting accident that unintentionally killed someone? Irony indeed! That'd be one weird freakin' Universe, wouldn't it?

Just drop the fuckin' bombs, you're bound to kill somebody.
Just pull the fuckin' trigger, you're bound to hit something.

Of slime mold and terrorism

Today I'd just like to mention the curious phenomenon of slime mold. I don't remember when I first learned of slime mold. If it was in one of my few biology classes (which I avoided like the plague) or an upper level political science course entitled, "The Legislature" (another discipline I tried desperately to eschew).

But I'd thought I'd try to make an analogy between slime mold and members of our congress. While I realize it's a weak one, I think enough similarity exists to draw a comparison.

You see, slime mold is an amoeba-like cell, a fungus actually, much like our congressional representatives. Okay, so far so good. Each amoeboid organism acts as an individual. So do our members of congress, i.e., they stand up on the floor of the senate or house and make speeches, they go home to their constituents when campaigning and tell them what good things they've done for 'em, what good things they're gonna do for them (or do to them?) if the people will just re-elect them for another term.

Slime mold grows on various forms of decaying vegetation and dung. Here, I'm not sure how valid my comparison is, because in congress some of our representatives are vegetation, i.e., they don't do much, mostly have it done to them, while many more are dung, meaning they're so seeped in corruption they smell like it. (Why does Bill Frist come immediately to mind when mentioning this latter category?)

I admit, my analogy seems weak here, but maybe to quote an old saw, if, "You are what you eat," the analogy still holds?

Yet, that still doesn't quite get it, because in the special interest infested hallways of congress its debatable whether it's our reps or their lobbyist chums who are feasting off the other. It's probably both, i.e., a symbiosis wherein each benefit tremendously by sleeping with the other. But that's another loose analogy I drew here some months ago which was refuted by one commenter. In fairness, however, when reading a Dada analogy, one shouldn't apply strictest definitions. Allow me some slack. In the case of today's analogy, allow me lot's of slack.

Okay, so far so good. Slime mold and congressmen exist as individuals. Slime feeds off vegetables and dung, our representatives are vegetables or dung.

But here's where it gets interesting and, most probably, where the entire analogy breaks down.

Originally it was believed each amebalike slime mold cell existed solely as a solitary organism (which it does most of the time). But under adverse conditions, slime molds come together to form what is called a plasmodium. That's a larger body that acts in harmony to better themselves by acting collectively much as an individual would and then moving on to a environment where they may become separate organisms again.

So at the risk of invalidating this entire exercise, let me give an example. How many times have you gone to bed at night thinking you've heard all the bad news the day had to offer only to awaken the next day...or find out the next week or a month or two later, that as you slept that night, something else bad happened? And learning of what went on as you slept, you become angry or worse, sullied. You feel defiled. Well, that's because you were slimed as you slept.

Such is the case now coming to light of an incident involving the congressional leadership of senate majority leader, Bill Frist and speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert, in the middle of the night last December. Around midnight as congress was rushing to wrap up business just before their "holiday" break, these slime mold along with a few others, came together and convinced committee members to sign the defense appropriations bill which many signatories later learned contained protections for the pharmaceutical industry against lawsuits that might arise from bad vaccines.

It was all engineered by this republican plasmodium of slime mold in a backroom after senator Ted Stevens (R. Alaska) assured curious members there was no such provision in the bill. He was either lying at that point, i.e., the bill did in fact contain such a provision, or the provision was inserted after it was approved by committee members.

Whichever happened, when the bill emerged at 5:04 the next morning it contained the pharmaceutical protections committee members were assured earlier it didn't. If it was added after committee signed off on the bill, well, that's like altering a $5 check to read $105. It's not illegal apparently in congress, but know that as you were sleeping that night, fungi came together and screwed you. Again!

Okay, okay, the my whole freakin' analogy is breaking down. Maybe I just like applying the term "slime mold" to Frist, Hastert, Stevens and a few other honorable leaders in congress who acted, as we slept, yet again, for the monied interests of the pharmas at the expense of our own. There's something about a public sleeping that just emboldens government thugs to steal a little more from you, I guess. Maybe they think they won't get caught or, by the time in makes the news of the mainstream media, it'll be old news buried on page 17. You won't notice. Hell, MSM most often chooses to not even mention it.

Ah, but so it goes. And as we know, slime mold isn't unique to just congress. The White House is its own permanent plasmodium. And there's supreme court, another colony of slime.

But there's a much bigger implication here. While half of we Americans are kept trembling in our boots daily by an administration warning of the next attack against us from outside the country by bin Laden or Iran, we're facing a far graver terrorism. That's because we're being attacked by our very own government representatives working from within, financed by monied interests buying our government rather than voting for it like the rest of us. And, trust me, in this society, votes are no match for money. Just ask Bush, Cheney, Frist, DeLay and the other members of these slime colonies.

Oh sure, we currently have some in congress outraged. They're in a hissy fit at the administration's illegal spying on Americans. I wouldn't get too excited over their defense of our dwindling "rights". Their other hand is busy with their K-Street cronies, stealing us blind. America's social, political and economic securities are being plundered more every day by the creeping terrorism from within our own government!

So besides the terror of the 9/11 attacks, there was another terror later revealed--an air defense system that was in "stand-down" as Americans were being slaughtered. And as people in New Orleans stood atop the flooded out buildings beneath them with little or no food and water, another unbelievable tragedy unfolded as day after day went by and no help came. And the nation and the world watched in horror.

The list is endless as terrors embed themselves deeply into the psyches of us all. Just ask the asthmatic struggling to breathe thanks to a governmnment that's added 225% more sulfur dioxide, 450,000 tons more nitrogen oxide, or 9.5 more tons of mercury to our "Clear Skies". There's little more terrorizing than smothering alive.

Listening to Bush's buddy, Kenny Boy! (Lay's) Enron tapes of energy manipulators "fucking grandma" as they plundered her meager life's savings had to instill an uneasiness in us all. Our government was behind this in their deregulation of the industry.

Or how about record profits of the oil companies led by CEO's who won't even appear before congress to answer queries on price gouging. The same congress who in the recent past gave them billions of dollars in tax cuts. Does that not unsettled you? It should.

Or our health care? It's being stripped away by higher costs, shrinking benefits and fewer and fewer employers providing it. Terrifying.

Just today came a story of Senator Trent Lott having difficulty collecting insurance on the post-Katrina total loss of his home. Lott is suing his insurer because he's not being reimbursed as he feels he should be.

"Welcome to America, Senator Lott." An angry Lott threatened saying, "There'll be hell to pay!" if he doesn't collect for his losses. At least one has to enjoy the irony of it all; of Lott experiencing a bit of Americana while we wonder how many dollars insurance industry lobbyists have stuffed in his back pockets over the years. Perhaps from this experience, the slime mold will look into the insurance industry? Don't count on it.

And don't look for protection from creditors if you fall on hard times and declare yourself bankrupt. Our congress, working with the banking and credit industry took care of that.

And it used to be your home could be taken for the good of the public domain. Now it can be taken for the good of the private domain as well! Especially if you live on a site better suited for a strip mall or condos. It can be condemned and taken for developers to build and profit on. And so it goes, on and on. The list is long.

So while wondering when and where the terrorists will strike next, we may do well to remind ourselves they're attacking each and every day right here, right now. Not by middle east extremists but, rather, by American terrorists who inhabit the halls of our government, who form plasmodia with their bribers in the night to steal a little more for us all, facilitating in the process, the destruction of the whole damn country. Now that's real terrorism!

(Apologies to readers for the failed analogy.)

Puppy update

Last Thursday I posted of a new puppy at our neighbor's behind us. With a tub of water and big bowl of dry dog food, we was left to fend for himself. His woeful, lonely cries became an increasing burden on our consciences.

As she does each Friday, my wife departed for the federal courthouse shortly before noon, while I stayed home to play domestic. But before beginning my chores, I had to go out back with a dog cookie and talk to "shorty". At the back wall, I noticed someone else was visiting with him. It was another neighbor consoling him. She said she heard his cries through the night as we experienced our first rainfall in over three months.

I told her these people were the same who had a boxer a couple of years ago. That he had suffered similar neglect--not so much of food and water, but from companionship and love. I and my big boy, "Mister" Cooper (our tallest greyhound, best able to see over the wall), would often visit Boxer.

One day Boxer was gone. We learned several weeks later he'd gone out riding with his people, but the heat of the summer proved to much for him. Sweet Boxer didn't return. He'd died from the heat, from dehydration. But I'm sure up to the point preceding his death he died happy because his parents had taken him for a ride!

Anyway, after I'd finished vacuuming and mopping the floors, my wife returned from the peace vigil. As I pushed back in the recliner in sheer exhaustion, I was lullabied to sleep by the serenade of the puppy's moans out back. When I awoke about an hour later, I learned of my wife's little excursion. She'd walked around the block to the house behind us and very nicely made known to Mrs. Neighbor her concern for the new puppy.

It was to get below freezing Friday night, and it was her worry the pup would be left outside again. Mrs. Neighbor assured my wife he wouldn't be. He'd be allowed in the garage. And while the visit went well, I told my wife it wasn't a stretch to imagine our neighbor saying under her breath as she closed the door as wife departed, "Bitch!"

But aside from trying to help that dog, we learned something and it was very good news. The neighbors were only keeping that sad little husky for its owner for a week or so. And sure enough, that cold night cries of a lonely canine in the night were muffled behind a closed garage doors. And in another day or two, the puppy was gone. Hopefully back to someone who better appreciates and provides for the needs of a dog--the close companionship of a loving family.

Photos schmotos!

The photo flap:

Dada at a White House reception with president Bush, 2003.

(He's the one standing under the arrow.)

I think we need to cut the president some slack over this Abramoff photo flap. We all know there's no one who loves a good schmoozy photo-op more than Bush. Be it standing atop the rubbled graves of 3,000 World Trade Center victims with his arm around a fireman, landing his jet on a carrier deck to proclaim to the world our Iraq "mission accomplished," or hugging an African American girl amid the post Katrina ruins of Alabama, Bush is the King of Schmooz. But to appear in the same photo, not once but at least five times, with a sleezy, well known corruption boss like Jack Abramoff, it's easy to see why Bush may wish to distance himself. (Is it just me, or do so many of these golden photo-ops eventually turn out to be burs under the president's saddle he wished he'd never have let Rove talk him into? )

Well, with the release of one of the much poo-poohed White House photographs today, I realized this is the same reception I attended back in 2003. And from that experience, and armed with this great pic of me with the president, it would be easy for me to claim that he and I are great buddies too. To exaggerate a bit and say I've met with Bush on a number of occasions and we talked about the kids; that Bush even invited me down to his Crawford ranch, or I'd given him a $100,000 for his campaign. But that wouldn't be true.

So maybe, just maybe, we should lay off Bush here because in fact, the sad truth is, Bush didn't even get over to shake my hand. That's because when I removed my sport jacket, revealing my T-shirt with a bold lettered "BUSH" inscribed across the chest with a big screw through it, I was quickly and quietly removed from the room by two secret service agents. (Geez, it was just a joke!)

So Abramoff may claim he's friends with Bush, but the president may actually be telling the truth. He really might not even remember Abramoff at all. In fact, if we could ask him--even though I never did get to really meet Bush--I'm sure he'd probably remember me better than Jack Abramoff because of the t-shirt he saw me wearing as I was leaving.

Taking the weekend off, yet unable to escape

All day today, I've been trying to complete another blog entry. Now, way past sunset it's still not done. I suspect I'm struggling because I sense it's more of the same ol' harping so characteristic of this website.

So I thought I'd try something a little lighter with this. And I was off to a good start when CBS's "60 Minutes" came on and distracted me once more. It was about the missing billions in Iraq. Another segment about the returning GI's terribly wounded in Iraq. I won't comment herein of the mixed emotions I experienced watching those. So now I'll resume my "blog-lite" effort, praying to close the day with some minimal success of my intentions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So yesterday, being a beautiful winter day here in the Southwest, I thought my wife and I would take a drive into southern New Mexico. With our government off for the weekend and vice president Cheney here, in Texas, hunting and shooting at anything that moved, it seemed like even more reason to leave the state.

In ways I haven't even connected in my mind yet, our 40 mile jaunt up to Las Cruces, NM seemed driven by cosmic forces over which we had no control. "We'll look at hybrid cars while there," I said to my wife as if I needed justification beyond procuring a 'growler' of beer from the excellent brewpub there.

At a subconscious level, I suspect president Bush chiding us, "We're addicted to oil," may have had something to do with us looking at vehicles with 76 horsepower, in total opposition to the advertising trend for cars with more and more horses under their hoods with less and less oil to drive them.

After talking to our first seemingly clueless salesman, who knew far less than I had gleaned about his vehicles from the internet, my wife and I returned to a restaurant parking lot we had passed on the way to that Toyota dealer.

Apparently, a local British sports car club was lunching at a local diner. While they nourished themselves much as my wife and I, they definitely conveyed themselves far differently as evidenced by their vehicles they left in the parking lot. As a result, I have chosen to impart here, a couple of the impressive vehicles we saw during our excursion.

Well, we're obviously having cable connection problems. Unable to upload more pictures, I guess I'll just finish this entry w/o them. After looking at a parking lot of old Jags, MG's and Austin Healeys, we returned to another car lot. To a Honda dealer. This time we were greeted by a young salesman to whom we took a real liking. As we learned during our stay there, he had recently returned from Iraq, from Al Anbar province close to the Syrian border.

This further contributed to the thought that none of this trip was really a weekend escape from the politics and issues of the day. After test driving a compact Honda and some discussion of the politics of the war, we bade our salesman farewell. He had confided his reserve unit is scheduled to reactivate much later this year for redeployment once more to Iraq. We wished him well, saying we hoped--should we decide to trade vehicles--he'd be here when we did. He thanked us, assuring us he hopes the same.

Off we went to the brewpub for lunch. On the way out, we ordered a 1/2 gallon of Octoberfest Ale and, being mid-February, we nervously drove home hoping we wouldn't be stopped by the authorities for possessing beer out of season. But hey, unlike Cheney, this day we hadn't shot anybody. But somewhat sympathetic for the vice president, we hoped whoever he shot wasn't out of season.

Rage that made me laugh!

In the comments section of yesterday's blog here, is a very funny explanation of how the Bush administration is bankrupting one parent. I literally laughed aloud reading it (something I rarely do these days). But be forewarned, it contains adult material. Anyone easily offended, should forgo this quirky, laughable diversion and just continue furrowing their foreheads and cursing.

"Terror!" There I've said it again.

Okay, so I dropped by rkrider's blog over at pa04blue for a few minutes this afternoon. Here's what he had to say:

I was listening to Randi Rhodes on the way home from work and she said that Bush used the word terror, terrorist, or terrorism 97 times in his brilliant speech today, I thought she was kidding! So I went here to see for myself and sure enough she wasn't kidding. Use control f, type in terror, and click on highlight, when all the instances of terror are highlighted, it looks like a Christmas tree! When all else fails.....scare 'em into submission. (I am so sick of these people)

Thanks, rk. The link took me to the White House where Bush's speech to some National Guardsmen was posted. And I followed rk's instructions. Sure enough, Bush's speech contained almost 100 references to terror.

It's a fine example of what Bush meant when he said, "in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again....to kind of catapult the propaganda."

Spirit of '76

Maybe it's just another one of those lousy polls with biased questions presented by pollers to gullible-assed pollees. Or maybe Bush's PR tour of America is convincing the sheeple it's just fine for Bush to rummage through the drawers of your private and personal habits and matters without your permission. For him to spy on you without the formality required of him under law and the U.S. Constitution because they're so freakin' scared of terrorists, but fearless at the loss of their libertés.

I'm referring to the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll on public attitudes about Bush's illegal eavesdropping. And lest anyone get hissy about me calling it illegal, sorry--get over it, that's what it is.

Regardless, AP reports "Bush's case has been successful with core supporters, including Republicans, White evangelicals and suburban men. Support in each category grew more than 10 percentage points in the past month," pointing out the latest poll indicates disapproval of Bush's spying has dropped from 56 percent to just 50 percent.

Dada wonders whatever happened to the "Spirit of '76" when angry citizens overthrew another King George because of his excesses of power? Where have all the patriots gone? What about it, you Republicans, White evangelicals and suburban men? If you keep this up, you may want to be careful to avoid folks other than Republicans, secular folks of color and, for heaven's sake don't go downtown. You might encounter urban men who still hold to the tenets this nation was founded for.

What has happened to you who have jumped on the illegitimacy of the president in this latest poll? Have you become too comfortable with your nineteen pairs of shoes when you have only two feet? Is your beard so tough your razor needs five blades to cut it when one does just fine? Does your electric shaver have fifteen different settings when you only have one face? We know how you cater to different parts of your body and take pride in the comforts you provide them. But Dada would just remind those busy covering their asses and their collective conscience to not neglect their balls. It appears they're losing 'em!

A Farewell to "Brownie"

Up, up and away!

Last night during Keith Olbermann's Countdown on MSNBC, he mentioned former FEMA director, Michael Brown, would be testifying before the senate today as part of its investigation into the administration's Katrina response.

Brown may be weary from being the poster child of that post-hurricane disaster. As ABC News reported Brown "signaled earlier this week that he was prepared to discuss his storm communications with President Bush and other top White House officials-- a possible signal that his testimony would assign blame elsewhere.

"The White House has barred some top advisers and staffers from answering Senate investigators' questions about the administration's response, saying that certain discussions and documents must remain confidential. But Brown, who quit FEMA shortly after the storm and left the federal payroll Nov. 2, is no longer covered by that confidentiality protection."

I seriously doubt Brown is holding information that could be damaging to the president and his White House because it was just a week ago last Tuesday Bush reminded Americans in his state of the union address:

"A hopeful society expects elected officials to uphold the public trust.... to strengthen the ethical standards of Washington -- I support your efforts. Each of us has made a pledge to be worthy of public responsibility -- and that is a pledge we must never forget, never dismiss, and never betray."

I'm sure if Bush had any more information damaging to him and the White House, we would already know it. After all, he promised us he would investigate himself and his administration. He would get to the bottom of things. Reveal all the White House's disastrous disaster failings.

And we have Bush's assurances, as reiterated in his SOTU address, to never betray the public trust, so I'm sure Bush has been working long and hard to discover where Bush went wrong. With that, I'm not even sure why the senate is wasting their time or our taxpayer's money. Bush promised us he would tell us.

Never the less, just in case Michael Brown should decide to go forward with his testimony before the senate today revealing information in his communications with the White House during Katrina, he may want to remember Richard Clark, Paul O'Neill, Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson, Senator McCain and a long list of others. "Betrayal" of the White House begets betrayal from the White House.

Be prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of further discreditating by the administration. Oh, don't worry Brownie about your FEMA response to Katrina. America already knows how unqualified you were to run the nation's top emergency relief agency, so I doubt some new Bush revelation of your incompetency can harm you.

But think about deeper revelations of your personal life. Ask John McCain or Scott Ritter. And for Pete's sake, stay away from airports, but if you find yourself in one, never, ever permit yourself to be whisked away by a couple of unidentified strangers in dark suits to an small unmarked jet on the tarmac. Some of those are known to make regular runs to third world countries.

Another canine tragedy.

It's 6:30 a.m. and the predominating silence of the night has once more been shattered by the early morn's mournful cries of the neighbor's new puppy. At this moment it's a mild 46 degrees outside, well above freezing, but for the puppy in its first night at its new home, it's frigidly lonely.

After joining my wife in the backyard late last night as she introduced me to the newest member of the neighborhood, I retired. Trying to ignore the pitiful wailings from next door, I finally fell asleep.

But sleep didn't come as easily for my wife. She, too, had retired but apparently was unable to shut out the crying puppy. A bit later when turning over, I noticed her absence. As I lie there listening for her, the puppy's sobs once more permeated my conscience.

And then a funny thing happened. The puppy's crying suddenly gave way to puppy yelps and pleas and I knew where my wife had gone--back to the backyard! I'm not sure whether my wife's presence alleviated, for the moment, that dog's loneliness or exacerbated it.

But if there's one thing we both know, it's that dogs are pack animals. Attachment and loyalty to their family are primo priorities and we know how that puppy was suffering desperately all through the night at its imposed isolation from all creatures of which its only desperate need was
to love just one. That's all. But that was not to be. What a sad welcoming to that dog's new life.

We often think people should not be able to just go out on whim and plunk down a few bucks for a pet, especially a dog, without the awareness of what dogs are and why they are here. They are sentient creatures with the most important missions on Earth. Their very essence necessitates companionship of another creature to love. They are mankind's gift serving to remind of the better world it could be if only we could emulate dog's ability to love. Sadly, many people like our neighbors aren't getting the message. Despite all of "puppy's" pleas. Obviously not up to the companionship they chose to ignore all night, maybe today they can return their "merchandise"; maybe get a refund.

That poor president Bush.

I just caught a bit of Wolf Blitzer this afternoon. Only a minute or two before lunging for the remote. Apparently the chickenshithawk conservatives, those infecting the nation's airwaves are furious at the recurring undercurrent of themes at yesterday's Coretta S. King funeral they deemed way out-of-bounds. I'm speaking of Limbuagh, Hannity, and Matt Drudge.

And then CNN commentator Jeff Greenfield came on also hinting the speeches and eulogy delivered at King's memorial service were inappropriate. After all, Bush had to change his schedule to attend. And Bush did go.

Never mind Coretta King was monumental in the civil rights movement and for Bush NOT to have gone would have been akin to political self-mutilation. So enough pity for the poor bastard, he was there serving his own political interests trying to appear interested despite camera shots at times where he appeared bored and twitchy.

You gotta laugh at the following poll question taken from the Drudge Report website:

Do you think it's appropriate for failed politicians (for example, ex-President Carter) and others to personally attack President Bush, in person, at events in memory of others, such as what happened at Coretta Scott King's funeral on Tuesday, February 7th?

Yes, funerals and memorial services are the best places to attack the President.
3%
The attacks were fair, but maybe not at a memorial service.
2%
The attacks were fair, but definitely shouldn't have been made at a memorial service.
2%
The attacks were unfair, but it's okay to do this at a memorial service.
0%
The attacks were unfair, and it's not okay to do this at a memorial service.
4%
The President's opponents have no sense of decency and it is never okay to attack at a memorial service.
90%

As to questioning the appropriateness of many remarks made by Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery, Maya Angelou, President Jimmy Carter, daughter, Bernice King and others that may have made Bush uncomfortable, tough! This was a service in the memory of Coretta Scott King and her tireless efforts as advocate for equal rights, civil rights, peace, the oppressed and the poor.

As to the inappropriateness mainstream media hints of where Bush heard intimations against his policies, I ask, "When or where in the hell is Bush ever going hear them if he only appears before pre-screened audiences, where someone with an opposing view or "inappropriate" T-shirt is removed from his audience lest he see them or worse yet, hear a dissenting remark before they are carted off to jail. When demonstrators are confined to "free speech zones" out of his sight. Maybe if the president could entertain ideas of others different from his own, he might have been more comfortable.

But for a brief time yesterday Bush had to hear a different truth. A truth based in reality from more rational minds. Pity. And if the accolades heaped on a great American were taken personally against his policies, tsk. tsk.

Maybe we should give the president a Medal of Honor for the courage he demonstrated by showing up. Oh, and while awarding medals, because of the wounds he suffered from all the slings and arrows, maybe we should throw in a few purple hearts as well. He should appreciate that. He's so good at creating recipients for 'em.

*********************
From Coretta Scott King's memorial service yesterday, a couple of samples:

"We only have to recall the colour of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, those who were most devastated by Katrina, to know that there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans."

Noting that the Kings' work was "not appreciated even at the highest level of the government", Mr Carter said: "It was difficult for them personally - with the civil liberties of both husband and wife violated as they became the target of secret government wiretapping, other surveillance, and as you know, harassment from the FBI." Jimmy Carter

"She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar," he said. "We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew and we knew that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor." Rev. Joseph Lowry

GOP - America's permanent ruling party.

FOR SALE by owner: All electronic touch screen voting machines must go! Used in only one major election. Actual usage may vary widely per machine.* Most red machines come complete with booth and privacy curtain. Blue machines w/o. To be sold on first come basis. Machines will be sold without orig. vendor's proprietary software due to minor glitches. NOTE: Software exceptions and quantity discounts available to bidders from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, Haitii, etc. To see if you qualify, please contact Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell.

(*Example: Some red machines such as the four used in New Life Church recorded an avg. of 159 votes per machine, but tallied 4,258 votes for George Bush. Votes counted is not representive of actual useage.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I confess to composing the above with some fact, some fancy. It's based the story of the state of Ohio as presented over on Common Dreams. In brief, Ohio's House Bill 3 which just passed will effectively:

- demand the use of discriminatory voter ID

- cripple the possibility of statewide recounts

- end the process of state-based challenges to federal elections---most importantly for president---held within the state.

Here's the real fun part according to Common Dreams:

"Ohio's GOP-controlled legislature's has passed a repressive new law that will gut free elections here and is already surfacing elsewhere around the US. The bill will continue the process of installing the GOP as America's permanent ruling party."

So, while we're supposed to just get out and vote this year and 2008 to turn things around, if what's happening in Ohio and may be coming to a number of other states, what's the use?

As thugs in the white house continue to dismantle the nation, our corrupted congress aids it, and the supreme court abets it, how much longer do we continue to cling to some pipe dream that next election will be different? It only takes an Ohio here, a Florida there, i.e., a few key states to keep the reigning powers gaining strength while losing public support.

That's why I composed the lead-in classified ad for this blog. With politicians effectively closing down all pretensions of democracy in Ohio, how much longer must they continue the charade? Why not just sell the damn voting machines? Tell citizens they no longer need go out to polls to vote, that they can stay home and vote and with the new technologies, their state will just read their minds and tabulate the votes.

Sure that's preposterous, but I'm sure there's a pretty fair chance people will buy it. American's are a pretty tolerant, if not downright gullible bunch. I say that based on the pablum Bush feeds 'em. Obviously he thinks so too. Like his next war he's now selling us. And Americans continue to swallow it. Oh they may not like it, but it's not distasteful enough to 'em to stop taking it. Maybe those who do get mad enough will go to the polls in November. But maybe that won't make any difference.

End of a tradition--I swear!

God bless Amy Goodman for showing extended clips on today's Democracy Now! of the Alberto Gonzales testimony before the senate yesterday regarding the president's unprecedented spying on Americans. It was good to watch senators learn that they--as we, the rest of the freakin' nation--simply don't have the right to know anything about nuthin'.

On more than one occasion, Gonzales leaned on the ruse of bad memory--"I don't remember"--or refused to answer senator's questions because they, as members of the senate judicial committee charged with overseeing the attorney general, simply don't have the right to know about the spying on Americans, or its extent, because it would damage national security or place in jeopardy "presidential privilege".

But obfuscation aside, an interesting anecdote to Gonzales' appearance was the fact his testimony of Bush's illegal spying on us was done without taking an oath to tell the truth. This was permitted by the committee's chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter, not at Gonzales' request (who assured us, oath or no oath, what he would say would be the same...i.e., he didn't need an oath to lie, or not to lie...we can be the judges of which).

As Bush and Cheney had demonstrated when appearing before the congressional commission investigating 9/11, taking an oath swearing to tell the truth isn't really necessary. It does Dada's heart good to see the death of this meaningless act based--Dada assumes--on some Christian tradition in that a bible is sometimes used to scare, shitless, witnesses of purposeful deceit.

Men of "honor" and "faith" have been dishing out lies under oath for years. I give credit to Bush and Cheney, as well as thanks, for the dismantling of that meaningless facade of integrity that so embarrassed former president, Bill Clinton. Christ, we're so beyond the age of honor, chivalry, and knights (with body armor).

Boom goes London; Boom, Paree!

From today's Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman:

"Bush Proposes $27M To Jumpstart New Nuclear Weapons Program"

"On the military front, Bush's budget also calls for $27 million to help jumpstart the country’s first new nuclear weapons program in 20 years. The money will be used to fund a competition between the Los Alamos and the Lawrence Livermore laboratories to find and design a new generation of nuclear bombs to replace the country’s entire nuclear arsenal."

I believe I heard the Bush administration's list of leading contenders to serve as test sites for detonation of this new generation of terrifying weapons. Some of those I remember hearing mentioned were:

- Berkeley, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Santa Cruz, CA
- Portland, ME
- Cambridge, MA
- Boston, MA
- Eugene, OR
- Madison, WI
- Taos, NM

I believe I also heard it said that final announcement of the winner/s would not be released before testing begins.

Amy Goodman went on to quote Linton Brooks, the top U.S. nuclear weapons executive, who said, "We are on the verge of an exciting time."

Dada concludes, "Better nukes? It's what Americans want! Let them have it!"

Greasing America's slide

Anyone else out there gettin' these ominous feelings of déjà vu? I mean, Iran as another Iraq?

From last week's news, it's pretty obvious we're being prepped all over again. Bush & Blair's conspiracy which ramrodded us into war with Iraq was so successful, the administration is greasing us once more. From the strutting of our Secretary of State, the former "Chevron Oil Tanker Condoleezza Rice" of pre-Iraq war "mushroom clouds over America" fame, it must be that time of year again. In a dangerous testosterone rush, she declared, "there's not much to talk about" regarding Iran. Sound familiar?

If the position of Secretary of State demands a person of diplomacy, why didn't Bush appoint one with some? Answer: Because it's not America's place to seek solutions through delicate negotiation, compromise and treaty. No, under Bush treaties are for the weak. They are to be avoided and violated. Threats and intimidation are the job of Rice.

Bush's diplomacy comes from folks working in places like Alliant Tech Systems' munitions plant in Edina, Minnesota, and other citizens around the nation who earn a decent living and support their kids and families by manufacturing the tools of Bush's delicate art of diplomatic give-and-take that maim and kill other people's kids and families. They make the cluster bombs and depleted uranium tipped shells used to rip nations apart. With our tax dollars.

Never mind that it's the opinion of our National Intelligence Director, John Negroponte,that Iran has no nuclear weapons and has yet to obtain the material to produce them. You are being prepped for war. And if you're as scared as Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld try to keep you, you probably can't wait.

In Bush's State of the Union, he directly addressed the people of Iran by calling them, “a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite that is isolating and repressing its people”. (Bush should know, for he was also describing the state of his own nation.)

Bush went on, “Let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom.” Here, I think Iranians have seen enough images of "free Iraq" under the aegis of American empire to contain their ectasy.

"As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you." (NOTE to Iranians: Translated means - "Holy shit! Be afraid, be very afraid!")

Somehow, having witnessed the Bush administration's modus operandi executed on Iraq, where Sadam did everything Bush wanted but prostrate himself before the Emperor and lick his boots, I have little optimism there's anything Iran can do to avoid Bush's ominous upcoming "diplomatic" efforts.

Also add Rumsfeld's adamant assertion on the state of the U.S. military's strength last week. The example he chose to cite was the way they just marched into and took over Afghanistan and Iraq with no resistance. That was three years ago. And looking at those two nations, I wouldn't exactly call 'em conquered.

Today's military is stretched far beyond its capabilities, can't meet recruitment numbers, causing Rummy to impose a "stop loss" policy denying 50,000 armed forces members their rightful discharges if they so choose. (Gotta just love your American freedom, right troops?) While Rumsfeld may see the cup as half full, it looks three quarters empty to me.

But Rumsfeld's reassurances as to our military preparedness should give us deep insight into his pathological delusions. Greasing Americans for our next war, he's called the Iranian regime the world's leading sponsor of state terrorism. (A title I mistakenly thought the U.S. claimed.) But I'm just wondering how many unfinished wars Rumsfeld thinks we can have ongoing with a military stretched to its breaking point?

Whatever Saddam Hussein was, he wasn't an extremist zealot on the fanatical fringe of dysfunctional human logic like our current megalomaniacal leaders are. And the difference with our upcoming "diplomatic give-and-take negotiations" with Iran will likely turn out radically different than our "cake-walk" over Iraq.

Iran has the benefit of Iraq's experience. From it, they've learned how not to negotiate with Bush. They'll not likely wait for Bush and his this-time-ally, Israel, to steamroll "liberty and democracy" over them like Saddam did. Iran has its own zealous extremist leadership. Bush may find "diplomacy" more challenging with Iran, with the results far less satisfying than the Iraq ecstasy he, Cheney, and their defense minister, Rumsfeld, are now drowning the nation in.

Well, after yesterday's yawner--The Super Bowl--I felt so sedate I decided to call it a night. Cozying into bed early, I discovered I couldn't find my Eleanor H. Porter copy of Pollyanna. No problem. I'd read an article or two I'd downloaded from the web onto my e-book. Unfortunately, the last thing I read was by William S. Lind entitled "The Next Act".

Never being into war gaming, I'm not much for strategies and possible outcomes after their employment, but peeking into the future of possibilities has always been fun to contemplate. This is what Lind delineates in his article. Of what could happen next in our latest lust for war. Of our over-extended, undermanned military in Iraq. Of an antsy Iran anxious to confront its seemingly unavoidable fate. Of Syria, feeling very much the next in line for the Bush regime's delicate diplomacies.

"Beware the Ides of March!" Lind concludes. The possibilities "could give us a whole different situation, one in which our current slow defeat would accelerate sharply." It was an easy leap from this flashpoint of events to imagine World War III. Suddenly, I wasn't sleepy anymore, thinking of old men like Cheney and Rumsfeld with their reckless little fingers on the fate of the world.

I wish I could be more accepting of current conditions like many Americans. But then I remember the admonishments of Paul Craig Roberts in my recent blog, It's What Americans Want, that "half of the US population is incapable of acquiring, processing and understanding information." That "America has become a rogue nation, lying blind, guided only by ignorance and hubris." That a "terrible catastrophe awaits."

Well, despite the increasing number of ill portents out there, there's some comfort in knowing others share in my nightmares, unlike the other half of America living in, what to me is, blissful ignorance. One of whom, no doubt, probably has my missing copy of Eleanor H. Porter's Polyanna.

Imagine...

It's too bad religious fanatics can't have their very own planet in a distant galaxy in a Universe somewhere far, far away. Some place where radical Jews, born again Christian crusaders, and jihadist Muslim extremists could live together and practice their isms of peace and love for one another. Some place where they could blow the shit out of everything and slaughter the hell out of everybody, thus gaining access to eternal bliss in the paradise of their choice.

Perhaps, with those people gone, all that would be left on Earth would be folks more tolerant for others different from themselves. Maybe people wouldn't be so freakin' hell-bent on cramming their views down the throats of others with divergent ideas. Instead of destroying everything and everyone, the planet would be a better place with more real compassion. A place with far greater odds of surviving the self-distructive addictions of mankind.

Maybe without the psycho-fanatics, man wouldn't have any more self-distructive addictions? Maybe life here would become heavenly.

Of course, I'm just kidding. Banish the thought. That's far too simplistic. But unfortunately the fact remains, we do live amidst these extremist bastards who are just dying for heaven while stuck here in this hell created by them for us all. For that I say to them, thanks a hell of a lot!

Hey, oil junkies!

You know I've seen a lot of people walkin' round
With tombstones in their eyes
But the pusher don't care
Aw, if you live or if you die
God damn the Pusher
God damn, hey I say the Pusher
I said God damn, God damn the Pusher man.

~"The Pusher" Steppenwolf

"It's what the people want!"

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. Thomas Jefferson

Okay, okay. For the past four or five years now--on my quasi-flippant side--whenever the right-wing extremists do something outrageous (and believe me their propensity for the offensive or grossly obscene lacks no shortage), I ultimately conclude any rant with, "Oh well, It's what the people want."

I'm pretty sure that's a lie, or I sure as hell hope it is, because it's the tongue -in-cheek bromide I feed myself whenever the bullshit being passed off as truth by Bush is too blatantly flawed for all but the mindlessly gullible.

And what's the harm in a small lie if it helps one endure an outrageous reality? As reminded by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf, "people often tell small lies in little matters".

But as Hitler goes on to say, most of us "would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods." And that's where he and others so emboldened get away with murder. Because as Hitler confided, for the vast majority of people, "It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.”

Knowing this, Hitler concluded "the broad masses of a nation...in the primitive simplicity of their minds more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie."

While I know our president doesn't read, I have to suspect there is someone behind him that is a student of history because it's difficult to imagine Bush being so incredibly original in stating, "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda" which sounds like something brazenly plagarized from Hitler's Nazi Propaganda Minister, J. Goebbels, seventy years earlier who said, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

Most Americans have heard this, but Bush continues to repeat the lies, enabling him to proceed with little impedance from opposition above a whimper. "Oh well, "it's what the people want," I repeat over and over to myself. But I still don't believe it.

I just read an excellent article entitled "Polls Show Many Americans are Simply Dumber Than Bush" by Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration and coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. It was inspired by the results a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll and a New York Times/CBS News poll.

The results of questions put to Americans in both polls seem to "indicate why Bush is getting away with impeachable offenses". Roberts' premise? "Half of the US population is incapable of acquiring, processing and understanding information."

That struck a chord with me because it helps explain the little lie, "It's what Americans want!" I continue to tell myself, but can't really swallow. People are just either too distracted, too impotent to challenge Bush's blatant atocities against truth, or just too damn dumb!

So where lies the solution? I honestly don't know because I've never lived in such radical times. I read/heard some of the anger manifested by the desertion of 19 democrats earlier this week when they joined their republican brothers in voting for cloture on the Alito nomination debate in the senate. Bloggers felt betrayed. Some on Air America ranted and threatened angry reactions come next November's elections.

But please! Historically, are we aware of how rarely a corrupted incumbent firmly attached to the stomach lining of America's gut is dislodged by a challenger? And then we have those questionable and stolen elections by the republican shill's computers with software codes more guarded than internal white house memos and pics. Paperless elections in the U.S. are more corrupted than in many Third World nations.

Is it enough to hope for the change most Americans crave by relying on a broken system? To send a few bucks to the candidate/party of your choice while special interests stuff tens of thousands in their back pockets? To sing to our choirs daily on blogs across the nation? To stand on a corner peacefully voicing one's dissatisfactions? I'm not sure. We've been doing it since Bush assumed his throne. Have things gotten better?

These are not normal times. Pretending changes of depraved leadership will come via corrupted voting machines and the perverted officials who oversee them may not be enough to bring about the change needed. More extraordinary measures may be required in these most extraordinary times.

One thing I know, I'm very sick and tired of being sickened and tired every day by the news coming from my government, of the latest outrage being committed in my and every American's names. Of being terrorized by the threats of bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Hell, the terrorism from without is no match for the terrorism from within under Bush, his republicans and our democrats oppressing Americans by a checkless and unbalanced government.

But most of all, I'm extremely upset at the challenge of my patriotism for questioning policies of this government that lies to Americans, condones illegal war, illegal torture, illegally spies on us and makes secret chummy illegal deals in back rooms or on exclusive golf courses around the world.

I didn't come to this point of my life to have my questioning of this government labeled traitorous by some extremist right-wing hacks dismantling liberties and rights granted under our Constitution. No, if there's to be dissent, it will come from patriots who question the real pigs of glutton slopping at the trough of this nation's wealth and power. It's with those pigs lies the real treason!

As Paul Craig Roberts concludes in his article, "The total lack of rationality and competence in the White House and the inability of half of the US population to acquire and understand information are far larger threats to Americans than terrorism."

"America has become a rogue nation, flying blind, guided only by ignorance and hubris. A terrible catastrophe awaits."

And it is my fear, if we can't restore order in our house from within, it is only a matter of time before someone attempts to "restore it" from without. Ah, but, maybe, just maybe, "That's what Americans want." I would certainly hope not. But to this point all I'm hearing are the rants--much like this--while the fascism continues to creep ever forward.

In the meantime, I would suggest each of us seek new, extraordinary and perhaps drastic ways these drastic times demand if we're to derail this dangerous regime and get our country back on track.

BUSH UNPLUGGED

...and misquoted.

"We found that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state 7,000 miles away could bring murder and destruction..." (Here Bush was speaking for all Iraqis)

"Dictatorships shelter terrorists, and feed resentment and radicalism." (Here, Bush was speaking of America. It was good to hear him admit this of his administration.)

"Far from being a hopeless dream, the advance of freedom is the great story of our time. In 1945, there were about two dozen lonely democracies in the world. Today, there are 122. Well, it used to be 123, but we overthrew Haiti's democratically elected president, Aristide, and replaced him with our puppet. We also overthrew Venuezuela's president which would have made 121, but he outwitted us and returned."(Bush smiles.)

"At the start of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in democratic nations. And we do not forget the other half -- in places like Syria and Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran -- because the demands of justice, and the peace of this world, require their freedom, as well." (Ah, an update on the U.S.'s latest hit list? NOTE to all people in Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korean and Iran. Were I a citizen of one of these nations, I might want to start digging a bomb shelter and stocking it with food. Demolition, death and democracy may be headed for your country!)

"No one can deny the success of freedom, but some men rage and fight against it. And one of the main sources of reaction and opposition is radical Christians-- the perversion by a few of a noble faith into an ideology of terror and death. Terrorists like me are serious about mass murder -- and all of us must take my declared intentions seriously. I seek to impose a heartless system of totalitarian control throughout the United States, and arm ourselves with weapons of mass murder."

"My aim is to seize power in the U.S., and use it as a safe haven to launch attacks against the rest of the world. Lacking the military strength to dominate globally, I have chosen the weapon of fear to at least dominate America...allowing we, the violent, to inherit the Earth."