“McCain, Palin value all life”

Here is a great letter that my brother sent to the editor of his local paper.

I agree with the author of Friday’s letter “McCain, Palin value all life”. I, too, think that their value of life is commendable. In fairness, though, I cannot recall any pro-choice individual espousing the opinion that anyone should be aborted; rather such a decision should be the choice of the individual, not the government. Also in fairness, McCain’s and Palin’s position on the value of life should be more clearly defined.

Not only are neither McCain nor Palin vegetarians, but Palin is an active hunter and as governor has offered incentives for people to kill wolves. This amends the position to the value of all human life. McCain has been a supporter of the Iraq war from the beginning and Palin recently suggested that fighting the Iraq war was doing God’s work. During this war, thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women, and children have been killed. McCain has also rather surprisingly voted consistently against veteran's rights. So the statement needs to be further amended to “McCain and Palin value all American non-military life”.

Further, both Alaska and Arizona have the death penalty. While the Republican leadership, with McCain leading the charge, was all over the hurricane that overlapped their convention, they are nowhere to be seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Neither McCain nor Palin has been known to champion the rights or protection of children in abusive homes.

McCain’s and Palin’s exact position, then, seems to be, “McCain and Palin support all American non-military life, so long as that individual is of voting age and has not been found guilty of a crime and is not threatened by a natural disaster”. Or maybe we can simplify that mouthful and just say that, “McCain and Palin value all American pre-natal life; everyone else is on their own”. It’s beautiful, really.

Bush, McCain, and the rest of the GOP sheep rape and plunder the world.

The sheep go along with mass murder for personal gain, stupidity, or both. The prolife hypocrisy not only supports but perpetuates mass murder of those that have left the comfort of the womb. Pursuit of personal riches has become the norm as democracy has been eroded. Our leaders preach for human rights around the world as they commit the most horrific acts ever.


Where did the oil go?

We invaded Iraq for their wealth of oil. Such a supply should have brought our prices down. How come they have risen more in the last eight years then ever before? We have been told that the oil supply has dwindled so much in the last eight years that now our all mighty leader has lifted sanctions on drilling in our off-shore wild life sanctuaries. Might it have anything to do with oil companies running our government? Remember when the idea of the democratic government was to look out for the citizens? Yeah, I barely remember either. The evolution of the free market society continues to merge the private and public sectors into one beast. It was the natural course. It had to happen this way. The goal of the corporation is to make money. Corporate boards must make decisions to maximize revenues. Nothing else matters. So, the oil companies continue to report record profits every quarter while our economy drowns. We were bamboozled into going to war with Iraq and now they are doing it to us again by proposing to rape our sovereign lands. What will the collateral damage be? Who benefits from such actions? How long will the benefits last? Will the pros even come close to the cons? How can people believe McCain’s energy policy intentions?

Why do the poor and uneducated support Clinton over Obama?

The data strongly suggests that the less money and education you have the stronger is the likelihood of a vote for Clinton. Political scientists and sociologists alike will examine this phenomena for years to come, but on the morning of the Kentucky and Oregon primaries, I thought a brief bit of anecdotal observation might be appropriate.

First off, a lower level of education and income must be understood in their proper context, as we eliminate black voters from that metric. Your income and education level will help predict your voting behavior only if you are white. For whites, these are the most important variables amongst the poor and uneducated. If you are poor, uneducated, and black, then your race becomes a greater indicator than your the other two variables.

So why does this matter? It matters because poor and uneducated white people are going to deliver big for Clinton. Race does play a part, but it might (and I stress the word might) not be as fundamental a source of causation than one might think. It is my opinion (or guess) that race is playing a larger role for black voters than it is for white white voters.* It is possible that the poorer and less educated you are, the more intoxicating something like a "gas tax holiday" might become. This makes sense. If your macro-economic literacy is limited, and what you understand is that gas is getting more expensive and that Clinton wants to make it cheaper than her message will better resonate with you. You are more concerned about saving 70 bucks this summer than someone who reads the Economist, a publication that costs more than 70 dollars a year. The more educated and farther from the poverty level you fall, the more likely it is you will understand the long term stupdity of Clinton's proposal, and be able to decipher it as exploitation of the desperate.

Thats why I say that race may be a more significant metric for poor and uneducated black voters, for they are just as desperate for economic relief. However, it is my opinion that racial justice is understandably still paramount to their lives, and that the election of Barack Obama is not going to necessarily bring that about.

But I digress...Here are some Bushisms:

*- Note, I stress the word voters, as many folk from these demographics simply have no faith in the system and choose to stay home. - Yes, there is a certain (and often important) form of education that one cannot receive in a classroom.

Obama Fires Back at Bush and McCain

Yesterday, I said that Obama needs to take this appeasement nonsense and use it to his advantage. He needs to light a fire under the GOP's giant ass.

Today he did just that.

Bush and Olmert are both incompetent, criminal nincompoops, and the world would be a better place if they were in a maximum security prison:

But I digress....

As many of you have by now heard, President Bush took aim at Sen. Obama through an indirect jab by asserting that talking to one's enemies is a dangerous form of appeasement that leads to genocide:

Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as
if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,''
Bush said in an address to the Knesset today which drew repeated standing
ovations for his commitment to stand by Israel against all enemies. We
have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in
1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to
Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this
what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly
discredited by history.

This was said in the Israeli Knesset, making the reference to Hitler all the more inflammatory. Olmert, Israel's incompetent and criminal counterpart to Bush, stood there and applauded, all the while knowing that his government has had back channel talks with Hamas on numerous occasions. This is a man that has literally polled in the single digits and is currently being investigated by the law for corruption.

But that is besides the point, which is that Bush used his role as the Head of State to tell the people of Israel that the man who is best positioned to be the next President of the United States might make concessions that lead to your extermination. This is not the message, overt or otherwise, that our leader should be delivering to the legislative body of one of our most important allies. Like Joe Biden said:

“This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset and make this kind of ridiculous statement.”

Sen. Biden is 100% correct. Besides rising to level of malarkey, Bush's statements were irresponsible and incorrect, and represent really bad diplomacy (which is par for the course). For starters, he did not mention that communication prevented our annihilation in the Cuban Missile Crisis. He did not mention that Israel has only found peace with Egypt (relatively) and Jordan (more clearly) through discussion, and that this is the only peace that they have had with anyone in their neighborhood. He did not even mention that we have achieved progress through communication with North Korea and Lybia under his own government.

These were not the words of a Head of State. Instead, this was classic political bantering of the worst most partisan kind, and we are all worse off for it. The United States and Israel, two countries that I care deeply about, are currently being run by criminal morons that have weakened the their countries by every possible metric. Both showed their true selves today, and it was ugly.

Here is a clip of the speech:

Why? - The Cost of Continuing

I cannot understand how Sen. Clinton can justify staying in at this point, but that is not relevant to me right now. She is now running to be the next Mike Huckabee, who ironically, used to have the same job her husband had prior to being President of the United States. What is important is how much coverage she is sucking up in the tube hole. How much are any of you hearing about Burma right now? Yes, I understand that it is now our responsibility to go out and find information in the Internet(s) age, but so few people even seem to be interested in this.

Some of the other things nobody seems to be talking about due to interest in this completed contest:
- The War in Iraq
- The VA Scandal
- The F.B.I. raiding a Bush Administration offical's office.
- President Bush rigging the F.E.C.

In other words, her staying in the race is terrible for the Democratic Party (and the country) because it makes the election the story, and not all the reasons that make this election so important.

Wake up Sen. Clinton, you have been voted off America's Next President...

Is America ready for a smart President?

Im voting for Barack Obama because he’s brilliant!-Oprah Winfrey

With all the chatter about whether or not the country is ready for a black/female/elderly-psychotic chief executive, the thought has crossed my mind that we may be asking the wrong question. Americans are paying 4 dollars a gallon for gas and talking about Barack Obama's pastor.

Shell and BP are reporting over 17 billion in profits (yes profits- this is money left over after research and development) and we are concerned about Barack Obama's pastor.

We have had over 4,000 of our own killed in a grossly illegal war and occupation and we are concerned about Barack Obama's pastor.

Perhaps Oprah has got it right, and that might just be the problem. Is brilliance a political liability? Professors and students love the guy and he is widely condemned for it. The charge that he is not "ma and pa" enough for far too many has me frightened.

Check out this video of his response to some of this nonsense:


Remember, Obama is the anti-Bush. He is as far from Bush as one can be on many things related to both policy and character, and yet, this is seen as elitism. Why don't we want an elite running our country? Watching the NFL draft this past weekend I was hoping my team would draft some elite players when they were up. I was not hoping they would draft some beer drinking short guy that I could relate too. And I assume most people are like me on that point.

So why don't we want the same from out President?

If this is our criteria we should just make Bush the King.

PS- I know that Nixon does not really tie into this post in any meaningful way, but him bowling makes for one hell of a photo.

Oil: What is the Magic Number?

I was having a discussion with a student this morning and we were trying to figure out what would have to happen for Americans to get organized to deal with these gas prices. I paid 3.95 for the cheap stuff in San Diego this morning. Actually, I paid 3.96 when rounding up the nine-tenths of a percent that we pay. That in of itself is amazing. Many of us have already been conditioned to round down this number, but I digress...




Shell and B & P are reporting first quarter earnings of 17 billion USD combined. Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s energy minister (left) and the president of OPEC is warning that crude oil could end up costing over 200 USD a barrel. That would likely mean we are paying over 8 dollars a gallon.
This posses a variety of scenarios, problems and concerns. The first question we must ask is what will it take for us to act? 5 dollars a gallon? 7 dollars a gallon? 8??? What is our price? What is gas going to have to cost before we get organized and do something about it? I am starting to think we are trapped in a game of the Sims whereby the player got up to go to the potty room and forgot about the game. But again, I digress...

McCain and Clinton want to cut a 5 cent gas tax (saving the average American 50 cents to a dollar per week). This is Obama's response:

Bush is blaming the problem on taxes and not his idiotic policies that have expanded our debt thus devaluing the currency we are using to buy crude oil. Not to mention the illegal and boneheaded war in Iraq which lead to a decrease in oil output and regional stability thus pushing prices higher. Not to mention whoring out our manufacturing base to China which is now getting rich and buying gas as it advances toward development and a culture of waste and leisure.

So what are we going to do? Bitch? Send out emails? A quick Google search of "solutions to the gas problem" produces over 5 million returns. I liked the idea that argued we should all boycott Exxon-Mobil until they lower prices. Then when they do, move on to Shell, then Citgo, ect. That might work, and the Internet is a great tool and resource for us to organize. There are sites like http://www.carpoolconnect.com/ that are great for starters. But what is that going to do for food prices? Truckers are paying through the arse to get your local grocer the food they sell you. A carpool is not going to help us there.

Which leads me to another problem in the form of biofuels. Turning food into fuel is a great idea in a society that has a problem with obesity. We have such an abundance of food that it makes sense that we should drive using it. Plus, its renewable! But what about the other parts of the world that rely on these foods to subsist? This is a real crisis. And what happens to the economies of the oil producing countries once we (humans, not just Americans) stop using oil? More instability I suppose. What about the orangutans?!? We abandon them are our own peril.

But hey, enough of the chit chat, did you hear what Reverend Wright said???

Success=Success...

When questioned today about the never ending occupation of Iraq, "resident" Bush gave an interesting answer. Take note of the new plan for Bushco which is, "Hey, history will judge me later bro, peace out bitches!". This kinda talk will only grow as his time wanes.

"So long as I’m the president, my measure of success is victory – and success,’’

Alrighty then! Who knew that all you had to do to set the bar for success is whatever you say it is. Pretty sound reasoning there. However, as he always does, Bush saves the best for last.

“It hasn’t been easy,’’ Bush said of the war. “It’s been difficult. It’s taken longer than I anticipated. But it’s worth it…. When it comes to troop levels and duration, my question is, what does it take to win?’’

It hasn't be easy?? It hasn't been like gluing a model airplane together? It's taken longer than you anticipated Mr. Prez? REALLY? But it's been worth it? I can't believe I just quoted the president of the United States saying that the Iraq occupation has been "worth it", I agree Sal Kilmister...I'm speechless.

Will Ferrell as Bush...

Hell, if the Ronald Reagan presidential library had paintball and batting cages I'd be there every weekend!

Bush Greeting at Ball Game

Here is a clip of Bush at the Washington Nationals home opener:

Afternoon Memo:

- The United State Congress has been accused of "hectoring" by a very important county's head of state. The accuser is none other than our very own George W. Bush! At first I was not entirely sure I knew one could hector, but alas, one (or a body of people) clearly can. It could be a derogatory term. I mean, imagine if your name was Hector? How would you about feel being turned into a verb and all??? Shucks fellas, I sure would be sore.


Anyhow, the reason for this charge is as follows:

U.S. President George W. Bush defended the pace of political and economic reform
in Iraq on Thursday and accused members of the U.S. Congress of "hectoring"
Baghdad and threatening its leaders.Bush also praised Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for launching a "tough battle against militia fighters and criminals" in the oil city of Basra, citing it as evidence that Baghdad is increasingly able to handle security without U.S. leadership. (click here for more)

It sounds to me like he thinks the Iraqi Parliament, headed by Mr. Maliki, is doing a better job than the U.S. Congress. Maybe he should just move to Iraq if he loves their government and hates ours....America, love it or leave it, baby!

- Former Black Panthers member Mumia Abu-Jamal (left) is no longer on Death Row. Abu-Jamal's cause has been long championed by judical rights activists and independent coffee shop advocates alike. Virtually every major subway system in the United States has some graffiti or flyer purporting his innocence and demanding his release. I speculate that this will only fuel such behavior.

I must say, based on the facts, it does seem like he got a raw deal in terms of his arrest and trial. Of course when you get your facts from this website, you might become a bit biased. It does not seem improbable to me that in a town as corrupt as Philly someone could get framed for such a thing. It would not be the first time. My only fear is that if he is innocent and is released, he might go out and do something crazy. I know I might after serving 25 plus years for a crime I didn't do. Shit, I wonder if they even let him read the paper in prison? Imagine what might go through his mind when he finds out about such horrible things as the Iraq War or the Mark Penn scorched Earth approach to primary politics?



- Lastly, from the "Better Late than Never" files, Florida's legislature has finally apologized for slavery! The next apology should be for that worm hole Katherine Harris (pictured right with one of her relatives) for screwing up, on purpose, an otherwise perfectly good presidential election in 2000.

FRONTLINE: Bush's War

PBS is running a very interesting two part series “FRONTLINE:Bush's War. Watch this definitive documentary analysis of President Bush's war on terror, from 9/11 to the present.” You can watch it online for free at http://www.pbs.org/

HAPPY IRAQ WAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

Permanent things, furthermore, are not possessed exclusively by the democracies; not exclusively even by the Western world. - Joseph Campbell

I was watching the President speak this morning and I was reminded of Joseph Campbell and the concept of myth. Mr. Bush believes that we can win this war, but I wonder, what does that mean? What would victory look like? A friend in Hanoi recently sent me a photo of himself and a Vietnamese gentleman that was wearing an American flag t-shirt. Is that what victory looks like? Does this mean we won the Vietnam war now that they like us? I really can't figure it out. Is victory the entire world buying into the U.S. hero worship myth that Bush is selling?

We are going through a national identity crisis in the U.S. and I think that Bush's tired slogans, such as "We are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here" or "Iraq will be a glorious flower of democracy that will spread its seed throughout the region" are not going to do the trick. How can we win a war when we cannot define victory???

This is Obama's appeal. His brilliance and eloquence is in such stark contrast to Bush's ignorance and bumbling. The Sen. from Illinois is about to speak. More soon...

The incredible shrinking dollar...

It is very difficult in some European towns to trade dollars for Euros. It is falling against seemingly every major currency worldwide. Alan Greenspan has some interesting views here.

This sucks. I just paid too much to drive my car to the grocery store to pay too much for food. In a global economy, a weak dollar means inflation, and further cuts by the Fed will only serve to further erode our once mighty currency.

In honor of these developments, I thought this tribute to our our paper weight in cheif might be fitting:

Evening Memo:

- Former PM of Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, does not think politics and the internet should not go hand in hand, so to speak, because the internet is really just for porn. (click here for more) What is this connection between the internet and pornography???

- This is an interesting site about ALL George Bushs, not just the President.

- According to this source, the U.S. has committed war crimes. Politics makes strange bed fellows...

America will no longer be magical...

...or so says the French Foreign Minister. He argues that Bush has fucked the country beyond any recognizable repair.

Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France and a longtime humanitarian, diplomatic and political activist on the international scene, says that whoever succeeds President George W. Bush may restore something of the United States' battered image and standing overseas, but that "the magic is over." (Click here for more)

I agree with his sentiments, and furthermore, I hope he is right. Let us cut back on our frivolous spending, like defending Europe so that they can have just social policies while we go into debt and drive toward certain bankruptcy. Let China do it. I love France, and have always found the French to be warm and passionate people. But to be honest, I would rather spend less on defense here and have our country be first rate then to spend such an exorbitant amount defending Europe.

What is the advantage of being on top of the global order? It is a lot of responsibility, and most Americans hate responsibility.

Morning Memo: Daylight Savings Sucks: Part II

- Looks like Salvia is the new O.B.L. of the ever successful war on drugs. Good thing we have the pharmy companies persuading lawmakers to keep the moral drugs legal!

- El Presidente' is sending El Vice Presidente' to the Middle East to help rein in oil prices. Rumor has it that he will be sending Eliot Spitzer to Nevada to rein in brothels.
The good news is that Bush's time remaining in office is shorter with every letter I type...

Israel/Palestine.

Evening Memo:

Bush hates us for our freedoms:

President George W. Bush on Saturday further cemented his legacy of fighting for strong executive powers, using his veto to shut down a congressional effort to limit the Central Intelligence Agency's latitude to subject terrorism suspects to harsh interrogation techniques.

Good news! Our economy is in great shape!

Bush Drunk

This is an oldy but goody. If we are going down the Bush video path, this is a must see: