Bush Comments on Past Alcoholism…but Curious Behavior Still Surounds Him…

 

President Bush offered rare public comments yesterday on his past problems with alcohol, President Bush said that he had never been a “knee-walking drunk,” but that “I doubt I’d be standing here if I hadn’t quit drinking whiskey, and beer, and wine and all that.”

Bush has previously said he often drank too much as a young man, and that he quit drinking in 1986 after overindulging on his 40th birthday.

There was also the cocaine rumor that was never verified…

Shortly before the 2000 presidential election, news surfacedhe was arrested in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol near his parents’ home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Bush went on the say, “Alcohol can compete with your affections. It sure did in my case – affections with your family, or affections for exercise.” 

“It was the competition that I decided just wasn’t worth it.”

He also maintained he has not had a drink of alcohol in 21 years since he quit, and said he’s a “better man for it.”

Although sometimes I do wonder about that last part. Let’s face it, there have been many occasions over the past few years where Bush has looked drunk, medicated, stoned, or all three!

Take last year’s G8 summit.

If you take Bush’s quotes and separate them from other world leaders, he sounds just like a whiskey drunk. 

“Gotta go home. Gotta do sumthin’ tonight. Get ona plane. Go home. It’s a long flight. How long is your flight? That’s a long flight. Your country is big. His country is big too.”

Huh?

I’ve heard this kind of language before…out of some mindless drunk who can’t shut up. Bush just kept running his mouth off, totally disconnected from the non-verbal clues of the people around him.

It was more of the same at the G8 press conference. Bush couldn’t stop talking about the pig roast. It didn’t matter what anyone asked him, he just kept saying whatever his soaked brain was looping on, in this case, the pig.

There was also a time he went to Canada and couldn’t get off the subject of the mouth one of the Canadian Prime Minister’s staff members! “You’ve got a purty mouth.” Not once but several times. “You’ve sure got a purty mouth.” And, “Your mouth is prettier than my Scott’s mouth.”

Who does this outside of dive bars? 

At meeting with leaders he routinely sits slouched back in his chair, like a guy at a barbecue on his second or third 6 pack, chomping on his food with his mouth open, and making minimal effort to keep up his end of the conversation.

Then there was the presidential debate with John Kerry. Remember that fiasco. The lectern was literally holding the guy up. 

Most world leaders seem to act very restrained and controlled around Bush, maintaining a public facade of geniality while holding back from actually being engaged with him. What seems to be courtesy from many diplomats may actually be them trying to get through the fog around Bush as they work to penetrate some kind of lucidness.

Bush’s social modus operandi with everyone, seems to be overuse of meaningless language, forced jocularity and fake intimacy to foster a relationship that does not exist.

Like a drunk, no one really wants to be around him.

No drinks in 21 years Mr. President? I wonder about that indeed.

Although, it would surely explain some of his policy decisions and verbal gaffs, now wouldn’t it?

Ann Coulter Gets a Pass on Voter Registration Fraud in Florida…No Surprise There…

 

We thought, here at ShadowDemocracy.org, that we would publish Ann Coulter’s long and infamous timeline of voter fraud crime, and how this two year trail of deceit has ultimately led to no conviction…only revealing more corruption at the highest levels. If you had any doubt that the political machine is at work in Florida, there won’t be after you read this…   

(Timeline) 

2/15/06: Ann Coulter Commits Vote Fraud Felony…
Signs another person’s address to voter registration form and votes in the wrong precinct…

2/20/06: Ann Coulter Denies Committing Voter Fraud…

3/30/06: Ann Coulter Given 30 Days to Explain Vote Fraud Felony Allegation…
Palm Beach, FL election supervisor May refer charges to state attorney…
UPDATED: Property records show an ‘Ann H. Coulter’ owning a $1.8 Million House on Seabreeze Ave. in Palm Beach, Fl.

4/11/06: Ann Coulter’s Felonious Florida Voter Registration Application
GOP pundit Ann Coulter latest in a growing list of Republicans accused of fraud…and she may be guilty…
State, and county records show inconsistencies on voter registration form…

6/2/06: Ann Coulter ‘Lawyers Up’ to Face Felony Voter Fraud Charges
A Palm Beach paper reports GOP extremist pundit retains ‘Bush’ law firm to fight voter fraud allegations…

6/9/06: New Attorney Seeks Special Treatment for Coulter…
Letter from Coulter’s lawyer asks that all mail be sent to him instead of address where Coulter admits not living despite previously stating the opposite was true…

11/1/06: Ann Coulter Refuses to Testify regarding Voter Fraud in Florida…Case to be Turned Over to Prosecutor…
Coulter, a well documented rightwing extremist and hate-monger, refused to cooperate with authorities…

1/11/07: Police Report Says Two Third Degree Felonies May Have Been Committed by Coulter…

Palm Beach election supervisor having trouble bringing charges…

5/11/07: FBI Agent Who Interceded in Ann Coulter Voter Fraud Case Alleged to be Her Former Boyfriend…
A Palm Beach Paper says FBI agent attempted to clear Coulter…Conservative Coulter critic Borchers says her ’98-’99 boyfriend has been ‘Her personal FBI resource for her own purposes’…

8/2/07: Palm Beach Post: Florida Election Commission Investigating Ann Coulter’s Florida Voter Fraud
After her FBI boyfriend got her off the hook, will Jeb Bush’s FEC appointees do it again?

12/7/07: Ann Coulter Cleared of Voter Fraud Despite Clear Demonstrable Evidence…

Two years after an initial ‘slam-dunk’ allegation of fraud, the Florida Election Commission rules that the two year statute of limitations on has run out…case closed. Check out more links here, here, here…

So what is the lesson kids?

Another Republican felon gets a pass, this time in friendly country, otherwise known as the Sunshine state. It just goes to show that in modern American politics, you can get away with just about anything, as long as you know who d&*k to suck, on…and off the camera. The evidence was obvious, the charges legitimate, and the crime real, but the likes of Ann Coulter, in all of here hate mongering extremist glory, has sunk to an all time low when no one thought it was possible. Even conservative bloggers have thrown her overboard. 

What a disgrace.

An Update on Congressional Investigation into Mega-Churches…

 

A second Christian ministry is refusing to meet a Thursday deadline for a Senate investigation into preachers’ salaries, perks and travel, The Associated Press has learned.

See related Shadow Democracy post and comment thread here…

Benny Hinn of World Healing Center Church Inc. and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine, Texas, said in a statement to the AP on Thursday that he will not respond to the inquiry until next year.

A lawyer for preacher Creflo Dollar of World Changers Church International in suburban Atlanta had said Wednesday that the investigation should be referred to the IRS or the Senate panel should get a subpoena for the documents.

Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent lengthy questionnaires a month ago to six ministries so he could review whether pastors were complying with IRS rules that bar excessive personal gain through tax-exempt work.

Because these are “Religious” Non Profit organizations, the IRS has already deemed that they’re NOT required to turn over information regarding their finances. 

Do you believe in God?

Well even if you don’t, you an I can apply to the IRS for our own Religious non profit status and become exempt from paying federal taxes. Then we can go out and encourage wealthy people to withdraw their investments from 401K’s and other tax shelter investments and funnel their income through our bogus ministry and it will be perfectly legal. You can make a bundle!

Do you know how to sing???

I’ve got some old Jimmy Swaggart Gospel tapes that you can take home and practice from. I’ll brush up on my evangelical street type of ministry lingo and convince a few homeless people to come and visit us every Sunday at a low rent two bedroom house just to convince the IRS that we actually have a congregation. After acquiring our 501(c)(3) provision, we’ll take out business loans in order to hire expert accountants and financial advisors who will counsel our wealthy solicited investors.

We’ll make a fortune, and then we can ignore Congress too 🙂

Posted by: Dimitri Lawrence

Another Reason Not to Trust China…

Family members were left stunned in Hong Kong on Thursday (November 22) after a Chinese decision denying the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier entry into Hong Kong. 

The decision was later reversed by Beijing.

Hundreds of families poured into Hong Kong to greet servicemen from the aircraft carrier and fleet, which holds 8,000 of United States’ servicemen, airman and sailors, only to find out Thursday morning that the carrier would not come port-side.

The Kitty Hawk is not expected to make it back to Hong Kong by the end of the Thanksgiving day in Asia, according to the
U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is home to thousands of U.S. expatriates, with many gathering at midday for special Thanksgiving day service at the city’s oldest church, St. John’s Cathedral. Hong Kong is also a favoured stopping point for U.S. warships in the Pacific region. 

There are several issues which may have prompted Beijing’s action, including U.S. plans to sell Taiwan a $490 million U.S. dollar upgrade to its missile system and last month’s meeting between George Bush and the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader whom Beijing considers a traitor.

The State Department and Defense Department said it remained unclear why the aircraft carrier strike group had been denied access at the last moment just as the crew of some 8,000 sailors and airmen were to celebrate the annual US holiday on Thursday.

“At present, it appears the USS Kitty Hawk strike group will not be making a port call in Hong Kong as previously planned as a result of a last minute denial by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson.

“The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not give an explanation for its denial. The United States is pressing the Chinese Foreign Ministry for an explanation and for a reconsideration,” she stated. 

A spokesman for the Pentagon, Lieutenant Commander John Daniels, said, “We don’t know the reason the Chinese have done this.”

It is no secret that China has an array of industrial spies roaming the planet. It freely pirates US technology with no regard for intellectual rights, and has used that technology to cyber attack countries like Germany, blast a satellite out of orbit and demonstrate that it can cripple US defenses if need be. 

It was only a few years ago that China could barely make a stable rocket launch. Now the Chinese turned that program around with purchased and stolen American technology.

So why did China bar the Kitty Hawk? 

They barred it because they are an aspiring global super power, and they want everyone to know that they could – a demonstration of diplomatic bullying. 

China is a quasi capitalist/communist super state that is rapidly expanding with a carefully controlled, state run ideology. The curious thing is, unlike the old Soviet Union, it is working. They believe in what they are doing, because their approach is producing tremendous wealth which conveniently for the Chinese, is driving the world’s fastest growing economy at the expense of U.S. workers. There is no period in history where so much wealth and economic power has been created in such a short period of time. In turn, from that wealth and industrial power, the Chinese are building military might. They are rapidly militarizing, and in a few short years, will be able to control events in Asia, without any interference from the U.S. 

Taiwan will become whatever China wants it to be, the U.S. economy will continue to suffer, and the United States will simply have to accept that, because we continue to cow-tow to a country that is run by Communist thugs and continues to ignore international law.

To neutralize, or at the very least, attempt to check this coming military might that China will undoubtedly exploit to its full advantage, the U.S. must begin to respond in kind to such diplomatic slaps in the face. Our current policy of bending but not breaking, in the name of an apparantly failed mutually beneficial economic relationship with the Chinese, must be halted immediately. That is to say, scrap globalism…it isn’t working as intended.

We must begin to rebuild from within, and that includes rigorous education reforms that focus on science and technology including medicine, a wholesale change in our international economic policy with regards to China, and a renewed push in the area of space exploration, as well as advanced defense technologies. 

Shoring up what little manufacturing we have left here might not be a bad idea either.

Anything short of this is suicide, and it can be done in as little as twenty years.

More to come on this. 

Is the U.S. Government Secretly Testing Americans…Again?

 

Reprinted from KSLA-TV website, Shreveport, LA (November 9, 2007)

Could a strange substance found by an Ark-La-Tex man be part of secret government testing program?  That’s the question at the heart of a phenomenon called “Chemtrails.”  In a KSLA News 12 investigation, Reporter Jeff Ferrell shows us the results of testing we had done about what’s in our skies.

“It seemed like some mornings it was just criss-crossing the whole sky.  It was just like a giant checkerboard,” described Bill Nichols.  He snapped several photos of the strange clouds from his home in Stamps, in southwest Arkansas.  Nichols said these unusual clouds begin as normal contrails from a jet engine.  But unlike normal contrails, these do ‘not’ fade away.

Soon after a recent episode he saw particles in the air.  “We’d see it drop to the ground in a haze,” added Nichols.  He then noticed the material collecting on the ground.
     “This is water and stuff that I collected in bowls.  I had it sitting out in my backyard in my dad’s pick-up truck,” said Nichols as he handed us a mason jar in the KSLA News 12 parking lot back in September after driving down from Arkansas.

KSLA News 12 had the sample tested at a lab.  The results:  A high level of barium, 6.8 parts per million, (ppm).  That’s more than three times the toxic level set by the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA.

Armed with these lab results about the high levels of barium found in our sample, we decided to contact the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.  They told us that, ‘yes,’ these levels are very unusual.  But at the same time they added the caveat that proving the source is a whole ‘nother matter.

We discovered during our investigation that Barium is a hallmark of other chemtrail testing.  This phenomenon even attracted the attention of a Los Angeles network affiliate, which aired a report entitled, “Toxic Sky?” 

There’s already no shortage of unclassified weather modification programs by the government.  But those who fear chemtrails could be secret biological and chemical testing on the public point to the 1977 U.S. Senate hearings which confirmed 239 populated areas had been contaminated with biological agents between 1949 and 1969.  Later, the 1994 Rockefeller Report concluded hundreds of thousands of military personnel were also subjected to secret biological experiments over the last 60-years.

But could secret testing be underway yet again?  “I’d rather it be something inert and you know something that’s not causing any damage but I’d like to know what it is,” concluded Nichols.

KSLA News 12 discovered chemtrails are even mentioned by name in the initial draft of HR 2977 back in 2001, under the Space Preservation Act.  But the military denies any such program exists.

It turns out, until just nine years ago the government had the right, under U.S. law, to conduct secret testing on the American public, under specific conditions.  Only a public outcry repealed part of that law, with some “exceptions.”

Mark Ryan, Director of the Poison Control Center, explained that short term exposure to barium can lead to anything from stomach to chest pains, with long-term exposure causing blood pressure problems.

Ryan addressed concerns by chemtrail researchers that barium could be meant to wear down a person’s immune system.  “Anything that causes ill effects on the body long-term, chronically, is going to affect your ability, it’s just constantly working on the body.  So from that aspect yeah it’s a potential.”

Ryan told us he’s conducted research of his own about secret government testing on the public.  But he’s still a bit skeptical about chemtrails at the moment, especially considering that his Poison Control Center has seen no calls about barium exposure.

by: Jeff Ferrell

Atlanta Mega-Church Takes in $69 Million…Who benefits?

An Atlanta mega-church took in $69 million in 2006, according to a financial statement the church’s minister released in response to a Senate investigation into him and five other well-known televangelists.

The Rev. Creflo Dollar (excuse me as I snicker a bit) disclosed the World Changers Church International’s financial information to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but said the money he spends is his own.

I’m sure it is. Every last dollar from every last gullible donor.

The good reverand said his income comes from personal investments, but the church gave him a Rolls Royce, which he mainly uses for special occasions.

Don’t pre-judge! It was just a tiny Rolls.

‘Without a doubt, my life is not average,’ he said. ‘But I’d like to say, just because it is excessive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.’

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa disagrees.

He launched an investigation into the finances of six ministers after hearing reports of some preachers’ excessive lifestyles. In a letter last week, he requested answers by Dec. 6 to questions about their executive compensation and amenities, including use of fancy cars and private jets.

Besides Dollar, the letters were sent to faith healer Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Texas, David and Joyce Meyer of Missouri, Randy and Paula White of Florida and Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.

Dollar questioned the investigation’s focus on religious groups.

Boy, you gotta love the balls on this guy.

The minister is among the religious leaders who preach the ‘prosperity gospel,’ the teaching that God will shower faithful followers with material riches. But he said he uses only his personal finances to pay for his luxuries.

‘My lifestyle does not come out of the church’s bank account,’ he said.

So, do you still think these ‘Big Box Retail Churches’, as I like to call them, still shouldn’t be taxed??

Rolls Royce Creflo?

I wonder what kind of Gods work he does in the back seat and with whom?

Wake up my fellow church going sheep!

Anyone who gives money to a mega-church is naive and foolish. Giving money to ANY church benefits very few people as it is, with mega-churches being the worst offenders. Maybe the good minister Creflo could tool around in a Mercedes instead. Maybe a nice “E” Class and use the left over money from the sale of the Rolls Royce to feed 20 or so hungry families in greater Atlanta for oh, I don’t know, maybe two years!!!

The name itself was enough to keep me in laughter until the New Year. “

“Dollar!” You’ve gotta be kidding me!

Can someone please administer an I.Q. test to all of Creflo’s followers? I’m dying to know the results, but I have a suspicion that the average score would be a tad low.

Those “investments” Dollar spoke of were purchased with funds taken from desperate poor people who watch his show while he begs for people to “plant a seed of faith”. These tele-evangelists are nothing but corporate thieves, no different than the ones who have outsourced our economy to China in the name of profit, while taking a giant dump on the middle class.

Think about it for a minute. Most people who watch the program give the church money they’d normally use for medicine, food, shelter, clothes. The minister makes them think they’ll get a windfall blessing in their bank account if they only “plant a seed of faith”. GOD says for us to work, WORK, for a living…so we might give 10% to our church. The Bible states nothing about planting seeds.

www.ministrywatch.com is a great site that tells cold, hard, sinful truth about these tele-thieves.

This is just another tale of people using religion to pad their own pockets, as they prey on the poor and uneducated. Thanks to our government’s unfair endorsement of religion, they do not pay a dime in taxes. Since God apparently will not punish Creflo, we will have to do it ourselves.

He can start by paying taxing his scam operation.

The fact that God didn’t strike Creflo Dollar dead on the spot, in itself, may be proof that there is no god at all!

The China You Will See is Not the China That Is…

 

Next summer’s Olympics will showcase a China as a modern country of skyscrapers, and Western culture. However the government behind this facade, the same government that has built China into what it is, has acheived modernization by imprisoning political activists, restricting religious freedoms, tightly controling the media and Internet, exposing it’s citizens to deadly pollution, unsafe food and consumer products, and violating international trade treaties with the U.S.

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), consisting of nine U.S. Senators and nine members of the House, noted Communist Party leaders authorize political and religious persecution “Against persons the Party deems to pose a threat to its supremacy…” and that party “officials wield the legal system as a harsh and deliberately unpredictable weapon…” 

Here is their overview…

The Commission observed ongoing human rights abuses and stalled development of the rule of law in China during 2006-2007. The Commission also observed increased repression in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and Tibetan Autonomous areas of China, stepped-up harassment of legal advocates, and increased restrictions on Chinese reporters. In addition, across the areas the Commission monitors, the following general themes emerged: (1) Chinese leaders’ increasing intolerance of citizen activism and greater suppression of information on urgent matters of public concern (including food safety, public health, and environmental emergencies); (2) the instrumental use of law for political purposes; (3) the localization of dispute resolution in order to insulate the center from the backlash of national policy failures; and (4) the influence that China’s linkages with the rest of the world have had on some aspects of its domestic rule of law and human rights development.

With the 2008 Olympic Games only months away, China is is under intense pressure from foreign activists to comply with international standards across a broad spectrum of issues. from the workplace to air quality. The CECC not only cited recent issues including food and product safety, which also affects foreign consumers of Chinese exports, but also complained of “inadequate and inconsistent implementation, corruption and a lack of regulatory incentives.” Moreover, the panel found that the Chinese government discourages consumer organizations and harasses people for reporting problems with consumer products. Environmental reforms have been hampered by uncooperative local authorities and outright suppression of green activists that demand the free flow of information. 

Human rights also came under fire by the CECC. Chinese communists continue to detain and imprison democracy activists as well as those attempting to organize workers in labor unions not approved by the government. Police routinely detain people for days without formal charge.

Sound familiar?

2006 saw a tightening of the screws on religion, with communist officials continuing a “campaign of persecution” against the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Protestant church gatherings that didn’t register with the government were shut down, and Catholics were blocked from contact with the Vatican. Independent clergy were also detained, while Tibetan Buddhists faced greater repression. 

Foreign reporters were granted greater freedoms, however Beijing have increased government restrictions on domestic journalists in the interest of preserving order and control before the games. The CECC concluded that, “Developments during 2007 suggests that the prospects for a free press in China remain dim.” 

The Internet has also threatened the Communist Party’s monopoly of information.

In response, it has restricted access to many websites and imposed licensing requirements aimed at curbing politically sensitive data, with the goal of tracking  and arresting online government critics. Chinese officials also continue to impose prior restraints on publishing, and publication of critical books. 

Senator Byron L. Dorgan, the commission’s chairman, said the 360-page study was “sober reading,” a sign that repression is getting worse in China”, despite promises of reform. He called the report a “wake-up call” as well. 

The Chinese Embassy in Washington was called for a comment, but officials did not respond to it.

Western journalists know full well what China is really about as do our political and business leaders. The latter choose to ignore human rights abuses in the name of economic expansion on the backs of Chinese peasants, using their belief in the need for a global economy to cleanse their collective conscious. 

Our actions and reactions as a nation are unconscionable.

I call for a protest and boycott of the 2008 Olympics in China as an act of solidarity and demonstration of support for Chinese people, who are suffering under the yoke of opressive and deadly Communist rule. For humanity sake, we must take a firm stand. 

Taser Happy Cops at it Again…

The Chicago Police Department is investigating an officer’s use of a Taser last month on 82-year-old Lillian Fletcher. They said she was wielding a hammer when they arrived.

Fletcher was rushed to the hospital after being jolted by a Taser, but has since been released. 

Officials with the city’s Department on Aging went to her home on Oct. 29 to make a welfare check, and called police when they saw Fletcher in a window swinging a hammer back and forth. Officers arrived and attempted to subdue Fletcher. One officer thought it was appropriate to use his Taser, according to a police department spokesman. The department is trying to determine if the officer violated department policy regarding the use of stun guns.

On Tuesday, Fletcher said officers “pushed” their way into her home. ”They shocked me,” she said.

Fletcher at times sounded confused during the telephone interview. Her granddaughter Traci Taylor told the Chicago Sun-Times that her grandmother suffers from schizophrenia and dementia.

”My grandmother is easily confused,” Taylor told the newspaper, adding that the elderly woman can be belligerent but is about 5 feet 1 and no more than 160 pounds.

Clearly a threat to the police. 

Tasers use compressed nitrogen to fire two barbed darts that can penetrate clothing to deliver a 50,000-volt shock to immobilize people.

Law enforcement officials seem to be leaning on the use of Tasers more and more as a way to subdue combative people in high-risk situations…common sense be damned.

These weapons have come under fire around the country as they have been blamed for several deaths.

Amnesty International USA has voiced concerns that police departments are starting to use Tasers more routinely rather than in cases of serious danger. Taser use by police drew national attention recently when police stunned and arrested a University of Florida student after his fervent, videotaped outburst at an event with Senator John Kerry in September.

Could it be that police simply are not exercising good judgement or are they just not intelligent enough to know where to draw the line? In this case, Tasering an 82 year old walks the line of police brutality and Fletcher is well within her rights to seek a punitive legal remedy.

The officers responsible should be fired immediately. There is no excuse for this type of wreckless bravado when dealing with defenseless citizens. It’s almost as if they are running amok with the new toy that’s the “bullet alternative.”

Ron Paul Campaign Supporters Possibly Stealing Credit Card Numbers to Boost Fundraising???

Proof has surfaced that the Ron Paul campaign received monies from people resorting to some unscrupulous donation tactics – in short, credit card theft.

According to Jaye Ruffino, a political contributor, identity thieves tried to run a test charge on her account and it was frozen.

“I told them this doesn’t make any sense, because this isn’t a credit card, it’s a check card, and I’ve got plenty of money in there, so what’s the problem?” Ruffino said.

A customer service representative for her bank informed her of a suspicious charge.

The bank representative explained that someone by the name of Ron Paul has been trying to take $5 out of the aforementioned account.

As it turns out, currently unidentified credit card thieves used Ruffino’s card to run a test charge, with the money allegedly going to the Ron Paul presidential campaign fund.

Identity theft usually works this way: Thieves gather up stolen credit card numbers online and run the test charges to see which numbers will work. If the charge goes through, they know they have an active card. Later, the hit the card for more money. It appears that is what happened here.

Representatives for the Ron Paul campaign said they have discovered more than a dozen mysterious $5 contributions in the past three days and said they’re working with banks to return the money.

A representative for the Texas Attorney General’s Office on Friday said these crimes are rarely prosecuted, because by the time thieves are tracked down, they’re often in other counties, and the Web sites are shut down.

We know that there have been campaign contribution improprieties in other campaigns, but those incidents usually involved one large donor. This situation suggests that the Ron Paul campaign cannot be trusted with credit card security or donations from small donors, and appears to be the first time this issue has come up in any political campaign among any of the current presidential candidates.

In the mean time, you may want to think twice before giving your credit card information to the Ron Paul campaign.

Bush Comparing Iraq to Nazi Germany?

President Bush compared Congress’ Democratic leaders to people who ignored the rise of Hitler early in the last century. He’s quoted as saying, “the world paid a terrible price.” He also pointed out that the risks similar consequences for inaction today. Bush accused Congress of stalling important pieces of the fight to prevent new terrorist attacks by stalling on the confirmation of Michael Mukasey as attorney general, failing to act on a bill governing eavesdropping on terrorist suspects; and moving too slowly to approve spending measures for the Iraq war. 

“Unfortunately, on too many issues, some in Congress are behaving as if America is not at war,” Bush said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, “This is no time for Congress to weaken the Department of Justice by denying it a strong and effective leader. 

If I am not mistaken, this is the same president who has left numerous positions open in the Department of Justice and threatened not to fill them at all unless his nominee is confirmed, while creating his own delays via incompetent nominations to office (i.e Alberto Gonzales, Harriet Miers, etc.)

The only thing we need to worry about in my opinion, is Bush’s similarities to Hitler and the potential consequences of his hubris. 

As the the destruction of the Reich-stag did for Hitler, the destruction of the Twin Towers gave George Bush the chance of a lifetime. Coming off of the narrowest electoral victory in US presidential elections since 1876, Bush turned this disaster into the best historical opportunity for a liar, with the goal of imposing a U.S. order on the world. Hitler had similar ideas.

As in Hitler’s case, the first thing Bush did was to surround himself with a clique of common minded ideologues. Hitler’s entourage as is the case with Bush’s cronies, was made up of men obsessed with the intimidating power of force and violence. Like Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Mengele, and Eichmann, Bush has searched for a buffer of people who are war-like as himself – all sharing a common goal…war profit from oil. In Hitler’s case, the goal was the extermination of the Jewish race coupled with world domination.

Fiddle – e – Dee.

Dick Cheney, came from Halliburton Oil, the chief of the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, from Occidental, another oil company, the National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice, was on Chevron’s board of directors and has oil tankers named after her. Then there’s the Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, who is also linked to the oil industry, as is Bush Sr. with the Carlyle oil group, and the current president, Bush Jr. with Harkins Oil.

Bush, like Hitler, has sought to intimidate the populous, spy on his enemies internally, do away with civil rights and restrict domestic freedoms. Both made a habit of misinformation and lying to their respective citizens, both used pre-emptive strikes to invade countries that engaged in no aggressive actions against their countries, both monopolized the media (or at least tried to), both ignored the rule of law, both tortured, and both believed that their mission was thrust upon them by God himself.

Even the language Bush uses, as was the case with Hitler, is authoritarian and intimidating in tone and constantly used to pervert the end to justify the means. The core purpose of Bush’s Republican talking points, much like Hitler’s Nazi rhetoric, is simplification, reduction and intimidation with the goal of controlling the American people. They both purposefully loaded their speeches with prejudices that inflame people’s latent beliefs, while serving to coax the maximum ugliness from the population, causing more chaos and fear – thus the cycle is perpetuated and power is held. 

The only tangible difference between the two is that Hitler could actually speak his native tongue and be understood…Bush struggles with that whole grammar thing.

Americans do not need to fear Democrats who are ignoring alleged dangers surrounding us, they need to fear the dangers, in the form of national leaders with dictatorial ambitions, who are right here among us.

Bush’s comments, as usual, are foolish nonsense. He is the only danger to the security of this nation…no one else.

  

Indian ‘Slave’ Children Found Making Low-Cost Clothes for Gap

Another sad and absurd chapter has been written in the long, destrcutive saga that is the new ‘Global Economy.’

Child workers as young as 10 years old, have been found working in a textile factory in conditions close to slavery to produce clothes that appear destined for Gap Kids. Children described long hours of unwaged work, as well as threats and beatings. Gap said it was unaware that clothing intended for the Christmas market had been improperly subcontracted to a sweatshop using child labor.

I bet they weren’t aware. 

GAP announced it had withdrawn the garments involved while it investigated breaches of the self-imposed ethical code by the company three years ago.

All this, so suburban American white kids can look more fashionable, as their parents take them to the mall where they can over consume and perpetuate this cycle of exploiting the poor.  

Children working in filthy conditions in Delhi, India, has renewed concerns about outsourcing by large retail chains, and their garment production in third world countries. The United Nations has long recognized India as the world’s capital for child labor, yet little change as there are now an estimated 15,000 garment factories in India. According to one estimate, more than 20 per cent of India’s economy is dependent on child labor.

Despite its charitable activities with an eye on polishing it’s image, Gap has been criticized for outsourcing clothing production to the developing world many times in the past. In 2004, when it launched its social audit, it admitted that forced labor, child labor, wages below the minimum wage, physical punishment and coercion were among abuses it had found at some factories producing garments for the company. In the past year Gap has dealt with 23 suppliers reagarding workplace abuses.

Human rights violations in the form of illegal child labor are a logical extension of globalism, in that they serve to apply downward pressure on retail prices, so a debt driven Western economy can continue to over consume, and keep the world retail industry afloat. There is no other solution anything short of exploitation. That’s why human rights violations and child labor keeps happening…no matter what GAP, Wal-Mart or any other retailer wants you to believe. 

The fact is that companies like the GAP and Wal-Mart, are completely insulated from any legal liability or criminal prosecution as they hide behind nameless and faceless sub-contractors who wholesale clothes to these retailers on the backs of beaten children. When caught, they simply do what they always have done – declare that the practice is an outrage and pull product from their supply channels from that contractor, until they receive another shipment from the next contractor. 

If these retailers were really concerned about human rights, they would shift productions operations to countries where these types of abuses cannot happen – the U.S. might be a solid move in that direction…but we know that will never happen. Instead they continue to willingly sacrifice children in the name of profit. They do not care about these third world children because they own everything there is to own, including most governments, and they are simply above any real prosecution that has any teeth. 

Until consumers take action, this dynamic simply will not change, and there’s no sign American consumers, blinded by false prosperity and vanity, are willing to change their habits. Ensalved children aren’t even a blip on the radar to them.

This  deplorable and overtly criminal situation in India is a clear violation of international trade law as well as a gross violation of human rights. GAP executives should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law based on any knowledge they had regarding the use of sweatshops. Surely we can punish those who abuse children and send a message to the money and power elite that this type of activity will not be tolerated.    

Gap said in a statement from its headquarters in San Francisco: ‘We firmly believe that under no circumstances is it acceptable for children to produce or work on garments. These allegations are deeply upsetting and we take this situation very seriously. All of our suppliers and their subcontractors are required to guarantee that they will not use child labor to produce garments. In this situation, it’s clear one of our vendors violated this agreement and a full investigation is under way.’

That’s commendable on their part, but I say consumers in the West should be demanding answers from retailers as to how goods are produced and think twice about where they spend their money. Why you ask? GAP will not police themselves and willingly give up garments made for pennies, even if they are made by enslaved children. Quite frankly, profit trumps all other cards, even a moral conscious or human rights. That’s what globalism is at it’s core of mud – the blind pursuit of ever cheaper labor. It’s happening everywhere at the expense of the poor – child labor in India, wide spread and unrestricted pollution resulting in ‘cancer villages’ in China…all so we can have cheap jeans and lower cost sweaters. 

Proof is embodied in how GAP reacted. They did not immediately cut ties with the supplier it accused of improper subcontracting.

Company spokesman Bill Chandler said the company was taking the breach of its child labor policies “extremely seriously,” and continued by saying, “We’re willing to end relationships with vendors when they don’t meet our standards.” 

The problem is, they didn’t.

Fake FEMA Press Conference? What Next – Positive Testimonials at Gun Point?

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino assured reporters that the ‘staged’ news conference organized on Tuesday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would not happen again, and said the White House would never employ such tactics at its own press briefings.

Isn’t the White House supposed to exercise oversight on FEMA Dana??? They are right? That’s what I always thought? 

Never mind. 

“It is not a practice that we would employ here at the White House or that we — we certainly don’t condone it,” said Perino.

According to a report published in the Washington Post, FEMA had instructed its own public relations staff to pose as reporters because no legitimate members of the media arrived in time for a hastily arranged briefing about the California wildfires – at least that’s the official story. 

The deputy director of FEMA gave the reasoning.

“We had been getting mobbed with phone calls from reporters, and this was thrown together at the last minute,” a FEMA deputy director of public affairs told the Post. “We pulled questions from those we had been getting from reporters earlier in the day.”

Perino said FEMA alone was responsible for the decision to go ahead with the event.

“FEMA has issued an apology, saying that they had an error in judgment when they were attempting to get out a lot of information to reporters, who were asking for answers to a variety of questions in regard to the wildfires in California,” she said. “It’s not something I would have condoned. And they, I’m sure, will not do it again.”

FEMA Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson, who fielded questions from the stand-in “reporters,” issued a statement today admitting an “error in judgment.”

“Our intent was to provide useful information and be responsive to the many questions we have received,” he said. “We are reviewing our press procedures and will make the changes necessary to ensure that all of our communications are straight forward and transparent.”

Hey Harvey…just a heads up for you guys…most competently runs government agencies simply issue a press release. You know – just let folks know what’s up? Did you really think that having fake reporters present was going to make things more convincing? What was the point? Were you guys trying to reinforce to the American people that FEMA is basically not capable of handling anything. If so you succeeded…again.  

Among the questions Johnson answered from FEMA employees was a question about the agency’s performance during the fires:

Here’s the complete list of questions asked during the fake briefing available at MSNBC’s First Read. Given the fact that no one can be sure that the answers weren’t also fake, we took the liberty of translating…

QUESTION 1: What type of commodities are you pledging to California?
“So I think we’re well ahead of the requirement and we’ll be able to make sure that all the shelters that are stood up are, in fact, all sustained and have sufficient materials and quantities of commodities to make sure they meet the demand of the people who might seek shelter.”

Translation: More moldy formaldehyde trailers at once for the homeless serfs! Just rinse that Arkansas farm mud off of them and we’re good to go!
 
QUESTION 2: Sir, there are a number of reports that people weren’t heeding evacuation orders and that was hindering emergency responders. Can you speak a little to that, please?
“So I think you’re seeing more compliance and more conformance with expected norms of travel.”

Translation: Wildfire and the imminent threat of roasting to death in your bathtub tends to breed compliance. Fact is, we never assisted in evacuation at all.
 
QUESTION 3: Can you address a little bit what it means to have the president issue an emergency declaration, as opposed to a major disaster declaration? What does that mean for FEMA?
“As an emergency declaration, it allows us to provide — to open up the Stafford Act and to provide the full range of protective measures and all the things that they need now in order to address the fire, If the governor had asked for a major declaration, that would have talked about individual assistance and public assistance at greater levels. And at this point, the governor has not asked for that.”

Translation: All the shit we didn’t do for black Louisiana victims, we decided to do for white California victims. We learned from our mistakes.   
 
QUESTION 4: Sir, we understand the secretary and the administrator of FEMA are on their way out there. What is their objective? And is there anyone else traveling with them?
“..all the key leaders who are directing this effort and demonstrating a partnership through their effort will be out there at San Diego this afternoon. So I think it’s a good demonstration of support, recognizing that our role is not to usurp the state but to support the state. And they’ll demonstrate that by their presence.”

Translation: Arnold knows we suck and threatened to break Chertoff’s arms if we pulled a Katrina, so we backed off.

[Off-camera voice asks for another question)

QUESTION 5: Are you happy with FEMA’s response, so far?
“I’m very happy with FEMA’s response so far. This is a FEMA and a federal government that’s leaning forward, not waiting to react. And you have to be pretty pleased to see that.”
 
Translation: Well, we couldn’t f%#k things up any worse than Katrina now could we?

[Staff voice off camera: Last question.]

QUESTION: What lessons learned from Katrina have been applied?
“I think what you’re really seeing here is the benefit of experience, the benefit of good leadership and the benefit of good partnership; none of which were present in Katrina.
 
“So, I think, as a nation, people should sit up and take notice that you have the worst wildfire season in history in California and look at how well the state and local governments are performing, look at how well we’re working together between state and federal partners.”

Translation: We learned a lot from Katrina. We learned that people need to eat and drink after 10 days, we learned that 50,000 people can’t share 10 bathrooms at the Superdome, we learned that Barbara Bush is out of touch and asked her not to hang around Qualcomm, and we learned not to park trailers in 12 inches of mud. Thank you. 

See Perino’s press conference here. We think it’s real. 

Makes you proud to be an American doesn’t it?

Did Bush Offer to Bomb the Kurds to Ease Oil Prices???

 

In another example of George Bush’s complete disregard for human life in the name of oil profit, he has announced to Turkish President Abdullah Gul via phone, his willingness to bomb the Kurds in Northern Iraq. The move would be an attempt to stave off an impending Turkish invasion of that country to fight the rebels.

The logic for yet another disastrous decision by an insane was put forth by Prime Minister John Howard, who said the tensions on the Turkey-Iraq border will not help the west’s battle for democracy in Iraq and cited evidence that the US was making headway in their battle against al-Qaeda in Iraq following the US troop surge. 

In response Iraq said it would shut down Kurdish operations based on its soil. “The PKK is a terrorist organisation and we have taken a decision to shut down their offices and not allow them to operate on Iraqi soil,” Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said. “We will also work on limiting their terrorist activities which are threatening Iraq and Turkey,” Maliki said after crisis talks in Baghdad with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.

Yesterday, the U.S. also warned Turkey not to attack Northern Iraq.

On the surface, all of this might seem like an attempt by Bush and others to stabilize Northern Iraq for political and military reasons. But…could it just be about oil prices?

The price of oil per barrel has spiked recently and peaked at record high levels. The easing in invasion rhetoric by Turkey has helped bring global oil prices down from those record highs. 

The Kurds have their own plans in the Iraq oil debate as outlined by Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed over the weekend.

This August, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq passed an oil and gas law to regulate the oil sector in our region. So far, we have signed eight production-sharing contracts with international oil and gas companies. We expect to sign another two in the near future. …
We hope our friends and supporters in the U.S. will understand that this is not an attempt to usurp the nation’s oil resources, but rather our best effort to move the process forward, leading by example to make these valuable resources work for the people of Iraq.

What does the referendum say?

It decides who controls the oil-rich region of Kirkuk. Companies like Shell, BP, and Exxon mobil will export a combined 5 million barrels from Kirkuk as reported by Reuters.

Once again, Bush is using the U.S. military to police corrupt inside oil deals as he plays chess with people’s lives. His complete disregard for human rights is criminal. Again I ask…when are people in this country going to stand up and hold these war profiteers accountable?

More Reasons Why People Hate Cops – Updated …

I managed to dig up some stories on ‘taser-happy’ cops. They just can’t figure out what to do with that itchy trigger finger I guess. Taser guns use compressed nitrogen to propel two darts that attach to the body. The darts are connected to the gun by a wire and deliver a 50,000-volt shock at five-second intervals to incapacitate a suspect.

You’ll love these…

Alachua County, Florida – Alachua County Sheriff’s say a Lieutenant didn’t know a mother was pregnant when he tasered her stomach. Leslie Donaldson says she was trying to help break up a fight between neighborhood kids when a deputy showed up and tazed one of the boys fighting. He then announced he was going to taser Donaldson.

“She raised her arm to the deputy. The deputy felt threatened like she was going to hit him…” said Alachua County Sheriff’s Lieutenant David Clark. Clark is a certified taser instructor and explained that the deputy didn’t realize she was 8 months pregnant.

Huh? She looks 8 months pregnant to me!

Donaldson says she still has the marks on her belly.

To add insult to injury, she was arrested for battery after she was taken to a hospital to be checked out.

Miami, Florida – Police defended an action to use a 50,000 volt taser on a 12 year old girl and 6 year old boy. Police director Bobby Parker defended that decision because the boy threatened to injure himself with a shard of glass. The 12 year old committed the unspeakable crime of skipping school and possibly drinking. According to the incident report, the 12 year old girl was running from officer William Nelson. When he couldn’t catch her and she was nearing traffic, he decided to taser her. The electric probes hit the girl in the neck and lower back, immobilizing her. He said he used the taser for her safety.

This was the latest in several disturbing incidents involving the department.

Orange County, California – Sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday defended their decision to use a stun gun on a 15-year-old autistic boy who ran away from his parents.

Using the Taser in this case “was the right thing to do,” said Jim Amormino, a sheriff’s spokesman. “If that were your son, would you want him tased or hit by a car? The deputy made the right decision. . . . “It could have saved the boy’s life.”

I suppose he couldn’t be brain damaged or killed by the 50,000 volt shock. 

Taylor’s mother, Doris Karras, said deputies did not need to use the Taser gun. In fact she had called several times to alert them that her son was missing. “This was a very aggressive response,” she said, “my son didn’t have any weapon on him. He didn’t even have a pencil.”

Taylor fled a therapy visit at the Regional Center of Orange County because he didn’t want to go. Nine hours later, his mother saw him about one block from their home – 16 miles from the center – on the ground and handcuffed by deputies.

Amormino said Tustin police called the Sheriff’s Department after a pedestrian reported a suspicious person. Taylor was pushing a shopping cart down Newport Avenue near La Loma Drive, near his home in North Tustin. With no money, he apparently had walked home.

Doris Karras said her son, who is 5 feet 10 and has a beard, looks older than 15.

Amormino said Taylor yelled something when approached by a deputy, then ran across Newport Avenue, causing two cars to swerve. That was when the deputy thought it was appropriate to taser him. The deputy then handcuffed the youth to keep him out of traffic, Amormino said.

Houston, Texas – In a confrontation with a defiant father, a hospital security guard fired a stun gun to stop the father from taking home his newborn, sending both man and child crashing to the floor.

The father claims the baby girl suffers from head trauma because she was dropped.

“I’ve got to wonder what kind of moron would tase an adult holding a baby?” said George Kirkham, a former police officer and criminologist. “It doesn’t take rocket science to realize the baby is going to fall.”

The episode began when William Lewis said he and his wife felt mistreated by staff at the Woman’s Hospital of Texas so they decided to leave. Hospital employees told him doctors would not allow it, however Lewis, fully within his rights as a parent, picked up the baby and headed for the elevators. The elevators would not move because wristband sensors on each baby shut off the elevators if anyone takes an infant without permission. Lewis gave the video to The Associated Press. The baby continues to suffer ill effects from the fall.

“She shakes a lot and cries a lot,” Lewis said, noting doctors have performed several MRIs on the child, Karla. “She’s not real responsive. Something is definitely wrong with my daughter.”

It was not clear whether the baby was tasered or suffered a shock. 

I say, any cop found to using a taser gun inappropriately should be tasered in the genitals. That should bring these arrogant bastards back down to earth wouldn’t you say?

Larry Craig Will Not Disappear…At Least Not Yet…

These are tough election year times for the poor GOP, and times just got tougher. Facing untimely resignations, an unpopular war and a troubling 2008 election landscape, Senate Republicans didn’t need another headache this week, but Larry Craig just gave them one.

Senator Larry Craig vowed Thursday to serve out the last 15 months of his term, despite losing his legal battle to have his guilty plea from last month’s bathroom sex scandal arrest, reversed. As a result, Craig’s selfish decision gives the Republicans two unpleasant choices. First, they can resume pressuring him to leave, and risk being seen as disloyal politicians who go harder on alleged homosexual misdeeds than on heterosexual wrongdoings. Or, they can ignore him between now and the 2008 election, when Craig promised he will finally leave office. Craig’s lawyer Stanley Brand said that the Senate traditionally has shied away from disciplining members for misdemeanors, so Craig will probably be allowed to serve out his term.

Of course, as is the case with most Republican liars, there is something more subtle going on here…

Five weeks ago, Craig announced his intent to resign immediately, then he changed course a bit by saying he would resign on September 30th if he could not have his guilty plea rescinded. Now Craig, who brushed off his colleagues’ not-so-subtle hints to just leave, reneged on the deal Thursday.

“I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively,” he said in a statement.

He has now stated he will not seek a fourth term in November 2008, and the seat is likely to stay in Republican hands. However, rumors are already awash on the Internet that Craig plans to form an exploratory committee to research the possibility of re-election in 2008.

How perfectly annoying.

Craig’s continued presence in the Senate obviously annoys Republicans facing tough campaigns in an election year where GOP scandals are turning up from everyehere like flowers at a funeral. “Senator Craig gave us his word that he would resign by September 30th if he could not overturn the guilty plea,” said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. “I wish he would stick to his word.” “It’s embarrassing for the Senate, it’s embarrassing for his party,” Ensign said. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who faces a tough re-election campaign next year in a state where opposition to the Iraq war is strong, spoke with reporters Thursday before Craig announced his plans to stay and fight. “I would hope that he would live up to what he said he would do – not put the Senate through the wringer on this, respect the institution,” Coleman said. “Clearly, his ability to serve his people was severely compromised.”

The White House stayed out of the controversy of course.. “We think this is a decision between Senator Craig, his constituents, his colleagues in the Senate,” deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said. Commentators and activist groups contrasted the reaction to the welcome that GOP leaders gave Sen. David Vitter, R-La., after he apologized for his phone number turning up in a list of clients for an alleged call-girl operation. Of course that was just cheat-on-your-wife, good-old-fashioned, straight sex. Craig was arrested in a men’s room exhibiting gay behavior – all the difference in the world to a Republican.

The bipartisan Senate ethics panel is gearing up for possible hearings into Craig’s case, a step requested by Republican leaders when they were trying to persuade the senator to step down. If the hearings go forward, and are televised, it will mark another setback for an already morally bankrupt Republican Party desparate for some good news.

Here’s the subtle part…

“I am innocent of the charges against me,” Craig said in the statement. Craig said he had panicked when arrested, and pleaded guilty by mail on Aug. 1 to disorderly conduct because an Idaho newspaper had been aggressively investigating allegations that he was gay. Craig says he is not gay. He also said he never lied about being gay and that he loves his wife. He has sworn up and down that he is an honest man.

Funny thing is, for all those claims of honesty, he lied twice about when he would resign over the sex scandal that he claims is false.

Ironic isn’t it?

Bush Slaps Children in the Face with Heartless Child Healthcare Veto…

 

President Bush on Wednesday vetoed legislation that would expand a children’s health insurance program by $35 billion over five years. The program called, State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), was designed to fill the gap between families who made too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to provide health care for their kids – the key word being kids. Bush said he vetoed the bill because it was a step toward “federalizing” medicine and inappropriately expanded the program “beyond its focus on helping poor children. I believe in private medicine, not the federal government running the health care system.”

Inappropriate? Wasn’t the point of all this to make expanded health coverage for children appropriate? 

What’s not appropriate for old George, is that the program would cut into insurance companies’ profit pie. The government’s policy should be “to help people find private insurance” Bush said.

Ahh! Now that makes more sense! The corporate pay-masters think it’s a bad idea to cover all kids who need it under a federal program, so they just let their puppet president wield the veto sword. I’ve got it now.

The disgusting part is that the bill enjoyed wide bipartisan support in the Senate and House of Representatives. “I think that this is probably the most inexplicable veto in the history of the country. It is incomprehensible. It is intolerable. It’s unacceptable,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy. I’m with you Ted. No matter what faces these heartless Republican bastards, they simply will not throw the middle class a crumb – not even to kids. The Senate voted 67-29 last week to expand the program and has the required 2/3 for a veto.

“It’s very sad that the president has chosen to veto a bill that would provide health care to 10 million American children for the next five years. It is a value that is shared by the American people across the board,” Nancy Pelosi said. House Democrats also were quick to compare the bill’s $7 billion annual cost to the money spent each month on the Iraq war. Where were these ‘fiscal conservatives when we went to war in Iraq? There was plenty of money then. Maybe we should ask the Chinese for the money again? Hell, they already own us like a pet dog anyways, so lets just finance this too! 

Of course there are just enough narrow minded House Republicans that agree with our moron president to quash any override. “The public can see that we’re playing more political ‘gotcha’ than we are at really solving problems,” said Rep. Todd Akin, R-Missouri, who said the legislation contained “all of these little hidden gizmos, among other things that we’re going to provide health care to the children of illegal immigrants.”

Okay, what if the illegal immigration coverage gets dropped?

Akin also said the bill would have led to “a massive expansion of, basically, ‘Hillary’ socialized medicine,” a reference to Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and her unsuccessful health care efforts in the 1990’s. Gee, I guess you’re right Senator Akin. We are playing ‘Political Gotcha.’ If Hillary is for it, it must be bad – and we can’t give her any momentum for 2008 now can we?

In response, Democrats denied the bill would provide coverage to illegal immigrants and denied Akin’s charge.

I checked the language – the Democrats are right – so that makes Akin and every other Senator who voted against this bill an petty obstructionist and a liar.

What these anti-American middle class Republicans do not grasp is that healthcare is simply out of reach for many people in this country and that situation is only getting worse. Under this legislation, 4 million to 8 million more children will be covered.  It would only cost a maximum of $12 billion for the next five years. We’re spending over $2 billion a week in Iraq.

Sen. Orrin Hatch is as conservative as it gets, and he split from the president. “It’s very difficult for me to be against a man I care so much for,” he told his colleagues on the Senate floor before the vote. “It’s unfortunate that the president has chosen to be on what, to me, is clearly the wrong side of this issue.”

A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted September 27-30 found over 70% surveyed favor the program. 

Critics have said their concern is that parents might be prompted to drop private coverage for their children to get cheaper coverage under the bill. Can’t these knuckleheads get it through their thick skulls that the people who would be helped by this bill HAVE NO DAMN INSURANCE BECAUSE THEY CAN”T AFFORD IT!!!!! There is no switching to be done! We’re talking about the working poor here! They’re among us all and they just want to help their kids! What do we have to do with Bush and the rest of these jackasses who simply cannot wrap their simpleton heads around this issue – whip it into them with a stethoscope until they finally get it?  

…of course given the sexual behavior of some of these guys as of late…they might enjoy that.

Pro-Democracy Crushed in Myanmar and the Chinese Do Nothing…

 

Protesters continued to wave the peacock flag of the crushed pro-democracy movement on a solitary march Saturday through the bloody streets of Myanmar‘s largest city. Many dissidents said they are resigned to defeat without international intervention as regimes like China stood around and watch people being butchered in the streets – same as Kosovo, same as Rwanda, same as Iraq. 

A top U.N. envoy on Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, arrived in the country but many protesters said they were nonetheless seeing a repeat of the global reaction to a 1988 pro-democracy uprising, when the world stood by as protesters were gunned down in the streets. “Gambari is coming, but I don’t think it will make much of a difference,” said one hotel worker, “We have to find a solution ourselves.” A young woman who took part in the massive demonstrations said she didn’t think “we have any more hope to win.” She was separated from her boyfriend when police broke up the protest by firing into crowds.

Demonstrations began last month as a result of the crumbling economy in Myanmar, as people angry over massive fuel price hikes took to the streets — shortly afterward it ballooned into tens of thousands after monks began marching in protest. The Junta, who are oppressive militaristic rulers of Myanmar and closely tied to China, responded by shooting into a crowd of protesters that included monks and clubbing them with batons.

What is remarkable, is that China continues to back these criminals and has done nothing to interfere with the terror wrought on the protesters. Of course China’s reaction was predictable. After all, they did roll over the Chinese Democratic party with tanks in the Tiananmen Square Massacare in 1989. And don’t forget that Myanmar (Burma), is also resource rich, so why interfere? Let’s just let them beat the hell out of each other, then roll in and take over when the timing is right under the guise of liberation. Can anyone say Iraq? Funny how the drive for limited energy resources by developed nations is resulting in more and more of these nasty little skirmishes lately – don’t you think? 

But I digress…

Little more than lip service by the U.S., Russia, and China is being offered in order to restrain these thugs. The United States, which possesses limited leverage, froze any assets that Myanmar leaders may have in U.S. financial institutions and prohibited American citizens from doing business with them. The United Nations has resorted to the usual ineffective attempts at reconciliation that never really seem to fly. So the U.S. and others have turned a hopeful eye toward our ‘friends’ China. When they’re not busy poisoning our kids with lead paint, their busy poisoning Myanmar’s kids with lead paint, as they too are Myanmar’s biggest trading partner. 

However, China does not seem prepared to go beyond words in their dealings with the Junta, ruling out sanctions as they jostle for a chance to get at Myanmar’s bountiful and largely untapped natural resources, especially its oil. Can’t offend a friend I suppose. Human rights will have to be the bridesmaid yet again. Some Chinese academics and diplomats say the international community may be overestimating what Beijing can do. “I actually don’t think China can influence Myanmar (Burma) at all except through diplomacy. China’s influence is not at all decisive,” said Peking University Southeast Asia expert Liang Yingming.

Really? I have a few ideas to offer.

Key backers of this group of murders in Myanmar, particualrly China, must pay a cost for the blood they will have on their hands. Women were killed, the young, the old, children, monks were beaten are now holed up behind barbed wire – someone must answer…I say start with China. Specific businesses and their management should be targeted with sanctions as well as the Chinese government for the role they have played in furthering the interests of the Junta, in the name of oil and profit. China should be questioned and brought to bare before the world why they have backed these butchers for years. Name must be named, and the dead must be avenged. The U.S. must act and empower the U.N. as well, to impose sanctions against the junta and China if need be. If the Chinese people really back human rights, they should boycott these Chinese companies as well. There’s an old American saying folks – put your money where your mouth is.

Bush himself, lacks the credibility, intelligence, nerve or grammar to take on this regime and its backers in the world’s eyes, so we must rely on Congress to act so credible damage might be done to the reputations of China and the Chinese companies that do business in both Myanmar (Burma), and the U.S. Congress, along with the U.N. , should impose immediate sanctions on Chinese firms, while going after some of the illegal drug money that the Junta uses to finance these murder sprees. 

Maybe pull a Ronald Reagan.

Train and equip rebellious groups operating within Burma and along its border areas.  These groups are not exactly the proverbial good-guys, (given their history of drug trafficking), however some of them represent ethnic groups that have faced murderous behavior from the Junta that amounts to little more than ethnic cleansing – much like this last week. They could be a valuable ally in this struggle. If China wants to support the Junta, then it will have to accept the consequences of such support as well as running the risk of destabilizing all of Southeast Asia. Let’s see if they like that shit sandwich?

In my opinion, the time is now to finally send a message to China – you cannot simply do what you please whenever you please (or not in this case) without stiff consequences from the rest of the non-communist, non-dictatorial, non-civil rights violating, non-murdering, countries in the world. For the sake of the human condition, our government must take a stand on this situation. I urge Nancy Pelosi (who is cool at best on China) and the rest of the Democrats to act on a resolution that will put these policies into motion. There is no reason why we should tolerate this type of behavior in the name of failed globalistic economic ideals. At some point, the sanctity of human life must supersede the garnering of oil on the totem pole of foreign policy. 

Cool Bumper Sticker Alert….

Here’s some bumper stickers for all of us cynics out there who despise Bush…

 

More cool stuff like this at www.tigereyedesigns.com

These bumper stickers are at this link…

http://www.democraticstuff.com/Anti-Bush-Bumper-Stickers-s/512.htm

An Original Bush-Related Poem I Think is Relevant…

 

The President’s War                                             

 George the Third ,the appointed one        

Who thinks he’s the anointed son,

Decided that he should start a war        

Many wonder what its for 

To the victor belongs the spoil,      

Beneath Iraq there’s much oil,

So many will die for the rich man’s sake,

The very thought should make one shake. 

This “Land of Liberty” I once was told         

Where freedom’s worth was more than gold,

Has no meaning anymore,         

When Bush can start a needless war. 

Many soldiers Bush has sent       

To take away the choice of government.

That this is done in Freedom’s name,        

Should make him hang his head in shame. 

                                                            – Ken Bellet

Is Larry Craig Kidding…He’s Coming Back?

 

Senator Craig mingled with fellow senators, cast several votes and had lunch with the same Republican caucus members who withheld support for him as his latest sex scandal exploded last month after a police sting operation in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. Senator Craig has said he will step down on September 30th – unless he can get his guilty plea in the case in Minnesota overturned by then. Amazing what lawyering up does to people. 

“Senator Craig is here representing Idaho, working on transition and meeting with his legal team,” said the senator’s spokesman Dan Whiting.

I’m a bit confused. Who in Idaho does Craig represent exactly? Does he represent gay men jonesing in public johns for a quick hit? Does he represent liars who abuse power and priveledge to weasel out of trouble when their caught dead – to – rights? Does he represent people who can’t accept their sexual identity and lead double lives as they cheat on their wives and deceive their children while they pursue their clandestine gay passions? 

Craig has taken conservative denial and ignorance to its absurd yet logical conclusion. The man is a collassal embarassment to Congressional office, but has let the drunken effect of unbridled power lead him into a selfish and destructive decision. It is fitting that Craig has decided to resist the pressure from his own party to resign. In this momentus battle of rock-headedness, the Republican party will be taking it in the shorts (metaphorically of course), as the most fundamental of conservative mantras comes home to roost courtesy of the Larry Craig bandwagon…the fact that conservatives never admit they are ever wrong…even when they’re caught.

Larry Craig is a buffoon who should do the American public a favor and dissappear into the night, or into a public bathroom… whatever looks more appealing. Moreover, he should try to wrap his mind around the fact that his desire did not do him in, his arrogance did. He’s a pathetic shell of a leader who is trying to recapture his coveted mantle of power, only to mask his contempt for his constituents as he lies to them, his family, and his colleagues, in the name of using that power as a vehicle to pursue his sexual agenda, while laying waste to truth and integrity. I urge the Republican Party to do America a favor, and force this cancer out if he decides to stay beyond September 30th.