CIA or Cheney in a World of Trouble

Just for argument sake it is safe to say that what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas when it comes to personal entertainment. In the same respects, what happens at the CIA should stay at the CIA no matter who or what political party is in power. Currently, the U.S. Attorney General is opening an investigation into what happened with interrogations of enemies of the United States of America during the Bush Presidency. That would include the CIA and anyone that gave orders to the CIA to do that funky stuff that we could only hope that never could happen to you or I. That means looking into interoggation techniques used on people that would kill you or me in a heartbeat if given a knife, gun, rusty piece of steel pipe or whatever weapon their hands could reach. They don’t need a reason to kill you or I other than the fact that our birth certificate makes you and I an American citizen. Open and shut case or argument.

Eric H. Holder Jr. is putting his dogs on the scent of a suspected crime against American values and laws during the Bush administration and that is his job. If laws are broken by government employees no matter where they work, it is his obligation and the oath of office he swore to uphold to look into and investigate appropriately. That is what the U.S. Attorney General is supposed to do even if his boss, the President, suggests that he back off. Is this a case of what was decided in D.C. should have stayed in Langley, VA? Attorney General Holder appointed John Durham who by all means of the words fair and balanced is a fair and balanced investigator to find the truth of what happened when and if United States laws were broken by the CIA. This next quote is from the U.S. Attorney General himself on 8/24/09…

"Assistant United States Attorney John Durham was appointed in 2008 by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations. During the course of that investigation, Mr. Durham has gained great familiarity with much of the information that is relevant to the matter at hand.

Accordingly, I have decided to expand his mandate to encompass this related review. Mr. Durham, who is a career prosecutor with the Department of Justice and who has assembled a strong investigative team of experienced professionals, will recommend to me whether there is sufficient predication for a full investigation into whether the law was violated in connection with the interrogation of certain detainees.” - ATTY Generals Office

I don’t see any issue with the CIA doing what they are paid and entrusted to do and that is to protect America from outside sources that can or could bring harm to our people. I do have to beg and plead with you to consider one thought to really think about concerning the article from the Washington Post and Carrie Johnson and that would be the outside CONTRACTORS that the CIA hired to do what the CIA is supposed to be trained and paid to do.

You hire a contractor to put an addition on your house, or rewire your house, or landscape your yard. Hell even businesses hire contractors to put a new roof on the building. When did the government outsource interrogation of possible enemies of the United States to a freakin’ outside contractor? What the hell are we paying the CIA for if we can just go to the Yellow Pages and dial up terrorist interrogators? Maybe even get a discount coupon for twenty or more people needing to be interrogated?

The truth needs to come out just like Dick Cheney wants to tell the world in his new book that his boss was a wimp and he was the real Czar on terrorist defense. History is funny and I’m thinking that my friends on the right side of politics may have been right. President Bush may not have been the dick (Cheney) after all.

Bring on the special prosecutor! It will be extremely interesting to see how far up the chain of command that the thought of our laws actually have no meaning. In the rear view mirror and looking at this situation, the CIA shouldn't be put on trial for following orders from a civilian government. Following orders at the CIA from the boss is no different than a Marine told to charge ahead in battle. Same mission, just a different objective. You do what you are told and that is what you do. The ones needing to be prosecuted are the people that said "No Matter What It Takes!"

Papamoka

A Storm May Be Gathering in the East

Hello Papamoka Bloggers! Michael Jackson's death - may he rest in peace - came at a fascinating and highly uncertain time geopolitically, distracting us from a darkening political storm in the Middle East.

I'm talking about the clear rejection of religious fundamentalism in Iran - despite the government coup, which I will ignore to make a point. When you combine it with the anti-fundamentalist victory in Lebanon a few weeks ago, the two are very significant. Sadly, they may also represent bad news. Why? I have a theory.

President Obama's speech in Cairo went a long way to encourage moderates in both Lebanon and Iran to get off their backsides and vote against the mullahs. Of course, the Iranian government helped by giving it's electorate every indication their votes would count. They even held a few debates. Amazing, what were they thinking?

Those victories prove to many Middle East experts that people want more freedom, and that things may start to change even more - if Egypt begins to fracture, watch out. The problem is that whenever moderates stand up to extremists all kinds of bad things can happen, such as in Iran. Change that spins out of control can be disasterous, such as when the entrenched leadership begins to feel threatened. The way they are feeling today in Iran, and possibly even Eqypt.

Don't get me wrong, I realize the status quo doesn't work, and we all loved it when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, but it's clear the Middle East is a powder keg and once ignited it could lead to worldwide conflict. One very dark sign is the growing Iranian-Russian-Chinese alliance - in various forms. Another is the possibility of a fundamentalist crack-down across the Middle East, igniting chaos. I'm convinced that's why more leaders aren't speaking-out. Nobody wants to be responsible for open conflict and mass murder.

Bush was the beginning. He lit the Middle East fuse with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - two places ill-equipped to handle Western democracy and the freedoms that come with it. Nevertheless, his actions started the pieces moving across the board. Sadly, despite his potential for domestic success, Obama's legacy will most likely be seen through the same presidential prism of the Middle East. Did he control events in the Middle East after Bush, or did he allow them to spin out-of-control?

You see, there is one very hard-to-predict variable. He is the very hard-headed, right-wing Benjamin Netanyahu. I would like to think that he's a Nixon-China kind of guy, but my gut tells me he's more from the Bush-Iraq school. If I were to see the glass-as-half-empty, I would guess he's the George W II. That to me is a terrifying prospect.

He's already ignoring the significance of the Iranian-Russian-Chinese alliance (a typical neo-con), as well as Obama's request to control settlement construction and focus on the Road Map. Instead, he seems to be taking his marching orders from the Republicans and the far-right in America.

Personally, I think he's in bed with the Bush-Cheney branch of the GOP, who are all pushing Israel to bomb Iran before it has the chance to threaten the existence of Israel - no matter what Obama says about it.

If Israel bombs Iran, then President Obama and the Democrats will lose their entire agenda - both domestic and international. The Republicans would use the conflict to divide, conquer, win votes and take back power. Right or wrong, as usual they would maneuver to benefit from the chaos. Poor Obama would be forced to spend his time and energy cleaning-up another conflict created by an irresponsible, paranoid and pernicious far-right.

Of course, the scariest outcome is that America could be dragged into a regional or world conflict. One clear sign of chaos would be a potential threat to President Mubarak in Egypt. Don't scoff at the possibility. It may even be secretly supported by Russia and China; the two powers who would love to see America's primary African ally on the Nile fall to extremists - at least the kind they could do business with.

Despite all my hope for Obama and my glass-is-half-full mentality, I'm terrified of the uncompromising and paranoid extremists embodied by the neo-con Republicans, Netanyahu and Ahmadinejad. President Obama and Secretary Clinton must pull off a diplomatic miracle soon to make sure the international far-right doesn't get another war.

Netanyahu must be made to tow the line. Ahmadinejad must be undermined to prevent Israel from using him as an excuse. Obama must lead and control events in the Middle East to prevent more conflict.

I also think Obama needs to act quickly to fire most of the Bushies still in government - especially those within the DOD, STATE and INTELLIGENCE. He should not trust them. They represent a possible shadow government operating within his own Administration. Unless he acts quickly to make sure that he has full control, anything is possible. This is something that has been worrying me since he took office.

It's clear that President Obama is a change agent. Now we need to make sure the change is the right change. There are hot spots throughout history involving change - think the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Kristallnacht and 9/11, and I think we may be witnessing another one about to hit - for good or bad.

Let's hope that while most Americans are spending this weekend mourning the death of the King of Pop, a potential Earth-shattering clash isn't brewing in the Middle East between East and West. Let's hope that President Obama can control the international far-right agenda led by the GOP and Netanyahu, and that angry religious fundamentalists don't light the world on fire.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

What is Pelosi Hiding

When it comes to this nation using torture, authorizing its use, and engaging or contemplating in the practice of torture, political parties on both sides of the aisle are showing severe signs of guilt and our representatives in our government, based on the land of the free are not innocent by any means. Even leaders in high positions in our Congress such as the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is waffling on what she knew and how she knew it. Speaker Pelosi is dodging the Sunday news shows that more or less ask the most pertinent questions based on the latest issues. Running from them is a sign of guilt in my honest opinion and Speaker Pelosi has refused all interviews for Sunday.

Pelosi turns down Sunday show invitations
By Emily Goodin
Posted: 05/16/09 03:03 PM [ET]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) turned down invitations to be on several Sunday morning talk shows and is instead spending the weekend with her family.

The Speaker was invited to appear on NBC's "Meet the Press,” ABC's "This Week,” “Fox News Sunday” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” according to sources at the networks.

One source said Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be attending her granddaughter's first communion in Phoenix on Sunday. - The Hill

Video Link


A person in the position of Speaker of the House has to be very careful what they say and how they say it. Speaker Pelosi claims that she was never told the truth by the CIA on the issue of torture and when it was first raised under the Bush Presidency and yet the new Director of the CIA under President Obama claims she was told the truth. So who is telling the truth? I’m betting my poker chips on neither and just folding my hand. That doesn’t make me a fool, it just lets me play the next set of cards and study who is better at bluffing the media into thinking that Pelosi is innocent, the CIA is innocent, or that former Vice President Cheney was a political guru in manipulating the media once more. When everything is said and done, Cheney went on the Sunday morning news shows, he pointed out his reasons to defend torture. (I still think he is the Anti-Christ) So why is Speaker Pelosi avoiding the Sunday news circuit when it could clear her of any doubt?

If Speaker Pelosi has nothing to hide then I’m sure that the networks would have been willing to accommodate her for a delayed broadcast if she had personal family obligations. All of the networks would have flown their crews to her. This is the news story for the week! And yes a grandchild’s first communion is a valid reason for not attending the Sunday news requests for a guest spot. And yet something still smells funny and I can’t put my fingers on it.

If you look at the torture issue with an open political mind then many people are guilty of compliance and allowing it to happen. No political party is innocent and it was a severe lack in judgment by all affiliated with our nation endorsing and using torture against an enemy that has no qualms against killing thousands for the sake of their twisted belief in God. Is President Obama wrong to think that this issue, all of the people involved and prosecuted under his predecessors orders could be detrimental to moving on and making sure that it never happens again?

If we are to be true to ourselves as Liberal American’s then we need to look at those amongst us that have not served the standards we expect our leaders to stand up to. If the Speaker of the House has a clear conscience then she should have gone out of her way to clear her name on Saturday when she was available and then had the full right to have chucked the bird at the Sunday news shows.

What are you hiding Speaker Pelosi? This Liberal Democrat wants to know! And how does this help Darth Cheney and President Bush look innocent when it comes to torture? Is Speaker Pelosi playing right into the Cheney mastermind of the media? We shall see. Or as my cousin Jules says, only God will ever know.

Papamoka

Thanks to Memeorandum for the hat tip!

Obama Changes Position On Torture Prosecution

I should start off this post that I am a firm believer that those that endorsed torture during the Bush AKA I’m really the President Cheney administration deserve no respect or gratitude from any American citizen. We live in a land of laws, and in those laws are protections of not only our citizens but our enemies. Believing in our nation comes with a price and that price is full respect of the law that we not only pass in this nation but laws we agree to as a nation with the rest of the world. That can get complicated but Prisoners Of War, POW’s, deserve fair treatment from every nation in the world. That may first sound ridiculous but how many Vietnam POW’s do you know that faced horrible torture? Just ask John McCain while he isn’t on the campaign trail on his true feelings and thoughts on torture.

President Obama today stated that he is now open to the justice department looking into prosecuting the people that authorized torture under the guise of US Government protection of America. With limitations? Over at MSNBC they have this video with President Obama explaining his change in position when it comes to prosecuting anyone involved with torture…

Video Link

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Freedom comes with a price, and that price is an understanding of what is right and what is wrong. It’s called the law of the land. In respect to President Bush and what part he and his co-horts played in this torture debate, I have to honestly think they deserve a full Presidential pardon from President Obama. President Bush swore to respect and defend America as best he could and that is what he did. He dropped the ball on respecting America but he did in fact defend America to the best of his sometimes incompetent abilities. How Bush defended America after 9/11 is up to historians to decide and not for lawyers, prosecutors, and courts to decide. An American President swears to defend America first above all else, how he or eventually she does that is for them to decide. I'm pretty sure that this Liberal is extemely controversial on this issue in asking for a pardon for President Bush. Screw Cheney though!

As for Dick Cheney, former Vice President, all of his talk on the networks is turning the tide of many moderates that used to be in the Republican Party against the Republican Party. People that have sons and daughters in the military want to know that if our government endorses torture, which Cheney denied originally, will not have their sons and daughters tortured. Parents want to know for sure that our sons and daughters will not face the same forms of torture today or in the future if their children serve proudly in America’s military. Any argument Cheney gives defending torture is an argument that has no weight to it. Go back to your hidey hole in Wyoming Dick and shut the hell up! America has grown up since the days of we must live in fear forever after 9/11. It just isn’t in our blood to do so.

The world is a much smaller place than it used to be and we need to work with our friends in the world to make it a better place to live, if not just for today but for decades to come.

Papamoka

Biden Beeyatch Slaps Cheney

Former Vice President Cheney is no longer under his rock in an undisclosed location and for the record from this political writer, I liked it better when he was under the rock. There should be laws across the land against letting shotgun misfiring, drunken Vice President’s out in public. Can we at the least insist on the Ogre rule and that all of them should keep to their swamps and whatever dwelling they choose to habitat once they are OUT of political office. I’m not sure about you but I am fed up with this piece of crap former Vice President, let me repeat that last part, VICE PRESIDENT, dictating to the new America what a screw up President Obama is. Has Cheney looked in the mirror and at his former “Deciderer” in Chief? Cheney spouts off as if he was the President which leads me to ask the obvious question, who was the actual President Dick?

Vice President Joe Biden has had enough too and he more or less told Dick Cheney to stop being… Umm, a close resemblance to the mail reproductive organ. Over at CNN, VP Biden slapped the Dickster upside the head with his Darklord gloom and doom thoughts on President Obama…

Video Link



Dick Cheney has no clue as to what the respect of the office of President is. Former Presidents like W. have shown an amazing amount of control in keeping his thoughts to himself. Ya don’t hear squat from W. because he knows how tough the job is and the last thing you need to hear is a former wannabe a W. preaching to the quire as to what the President should or should not do. Dick Cheney should go back to his hidey hole and just stay there. Not a damn peep out of ya Dick or we will sick the attack dog in full force on ya. Friging Puttz!

Papamoka

American Fear

Hello Bloggers - As many of you already know, I've been on the "Save American Justice" bandwagon lately hoping for leading Democrats and Obama to take a strong position against the Bush lawbreakers since the inauguration. Unfortunately, I may be giving up on convincing our Republican friends based on numerous recent debates.

To be blunt, I'm having trouble meeting ANY Republicans - yes, I mean ANY - that are willing to admit that Bush went too far. They always defend Bush as honest at first, but when pressed with the facts they always turn to a "laws and the Constitution be damned" response. The "he kept us safe" and "that's all that matters" argument always prevails. Many finish with "the ends justify the means" even if they don't always realize they're saying it.

No matter what I say to them, our nation's founding principles of justice, humanity, and fair play during wartime mean very little to today's frightened Republican minority. They are completely uninterested in fair play these days. They seem almost brainwashed.

Our nation's "rules of engagement" have been pretty much the same since George Washington fought the British. Our founding father was a great example of fair play, despite the atrocities committed at that time. A few Americans have been charged with war crimes during past wars, but so far America has been considered a role model on how to act during times of crisis. American presidents have been pretty great leaders, representing our higher ideals during conflict, by and large.

America helped create the international conventions that guide civilized modern conflict. We always fought to protect civilians and war prisoners on all sides for decades. We didn't waiver on our principles in the past despite enemy atrocities and crimes. We always took the high road, hoping to serve as a good example of what is right in the world. Until Bush and his sheep-like Republicans, we were a shining example of good in the world - that "shining city on a hill" that Reagan liked so much.

The Republicans I've been talking to recently all seem willing to do "whatever it takes" to keep us safe. They all seem unconcerned with past rules of engagement. They seem to feel that "everything has changed in the world." I'm sure our forefathers would disagree with them if they could share some of their horror stories. I don't care what you say, but this nation has faced horrible enemies for over two centuries, and I'm sure we can handle a few thousand religious, pirate-like zealots, without abandoning our principles.

Bush and Cheney somehow brainwashed a large part of America into profoundly changing their national mindset. "9/11 changed everything" is a phrase they use far too often, and one that should be eliminated from our national debate. Their "war on terror" is also counterproductive.

The conservatives I've debated seem perfectly comfortable with the idea of torture ("on Americans if necessary" was said), eavesdropping ("on AMERICANS too" was mentioned), open-ended suspension of habeus corpus, soldiers on our streets, detention camps, neighborhood informants, private armies, and even genocide against those who they say "threaten our existence." It's very black and white with them. There is a rancid, ugly fear out there today, and it's mostly coming from Republicans. Let's hope our democracy holds; a potential dictator could have a field-day with today's Republican minority.

Bush, Cheney and the irresponsible right-wing media have helped turn a large chunk of Americans into pathetic, frightened cowards. Yes, if that applies to you, that's what I consider you - a COWARD! Yes, I said it, a COWARD!

That's what I've been calling my Republican friends who espouse undermining our national principles out of fear. You see, I would rather we risk our lives, and remain brave Americans, than sacrifice the best of what this nation is about - justice and human decency - out of fear. YES, I said it, and I mean it. OUR LIVES, ALL OUR LIVES, EVEN YOURS! For God's sake Republicans, grow a pair! Trust me, I'll feel the same way if we're attacked again. Being attacked will change NOTHING! NOTHING!

Just like our soldiers, we need to stand-up for what we believe in. Our nation needs to be an example for good in this world. No matter how bad they get, we need to stay above it. We need to always treat our enemies as human beings. Justice should not be sacrificed at the alter of fear. I will never stop fighting to preserve our national honor and system of justice. We need to fight to remain a just and honorable nation.

Michael Boh

Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor

from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Is Bush Thinking He is Harry Truman

I think I need to make it loud and clear that George Bush is not Harry Truman. Harry Truman let the buck stop at his desk. He road the waste in government as a Democrat and went after people and companies that tried screwing over the American people in the federal budget. George Bush could not pass all the bucks forward fast enough as President and he was not and will not ever be looked at as a Harry Truman President. Oil companies not excepted, George Bush has never met a military contractor as well that he didn’t like and Haliburton was his favorite son that just happened to move it’s headquarters from his own home state of Texas to Dubai in the Middle East to escape any future prosecution for war profiteering. That was convenient was it not?

President Bush is distancing himself in the closing weeks of his administration from the war on terror or should I say distancing his excuses for it. Granted, the attack on 9/11 happened but the way that it was dealt with was dead wrong. Going to war in Afghanistan was justified because that was where Osama Bin Laden based his attack from and that government justified it as righteous. Iraq however was a personal debt that George Bush owed to Sadam Hussein and his father. Sadam threatened to kill his father for the Gulf War. George Bush pulled a gang land vendetta pay back with the most powerful military in the world for personal reasons. The cost of that personal war on terror is more than all the lives lost on 9/11.

George Bush can not walk out of the office of President lily white and clean and he will more or less not even blink an eye on the pardons he is going to dole out like candy to kids attending a parade. The handfuls of pardons will go out loud and clear to his political base and they are frankly demanding them. There is not one crime committed on his behalf that will not be pardoned. Wire tapping, torture, market manipulation, and just about anything that was good for the rich and bad for the middle and lower class. His record shows how he really feels about veterans and how they are only of use to him if they are actually fighting in the field. After that, those veterans more or less have to go fend for themselves. His backing of the VA is all you need to see how hollow his defense of veterans has been.

How the folks on the right side of the political aisle think that George Bush was a Godsend to America I will never understand. Somehow, President Bush thinks he has a firm record to stand on but from my perspective I see him about to stand on the quicksand of history. And it may take three or more Democrat administrations in the office of President to fix all the damage he has done to the Constitution and common law in the United States.

Over at The Weekly Standard they have this thought on whom President Bush should pardon in his last days in office…

One last thing: Bush should consider pardoning--and should at least be vociferously praising--everyone who served in good faith in the war on terror, but whose deeds may now be susceptible to demagogic or politically inspired prosecution by some seeking to score political points. The lawyers can work out if such general or specific preemptive pardons are possible; it may be that the best Bush can or should do is to warn publicly against any such harassment or prosecution. But the idea is this: The CIA agents who waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the NSA officials who listened in on phone calls from Pakistan, should not have to worry about legal bills or public defamation. In fact, Bush might want to give some of these public servants the Medal of Freedom at the same time he bestows the honor on Generals Petraeus and Odierno. They deserve it. - The Weekly Standard

I’m thinking that President Bush is going to chuck America the finger one last time on his last day in office with ridiculous pardons that will more or less cripple the Justice Department from investigating the actual crimes he and his Vice President committed. What was good for Bush is off limits to prosecute and the President Elect is left holding his luggage just because Bush and Cheney left him the baggage. History in tens of years from now will show us all how much corruption and manipulation has taken place under President Bush. Only then will he go down in the disgrace he rightfully deserves.

George Bush is leaving the White House with a legacy of ignorance and intolerance for all other nations in the world. He has crippled the diplomatic corps of the United States that has been built up from one President to another over decades and hundreds of years. President Elect Obama has his work cut out for him and the simplest path is to simply say that “We” are not George Bush.

Hold your head up high as an American, the political waters are going to get ugly with facts over the next decade as real reporters talk about the deception filled Bush administration. The truth always surfaces no matter how much it is held under the waters of politics and government.

Papamoka

Obama Administration and the Media

Is it just me or is it that all of the media is going nuts over every appointment that President elect Obama makes. He isn’t even President yet and those that fought hard for him to be elected are slamming him for his choices. Why in hell did you fight for him to be elected then? I’m thinking that the next great chapter in this nation was based in Yes We Can and then followed up by No You Can’t! It is not even funny how the bloggers have turned sideways to now look for dirt on the man that has not even taken the oath of President and it disgusts me.

Why did we back him if we did not believe in Barack Obama. If he needs Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State then he needs Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. Tell me one other person more qualified for the position? Any other person in your thoughts for the position does not have the ear of a former President of this nation. Together Obama and Clinton can heal the damage done over the last decade and maybe America can finally concentrate on our problems at home. Hillary Clinton should be the next Secretary of State, the Senate will not begrudge her this position and she will serve for the higher purpose that she is more than capable of fulfilling.

Yes we can make this nation better but we need to know that all obstacles will be put in front of the Obama Administration before he even takes office. All of the media is already in attack mode against the hope that the 44th President will begin working on as soon as his hand is removed from the holy bible. Everyone President Obama selects for any position will be under the media scope and up for all kinds of specualtion and bad mouthed even though they have not even served the next President. We can’t heal this nation if this is just another one party system and full of a one party only looking out for its own interests. We as a people need to look past the false hope that the media speculates on and believe that there is never anything wrong with hope.

I have a personal problem with attacking a politician that has not even taken an oath of office, served in the office, or even made one decision as President. Maybe the rest of the media and bloggers can get away with it but I don’t dare to travel there. As President elect Obama can pick his cabinet, pro or con, his staff, his counsel, and even his damn own pajamas. I’m sure the First Lady Elect has some opinion on that matter but get the hell out on all the other over speculation on what he is going to do! He gave you over twenty months on what he wants to tackle and the Bush administration has given him two months on the screw ups that he will have to deal with. I can picture the last day of the Bush Presidency…

President Bush, President Obama, President Obama, President Bush Crap. Would you like a doggie bag for that till you take full control of the West Wing and the White House President Obama? President Bush will not be taking this buffet home with him so feel free to toss it in the White House fridge on January 20th. The Vice President has the reheating instructions but we can’t tell you where he is do to states secrets and super duper security measures that KBR will not allow us to reveal.

Don’t blame Obama for Bush and Company lax homeland issue attention deficit disorder. Bush and Cheney screwed over America and apparently they are not done. According to my co-writer Michael Boh the $700 Billion bailout for Wall Street was the last rape of America and her taxpayers. Apparently, that blank check authored by the Bush Administration was just that, a blank check.

So do you think Obama is going to allow this go unchecked? Is President Obama not going to go after this drain on all of our nations treasury without somebody doing jail time? Ummm, he can’t! The Congress agreed to it and passed it with the stipulation that the Treasury Secretary could distribute the funds as he deemed necessary.

Maybe we should focus the attention of the media and our blog’s on what kind of garbage and last minute deals the Bush administration is going to try and pull off. Trust me, Bush will surpass by thousands the number of pardons anyone before him has signed. Do a favor, owe a favor. It is almost as if the Presidency of the last eight years was actually the Soprano’s and organized crime. Watch the pardons and you will see who actually served George W. Bush best. Even Karl Rove will be given and unconditional pardon just to cover President Bush ass.

Sometimes you have to look back to make sure that you can look forward.

Papamoka

New Regulations and Bush Last Days

All over the news fit to report is the fact that President Bush is going to ram through hundreds if not thousands of regulations that would tie his successor Barack Obama down to eventaully look like an ass. Bush pased it, Obama owns it and can not overturn it easily. From clean water to power generation, to toxic waste dumping to you name it and Bush and company is going for one last screw you America. Bush is going to regulate it alll and make the message that Obama won the Presidency illegitimately. With only a 28% approval rating President Bush is going to burn all the bridges that lead to the White House because he is a spoiled rotten brat. Not that we did not know that already but he needs mom to stop by more often to wipe his snivels and tears of his ludicrous lack of popularity.

You know that old story that if you don’t lie you never have to remember the lie? Well the Republican Party lied to America and in this case, they are stuck with the lie that they passed to protect President Bush from Bill Clinton in his last days as President. Damn you double edged swords! Who authorized sharpening both edges of that political blade?

Over at Politico they have this to say on last minute regulation changes by Bush and Screw You America Incorporated…

Congressional Democrats are eyeing a little-known, Clinton-era law as a way to reverse Bush administration midnight regulations — even ones that have already taken effect.

It’s a move that would undermine the White House’s attempt to finalize its energy and environmental regulations by November so that Barack Obama couldn’t undo them after he’s sworn in as the 44th president on Jan. 20.

“Fortunately, [the White House] made a mistake,” said a top Senate Democratic aide.

Last May, White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten instructed federal agency heads to make sure any new regulations were finalized by Nov. 1. The memo didn’t spell it out, but the thinking behind the directive was obvious. As Myron Ebell of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute put it: “We’re not going to make the same mistakes the Clinton administration did.”

President Bill Clinton finalized regulations within 60 days of the 2001 inauguration, meaning Bush could come in and easily reverse them.

It could take Obama years to undo climate rules finalized more than 60 days before he takes office — the advantage the White House sought by getting them done by Nov. 1. But that strategy doesn’t account for the Congressional Review Act of 1996.

The law contains a clause determining that any regulation finalized within 60 legislative days of congressional adjournment is considered to have been legally finalized on the 15th legislative day of the new Congress, likely sometime in February. Congress then has 60 days to review it and reverse it with a joint resolution that can’t be filibustered in the Senate.

In other words, any regulation finalized in the last half-year of the Bush administration could be wiped out with a simple party-line vote in the Democrat-controlled Congress. - Politico

Then we have this over at MSNBC that has this talking point on the issue…

Video Link



Pay close attention these next few weeks and months, the election is already in the history books but the deception from the Bush administration has only just begun. President Bush is going to chuck America the finger and show all of us who is really in control and has the power. As soon as he lands in Crawford Texas law enforcement people should put him in handcuffs and put him in an orange prison jump suit. No President in the history of this nation has ever been so corrupt and in the tank for his own special interest friends. How many ways does he have to chuck us the bird and then declare himself a public servant to the people before we all get the joke?

I’m so glad that Precedent Bush and Company put out enough rope to hang themselves with because of the way he and his friends have left our nation, we really can not afford to buy the rope ourselves. Anyone have a coupon?

Papamoka

Real Clear Politics Polls

Over at Real Clear Politics (RCP) they are showing a huge move from red state to moderate, middle of the road, on the fence thinking about their votes for Obama over McCain. This is a huge upset for the Republican Party and the damage is their political parties own damn fault! All of the lies, deception, “Can’t touch me”, and “Those laws do not apply to me because I am an elected official of the US Congress” are catching up fast and furious to the red state Republican’s. That and the fact that the current President has pretty much torn up the Constitution because his interpretation of “We the People” is far different than what the founding father’s actually stated. That might explain his current approval rating at 28% and the Congress at 17%.

I’m going to be straight with you and tell you right now that the next election will look nothing like the past two for President of the United States of America. This will not be even a close race for several reasons and I’ll list them out for you. Number one is the war in Iraq and the lies that lead all of us into it. WMD’s were a lie, Yellow Cake was a lie and the Plame scandal outing a CIA operative in the field just added up to more lies on top of more lies.

Number two is the corruption or thought of probable corruption with no bid contracts for that war with the largest of chunks of billions of tax dollars going to none other than the former firm CEO that is our Republican Vice President Dick Cheney. Then to avoid the long arm of the law the firm Cheney once headed pulled up stakes in America and moved its world headquarters to… Dubai!

Three, and this one is really important, the mass exodus of die hard conservative and staunch Republicans from red states through resignation or indictment that supposedly had strong “Family Values” but assisted in, were part of, tried covering up, or were actually accused of sexually deviant adventures as elected members of the Congress. You can not preach family values, God, the Bible, and American values and then do the exact opposite.

Four, Americans do not like to be told that you just have to deal with it because you are an oil addict. President Bush’s only answer to our nations energy crisis and the cost of gas at the pump is to drill for more oil, not research programs to fund alternative sources exploration, not science programs to expand our knowledge of potential new resources, just a slap upside the head from a former oil executive that “We the People” are addicts and should be ashamed. President Bush has never, not once, nope, not even during a time of war asked “We the People” to cut back, conserve energy during a time of war. Just his statement that we should all go “Shopping”!

Last but not least, coming in fifth is the tax cuts for millionaires that President Bush passed and Senator McCain who as a Conservative once thought was a fiscal disaster now wants to keep in the worst way. Ergo, taxes on the rich are bad, which McCain is in fact one, with his wife’s assets estimated at over $100 million dollars. Passing the buck to the little people makes more sense somehow in McCain's mind. After all there is more of them than people like him above it all so to speak.

With all of these reasons, John McCain with his following of Bush on every major issue is in fact a clone now known as John McBush. People see through the path that Bush once plowed into a field that will never even grow weeds and that is why the following states are now no longer diehard red states:

Nevada
Colorado
New Mexico (Bush wanted to Annex it but it was already a state)
Missouri
Indiana
Ohio
Virginia
North Carolina
Florida

Dare I add other states to this list? Damn straight if Obama shows some Presidential potential backbone on his current trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. Provided Obama does not screw up Sunni and Shia and other tribes names in Iraq, forget the name of the current leader in any nation he visits, or misspeak on any issue relevant to the nation he is in during this trip, then he should or could change the polling numbers by a large percentage in other red states as well. Just a thought for you to think about, if you are worried about his messing up facts and details… Obama is a Harvard University graduate that was at the top of his class. He studies topics and recalls them fairly well when asked about it. He is not George Bush or John McCain. He is never one to quote Homer Simpson with a “Dhut” explanation.

When you really think about it, the Bush administration has allowed corporate America to run shotgun on our economy and in doing so we have lost our way on how to be the best in the world. While not just jobs but entire industries have been sent overseas the current occupant of the Presidency is the actual cause for this failing economy and is still looking the other way. So is the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America.

Salvation, hope, whatever you want to call it is not in electing just a President but electing someone that actually believes in honest change for the better. While McCain is grasping and gasping for the Bush 28% approval rating he has lost his way like oh so many of us in America. change of the status quo just isn't in his heart and he can not sell it. That is why "We the People" will change our own lives for better times come November.

Papamoka

Iraq to America, Go Away!

While all the folks on the political right side of the isle are selling one hundred years in Iraq the Prime Minister in cahoots with the Bush Administration is asking us to leave. Which raises the question if they can stand on their own, ride that bicycle without the training wheels and be self sufficient? Forget all the hyperbole of everything we need to fear by all the right wing pundits and think about what the message of the Bush administration is. Iraq should be free. Doesn’t freedom mean not having foreign troops on your soil too?

Over at the Washington Post they have this to say on Maliki’s plea for freedom…

Iraq's Maliki Suggests Setting Timetable for U.S. Withdrawal

U.S. Has Consistently Opposed Establishing Timeline for Troop Drawdown

By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 7, 2008; 1:22 PM

BAGHDAD, July 7 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has for the first time suggested establishing a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, a step that the Bush administration has long opposed.

Maliki floated the idea on Monday during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he spoke with Arab ambassadors about a security pact being negotiated to determine the future role of U.S. troops in Iraq. The agreement would replace a U.N. mandate authorizing the presence of the troops, which is set to expire Dec. 31.

Maliki said that Iraq has proposed a short-term memorandum of understanding with the United States instead of trying to forge a longer term pact on an issue that has spawned opposition across Iraq's political divides.

"The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal," Maliki said, according to a statement released Monday by his office that did not specify how long a period a memorandum would cover. "In all cases, the basis for any agreement will be respect for the full sovereignty of Iraq." - Washington Post

This does not play well into the McCain for President spin where we need to be in Iraq for another hundred years. It certainly does not play well in the Bush nation building play book either. How the hell is he going to attack Iran if our troops are not already in the neighborhood? Damn it! This messes up the whole Middle East crisis.

Forget the Middle East, what about all the layoffs from all the special interest groups feeding at the trough of the Bush/Cheney mega war O profit machine? Where in hell are they supposed to find jobs paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for serving hot dogs to our troops on Independence Day? This is a crisis of biblical terms when it comes to the GOP!

President Bush is probably trying to find a bottle of hundred proof booze as Dick Cheney is loading his shot gun and booking a trip to Baghdad for a hunting trip, wink, wink. This was not part of the nation building plan. This is not a good thing when Johnny wannabe McCain is supposed to fill Junior Bush's shoes.

Papamoka

Obama‘s Fear of Muslims

With the right wing conspiracy rampant on the fear and labeling of Barack Obama as a Muslim it was not inconceivable for his political campaign staff to ask two Muslim women to take another seat. Seats not in view of the camera while he spoke. It’s politics and you don’t hand your opponent a weapon that they have already chosen!

Feeding right into this controversy is the main stream media with their own version of political correctness. Excuse me while I just label this story as ignorant of politics and how the game is played. Look for the latest flier from the McCain camp running this issue up the flag pole while beating the we are family drum of his newly revamped definition of American values. Then watch for the Cheney and Bush ventriloquist show on McCain who used to have a voice on his own prior to the Bush endorsement. You might have noticed the President choking back on a little bit of bile during that speech. AKA a little bit of vomit in the back of his throat.

This little two bit story feeds to the ignorance in knowing who the candidates are and only proves out that Karl Rove is alive and well and working for John McCain.

Obama apologizes to Muslim women barred from seats
Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:36pm EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama apologized on Thursday to two Muslim women who were barred from sitting behind the podium where Obama was speaking because they were wearing Islamic headscarves.

At a campaign rally in Detroit on Monday, Shimaa Abdelfadeel and Hebba Aref were prevented by volunteers from taking seats behind Obama that would have been in view of television cameras, apparently because of their headscarves.

"I reached out to Ms. Aref and Ms. Abdelfadeel this afternoon," Obama said in a statement. "I spoke with Ms. Abdelfadeel, and expressed my deepest apologies for the incident that occurred with volunteers at the event in Detroit."

Obama said the volunteers' actions were "unacceptable and in no way reflect any policy of my campaign." - Reuters

President Bush has had a history of public speaking engagements where it was and is by invitation only. It makes for good publicity and news broadcasts when you hide the fact that most Americans hate him and his policies concerning our nation. You can Google search that fact. Senator Obama is only guilty of having a political campaign staff trying to stem the ignorance that he is not a Muslim.

If you think I’m kidding about the Obama ignorance factor when it comes to his religion then just ask someone at random. When you hear the replies then by all means quote facts and not innuendo or some commercial put out by a group that is motivated just to end the possibility of change in America. Change in the American way of life comes with a price and that price is education and the truth that bares no obligations to any political party.

What I find ironic about all of this issue is the fact that we are looking at a shiney object over here and forgetting the fact that this nation is in a world of trouble. Our country is broken and the answers to the problems is not in what you see but in the thoughts to make it better and not worse. While John McCain is telling you what to fear, being Bush 3.0, Barack Obama is telling you what you need to hear. That is the difference between the two of them running for President of these here United States of America. Obama is telling the truth while McCain hopes you believe the spin.

Papamoka

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Muslim, Barack Obama, McCain, Political racism, President, Elections, Karl Rove, Republican Tricks, Dirty Politics, Bush again, Cheney

Bush Consistent Deafness to Unemployed

One has to give President Bush credit for being unrealistically consistent. He’s threatening his mighty veto pen if Congress passes an extension of benefits for our nations growing unemployed. Bush is true to form even when it comes to telling the unemployed to get a paper route you lazy good for nothing leaches. Especially, those folks in states with robust economies, there is no excuse for these unemployed people to not work according to President Bush. There is just one problem with his thinking. The jobs he sold out to God knows who overseas were once good paying American made jobs no longer exist. The economy in America with good jobs at great wages has morphed under his watch into an environment where no amount of higher education will guarantee you a well paying job.

President Bush I swear is an economic idiot in thinking that a job is a job, and a paycheck is a paycheck. An engineering job is not the same pay grade as the person manning the French fry baskets at the local McDonald’s. McDonald’s might be a great place to work but it doesn’t afford the paycheck needed to pay down college loans for any college degree, pay for health insurance for your family, or even pay for a mortgage once obtained by a person with a higher education position.

Over at the New York Times they have this to say on Bush threatening a Veto if unemployment benefits are extended by the Congress…

House Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 12, 2008
Filed at 2:51 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House on Thursday approved an extra three months of jobless benefits for all unemployed Americans, knowing the plan's chances are slight in the Senate and almost nonexistent at the White House.

After failing to get a veto-proof two-thirds margin Wednesday, Democrats said they pushed the legislation through to the Senate anyway, on a 274-137 vote, to help Americans survive a slumping economy.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week increased by 25,000 from the week before. The unemployment rate in May jumped to 5.5 percent, up from 5 percent in April. It was the biggest one-month gain in 22 years.

"The American people are waiting to see if Congress is going to help them," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

But the White House already has threatened to veto the bill, and Senate Democrats have said they won't try and force their Republican colleagues to consider the House legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will try to bring up the House bill, but he won't force the issue if Senate Republicans object. "We're not wasting weeks" on it, he said. Instead, Reid said, Democrats might attach the jobless benefits extension to the Iraq war spending bill, a move also opposed by the White House.

The White House and Republicans said a bill targeting unemployment benefits only to states that have high unemployment would be more palatable to them. The Democrats' plan "is dead on arrival," House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said. "The Senate's not going to take it up." - New York Times

Or you could read what they have to say at the Washington Post...

"The Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 3.2 million Americans would collect $11.7 billion in extended unemployment benefits over the life of the extension."

I have to get this straight in my head… Our government has no problem with $15 Billion Dollars unaccountable for in Iraq but if Americans in America need help then Republican’s have a problem with it? That $15 Billion dollars, who was overseeing how that cash was distributed in the middle of the desert of Iraq? Was there a division of unemployment to make sure the cash was distributed properly? Power Line News has this to say about our tax dollars being spent, or misplaced in Iraq…

Friday, May 23, 2008 10:44 PM

WASHINGTON—The Pentagon cannot account for nearly 15 billion dollars in payments for goods and services in Iraq, according to an internal audit which members of Congress blasted Friday as a “shocking” accountability failure.

Of 8.2 billion dollars in US taxpayer-funded defense contracts reviewed by the defense department’s inspector general, the Pentagon could not properly account for more than 7.7 billion dollars.

The lack of accountability of the funds, intended for purchases of weapons, vehicles, construction equipment and security services, amounted to a 95 percent failure rate in basic accounting standards, according to the report. - Power Line News

I’m thinking that the Bush administration and his political crony Republican’s in the Congress have no problem flushing cash down the drain without care as to where it ends up in the war in Iraq but all of them lazy Americans that are unemployed should just screw. Unemployed people are not paying taxes, thus not contributing to the endless money grab of the Iraq War and thus are terrorist and anti American.

I’m still fuzzy on the Republican math but if they say it’s for the protection of our nation against terrorism then it must be true. There has to be a mistake with the 95% accounting failure rate? Maybe an auditor forgot to carry the one somewhere or missed a large receipt for French fries from KBR. Or should I be politically correct and call them “Freedom Fries”?

Papamoka

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McCain Is NOT a GI’s Best Friend

Senator George McCain… I meant to say John McCain, is no longer the die hard friend of the men and woman in the military service to our nation. Lately, it is becoming harder and harder to tell him and George Bush apart so please accept my humble apology for my confusion.

Ask an aged veteran that needs to use the local VA hospital for care and you can pretty much see what the Bush administration really thinks about veteran’s? With all of the funding cuts over the last seven years and the down right cut throat of any veteran that might need long term care were devastated and gnawed to the bone budget wise. Most current veterans leaving military service have a time window that slams shut when it comes to medical benefits. Two years and the veterans leaving service today are screwed. Make no mistake about it, George Bush has no respect or desire to care for our nations military service personnel once discharged with or without injuries. Governor Ed Rendell of PA had it right in this CNN post…

"While we the governors do all we can for our vets and our returning soldiers, our federal government still has the primary responsibility for meeting the needs of our veterans. And that's why I find the president's budget cuts for critical veteran services to be unconscionable."

He maintained that budget cuts include "a $350 million reduction in veterans home funding, which wipes out at least 5,000 veterans' nursing home beds."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: All you eighty plus year old WWII Veterans in nursing homes need to move your disabled lazy ass to the curb you bunch of freeloaders!)

"If the president's proposed budget cuts are enacted, nearly 60 percent of the 1,600 veterans will lose their daily stipend that allows them to stay in our state's nursing homes, literally forcing them out into the cold."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: Maybe President Bush and Senator McCain think we should put a rifle in their arthritic eighty year old hands and just air drop them on Baghdad? Wheel chairs and walkers included. Nobody likes a deadbeat right? Works for Haliburton.)

Vet co-payments for prescription drugs were tripled two years ago, Rendell said, and "now the president is proposing to again double those increased co-pays."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: Are we supposed to support these aging deadbeats forever just because they served in uniform? They were given a spiffy uniform, some free medals for doing some stuff decades ago along with food and shelter while in the military. So how is that relevant to what they have done for us lately?)

"In the midst of a war, when many new men and women will join the legion of veterans, does it really make sense for the president to increase the cost of vets' prescriptions by 100 percent?"

Rendell criticized a proposal calling for a $250 fee "to be paid by every vet wishing to participate in the Veterans Administration health care program. " - CNN

If you still think McCain is our nation’s Veteran’s best friend then you can look at this from the Obsidian Wings…

During a March 2005 Senate budget debate, McCain voted to kill an amendment that would have "increased veterans medical care by $2.8 billion in 2006." That amendment lacked an assured funding stream, but lest one mistake this incident for a maverick's stance against budget-busting, there's more. Just a year later McCain voted against an amendment that would have "increased Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes." Two days after it failed, he voted to kill "an assured stream of funding for veterans' health care that would take into account the annual changes in the veterans' population and inflation to be paid for by restoring the pre-2001 top rate for income over $1 million, closing corporate tax loopholes and delaying tax cuts for the wealthy." That amendment died quietly, forty-six to fifty-four. - Obsidian Wings


John McCain is not a friend of Veteran’s and you can read all the votes he had against legislation over at Donkey O. D. that would have helped veteran’s and active duty people in service to our nation. GI’s don’t have millions to fund a political campaign and George McCain is just another political wing man not caring for his wing man waving the flag and his former military service as an excuse to place himself beyond reproach when it comes to veteran benefits.

It’s getting harder and harder to believe that Senator George McCain… I mean John McCain, is a die hard veteran supporter when most of the legislation presented before the Senate he voted against supporting veteran‘s and enlisted men and woman. Maybe the good old boys over at Haliburton have promised him the keys to the executive wash room if he roles over and plays nice for them.

In the interim, while George McCain… John, is going around the nation dictating that you can not talk about veterans benefits if you never served in uniform it would be interesting to see a list of all the Hawks in the Bush Administration that McCain has joined himself at the hip with. Those brave souls declaring the liars war to be the saving hope for American democracy that also have never worn a uniform. An accusation he used against Senator Barack Obama. We could start with Vice President Cheney and the list grows like the plague from there.

You can click here to see who served and who dodged service and draw your own conclusions.

It would probably be wise advice to Senator George McCain not to be throwing military service in peoples faces when the folks he wants to follow never really served. And yet he is still following the path of Hawks that didn’t serve. His Senate voting record truly does not support vet’s. You can not stump for veteran votes but stab them in the back whenever his supposed Conservative position in politics fit the political day. Either he supports the troops and the long term needs that come up from serving your nation or he does not. The later fits McBush (Dick McCain, George McCain or whoever the hell he has morphed into this week) to a tee!

I'm pretty confident that the only time John Bush... I mean McCain and his bestest friend George Bush only respect veterans when they are in a box and six feet under. Facts don't back up either one of them ever looking out for the troops past or present.

Papamoka

Bush Feels Your Pain at the Pump?

President Bush today let the American people know that he is right on top of things with the rising gas prices. Then again, no, he really didn’t. But he did acknowledge that it’s a problem for the working class of America. Then again, no, he really didn’t. I’m pretty sure he is really feeling the pain that we are all suffering but I’m also pretty sure that President Bush had his fingers crossed through the whole interview.

Over at MSNBC they had this to say on our distinguished “Deciderer” on the gouging at the pumps…

Bush: No quick fix for gas prices
President troubled by 'tax on working people'; to take look at proposals

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday that he's troubled by rising gas prices and will take a look at proposals to relieve the crisis but warned that there is no quick fix.

"It's been a while in the making and it's going to be a while that we solve the problem," Bush said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America." "We're too dependent on foreign oil and we need to be exploring more at home."

Bush said the rising cost of gas "troubles me a lot" because it is "like a tax on the working people."

Snippet…. Wait for the key phase!

He said he understands the pinch for working families and that some people will cut back on summertime travel. The federal tax rebate on the way to taxpayers will help, he said.

"One way to help solve it, of course, is by sending some of the money back. That's what's happening now as we speak. There's a rebate going back to the American people, which should help," Bush said. He reiterated his call for Congress to make permanent the tax cuts enacted during his administration. - MSNBC

This was classic Bush and his shiny object over here while I’m doing something else over here. Does the man think that the entire nation suffers from some form of attention deficit disorder?

Basically, his whole speech or interview could be translated into the following. Blah, blah, blah, gas prices, blah, blah, rebate checks, blah, blah, blah, but leave my tax cuts for the top two percent of income earners alone!

Maybe somebody should explain to the Nit Wit in Chief that the gas crisis is market driven and not a supply problem. Then while they are explaining that they could tell the deciderer that some of that market problem is directly linked to some little scuffle in the Middle East called the Iraq War that he started to settle a personal grudge! 4,000 plus U.S. Military dead but at least the crayon pusher at the White House got the guy that threatened to kill his daddy.

George Bush could care less if you can not afford to fill up your Chevy or Ford to get back and forth to work and why should he? He could care less if your family is about to have the lights shut off because the money is so tight these days that food just might be more important than paying the electric bill. All you people that are on fixed incomes are totally screwed if this sad excuse for an American President has any say in a pay raise of one or two percent in your Social Security check. You folks might as well sell your cars and think about canceling next winters idea about having heat in your home. In his mind your winter heating problem could be fixed by moving your sorry asses south where you don’t need heat in the winter! He is about as compassionate as a freaking rock! You might want to duck because the CEO of XYZ oil has this puppet boy President’s permission to smash all your windows and take all that they want from you.

I’ll be very clear that this President is on the take and his pockets are lined with the tears of the poorest American’s and those tears are not enough for him or his corporate buddies in the oil industry. Ten Billion in profits every three months isn’t enough for the number crunchers, they feed on greed and want more of what you no longer have. By the oil industry I’m also talking about all those fast talking salesman on Wall Street that are riding the fatted calf of oil with no care for their fellow man. Bush and company is all about full speed ahead till the Democrat’s derail the Republican business machine that takes no prisoners.

One has to give the Liar in Chief Bush credit, he has never wavered on the services he could provide to his business friends that put him in the White House. George Bush and Dick Cheney are very loyal to their friends, that is till the special prosecutors come looking. Bye Alberto, bye Scooter, bye…

Papamoka

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Bring It ON!

To the Center

*****31 votes on Wikio as of 5/6/08!!! Wooo Hooo!!!

W "Let Them Eat Cake"

Maybe President Bush is right, the world is a far safer place today. Terrorist attacks on America are down, terrorist attacks in England are somewhat down, terrorism is on the run simply because they just can’t afford to eat. W has saved us from the terrorists by stealing the vitality of the global economy off of our dinner tables. Way to go W! I think?

One of the things that most U.S. Presidents prior to W knew was that there is no solution to the Middle East quagmire. It’s been going on for thousands of years and it will still be going on thousands of years from now. In our nations quest for being safe we have opened the gates of hell when it comes to economics. Those that we thought were out to protect and defend our nations history and heritage masqueraded around in sheep’s clothing while they robbed the world of the innocent little Red Riding Hood. Adding the Constitution to it helped. It’s just a piece of paper that some drunken Deity believing King haters dreamed up so what is the big deal?

We are not alone in the world. The butterfly effect is in full force except now the butterfly is the size of Saudi Arabia and it fears not to beat its wings regardless of the consequences on the masses. That is how the world economy collapses. More on this over at Reuters…

By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent

BEIRUT (Reuters) - While Gulf Arab oil producers reap windfall earnings, their poorer cousins elsewhere in the Arab world are struggling with soaring energy and food bills.
Inflation has surged in Gulf countries, fuelled partly by lavish spending of record oil and gas revenues. This is also spurring demand for everything from housing to power and water.

Gulf states with currencies pegged to the dollar have also been hit by the global weakness of the U.S. currency, which is driving inflation by making some imports more expensive.
But wrestling with rising prices is a grimmer business in Arab capitals not cushioned by oil wealth. From Cairo in Egypt to Sanaa in Yemen, mostly authoritarian governments have to weigh the fiscal costs of subsidizing fuel and food against the explosive political risks of social discontent.

"Nothing's inexpensive any more," griped Jihad al-Amin, who owns a dry-cleaning store in Damascus, Syria. "Even parsley, which has been dirt cheap for as long as I can remember, has tripled."

Food price rises hit the poor hardest in the Middle East, as in other food-importing developing countries around the world, but any instability here could ripple far beyond the region. - Reuters

Maybe we should face the facts that Bush is right? If you give enough free rain on the market and trust the mega capitalist to trickle down the wealth then maybe those of us down on the bottom might get something. The key word in that last sentence was something. Exhaust fumes from a passing motorcade is something so stop your gripping.

It isn’t wrong to think that America may be on the verge of a coming revolution. Just as in the time period prior to the first American Revolution there was a King that imposed one tax after another that people stood up to and had said taxes repealed. Although we no longer have a King we have a President ignorant of his peoples needs, wishes and dreams. That is not acceptable.

If given the choice of thought processes I don’t think it is a far reach that the current President is no longer in charge of his nation. He has deregulated his authority as President to the brokers of business on Wall Street and sold out the office he swore to uphold. While he sat idle while millions lost there homes he staid the course. While his nations food prices erupted out of control, he staid the course. While our nations military begged for better equipment to defend themselves and fight with he staid the course. While his people went under he sipped his drink and looked the other way because those that lead him detracted him from his people.

George Bush is guilty of ignoring his people and God help anyone that dares to follow in his footsteps. That path is laid with madness and betrayal of your people. Patriotism and starvation are something that American’s are not afraid of but they will fight and vote for one or the other, not both. George Bush has played his game out and divided his people so much that they are against one another fighting over being a patriot or starving. Meanwhile the record Billion Dollar profits are being talked about as if it is business as usual. That is how Revolutions start! You don’t flash mega bonuses to a man that’s family is broken, busted, down and out and can barely afford the weeks food bill. It all comes down to the masses and providing for their families. That is what W will never understand.

One thing is certain in the next President of the United States of America. You will have a broken nation to mend and that process does not start out thousands of miles from our shores. It starts out here at home. Americans do not just eat cake!

Papamoka

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Miers and Bolten Going Down For Contempt

One of the nice things about Valentines Day is that you really get to show the love. Congress today showed President Bush exactly how much they love his tossing executive privilege around and at the Congress. President Bush has his executive privilege piled up so high around the nations capitol that it’s like a knick knack junk attack that people cherish and place up on the mantle, on top of the fridge, over the television, the back of the toilet, over the medicine cabinet, in the medicine cabinet, on top of the stereo, on the back of the headboard, all over the bedroom bureaus and on every flat surface in their home.

One of President Bush’s favorite EP’s is that not one soul past or present in service to the executive branch can be subpoenaed by the Congress no matter what laws were broken. Just for back up he made sure his Justice Department pick backed him up. Contempt of Congress only works if the Justice Department backs up the Congress, Bush pulled that chip off the poker table and put it firmly in his pocket. Snickered and winked at his opponents as he held a solid pair of deuces.

Today, Congress grabbed a trash bag to get rid of some of his knick knack EP’s and the first to go was Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolton for contempt of Congress. Over at the Washington Post they have more on it but read on afterward…

House Approves Contempt Citations Against Bolten, Miers

By Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 14, 2008; 4:57 PM

The House today approved contempt of Congress citations against White House Chief of Staff Joshua A. Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers for their refusal to cooperate with an investigation into the mass firings of U.S. attorneys and allegations that administration officials sought to politicize the Justice Department.

The House voted 223-32 in favor of the citations, the first against the executive branch since the Reagan administration. The vote came after a morning of tense partisan fights over procedural motions and bickering over parliamentary rules, capped by most House Republicans walking off the floor and refusing to vote. Republicans said the chamber should instead be approving a surveillance law passed by the Senate and supported by President Bush.

But Democrats said they were left with no choice but to engage in a constitutional showdown with Bush because he has refused for nearly a year to allow any current or former West Wing staff members to testify in the congressional inquiry. Citing executive privilege, the president has offered their testimony only if it is taken without transcripts and not under oath.

Snippet and here is the power punch!!!

Testifying at his confirmation hearings last October, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said that current and former White House officials who refused to testify in a congressional inquiry likely did so based on the Justice Department's ruling that Bush's assertion of executive privilege was proper. That meant the Justice Department could not now criminally charge someone for defying Congress based on its own prior legal advice, he said.

The resolutions approved by the House contain a second mechanism that, if Mukasey and Taylor refuse to impanel a grand jury, would allow the House general counsel to file a civil lawsuit in federal courts seeking a declaratory judgment against Bolten and Miers that would compel their congressional testimony. - Washington Post

Talk about a power punch! For the record this power punch was brought to you and the American people by one man that was fed up with all the corruption and cover up politics of Bush and Company.

Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida has been ticked off and leading this fight not just behind the scenes but right up front. This from the Super Congressman in my email box today…

Today, thanks in great part to your advocacy and persistence, the House of Representatives took a major, tangible step towards holding the Bush Administration accountable.

In a vote on the House floor, we acted to enforce the law and our Constitution, and hold former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten in Contempt of Congress. (Please click here to watch my speech on the House Floor calling for contempt.)

Bolten and Miers have ignored congressional subpoenas for nine months and thumbed their noses at Congress and the American people.

Executive privilege has never permitted officials to avoid appearing altogether when subpoenaed. This behavior is unprecedented and outrageous.

Now, these two renegade officials must face up to their blatant disregard of the law and constitution.

Our message of accountability for Bush/Cheney is finally resonating on Capitol Hill.
Judiciary Chairman John Conyers fought hard to bring this to a vote, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself took the floor to support contempt. - Congressman Robert Wexler Email to Papamoka

This is what justice is all about. Not raising a vigilante group of thugs but taking the steps necessary and legally to take on Bush and his King like political tactics. Time for the scales of justice to tilt a little back to the center. Thank you Congressman Wexler!

Papamoka

Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com and Bring IT ON!

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