Gee, Thanks George

George W Bush will leave his successor with the highest national debt in U.S. history. Read on to see how much it cost the American taxpayer for the lesson of learning who not to name as president of the United States. And, yes, I am going to take this opportunity to remind all of you out there that John McCain is exactly like George W. Bush.

Our nation simply cannot pay for another “party” the likes of which George threw for all of his pals and corporate cronies.

Bush attempted to buy our loyalty by handing out measly little tax refund checks in 2001 and again this year that did nothing to benefit this economy. He robbed us to pay us. This guy has the Robin Hood Factor all screwed up. You recall that little truism about how nothing in life is free? Well folks, we are paying for those little bribes with a record high deficit. And guess what? John McCain has vowed to repeat this insincere and irresponsible attempt at a bribe if elected president. Please God, don’t let this happen.

The American budget deficit is projected to reach $482bn next year, breaking the previous record high of $413bn set in 2004. Notice that both of these records are due to the Bush Administrations inability to handle economic matters. In a moment of inadvertent poetic justice, White House officials blamed the sagging economy for the new deficit figure never realizing they are responsible for the sagging economy.

They also like to point to the fall of the sub-prime housing market for driving the U.S. debt higher. Guess what, federal regulators allowed this whole mess to start and then get out of hand because they were asleep at the controls or were paid to look the other way. So, once again the administration speaks a rare truth when they blame the sub-prime debacle for this sagging economy.

And the war in Iraq has just had a tremendously negative effect on our economy. What with all of the mis-appropriations in awarding contracts to administration cronies that have not been fulfilled, corporate war profiteering, congress’s unbridled granting any amount of money Bush asks for, lucrative contracts for private contractors, and zooming costs for caring for the injured from this illegal war, this has become the biggest toilet that has come out of the Bush administration.

How is it, that this administration, can point at the reasons for this astronomical budget deficit and not see that their own mishandling and ignorance in these fiscal matters as the primary cause for these reasons? The arrogance it must take to smile innocently while trying to put the blame off onto someone else just boggles the mind. Incredible.

Now, guess where all the money came from to pay for all of our “gifts”. Social Security. The money that was forcibly taken from our paychecks to help pay for our parents retirement is being used to pay for this administrations lack of spending discipline. Are our parents retiring in the same lap of luxury as Bush’s corporate CEO buddies?

I hope we have learned this very costly lesson and will not allow this reign of fiscal terror to continue with John McCain.

Was ‘Victory’ in Iraq ‘Easy’?

John McCain’s latest version of the ‘victory in Iraq’ leads him to believe it was ‘easy’. If, for just a moment, we neophytes who are not privy to the inner workings of the political mind high on the prospect of winning an election can tweak reality enough to see the world from his perspective, from his exalted position high in the clouds, way above our mortal heads, then we could possibly see how his interpretation of ‘easy’ might work.

From John McCain’s altered perspective the easy part was convincing a naïve and gullible Congress that war was the only response to a recalcitrant Saddam Hussein who had placed himself beyond the reaches of diplomacy and was bent on striking out against the mighty, self-righteous empire of the United States of America with his very well hidden arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. (So well hidden, in fact, that no one has ever found them). And with Congress easily wrapped around George’s finger, the next phase of his plan was even easier.

George and the neocons were then able to award Cheney’s Haliburton and all of their buddies lucrative contracts to ‘rebuild’ Iraq. This allowed them all to ‘easily’ extract untold millions of dollars from the U.S. government under contracts without the pressure of actually hiring qualified workers or meeting deadlines or performing quality work. KBR was able to use a shell company to prevent paying taxes.

They were also able to easily award contracts to military suppliers for all of the war miscellany.

They were able to easily hire contractors to do all of the security work for diplomatic personnel and for trucking supplies around the country. These contractors are the recipients of ‘tens of billions of dollars’ of U.S. taxpayers money and apparently are allowed free reign over how they carry out their duties.

And of course they were easily able to put Saddam to death on trumped up charges in order to more easily take over Iraq.

It was also easy to create a new government bureaucracy called Homeland Security to more easily control the American public and keep track of our comings and goings, all based on perceived terrorist threat.

So, I suppose if John McCain can find a way to ignore the ‘unfortunate side effects’ of war, such as:

the over 4,500 U.S. troops callously sent to their deaths,
and the tens of thousands of U.S. military whose physical and psychological injuries have changed their lives forever,
and the thousands of Iraq veterans who have committed suicide since returning home,
and the countless families adversely affected by how their fathers, brothers and sons nightmares are affecting their lives,
and the millions of innocent Iraqi citizens who lost their lives,
and the damage done to U.S. relations with foreign nations over the execution of this illegal war,
and the further erosion of trust between American citizens and the their leaders over spying on us,

all so George’s buddies could get richer, then yeah, this was an ‘easy victory’.

John McCain’s Latest Lie: "John McCain is always there for our troops."

Pay attention people, this is your future at stake here. How much do our troops mean to you? Neither they nor their families hold any special place in the heart of John McCain.

His voting record shows a clear and distinct history of cutting spending to help our troops, especially those who need medical help after he voted to put them into harms way:

John McCain voted AGAINST the Webb GI Bill

McCain voted AGAINST bill to minimize periods of time between deployment of units sent to Iraq.

McCain voted AGAINST $20 Million to VA for health care facilities.

McCain voted AGAINST $430,000,000 to VA for Medical Services.

McCain voted AGAINST increasing Vet-medical services $1.5 billion in FY2007

McCain voted AGAINST increasing Vet-medical care by $1.8 billion.

McCain voted to TABLE an amendment for $322,000,000 for safety equipment for U.S. forces. "Table"= vote never hits floor. War was already in full swing.

McCain voted to TABLE a vote for $1 Billion for National Guard and Reserve Equipment in Iraq due to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, & tactical vests. Again, war was already in full swing.

And he has the nerve to attack Barack Obama for not visiting wounded troops in Germany after being restricted from doing so by the Pentagon.

And just remember, you will never find this voting record in the main stream media. Fair and Balanced, indeed.

I am against this illegal war, but if your are going to vote to send our troops to fight against an enemy have the decency to equip them with the necessary protection and weaponry to get the job done and keep injury and death totals down. Plus, stand behind them and their families to get the medical attention they need for defending your selfish, egotistical reasons for sending them into battle in the first place.

John McCain may act like an honorable man but his bold faced lies at a time when he is trying to gain as many votes as possible shows his disrespect, not only for our troops, for the voting public. He is once again stooping to old politics of attacking your opponent instead of taking the high road and presenting yourself as the best choice.

Oh, but, he often forgets how he voted in the past. Yeah, maybe that’s why he thinks he is “always there for our troops”.

Foreign Affairs Score: Obama-Another Win; McCain-Another Loss

Israel knows which candidate for president they would vote for based solely on one day visits from each candidate.

An article in The Jerusalem Post, written by David Horovitz, shows quite clearly Barrack Obama’s considerable insight into the issues confronting and concerning Israel. Whereas when John McCain arrived for his one day visit, with Joe Lieberman in tow, he put forth an image of uncertainty and looked to Lieberman several times for reassurance on his answers.

As a representative of the U.S. I think it is fairly clear who is the better of the two.

Of course, the puppet masters behind the presidency would rather have John McBush in the oval office for the obvious reason that he would more easily controlled but he has the messy liability of always forgetting who he is and how he previously voted.

So, once again Obama is the clear leader in yet another aspect of what it takes to be a leader. Please, take note.

Money from Lobbying is Bribery

House ethics committee last year passed a new law concerning the disclosure of lobbying contributions. According to the law a report must be submitted showing how much money each lobbyist gives. But it doesn’t say you can’t receive contributions. Nor does it say you have to give the contributions back, that would be blasphemy.

By receiving these ‘donations’ politicians are being paid for the expectations of favors. George W. Bush went to unprecedented lengths to ‘pay back’ his donors. Anyone who thinks a politician does not look more favorably upon a donor over a non-donor has his head in the sand, hence the attention of the ethics committee. But they only passed legislation to make it appear to the general public, the outsiders, that they were questioning this form of bribery. The actual result of the law only formalizes a list for the benefit of politicians and lobbyists alike.

Any legislation the ‘ethics’ committee passes is highly suspect because of the way it which it is worded. They are experts at wording legislation so they give the appearance of upholding ethics while at the same time don’t block this flow of money. After all, being politicians themselves, members of the House committee like free money just as much as anyone else. The positive aspect of generating these reports, for the politician, is that they can now be used to track how much money each lobbyist gave so that access to the politician can be prioritized. Also, appropriate sized favors can be given in return. After all, you don’t want to repay a thousand dollar donation with the same favor you give a hundred thousand dollar donor. And if you have not yet paid, then don’t even expect your requested favor to be considered.

Who receives this free money? Any politician in a position of voting for or appropriating money to legislation that would benefit the donor. Such as the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, now there’s an ideal position to buy favors from.

Senator John McCain received $181,000 while publicly putting down the practice, this what you call two-faced. Barrack Obama says he received $6,000 from lobbyist and claims plans to give it back.

Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month -- three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban -- compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.

I am willing to bet that oil industry lobbyists convinced McBush to change his position on the drilling ban with the promise of huge donations.

“Donations” from lobby groups have become a staple in the world of politics. Much as sponsors on race cars have become ubiquitous that it is very rare not to see a race car plastered with icons from big box stores to internet companies and even breakfast cereal. If we could picture politicians following this same ‘pride in sponsorship’ we would see tattoos and logos from their lobbyist plastered to their bodies covering them from head to toe.

The question of ethics always arises when money changes hands. This fluff bill is a poor attempt at showing the taxpayers that they will not stand for money for favors. Therefore, don’t expect any changes in this open display of money for favors.

Maybe the taxpayers should get together and form our own lobby. Maybe the elderly can band together as a lobby group to pay for favors to get favorable healthcare benefits. Maybe grade school students can lobby for more teachers, better education, and hot meals served at school. Or how about if single parent taxpayers struggling to make ends meet could lobby for turning the economy around so money starts flowing back to taxpayers instead of all of these special interest groups. This is simply the way American ‘democracy’ works. The people with the money always get taken care of first.

John McCain, What Do You Stand For?

You ever see a fish out of water, flip-flopping on the ground trying to survive? That’s John McCain.

John, it appears that you have adopted the strategy of being in favor for whatever is popular at the moment. This is not the type of politician we need in Washington, or anywhere for that matter. We are tired of ‘yes’ men who change with the wind. A president should stand firmly behind his/her clearly defined position on every issue, every time. If you have not yet determined where you stand then you have no business in this presidential race.

Before becoming a presidential possibility you stood behind your convictions and everyone knew fairly well how you would vote on an upcoming issue, even if they didn’t always agree with your position, you at least had the conviction to stick to it. This is an admiral trait in a politician, it is an admiral trait for any person. But now that you have a shot at becoming president, it is as if your convictions went up for sale. You have become a whore for popular opinion, John. You are reversing every controversial stance you once took in order to get votes. This is the wishy-washy, spineless, paid-for politician that Americans are disgusted with.

Just what does John McCain stand for? You stand for whatever will get you into the White House. And then what are we going to get from you, John McCain? You will forget the taxpaying voters who put you there, just as George W. Bush did, because we will no longer have any power. You will make yourself available to the highest bidder, just as George W. Bush did. I think it has become abundantly ing clear, that your value as a man with convictions has passed. We cannot place credence in what you say because your opinion will change tomorrow. John, you have to stand for something or you will fall for anything. You are not showing leadership qualities. You are not presidential material.

The only thing we can count on from you, John, is that you will not vote the same way twice. A positive spin might be that you are trying to please everyone. While it is a noble gesture to try to please as many people as possible, we want someone with a consistent platform, someone with the ethical fortitude to know the best course of action. And believe me when I say, John, changing with the wind takes you off course, every time. We Americans admire anyone who is not afraid to show us what he believes, and sticks to it. The person that shows they are human, that they make mistakes and have the ability to get back up and try again is the person that reaches deepest into the hearts of the American people. Likewise, we are disdainful of anyone who comes off like a snake-oil salesman pushing dreams we know can never come true. You have become a man of action, John, but your kind of action is your constantly changing opinion to match whatever is popular at the time. And with so many lobbyists paying so much money to your campaign you are going to keep yourself so busy playing to their popularity that you will not have time to appease the voting public.

You have a voting record, John. When you say things that contradict how you voted, what are we to think? You define your position by your vote and then state the opposite opinion at a later time. This tells us one of two things, John. You are either being paid to change your mind or you change your mind based on what the majority of voters want. While it would be good to finally have a president who listens to what the citizens want and actually speaks for them and, now here’s the sticking point John, repeatedly and unwaveringly stands behind his convictions, I don’t think you are that person. This fantasy president I describe does not describe John McCain.

Do you change your opinion because you can’t remember what you said the last time you was asked? Perhaps you have a medical problem that is interfering with your ability to think clearly. Do you have Alzheimer’s, John? We don’t fault you if you do, and we would be sympathetic because it can’t be helped. But if you do, then please stand aside and let someone who can at least remember what he stands for to take your place.

Voters put you in this position because of your clear stance on core issues, and now your position is becoming cloudy because you no longer firmly stand behind anything long enough to convince us that you believe in it. So what do you stand for?

Your Personal Information is For Sale

According to experts, 128 million personal information data records were reportedly endangered by theft, loss, or hacking in 2007. That's more than six times the 20 million exposed records counted the previous year.

January 2008: Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Birmingham, Alabama, an employee's portable hard drive containing Social Security numbers of more than 250,000 vets and more than a million doctors went missing. The loss was not reported for three weeks. Does this have all the earmarks of someone who wants to protect the public or protect their own ass?

Less than a year earlier, another VA employee in the Washington, D.C., area brought home a laptop computer that held the names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of 26.5 million veterans, only to have it stolen from his house. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Is this person still employed by the VA? Probably. This info was unencrypted even after “new” guidelines were set for the handling of portable computers, including the use of special encryption technology to keep unauthorized people from accessing sensitive data. You think maybe the person who took this computer home just callously skipped the encryption step because he was late for dinner, or maybe he wanted easy access to the data without having to go through an extra cumbersome step? Or perhaps he was paid a bonus sum by who ever he sold the information to if the info was not encrypted.

It is unbelievable that someone just happens to have broken into his home the very same day he took this computer home. This is not coincidence it is collusion. It is theft. This is the action of a person who does not give a damn about the security of anyone else’s personal information. He does not think beyond himself. He should not be allowed to have any access to other people’s personal data. The fact that he took it home and the computer was stolen was enough to fire his ass.

The fact that this government allowed this individual to continue his employment is proof that this government does not take the protection of its citizens seriously. It also shows how they don’t care what we citizens think of their actions. They believe they are working above the law and because they are allowed to continue this course of action proves that they are above the law.

This situation is intolerable.

Has any of this ‘lost’ information been compromised and used to secure credit or jobs for some low-life? Has this information been sold to thieves? Why have we not seen any reports of information on these individuals being used illegally? Surely, not every single instance of carelessness has resulted in not one person being harmed. This coincidence is also beyond belief. This would indicate a very large cover-up protecting higher-ups and any investigative reporter worth his/her career path with visions of winning a Pulitzer would do what they can to uncover such a cover-up.

So why do careless government workers keep putting our citizens at risk? Because we are raising a generation that thinks of no one but themselves. They do not care one iota about the safety or security of anything that is not theirs beyond what it takes to keep their job.

Identity theft is the No. 1 fraud complaint registered by consumers, according to the Federal Trade Commission. ID theft is no laughing matter to the individual who has been victimized. If the personal information of the person who took these computers home were to be broadcast to the public whenever their carelessness resulted in the loss of other people personal data I would be willing to bet these computers would stop being ‘lost’.

The theft of this type of data affects the entire credit system by forcing credit card companies to absorb the losses that these low-lifes generate which then gets passed onto us conscientious credit users in the form of higher interest rates and higher fees.

July 2006: A U.S. Transportation Department laptop with data on 133,000 people was swiped after a Miami-area employee left it in the back of his SUV when he went to lunch. Careless? Yes. Irresponsible? Yes. Enough to lose his job? Not bloody likely. Was the data jeopardized? As usual, the response from the people in charge is no.

November 2007: a South Bend, Indiana Memorial Hospital employee lost a laptop containing names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of more than 4,300 current and retired employees after reportedly giving it to a flight attendant to stow before takeoff. The security of this data was obviously not taken very seriously or this laptop would have remained in his possession at all times.

A 2007 Justice Department audit found that the FBI was somehow losing 2.6 laptops per month, many with sensitive or classified information. Unacceptable.

More than 1,400 Energy Department laptops went missing in a six-year period, according to another audit. So much for homeland security. Unacceptable.

If I was running these departments, no computer would be allowed to be taken home. If these people cannot get their work done in the office in the time frame authorized then find someone else who can or hire more people.

A February report by the Government Accountability Office found that only two of 24 agencies the GAO reviewed had implemented all the security measures recommended by the government. Isn’t this proof enough that these people don’t care about information that is not their own?

March 2007: retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshalls admitted that 45 million debit and credit card numbers had been nabbed from their computer systems by hackers who most likely got it all wirelessly. This also shows the lack of care or willingness to take the necessary precautions to safeguard other people’s data. This situation indicates that the problem is not just with our government but that it involves a general lack of care throughout our population.

If some congressman’s data or a corporate executive’s data was compromised in any of this carelessness I’ll bet you heads would roll and changes would be made. But for the common citizen, the everyday hard-working taxpayer, the low-man on the give a crap-meter who never receives any consideration except at election time and when taxes are due, what about us?

Are Protestors Viewed as Terrorists by the U.S.?

We can remind the FBI and the Secret Service that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants American citizens the right to free speech, but it will fall on death ears. These stone-faced, stoic protectors of our government officials are told to ensure that our highest ranking government officials never are witness to our protestations. They even have it written in their own manual how to keep protesters away from the President as well as the media.

One glaringly huge loophole in the First Amendment, that this administration in particular has abused to the extreme, is that it does not guarantee that our exercise of this right must be witnessed by our government officials. With the presidential advance team exercising their mandated duties to ensure that protesters are out of earshot of the president and relocated well out of sight of the president, just what good is the Right to Free Speech when armed bullies forcibly remove the messengers from the area?

The American Civil Liberties Union is taking their job very seriously as well. The ACLU and the ACLU of New Mexico filed a lawsuit on January 15, 2008, on behalf of several New Mexico residents and advocacy organizations who were made to stand more than 150 yards (that’s one and a half football field lengths, for you football fans out there) away from the site of a fundraiser being attended by the president as they peacefully protested the views of the administration, while a group of people expressing support for President Bush were allowed to stand only a few feet from the fundraiser site.

Favoritism? You bet your ass. Favoritism is one of the hallmarks of this administration. Not giving a damn about what his opponents have to say is another. It falls in the same category as refusing to sit down with his enemies to work toward peace instead of hiding behind his military giving out orders to attack. To hide himself away from disagreements, cheapens his stature as a leader. Keeping himself shielded from what his own citizenry has to say whitewashes his reality of our world and makes himself look even more ridiculous when he claims to be ‘in touch’ with American citizens.

Some agents carry their job too far. They block free speech written on t-shirts. They block free speech with larger posters to block out disagreeable ones.

Jeffery and Nicole Rank were arrested at one of the President’s speeches in Charleston, West Virginia, for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts. They settled their case for $80,000.

Leslie Weise and Alex Young were ejected from one of the President's speeches in Denver, Colorado, for arriving at the event in a car with the bumper sticker reading "No More Blood For Oil."

It is bad enough that protesters are forced out of sight and told to keep their opinions to themselves but when armed agents of our government start getting physical and using excessive force against targeted dissenters, then the situation becomes discriminatory, illegal and an affront to every American’s sense of freedom.
http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/26084prs20060706.html getting physical and using excessive force

This increased level of violence and discrimination against protesters can only lead to one conclusion, that our federal government has deemed us to be terrorists. Those of us who care enough about the sanctity of our given right to protest this president’s deeds and misdeeds, have been demonized by our public servants and the ultra conservative right wing radio talk show hosts who label themselves patriots just because they tow the party line.

How did the term patriot become so bastardized as to be limited to only those people who blindly follow wherever the president leads? Their definition is ludicrous and by adhering to this twisted view they willingly subject themselves to falling under tyrannical control. They find it insanely ridiculous that any true American citizen cannot simply accept whatever our president tells us.

"In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then, they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics. I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up." -- Reverend Martin Neimoller, German Lutheran pastor arrested by the Gestapo in 1937

History is no stranger to this breed of patriot. Their past deeds are scary, immoral, illegal and lethal. These are the type of people who blacklist citizens and sabotage their futures based solely on suspicion-McCarthyism; these are the type of people who break into political opponents offices-Watergate; these are the type of people who arrest innocent citizens under the banner of national security-the Gestapo; these are the type of people who hang innocent citizens for being different than themselves-KKK; these are the type of people who resort to illegal wiretapping on American citizens because they are afraid of losing their power over us-NSA warrantless surveillance program.

It is against their doctrine to simply accept our difference of opinion on how this county should be run and allow us our right to say so. They have to spy on us and infiltrate our ranks and even enter our names in a terrorist database as though we are common criminals with an agenda to bring down this government.

The hired enforcers of America’s patriot idealism are a special group of individuals unto themselves. Ultra conservative with a license to harass, they are almost robotic in their strict, single-minded adherence to the enforcement of governmental policy. Homeland Security, FBI and CIA have all the makings of a Gestapo force and they will arrest anyone who speaks out against the president. We have already seen proof of this. It matters little to the victims of these tactics or others who may now think twice about exercising their right to free speech that the courts found in favor of the victims. The mindless minions of the government are ready and willing to step on us whenever and wherever they see fit.

I ask you, how far from the Gestapo of 1930’s Germany have we really come?

Are protesters terrorist? Only in the eyes of those who are protested against. Should we allow them to dictate when and where we protest? Absolutely not. It isn’t a matter of fighting against this government as fanatical Islamic terrorists are. We protest out of love for our country not to be the instrument of its destruction.

Very few of us today are willing to follow the path of those true patriots who fought to free this fledgling nation from the tyranny of England’s King George. But we simply cannot stand idly by and watch in abject horror as this president systematically undermines all that our forefathers protested for, fought for and died for just to appease those who paid money for the privilege of being counted among George W Bush’s cronies.

These so-called modern-day patriots have forsaken their fellow countrymen and placed protesters on the ‘other side’ instead of listening to the protests and taking something positive from what is said with the goal to make this nation stronger and less divisive. We are all in this thing together. It is not ‘Us vs. Them’.

More Great Quotes

"To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
Thomas Jefferson

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."
Ronald Reagan

"The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are constitutional rights secure."
Albert Einstein

"Those who say that life is worth living at any cost have already written an epitaph of infamy, for there is no cause and no person that they will not betray to stay alive."
Sidney Hook

"Who can protest an injustice but does not is an accomplice to the act."
The Talmud

"To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
Richard Henry Lee

"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928)

"In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then, they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics. I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up."
Reverend Martin Neimoller, German Lutheran pastor arrested by the Gestapo in 1937

"For the saddest epitaph which can be carved in memory of a vanished freedom is that it was lost because its possessors failed to stretch forth a saving hand while there was still time."
Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Sir Edmund Burke, attributed

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, a dangerous servant, and a fearful master."
George Washington

"The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is, not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended."
Frederic Bastiat

"Countries are well cultivated, not as they are fertile, but as they are free."
Montesquieu

"... America is great because America is good. When America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
Alexis de Tocqueville

"Sound money and free banking are not impossible; they are merely illegal. Freedom of money and freedom of banking ... are the principles that must guide our steps."
Hans F. Sennholz

"The task must be to banish from mankind's thought the idea that anybody has the right to use force against righteousness, against justice, against mutual agreements."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."
Edmund Burke

"If you want to kill any idea in the world today, get a committee working on it."
Charles F. Kettering

"The ultimate effect of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools."
Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)

"It is one thing to show a men that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of truth."
John Locke (1632 - 1704)

"In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."
James Madison

"Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men."
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825 - 1895)

"The Constitution is the origin and measure of legislative authority. It says to legislators, thus far ye shall go and no farther. Not a particle of it should be shaken; not a pebble of it should be removed ..."
Justice William Paterson (1745 - 1806)

"We have had so many years of prosperity, we have passed through so many difficulties and dangers without the loss of liberty - that we begin to think that we hold it by divine right from heaven itself ... It is harder to preserve than to obtain liberty."
John C. Calhoun

"The very idea of freedom presupposes some objective moral law which overarches rulers and ruled alike. Subjectivism about [moral] values is eternally incompatible with democracy. We and our rulers are of one kind only so long as we are subject to one law. But if there is no Law of Nature, the ethos of any society is the creation of its rulers, educators and conditioners; and every creator stands above and outside his own creation."
C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections (1943)

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt, speech before the Hamilton Club, Chicago, [April 10, 1899]

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."
Thomas Jefferson, to the Republican Citizens of Washington County, Maryland [March 31, 1809]

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
Ronald Reagan, remarks to the White House Conference on Small Business, August 15, 1986

"The theory is that election to Congress is tantamount to being dispatched to Washington on a looting raid for the enrichment of your state or district, and no other ethic need inhibit the feeding frenzy."
George Will, "Oread Review"

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt, speech to the House of Commons, [Nov. 18, 1783]

"Patriotism means unqualified and unwavering love for the nation, which implies not uncritical eagerness to serve, not support for unjust claims, but frank assessment of its vices and sins, and penitence for them."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, "From Under the Rubble"

"If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future."
Winston Churchill, Speech in the House of Commons

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And... moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
Barry Goldwater, Acceptance Speech at the Republican Convention; 1964

"This idea that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."
Ronald Reagan's Speech at the 1964 National Convention: A Time for Choosing

"One man with courage makes a majority"
Andrew Jackson

"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my lords, that where laws end, tyranny begins."
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham; Case of Wilkes Speech

"A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned: This is the sum of good government."
Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address; March 4, 1801

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."
P.J. O'Rourke

"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed--unlike citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
James Madison

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animated contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsel or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
Samuel Adams, Great Quotations

"The right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which... historically has proven to be always possible."
United States Senator Hubert Humphrey

"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed."
Noah Webster, author, An American Dictionary of the English Language

"The laws that forbid the carrying of arms... serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
Ceasare Beccaria, 18th century criminologist

"In countries under arbitrary government, the people oppressed and dispirited neither possess arms nor know how to use them. Tyrants never feel secure until they have disarmed the people."
Unknown author, from the Connecticut Courant, 1788

"Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't."
(Bumper sticker)

"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."
Winston Churchill

"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."
Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

"What luck for rulers, that men do not think."
Adolph Hitler

"The art of leadership ...consists in consolidating the attention of the people against a single adversary and taking care that nothing will split up that attention....The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category."
Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf, vol. 1, ch. 3 (1925))

"Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history, mankind has been bullied by scum. Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and would boss the grass in the meadow about which way to bend in the wind are the most depraved kind of prostitutes. They will submit to any indignity, perform any vile act, do anything to achieve power. The worst off-sloughings of the planet are the ingredients of sovereignty. Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us."
P.J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
John F. Kennedy, 1962

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence."
John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, 1698

"The history of liberty is a history of resistance."
Woodrow Wilson

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."
Sir Winston Churchill, 1941, Address at Harrow School

"When a legislature undertakes to proscribe the exercise of a citizen's constitutional rights it acts lawlessly and the citizen can take matters into his own hands and proceed on the basis that such a law is no law at all."
Justice William O. Douglas

"Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it."
Albert Einstein, Quoted in Saturday Review obituary, 1955

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Benjamin Franklin, 1776, After signing the Declaration of Independence

"No real social change has ever been brought about without a revolution. Revolution is but thought carried into action."
Emma Goldman, Anarchism, 1917

"The Framers of the Bill of Rights did not purport to "create" rights. Rather, they designed the Bill of Rights to prohibit our Government from infringing rights and liberties presumed to be preexisting."
Justice William J. Brennan, 1982

"The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, bows, spears, firearms, or other types of arms. The possession of these elements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues, and tends to permit uprising. Therefore, the heads of provinces, official agents, and deputies are ordered to collect all the weapons mentioned above and turn them over to the government."
Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi, August 29, 1558

"The peaceable part of mankind will be continually overrun by the vile and abandoned while they neglect the means of self-defense. The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside.... Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them; ...the weak will become prey of the strong."
Thomas Paine

"Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation [of power] first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence."
Thomas Jefferson

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed persons can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has..."
Margaret Mead

"We could have pursued no other course without dishonor. And as sad as the results have been, if it had all to be done over again, we should be compelled to act in precisely the same manner."
General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A.

"If ever this vast country is brought under a single government, it will be one of the most extensive corruption, indifferent and incapable of a wholesome care over so wide a spread of surface. This will not be borne, and you will have to choose between reform and revolution. If I know the spirit of this country, the one or the other is inevitable."
Thomas Jefferson

"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."
Joseph Stalin

"We trained hard...but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."
Petronius Arbiter, 210 B.C.

"There is not a truth existing which I fear, or would wish unknown to the whole world."
Thomas Jefferson

"Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot."
Sun Tzu [The Art of War]

"We have awakened a sleeping giant and instilled in it a terrible resolve."
Admiral Isoroku Yamamato, December 7, 1941

"It is not the evil itself which is horrifying about our times -- it is the way we not only tolerate evil, but have made a cult of positively worshipping weakness, depravity, rottenness and evil itself."
George Lincoln Rockwell

"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."
Thomas Jefferson

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."
Aldous Huxley, Proper Studies

"It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
"The Man in the Arena"

"To ignore the evidence, and hope that it cannot be true, is more an evidence of mental illness."
William Blase

"Only two things are infinite; the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the former."
Albert Einstein

"A God who let us prove his existence would be an idol."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
Kierkegaard

"A nation of well-informed men, who have been taught to know and prize the rights that God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins!"
Benjemin Franklin

"Who owns the youth owns the future!"
Adolf Hitler

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."
Rich Cook

"There is seldom an instance of a man guilty of betraying his country, who had not before lost the feeling of moral obligations in his private connections...."
Samuel Adams

"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell the country for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press. We are the tools and vassals of the rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
John Swinton, former Chief of Staff at the New York Times, New York Press Club, 1953

The Captain
Captain, what do you think, I asked, of the part your soldiers play?
The Captain answered, I do not think. I do not think, I obey!
Do you think you should shoot a patriot down and help a tyrant slay?
The Captain answered, I do not think. I do not think, I obey!
Do you think your conscience was meant to die and your brains to rot away?
The Captain answered, I do not think. I do not think, I obey!
Then if this is your soldiers code, I cried, your mean unmanly crew,
And for all of your equipment, guns and braid, I'm more of a man than you.
For whatever my lot on earth may be and whether I swim or sink,
I can say with pride -I do not obey. I do not obey - I think!
Author unknown

Abuse of executive privilege is dictatorship

Every time King Bush claims executive privilege, he is stepping further away from our democratically based government. He has taken the privilege, an element of separation of powers doctrine as ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court, as a personal means of protecting himself and his cronies from legal recourse.

There are instances when executive privilege is appropriate. Such as in matters of national security. This latest use of executive privilege has more to do with protecting the identity of the person or persons who outed a CIA agent, Valerie Plame Wilson and nothing to do with national security. Exposing the identity of an intelligence agent of the United States, which jeopardized the lives of many other agents and their families, was a particularly heinous and despicable act of retaliation meant to hurt her husband, Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, who had charged that senior officials had willfully distorted intelligence about Iraq’s efforts to obtain uranium in Africa to bolster the case for going to war. Given all that is known of the character of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, this is exactly the type of childish and vengeful action that these individuals would stoop to.

The use of executive privilege, in this situation is a clear abuse of power. This situation does not meet the criteria for the use of privilege as laid out by Chief Justice Warren Burger when he opined that executive privilege would most effectively apply when the oversight of the executive would impair that branch's national security concerns. The national security concerns that were jeopardized occurred when someone callously identified Ms. Wilson as a CIA agent. This action itself should bring that person out from under executive privilege and into the judicial system for prosecution for treason. However, given the decidedly conservative slant of this Supreme Court, the point is likely moot.

Precedent has already been set for overturning executive privilege. When President Clinton exercised a form of negotiated executive privilege he agreed to testify before the grand jury called by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr only after negotiating the terms under which he would appear. Declaring that "absolutely no one is above the law," Starr said such a privilege "must give way" and evidence "must be turned over" to prosecutors if it is relevant to an investigation. But, for some odd reason, Clinton being democrat and Bush being republican seems to make a difference in how rules are applied or ignored.

Another abuse of executive power concerned protecting Karl Rove from testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a probe over fired federal prosecutors. Clearly not a matter of national security.

Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe’s bastardization of democracy in his country allowed him to force opponents out of the election process and guaranteed his continued reign by threatening every individual to vote for him. He calls this democracy. Given King Bush’s proclivity to constitutional abuse and his history of twisting executive privilege for his own benefit, is it a stretch of the imagination that some future American president could conceivably do the same thing? But, we in America are much more sophisticated, less crude, in our manipulation of laws. Here, we have an entire branch of government to pull off these crimes. We have the judicial branch that backs him up at every turn, we have the legislative branch that cowers every time he demands privilege, we have a right wing conservative main stream media that favorably reports his actions leaving the unorganized alternative press and bloggers to voice the people’s decent. Is this situation really that far from Zimbabwe?

This president has done more to remind us of the reason why our forefathers designed and founded this form of government. I refer to the constitution and bill of rights, the rules of law and the moral/ethical standards upon which they are designed. We pray these conventions are strong enough to fight off dictatorship and the inherent evils of fascism. We reassert our faith in our democracy at election time. The strength of our conviction to these standards have been tested from outside forces trying to bring us to our knees. But it is the evil within our government that is doing the most damage.

A president has to hold these ideas within his/her heart in order for them to survive. It takes every politician within our system to believe in the righteousness of this system for it to have the strength to thrive. This congress and this president have lost the spirit of what the architects of our democracy had labored to define.

The president cannot undermine the laws of this land without the collusion of the judiciary and the legislature. They are all three held liable for his doing so.

Isn’t there anyone with enough power to stop this mockery, this injustice? Congress won’t do it, they have become complacent in their comfortable positions. They do not want to jeopardize their future by “stepping out of line”. Dennis Kucinich is one of the very few with the backbone to say publicly what is on the minds of so many people. Impeach Bush.

Read the comments of any blog and/or website where people voice their dissent over how this president is running this country and you will see that people are fed up with King Bush and his gang. We are powerless to do nothing more than use words to express our anger and disappointment. Our representatives pay no attention to us unless they are up for election and even then their promises amount to nothing more than lip service.

America has come around full circle to pre-revolution days of the 1700’s. We are complaining about lack of representation. There is retaliation for criticism of government methods (see also Valerie Plame Wilson, the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, etc). We complain about protection of Bush cronies from prosecution. We complain of Bush appointments of unqualified cronies to high level positions (Attorney General, Supreme Court) and we are justified in these complaints.

It will take a revolution to set this country back on the right course of government for the people. It has been designed so that every four years we Americans are given the opportunity to change our leadership and yet more and more often we are presented with individuals that only perpetuate a unified shadow government’s idea of how this nation should be governed. Behind closed doors and through the use of lobbyists, the rich and powerful under the framework of legal corporations have sloughed off the U.S. Constitution and the law in order that these individuals profit the most.

We, the citizens, don’t hold mass meetings to determine the daily running of this nation. We allow others to do it all for us without involving ourselves in the mechanics. We don’t keep ourselves informed enough concerning the inner workings of this so-called democracy. We have given up that ability. We have made it easy for the behind-the-scenes running of this nation. And then when we see the abuse that Bush has brought to the presidential office we can do nothing more than complain.

George W Bush has given us a present. He and his power abusers have shown us where the weaknesses are in this system. And it is us. It is up to us to demand better of our elected officials.

Do we want a dictator, a person or group of persons who has the ultimate power to decide what is best for our citizenry, even if it means he will break laws and issue executive privilege to protect himself and his cronies? When the question is laid out like this it presents an ugly reality. Because this is what we have. This is what our apathy in the political workings of this system has amounted to.

Politics does not hold the fascination of reality shows or sporting events or who is screwing who in Hollywood, but it is something that affects every facet of our lives, and so deeply that we cannot simply continue to ignore it. Only those people who do find politics interesting enough to run for political office learn the truth of how easy it is to control the masses. They are the ones who decide our future.

We now, at this time in our history, have the greatest number of free sources of information to keep us abreast of what our leaders are doing despite what main stream media tells us and we still bury our heads in the sand and only react to anything that threatens to take money directly out of our pockets. The political machine has gotten so good at what it does that they can extract untold billions of dollars out of taxpayers pockets, finance politicians pet projects, allow corporations to destroy the environment, give away millions in subsidies to those same corporations, arbitrarily raise product prices and blame it on some other country, and not even fear taxpayers disapproval.

I love this country and the principles upon which it was built. This is why it deeply saddens me to see it ruined by my fellow Americans who refuse to do anything other than to pop the top on a cold one and plant themselves in front of their television immersing themselves into mindless reality game shows.

We need to stand up and take responsibility for what we have allowed into the oval office. Let’s make certain that we only elect those people who truly represent us. Let’s get involved so we have less chance of being surprised by fools like King Bush.

Despite the oil spills, “We Didn’t Spill a Drop”

How is it that someone, anyone, can think they can get away with a lie like this? When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita lashed the U.S. Gulf Coast with force 4 and 5 winds the whole world watched as no fewer than 124 offshore oil wells were compromised and yes, they did indeed spill oil. Yet, in the revisionist world of Nancy Pfotenhauer, senior energy advisor to Senator John McCain, not a drop was spilled.

Did she forget that the press covered this, one of the major news stories of 2005? Perhaps Ms. Pfotenhauer, who just happens to have been a lobbyist for a major polluter whose faulty oil pipelines were responsible for more than 300 oil spills in five states, has forgotten that there are still people out here in the real world who follow the news and knows she is lying.

Ms. Pfotenhauer was a lobbyist for Koch Industries, who was facing 97-indictments for a total of up to $352 million in fines for illegally releasing 91 metric tons of benzene, a known carcinogen, from its refinery in Corpus Christie, Texas, until Koch donated $800,000 to George W Bush’s presidential campaign. After he became president, GW’s Justice Department dropped 88 of the charges. Koch then pled guilty to falsifying documents and settled lawsuits for a fraction of that amount.

Given her connection to a corporation who thinks so little of the American public and the environment at large, it is no wonder she would not think twice about making such an outlandish claim.

In her capacity as lobbyists she is very well versed in how to color the truth in order to portray her client as desperately deserving of governmental favors. But now, she is in a different league. In her capacity as advisor to a presidential candidate (John McBush), she is in the public eye and even though the main stream media will allow her little faux pas to pass (because it is John McBush and not Barrack Obama) she needs to learn to keep her facts straight because those of us who actually pay attention will not let her get away with it. I am certain that given time her ability to lie will improve to the point that we will have to watch her even closer.

And with this particular presidential candidate she better quickly learn to distinguish between fact and fiction, because he can’t keep it all straight on his own. Aside from the fact that McCain can’t remember simple things like Czechoslovakia is no longer a country, or that he voted against coverage of birth control, or that he still confuses Shiite with Sunni Muslims, or that he can’t remember saying he would tear down the lower 9th ward in New Orleans after only three days, or that he claimed Al Qaeda has ties to Iran, etc, etc, it is no telling how Ms. P will be required to cover for his version of the truth. It is not a very good sign that even his own advisors cannot keep their facts straight. They all deserve each other and we all deserve a whole lot better from a president. Pay attention people. This guy wants to be our leader, if he can remember what he is running for.

The George W Bush Presidency was a Parody of Our Political System

What do we expect of our President? It is very simple really:

• Keep the economy working for everyone, not just the corporations
• Surround himself/herself with the most knowledgeable advisors in the most critical of fields
• Keep lines of communications open with foreign nations as a means of preventing wars
• Provide moral/ethical leadership
• Protect individual rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
• Foremost, to abide by the rules of government as laid out in our constitution and defend Americas principles and values as defined by the Bill of Rights.

Based on these basic requirements, George W Bush has failed us miserably.

And we have failed ourselves. The ongoing self-imposed ignorance and apathy of the typical American voter set the stage for this presidential farce by keeping themselves uninformed of even the most major issues and that ignorance has allowed themselves to be manipulated and duped into believing this man was right for the presidency of the United States. Unscrupulous campaign architects, with a clear disdain for the political process, devised a plan to thrust a weak-minded, ethically questionable, politically hollow individual onto the national political stage. They found their ideal puppet in George Walker Bush. Known only by his fathers name and propped up by his fathers wealth, he stumbled through a very lackluster tenure as Texas governor, and was therefore ripe to be puppeted by political bosses bent on exploiting the American free enterprise system and hollowing it out for their own personal gain. And they got away with it because the average American does not understand what they are supporting.

Welcome to the Corporafasicist States of America where politicians have subjugated themselves to the whims of corporations. Where our president has opened the coffers of taxpayer dollars to fund corporate welfare and paved the way for easing legal pitfalls that stand in the way of their raping of this nation. Where Americans throw their unbridled support behind anyone that they think will make money for themselves without pondering the consequences. Where the unbridled and seemingly runaway power of the president has used the unabashed greed of capitalism to usurp citizens rights for the benefit of corporate America.

Act one: election scam
This presidential charade began with the 2000 election-scam orchestrated by Florida’s sectary of state Katherine Harris and finalized by a right-leaning U.S. Supreme Court. The fact that GW’s brother Jeb was governor of Florida is not a fact to take lightly. Add to this Daddy Bush’s post-White House lobby work with his deep pocketed friend’s and this election was bought and delivered in a pretty package.

In all fairness to the American voter, politicians reneging on campaign promises has repeatedly sullied the value of our vote to the point of worthlessness. A candidate is paraded before us seemingly from behind the scenes and is cheered by their party as the single greatest thing to ever happen to this country. In an attempt to sell this candidate, through spoon fed speech rhetoric using very slim poll results to determine what voters want, he/she is then allowed to waffle based on current political winds. Near the end of this popularity contest each candidate has given up on trying to convince us they are right for the job and are now expending all their time and money trying to convince us the other person is not right for the job. In the end, the selection process comes down to selecting the person you like least and then voting for the other.

In George W Bush we see an unfortunate example of the type of individual this country’s educational and social systems is producing. Lacking in social graces and ethically bankrupt without an ounce of respect for truth or Americas citizens, he is willing to overlook legal ‘indiscretions’ as long as doing so will benefit him and his party. He is the epitome of the type of person who makes it through life by irreverently joking his way through social situations, immersing himself in the ‘good-ole-boy’ network, in an attempt to cover up the fact that he has no idea how to tackle any real-world problem in any meaningful and ethical manner, much less aspire to be an example of the moral leadership this nation desperately needs in a president sworn to preserve, protect and defend the constitution on which this nation was built.

His loyalty shifted from his voters to corporate leaders in the blink of the presidential inauguration.

Act two: Iraq or Bust
The continuation of this parody is especially heinous for GW’s blind desire to avenge is father’s ‘mistake’ in not taking out Saddam Hussein during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Bush the second and his machine drummed up support by manufacturing false claims of an Iraq missile development program and using Iraq weapons inspection teams as a cover for justifying the use of American troops to exact his vendetta against Saddam. By falsely claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction intended to be used against the U.S. he triggered events that had no recourse but to physically remove this man from power. Soon after invading Iraq it became unwaveringly apparent that these claims were false and that congress was complicit in declaring war on a sovereign nation.
claims were false

By illegally attacking Iraq, a Muslim nation, Bush callously stirred up a hornets nest of Islamic terrorists and targeted every American citizen around the globe for any terrorist group hoping to carve out a name for themselves in the name of Allah. Instead of choosing diplomacy or any other nonviolent option Bush’s “Wild West” mentality resorted to damning rhetoric that painted Saddam as undeterrable and being armed with nuclear weapons direct military action became the only answer. Saddam knew that his use of a nuclear weapon would result in Iraq being obliterated. There was no threat of danger from Iraq but Congress, incredibly, chose to ignore this simple fact and bought into Bush’s 2002 “axis of evil” speech and when the CIA presented its flawed findings, war was inevitable.

Main stream media went along with everything Bush said, seeing an opportunity to ensure this war would be fully covered live. With visions of Nobel prizes and the promise of “exclusive” shocking wartime stories clouding their judgment, 24/7 news programming directors were salivating for raw footage to fill their schedule to satisfy a voyeuristic world public.

After learning that the basis for going to war was formed on false claims, the U.S. Senate put the blame squarely on the CIA, ignoring the fact that G W Bush and company instigated the entire affair.

The outward appearance that U.S. intelligence services failed to stop the September 11 attacks has many believing that the plot was discovered before hand and the White House administration allowed the terrorists to follow through with their plans knowing that the act would bolster Americas support for Bush’s dirty little war. The U.S. then promised to protect Saudi Arabia’s role in those attacks because it was in the U.S. best interest to protect our access to their oil.

And now the main prize is within reach: no-bid oil deals for western oil companies. This truly will finally mean success for Bush’s illegal war in Iraq.

Now, the Bush administration is following a similar script to start a war with Iran. And for what? Because of G W Bush’s blind rage over Iran’s refusal to bow down to him. As a result Russia has become leery over the placement of a so-called U.S. missiles defense system that places Russia squarely within its range and Putin has now grown colder in his relations toward the U.S. Way to go George, you have managed to piss off a peacetime partner destroying years of diplomacy and negotiations to get them to finally trust us. All thanks to your inability to accept that you are not the ordained protector of this planet. The rhetoric you and Cheney have put into place is taking on a life of its own and the entire world will deeply suffer if you ignite the fuse you yourself are responsible for laying down against Iran.

Act three: inner circle of friends
But George’s high jinx didn’t end with an illegal war. He has used the once prestigious White House as the scene of such low-class and immoral atrocities as the character assassination of anyone who dares utter a discouraging word against King George or his cohorts. It didn’t matter if that person was an operative of the CIA (Valerie Plame Wilson) and outing that person meant the loss of countless networks of foreign agents. Or, if that person was the Secretary of State (Colin Powell) because he was becoming more popular with the public than Bush himself. Or a Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) because the military didn’t like the way he was handling Iraq. Or a Foreign Secretary (Jack Straw) for speaking his mind.

Bush is famous for going the extra mile to protect his inner-circle of friends, membership to which coincidently requires hefty financial remuneration, to the point of defying the legal process. Since top members of the legal system are a part of his inner-circle neither he nor his friends have to fear recrimination. Several members of that circle of ‘friends’ came to know just how generous GW and his gang could be. The list of donor friends includes Ken Lay, Enron CEO and co-architect of the biggest corporate fraud and market manipulation schemes ever perpetrated in this country. Ken and company became one of the biggest recipients of corporate welfare after donating $3 million to Bush electoral campaigns and the Republican Party.

Oil company executives receive a place of honor among GW’s circle of friends and have all seen record profits because of it. Due to their bought-and-paid-for friendship with George W Bush through campaign contributions big oil and chemical companies have had free reign over environmental concerns and it is no secret that the EPA has elected to go soft on these major polluters. Even now Bush is pushing to lift the offshore drilling ban under the ruse that doing so will help ease fuel prices to American consumers. Lifting this ban will provide no benefit to anyone except for big oil and will destroy coastal economies and the environment.

Anyone who actually worked in the White House is automatically covered by presidential privilege. One such person was Scooter Libby. Scooter, if you remember, was the sacrificial lamb who took the heat for the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. As a thank-you to Mr. Libby for his time as Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff and for taking the fall for the true guilty person (many believe Cheney ordered the leak in retaliation against her husband Ambassador Joseph C Wilson), Bush commuted Libby’s sentence. It pays to be friends with the president of the United States.

Presidential cronyism gets you other special privileges such as being appointed to high office, with complete disregard for ability to perform their respective positions. Alberto Gonzalez (Attorney General) is a prime example. Others were Harriet Miers (failed Supreme Court Nominee), and Michael Brown (FEMA Director). Bush will overlook incompetence to the point of seriously damaging his own credibility. That is what ‘good ole’ boys’ do for each other.

Because of Bush’s disregard for the letter of the law and the clearly spelled-out intentions of the U.S. Constitution, this Congress has lost all of its power to subpoena anyone. His leadership (sic) by the wrong example is making it comfortable for any well-heeled law-breaker to laugh at subpoenas and Karl Rove wields this ability to the limit. Best known as the architect of George W Bush’s rise to power, he is without doubt one of the most despicable characters to latch onto a presidential candidate through his use of negative campaign ads, campaign fund raising tactics and the simple fact that he helped orchestrate the selling of George W Bush to an unwary American public using every dirty tactic and lie he had at his disposal. To this day Karl Rove refuses to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to testify on the politicization within the Justice Dept. despite being subpoenaed. He was forced to retire last August under suspicion for his role in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 as well as the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, a Democrat. Rove, of course, has denied playing any role in the Siegelman affair. Lying has become second nature to this slug of a human being.

Bush appointee, and U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey refuses a Senate subpoena for files. Why won’t he hand them over? As a personal favor to his good buddy George W Bush. Imagine, the U.S. Attorney General refusing to answer a subpoena. What message do you think that is sending the rest of the country?

Act four: Dismantling of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
George W Bush has approached the shredding of the constitution with an almost religious zeal and when the U.S. Senate stepped into the realm of the legal system (a clear violation of the separation of government powers as laid out in the constitution) by passing a law that would prevent telecoms from being sued for their part in the warrantless wiretapping scheme, Congress became partners in the dismantling of the very foundation of this once democratic nation. This takes power away from anyone who wishes to go through the courts to sue over the loss of their right to privacy. This new law also dramatically expands the government’s surveillance powers without any meaningful judicial oversight. This total lack of respect for Constitutional law and the refusal to stay within its clearly spelled-out intentions has amounted to an overthrow of our form of government from a Democracy to Fascism. These fools who pass themselves off as protectors of the American people and defenders of the constitution either have no clue as to what they are doing or are too afraid to stand up to the president. Either way American citizens lose. The Constitution has become nothing more than a piece of paper.

How many Americans know the true dangers that the passage of this legislation has presented to us as free citizens? The government now has the right to collect information on non-terrorist-related activities like P2P copyright infringement and online gambling. In short, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 opens up loopholes that allows the feds spy on anyone they see fit without having to ask for permission. The government is no longer required to identify specific eavesdropping targets.
right to collect information on non-terrorist-related activities

A five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Board was created in 2004 after being recommended by the 9/11 Commission. President Bush initially refused to nominate anyone at all leaving the commission vacant since the previous board's term ended in January thereby leaving the panel to exist in name only.

The Military Commissions Act, passed in the final hours before Congress adjourned in 2006, cast aside the constitution and the principle of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. Congress also gave the president absolute power to designate enemy combatants, and to set his own definitions for torture.

Bush held fast to the misplaced belief that torture guarantees honest results. Torture and the inflicting of pain on another human being weakens our value as a civil society and brings dishonor upon those individuals knowingly participating in the administration of it. When George W Bush vetoed a ban on waterboarding, finally admitting its practice after lying that the U.S. participated in such atrocities, he became the first American president to openly authorize torture on detainees. He took us a step backwards towards the Dark Ages and formally joined the ranks of the most heinous and hated men this world has ever produced. The black-hearted, evil bloody henchmen of WWII Nazi Germany are among those individuals.

Islamic terrorists are defending their homelands from the illegal invasion of a nation who thinks it has eminent domain over every resource and has to impose its idea of democracy on every nation on the face of this planet. Americans would do the same thing if tables were turned. This idea of manifest destiny that is so embedded into America’s thinking is likened to the Catholic Church of the 13th century who imposed the Holy Inquisition to destroy heretics and non-believers through the use of torture.
Source: Torture Throughout the Ages

This nation has done more to banish the use of torture than any other nation and then along comes George W Bush to undo it all. He has violated America’s treaty obligations, the military code of justice, the United Nations convention against torture, and U.S. law. This savagery is the last vestige of a frustrated, unlawful, uncivilized society.

Due to the acceptance of torture as a viable means of treatment towards prisoners, and the common atrocious wartime practice of presenting the enemy as less than human, this nation created the horror of Abu Ghraib. Individuals, incompetent and sadistic, were allowed and even encouraged to inflict any manner of pain on prisoners never once realizing the irony that one of the reasons the U.S. invaded Iraq was to remove a dictator accused of torturing his citizens. The hypocrisy that is America is best stated thusly: “Do as I Say, Not as I Do”

Even the grunts that Bush’s lies are responsible for maiming and killing in his illegal war are tossed aside after their ‘usefulness’ has ebbed. He shows no concern for their welfare unless forced to do so. And then he stages a teleconference with troops to show his “support”.

Hurricane Katrina put the spot light on how much this administration gives a damn about disaster victims in this country. FEMA trailers are rotting away behind locked gates. Supplies stockpiled in warehouses while needy victims are still waiting for relief. FEMA knew they were incompetent in fulfilling their duties and instead of devising a plan to correct their shortcomings, they staged a press conference stocked with their own people, and did not invite the press, in an attempt to regain the respect of the American people. This is the best solution that our leaders can come up with!. After three years victims of Katrina are still waiting for assistance.

Grand Finale: Destroying the World’s Economy
The sub-prime mortgage debacle screwed more than the people who lost their homes. Taxpayers once again will feel the screws tighten even tighter because of the upcoming bailout required to keep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac solvent. This is another example of how corporations can screw people out of tons of money and run their respective corporations into the ground without any fear of reprisal because of the knowledge that the federal government (taxpayers) will always bail them out. And the crooked participants always walk away richer for it.

There are currently 76 banks under threat of collapsing, as reported by the FDIC, a 52% increase over last year. Next year, the number is expected to reach over 200. Not since the flood of bank failures after the Savings and Loan bailout by the federal government in the 1989 has our banking system been in this much trouble. The larger problem is the potential tightening of credit provided by major banks which is the life blood of the economy. Without new loans, we are all in deep trouble. The leading cause of all of this trouble is most regulators failed to scrutinize many banks who were overly eager to provide home loans to borderline recipients. When these loans began to become delinquent many small banks suffered. The domino effect is bringing down much more than those small banks. If there are not enough strong banks to take on assets and deposits of these smaller failed banks then we are headed for a depression.

This economic situation is the main reason we are paying record high prices for gas, record high prices for food, record budget deficits, record trade deficits, record number of Americans without health insurance, record number of home mortgage loan failures. While Bush is giving money away to his rich friends through tax cuts and subsidies this nation has suffered through two recessions and is currently threatened with another depression. This poor excuse for a leader and this spineless congress have no idea how to effectively manage economic matters. They spend their time writing laws to benefit large-donor corporations and financially generous lobby groups, and lining the pockets of their richest constituents with pork but when it comes down to actually doing something useful or meaningful for the people who are paying their salaries they are clueless.

Bush’s economic policy is simple: “all money should flow to corporate entities and any other consideration is counterproductive”.

And now it has come out that favors are being offered in return for donations to the presidential library. This guy is laughing at anything that resembles class or ethics.
paying for access to presidential library

We are leaderless, and this imposter who calls himself president is robbing us blind.

What is truly terrifying is the number of people who are backing the Bush clone John McCain. They are actually asking that this eight-year-nightmare not end.

You know, you can dress up an ignorant rich boy and elect him president of the United States but you can’t make him give a damn about his fellow citizens.

We may have the physical structure of the government that our founding fathers laid out for us, but we no longer abide by the spirit of what they intended. Our founding fathers would shudder if they could see what their vision of America has been reduced to.

In their own words from the Declaration of Independence: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

People, I beg of you, pay more attention to national and international news, not just from main stream media, from alternative sources so we can all be better informed and stop this madness of electing someone just because someone you know did, or just because he/she is cute, or just because of sex or race. We need to be informed and we can only do it for ourselves.