A Common Sense Look at the News

Edited by Milt Shook

The Weasel Top Line...  Valerie Plame WAS Covert...   There WERE no WMDs in Iraq and the Bushies Knew it...  Karl Rove DID out a covert CIA operative...  The Bushies ARE handing your money over to contractors without oversight...    Signing Statements ARE an impeachable offense...   They ARE spying on you...   Bush HAS created more terrorists, not fewer...   There WERE no terrorists in Iraq before we went in...  Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11...    George W Bush kicked out the weapons inspectors, NOT Saddam Hussein...   Torture is NOT an American value...    Our greatest allies in the Middle East are also major supporters of terrorists...

Impeachment is the Only Option!

by Milt Shook

There is something I don't understand about the current crop of Democrats in Congress. Why are they so reticent to discuss impeachment? And honestly, I think we're way past the point where discussion of impeachment would be useful. It's time someone put forth serious articles of impeachment against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and brought them to a vote.

Under normal circumstances, their reticence would make some sense, because impeachment trials reduce the effectiveness of the Senate for the time of the trial. But at this point, does it matter? Senate Republicans have made it crystal clear that they will refuse to allow anything important through to the floor for a vote, anyway; if the Senate is going to be relatively ineffective for a while, why not put the time to good use? Let's use the opportunity to demonstrate just WHY the Founding Fathers put impeachment into the Constitution six times. 

Honest to God, what does someone have to do to be impeached by these Democrats? The Republicans made up something out of whole cloth in order to bring charges against Bill Clinton, and continued with it, even though three-quarters of the country sided with Clinton. Yet, with a list of potential charges at least a mile long against the two current occupants of the White House, are we supposed to believe there isn't a political will to salvage our democracy and preserve what's left of the Constitution?

And don't give me that "we don't have the time" crap, either. I keep hearing that argument, too. It doesn't have to tale that long. I know the impeachment of Bill Clinton seemed to take forever, the fact of the matter is, the articles of impeachment were passed on December 19, 1998, and he was acquitted on February 12, 1999. That's less than two months from the impeachment vote to the end of the trial. Think back over the last two months; did anything happen, legislatively speaking, that we couldn't have done without? They can't even pass bills dealing with the Iraq occupation or immigration. We're in the middle of a so-called "war on terror," and we can't even pass a bill to try to identify 12 million people who are here illegally.

But I digress.

This is not about right and left, although the right wing wants you to think it is. This is about right and wrong. We need an impeachment trial for no other reason than to expose the Bush Administration's sins to the entire country, and the world, and to show to the rest of the world how a truly great country does to get rid of scumbags when they occupy the most powerful positions in the government.

Do we have the votes to convict? Not at the moment. But I have a sneaking suspicion that if you manage to lay the evidence before the people and show them everything the Bushies have done for the last seven years, many Republican Senators -- especially the 22 up for reelection next year and the 19 up for reelection in 2010, will sit up and take notice.

The purpose of impeachment, of course, is to remove anyone in the government who is committing a crime, or who is found to be corrupt. That part is obvious; corruption cannot and should not be tolerated in the government, and the Founders knew and understood this. But just as important to the people who created the Constitution, was the desire for a mechanism for getting rid of people who were incompetent, and incapable of acting in a way beneficial to the nation as a whole.

Let's face it, folks; with the Bushies, we've hit the jackpot with regard to impeachable offenses. I mean, it's like the world's largest dartboard; two blind people could make it a game with everything the Keystone Kops in the White House have been up to. Read the rest of this article HERE

The Supreme Right Wing

You know, I remember a time, back in 2000, when a certain person tried to rationalize his intended vote for Ralph Nader by claiming that he simply HAD to vote his conscience. When I suggested to him that the Supreme Court was too close, I was told that it was no big deal, because Supreme Court Justices usually did the right thing, and often turned out to be surprises. Wonder how he feels now that Bush has been able to pack the court with wingnut extremists who don't give a rat's ass about stare decisis.

Monday was a banner day for the right wing, as they got to make brownie points with the wingnuts by telling school administrators that they had unlimited power in telling kids what they can and cannot say. Read more here... Seriously, they claimed that administrators could take steps to "safeguard" the kids from speech that can "reasonably" be regarded as "encouraging illegal drug use." Yes, you have that right. To a wingnut USSC justice, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" promotes drug use. So, for whom is it encouraging drug use? Will anyone be more likely to take a bong hit because says it's for Jesus? If that's the case, then all of those people who are killing in the name of a president who claims Jesus.... um... never mind...

The Supremes also rendered a major component of campaign finance reform, by ruling that any corporation or anyone else can spend as much as they want in the 60 days before an election, as long as they're not explicitly mentioning a specific candidate. Again with this bullshit concept that the more money you have, the more free speech you're entitled to. What this means is that Clinton, Edwards or Obama could make global warming their number one issue in the next election (you do realize that we will likely be pulling out of Iraq by then, right?), and then Exxon, Chevron, et al, can use one or two of their extra $40 billion in profits to blanket the airwaves with lies about what the Democratic candidate might actually do. I understand that the unions and the ACLU praised the decision, but they're wrong, period. This is another example of people mistaking the ability to spend money with speech. Read more here...

And that same group of knuckleheads then turn the Establishment Clause on its head when they refused to rule that the president's obviously unconstitutional "faith-based" programs were, in fact, unconstitutional. But they did it the chickenshit way; they ruled that those bitching had no standing as taxpayers. Huh? Read more here...

Of course, they weren't finished there. On Thursday, that same band of idiots played absolute ignorance about the state of racism in this country, when they actually had the balls to cite Brown v. Board of Education to KILL diversity programs in Seattle and Louisville. Now, how big of an ideological dufus do you have to be to cite a case which argued against forced segregation in order to rationalize your rejection of programs that do the exact opposite? Justice Roberts, you and your three biggest supporters are complete jackasses if you think that is relevant in any way. (Kennedy, to his credit, voted with the majority, but for different reasons, and refused to read the rejection broadly enough to outlaw all race-based programs. Read more here... You really have to read the dissents here; they're classic. I have a feeling civil rights attorneys will be citing the dissents more so than this lousy opinion in the future.

And for those of you who like a little competition in your consumer pricing structure, the Supremes also struck down a major portion of the Sherman antitrust law, which stood for 96 years, in which producers could dictate to retailers what price they can charge. I have personal experience in this, folks, having run retail electronics stores in the past. Manufacturers don't like discount prices, unless the numbers are Wal-Mart-like, because when the retail price is forced down, the wholesale price is also forced down, as well. Even with this law, manufacturers have tried to use all sorts of methods to get around this law, like not shipping to retailers who sell below a certain price, but now, they don't even have to be tricky about it. Remember the "suggested retail price" on merchandise? Expect discounts to become an endangered species. Prices WILL go up, I guarantee it. Read more here...

So, here's one of the key issues in the 2008 race for president, liberals; who is most likely to NOT nominate right wing ideologues in a bid to flood the courts, and get them to make the laws that they themselves don't have the balls to make themselves? This is a real issue, and it is a stark one. To the liberals out there wishing for a third party candidate like Ralph Nader, you have to understand this concept; in order to influence policy, and keep right wing ideologues from having a say in policy, you have to back the winner. THE WINNER! With the Supremes at 5-4 in their favor already, we literally can't afford a crap shoot anymore... got it? It doesn't matter if they take money from rich people; that can no longer be a criterion. We have to change things from inside, and we have to do so now. We can't afford to do work on the outside anymore... it's killing us...

Seriously, folks, there is a consequence to every vote, no matter how much you want to deny it. And every time you vote for someone who cannot win, you throw a vote to someone who can win. And if you think you're "voting your conscience," ask yourself what your "conscience" tells you, having let Bush get close enough to steal two elections in a row. Voting for someone you know cannot win isn't "voting your conscience," it's the coward's way out. It also demonstrates immense gullibility; someone who knows he's not going to win can say any damn thing he wants, because he knows he's never going to be able to act on it. Think about this question the next time you vote; how will this country deal with a 9-0 Supreme Court, and twice as many right wing judges as it now deals with?

The Future of Politics is NOT Spelled G-O-P!

Things are looking up even more for the Democrats, IF they can get a message out there and demonstrate that they stand for something. The latest sign that Republicans are in deep trouble next year is a new New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll that finds that a much larger number of young people 17-29 are leaning toward common sense, meaning universal health care, a more open immigration policy and legalized gay marriage. More importantly, young people are showing signs that they're fed up with the wingnuts, and are paying more attention to the presidential race this year, than they have in the past. More importantly, their sights seem to be set on two candidates; Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Of course, if you look at this poll, you'll find that in the "all adults" category, the Republicans are in serious trouble, as well, and we liberals ARE the mainstream. Check it all out here...

Back to the Future, Courtesy of the Bushies

If you want to see the direction in which the Bushies would like to head the country, look in your rear-view mirror, and check out the newly-declassified CIA documents from a time when they were attempting to come clean under the glare of the Watergate fiasco. Stories of assassination attempts on leaders who were not friendly to the United States and domestic spying abound in these documents. They spied on anti-war protesters during Vietnam, and under Nixon instituted a program tracking calls from overseas, and all foreign calls routed through the United States. Read More Here...

Yes, that's right, folks; at one time, this sort of bad behavior was considered SOP for the United States government, but then we started to actually read the Constitution. Now, the Bushies long for the good old days, and wish to return us to those less-than-thrilling days of yesteryear. Read the documents here, and learn why we really don't want to return to those days..

Uncle Chuckles Retracts Apology; Thinks Assassination was a "Good Idea" After All

So, get this... Apparently, the vaunted "conservative" (read, "wingnut") "Reverend" Marion "Pat" Robertson, on his 700 Club program, has once again suggested the assassination of an elected world leader would be a really neat idea. He first suggested that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be killed two years ago, and then apologized two days later, when some folks suggested that such a thing would be a bit less than Christ-like. Well, he's back at it again, as you can see above. Here's a transcript, also courtesy of Media Matters:

ROBERTSON: Well, a couple of years ago I made a comment or two about Mr. Chavez. Nobody even knew who Hugo Chavez was. They thought he was some grape picker from out in California. And all of a sudden my comments put him on the front page, and now we've begun to see the kind of person he is, and more and more people are saying to me, "I think you were right." Now he's talking about war with America. I knew this was going to happen. Before long, he's going to get atomic bombs. He's going to have missiles. He spent three billion, count them, three billion dollars acquiring arms from the Soviet Union, and you ask yourself, "What does a peaceful country at the head of South America, what do they need with three billion dollars' worth of arms?" We're not going to fight them. Are they going to take over Colombia? What's their next target? Are they trying to be the next Cuba? He is a very dangerous man. They call him "El Loco," and it's a well-deserved name.

First off, Chavez has shown absolutely no hostility toward the United States, except for his call to nationalize his country's oil, which would lock out several American oil companies. (Gee, can you guess why the Bushies would hate him so?) He is not talking about OFFENSIVE war with America; he's warned his military to be ready for an American invasion. According to the Guardian (UK):

President Hugo Chávez has ordered Venezuela's armed forces to prepare for a guerrilla war against the United States, saying there must be a strategy to defeat the superpower if it invades.

As you can see, even if you read the entire article, Chavez isn't looking to attack the United States; he's afraid we're going to attack Venezuela, in order to protect the interests of Exxon and Conoco, among others. And $3 billion? Robertson has to be a moron of he thinks that's a lot of money; the Bushies borrow twice that every week just to keep the government running, they spend that much every couple of days in order to keep troops and Iraqi civilians dying in Iraq.

And if you had any doubts about Evil Uncle Chuckles' racism, check out the "They thought he was some grape picker" remark. Why aren't more Christians going after these idiots? There is nothing the least bit "Christian" about these assholes.

GOP Screws the Worker Again...

While the media was going ga-ga over the spectacle of Paris Hilton getting out of jail after 3 whole weeks, Senate Republicans were doing their obstructionist best, in blocking the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have allowed unions to organize more easily, and make it significantly more difficult for companies such as Wal-Mart to put the kabosh on union organizing activities. Essentially, they blocked an "up or down vote." I guess the question is, when the GOP was screaming about "up or down votes" on the garbage they proposed, why didn't the Democrats learn anything? Bring it up again, and this time, demand an "up or down vote"!!! An increasing number of workers in this country are being hosed by large corporations, who don't want anyone to organize, because it could cost them a few bucks on their bottom line. Put it this way; Wal-Mart had profits of more than $11 billion last year, yet a huge number of their employees make little enough to qualify for welfare and medicaid. If they paid for health insurance for all of their employees, they still would have made $9 billion. With a 2% increase in prices, they could have increased wages by a $2 an hour, and provided basic health insurance for their employees, and kept the same level of profit.

Yet, the Republican Party, even after their spanking last November, is still trying to keep the real engines of the economy -- the average worker -- from seeing their fair share of the American dream. Read more here...

O'Reilly Gets Smoked (Literally) by a 16 Year Old...

The Best Damn Political Novel Ever Written!

Seriously, name another novel with:

• A fat, stupid right wing talk show host whose greed and sloth far exceed his intelligence;

• A power-mad megalomaniacal billionaire whose main purpose in life is to get revenge for the unfair treatment of the greatest president in history, Richard M. Nixon;

• A President whose two biggest problems are the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and a horny secretary

• A wide-eyed Christian whose only concern is making sure the country is conservative;

• The gruesome death of a liberal foe in the billionaire's bathroom;

• And a compliant media, that only repeats what it's told, and refuses to let facts get in the way...

(No, you don't get Bush...)

You get this novel, that's what!

So click on the link below, and you'll get a copy for the cover price of $18.95, plus $3 Shipping, and not only will the author sign it for you, but a portion of the purchase will go to support progressive Candidates, via ActBlue

You can also order this novel through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell's, and any other bookstore, but this is the only way to make sure some of that money goes to progressive causes, okay? And it won't be signed, and that's important...

A British doctor, a German doctor and an American doctor were chatting.

The British doctor said, "Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man put it in another and have him looking for work in six weeks."

Then the German doctor bragged, "That's nothing, we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another and have him looking for work in four weeks."

The American doctor, not to be outdone, says, "You guys are way behind. We took a man with no brain out of Texas, put him in the White House, and almost immediately afterwards half the country was looking for work."

© Milt Shook 2002-2007