Democrats & Liberals: Archives

The Stench at Justice Expands

We can now add Western Michigan's Margaret Chiara to the list of U.S. Attorneys who have been forced out by the White House and Alberto Gonzales. Watchblog's American Pundit put two and two together last month when San Diego's Carol Lam, who helped put Republican crook Duke Cunningham behind bars, was forced out.

Getting Beyond McCain-Feingold

McCain-Feingold is a flop. No one can argue with a straight face that is has cleaned up our political system. Even worse, it restricts free speech. Fortunately, there is a workable solution.

Who's The Enemy?

The United States has never had a well-defined Middle East policy, but since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran we've mostly focused on containing Tehran's Shiite regime. You see, we always pegged the Shiites as far more radical and anti-American than Sunni states like Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Kinda funny when you remember that Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and all the 9/11 hijackers were Sunnis -- still are, in the case of Osama bin-alive-and-kickin-Laden.

Innocence Shouldn't Be Partisan

Innocent people shouldn't be imprisoned.

Well, duh! That statement on its face will draw agreement across the entire political spectrum. But most folks in the prosecuting business don't seem to agree, when it means releasing prisoners their office successfully convicted. Newly elected Dallas, Texas district attorney Craig Watkins gets kudos for allowing common sense to trump possible embarrassment.

"Oh what a tangled web..."

The Bush regime lied to get us into the war in Iraq. Now, as Bush might say; "In Texas we got a sayin... When uh - when uh - you got a - a - a - tangled can o worms... it uh... its uh... its like a net you see... and uh... there is evil doers in the world... Ha Ha and some some of ems liars you see... and uh that is what the tangled can o worms means. You see... Ha Ha..." He is a happy guy - stupid - but happy.

Scooter Libby verdict?

It doesn't look good for Fitztgerald's prosecution of Scooter Libby as the jury goes into the third day of deliberations. It is sad that these rats are going to get away with another one. I predict that he will be found not guilty of the charges . . .

The Rebirth of the Company Town

I grew up thinking that the company town was dead. It went out with worker protections and unions. By "company town" I don't mean that there was one major company that employs most of the workforce, but that the company owns the housing, owns the stores, may own the utility companies etc.

McCain: I Will Force American Women To Breed

Yesterday, John McCain came out squarely in favor of government-enforced maternity. He told a group in South Carolina that "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned." Now, I realize this is a litmus test that Republican Presidential candidates must pass, but I'm squarely with the Democrats on this issue. Outlawing abortion doesn't reduce abortions; it just drives the process underground.

The Character of Climate Change

I've already addressed this issue in another post, but with the release of the latest IPCC statement, the strongest yet, the necessity is here to look at things again, and to find out just why it's so hard to nail down what effect our activities will have.

Yay! Protest Songs

I've been disappointed in the lack of good protest songs over the last few years. Sure, musicians have spoken out against the war in Iraq or against the President's handling of it, but I don't hear them singing about it on the radio.

The 2003 Iran offer: Bush said no

In 2003, Iran offered a deal to the US. The deal (link) was to fight terrorists (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah), establish democratic institutions in Iraq, stop support of Palestinian opposition forces and accept a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In exchange, Iran asked the US waive all talk of regime change in Iran, remove economic sanctions and rid Iran of the Terrorist organization MEK. The Bush administration said no.

Square One In North Korea

President Bush finally negotiated with Kim Jong-Il and got an agreement to "freeze" North Korea's plutonium weapon processing. The uranium processing program that President Bush accused North Korea of having -- the issue that started North Korea on the path to building 10-12 plutonium weapons from reprocessed fuel rods -- went unmentioned.

The Voucher Scheme for Healthcare

In the Feb 19/26 issue of The New Republic, Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Victor R. Fuchs present a healthcare scheme based on vouchers. Using my Healthcare Evaluation Guide, I find that this scheme is a pretty good healthcare system.

Robert Novak's Other Source

We have all read many times that only a hardened "Bush hater" would blame anyone in the White House for the Valerie Plame leak, because Robert Novak's source was Richard Armitage.

As Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" Novak had two sources.

Obama Understands the World Wide Web

Unless you have been sleeping the entire last weekend, you know that Senator Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president on Saturday. He spoke in Springfield, Illinois before an outdoor audience of 17,000 shivering in 10 degree weather. I have advice for all of you who knock him because you think he has no experience: Visit his blog.

Seek a Different Victory

Retired General William E. Odom, a well respected expert on counterinsurgency has thrown the gauntlet down for both Republicans and Democrats: Stop making things worse by allowing things to continue. He asks the valid question: what is the good of prolonging our involvement in Iraq to mitigate the effects of a civil war, if it's the war itself that's responsible for it in the first place?

Happy Days Are Hear Again? Shakespeare a Prophet?

Is it really true that the best news that we can find for the Bush Regime is that they have not yet quite screwed up the one success that they have had? See: WP Sudan's Peace Deal

The Earth Challenge Prize

Too many people in the U.S. do not believe that global warming is caused mainly by people in pursuit of expending fossil-fuel energy. We just don't want to face the fact that the horrendous environmental changes climate experts forecast are becoming more and more certain by the day. While we in the U.S. recklessly do nothing, some in Britain are doing a lot to get people inventing ways to solve the bad-carbon problem.

Deliberate Mistakes

Can you make an honest mistake if you deliberately made the mistake?
Can you have an accident if you set out to have one?
Can you call one of your actions a misstep if you took every step to ensure that very action?
No.

Who do you trust: Libby or Russert?

On Thursday, February 8th, the prosecution rested its perjury case against 'Scooter' Libby. The case ended with Tim Russert clearly and loudly disputing Libby's claim that it was Russert that told Libby about Valerie Plame. So, as with most criminal cases, the case comes down to: who do you believe and why?

Edwards: Being Firm or Giving In?

A slew of nasty conservatives have stirred the pot again, this time by attacking John Edwards for hiring two women bloggers who, these conservatives claim, used obscene language and denigrated the pope and Catholics on their blogs. The whole liberal blogosphere, it seems, erupted in striking back by fiercely attacking in kind these nasty conservatives, and insisting that Edwards dare not give in. When Edwards remained firm, he was applauded by everyone in the liberal blogosphere. Except me.

The Iraq Debate

Both Democrats and Republicans want a debate. We did not have a debate before we got into the Iraq War. Now that nothing in Iraq is going right everbody wants a debate. So Senator Warner, a Republican, and Senator Levin, a Democrat, start the debate with a resolution against Bush's "surge." The debate starts and is abruptly ended by Republicans. Amazingly, Senator Warner, voted to end the debate he wanted to start.

What did I just tell you?

A phenomenon seems to be popping up a lot lately: conservatives telling liberals what they really think. They being the liberals, that is. Anyway, it's reaching absurd apogees as we begin this year with our new congress coming into place. The Republicans are all set to blame the failures of the war and everything else on those dirty liberals.

Scooter

The Scooter trial is getting interesting. I haven't mentioned it previously because it looked pretty straight forward: Scooter lied to a Grand Jury under oath and deliberately obstructed a federal investigation. The evidence is clear. What's become interesting is why Scooter lied.

Evaluating Healthcare Recommendations

Now that the presidential sweepstakes have started, each of the 20 or so Democratic and Republican candidates will present his or her own package of healthcare recommendations. John Edwards has already presented his ideas. We need a set of guidelines to evaluate all the recommendations that will be thrown at us.

We Don't Need Another Hero

Last summer NATO and Afghan government forces moved into the south and east of the country. For the first time in decades these provinces are coming under control of the central government. This is good news for the common folk and bad news for the Taliban and opium growers who thrive on lawlessness. Unsurprisingly, the level of violence in Afghanistan's eastern and western provinces ratcheted up last year in response.

Budgets Demonstrate Party Differences

If you want to find out what a president stands for look at his budget. President Bush just unveiled his. If you want to know what Republicans stand for, see how they talk about Bush's budget. If you want to know what Democrats stand for, see how they tear the budget apart.

Draw The Line

I agree with this guy. We are already in trouble with Iraq. Whatever we there, we should be sure to tell the president that the Bush doctrine ends in Iraq. We should not allow Bush to just arbitrarily spread this war to Iran.

Lies and Spin

Over the past week we have literally been bombarded with lies that were told. Which lies do you think are the most serious, or make you the angriest?

Straight Talk

Two politicians famous for their straight talk came to senate hearings yesterday to express themselves. Straight-shooter Senator John McCain shot at Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. as though the general were a clay pigeon. While McCain was trying to look presidential by insulting Casey, Zbigniew Brzezinski was doing his best to picture to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the horrors that the current Iraq War is likely to lead to.

Troop "surge" numbers are a lie

When George Bush announced his planned 21,500-troop surge he was once again only telling part of the story. While he may be adding 21k combat troops, he neglected to say that these troops would need about an equal number of support troops to keep them in the field. When is this man going to be straight with the American people?

...But Fear Itself

Not that I need the validation, but it's nice to see others finally acknowledge what I've been saying all along: You have to be drinking a lot of Kool-Aid to believe that al-Qaeda will take over Iraq if US forces pull out.

Iran, Iraq part II

Please hum Star Spangled Banner while reading this:

We must hit Iran now. We must not wait the five to ten years for them to have nukes. We can not use diplomacy. Diplomacy is for P*$$!#$. We have research from several "think-tanks", Energy CEO's and War Hawks that proves this is a neccessary foreign policy. If Cheney likes it, damn it so do I!