HAPPY AND DEMOCRATIC NEW YEAR

Happy and democratic 2006 to all. In this new year, we will take back the congress and will, hopefully, see Bush impeached. Democracy will survive as it always has. Best wishes to all!

2005 Democratic Senators

DEMOCRATS THAT WE REALLY LIKED IN 2005

1. Russ Feingold: He established himself as one of the leaders of the democratic party. He demonstrated honesty, courage, and strong leadership. Best democratic candidate for 2008.
2. Harry Reid: He did a good job re- invingorating the democratic party.
3. Dick Durbin: He stoop up to the republicans and said things by their name.
4. Barak Obama: A fair and progressive voice.
5. Barbara Boxer: Srong and sincere liberal voice.
6. Ted Kennedy. Has been the best for decades and continues to be so.


DEMOCRATS THAT WE DID NOT REALLY LIKE

1. Hillary Clinton: She supported the Iraq war and she was "hawkish". Recently, she slowly started changing her position. Too late. Leaders must operate on principles and not politics. We like her husband better.
2. John Kerry: He does not let go. We supported him when he was running for president but he failed. Enough is enough. Someone please tell him that he has no chance to be president in 2008.

DEMOCRATS THAT WE DID NOT LIKE AT ALL

1. Ben Nelson: Stop voting with the republicans. You are supposed to be a democrat. We are getting tired of you.
2. Joe Lieberman: Get out of the democratic party. You dont belong here. We will strongly support Lowell Weicker if he runs against you.

We also dont like the DLC. Sorry, but we dont need republican-lite democrats. There is no reason that the DLC should exist.

2005 Republican Senators

REPUBLICANS WE LIKED IN 2005

1. Chuck Hagel: He has proven again and again that he is a good man that looks after the interest of the country. Although we disagree with his conservative philosophy, we find his honesty about the mistakes of the Bush administration and the Iraq war refreshing. He also said the memorable “My oath is to the Constitution, not to a vice president, a president or a political party.”
2. Arlen Specter: He remains a positive presence in the republican party. He is a secular surrounded by religious extremists.
3. John Sonunu: He voted against the patriot act.
4. Lincoln Chaffee: Moderate secular republican. Voted against the Iraq war.

REPUBLICANS WE ALMOST LIKED IN 2005

1. John McCain: He fought the endorsement of "torture" by the Bush administration and won. Thats very good, but unfortunately he remains a strong advocate of the Iraq war.
2. Olympia Snowe: Moderate and reasonable republican. But she voted for the patriot act. Nevertheless, if Roe v. Wade ever becomes an issue, she will go along with the rational secular senators.

REPUBLICANS WE DID NOT LIKE IN 2005

All the rest. They should be ashamed for continuing to support the worst president in the history of the country.

Bush administration and damage to medical science

There is probably no other example in the history of the country of a president that has been so destructive to science as Bush and his "religious" allies. The ongoing Korean scandal involving stem cell research and the extent of the uncovered fraud are powerful reminders of how the US presense and the US system of review on research are missing in that area.

The facts are very simple. Bush and the wingnuts who advise him have limited funding for stem cell research to minimal levels that have essentially killed federally-sponsored research in that area. Despite local efforts and initiatives like the one in CA (to the credit of Schawarzenegger whom I dont like otherwise), there are no adequate funds for stem cell research to allow the USA to be really competitive in that area. THATS A SHAME BECAUSE THE US HAS ALWAYS BEEN A LEADER IN ALL MEDICAL RESEARCH AREAS.

Bush succeeded in doing something that no other president in history did. To damage the US medical research. This shows how dangerous religious fanatics can be. He should be ashamed for the damage his administration has done. But he is not. He can not understand what he did. Like all religious wingnuts.

Liars

The ACLU uses the correct words for some people: They lied and, therefore, they are liars.

Most Valuable Progressive (MVP) Senator

The Nation magazine has selected the most valuable progressive (MVP) senator for 2005. And it is, of course, Russ Feingold.

Here is exactly what they say about it:
"While California Democrat Barbara Boxer deserves credit for refusing to go along with the certification of the dubious presidential election results from Ohio, and Arizona Republican John McCain merits praise for forcing the administration to back down from its pro-torture stance, there's no question that Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold was the essential senator of 2005. He was the first member of the chamber to call for a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq -- a stance that initially was ridiculed but ultimately drew support from many of Feingold's fellow Democrats and even a few Republicans. And he ended the year by forging a bipartisan coalition that beat back the Bush administration's demand for the long-term extension of the Patriot Act, scoring one of the most significant wins for civil liberties that Congress has seen in years. "

As I said before, Feingold will be by far the strongest democratic candidate for 2008.

Letterman Unrestrained

Letterman Unrestrained.

Pfewwww

Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC runs, in my opinion, the best TV news show. Apparently Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson are upset with him because he selected them as "worst person". O'Reilly accuses him of "smearing him". Of course, Olberman's choices are as always outstanding and right on target.

Here is a quote from Olbermann's show: "O'Reilly is one of those blissful idiots..."

Soccer

Soccer

Bush reads books on vacation

Bush is spending his Christmas holiday reading books. Well it's good that he reads books and not comics. But is he "on vacation" again? He seems that he has been always on vacation. Will he ever go to work? I can not decide what is worse. When he is on vacation or not.


Well, daily Kos has another suggestion about what the president should read:
1. The Constitution
2. The Declaration of Independence, and
3. The Geneva Conventions

Kos certainly has a point.

Is getting worse for Arnold

Well, after they removed Schwarzenegger's name from a soccer stadium, they now removed his name from the official websites of his Austria birthplace of Graz.

Hopefully, they will follow our advise and take away his Austrian citizenship as well. The guy is a loser who supports the death penalty and a disastrous republican president.

Feingold: Fight terror and still protect civil liberties

Visiting the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, Russ Feingold discussed what he called attacks on Americans' civil liberties.

"This is a fight against terrorism and an effort to protect innocent Americans who have done nothing wrong. We can do both" Feingold said.

When he was told that his recent stands on civil liberties and the Iraq war may please liberal activists, but they may hurt his chances later on with moderate Democrats and conservatives, he answered:

"I don't care. Whatever political considerations I have are absolutely irrelevant to the decisions I make having to do with people's civil liberties and something as weighty as Americans risking their lives overseas. The day that I start think politically about those things is the day I should leave politics."

Political prosecutions in Turkey

We had recently posted on the case of Orhan Pamuk, a famous Turkish novelist who is presecuted because he mentioned publicly the genocide of one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds in the early 20th century.

Well, there is another prosecution of a journalist ongoing there that speaks very poorly about the Turkish "democracy". That case is against an Armenian-Turkish journalist , Hrant Dink, for his comments on a six-month sentence it gave him earlier for "denigrating Turkish identity". Mr. Dink, an Armenian born in Turkey, was sentenced to six months in jail by an Istanbul court for comments in an article he wrote against Article 301 of a revised penal code.

It is becoming more and more obvious that there is no real democracy in Turkey. Democracy without freedom of speech is inconceivable. Prosecuting people for attempting to speak their mind is a characteristic of fascist regimes and dictatorships.

The European Union and the United States MUST condemn these actions of the Turkish regime. Importantly, Europe should stay firm in rejecting the application of Turkey to joing the european market, until full democracy is in place.

Pinochet to stand trial

Chile's supreme court ruled today that former military ruler Gen Augusto Pinochet is fit to stand trial for his crimes in the 70s.

Pincohet is one of the worst criminals in history. The fascist dictator has caused the deaths of thousands of people during his rule, but so far has escaped justice.

Schwarzenegger's name removed from soccer stadium in Graz, Austria

Schwarzenegger's name was removed from a soccer stadium in Graz. It all has to do with the support of Schwarzenegger for the death penalty.

Well, they should remove his Austrian citizenship too. His overall support for the Bush administration, his right-wing views, and his support for the death penalty have made him an embarassment to Europe. The death penalty is inconsistent with civilization and, therefore, so is Schwarzenegger. He should go back making stupid movies.

Colin Powell and Eavesdropping

Colin Powell is around! He just made a comment in support of the wiretapping by the Bush administration. But as always he is very confused.

On the one hand he said: "Absolutely nothing wrong with the president authorizing these kinds of actions to protect the nation".

On the other hand he added, "My own judgment is that it didn't seem to me, anyway, that it would have been that hard to go get the warrants. And even in the case of an emergency, you go and do it."

In other words he has no idea what he is talking about. As always.

I hate to say, but I have lost completely respect for Powell. He is a loser. He should have resigned in protest when the Iraq war started. But he did not. Instead, he presented with passion the false evidence on WMDs in the United Nations. Only he knows what he knew then. If he knew the intelligence was fake, he should be ashamed of himself. If he did not, as he claims, he was completely incompetent. The fact remains that at least 40,000 civilians and 2,400 US soldiers are dead today. Powell shares full responsibility with Cheney and the rest of the Bush administration about the whole Iraq disaster, no matter what he says.

In the Christmas spirit

In the Christmas spirit.... I can not help it but remember again this compassionate message from Pat Robertson:

"If [the Venezuelan President] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." [Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, 8/22/05].

That guy (Robertson) is unbelievable.

Cartoon from newsweek.com/Luckovich/Atlanta Journal Constitution

The Chinese regime again

China is to prosecute a New York Times researcher on charges of leaking state secrets. He has been detained in connection with a New York Times report regadrding plans of ex-President Jiang Zemin to retire. If convicted on a charge of "providing state secrets abroad", he could face a minimum term of 10 years in jail. The New York Times denies that he has disclosed state secrets.

Thats another example of the fascist Chinese regime in action.

Christmas in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombs struck Iraqi police and army patrols and destroyed an American tank in Baghdad on Sunday as fresh street protests over election results kept up tension that has soured the mood after a peaceful ballot 10 days ago.

What a mess...

China jails democracy activist

The fascist regime that governs China has jailed another democracy activist. He was sentenced 12 years in jail for helping to organize anti-Japanese protests in China earlier this year.

That is another incident that shows the real face of the Chinese regime: A fascist dictatorship that does not respect freedom of speech and human rights.

Why does n't our president complain to the Chinese goverment about this blatant new violation of human rights? He claims to be a champion for democracy across the globe. Where is he now?

Outrageous statements of 2005

Media matters has a collection of the most outrageous statements of 2005.

Among them, I find particularly outrageous these ones:

Pat Robertson: "If [Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." [Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, 8/22/05]


Ann Coulter: Bill Clinton "was a very good rapist"; "I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning." [New York Observer, 1/10/05]



Rush Limbaugh: "Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/12/05]

Nice Holiday Picture

Nice Holiday Picture

Happy Holidays.

New Poll

A new poll from the American Research group shows the following:

Bush Job overall approval ratings

Approve 40%
Disapprove 56%

The way Bush handles the economy

Approve 36%
Disapprove 59%

Pretty bad, but not surprising.

Vegetables

Apparently, it is a good thing to be a vegetarian .

Student Lied About Mao Book

Daily Kos reports that the story of the student who received a visit from homeland security agents because he had checked out Mao's Little Red Book from a library was a fabrication. The student has now admitted that he made the story. Here is the newspaper link that reports this.

We had previously discussed this story here. Well, I am glad that the story was not true. Obviously, our previous commentary on the case was based on wrong reports, and it does not stand anymore.

Bill Frist

It does not look that Bill Frist will be ever president of the United States. Sorry.

Editorial

Thats an excellent editorial in the New York Times.

Here it is:

"George W. Bush has quipped several times during his political career that it would be so much easier to govern in a dictatorship. Apparently he never told his vice president that this was a joke.

Virtually from the time he chose himself to be Mr. Bush's running mate in 2000, Dick Cheney has spearheaded an extraordinary expansion of the powers of the presidency - from writing energy policy behind closed doors with oil executives to abrogating longstanding treaties and using the 9/11 attacks as a pretext to invade Iraq, scrap the Geneva Conventions and spy on American citizens.

It was a chance Mr. Cheney seems to have been dreaming about for decades. Most Americans looked at wrenching events like the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal and the Iran-contra debacle and worried that the presidency had become too powerful, secretive and dismissive. Mr. Cheney looked at the same events and fretted that the presidency was not powerful enough, and too vulnerable to inspection and calls for accountability.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney have insisted that the secret eavesdropping program is legal, but The Washington Post reported yesterday that the court created to supervise this sort of activity is not so sure. It said the presiding judge was arranging a classified briefing for her fellow judges and that several judges on the court wanted to know why the administration believed eavesdropping on American citizens without warrants was legal when the law specifically requires such warrants.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are tenacious. They still control both houses of Congress and are determined to pack the judiciary with like-minded ideologues. Still, the recent developments are encouraging, especially since the court ruling on Mr. Padilla was written by a staunch conservative considered by President Bush for the Supreme Court."

Funny

That's funny

Misinformer Of the Year award

The misinformer of the year award went to Chris Matthews.

I am not sure I agree with this. He has certainly said some real stupid things that led to this award. Like:

1. "Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs ..." Insulting the majority of Americans who hold an unfavorable opinion of President Bush, Matthews exclaimed on Hardball: "Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe on the left," adding, "I mean, like him personally." [Hardball, 11/28/05]

2. Matthews praised Bush speech as "brilliant" even before it was delivered. Before Bush had even delivered his November 30 speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, Matthews used variations of the word "brilliant" twice to describe it, while deriding Democratic critics of the Iraq war as "carpers and complainers." [MSNBC live coverage, 11/30/05]

On the other hand, he has certainly taken a very anti-Iraq war position and his political analysis is generally very good. I think the stupid things he said are an attempt to sound objective. He thinks he comes across as a liberal and he wants to avoid that. He apparently wants conservatives watching his show too. I hope he learned from getting awarded this and he will stop praising Bush. He is a good guy otherwise.

McCarthyism is back

I believe that this document from the ACLU is extremely important. Why? Because it establishes that despite the assurances of the administration, there are non-terrorists that have been targeted for spying by the administration. These include Greenpeace (!) and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Give me a break.

What do Bush and Cheney want? To create a police state? If these reports are true, we are certainly getting there. Unfortunately, it appears that McCarthyism is back.

Bush and Botha

A very interesting article in Newsweek by Arlene Getz
compares the actions of Bush to those of the former South African president P. W. Botha.

As the article points out, "Botha believed his country was under 'total onslaught' from its enemies from forces both within and without, and that this global assault was his rationale for allowing opponents to be jailed, beaten or killed. Likewise, the Bush administration has adopted the argument that anything is justified in the name of national security".

Unfortunately, I think that the author of this articles makes many good points.

Why so many lies?

Why so many lies from this administration? After the spying scandal came out, they insisted that members of the congress and senate knew about it and approved it. Now, former senate majority leader Tom Daschle comes out and says that is not true.

So, what is going on here? What fraction of what we hear from the Bush administration is real? It is impossible to know. What should happen immediately is the appointment of a special counsel to investigate thoroughly Bush and his administration.

This is the United States of America. We are a democratic country and we can not afford the mentality "I am the president and I do what I want". Thats not how our democracy works.

Impeachment

Charles Krauthammer is well known for his conservative, far right, positions. He now argues that the president should not be impeached for the spying scandal.

Well, it is not surprising that Krauthammer takes that position. He is a strong supporter of the administration. However, the fact that he and others on the right, argue against impeachmemnt, confirms in a way that the president commited an impeachable offense. It is becoming more and more apparent that the law was broken.

ACLU Calls for Special Counsel to Investigate Spying

The American Civil Liberties Union calls on Gonzales to appoint special counsel on NSA domestic spying by the Bush administration.

They are absolutely right and they deserve our full support.

Even Lieberman

Even senator Joseph Lieberman, a well-known apologist for the Bush administration, is calling for an investigation of the Bush administration for the wiretapping.

That says it all. Things are real bad for Bush, Cheney and whoever else ordered the illegal spying.

Lets have Fitzgerald investigate the wiretapping

Why dont they ask Fitzgerald to inevstigate the spying and wiretapping by the Bush administration? If Bush and Cheney feel so confident that what they did was right, I am sure they would like to clear things up.

So, lets have Fitzgerald to investigate the story. He is definitely not political and tough as nail. He is also very fair and objective. I can only imagine who would end up indicted if he run such an investigation.

Hagel: No president above the law

Republican senator Chuck Hagel joined other prominent republicans, asking for hearings and an investigation on the spying by the Bush administration. Chuck Hagel made clear that no president is above the law. “We are a nation of laws. You cannot avoid or dismiss a law”, Hagel also said.

Asked about Vice President Dick Cheney’s warning that Bush’s critics could pay a heavy political price, Hagel said: “My oath is to the Constitution, not to a vice president, a president or a political party.”

As I have said before, Hagel is one republican senator who is honest and has principles. He is an honorable man who tells the truth as he sees it.

Bush and wiretaps

The nation has a very good analysis on what appears to be illegal spying by the Bush administration.

I like the way the article concludes:

"Where will the revelations end? Given Bush's repeated depiction of leakers and critics as aiding the enemy, is it a paranoid fantasy to imagine a secret-wiretap list extending to reporters and government officials? And given the palpable outrage among Republicans as well as Democrats at the President's contempt for basic constitutional law, is it impossible to imagine illegal wiretaps leading to the final undoing of the Bush presidency?"

Take the poll

Bush approval ratings

Despite the desperate attempts by Fox News and the far right to imply that Bush approval ratings are improving, the reality is very different.

The last USA today poll shows that Bush's job-approval rating is 41%, while 53% have an unfavorable impression of him. Not only presidents, but even kings would have a problem with such approval ratings.

Judge resigns to protest domestic spying

This is serious. Very serious. A federal judge has resigned from a special court set up to oversee government surveillance to protest President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program .

It is also remarkable that Bush has insisted that he will continue this program. Clearly, an investigation is absolutely necessary. As soon as possible. There are laws that should be respected and followed. We are a democracy. Not a monarchy.

Is he a King or what?

Daily Kos has an interesting picture of George W. Bush.

Hillary and Iraq

The Newsweek has an interestind article on Hillary's hawkish stance regarding the Iraq war. This is how the article concludes:

"But impressing the brass and winning over the troops may turn out to be the easy part. If she runs in '08, she'll have to use her military education to stake out clear positions not only on Iraq, but Syria, Iran, North Korea and beyond. So far, she's not getting out ahead. When asked about a strategy for leaving Iraq, she waved off the question. "Nobody has all the answers," she told NEWSWEEK. For now, Clinton is content to let George W. Bush worry about disarming the enemy in Iraq. She's busy enough worrying about disarming her critics in Washington."

Well, I have news for Hillary. She has messed up on the Iraq issue. I happen to like her otherwise, and she is certainly married to a very smart man and a great ex-president. But her position on Iraq has been purely politically motivated and wrong.

I think it will cost her big time in the democratic primary elections in 2008. She will certainly not get my vote. Russ Feingold is by far the best potential presidential democratic candiate.

Ted Kennedy on Bush's wiretapping and the patriot act

Below are some remarks of senator Ted Kennedy on the the reports of spying and the patriot act.

"Americans deserve laws that protect both their security and their civil liberties, and this conference report does not. After years of doubt about the PATRIOT Act -- this morning, Americans are waking up to more startling reports. For the past three years, the Administration has been eavesdropping on hundreds of calls without warrants or oversight. Well, the Administration isn't responding to the article -- but they tell us --"trust us, we follow the law." Give me a break.

Across the country -- and across the political spectrum -- no one is buying it anymore. This Administration feels it's above the law, and the American people -- and our Constitution -- pay the price. There is no accountability -- and no oversight. This president continues to ignore history. In the 1970s, big brother spied on its citizens and the American people stood up and said no. President Nixon's program -- COINTEL -PRO -- allowed broad spying on law-abiding American citizens. We stopped big brother then by establishing a FISA court to ensure proper oversight and protections. Now, this Administration believes it's above even those protections. This is big brother run amok."

As always, Ted Kennedy makes some excellent points.

More Lies

President Bush and his senior advisers have said repeatedly the last few days that the wiretapping plan was fully vetted in a series of congressional briefings. However, some democrats who were quoted as having approved the program, say that they never approved it. These include West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, who in a handwritten letter to President Dick Cheney in July 2003 had said:"I feel unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse, these activities," and also "As you know, I am neither a technician nor an attorney."

Rockefeller produced the copy of the letter that he had written then, proving that he is telling the truth. So, who is lying? The president, his advisors, or both?

Desperation

If this information from Newsweek is correct, president Bush is very very desperate. Attempting to convince the New York Times not to publish the story on illegal spying shows that he is in big trouble...Remember Nixon?

When will this investigation begin? Please someone start soon.

Early returns from Iraqi elections

Early returns from the Iraqi elections show that the religious Shiite coalition , known as the United Iraqi Alliance, has a commanding lead. A senior official in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, one of the main groups in the United Iraqi Alliance, said the alliance was expecting to get about 130 seats. On the other hand, early vote tallies suggested disappointing results for a secular party led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a U.S. favorite.

These are terrible news. We have a religious coalition, having as a main group the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, as the apparent projected winner. On the other hand, the main secular party is doing very poorly.

As I said before, it is highly concerning that religious islamic parties will form the goverment in Iraq. Especially a party that advocates "Islamic Revolution". This is the worst possible outcome of these elections and indicates a serious danger for the future: The creation of an Islamic fundamentalist Iraq state.

Theocrat president of Iran bans western music

The president of Iran decided to ban all western music, including classic music !! There is no question that the regime that runs Techran is a fascist-theocratic regime and anything is possible with them. But to ban classic music ?? That is beyond any imagination.

"Blocking indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is required," according to a statement on the islamic revolutionary council of Iran.

Well...what is urgently required there is regime change. It is really sad to see a country with the history of Iran being destroyed by religious lunatics and fanatics.

Feingold on the president's speech

This is the response of Russ Feingold to the president's oval office speech on Iraq. Briefly, that's the statement:

"The President said we must not pull out of Iraq "before our work is done." He needs to understand that our brave servicemen and women won a resounding victory in the initial military operation, and their task is now largely over. What we need is a flexible timeline for redeploying our troops from Iraq so that we can focus on what should be our top priority -- winning the global fight against terrorist networks that threaten that threaten the United States.

Al Qaeda is active in 60 countries around the world and continues to recruit, train, and develop new strategies to inflict harm on the United States. Extremist organizations are present in another 20 countries and are developing new threats to the United States and our allies. The President needs to realize that his misguided, Iraq-centric policies are draining our military and intelligence capabilities and are undermining our efforts to combat al Qaeda and its allies."

Press Conference

I am just watching the speech of Bush before he is asked questions in the press conference. He keeps repeating 911 and how he has to protect the country. He is attempting to justify the illegal spying that he had ordered in the past.

I can not help it but wonder. Why does Bush keep misleading the country by constantly linking 911 and Iraq? Enough is enough. We need someone competent to go after the real terrorists.

Update: This speech degenerated to very boring. Again!

Boring

The president's talk yesterday was boring again. Nothing new. The same old story, except that he now asked us to "be patient". An accurate summary of his speech can be found here .

Sorry Mr. president but that does not work. We have been patient for a long-long time. Find something else in your next talk that would work better. And, as I suggested before, please consider hiring a new speech writer.

Real good

This year-end Bush Jib Jab is real good.

Cheney in Iraq

Vice president Cheney made today a surprise visit to Iraq. The president of Iraq Jalal Talabani said that Cheney was a "hero for liberating Iraq".

It is really great that someone thinks Cheney is a hero. Afterall, so many people were calling Cheney a "chickenhawk" for avoiding to serve in the Vietnam war when he was young. Now, at least, someone recognizes him as a heroic figure.

But I am wondering, if Talabani thinks so highly of Cheney, why does n't he keep him in Iraq? Like, offer him a job there? Yes, make him the Vice-president of Iraq and have him move there. That would be a great exchange that would be very good for the country. By country, I mean the USA of course.

Frist and charities

Based on these new developments it would not be surprising if a new investigation targeting Bill Frist starts soon.

An AIDS charity he created paid a half-million dollars in consulting fees to members of his political inner circle? Is that legal? Whats going on? Is the republican leadership completely out of control?

Bush administration and Mao Tse-tung

The Huffington post has a story that is unbelievable. If true, it shows that, beyond evesdropping, the Bush administration has crossed other lines as well.

Apparently, a student who was completing a research paper on Communism for his class, filled out a request in a library for Mao's Red book, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security.

So, beyond unauthorized spying, we now have federal agents visiting students who are preparing research papers for their class on communism and fascism? So tomorrow, if someone buys a book on Word War II could be considered a terrorist suspect based on the interest to read about our enemies at the time? How about if someone buys a book on the Vietnam war? Would that make him or her a communist sympathizer and a terrorist suspect?

This administration has proven again and again that they are incompetent. Instead of focusing on the real terrorists who attacked us on 911, they attacked Iraq for no reason and created a disaster there. Now, they are waisting their time by going after students who work on preparing papers for their class. I am wondering if one of these days they may start interrogating each other. For instance, Condoleeza Rice was Soviet Union expert when she was younger and I am sure she has read marxist books during her training. If she, lets say, still has a copy of Marx's "Das Kapital" from her student years, should n't she be interrogated by homeland security? How can we trust that she is not a double-agent? How?

Feingold: Bush is not King

Yes. Thats exactly what he said. Bush is not king .

Here is the exact statement:

“The President's shocking admission that he authorized the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens, without going to a court and in violation of the Constitution and laws passed by Congress, further demonstrates the urgent need for these protections. The President believes that he has the power to override the laws that Congress has passed. This is not how our democratic system of government works. The President does not get to pick and choose which laws he wants to follow. He is a president, not a king.".

If he were a king, Bush will have no problem. However, just believing that he is a king is not enough. I predict that he will have serious legal problems with this issue. As McCain and Specter already indicated, an investigation should be launched soon. Before we are transformed into.... the Kingdom of the United States of America.

Feingold beats Bush

Russ Feingold beats Bush. The patriot act was blocked. Big time. Importantly, an obvious split in the republican party became apparent. Four republican senators sided with the democrats on this issue.
These were:

Larry Craig (R-ID)
Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Linda Murkowski (R-AK)
John Sununu (R-NH)

These republicans voted against the patriot act for a variety of different reasons. They all deserve credit for voting based on principles.

But the most credit goes to Russ Feingold, who proved again that he will be the strongest democratic presidential candidate in 2008.

Freedom of Speech in Turkey

There is an interesting legal case regarding freedom of speech ongoing in Turkey. A famous novelist there, Orhan Pamuk, is on trial because in an interview in a Swiss magazine in February he admitted something well-known about Turkey's past: the genocide of one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds in the early 20th century. Now he is on trial and faces up to three years in prison. The accusation against him: "denigrating Turkishness".

This trial is unacceptable and should not be happening in a country that is supposed to be democratic. Turkey has been slowly transitioning to democracy over the years, under the careful watch of the Turkish military. A moderate Islamic goverment is now in power there, and the country aspires to join the european union. As, Camil Eurlings, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Turkey put it yesterday "Turkey's image has already been damaged by the government's failure to prevent this trial".

If Turkey wants to join Europe and be part of the civilized democratic world, they should stop this trial immediately and allow full freedom of speech. Thats an essential part of being a democratic country.

Another Disaster

President Bush has personally authorized the secretive eavesdropping program, whose disclosure created strong reactions in the senate.

Well, congratulations to president Bush. He succeeded in creating yet another disaster in the great collection of disasters that he has generated since he entered the White House. And I am still wondering. How is it possible that this guy got re-elected in 2004? How??

Tax cuts

Thats where Bush's tax cuts for the rich go. Of course, it does not matter that everything else at the goverment level is falling apart. Who cares?

Hearings to be held for spying by the Bush administration

Senator Arlen Specter announced that he would make oversight hearings by his panel next year "a very, very high priority regarding the reported spying by the Bush administration. Senator John McCain also indicated that the report was troubling.

This is a very serious problem again with the Bush administration. Whats wrong with these guys?

Bush, Cheney, and Torture

Finally, Bush reluctantly agreed to McCain's law that bans torture. However, this happened only after intense bipartisan congressional pressure, and a day after the House overwhelmingly endorsed McCain's measure.

But why was that even an issue? Well, it is well known that vice president Cheney felt differently and had argued strongly with McCain on the issue. Of course, Mc Cain was absolutely right.

It is simply amazing that this was ever an issue. This is the United States of America. How could Bush/Cheney be hessitant in adopting a law that condemns torture??? Unbelievable.

Thats another sad example of how destructive has been for the values of the country the Bush/Cheney administration.

Bush, Democracy, and Spying

Bush apparently authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials, as per this article in the New York Times .

Great. Thats how apparently democracy works under Bush. What else is happening that we have not found yet?

Campaign against Lieberman should start now

Daily Kos reviews Lieberman's current approval ratings in Connecticut. His approval ratings are high (63% approve, 31% dissaprove). Remarkably, even among liberals, his numbers are still good (52% approve-41% disapprove). Of course, he is doing great among republicans (69% approve-24% disapprove).

So, why is that? How does Lieberman still have such high approval ratings in a democratic state like CT? After all, he is essentially the only democrat that so strongly and openly supports the disastrous war in Iraq and one of the most incompetent republican administrations in the history of the country (Bush administration). There are 2 reasons:

1. He has name recognition as he run for VP in the past.
2. People simply dont follow carefully the news and dont know his positions.

I think, Lieberman must be defeated in his re-election bid for the senate by either Weicker if he runs as an independent, or by a democratic challenger in the primaries. I believe that this would be critical for defining the identity of the democratic party of the future and it is worth a lot of resources and support.

MoveOn is considering financing an opponent to Lieberman and I think they will. However, they should start as soon as possible by generating TV ads that describe the positions of Lieberman and the implications of his disastrous choices. Defeating Lieberman will not be easy. It will take a lot of effort and a protracted campaign. Thats why such a campaign should start now.

Bush: I am responsible

President Bush today accepted responsibility for going to war in Iraq based on faulty intelligence. "It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq".

THEN MR. PRESIDENT, PLEASE RESIGN. THATS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IN THE INTEREST OF THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD.

Iraqi Elections

Tomorrow there are elections in Iraq. It appears that the winner will be again the United Iraqi Alliance. But what are these people? Do they really believe in democracy or they are driven by religious fundamentalism themselves? Well, The United Iraqi Alliance encompasses the most powerful Shiite forces in the country, as the Dawa Party and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. It also includes supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric whose militia members fought against U.S. troops in 2004.

Islamic Revolution party?? That does not sound good to me. If these guys believe in Islamic revolution, they are obviously against democracy. All revolutions have a goal, and their goal appears to be the establishment of an islamic regime.

Some names of other participating parties in the election: Iraqi Islamic Party, Islamic Coalition, Justice and Future Coalition. It seems to me that islamic religious lunatics hold a lot of power in Iraq and thats not a good thing. Is that what the Bush administration wants to achieve in the middle east? Apparently not. But thats whats happening. It would not be surprising if in 10-20 years we have Iran number 2 in the region, called Iraq. I hope that does not happen. If it did, it would be the worst possible outcome of the bizzare actions of a very incompetent Bush administration.

Theocracy and fascism in Iran

The Iranian president now denies the existence of the holocaust. Thats a completely unacceptable statement from the leader of a fascist theocratic regime.

Such statements remind us how terrible theocratic fascist regimes can be. The theocratic fascist goverment that runs Iran has essentially destroyed that country. Iran is a country controlled by mullahs and religious lunatics. There is nothing worse than that. We should also remember that the Islamic coalition in Iraq that won the election includes many elements controlled by Iran or that are well-known allies of Iran. That's another reason for which we should get out of Iraq immediately.

Tough Decision

In a talk yesterday, Bush admitted that 30,000 Iraqis have been killed in the Iraq war .

The president also indicated that: "I made a tough decision. And knowing what I know today, I'd make the decision again".

Well thats exactly the problem. At least 30, 000 civilians and 2140 American soldiers would be alive today if Bush had not started this war that had no real justification. But, apparently, that does not matter. He has not learned anything from it. He makes it clear that he would do it again. Is that what "pro-life" culture is?

Why are we still there?

A recent poll in Iraq found that most Iraqis oppose our troops presence . More than two-thirds of those surveyed oppose the presence US troops and its partners. Importantly, less than half, 44 percent, say their country is better off now than it was before the war. So, why are we still there?

Bill Frist: No earthy idea

Bill Frist said that he has no earthy idea how much stock he owned in the past. Is that true? Will the indictements of republican leaders continue or not? We will find out sooner or later.

Eugene J. McCarthy

Former Minnesota senator Eugene J. McCarthy died Saturday. He was 89. McCarthy played a major role in the Vietnam debate in 1968 by challenging Johnson for the democratic nomination. As Ted Kennedy put it "I admired Gene enormously for his courage in challenging a war America never should have fought". He was a good man.

Nobel Peace Prize

The nobel peace price this year went to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Director General El Baradei.

Now, this is something that the Bush administration will not like. They had attacked the IAEA extensively on the months leading to the Iraq war. Why? Simpy, because the IAEA and ElBaradei were telling the truth and would not succumb under pressure to agree with false intelligence, so that the Iraq war can be started. It is good to see people with honor and integrity like El Baradei, and this is certainly a well-deserved Nobel Prize.

Hillary versus Warner

Hillary or Warren for the democratic nomination in 2008?.

Sorry, neither. It will be Russ Feingold.

Valerie Plame

There are some reports that Valerie Plame will be leaving her CIA job. Her story has been horrific. Whoever in the Bush administration or elsewhere gave away her name and cover should be tried in court. I hope Fitzgerald will serve new indictements in the near future about that. Exposing her identity was an anti-american action and a crime. The attacks on her husband were as bad. Joe Wilson acted in the interests of the country when he exposed the lies of the Bush administration. What happened to him and Valerie Plame is a shame.

Traveling

I am traveling these days, so posting may be less frequent than usual through the weekend.

Bad consequences

Thats why the goverment needs to exert better control on drug companies.

Chicago

That was a terrible accident.

Bush needs a new speech writer

The president's talk today was one of the most boring ever. The same quotes over and over and over again. 911, 911, victory, enemies, terrorism, etc etc

Mr. President you desperately need a new speech writer. Fire the one who works for you know. He makes you look bad because he repeats the same things again and again. To the point that the words have almost lost their meaning. Hire a new speech writer, maybe a Chinese one. Noone pays attention to what you say. If you start giving talks in Chinese you may attract some attention. Please do something. We are so bored with your speeches.

Weicker for senator

From Atrios: Take the poll would you vote Weicker or Lieberman?

Nobel Laureate blasts Blair and Bush

George W Bush and Tony Blair must be held to account for feeding the public "a vast tapestry of lies" about the Iraq war, writer Harold Pinter said.
The playwright launched a scathing attack on US and UK politicians in his lecture as winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Literature.

Just for change

Just to get away from politics for a second. Here
is a nice picture from an island in the meditteranean.
Nice blue and white colors.

An opponent for Lieberman

Former senator and governor of Coonecticut Lowell Weicker may run against Lieberman next year . Weicker was a liberal republican who turned independent. He was defeated by Lieberman when he sought a fourth Senate term as a republican in 1988. In 1990, Weicker was elected governor while running as an independent.

Weicker can win over Lieberman. He can get all the democratic liberal votes and most votes of people dissatisfied with the Iraq war and the support of Lieberman for the war. He is also popular among some republicans, as in the past he was a republican himself (albeit liberal). He recently said:"I have seen this country propagandized into war. It's now a second wave of propagandizing, with the president taking the stump, joined by persons like Senator Joe Lieberman."

I think he will end up running and I hope that he will win and send senator Lieberman out of the senate. If that happens, dont worry about Lieberman. I am sure Dick Cheney will help Lieberman get a job as an advisor to Halliburton or something like that.

Why do they hate Howard Dean so much?

The right and the right wingnuts are furious with Howard Dean again. Why now? Simply because he said the truth. He drew a parallel between Iraq and Vietnam. Specifically, he said: "I've seen this before in my life. This is the same situation we had in Vietnam. Everybody then kept saying, 'just another year, just stay the course, we'll have a victory.' Well, we didn't have a victory, and this policy cost the lives of an additional 25,000 troops because we were too stubborn to recognize what was happening."

Not only is he right, but he has the guts to openly say the truth. Thats why they hate him so much. Their worst fear is that people will listen to him and the truth.

He is right

Howard Dean is right.

The Real McCain

The Nation has a very interesting article about John McCain. Despite being a republican, John McCain has been very popular with many liberal democrats, including myself in the past. But if someone looks carefully at his record, it does not look good. How could he be rational and be supportive of Bush? Reading this article shows that there are 2 McCains. The good and the bad. And the bad is winning.

Merkel: US Admitted Wrongful Abduction of German

The German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the US government admitted that a German national had been wrongfully abducted , after meeting with Condoleezza Rice. Rice declined to comment on it, but said that the US was ready to correct its mistakes. Well, lets hope that Rice and her boss will start correcting THEIR mistakes soon. They have a lot of work to do, starting with the Iraq mess.

Still unprepared?

U.S. unprepared for attack, 9/11 Panel Says Really? So why is that? What has the Bush administration been doing all these years? Well, we should not be that surprised. We are dealing with one of the most incompetent administrations in the history of the country.

Thousands of protesters march in Hong Kong

Tens of thousands of people marched today in Hong Kong demanding a fully democratic political system.

This is something long overdue not only there, but also in China as a whole. China has a repressive regime with minimal if any freedom of expression. The communist party of China is still in charge, although the country has been transformed to a capitalist society with free market economy. Despite the economic changes, the political structure is as it was in the past, if not worse. A fascist dictatorship.

Is George Bush the worst president-ever?

The History News Network at George Mason University has just polled historians informally on the Bush record. The results are summarized in this report. Briefly, out of 415 who answered, 338 said they believed Bush was failing, while 77 said he was succeeding. Fifty said they thought he was the worst president ever. Worse than Buchanan. This is what those historians said about the Bush record:

1. He has taken the country into an unwinnable Iraq war and alienated friend and foe alike in the process;
2. He is bankrupting the country with a combination of aggressive military spending and reduced taxation of the rich;
3. He has deliberately and dangerously attacked separation of church and state;
4. He has repeatedly "misled," to use a kind word, the American people on affairs domestic and foreign;
5. He has proved to be incompetent in affairs domestic (New Orleans) and foreign ( Iraq and the battle against al-Qaida);
6. He has sacrificed American employment (including the toleration of pension and benefit elimination) to increase overall productivity;
7. He is ignorantly hostile to science and technological progress;
8. He has tolerated or ignored one of the republic's oldest problems, corporate cheating in supplying the military in wartime.

So, is he the worst president ever?

Senators who voted against the resolution for the Iraq war in 2002

As the Iraq mess is still ongoing, I think it is important to remember history. When the resolution for the Iraq war was brought by the Bush administration to the senate in 2002, there were only 23 senators who voted against it. These included 21 democrats, 1 independent (Jeffords), and 1 republican (Chaffe). These senators demonstrated courage and had the guts to vote for what they really believed despite the political climate of the time. Now that it has become crystal-clear that they had made the right call, I think it is important to remember them and acknoweledge them for that. Here they are:

Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chafee (R-RI)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (D-FL)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wellstone (D-MN) (died in airplane accident afterwards)
Wyden (D-OR)

Russ Feingold for president in 2008

I hope Russ Feingold runs for president in 2008. He is one of the very few democrats who had the guts to vote against the Iraq war in 2003. He is a man of honor and integrity, who is not afraid to say the truth as it is. He is also proud to be a liberal and a democrat. His record in the senate is outstanding, and he would clearly make a great president. After the disastrous 2 terms of Bush, the country will need a highly intelligent and tough president to get us out of trouble. Russ Feingold is the best among the potential democratic candidates for 2008.

Murtha's example

Here is an interesting article from from Arianna Huffington.

Republican Hawks

I was looking for an accurate definition of what a chickenhawk is, and I found it in this site. The definition of chickenhawk is: A person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it; particularly when that enthusiasm is undimmed by personal experience with war; most emphatically when that lack of experience came in spite of ample opportunity in that person’s youth.

So, what is the military record of some prominent republicans who are strong supporters of the Iraq war and/or play key roles in the Bush administration? Here is a complete list. Here are some examples of the records of well-known republican hawks:

1. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - avoided the draft, did not serve.
2. Indicted ex-house Majority Leader Tom Delay - avoided the draft, did not serve.
3. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich - avoided the draft, did not serve.
4. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - did not serve.
5. Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott - avoided the draft, did not serve.
6. Karl Rove - avoided the draft, did not serve.
7. Vice president Cheney - In his own words: "Had other priorities than military service".

Why are we still there?

Today 10 marines were killed in a bombing near Fallujah. And the question is why? Why are we still there? It's time to listen to congressman Murtha and start redeploying our forces.

It is very hard to see young American soldiers being killed because of false intelligence and the lies of the Bush administration that started this war. We should get out of Iraq as soon as possible and ask the United Nations to oversee and help the Iraqi goverment. Iraq is not worth the life of a single American soldier anymore.

Iraq and Vietnam. More similarities: Intelligence failure?

Some newly-released documents suggest that Johnson started the war in Vietnam based on skewed intelligence.. Somehow this does not come across as surprising.

NY Times: Karl Rove in legal jeopardy

As we know, Karl Rove is still under investigation and according to the New York Times there is still a possibility that he will be indicted by Fitzgerald's grand jury.

Bush does not trust Cheney now?

Thats interesting. If true is kind of sad. As we all know, the president is very loyal to his friends. I am concerned that if he now believes that his Vice president misled him about WMDs in Iraq, his feelings must be hurt.....

What's wrong with Bill O'Reilly? Thats funny....

From Atrios. A reader's reaction to O'Reilly's talk (audio). Wow, whats so wrong with that guy (O'Reilly I mean)?

MoveOn may support a Lieberman opponent

Daily Kos reports that MoveOn is considering to support a Lieberman opponent in the democratic primaries in Connecticut. That's a great idea and an important action to take. It is about time that the democrats clean house and eject people like him who certainly dont belong in the democratic party.

I think that there would be many of us that will contribute to MoveOn for that. Hopefully it will happen. Another consideration for MoveOn should be to support the real liberal republican ex-senator Lowell Weicker, if he is willing to run. He would be a great senator for Connecticut again and he has an excellent chance to win over Lieberman.

He should look at the example of Nixon

I think that the president has many problems. Listening to his talk yesterday was very disappointing. It was like watching a re-play of an old movie on TV. Old and boring. Very boring. The same words, the same questionnable examples, the same old false statements, the same everything.

There is no question that he needs help. He has lost the momentum and he is in big political trouble. Worse than that, he has become boring to listen to. So what should he do? His best adviser and friend, Karl Rove, is in trouble and he is pre-occupied with his own difficulties, as he tries to avoid an indictement by Fitzgerald. I think the president will have to deal with the situation himself. What would be the best next move for him?

I think that he should go back and read history. He should look in detail at the last few months of Nixon in the White House. That way he may identify many similarities between his current situation and Nixon's then. This would be very helpful to him as it will allow him to know exactly what would be the best time to step down. You see Nixon was under pressure when he resigned and that led to mistakes. The way he resigned did not come across well and left a bad taste for his legacy. If Bush learns from the mistakes that Nixon made right before he resigned, he could surprise everyone. He could resign in a "pre-emptive" manner, so his political enemies will be shocked and would have no time to blame him. That way his legacy will be better than Nixon's. But there is another essential action needed to preserve his legacy. Before he steps down, he should ask Vice-president Dick Cheney to resign and replace him with someone reasonable (i.e. John McCain). As silly and funny as it sounds, thats all is left as the best move for Bush in the interest of his legacy, and most importantly, the country.