Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The Case Against Bush-Cheney

New: anyone can post here! Join the conversation!




Much of my anger and frustration with the current Misadministration of the US Government stems from the antics of Bush and Cheney, and the way they deal with corporations. It seems to me that corporations get first dibs on the benefits of the Big Government being funded through this supposedly conservative adminstration.

Instead of reducing government, they have been responsible for the largest government debt in US history. And their friends are clearly benefitting--often, like in the case of FDA and FCC scandals, at the consumers'/citizens' expense.

Let’s look first at the growing list of scandals the Bush-Cheney White House is responsible for:

http://scandalist.info/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112100207.html
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/02/bush-directly-involved/


I’ll add to this list soon. Keep reading, and contact me here.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Who Killed Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto?

(this post updated 1-2-07)
Pakistan’s former leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated December 27, 2007—and who is responsible? An Al Queda group has gone on record taking credit for the killing. Now rumors of government complicity in the killing are rife in Pakistan according to Time/CNN—just as I suggested in this blog December 27th. Evidence is missing, the Bhutto family has refused an autopsy and the Pakistani government is flipflopping on their assertions about cause of death.

Maybe Al Queda is responsible. Or maybe Pakistan’s military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, is behind the killing. (Extremely important to Americans: who in the US supports Musharraf?) I have no evidence to suggest this is true, although some of Bhutto’s supporters have claimed Musharraf is behind Bhutto’s murder.

How do we know what’s true? We don’t at this point. However, Occam’s Razor works in politics as well as science: The simplest explanation is likely the most correct one.

If you were a military leader, bent on keeping power at all costs, would you take the life of a former leader—one who was fairly elected in the past, and extremely popular? Would you have a chance against such an interloper in a fair election? Which is easier--kill the opponent or rig an election?

Pakistan is no democracy. Its current leader has the position by brute force, and he is working constantly to consolidate power—most egregiously by firing impartial members of the judiciary and installing his cronies. He rules by force, not by law. And sadly, he has the partial support of the Bush-Cheney White House.

Who benefits from Bhutto’s death? Musharraf. Maybe Al Queda benefits in some way as well. Maybe—and again, this is pure conjecture, as is all the above—maybe Musharraf has a hidden connection with Al Queda.Now what will Bush--and the other soulless and/or clueless Neocons helping to misadminister our nation--do in response?

In any case, we should support nonviolent protest of the Musharraf regime and push for real democracy. Isn't Bush for democracy and freedom? Wasn't Bhutto for democracy and freedom? Isn't Musharraf for dictatorship and absolute power?

If Bush and Cheney do nothing, it demonstrates--again, as many time before--that their words are hollow, and all they care about is amassing and consolidating wealth and power. If they work to oust Musharraf, maybe they can display a core of democratic decency. Let's not hold our breath.

On the other hand, I hope we avoid another conservative hawk + CIA production, like the Chile/Allende/Pinochet debacle partly masterminded by President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the 60s and early 70s. (See The Hinchey Report and the Church Report for more on our government's intervention in Chile.)

Meanwhile, Bhutto was another freedom fighter--one who imperfectly but truly stood for freedom—who has been erased by a murderer. The assassin could be a friend or supporter of Musharraf, the Pakistani leader that Bush-Cheney supports. Why do we continue to endure this lost, confused Misadministration?

Please call your Congressperson or Senator and demand that they impeach Bush and Cheney, the Retarded President and the Master of Dark Forces. Your life and your well-being may depend on it.

The article announcing Bhutto's murder in the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122702064.html?hpid=topnews

California and Michigan Lead Humanitarian Move to Health Care Reform

Michigan and California have started the process to offer health care to every member of society, no matter their income or ability to pay. This is humanitarian. It is civilized. Anything else is brutality, the “live and let die” mentality that wolves and other beasts resort to for their own.

Thank God—and the Democrats—for bringing sanity and humanity into our nation. Who else would support health care for everyone, the way other civilized countries do? Republicans and conservatives don’t.

Humanitarians or brutes?
I call this type of so-called society a “brutiety”—combining the words “brutal” and “society” to name a society of brutishness—like the United States. A wise man once said that a society can be judged by how it treats its least fortunate members.

Where does this put the Bush-Cheney Misadministration? Giuliani campaigns while deriding the so-called “nanny government” while millions suffer without adequate health care. How about letting him suffer without health care?

Take away free health care for elected politicians
Here’s a solution: Take away health care for leaders and elected politicians until everyone has access to health care. That will get their attention. When they have to pay single rates for insurance—over $10,000/year in many cases—for themselves, spouse and children, will they vote for health care for everyone? I’ll bet on it!


The articles:

CA state Assembly backs healthcare for everyone
Dec. 18, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-health18dec18,1,6540129.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-californiaSACRAMENTO -- The state Assembly on Monday approved the first phase of a $14.4-billion plan to extend medical insurance to nearly all residents, giving Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Democratic allies their first victory in a risky yearlong campaign to overhaul California's healthcare system.The measure, negotiated by Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), would require almost everyone in California to have insurance starting in 2010. It would provide subsidies and tax credits for those who would have trouble paying their share of the premiums.

Bush-Cheney Misadministration Lets EPA Say “No” to California Pollution Rules

"The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ignored his staff's written findings" and ruled against California's efforts to reduce pollution.

It's more crap from a retarded, selfish Bush croney? It's "yes" to graft, corruption and the epitome of the "Me" Generation: George W. Bush, Darth Dick Cheney (the "President of Vice") and their friends in government.

Here's typical Bush-Cheney policy: Ignore your staff, ignore science and policy experts, screw the environment and allow industry to regulate itself--at the expense of the consumer and citizen--again. That’s what the Bush-Cheney Misadminstration is doing--again. Corruption, graft, greed—all keywords to describe the Bush-Cheney Misadministration—again.

When will Bush-Cheney join the 21st century in recognizing the need for pollution controls beyond what the Congress, the Senate and the auto industry have failed to do for the last 35 years?

What do we get when we allow an industry to regulate itself? Auto companies have stalled any progress in pollution control. They have systematically failed to produce sustainable vehicles in an economy that is the largest contributor to greenhouse gases. And they still produce vehicles mostly inferior to foreign automakers. Ford is still in deep trouble, Chrysler is in a downslide, and GM is pulling out of one. Why let ninnies regulate themselves? It results in failure again and again...and it's all about the money at the expense of everything and everyone else.

Now the Bush-Cheney EPA wants to stop California’s progress?

It’s about the money, not any sort of principle of global regulation, as the EPA head claims. Graft, selfishness and corruption are spelled B-U-S-H and C-H-E-N-E-Y.

And, hell, I support California if it wants to secede from this union.

----------

The original article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-me-epa21dec21,1,1021228.story?coll=la-news-a_section

EPA Chief is said to ignore staff
LA TIMES December 21, 2007

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ignored his staff's written findings in denying California's request for a waiver to implement its landmark law to slash greenhouse gases from vehicles, sources inside and outside the agency told The Times on Thursday.

"California met every criteria . . . on the merits. The same criteria we have used for the last 40 years on all the other waivers," said an EPA staffer. "We told him that. All the briefings we have given him laid out the facts."

Read About Bush’s Crimes Against The Environment

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1120-01.htm

Crimes Against Nature
by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

(Published in the December 11, 2003 issue of Rolling Stone )

George W. Bush will go down in history as America's worst environmental president. In a ferocious three-year attack, the Bush administration has initiated more than 200 major rollbacks of America's environmental laws, weakening the protection of our country's air, water, public lands and wildlife. Cloaked in meticulously crafted language designed to deceive the public, the administration intends to eliminate the nation's most important environmental laws by the end of the year. Under the guidance of Republican pollster Frank Luntz, the Bush White House has actively hidden its anti-environmental program behind deceptive rhetoric, telegenic spokespeople, secrecy and the intimidation of scientists and bureaucrats....

More about Bush's crimes at:

http://www.alternet.org/election04/20124/

You Can Help Stop Global Warming

From their website:

"This is a movement about change, as individuals, as a country, and as a global community. Join the 959,367 supporters of the Stop Global Warming Virtual March, and become part of the movement to demand our leaders freeze and reduce carbon dioxide emissions now. We are all contributors to global warming and we all need to be part of the solution."

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_takeaction.asp

Why Does America See So Much Crime?

School shootings, mall shootings, rape, suicide, murder, robbery…is the United States the crime leader of all the developed nations?

Abusers teaching abuse
Horrific parenting and lack of adult mentoring are huge factors in creating violent people. A kid who is beaten and abused, or sees his parents using drugs and has little supervision is more likely to act out violently and maybe not even learn basics of social mores. Certainly those children have few resources for dealing with the horrors of their lives.

Maybe the faith and community traditions in other countries contribute to better parenting traditions that are passed on throughout communities. Our communities are now based largely on nuclear families isolated from other families. No longer do grandma and grandpa, with their many combined years of wisdom, live close to our children.

In the US, there are so many traditions from so many waves of immigration. Traditions in homogenous ethnic groups, which most countries are composed of, are more secure and more easily passed down. Science and secularism have fragmented our communities, maybe leading to alienation, isolation and a lack of guidance in "how to act like a decent society member."

Who will teach us how to relate to each other?
Since we've adopted this isolated, nuclear mode of existence, something has to take the place of lack of parenting and guidance in this area. I propose that public schools make Relationships, Reading, Writing and 'Rithmatic the "4 R's" foundation of learning--with relationships being the core lessons!

Imagine how many literate members of society we would have if we left reading and writing to haphazard life lessons? Damn few, IMO!

So how many experts at managing relationships do we graduate from our schools with the bad parenting, abuse, neglect, greed and other factors mentioned by Lauren? People are learning how to relate to each other haphazardly, with little formal guidance on how to manage their own emotions, desires, finances and relationships.

Capitalism, commercialism, and consumerism could be minor factors in all this. But greed could be moderated by compassion if we teach that to our children. Greed doesn’t necessarily lead to murder and robbery…but it might in children who have no compassion, who have been damaged by abuse and neglect and even dysfunctional parenting. These kids grow up to be like Jeffrey Daumer, the Columbine shooters, Asa Coon, John Wayne Gacy and Aileen Wuornos—twisted people who make us shiver.

How many others’ lives have been ruined by abuse, suffering in silence--or worse, passing along the abuse to their own children?

Beggining of the end??
Stephen Covey says "Begin with the end in mind." I'm afraid someone took him a bit too literally, seeing how so much is going downhill. The end is coming fast--wars, poverty, global warming, ecological devastation, hunger--with much of this driven by rampant overpopulation--and only great doses of intelligence coupled with compassion and foresight can prevent it!

Join the conversation -- help build communities and prevent the developing Idiocracy.