Alito a dangerous choice

The direction our country takes for the next thirty years is being set now. We all know why President Bush nominated Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. He is packing the court with conservative ideologues who will extend the "legacy" of his presidency for years to come. Ann Coulter, who last week suggested Justice Stevens should be poisoned, who denounced the nomination of John Roberts, celebrated Judge Alito's nomination, stating that Bush gave Democrats 'a right-hook' - high praise from an activist who said that Republicans need to nominate a person who 'wake[s] up every morning . . . chortling about how much his latest opinion will tick off the left.'

If you review Judge Alito's writings as a Department of Justice lawyer and a federal judge, there is no doubt why he is so heralded by the most extreme Republicans or about the kind of Justice Alito will be. He will make it harder for the most disadvantaged members of our society to have their day in court. He will allow the President's power to grow far beyond what the Framers of the Constitution intended. He will roll back women's privacy rights.

In his fifteen years on the Third Circuit, Judge Alito has almost never voted in favor of African-American plaintiffs in employment discrimination cases. An example: In a dissenting view, he declared that a police officer who shot a 15 year old unarmed purse-snatcher in the back of the head was justified in doing so. I should add that nearly ALL of his opinions are from a dissenting view because he is always wrong.

He routinely defers to government invasions into personal privacy, often going out of his way to excuse unlawful government actions. And the only statement he has ever made regarding a woman's right to privacy is that she does not have one. People who believe in privacy rights, who fight for the rights of the most disadvantaged, who believe in balancing the power between the President and Congress have no choice but to stand up against Judge Alito.

Alito is the wrong choice for America. In fact, he is a dangerous choice for America. This is a rare moment in Washington. We are facing the vote of a lifetime - a vote that will shape the law for generations to come. The direction our country takes for the next thirty years is being set now. And I, quite frankly, am very worried.

Downward Spiral Continues

This just in from an ABC News poll conducted over the last three days:

A weakened George W. Bush faces the nation in his 5th State of the Union address beset by war fatigue, persistent discontent on the economy and other domestic issues, ethics concerns and rising interest in Democratic alternatives in this midterm election year.
Bush's bottom-line job rating — 42 percent of Americans approve of his work, 56 percent disapprove — is the worst for a president entering his sixth year in office since Watergate hammered Richard Nixon. And Bush's is not a single-issue problem: More than half disapprove of his work in eight out of nine areas tested in this ABC News/Washington Post poll, from Iraq to immigration to health care. Bush's overall approval rating has failed to sustain a slight gain last month from his career lows last fall — it's 10 points lower than a year ago, on the eve of his second inauguration.
On Iraq, 55 percent say the war was not worth fighting and 60 percent disapprove of how Bush is handling it. On the deficit, 64 percent disapprove of his work; on health care 60 percent; on immigration 57 percent; on ethics 56 percent (see separate Jan. 27 analysis on ethics). Six in 10 say the economy's hurting. Six in 10 don't think Bush understands their problems. Fifty-three percent don't see him as honest and trustworthy.

Read the rest of the story here. . .

Mission Accomplished

Viva le revolution! Throw the bastards out in November and make the above wish come true! Visit AfterDowningStreet.org to learn more. . .

Memo to Congressional Democrats

Sunday 22 January 2006

MEMO
To: Congressional Democrats
From: William Rivers Pitt
RE: A bold maneuver

-

I have a wild and crazy idea.

George W. Bush's delivery of the State of the Union address will take place on Tuesday, January 31, a little more than a week from now. It is my strong belief that every single Democrat present in the House chamber for the speech should, at a predetermined moment, stand up and walk out. No yelling. No heated words. Every Democrat should simply stand silently and leave.

Crazy, I know. Crazy, and possibly the best idea ever put before a body of Democrats since the New Deal.

Understand this, congressional Democrats, and understand it well: you are not dealing merely with a body of political opponents in the GOP. You are dealing with a group of people that want you exterminated politically. The days of walking the halls of the Rayburn Building, sharing a bourbon with a colleague from the other side of the aisle, and hammering out a compromise are as dead as Julius Caesar. Collegiality is out. Mutual respect is out. They want you gone for good. Erased. Destroyed.

Read the rest of this article at truthout.

New Gallup Poll

On the eve of the State of the Union message, Gallup pollsters last week posed the question Ronald Reagan asked in 1980 when he was running against Jimmy Carter for president: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"The reply from Americans represents "a strong rebuke of the Bush era," Gallup declared today, with nearly two-thirds saying things have gotten worse in the past five years. Only 28% say things have improved.
In reply to another question, 35% said they were "satisfied" with the direction of the country, and 65% are dissatisfied. Does this represent merely the lingering fallout from 9/11? Not likely, since only 3% cited "terrorism" and 2% "homeland security" as a main reason for offerign negative views. Most often cited as evidence that things have gotten worse: Iraq (cited by 26%) and "the economy" (24%). Asked separately to list the "most important problem facing the country," 23% said the Iraq war, and only 7% terrorism. Various economic issues accounted for 30%.
As expected a whopping 92% of Democrats gave a negative reply to question of have-things-improved-under-Bush, while 60% of Republicans went positive. But, critically, 70% of Independents gave that "not improved" assessment.Only 6% cited gas prices and 3% poverty as reasons for a negative view.

Photos? What photos?

Earlier this month, journalist Josh Marshall became aware of a series of Bush/Abramoff pics available at the online site for Reflections Photography, a studio that does many photo shoots for Republican events. However, when recently attempting to access these photos again, Marshall discovered that they had vanished.
Marshall contacted a rep at Reflections who assured him that any images that may have disappeared from the online site would still be available on the agency's backup cd. Upon checking said cd, surprise, the photos in question has been completely rubbed clean. The rep was clearly astonished. That, as you'd imagine, caught his attention. So he asked what that meant. The woman from Reflections told him that that this sometimes happened when the White House wanted to prevent the public from accessing certain photographs of the president.
Marshall contacted the president of Reflections, Joanne Amos, who admitted that the photos had been deleted, and were indeed of Bush and Abramoff together. When asked who had requested that the photos be deleted, Amos stated that as president of the company it was a "business decision" made by her alone. It's worth noting that Amos is a maxed-out Bush-Cheney 2004 donator.
So, here we have it that the president of Reflections admits that she removed photos of Abramoff and the president from their online database. If what her employee told Marshall is accurate the photos were also deleted from the CDs they keep on file in their own archives. So the scrub seems to have been pretty thorough.
Did the White House send out the word to deep-six those Bush-Abramoff pics? A simple question, but doubtful there are any simple answers.

Check out the original article here

Bush busted again

Reports out today indicate that the white house was warned in the hours before Katrina hit that the city would be inundated, and that any category 4 storm or higher, such as Katrina, would breach the levees and cause severe flooding.
The internal Department of Homeland Security documents, which were forwarded to the White House at 1:47 a.m. on Aug. 29, hours before the storm hit, contradict statements by President Bush and the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, that no one expected the storm protection system in New Orleans to be breached.

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," Mr. Bush said in a television interview on Sept. 1. "Now we're having to deal with it, and will." Liar.

Other documents released Tuesday show that the weekend before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Homeland Security Department officials predicted that its impact would be worse than a doomsday-like emergency planning exercise conducted in Louisiana in July 2004. In that drill, held because of common knowledge that New Orleans was susceptible to hurricane-driven flooding, emergency planners predicted that in a Category 3 storm, one million people would be forced to move away, 17 percent of the nation's oil refining capacity would be knocked out and as many as 60,000 lives might be lost.

"Exercise projection is exceeded by Hurricane Katrina real-life impacts," the Aug. 27 department report said, two days before the storm hit New Orleans. The loss of life in Hurricane Katrina was far less - at least 1,350 deaths have been confirmed so far - but the estimated number of dislocated residents was not far off.

We may have to start as a new daily feature "Bush's Lie of the Day" if this current pace continues.

Kevin Nealon reports on anti-Roe V Wade Rally

President George W. Bush (lying bastard) on Monday told opponents of abortion (selfish bastards) their views would eventually prevail (stack the courts) and urged them to work to convince (shoot abortion doctors) more Americans of "the rightness of our cause (mein kamf)."
On the 33rd anniversary of Roe versus Wade (no more coathangers), the landmark Supreme Court decision that established federal abortion rights (big government) , Bush addressed activists (old maids) by telephone from Manhattan, Kansas (BIG red state), and called their goals noble (serves his cause).
"We, of course, seek common ground where possible (down your throats)," he said. "We're working to persuade (clinic bombings) more of our fellow Americans (neo-cons) of the rightness of our cause (sieg heil), and this is a cause that appeals to the conscience of our citizens (guilt-trip) and is rooted in America's deepest principles (trash constitution). History tells us that with such a cause (nuclear option) , we will prevail (destroy personal freedoms)."
The rally was held to protest the 1973 decision (common sense), which opponents hope to overturn (permanently destroy) someday (immediately), especially now that Bush (smirking chimp) has named two justices (butt-lickers) to the Supreme Court -- John Roberts, who replaced the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist (even trade) and Samuel Alito (Nazi) to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (saving grace). O'Connor has often been the swing (sane) vote on abortion and other social issues (personal freedom) on the nine-member court. Alito, whose confirmation (rubber-stamp) by the Senate (GOP) is expected soon (a given), gave no clear statement (bullshitted) on whether he would vote to overturn Roe if it came before the court ("it must be destroyed"), although he opposed abortion (should have been one) in a memo he wrote as a Reagan ( B-actor) administration attorney two decades ago.
During his confirmation hearings (just for show), Alito (smug bastard) reaffirmed his vow (nazi oath) to respect legal precedent (in 1939 Germany) and noted the 1973 decision had been upheld repeatedly (not for long).
"You believe as I do that every human (white and right) life has value, that the strong (wealthy) have a duty to protect (screw) the weak (lower classes) and that the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence (burn it) apply to everyone (snicker), not just to those considered healthy (rich) or wanted (conservatives) or convenient (swing voters)," Bush told the anti-abortion marchers (nazi sympathisers).
As anti-abortion activists (clinic-bombers) gathered in Washington (Spy Central) and elsewhere across the country (Jesusland) , Bush headed for Kansas (safe country) where he spoke about the war on terrorism (big lie). As he has in past years (all of them), the president phoned in his support (scared to go out) rather than attend in person.

Gas Prices

Oil prices surged to almost $70 a barrel last week over concerns about the restart of Iran's nuclear program. But the worst may be yet to come. Experts say that prices could soar past $100 a barrel if the U.N. authorizes trade sanctions against Iran, and Iran curbs oil exports in retaliation. A sharp global economic slowdown could follow.
That's the dilemma the United States and European nations face as they decide whether to act. But Iran would also pay a hefty price if the oil money that represents 80% of it's export revenue is reduced, potentially stirring civil unrest in a nation with a 14% unemployment rate.
Iran exports roughly 2.5 million barrels per day - 1 million barrels more than current excess production capacity worldwide. Experts say that even if Iran pulled a small amount of its oil off the market, prices could jump over the $100 per barrel mark. Think Katrina was bad? ?
I may have to alter my backyard landscaping and start a local bio-diesel operation. . .

Vigilance

I ran across this quote while perusing another blog this evening. With this administration's record and continuing usurping of our constitution, I think we would all be wise to heed it's message.

"When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered."
-Dorothy Thompson, American newspaper columnist (1894-1961)

The last time we had a "King George", our new democracy was the result. No less may be at stake 230 years later. Bush beleives he is truly above the law and can do absolutely anything he pleases. What's next? After he stacks the Supreme Court with his lackies, anything is possible. A "somewhat balanced" court gave him his presidency in 2000. Imagine what a tilted one could do. . .repeal the two term limit? Stack the 2006 and 2008 elections to retain a lock on power?
Pay VERY close attention. . .speak out. . .and take action when necesary.

Man on the Moon: Spreading the word.

Check out this "little experiment" by Dirk Walker of WJHS fame. (See previous post.) Dirk not only co-hosts the Rush Hour Rampage on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but also does ALOT of work behind the scenes at the station. Keep up the great work at the Eagle, bud! You're doing Moriarty proud. =)

Man on the Moon: Spreading the word.

WJHS - 91.5 - The Eagle

This station is Northeast Indiana's best kept secret. If you love adult alternative music, hate commercials, and are annoyed by hearing the same songs repeated over and over, you owe it to yourself to check out WJHS. If you aren't located near Fort Wayne/Columbia City, not to worry. WJHS is the first Indiana high school station to broadcast live on the net. That's right, "high school radio", and it beats ALL of the local commercial stations in the area hands down. These guys have been at this since 1985, and only get better with time. No annoying DJ's who love to hear themselves talk; no rotating playlist; no commercials; just a great mix of music 24/7.
Check it out today at www.wjhs915.org. Be sure to sign their guestbook while you're there!

GM strikes back

Just in from the 2006 Detroit Auto Show. . . .
the 2009 Camaro concept car. I have to admit, GM kinda guy that I am, the new Mustangs are really cool, but. . .here's what I'VE been waiting for!

The 2009 Dodge Challenger is another awesome new throwback to the muscle car era. . . rebel yell, anyone?

Bumper Stickers

Got a cool anti-W bumper sticker to show off? Send us a picture! We'd love to add it to our collection. Here are pics of our own sentiments:

"Save the environment, plant a Bush back in Texas."

"Somewhere in Texas. . .a village is missing it's idiot."

Soldiers support Murtha

On January 5, 2006, Congressman Murtha held a town hall meeting with Cong. Jim Moran (D-VA 08).

The soldier who asked the first question served in Afghanistan and said that morale among troops is high and that he would gladly serve in Iraq today. His comment was the only one replayed by Fox News the next day.But the majority of soldiers in attendance spoke out against the current policy. Fox News did not broadcast their remarks.

Here are some excerpts:

-John Brumes, Infantry Sgt. US Army:

Everything that the Bush Adminstration told us about that mission in Iraq is absolutely incorrect. Furthermore, I'd like to say ... I came home to no job, no health insurance. Until we take care of this war, we can't take care of the problems that matter like health care.
I've witnessed both ends... Congressman Murtha, I implore you to keep doing what you're doing.


-John Powers, Capt. 1st Armored Division, served 12 months in Iraq:

The thing that hits me the most is the accountability. ... Where is the accountability for those men [who took us to war], as well as where is the accountability for Paul Bremmer, who misplaced millions of dollars and claims to keep accountability in the war zone?... I know that if we lost $500 we would be court marshaled. So where is the accountability for this leadership?


-Garin Reppenhagen, served as a sniper in Iraq for a year in the First Infantry Division:

My question is also about accountability. The soldiers that you see, Congressman Murtha, at the hospitals... those are my friends. After coming back, being a veteran, my question is why? Why did we go to this war, why the hell did it happen, why are we in this condition. A lot of soldiers are debating whether this war was fraudulent to begin with. And there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. A lot of Americans now are debating the fact over whether or not the war was fraudulent in the first place. How come there hasn't been an investigation on the fraudulent lead up to the war by this Administration?

These reports from our troops should be getting far more attention than the photo-ops that this administration keeps tossing us. I don't beleive any of the soldiers that Mr.Murtha talked with were required to sign a loyalty oath, unlike ALL "guests" of BushCo Enterprises "events". . .

C-SPAN has the full broadcast here.

JackGate

Jack Abramoff may be just a "middle man" in the current justice department investigation. No less than 13 FBI field offices and nearly 50 agents are working to chase down leads in this investigation. No wonder that Tom DeLay stopped fighting and resigned so abruptly after Abramoff began "cooperating". Once these agencies begin to investigate and interrogate related individuals, they are certain to turn up more and more individuals and crimes via plea deals from people trying to get off as lightly as possible. Human nature dictates no less.
I'm betting that there are ALOT of nervous people in our government right now. Note the many people who have already publicly returned "Abramoff donations", and imagine how many who are still remaining silent. This may turn out to a huge scandal. . .

Without DeLay

Without further DeLay, it's time to move forward. Tom DeLay stepped down as Leader of the House today. Not that it really mattered overall; his fate was already sealed.
Now, if we can just figure out some way to fix all of that gerrymandering he did it Texas to secure Republican control there. We could sure use Anne Richards there again. . .

Introduction

Welcome to my new blog! This photo was taken in the basement of our new home in upscale, Republican-dominated Aboite Township. I am but one of many seeds who have planted themselves here, in search of a better life for my family. I now commit myself to working towards diluting the right-wing power base here, and sharing my views with like-minded progressive individuals.

2006 - We take back congress.
2008 - We end a double error!

Please make sure that you are registered to vote, especially if you have moved recently, and exercise your right to vote in all elections. Nothing less than our democracy is at stake. Unless you wish to live in a theocracy and have your every move and decision decided by "the church", you must add your voice! It's time to take back our country from the radical-right theologians.

In Allen County, click here for a list of where to register to vote.