The United States of America

...waits for ‘Fitzmas’.

The ‘left’ is jumping up and down and hoping for Rove’s head on a platter, and hoping that somehow Scooters involvement includes "fuck yourself" Cheney.

The ‘right’ is bracing for the worst, ready with the necessary spin to make themselves feel better and intellectual, because it won’t work on anybody else.

While waiting for the UPS man to deliver, Harriet Miers has decided to withdraw herself from being nominated to the Supreme Court. This should surprise no one that has paid even a modicum of attention to the last 5 years of the Bush debacle. Let’s all be honest here, she did not withdraw herself, she was told to withdraw.

Some coworkers of mine were in the cube behind mine last week or the week before talking about Bush’s brilliant political strategy in nominating Miers. Yes, that was their discussion. Being the resident outspoken liberal in a land of diehard Republicans, conservatives and Limbaugh drones, I dared not say a word. I dared not call them on this supposed genius by Bush, only because I am a lowly contractor and they are all employees. High ranking employees no less. At any rate, I’m waiting to hear the next discussion and the analysis of what went wrong. Small potatoes but entertaining to some degree.

Bush - genius, a name and word that should never be in the same room.

The larger issue with indictments being handed down by Prosecutor Fitzgerald (I will admit there is no small delight that me and Patrick share the same last name) would be the issue behind the indictments. Outing a CIA agent is treason, plain and simple. You might as well be a spy giving military and government information to the enemy. Remember the enemy? Those treasonous America-hating liberal Islamic jihadists that were against this Iraq war in the first place? Funny how the enemy has expanded a bit.

IF, and that’s a big IF, the current players that the public views as being in Fitzgerald’s crosshairs are indicted, it will add legitimacy to the idea that this Iraq war was constructed by said players prior to and with nothing in common with Osama bin Ladens’ attack and subsequent destruction of the World Trade Towers. The only thing bin Laden provided the Bush cabal was the ultimate tool needed to sell the war to the public: fear.

Outing Valerie Plame in order to discredit her husband Joe Wilson and his findings on the Niger uranium deal with Iraq (which has proven unclear at best yet showed up in Bush’s speech) is just a small piece of the bigger puzzle that the Bush cabal constructed. That is not to say that the actual crime of outing the CIA agent is a ‘technicality’ as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison would have us believe, or that it is a petty matter – it is not, but in the overall scheme of the Bush gang it was just a necessary and small and petty thing that had to be done. Nothing must stand in the way of the neo-con vision of capitalizing the middle east under the guise of terrorist threats that must be controlled and eradicated, or the spreading of ‘freedom’, or whatever other excuse given for this ill-conceived war.

So we all wait for the indictments to come, to see if Bush will stand by his first statement, or his statement right after his first statement, and promptly remove or ask or tell those persons involved to step down.
The effect of those indictments IF they do materialize, will further render an already incompetent administration even more helpless for the next three years. As if the current situation were not already dangerous for America, the idea of a helpless and incompetent lame duck administration at the helm of power in the United States for three more years is downright frightening.

"American deaths have reached a milestone in Iraq" all the media and blogosphere have proclaimed, due soley to that number of deaths reaching 2000.
Fuck that. One death was a milestone.

Historians will not be kind to Bush, and rightfully so. For all of his talk about leadership, he has none save for the sycophants and frightened sheep that follow him, the religious right and their ‘morality’ which he supposedly embodies, the conservatives that feel he will uphold traditions they hold dear such as opposition to gay marriage.

Wow, did they all get taken to the cleaners.

The sycophants still spew, the sheep have their war, and Gary and John still struggle against discrimination, but theoretically somewhere conservatives sleep sound at night knowing that their marriage is safe from gays and lesbians.

Meanwhile, this nation is the laughing stock of the sane world, we’ve lost our credibility on nearly every issue except blood thirsty imperialism, we’re creating record numbers of terrorists and jihadists that want our blood more than ever, and our dear leader with all his leadership qualities and his campaign promise to “restore dignity to the White House” has used hatred and fear to manipulate the American people to support his end goals.

Now the Harriet Miers distraction has further alienated the conservatives that wanted to stack the court with anti-abortion judges, yet hypocritically believed there was no litmus test. The standard reply in that debate is "of course there is a litmus test, the left does it too!” Well then, that makes it ok even though Bush has said repeatedly that he has no litmus test.

Bush is a liar of the grandest proportions, the biggest and filthiest liar of any politician in our nations history.

The days ahead, regardless of whether indictments are passed down are not, are the true litmus tests of this great nation. Americans must stand up against this tyranny and demand a better government, a government that is held accountable by the people, is for the people, and is of the people.
How do we achieve such a formidable task?
How long will it take?
I surmise many days, many months, years, decades.
Who will emerge as our nations new leaders? Who are the leaders that will hold the entire country’s interests as goals to be achieved, as opposed to forcing their own vision onto this great nation?

No small feat I admit, as this nation is so fractionalized and so divided, with so many casting an accusing eye at their neighbor, with so many placing blame where there is only difference, and offering no olive branch of reconciliation or looking inward for resolution.

Perhaps we are entering the age of the fall of America.
Our motto has been ‘United we stand, divided we fall’, we are divided and we have fallen, of that there is no question.

The days ahead are going to be the most difficult yet. ,

Too Much Information...

…runnin’ through my brain,
too much information,
drivin’ me insane… CHA!

What can I say? I’m old. Can you name the band?

There is so much crap going on I really don't know where to dive in.
It's like standing on the edge of the pond kind of wanting to take a swim and there's debris and icky stuff covering the surface,
and you're looking for a break just to get in the water. Kind of...

Delay, Rove, 'Scooter', Miller, Cheney, Bush, Hurricanes, Iraq, Saddam and Miers. Did I leave anything out? Probably, but there's no room left at the inn. (Frist)

The only thing I'll touch on in this area is this bit from the AP:

Reporters and television crews were lining up outside the courthouse more than two hours before DeLay was scheduled to appear, after three weeks of failed legal maneuvers by his attorney, Dick DeGuerin, to get the charges dismissed,
the trial moved, the prosecutor questioned and the judge replaced.
"We're ready for court. We want a trial," DeGuerin said. "We've wanted to get in court for too long. There's only been one side of this being presented in any tribunal."

Lawyers. A very strange animal indeed. Comicaly infuriating. Great when you need them, pass the shotgun.
This guy DeGuerin reminds me of an ex-girlfriend, transparent to the point of invisibility except for the very long nose that keeps getting longer. Come to think of it, there's a lot of that going around in the Bush administration and its periphery.

Ok, moving on.

I'm sick, have sinus-allergy-congestion-whatever that I got from doing yard work all day Saturday and that's part of the reason I have not taken to shooting these various fish in these various barrels. No energy to do the unchallenging task of "look - they're a bunch of crooks and liars!" This place does a fab job of doing just that.

I need to add a bunch of sites to my blog roll as I've been skipping around by visiting Pepper, Doc, Spud, OWL, Vestal, and then launching from there. Mark has taken a leave of absence but my gut tells me that when he does return it will be in grand style, just a guess.

Let's see, in which direction can I shoot off into next?

Last night after class, I got home and flipped on the tube to be entertained by these two and their mom. There is plenty of information about the Gaede family and their...ideals. Try this if your interested.

Last but not least: the history essay assignment to supplement the mid-term.
The essay assignment was this: “Imagine you have been transported back in time to the 1400’s. Select what culture you would rather be a part of and explain your position. Be sure and compare and contrast the cultures. Native American Indian, African or European.”
I missed one question on the midterm: "First colony in New World, did not have a charter?" That bottle of tequila is still available, but I did nip on it a few times since nobody got the “how many jalapeños in this picture” correct. Anyhow, it’s an easy question but I missed it, feel free to take a stab.
The following is the essay, which was worth 10 points added to the midterm test grade. With the essay and missed question, my score was 109. Thank you, thank you, please, no please sit down, thank you, thank you, what a wonderful audience.

Forced to Choose

“Mr. Fitzgerald, you have been accused of high crimes and misdemeanors by the United States Government. Specifically on the count of Treason, how do you answer?”

“Well, I wasn’t aware that attending a peaceful rally against the Iraq war was considered treason…”

“SILENCE! You and all your liberal traitor friends knew that dissent against President Bush and his agenda was considered treason before you went to Washington! Free speech ain’t free and you idiots just don’t get it. Now, answer the charge!”

“Not Guilty your Honor.”

“This court finds you GUILTY of Treason! Normally, the penalty is death, but we have devised a new punishment for traitors like you. You will be transported back in time to America in the 1400’s and forced to choose whether you will be an Native American Indian, an African or a European. Just a quick hint there treason-boy, the Indians got their butt kicked and are all alcoholics living on reservations, and the Africans were all slaves and have been sentenced to poverty ever since. During the transport you will have about twenty minutes to make your choice. Make your choice wisely! Failure to do so may indeed result in the penalty of DEATH!”

“Holy crap” I thought, “this can’t be happening.” But it was…

I was led to the pod, uncuffed and stuffed in. The door was shut behind me and there was complete darkness. There was a whirring sound, the pod began to shake, and I had twenty minutes to think about life in America in the 1400’s. Oddly enough, this day is Columbus Day.

Ok, let’s see, how do I decide? Do I go with my heart and soul or do I just give in and take the choice that’s being held over my head. I’ve got to break this down into some categories and compare each culture and then decide.

First up: religion. I’m not a religious person. In fact I’m an atheist. What choices do I have?

The Native Americans were polytheistic in their worship. They worshipped the elders of the tribes and worshipped natural gods, the rain god, the sun god and the like.
The Africans had something similar going on but quite different in one aspect; Islam. I find voodoo and it’s concepts very interesting, and of course revering nature through worship is very appealing to me, but the whole Islam thing is too organized and scary to me. It’s too much like Christianity and Catholicism, plus I believe voodoo has Catholic influences as well.
The Europeans were predominately Catholic, with Protestant worshippers fighting for power over the Catholics.
I really love the natural world, and the Indians seemed to appreciate nature and work with it. I also like the fact that they paid homage to their elders through ancestor worship. I like that they compared human traits to animal traits, like the warriors being compared to eagles, bears and wolves. It seems that European religions separate man from nature, that's a huge mistake and I just can’t get on that bandwagon. When it comes to religion, Native American Indian it is.

Ok, property ownership. Of course in modern time, I like that idea, but it’s early in the 1400’s, so let’s rethink.
The Indians were not into property ownership per se, they were more communal in regards to property. The Africans were the same way, everybody shared the property, it was for the good of all.
The Europeans were all about feudalism, a very few rich and well connected men owning and controlling all the land while everybody else just worked the land as tenant farmers and indentured servants. The men always gave their land to the oldest son, so if you weren’t born first, tough cookies. Forget being a sister. Your best bet there was to marry somebody else’s first born male. Talk about narrowing the choices!
Most of the property that was owned in Indian and African culture was passed through the maternal side of the family. I like that idea. The women bear the children and take care of the children once they are born. Let’s face it, without women, the tribe will not continue. Convoluted reasoning? Maybe, but this round goes to the Indians as well.

Alright now, how does the work get done in each society?
The Indians shared the load with the men going out to hunt and gather and bring the food back to the tribe or village, and the women then prepared the meat from the hunt. The women also took care of the agriculture of the tribe by planting and harvesting, and then preparing the bounty for community consumption.
The African culture behaved similar, with men doing the hunting and the women taking care of the crops. One difference between the Indians and Africans was that the Africans had craftsmen, a specialty within the village. These craftsmen were responsible for making tools, weapons, ‘cookware’, and other useful items needed in the tribe. The Africans were a tad more advanced than the Indians as far as that was concerned, but both cultures seemed to pull together within themselves to get the work done.
The Europeans relied heavily on serfs to do all the work. Basically a serf is a peasant under the feudal system. They were considered the lowest social class of the feudal society and serfs were forced to do all the work on the farms and other agriculture related fields like forestry and transportation. Serfs differed from slaves in that serfs were not property themselves and could not be sold apart from the land which they worked. Being a serf just doesn’t sound all that glorious, rewarding or like there was any chance to ‘move up’. Not too different from being a slave in the long run, minus the physical abuse and you did have a chance of freedom at some point. Ok, they were very different.
I like the idea of everyone pulling together to get the work done and since I’m already two into the Indians, I’m going to make it three. Indians win on the labor front as well.

What did each culture rely on for food?
The Indians were at one with nature and relied on wild game, fish and agriculture. I have eaten venison and find it rather tasty. As a boy I used to bow hunt in the swamp where I lived. I guess in some ways I fancied myself as an Indian, stalking my prey with a bow. It was rather difficult and the success rate was very low. I used to fish in that same swamp and would bring home quite a catch on a regular basis. Arrowheads, often called duck potatoes, grew in the swamp as well. I have seen deer wade into the water and pull them up by the stalk, and eat the root. It is my understanding that Native Americans also collected these starchy tubers for food. Being largely hunters and gathers, the Indians would collect as much vegetative food as they could. This included berries, fruits, and nuts of all types in the wild.
The Africans were very similar in that they were gathered from the wild as well. One difference was the lack of rich food diversity. Largely, sub-Saharan Africans consumed much bush-meat, it seemed they had little else. Africa has always been linked to the Middle East and Asia via the Egyptian and Ethiopian civilizations which brought many crops to Africa even in prehistoric times. More non-native crops came to Africa in two long migrations, the first from Asia, the second from the Americas. The latter came about as a result of the slave trade.
In Europe the food consisted of farmed meat, agriculture and minimal hunting. Livestock provided most of the meat, with wheat and barley and the like grown in the fields. Quite frankly, I find the European method of providing food for the commuity rather boring and nonadventurous, not to mention not very eco-friendly. Mass producing food has negative effects on the natural ecology, and as noted earlier, European religions seemed to separate man from nature.
Not being a big meat eater cuts me right out of the European diet, as beef was a major staple in their diet. I’m more of a fish and ‘yard bird’ consumer, plus I love all kinds of fruits and vegetables. The Indian diet and their lifestyle of acquiring it is very appealing to me, the Indians win again.

Who’s got the best government? If you look at each cultures' way of life, the government will be a reflection of it.
The Indians had a tribal organization where everyone participated on some level. The women of the tribe would select a chief and the chief would make the rules to govern the tribe. Almost an elected official kind of system that supposedly exists in America today, only probably not quite as polluted.
The Africans had tribes and had kingdoms as well. The women had a much more limited role in government than that of the Indians. Kingdoms had kings and much like the European systems of government, the King ruled.
In Europe, they had city-states, kings, lords and barons. The feudal system just plain stunk as far as I’m concerned.
The Indian way of governing is much more appealing. It appeared much more democratic and communal, much like the rest of Indian culture. It also appeared that status was achieved through merit as opposed to how much money or property one had. The somewhat limited role of women in the African tribe is a little disappointing as women played major roles elsewhere in that society, much like the Native American Indians. In Europe, it was all about the man. Men controlled everything and women were second tier at best. The only shot at having any power was if you were born into a prominent family. Queen Elizabeth just didn’t rise up from being a handmaid, she was born into royalty and there she stayed.

The Native Amerians were not concerned with wealth as much as Africa and Europe. This could partly be attributed to the geographic isolation of America relative to Africa and Europe. The Indian trade was not that complex, and they traded more cultural items than monetary items. Things like jewelry, stones, beads, salt and metal were traded amongst the tribes. Their culture was more communal thus there was little need to have more money than your neighbor.
African trade was a little more complex as Asia and the Middle East were geographically accessible. Salt and spices found their way around as well as gold and silver. Riches were an important part of the trade in that region.
Europe of course traded with all of the known world, and they traded anything and everything they could. The European way of life was very class oriented and having riches and wealth were important. The need to stay at the top of the food chain economically was important to being a world power and England was all about being a world power. Once the English defeated Spain, England was largely unchallenged as a world power. Part of exploring America was due in part to England needing more economic resources in which to rule the world. I think we call that imperialism.

The whirring of the pod seems to be slowing down, so I guess my twenty minutes is just about over.
After considering the choices, I’m leaning heavily with Native American Indian. It’s a lifestyle that I can relate to and is very appealing to me.
The African culture comes in a close second, but the three main things I don’t like are the lack of voice women have in government, the ratio of meat to vegetation in their diet, and their proximity to the rest of Europe. The European culture, well, not very appealing for a variety of reasons but one in particular: feudalism. Feudalism might be great if you are born into royalty, but I’m all alone, and the second son for that matter. Without question I have serf written all over me.
I prefer to do things on my own, lend a helping hand if somebody needs it, and look out for my neighbors regardless of their place in society. The European system screams ‘Fuck the poor’, and that just ain’t me.

The American Indian culture was doomed by European influence, and the African culture that made it here was nearly destroyed by the slave trade. Both cultures have been absorbed and manipulated by the massive European influx, but that did give birth to the wondeful society that America is today.

Since I’m sure I face death by the Bush administration under false pretenses in present day, and must choose a culture during the 1400’s in which to live, I have decided to choose death in a noble fashion. I will die like a warrior, fighting the English to preserve my homeland. Live free or die!
,

The Needle on the BS Meter is...

...spinning at the speed of light.

From the AP:

"New York Times reporter Judith Miller says she told a federal grand jury she could not recall where she heard name of the covert CIA officer whose cover was blown, even though she jotted it down in her notebook.
Miller wrote down "Valerie Flame."
"I told Mr. Fitzgerald, I simply could not recall where that
came from, when I wrote it or why the name was misspelled," Miller said in a first-person account for her newspaper published Sunday.
"I testified that I did not believe the name came from Mr. Libby, in part because the notation does not appear in the same part of my notebook as the interview notes from him," Miller wrote in the Times. "Mr. Fitzgerald asked if I could recall discussing
the Wilson-Plame connection with other sources. I said I had, though I could not recall any by name or when those conversations occurred."
Miller also wrote down Plame's name in her notes as "Victoria Wilson."
"I told Mr. Fitzgerald that I was not sure whether Mr. Libby had used this name or whether I just made a mistake in writing it on my own," Miller recalled. "Another possibility, I said, is that I gave Mr. Libby the wrong name on purpose to see whether he would correct me and confirm her identity.
"I also told the grand jury I thought it was odd that I had written `Wilson' because my memory is that I had heard her
referred to only as Plame. Mr. Fitzgerald asked whether this suggested that Mr. Libby had given me the name Wilson. I told him I didn't know and didn't want to guess."

Is it just me or does this bull smell so strong you can smell it through the monitor?

And, she's a reporter?.....,

Friday Pissed Off Bloggin'

Today’s rant is inspired by a myriad of factors, but mainly due to lame emails a colleague keeps sending me. I should’ve cut and pasted the last email and inserted above the following rant, as it was finally the one that set me off. That email listed a bunch of bullet points stating reasons why Bush was not responsible for Hurricane Katrina, how he did not cause the hurricane. Also included were references to the Kyoto Treaty, global warming, and blah blah and so on.

Let me just say that only a wingnut would defend Bush by saying he did not cause Hurricane Katrina. Well NO SHIT. Please tell me one human being that did, does, or will cause hurricanes. Nobody said he caused the hurricane, but they did admonish him for FEMA's slow and unorganized response, led by “Brownie” the horse guy, who Bush DID appoint as head of FEMA. Get it now wingnuts?

Anyhow, below is the email I sent back to that person. I started it off by cutting and pasting an entire article about Rove’s adventures, because it’s a) pertinent to the case for war in Iraq, and b) they wouldn’t read it if I just provided a link.

Please enjoy, have a laugh, make comments, call me a liberal commie ‘merika hatin’ traitor, or make a case for why we are in Iraq and this administrations actions are perfectly acceptable.

Rove Makes Fourth Grand Jury Appearance
By PETE YOST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Karl Rove walked into the federal courthouse Friday for a fourth grand jury appearance in the CIA leak probe, following public disclosure of his conversations with two reporters about the identity of a covert officer at the spy agency. It is likely Rove's final chance to convince grand jurors he did nothing criminal in the leak case. Prosecutors have warned the architect of President Bush's re-election campaign that there is no guarantee he will not be indicted. The grand jury's term is due to expire Oct. 28.

The White House has shifted from categorical denials two years ago that Rove or Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, were involved in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity to "no comment" today.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald walked into the grand jury area with Rove early Friday. The spotlight in his investigation recently has fallen on Libby, who was the focus of prosecutors' questions in two grand jury appearances by New York Times reporter Judith Miller. She detailed her conversations with the vice president's top aide about the covert CIA officer, Valerie Plame, and her husband, Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson.

Fitzgerald has a variety of options as he weighs whether anyone broke a law that bars the intentional unmasking of a covert CIA officer. Defense lawyers increasingly are concerned Fitzgerald might pursue other charges such as false statements, obstruction of justice or mishandling of classified information.

For the White House in 2004, the good news about Fitzgerald's probe was that it didn't become an issue during the presidential election year. Witnesses underwent questioning, including Bush and Cheney, White House records were turned over to the grand jury and the administration pledged full cooperation. The president promised to fire any leakers.
Rove, a Texas political consultant who rose through the ranks of Republican politics with the late GOP adviser Lee Atwater, was the architect of Bush's successful drive to re-election. Libby was at Cheney's side during the campaign.

"They are good individuals," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said of Rove and Libby on Oct. 7, 2003. "They are important members of our White House team. And that's why I spoke with them, so that I could come back to you and say that they were not involved. I had no doubt with that in the beginning, but I like to check my information to make sure it's accurate before I report back to you, and that's exactly what I did."

The power to create even more trouble for the administration or wrap up the investigation and return to Chicago, where he is U.S. attorney, lies with Fitzgerald. An experienced prosecutor with a Republican pedigree, Fitzgerald has a reputation for being willing to take on politicians of either political party in corruption probes. Currently, Fitzgerald's office is prosecuting a former Republican governor of Illinois.

The revelations flowing out of Fitzgerald's CIA leak investigation so far offer a public snapshot of Washington at work: A White House with its credibility on the line tries to deal with a political problem by talking confidentially to reporters.

In this instance, the political problem was Wilson and his statements that the administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq. The criticism came as the U.S. military engaged in a fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The existence of such weapons were the primary reason the administration gave to justify going to war.
Eight days after Wilson made his allegations, columnist Robert Novak identified Wilson's wife as a CIA operative, saying she had suggested her husband for a mission to Africa for the agency.
The trip led subsequently to Wilson's conclusion that the administration had manipulated intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.
Novak said his sources were two senior administration officials. Rove spoke to Novak about Wilson's wife and is apparently one of Novak's sources. The other is still a public mystery. Novak is believed to have cooperated with Fitzgerald's investigation, though he has declined to comment on the matter.

The White House denials of Rove's and Libby's involvement collapsed three months ago, when Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper testified that Rove had been one of his sources for a story that identified Wilson's wife. Libby was another of Cooper's sources for the story, which asked the question, "Has the Bush administration declared war on a former ambassador?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------

-IF these allegations and indictments come to fruition, it is another piece of supportive evidence that Bush, Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc., were complicit in the fabrication and twisting of evidence to invade a nation that was not a threat to us and did not provoke us in any way. This could be the first solid step in building the case for impeachment based on treason, the highest offence by a government official in the United States. All of the topical evidence examined thus far indicates that Bush and his personnel did twist and fabricate evidence to take this nation to war. Much like the OJ trial, it still must be proven in a court of law.

Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with Iraq, 9-11 had nothing to do with Iraq, yet Osama continues to go free and we lose lives daily in Iraq. Currently, we are at about 1960 +/- lives lost in Iraq. This does not include the number of coalition forces, nor does it include the number of INNOCENT Iraqi civilians that have died as a result of the US invasion. That number is estimated at about 20,000 people. That number includes untold numbers of CHILDREN and women. Now, Bush nominates Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court making her religious beliefs the most important credential.

This sets a precedent in Supreme Court nominations. Prior to this nomination, as with ROBERTS, not only was religion NOT a credential, it was also NOT examined during confirmation hearings. Bush said when nominating ROBERTS, that religion was NOT a factor and should NEVER be a factor. He then touts Miers's religion as the main factor. Now, every Supreme Court nomination must past a litmus test regarding religion. Our founding fathers explicitly denounced the mix of religion and civil duty. The idea of the United States is UNITED we stand, DIVIDED we fall.

I do not wish to see Democrats in complete control of the government no more than I want to see Republicans in complete control of the government, for the obvious and glaring reason that absolute power corrupts. Our government was designed with checks and balances to keep what is happening NOW from happening. The Republicans have worked many long years to control every branch of our government and one thing interrupted that process: the election of Bill Clinton to the office of President not once, but twice.

Thus began the 7 year smear campaign, allegations of rape and murder - ALL of which have been proven untrue - to drum up hatred of Clinton, Democrats, and left leaning political theory. The ONLY thing that they could ever pin on Clinton was an affair, and then gussied that up as lying under oath, an impeachable offence.

That same tactic was employed during Bush's second election, after the Florida voting fiasco in 2000 - a state governed by Bush's brother Jeb, and the vote count stopped by AG Republican Katherine Harris. John Kerry was smeared with FALSE allegations, and gay marriage was put on the ballot in 11 important electoral states.

The Republicans have succeeded in engineering the greatest tyranny our nation has ever seen, it's right in front of all of our faces, yet conservatives and Republicans continue to support a man and administration that flat out lied to the American people, sent our troops into war against a nation that did not provoke us in any way, was not a threat to us in any way, and did not have the Weapons of Mass Destruction that Bush claimed they did. Conveniently, none of this is accredited to Bush, the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States. This same man invokes God whenever it's needed, and invokes terror alerts whenever needed, to whip his base into fear and supportive frenzy.

Feel free to send this to that group of friends that send you the emails, that you in turn forward to me. If someone wants to argue facts, I'll be glad to but be prepared to discuss the most obvious and glaring fact: Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11, BUSH and his admin. have ADMITTED THIS themselves, Iraq had no WMD's, and Iraq did not provoke the United States. We have lost almost 2000 of our soldiers with no end in sight. Cheney said last week that we would be in Iraq for decades. Decades is plural, a decade is 10 years, you do the math. If any of your friends cannot get past these FACTS, then any further debate is pointless.

You do not FORCE democracy or freedom on a nation, each and every nation in the world, including this one, must EARN it. They EARN it by WANTING it. Our way of life and culture is very different than that of the middle east. We have no right to FORCE our way of life, our culture, and our various religions on that region of the world. Once that basic principle is understand and enforced, there will be far less TERRORISM in the world.

Think about all of that for a while. Education, not war is the answer. Opportunity is increased and poverty is diminished through education, not violence and war. Currently, the United States is the only industrialized nation in the WORLD that is at war. All other wars are being fought in countries with minimal if any industrialization, minimal education, and are poverty stricken. We are one of the most educated, industrialized, and therefore (supposedly) civilized nations in the world, yet we have a recovering alcoholic evangelical President declaring war on a nation that had nothing to do with the worst Terror attack EVER on American soil while the perpetrators of said attack have not been caught.

To use Mr. Uniter's words: you are either for that policy or against it. ,

Liberal Indoctrination

Neck deep in mid-terms, plus my day job is wearing me out.

There’s plenty of news out there to dissect and analyze, but I just don’t have the time at the moment. Will be writing about Islam in the coming days, once I get past the American Literature mid-term, the Statistics test, and the US History mid-term.

We have an excellent assignment for the essay part of US History class:
“Imagine you have been transported back in time to the 1400’s.
Select what culture you would rather be a part of and explain your position. Be sure and compare and contrast the cultures.
Native American Indian, African or European.”

I’m guessing most of the black people in class will choose African and most of the white people will choose European. I’m going with Native American Indian. Mostly because when I’m fishing in the James River, I think about the history of Virginia, and all the people that have walked the banks of this river. I wonder about the Indians as they hunted and fished along this river, as they saw the white man invade their homeland and take their land. I wonder what the Africans thought about the river as they were brought here as slaves, and also wonder how man of them threw themselves in the river to avoid slavery.

Anyhow, once the dust settles a bit, will be taking a look at Islam and the view of this religion from conservatives that I’ve talked to, as well as taking a look at Bush’s declaration of world war against Muslims, and his cronyism pick of Miers.
If anyone had any doubts that Bush lives in a bubble and has a much larger religious agenda, his speech and nomination of Miers, combined with his war in Iraq, should put those doubts to rest and indeed confirm the fact that Bush is a religious fundamentalist that has an extraordinarily clouded view of religion and thinks he is the modern day leader of the Crusades.

Mr. Uniter has polarized an already divided nation.
Now he is dividing the party that supported him into little pieces.
Why?
Logic does not exist in his ‘leadership’.
He is a recovering alcoholic, now drunk on power and religion.

What’s it gonna take people? ,