Copycats and Liars

Crawford Texas is now home to a whole lot of war mongers who don't have anything better to do than rush down there to imitate a grieving mother while they distort her message beyond recognition.

I have to ask myself why so many people would travel so far to stomp on the question of why we went to Iraq and what are we supposed to get out of it.

Why don't the warmongers want that question asked or answered?

On The Chopping Block

It's not just military bases in positions to defend our homeland, and it is not just another go-round with the shell game to remove the Security of our Social Security, it is the honorable dismantling of that socialistic program called Head Start.

Head Start has like a 500% return for the money society spends on it, so George Bush must fix it the way he fixed our surplus, our security and the wars (yes readers, it has been difficult, but this Administration truly looks as if it will be able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Afghanistan).

Librarians, ACLU Gagged

The problem with democracy is that people who believe in it ar so bothersome to their government.

Dear ACLU Action Network Subscriber,

Though we cannot say more because of an FBI gag order, the ACLU recently disclosed the existence of a sealed suit on behalf of a member of the American Library Association challenging the constitutionality of “national security letter” authority, which was expanded by the Patriot Act.

Our client, which maintains records about books borrowed by library patrons and about their Internet usage, was ordered to produce records without any judicial review.

If you think secret searches and the powers of the Patriot Act go too far, take action today! Send your representative a special message asking them to sign onto a "Dear Conferee" letter urging the lawmakers responsible for reconciling the competing bills to protect the gains made in the Senate legislation. The Senate version, though not perfect, puts some sensible judicial oversight on law enforcement’s record searches.

Our client wants to tell the American public about the dangers of allowing the FBI to demand library records without court approval. But the Patriot Act is gagging them from participating in the crucial public debate about the Patriot Act.

If our client could speak, he could explain why Congress needs to reform the Patriot Act to protect our privacy and civil liberties. We’ve gone to Court to get the gag lifted before Congress votes. Right now we need you to tell Congress what our client can’t tell them.

The Senate is moving in the right direction with legislation—agreed to unanimously—that would add some needed reforms. Though not perfect, the gains made in the Senate bill are an improvement over the measure passed by the House of Representatives.

Click here to urge your representative to sign onto a "Dear Conferee" letter urging the lawmakers responsible for reconciling the competing bills to protect the gains made in the Senate legislation. You can also click here to read more about the issue.

Sincerely,

Caroline Fredrickson
Director
ACLU Washington Legislative Office

1875 Dead Iraq War American Soldiers

Never mind those 1875 bodies unless they get one of the honored headstones and their parents are greatful that their child died believing George Bush's lies in spite of the Downing Street Memos, The Duffler Report and the 9-11 Report.

Irrational Bush Hatred

The "Irrational Bush Hatred" theme is out in full force today as if any objection to bankruptcy, torture, war without end, saying one thing while doing another is irrational.

Who amongst us mere mortals can find a single good thing this administration has done for America? Canned slogans and unproven miracles are out of bounds and will not be given credit.

Remember that we aren't angry.

Burns Wants To Double Tax Us

We always say that if you don't like the weather to wait five minutes and it will change. We say that, but we check it anyway. We check the radio, the paper, the T.V., the horizon and the neighbors. We're always checking to see what we should wear, if we can or should plant, harvest, hay, ski, climb or kayak.

We want to know and sometimes our lives and livelihoods depend on it. Good thing we all have access to the National Weather Service that we pay for with our tax dollars.

Oh wait. Conrad Burns and Rick Santorum wrote a letter to the OMB in 2003 demanding that the National Weather Service stop competing with the private sector. I knew and have complained about Rick Santorum's idea that we should subsidize The Weather Channel so they can sell our information back to us--but I had no idea that Conrad Burns wanted the same thing.

It does seeem pretty consistent with his recent performance though; we pay him then he sells his services to the highest bidders.

Dead American Soldiers Daily

Pile four more on today. 1872.

Theoretical Question

How many millions of people must read my online journal and send me tax free money before I can demand the assasination of Pat Robertson?

Just asking.

It's Not Our Place

It's not our place to be offering up solutions to the "catastrophic success" that George Bush has created in Iraq.

If it was the time and the place for Democrats to pull out their notes and their policy suggestions, Bush would have given us a sign.

What kind of sign would he give us to let us know that he is seeking a real partnership to do what is right for America?

It would probably be something really simple and straightforward like allowing us to have full access to records that our tax dollars, our money paid for. Cheney's energy documents, John Roberts' briefs, and a few thousand other things that this Administration has gone to extreme lengths to keep hidden from us and the people we chose to represent us.

This Administration has yet to make a single concillatory gesture in our direction. Until they do, it is better to stand back and ask them how they plan to get us out of this "catastrophic success".

Dead American Soldiers- Iraq Edition

George is on tour to promote his plan, it's called "Stay The Course".

"Stay The Course" has a proven track record with the added bonus of giving these 1868 dead guys and gals lots of company.

Ride around 'em Cowboy!

Diebold's New Charm Offensive For Democrats!

It's delightful! It's delicious! It's delovely! It's a Democrat with paid employment!

With a phone call and a retainer, Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell has launched former Democratic National Committee chairman Joe Andrew on a 50-state ambassadorship for electronic voting.

O'Dell said he ``wanted to reframe some of the issues,'' Andrew said.

That's the winning ticket!

His first stop: California, the nation's largest market for voting machines and the place where Diebold's fortunes as the largest supplier of electronic-voting machines in the nation could be made or broken.

``Even if you have tremendous success every place else,'' said Andrew, ``if you can't sell technology in California, you're in trouble.''

If you can't sell this technology they can't re-elect the Gropenator.

The rest of the voting industry is selling technology here. Millions in federal dollars sit ready for counties to put at least one high-tech, handicapped-accessible voting machine in every polling place by January.

That's a fine reward for the company that delivered Ohio's vote to George W. Bush as promised in 2004!

But in California, Diebold can't sell its touchscreen voting machine, the AccuVote TSx, nor can counties that bought thousands of the machines in 2003 used them in elections.

More than $30 million worth of TSx machines sit in three counties' warehouses, unapproved for actual voting. More than $15 million worth of earlier-generation Diebold touchscreens in Alameda, Los Angeles and Plumas counties cannot be used after January.

That would be a problem for a voting machine company that promises to "deliver the vote", wouldn't it?

Andrew said computer scientists and e-voting activists are standing in the way of a promising technology, an ATM-like voting computer with such a low error rate that more votes count. And that, said Andrew, should work to the benefit of Democrats.

We're loving that more votes count all right- it works real peachy, but the low error spin business is completely unverified at the e-voting companies insistence. Somebody please tell Joe Andrew that he may like getting the shit kicked out of him "for his own good" but the rest of us are sick and tired of it.

[...]

But Andrew isn't traveling the nation to talk about that or even to talk much about Diebold. So why is a ranking Democratic operative who was convinced Republicans ``stole'' the 2000 election working for Diebold and O'Dell, a battlestate fund-raiser for Bush-Cheney 2004?

It is Andrew's message - that paperless electronic voting is good for Democrats - and his connections in Democratic circles.

Sing it Brother Joe!
Drive thru the vote-n-go
Hack it out
Then swallow!

Groupie In Chief

Bush jumpstarted his mojo by biking with a real winner before he starts out on his five day magical mystery Idaho/Utah pro war tour; everything is superterriffic, so good I hate to pause long enough to say so long to 1863 and 1864,

Really, it is ask Lambert who is not angry or hateful about a lot of stuff although Gary is a wee bit cranky about some court approved beatings and injustices that have occurred in Orange County California as well as the unnecessarily heavy handed approach police in Pitsburg took with a couple of protestors.

The NYT printed a thorough story about Peak Oil and Bill Bennet gets the go ahead and the public funding to indoctrinate the young'uns in Philly, but Dick Cheney hasn't started Armageddon yet.

It's really groovy when the leader of the free world acts like a starstruck teenybopper, don't cha think?

The Big Plan

Top officials are crossing their fingers in hopes that Iraq gets a Constitution soon.

Why didn't we think of that?