Catastrophic Success in Iraq

Just a Bump in the Beltway: Catastrophic Success: "A useful rule about Iraq is that things are never as good as they seem in the up times, nor as bad as they seem in the down times. That said, things do look pretty darn bad right now, and U.S. officials need to ponder whether their strategy for stabilizing the country is really working."

Beliefs

Sometimes I will come across Democrats who say, “There is no way in hell you can be a Christian and a Democrat.” Well, wonder if I say I can. This is such a confusing subject and will be going on forever.
Your beliefs in abortion and gay marriage seem to define if you’re a Christian, and for that matter a Republican or Democrat. If one believes in abortion and gay marriage, by gosh your going to hell. Um, no Democrats are not. Must I dare to remind idiotic Republicans that God loves EVERYONE? No one is any better than the person next to them in God’s eyes.
The Bible does talk about abortion and gay marriage. God knows us before we are created physically. God also says that killing a baby in the womb is the same as committing murder. Yes, God does say taking a baby’s life is murder, but what if the baby that is to be born will not be able to function and will be living a hell on earth. God wants all his children to live for him and do God’s will. That child won’t be able to do that. Republicans might say, “The Child is on earth for a purpose, ill or not. The baby would be a purpose if born obviously, but what if the plan all along was for this to happen to help the mother grow in a way. That’s something no one knows. We must remember that deciding to abort a baby by the typical mom is torment for her. No one that has not had an abortion knows what it is like to have one. Sure, it may be easier for the person watching to say, “Hey, keep the baby; it’s the right thing to do.” The mom aborting the baby could have tons of issues to evaluate. Every situation is different. Ok, if aborting the baby is a sin, then mom is going to hell, right? That’s what the hard core Republican may say. God says that he forgives the sins of those who ask for his forgiveness. The mom aborting the baby may have committed a sin, but if the mom talks to God, explains everything to Him, apologizes, and asks for forgiveness (if it is a sin) than God WILL forgive her. He holds no grudges.
Just as abortion causes conflict between the parties, so too does gay marriage. Marrying the same sex is wrong, right? Wrong. If God didn’t want gay marriage, no one would have had the thoughts in his or her minds to marry the same sex. So, maybe God has a reason for gay marriage, too. I don’t know. The Bible does say that marrying the same sex is an attack on His institution of marriage, and He made marriage for a man and a woman. Maybe that’s how the Lord intended it, but it didn’t really work out that way. God also says in the Bible that people should not sport tattoos or trim beards. Gee, there are a lot of people who do those things NOW. Maybe homosexuality was wrong for THAT time. What’s funny is for those Christian Republicans who are such great Christians they certainly don’t follow one of Jesus’s rules: Love your neighbor. Hmm, guess Republicans sinned there when they put down gays and lesbians.
Republicans don’t dare tell Democrats what they believe, no matter what the issue, is wrong. Republicans believe what they want and Democrats believe what they believe. Republicans don’t force your beliefs on Democrats. That’s the beauty of the US, people can believe what they want. The Bible is an extremely old book. There is so much information in it. Unfortunately, there is no one alive from Bible times to help us understand every situation. We have those who study the Bible, but still they weren’t there. The Bible can be interpreted in many ways, but the FACT remains that God loves not just Republicans but Jackasses, too.

~demgem

Economic Woes

Is your salary stagnant? Are you losing ground each year? You're not alone.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, overall wage growth, when you include inflation, for the past four years was:

2000 .46 percent
2001 .42 percent
2002 1.52 percent
2003 -.59 percent
2004 -.31 percent

And that doesn't take into account increased health insurance and gas prices. Meanwhile, corporate profits have increased almost every quarter since 2001.

One more note to further uplift your spirit. The only three sectors to increase jobs since 2000 are government employees, health care and social assistance and food service/drinking places. No doubt these sobering stats will only fuel demand at drinking places. That should boost my chance of getting a part-time job to help pay my bills.

Cheers.

Blog for Iowa’s Lead Balloon Award Goes to . . . MidAmerican!

"The MidAmerican plants in Sergeant Bluff, Council Bluffs, Muscatine and Salix each, individually, rank in the top ten percent of dirtiest/worst pollution-generating facilities in the ENTIRE United States."

Click link below for complete text:

Blog for Iowa :: Blog for Iowa’s Lead Balloon Award Goes to . . . MidAmerican!

Supreme Court Nominee

Supreme Court Update

“Justice O'Connor has been an inspirational figure to Americans, and any nominee would be hard pressed to fill her shoes. The Senate confirmation process is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, and we are confident that it will allow a careful public review of Judge Roberts’s record to guarantee that he respects the rights and freedoms of all Americans as Justice O’Connor did.” Mike Milligan, IDP

Questions and Answers about the Supreme Court Nomination

Last night, President Bush announced the nomination of John Roberts. Democrats look forward to conducting a careful and thorough examination of Judge Roberts’s record.

The President has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of the inquiry.

The Senate must review Judge Roberts’s record to determine if he has demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality, and fairness. The standards for a nominee are clear. Will this nominee:

Protect the individual rights and freedoms of Americans?
Judge cases fairly, with an open mind, and without a political agenda?
Protect all Americans and not side with powerful special interests?
Meet the highest ethical standards?
Be free from conflicts of interest?
Unite or divide Americans?
Be committed to the independence of the court, not an ideological agenda?

Justice O’Connor has been an inspirational figure to Americans. The Senate will carefully review Roberts’s record to guarantee that he respects the rights and freedoms of all Americans as she did.

The next Supreme Court Justice will make decisions affecting the lives of all Americans. It is important that the decision whether to confirm a nominee be made with the best information possible.

We must not rush to judgment. The Judiciary Committee must be allowed to do its work, and that includes an in-depth review of the nominee and hearings to allow for questions and answers.

Justices are appointed for a lifetime. There is a process in place to evaluate a nominee’s credentials and qualifications. That process must be allowed to occur.

As recent examples, such as the nomination of Bernard Kerik, have shown, it is important that we not rush to a decision before fully examining the facts.

It is the Senate’s Constitutional duty to carefully consider nominees. Many justices serve for ten, twenty or more years and will have an enormous impact on the laws of our country. For a nomination decision, it is important to do it right, not to do it quickly.

Hearings are central to the nomination process. It is important not to prejudge a nominee before all the facts are in.

From Ames: View the Implosion of Knapp and Storms Halls

Thanks to the Des Moines Register - Click Here

Blog for Iowa :: The Top 10 Polluted Counties in Iowa (and the Companies That Make Them That Way)

Looks like 2 Western Iowa counties (Woodbury and Pottawatame) have made the list. What can we do as citizens, consumers, and in some cases, employees of these companies -- what can we do to work with the companies to clean things up for all of us? It can't be all penalties - there must also be positive reward for everyone.

If you read the story, you will see a link to a "scorecard" that gives much more detailed information. GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS: The current scorecard is pretty bad, and some particular pollutants have gone up dramatically since the late 1980's. The good news is that some of the biggest polluting agents have gone DOWN quite a bit in that same period.

Click Here to Read Entire Story

Nixon and Bush: Presidential Parallels?

Click Below:
Nixon and Bush: Presidential Parallels? | AfterDowningStreet.org

American Torture Report - It's Worse Than You Think

Read Andrew Sullivan's excellent recap of the "Schmidt Report" on the treatment of prisoners at Gitmo and Abu Gharaib

My Country

A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt.... If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake. --Thomas Jefferson (letter to John Taylor of Philadelphia, June 4, 1798, after passage of the Alien and Sedition Act)

The Big Lies About Valerie Plame, by a Fellow CIA Agent

TPMCafe || Politics, Ideas & Lots Of Caffeine: "The Big Lie About Valerie Plame

By Larry Johnson

From: TPMCafe Special Guests
The misinformation being spread in the media about the Plame affair is alarming and damaging to the longterm security interests of the United States. Republicans' talking points are trying to savage Joe Wilson and, by implication, his wife, Valerie Plame as liars. That is the truly big lie.

For starters, Valerie Plame was an undercover operations officer until outed in the press by Robert Novak. Novak's column was not an isolated attack. It was in fact part of a coordinated, orchestrated smear that we now know includes at least Karl Rove.

Valerie Plame was a classmate of mine from the day she started with the CIA. I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985. All of my classmates were undercover--in other words, we told our family and friends that we were working for other overt U.S. Government agencies. We had official cover. That means we had a black passport--i.e., a diplomatic passport. If we were caught overseas engaged in espionage activity the black passport was a get out of jail free card.

A few of my classmates, and Valerie was one of these, became a non-official cover officer. That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport. If caught in that status she would have been executed.

The lies by people like Victoria Toensing, Representative Peter King, and P. J. O'Rourke insist that Valerie was nothing, just a desk jockey. Yet, until Robert Novak betrayed her she was still undercover and the company that was her front was still a secret to the world. When Novak outed Valerie he also compromised her company and every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company and with her.

The Republicans now want to hide behind the legalism that "no laws were broken". I don't know if a man made law was broken but an ethical and moral code was breached. For the first time a group of partisan political operatives publically identified a CIA NOC. They have set a precendent that the next group of political hacks may feel free to violate.

They try to hide behind the specious claim that Joe Wilson "lied". Although Joe did not lie let's follow that reasoning to the logical conclusion. Let's use the same standard for the Bush Administration. Here are the facts. Bush's lies have resulted in the deaths of almost 1800 American soldiers and the mutilation of 12,000. Joe Wilson has not killed anyone. He tried to prevent the needless death of Americans and the loss of American prestige in the world.

But don't take my word for it, read the biased Senate intelligence committee report. Even though it was slanted to try to portray Joe in the worst possible light this fact emerges on page 52 of the report: According to the US Ambassador to Niger (who was commenting on Joe's visit in February 2002), "Ambassador Wilson reached the same conclusion that the Embassy has reached that it was highly unlikely that anything between Iraq and Niger was going on." Joe's findings were consistent with those of the Deputy Commander of the European Command, Major General Fulford.

The Republicans insist on the lie that Val got her husband the job. She did not. She was not a division director, instead she was the equivalent of an Army major. Yes it is true she recommended her husband to do the job that needed to be done but the decision to send Joe Wilson on this mission was made by her bosses.

At the end of the day, Joe Wilson was right. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was the Bush Administration that pushed that lie and because of that lie Americans are dying. Shame on those who continue to slander Joe Wilson while giving Bush and his pack of liars a pass. That's the true outrage.
"

Taking Sides

For those that could care less about politics they would say that a democrat should side with a democrat and a republican with a republican. However, those that know a little about politics know that isn't always the case. People seem to get irate when politicians side with the opposite party. For example, recently, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) stated where he stands on the issue of social security. To put it straight, he sides with President Bush. No matter what Bush's plan is concerning social security he'll likely go with it. He was the only Senate Democrat that didn't sign a letter to President Bush saying that Bush's Social Security plan would increase national debt. What's odd is that he votes strongly conservative. Now, I have no clue why he chooses to do such things like these but I can theorize. Maybe he has a strong commitment to solving the social security dilemma and he is teaming up with Bush because he believes in it. There is also the power issue. Everyone wants power in the political arena, and if he wants power he sides with the powerful. One way to get power is by garnering votes from the other side, and if he wants to get higher up, he needs all the votes he can get. Remember he was Govenor of Nebraska before becoming a Senator, it wasn't all democrat votes that got him there. Also, Nebraska is a Red state, Nelson can't afford to lose Red votes; they are the majority, so maybe he does have to side with Bush on Social Security to keep the red a likeing. What I'm trying to get at is people who blow up at politicians for certain reasons need to take a step back and think. Yes, Nelson is a Democrat, but in order to stay in power and help his party and his democrat constituents it sometimes takes votes from the other party. Sometimes politicians don't do what they want to do, but know they have to because they need it in the end. In spite of all this, I believe Senator Nelson will be for the best plan possible. He said that he can't be for or against a plan that doesn't exist. He also wants the plan to deal with insolvency first. So, if Bush's plan plain out sucks and doesn't deal with insolvency Democrats don't need to worry about him joining the Red, Nelson will go with the democrats, or so he says.

~demgem

Iowa's Record on Female Candidates

The Des Moines Register has a great article today - written by Mike Glover - on Iowa being such a hotbed for politics, yet hostile terrain for female candidates. What kind of "progressive" message are we sending when Iowa is just one of two states never to have elected a woman governor or send a women to Congress? (Mississippi is the other state.)

Dianne Bystrom - the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for the Study of Women in Politics at Iowa State University - points to surveys that she says show "older women tend to be less supportive of other women than younger women," and that's a tough fact to ignore, considering Iowa's predominat senior population.

Former Bettendorf mayor Ann Hutchinson cites barriers in attitudes, and asks, "Why is it that women don't want other women to succeed?"

This is a question we need to address. With Hillary considered a front-runner for the party's nomination in '08 and Iowa holding the nation's first caucus, what message will Iowa send other states looking to us for guidance and attitudes toward leadership?

As we forge our way through this next election cycle, we must ask some tough questions and take a hard and realistic look at the answers:

-- Who - and what - is holding us back?
-- How do we go about pushing through that roadblock?
-- What specific issues do we need to address with our state's graying population?
-- What concerted efforts can we take?
-- At what level do we begin, and how do we expand from there?

I still remember the quote used when I first learned to type, and never has it seemed more appropriate, with one minor change, of course:

"Now is the time for all good men [and women] to come to the aid of their party."

Top Ten George W. Bush Observations About Europe:

10. Europeans speak worse English than I do

9. That Eiffel Tower would make one mother of an oil well

8. Austria looks nothing like it looked on 'Survivor'

7. The time difference screws up your nap schedule

6. British beef not only tasty, it gave me a buzz I haven't felt since college

5. The Polish people tell some great 'Bush is dumb' jokes

4. In France, you don't have to say, 'French fries,' you can just say 'fries'

3. Due to the metric system, my ten-gallon hat is a whopping 37.84 liters

2. The Irish drive on the left side of the road, like I used to

1. One of these countries is where my dad urped on the king

Late Show with David Letterman

From "Informed Comment"

Informed Comment: "Rove Unfit for Public Office

Rove Unfit for Public Office

Whether the courts can and will punish Karl Rove for telling Time Magazine's Matthew Cooper that Joe Wilson's wife was a CIA operative should be beside the point. That's for the courts to decide.

The real question is whether we want a person to occupy a high office in the White House when that person has cynically endangered US national security to take a petty sort of revenge on a whistleblower.

Ambassador Joe Wilson, who once dared Saddam to hang him while wearing a rope around his neck while acting ambassador in Baghdad in fall of 1990, was the first to let the American people know that the Bush administration lied about Iraq's alleged attempt to purchase uranium yellowcake from Niger. Wilson went to that country, investigated the structure of the uranium industry (which is mainly in French hands anyway), and concluded it was impossible. Bush and Cheney had believed a set of forged documents manufactured by a former employee of Italian military intelligence. (In the US, the only major public intellectual with close ties to Italian military intelligence is pro-war gadfly Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute).

In revenge, Rove tried to discredit Wilson and perhaps also punish him and his family. The purpose of such punishment is always to bully and terrorize other employees, as well as to shut up the whistleblower. Since the Bush administration has done so many illegal things, if Washington insiders started blowing the whistle, there could be a hundred Watergates. Rove let everyone in Washington know that he would destroy anyone who dared step forward. The White House also dealt with former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil when he blew the whistle on the Bush planning for and Iraq War in January of 2001 (look at the date). They threatened O'Neill with jail time for revealing classified information, even though O'Neill had never been given any. He subsequently fell quiet. It is also said that the Bushies tried to prevent Anthony Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general, from getting any consulting gigs in Washington because he opposed the Iraq war.

But Rove's revenge on Wilson was the ultimate. Plame was undercover as an employee of a phony energy company. She was actually investigating illegal proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. When Rove blew her cover to the US press, everyone who had ever been seen with her in Africa or Asia was put in extreme danger. It is said that some of her contacts may have been killed. Imagine the setback to the US struggle against weapons of mass destruction proliferation that this represents. Rove marched us off to Iraq, where there weren't any. But he disrupted a major effort by the CIA to fight WMD that really did exist.

Moreover, the whole thing only makes sense if Rove is a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist to begin with. Why would it matter that Valerie Plame suggested to the CIA that they send her husband Joe Wilson to Niger? Wilson had excellent credentials for the mission, which the CIA immediately recognized.

Rove can only have thought it would discredit Wilson to associate his missiion with the CIA if he viewed the CIA as the enemy. This is the Richard Perle line. If Wilson was sent to Niger on the recommendation of a CIA operative, then he was not an objective ex-ambassador but a CIA plant of some sort, attempting to undermine the Bush administration and the military occupation of Iraq.

This theory is that of a crackpot. The actions are those of a traitor. What is the difference between Robert Hansen revealing key secret information for money to the Soviets and Karl Rove revealing it to the proliferators for political gain for the Republican Party and the Bush White House? Both are traitors who traded secrets for gain.

A man who would do what Rove did should not be in the White House in any capacity. And no person who tolerates a man like Rove in the White House should be commander in chief of American security.

A look in the mirror for America - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Op-ed - News

"... In a greater context, there is a tragic hollowness. The world, of course, shares the sympathies of Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York, who said the London bombings were a ''despicable, cowardly act." Yet every invoking of the innocents also reminds us of our despicable, cowardly killing of innocent Iraqi civilians..."


A look in the mirror for America - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Op-ed - News

MyDD :: Fox On London Attacks

It's Fox Gone Wild! Click Link below:

MyDD :: Fox On London Attacks: "Fox On London Attacks"

President's Job To Be Outsourced

The following has just come to my attention; thought you'd want to know.

For Immediate Release---July 4, 2005
Subject: Outsourcing Reaches Top Levels

The House of Representatives today announced that the office of President of the United States of America will be outsourced overseas as of July 31st.
The move is being made to save not only a significant portion of the President's $400K yearly salary, but also a record $521 billion in deficit expenditures and related overhead.
"We believe this is a wise move financially. The cost savings will be significant," stated Congressman Thomas Reynolds (R-Wash.), a member of the Budget Committee. Reynolds, with the aid of the Government Accountability Office, has studied outsourcing of American jobs extensively. "We cannot expect to remain competitive on the world stage with the current level of cash outlay," Reynolds noted.
“We do not believe there will be any reduction in performance as a result of the outsourcing,” Reynolds said.
Mr. Bush was informed by e-mail this morning of his termination. His older daughter read and printed off the important e-mail for him. Preparations for the job change have been underway for some time.

INDIAN NEXT PRESIDENT
Sanji Gurvinder Singh of Indus Teleservices, Mumbai, India, was chosen to be his successor by the Electoral College in secret balloting and will be assuming the office of President as of noon July 31. Mr. Singh was born in the United States while his Indian parents were vacationing at Niagara Falls, thus making him eligible for the position.
Mr. Singh is a graduate of Mother Teresa Junior College with a major in public communication. His strong communications skills were cited as a reason for his hiring. “He already knows how to pronounce ‘nuclear’ correctly,” Rep. Reynolds said.
Singh will receive a salary of $320 (USD) a month but with no health coverage or other benefits. It is believed that Mr. Singh will be able to handle his job responsibilities with only a small support staff. Due to the time difference between the US and India, he will be working primarily at night, when few offices of the US Government will be open.
"Working nights will allow me to keep my day job at the American Express New Dehli call center," stated Mr. Singh in an exclusive CQ interview. "I am excited about this position. I always hoped I would be President someday."

SCRIPT TREE BEARS FRUIT
An anonymous spokesperson for the House of Representatives noted that while Mr. Singh may not be fully aware of all the issues involved in the office of President, this should not be a problem. Mr. Singh will rely upon a script tree that will enable him “to respond effectively to most topics of concern without having to understand the underlying issues at all.”
"We know these scripting tools work," stated the spokesperson. "Mr. Bush has used them for years."
Mr. Bush will receive health coverage, expenses, and salary until his final day of employment. Following a two-week waiting period, he will be eligible for $240 dollars a week unemployment for 13 weeks, unless he obtains a job or his benefits are extended by the Republican-controlled Congress, but that is unlikely, considering the size of the current national indebtedness, the independent Cook Report reports.
Mr. Bush will not be eligible for Medicaid, as his unemployment benefits will exceed the allowed limit. He will be provided the outplacement services of Manpower Inc. to help him write a résumé and prepare for his upcoming job transition. According to Manpower, Mr. Bush may have difficulties in securing a new position due to "limited practical or successful work experience."

LT. BUSH TO IRAQ?
One possibility is re-enlistment in the Air National Guard. Should Mr. Bush choose this option, he would likely be stationed in Iraq, a country he has visited.
"I've been there! I know all about Iraq," stated Mr. Bush, who gained invaluable knowledge of the country in a visit to the Baghdad Airport.
Sources in Baghdad and Fallujah say Mr. Bush likely would receive a very warm reception from local Iraqis. They have asked to be provided with details of his arrival so that they might arrange an appropriate welcome.

Political Wire: Democrats Must Define Themselves

Political Wire: Democrats Must Define Themselves:

Though polls show Americans "are ready for change," the latest Democracy Corps memo from James Carville and Stan Greenberg says Democrats are "at risk of making only modest gains in 2006. The Democrats’ gains in the congressional battle have come more from Republican slippage than Democratic gains and, alarmingly, the president’s deep troubles have produced no rise in positive sentiment about the Democrats."

"The Democrats can achieve major gains, however, if the party moves decisively to a new stage of engagement. They must poise sharp choices -- ones that define the Democrats, not just the Republicans and ones that, in every battle, make the Democrats the instrument for reforming and changing Washington."