My Pet Goat's Name is Katrina

"My Pet Goat" is a childrens' book of such monumental interest that our President couldn't put it down long enough to deal with September 11. This week the President couldn't cut short his FIVE WEEK VACATION to deal with the catastrophe that is Katrina, perhaps too engrossed in what is reported to be his current reading list "Salt: A History." (Personally, I think he's still sounding out some of the hard words in "My Pet Goat.")

For three days, people have been sitting on roofs waiting for help. Thousands of people haven't had a meal or a place to sleep. Dead bodies float in floodwaters. No electricity. No phones. No television. No radio. (Water, water, everywhere and none of it to drink.)

Then we are told that only the President can call out the National Guard, what little of it hasn't been "forward deployed" to Iraq but the Governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama can call out their state's National Guard. (See last paragraph re: no electricity, no phones, no television, no radio. How exactly do the Governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama put out the call for their National Guardsmen? Using telepathy?)

Then we are told that the National Guard will have to be called in to protect the city from looters. (God forbid someone walk out of an abandoned Wal-Mart with an ill-gotten water-logged television set that Wal-Mart's gonna file an insurance claim on anyway. And particulary egregious is the theft of diapers, baby formula, and food.)

Now we find 475 buses taking refugees from the Superdome to Houston's Astrodome. At what point did sports stadiums 300 miles away become the best option? (Here's our choices if a tornado wipes out Sioux City- first let's all meet at the Tyson Event Center. From there, let's go to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City where without phones, food, water, flush toilets, and a change of undies we can set about using our recently acquired telepathy skills to contact our insurance agents.)

All the while, the President has time to make yet another speech about what a good job we're doing in Iraq. Time to make speeches about what a byotch Cindy Sheehan is. But only time to detour Air Force One for a half hour aerial view of the Katrina Aftermath. He certainly had time to immediately lift EPA regulatons from the Clean Air Act to facilitate faster gas refining capacity and "loan" oil from the national oil reserve to refineries. (Thousand bucks says we are drilling in ANWAR by Friday.)

I guarantee you that President Clinton would have been there personally handing out water and feeling their pain. But George? What's he focused on? Not our pain at the pump. His friends would like to sell us lots more $5 per gallon gas. Not the pain of the hurricane victims. He's focused on "Salt: A History." (Facts about salt: Never put salt on a wound. If you want to make barren the lands of conquered peoples you are well advised to throw salt on the ground to kill the crops. The Bible says we are to be "the salt of the earth" because salt wasn't a flavoring then, it was fuel. Funny how everything comes down to fuel, huh?)

Sorry, folks. I know I've been AWOL. I took the summer off to recuperate and regain my senses a bit. Now I'm back, and I hope to resume a regular writing schedule of at least one new posting a week.

Well, as the Woodbury County Democrats own website notes, 1442 days after 9/11 Osama Bin Laden is still unaccounted for! Almost four long years ago, a Saudi militant based in Afghanistan launched an inexcusably bloody attack on one of America's most symbolic structures. The resulting national outcry of disbelief and resultant rage quickly led the Bush Administration to begin plotting the invasion of...Iraq?! In the meantime, we largely "outsourced" responsibility for the capture of 9/11's mastermind to Afghanis and the security forces of Pakistan (whose basic sympathies for Bin Laden's militant Islamic enterprise likely got in the way of their effectiveness). Furthermore, the Bush Administration's herculean efforts to link Saddam Hussein with 9/11, as well as its histrionic warnings of Iraq's dangers to humanity, have all since been proven demonstrably false.

Why do I bring up what is already obvious to those of you reading this blog? Because it's still not half so obvious to many individuals beyond our small corner of the Bloggosphere! I found this out all too well on a recent visit home with my largely Republican family. After hearing my fill of regurgitated Rush Limbaugh lunacies, I came to the sudden realization that we, as Democrats, have got to do a much better job of spreading the word! Sure, there have been some good letters to the editor in the "Sioux City Journal" recently, but too often it's the same people writing in. When that's the case, it's too easy for others to dismiss even good ideas as being simply "the partisan complaints of the usual cranks." Yet we have a duty as concerned citizens to try and at least counter the Right Wing echo chamber.

So, how many of us active Democrats are there? How many members of our local Central Committee have written in to express their views recently? It doesn't take much effort to put together a "Mini" for the front page, or a proper "Letter to the Editor". Unsure about your ideas or your writing? Why not run ideas by your friends or family before they go to press? By writing, you might actually make a difference. You might even be surprised by how many people actually read those letters (my last effort elicited two "fan letters," for which I am very grateful). Hopefully, you'll inspire someone else to follow your lead with a letter, or at least a well-chosen comment to friends, of their own.

One last suggestion: We have a growing Reading List posted on the Woodbury County Democrats website. Either choose a book to read from the list, or submit your own brief review of a yet-to-be-listed favorite. It's much more meaningful when the reviews come from the heart, and from the people you know.

Peace!
Historian

"Bullshit Protector" Flaps - Get Yours Today

"Bullshit Protector" flaps are a great way to protect yourself from GOP or punditry bullshit and spin, when spewed by the likes of George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh, or even your local home-grown GOP wingnuts. It was inspired by Bill Moyer, a 73 year old vet, who was seen wearing "Bullshit Protector" flaps over his ears while Bush addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Donelly Idaho.

Click Here to download and cut-out your set today!

Wartime Horrors Just Don't End

CNN.com - War stress blamed for shootings by vets - Aug 22, 2005

Back to School: Is Your Child Opted Out?

Well, it's Back to School time again, and I wonder how many high school students will be encouraged to "become all they can be," by just signing on the dotted line and taking a number in Bush's War on American Families.

What's that, you say? You want to support America but don't want to fight in a war or have to kill people? You're thinking about a career as a youth minister? No problem! We'll just send in the same Army recruiter who recruited Casey Sheehan. You know, the one who "promised" Casey he could be a chaplain's assistant! Now, where's that pen???

Of course, as everyone who's followed Cindy Sheehan's plight in regards to her son knows, that wasn't the way things turned out. When Casey got to boot camp, they told him -- oops, guess that position isn't available after all. Guess we'll have to make you a mechanic instead, and you know where we send our mechanics.

So, on April 4, 2004, the world lost a fine young man'd been prepared to make the world a better place by spreading the truth about God -- you know, the "real" truth -- not the kind Bush spews to hide his real motives for this war. Casey and his mother didn't just talk the talk like Bush, they walked the walk. Before the war, Cindy was a youth minister at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Vacaville. Also before the war, Casey - her first child of four - was an Eagle Scout and the counselor at the Pendola Church youth camp near Grass Valley.

As of August 21, 2005, there have been 2,053 coalition troop deaths in the war in Iraq: 1,861 Americans, 93 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, one Dane, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 26 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians. Faces, names and numbers, and all for....what????

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of unsuspecting students - and parents - who aren't aware that buried deep in the "No Child Left Behind Act" there's a clause stating that high schools receiving federal funding are REQUIRED to turn over student information to local military recruiters (which in turn is submitted to the Pentagon), unless the parents opt out in writing.

And, they're not just collecting names. Many parents and students are unaware that the Pentagon has developed a database of 30 million 16-25-year-old students, which includes the following information about the student:

• their name
• their address
• their e-mail address (slick move; how many 16-25 year-olds let their parents read their e-mail?)
• their cell phone number (another slick move for reasons stated above)
• their ethnicity (oh yeah - we know which students really don't have a lot of options once they leave high school)
• their social security number (wait a sec - if they're only 16, is this legal???)
• their areas of study

This database is updated daily and distributed monthly to the Armed Services for recruitment purposes. To opt your child out, one must submit Opt Out letters by "snail mail" to the School District Superintendent and to the Pentagon. Once they're received, the Pentagon moves the child's information to what they call a "suppression file," though they still "retain" the information. Hmmm. What's "that" all about? So if Bush needs more bodies, he can revoke the opt out option?

By completing the steps on this page, parents can generate letters to both the Pentagon and their child's school that will opt their child out of BOTH local and Pentagon databases. The site has a built-in search to help parents locate the school district superintendent for their child's school, then generates the two opt out letters, ready to be signed and mailed.

Okay, so I'm talking the talk. Have I walked the walk? You bet. I received a letter dated August 8, 2005, from the Sioux City Community School District's Superintendent of Schools, Larry D. Williams, acknowledging receipt of my request and stating that my opt out request is in conformance with [the school's] understanding of Federal statute and my rights as a parent and citizen.

Superintendent Williams also stated, "You make several positive suggestions, which, coupled with information we have received from the attorney for the School Administrators of Iowa, makes sense. I will seek to develop a mechanism whereby families are at least aware of the option that the Federal statute gives them."

He copied the letter to my son's principal and his high school counselor.

Because most high schools turn over their student lists to military recruiters in October, it's imperative we get as many kids as possible "opted out" during the month of September.

If you'd like more information on No Child Left Behind and School Opt-Outs, visit Leave My Child Alone.

For more background information on the Pentagon's illegal database, click here.

Bush is Losing It

"...White House aides ...tell a sordid tale of an administration under siege, beset by bitter staff infighting and led by a man whose mood swings suggest paranoia bordering on schizophrenia.

They describe a President whose public persona masks an angry, obscenity-spouting man who berates staff, unleashes tirades against those who disagree with him and ends meetings in the Oval Office with “get out of here!”

In fact, George W. Bush’s mood swings have become so drastic that White House emails often contain “weather reports” to warn of the President’s demeanor. “Calm seas” means Bush is calm while “tornado alert” is a warning that he is pissed at the world.

Decreasing job approval ratings and increased criticism within his own party drives the President’s paranoia even higher. Bush, in a meeting with senior advisors, called Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist a “god-damned traitor” for opposing him on stem-cell research.

“There’s real concern in the West Wing that the President is losing it,” a high-level aide told me recently."

Click HERE to read the entire story.

Defeated in Iraq

Congratulations, Mr. President. You are well on your way to creating another Iran in Iraq. Democracy? Whoops. That's not going to happen. Instead, we are going to strengthen Iran's hand in Mideast politics by settling for an Islamic rule of Iraq. It makes you wonder what Iranian leaders are thinking. They assist the 9/11 suicide bombers. Iraq does not. Iraq gets invaded. Iran becomes more powerful. Nice job, Mr. Bush.

Excerpt from Washington Post:
"We set out to establish a democracy, but we're slowly realizing we will have some form of Islamic republic," said another U.S. official familiar with policymaking from the beginning, who like some others interviewed would speak candidly only on the condition of anonymity. "That process is being repeated all over."
-----------------------------

Another excerpt:
"We didn't calculate the depths of feeling in both the Kurdish and Shiite communities for a winner-take-all attitude," said Judith S. Yaphe, a former CIA Iraq analyst at the National Defense University.

In the race to meet a sequence of fall deadlines, the process of forging national unity behind the constitution is largely being scrapped, current and former officials involved in the transition said.

"We are definitely cutting corners and lowering our ambitions in democracy building," said Larry Diamond, a Stanford University democracy expert who worked with the U.S. occupation government and wrote the book "Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq."

"Under pressure to get a constitution done, they've lowered their own ambitions in terms of getting a document that is going to be very far-reaching and democratic. We also don't have the time to go through the process we envisioned when we wrote the interim constitution -- to build a democratic culture and consensus through debate over a permanent constitution," he said.
-----------------------------

We are simply going to redefine victory, declare it and get out.

Final excerpt:
Washington now does not expect to fully defeat the insurgency before departing, but instead to diminish it, officials and analysts said. There is also growing talk of turning over security responsibilities to the Iraqi forces even if they are not fully up to original U.S. expectations, in part because they have local legitimacy that U.S. troops often do not.

"We've said we won't leave a day before it's necessary. But necessary is the key word -- necessary for them or for us? When we finally depart, it will probably be for us," a U.S. official said.

World Demand for Oil

Current world demand for oil is about 84 million barrels per day, and current world production capacity is about....84 million barrels per day. As Amy Myers Jaffe points out, OPEC's spare capacity — and thus the world's — has dropped nearly to zero in the past few years. Everyone is pumping full out.

This is why prices are increasing now even though there's been no oil shock. It's not because of a sudden disruption, it's because demand is now bumping up against supply. What's more, this is a permanent condition: new capacity takes years to develop, so even in the best case supply will only barely keep up with future growth in demand. There's not much margin for error.

RollingStone.com: Four Amendments & a Funeral : Politics

Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi spent a month with Vermont's Independant senator Bernie Sanders, tracking the progress of some huge bills thru Congress. It ain't a pretty picture:

Symptoms of a Sociopath

Symptoms of a sociopath: "Glibness/Superficial Charm, Manipulative and Conning, Grandiose Sense of Self, Pathological Lying, Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt, Shallow Emotions, Incapacity for Love, Need for Stimulation, Callousness/Lack of Empathy, Poor Behavioral Control/Impulsive Nature, Early Behavioral Problems/Juvenile Delinquency, Irresponsibility/Unreliability, Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity, Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle, Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility." It is "important to be able to recognize the personality type in order to avoid further abuse." Does this describe someone we all know??? The outstanding traits, glibness, superficial charm, manipulative, conning, grandiose sense of self, pathological lying, lack of remorse, shame or guilt, shallow emotions, callousness, lack of empathy, poor behavioral control, impulsive nature, early behavioral problems, irresponsibility, unreliability, parasitic lifestyle, criminal or entrepreneurial versatility, truly fit like a glove!

Energy Bill

Got to hand it to President Bush, not. He signed a energy bill that will give billions of dollars of tax breaks for homegrown energy production. But this bill also does not get rid of the high gasoline costs, at least not right away. Some Democrats praise this bill, and sure, some of it looks nice on paper but I don't give it very long until it's stuck on the backburner and never looked at again. There is so much left unsettled when it comes to renewable energy, global warming and the like. I guess what happens because of this bill in the future is yet to be seen, but it better be worth it. One thing I do know is the average American citizen doesn't even know what the energy bill is, but they do understand high gas prices. When most see that gas prices are too high, still, after signing this bill they still are fed up. Who can blame them? Americans are sick and tired of paying around $2.30 or more a gallon. Basically, Bush is saying America will have to put up with this for a long time. I just hope citizens don't get the shaft and this bill really does work out, but 9 times out of 10 a bill is signed and kind of ignored or fudged a little to cater to the administrations desires, so who knows. I guess everyone will see later.

~demgem

Bush to Congress: Don't let the door hit you in the *ss

Did anyone *not* see this coming? With Bush appointing Bolton the very first day of the congressional recess, will writers and journalists have a heyday resurrecting every cliche in the book?

"Before their bodies were even cold..."
"While the cat's away..."
"Out of the frying pan..."

Read Sen Harkin's Comments

Manchester Union Leader: Vilsack plans Labor Day visit

Looks like our Governor will be out of the state this Labor Day:

The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News - 01-Aug-05 - Vilsack plans Labor Day visit