Care to rephrase?

Buried on page A7, and available here, the Houston Chronicle reported today that President Bush has admitted he knew of meetings approving torture and that he himself approved those methods.

There are a couple of concerns here.

First, Shrub might want to rephrase or (at least) recall his statements that America does not torture.

Second, this is why it is important to read the papers on Saturday and Sunday. Government has long used the tactic of releasing sensitive news on Friday, knowing that most people pay little attention to the news on the weekend.

Sunrise Regulator...

These are from a recent PS contest on Fark. The original was the Yamaha drum machine. I thought of the ad first, then thought it would be cool to show The Sunrise Regulator at work. I first thought of putting it in a "Heavenly Office" with a sign saying, "Attention visitors! Please do not fuck with the Sunrise Machine. Thank you! God", but I never got around to putting it all together. I came across the picture of Coco the gorilla for another contest and kept it because I like the amused look on her face. I'm still playing around with the second image... Email me if you want a larger file.

War on the installment plan...

At the risk of becoming a (liberal) dittohead, here's a link to MoveOn's latest video. This one highlights how we've been told success in Iraq is nigh on top of us, sometime in the next six months... and if not then, the next six months... and if not then, well, soon... maybe after the next evaluation in six months...

Bottom line... Bush will be successful in keeping the Iraq war going as long as he is president. Just when I thought he was incapable of telling the truth...

America has a problem. It's current incarnation is called George Bush.

Delusions of Grandeur...

Yesterday, President Bush declared “One day people will look back at this moment in history and say ‘Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come.’”

While it is certainly true that our soldiers have acted courageously, even against all reason, given the condition of the Middle East for the last 4000 years, it is insanely optimistic to declare that any sort of foundation for generations of peace has been laid.

But unrealistic expectations are what we’ve come to expect from this worst of all possible presidents. The only foundation he has laid has been a foundation of wealth for, as he put it while running for his first term, the “haves and the have-mores.”

While it is true that deaths have declined during his much-vaunted “surge”, it is also true that a lot of the reduction can be attributed to the seven month old cease-fire declared by Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi army. This cease-fire, by the way, is in trouble and may not last much longer.

Fortunately for Bush, he has a fall-back position... after all, by his (and McCain’s) double-sided reasoning it makes no sense to leave Iraq when things are bad, and it makes no sense to leave Iraq when things are “good”.

So when he pops his October surprise, I guess we should sit by complacently and let him declare martial law and suspend the elections, because you know, it makes no sense to change when things are bad...

At the risk of beating a dead horse, again, here is the bottom line on the Bush presidency: America is weaker by military and economic standards, more hated in the world, and no more safe, than when he began his reign of error. The Constitution has been weakened, with the result that Americans are less free and more threatened by their government. The average price of gasoline has gone from around $1.73 to $3.09, and there is no credible push to make alternative energy sources economically viable. The middle class continues to shrink while the “have-mores” wallow in even more. Iraq is, in fact, worse off than under Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi army is nowhere near able to take charge of its own country. One reason given for the decline in Iraqi deaths is that so many millions have left their home country that there is “no one left to kill.” Bush’s actions have given power and legitimacy to Iran, made the Chinese look like good guys in South America, and have left the Middle East even less stable than it has historically been.

Yet, he has the audacity to claim “the foundations for peace for generations to come”.

01/20/01... Never Forget!

Hope for the future...

CNN reports that "most Americans" are confident of a turnaround in 2009. This seems like a no-brainer to me, given that on 1/20/09, no matter what happens in the November elections, 
EVERYBODY wins!

The Audacity of Hypocrisy...

In a news conference last Thursday, Bush had this to say about the soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks.

This from a guy who, along with most of the members of his cabinet, did everything he could do to stay out of Viet Nam. If he feels so strongly about it there is nothing to stop him from suggesting that one or both his daughters enlist in the service.

And of course, Cheney gets off no easier, famously saying he "had other priorities" during Viet Nam.

I hate to make this comparison, I really do. But isn't this just a bit like Osama Bin Laden urging his followers to commit suicide bombings while he hides out in a cave?

It's more and more obvious that Bush's true feelings about service people is a lot like a kid on Christmas morning with a new bag of plastic army men.

And here he had the audacity to flash a peace sign...

"Drug War" news...

Montgomery County DA Michael McDougal has admitted using money from his drug forfeiture account to buy "tequila, rum and kegs" for an annual city and county employees barbecue. Also included in the purchase were beer taps and
 a keg tub.

What do you suppose the chances were of drunk employees hitting the streets during or after said barbecue? Are we to assume McDougal's forfeiture account also paid for taxi rides?

This is yet another example of the hypocrisy of the "War on Drugs", now in its umpteenth year of failure. How can marijuana, for instance, be considered dangerous, 
but it's perfectly hunky-dory to ply county and city employees with tequila and send them out on the roads?

I would love to hear Dean Becker's "Cultural Baggage" show on KPFT bring more 
attention to this...