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If ever there were a reason to limit a President to two terms, George W. Bush is that reason. In case you missed it, Bush 43 is gutting the Endangered Species Act by eliminating the requirement that scientists at two federal agencies review the effects that federal projects have on imperiled plants and animals. Specifically, climate change cannot be a factor for consideration when approving any federal project. Perfect! The parting shot from the most cynical, uncaring, and dismally failed presidency in history, will be to help rid the planet of endangered plants and wild life. Jesus, George! Why don't you just pardon a few of the felons in your own administration and be done with it?
Didn't the White House get the message when the entire Republican party ran screaming away from their titular head? Didn't you notice that book publishers who wouldn't pay five cents for your life story were sending six million to the Governor of Alaska? Ouch! I guess when you're already a pariah it hardly matters what harm you inflict on the way out.
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And on the subject of "The Life and Times of Sarah Palin", could someone please tell me what would compel anyone with an IQ over two digits to put aside "Pride and Prejudice" or "Cold Mountain" to dive into the life of Madam Up-do?
In general, autobiographies of living celebrities have always left me wondering. I mean, whose story is so compelling that it's worth 300 or so pages? Nelson Mandela maybe. Or Katherine Graham. Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx's was the best. Possibly even John McCain, but he's 73 and spent several years in the almost-future-presidential suite at the Hanoi Holiday Inn. Most autobiographies are filled with "why I'm so misunderstood" and "how I overcame adversity to become the person you all love and admire". Boring! Anyone who buys a book supposedly written by Sarah Palin should be denied the right to vote...forever. (Unless the book comes with a $50 gift certificate from Neiman's.)
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Back to George.
President six-guns has just signed an executive order approving the execution of the first soldier
killed by the federal government since 1961. Pvt. Ronald Gray stands convicted of multiple offenses including two murders so we won't be holding any prayer vigils for this creep any time soon. The issue isn't whether Pvt. Gray has worn out his welcome here on earth. George W. Bush has left a trail of corpses from Austin to Washington to Baghdad. He has gotten 4,100 U.S. soldiers and marines killed, suborned the execution of Saddam Hussein and is responsible for every death at Guantanamo. The Bush government has adopted a cavalier attitude regarding the taking of human life that makes a mockery of his stand on abortion. In the world according to George Bush, you're a lot safer as a fetus than a soldier or a Muslim.
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And just in case you thought we missed it, our friends in the Roman Catholic Church are at it again. The Reverend Jay Scott Newman of Columbia, South Carolina (no surprise there) has decreed that Catholics who voted for Barak Obama should not receive communion at the risk of imperiling their immortal souls. In that President-elect Obama (I love writing that) is a supporter of a woman's right to chose, anyone sinful enough to vote for him is in league with the devil.
Oddly enough, no such dire pronouncement was issued to Fatrher Jay's parishioners at St. Mary's in Greenville if they voted for John McCain, who is a proponent of capital punishment. Pope Benedict XVI has condemned state-sponsored executions as nothing more than legalized murder. So why the double standard? Ask Father Newman. He has apparently discerned a pecking order for what killings Catholics can condone and which ones are forbidden. Why was Father Newman silent when his senators and congressmen voted to send soldiers to kill Muslims in an unprovoked war in Iraq?
Still, you have to admire the power of a priest who can look into the hearts of his parishioners and determine who has sinned. My understanding is that such vision is above his pay grade.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
...or is the sun shining a little brighter this morning?
WOW!
This was a big deal. I mean, you expect the Democrats to carry the coasts. You assume that most of New England is blue. But North Carolina? Indiana? Iowa? 46% in Georgia? 45% in South Carolina? Even in McCain's own state, Omaba managed 45%. Democrats are dancing through these numbers barefoot. (Black Americans are probably waiting for the news that some mistake was made and McCain actually won. They won't believe the results even if they get to watch the inauguration from the podium.)
John McCain is a nice man but you can't swim very far with an anvil under each arm. George W. Bush and Sarah Palin stood in contrast to every positive argument that McCain attempted to make. How do you persuade America that you are something different when you look like more of the same? How can you make the case as a sound decision-maker when your decision-making process produces Simple Sarah? (Jesus, have we had enough of her? You can keep the clothes honey, just go home.)
It's interesting that a Presidential election should be so much about vice presidents. If Dick Cheney hadn't been running the country for the last eight years, McCain might have been able to use GWB for something besides a political leper. If John McCain had used something beside a dart board to pick a running mate, he wouldn't have looked so stupid telling everyone how experienced Sarah was. (Hint to future presidential hopefuls: if you have to apologize for your VP choice, you made the wrong choice.) Any positive effect that McCain might have received from choosing a woman was instantly negated by the fact that Sarah Palin was on the wrong side of every woman's issue. McCain might as well have chosen Clarence Thomas hoping for a few black votes.
The Republicans do have a few bright spots in this otherwise dismal picture. They never have to hear about Joe the friggin plumber ever again. They will be able to use a smaller room in the Senate for caucuses. They can bid a fond farewell to both the Bush and Dole families. Mostly, they can stop being embarrassed at the colossal ineptitude of Sarah Palin. Explaining this woman to America was like explaining to your new girlfriend why your crazy uncle Charlie keeps trying to take his pants off over his head at Thanksgiving dinner.
Meanwhile back at the White House, as Democrats, we are sensitive souls and might therefore be tempted to shed a tear for poor lonesome George. Hell, even his movie is a stinker. There he sits on the curb in front of 1600 watching the Obama bandwagon roll past. Well, before you mail that sympathy card to the White House, remember the 4,190 American service men and women that didn't get to vote because George W. Bush sent them to die in a needless war. Remember Donald Rumsfeld who sent insufficiently prepared and insufficiently provisioned troops into Iraq with an unwarranted arrogance and a contempt for any counsel save his own. Remember the Justice Department that was purged of justice by Alberto Gonzales. Remember Gail Norton's systematic attempt to shred every environmental safeguard while at the Department of the Interior. Remember a President who for six of his eight years had both houses of Congress under his party's control and accomplished exactly nothing....unless you count a shattered foreign policy and a crippled economy. George, you can't be gone soon enough. It's a wonder that Canada hasn't annexed America out of sheer pity.
But that was yesterday. Today the birds are singing, all the stoplights are green and even rice cakes taste like fillet. The country has made a bold if scary move away from a dark time. We have come out of hiding. Personally, I haven't felt this good about my country in a long time. I will, however send that sympathy card to the White House. Not to the current resident however, but to the cleaning crew. They still have to figure out a way to get the sulfur smell out of Karl Rove's old office.
This was a big deal. I mean, you expect the Democrats to carry the coasts. You assume that most of New England is blue. But North Carolina? Indiana? Iowa? 46% in Georgia? 45% in South Carolina? Even in McCain's own state, Omaba managed 45%. Democrats are dancing through these numbers barefoot. (Black Americans are probably waiting for the news that some mistake was made and McCain actually won. They won't believe the results even if they get to watch the inauguration from the podium.)
John McCain is a nice man but you can't swim very far with an anvil under each arm. George W. Bush and Sarah Palin stood in contrast to every positive argument that McCain attempted to make. How do you persuade America that you are something different when you look like more of the same? How can you make the case as a sound decision-maker when your decision-making process produces Simple Sarah? (Jesus, have we had enough of her? You can keep the clothes honey, just go home.)
It's interesting that a Presidential election should be so much about vice presidents. If Dick Cheney hadn't been running the country for the last eight years, McCain might have been able to use GWB for something besides a political leper. If John McCain had used something beside a dart board to pick a running mate, he wouldn't have looked so stupid telling everyone how experienced Sarah was. (Hint to future presidential hopefuls: if you have to apologize for your VP choice, you made the wrong choice.) Any positive effect that McCain might have received from choosing a woman was instantly negated by the fact that Sarah Palin was on the wrong side of every woman's issue. McCain might as well have chosen Clarence Thomas hoping for a few black votes.
The Republicans do have a few bright spots in this otherwise dismal picture. They never have to hear about Joe the friggin plumber ever again. They will be able to use a smaller room in the Senate for caucuses. They can bid a fond farewell to both the Bush and Dole families. Mostly, they can stop being embarrassed at the colossal ineptitude of Sarah Palin. Explaining this woman to America was like explaining to your new girlfriend why your crazy uncle Charlie keeps trying to take his pants off over his head at Thanksgiving dinner.
Meanwhile back at the White House, as Democrats, we are sensitive souls and might therefore be tempted to shed a tear for poor lonesome George. Hell, even his movie is a stinker. There he sits on the curb in front of 1600 watching the Obama bandwagon roll past. Well, before you mail that sympathy card to the White House, remember the 4,190 American service men and women that didn't get to vote because George W. Bush sent them to die in a needless war. Remember Donald Rumsfeld who sent insufficiently prepared and insufficiently provisioned troops into Iraq with an unwarranted arrogance and a contempt for any counsel save his own. Remember the Justice Department that was purged of justice by Alberto Gonzales. Remember Gail Norton's systematic attempt to shred every environmental safeguard while at the Department of the Interior. Remember a President who for six of his eight years had both houses of Congress under his party's control and accomplished exactly nothing....unless you count a shattered foreign policy and a crippled economy. George, you can't be gone soon enough. It's a wonder that Canada hasn't annexed America out of sheer pity.
But that was yesterday. Today the birds are singing, all the stoplights are green and even rice cakes taste like fillet. The country has made a bold if scary move away from a dark time. We have come out of hiding. Personally, I haven't felt this good about my country in a long time. I will, however send that sympathy card to the White House. Not to the current resident however, but to the cleaning crew. They still have to figure out a way to get the sulfur smell out of Karl Rove's old office.
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