Bush makes Iraq the vital reason for his impeachment and removal
George W. Bush has clarified the most vital reason why he must be impeached and removed from office as soon as possible: the slaughter in Iraq, and his clear statement that it will not end while he is in the White House.
Bush has made his departure the light at the end of the tunnel.
If he stays, more killing is inevitable. If he goes, a quicker end to the war is not certain, but it is more likely. Nobody expects Dick Cheney to pull out of Iraq if he succeeds Bush. But a successful impeachment and removal will reshape all American politics, and open up the possibilities.
Bush's escalating unpopularity has moved impeachment talk out of the margins, toward the mainstream. Increasingly worried GOP hacks portray it as an attack on Bush's ability to protect the country, and on our soldiers.
But polls now show a majority of US troops in Iraq say the war should end in 2006, not 2009. More than 80% of the Iraqi people want the US out now.
By pledging to prolong the slaughter, Bush endangers both our troops and our national security.
Bush has made his departure the light at the end of the tunnel.
If he stays, more killing is inevitable. If he goes, a quicker end to the war is not certain, but it is more likely. Nobody expects Dick Cheney to pull out of Iraq if he succeeds Bush. But a successful impeachment and removal will reshape all American politics, and open up the possibilities.
Bush's escalating unpopularity has moved impeachment talk out of the margins, toward the mainstream. Increasingly worried GOP hacks portray it as an attack on Bush's ability to protect the country, and on our soldiers.
But polls now show a majority of US troops in Iraq say the war should end in 2006, not 2009. More than 80% of the Iraqi people want the US out now.
By pledging to prolong the slaughter, Bush endangers both our troops and our national security.
Tell your Senators to Defend the Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act is one of America’s most important and effective environmental laws. Large-scale developers and other powerful industry players are using their money and influence to try to undermine the act. Last September, the House of Representatives passed a destructive bill (H.R. 3824) that would severely weaken protections for imperiled wildlife. Now, the fight over the fate of this law is moving to the Senate. Urge your senators to vote NO on any legislation that would weaken the Endangered Species Act.
March 24, 2006
Your U.S. senators
I strongly support the Endangered Species Act and urge you to vote NO on any legislation that would weaken this landmark law.
The Endangered Species Act has provided a crucial safety net for wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction for more than three decades. The act has helped prevent the extinction of almost every listed species, including the bald eagle, the gray wolf, the grizzly bear and the Pacific salmon. Ninety-eight percent of the species protected under the act still exist today, and many are stable or improving.
March 24, 2006
Your U.S. senators
I strongly support the Endangered Species Act and urge you to vote NO on any legislation that would weaken this landmark law.
The Endangered Species Act has provided a crucial safety net for wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction for more than three decades. The act has helped prevent the extinction of almost every listed species, including the bald eagle, the gray wolf, the grizzly bear and the Pacific salmon. Ninety-eight percent of the species protected under the act still exist today, and many are stable or improving.
Just a Thought
Hey Folks,
Just a thought bubbling around in the Uke Man’s head.
A few days ago Bryan Flannery, a little-known candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, came out with unsubstantiated charges about the front-runner, Ted Strickland, supposedly having once hired a pedophile to work in his office. Flannery also wanted to know why Strickland had “gone to Rome with that man.”
The charges were quickly rebutted by Strickland who claimed that similar charges had been made long ago by an opponent in a very heated campaign, that the aide had denied any such orientation, and that no one had brought any evidence forward.
After Flannery’s big, one day splash, those charges are not being heard – I can’t even find them on the net.
OK, but what happens next?
Hot on the heels of this mud, Bill O’Reilly, Joe Scarborough, and other national, right-wing, talking-point flunkies “discover” the evil Judge Conner and call for his impeachment because he is soft on . . .
Yep!! PEDOPHILES!!!!!!!
OK, but what happens next?
Just a thought bubbling around in the Uke Man’s head.
A few days ago Bryan Flannery, a little-known candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, came out with unsubstantiated charges about the front-runner, Ted Strickland, supposedly having once hired a pedophile to work in his office. Flannery also wanted to know why Strickland had “gone to Rome with that man.”
The charges were quickly rebutted by Strickland who claimed that similar charges had been made long ago by an opponent in a very heated campaign, that the aide had denied any such orientation, and that no one had brought any evidence forward.
After Flannery’s big, one day splash, those charges are not being heard – I can’t even find them on the net.
OK, but what happens next?
Hot on the heels of this mud, Bill O’Reilly, Joe Scarborough, and other national, right-wing, talking-point flunkies “discover” the evil Judge Conner and call for his impeachment because he is soft on . . .
Yep!! PEDOPHILES!!!!!!!
OK, but what happens next?
House leader not home when peace knocks
Washington D.C. — By a vote of 348-71, the U.S. House of Representatives voted March 16 to spend 67,000,000,000 dollars more for open-ended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the fact that a growing majority of the people they represent believe the war is wrong.
In an eleventh hour effort on March 15 to appeal to the conscience of the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, six peace activists took their case to his office on Capitol Hill where they read the names of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed in the war, and negotiated with Hastert’s staff for a meeting with the Illinois congressman.
The six were part of a 34 day campaign named “The Winter of Our Discontent” organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence (Voices). The campaign includes 34 days of fasting, civil disobedience, Capitol Hill vigils and lobbying, to demand the U.S. end the occpuation and its economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people.
Welcome, Please Come In
In an eleventh hour effort on March 15 to appeal to the conscience of the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, six peace activists took their case to his office on Capitol Hill where they read the names of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed in the war, and negotiated with Hastert’s staff for a meeting with the Illinois congressman.
The six were part of a 34 day campaign named “The Winter of Our Discontent” organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence (Voices). The campaign includes 34 days of fasting, civil disobedience, Capitol Hill vigils and lobbying, to demand the U.S. end the occpuation and its economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people.
Welcome, Please Come In
The definition of insanity
"We have a responsibility to promote human freedom. Yet freedom cannot be imposed; it must be chosen."
The more I ponder these words, the deeper my confusion grows - at the consciousness that confabulated them, at the futility of any possible response. And so the war enters its fourth year, impervious to its own unpopularity, disabling critics with the irony it generates.
In the context of what can only be called worldwide despair, the Bush administration has issued a National Security Strategy white paper oblivious to the extent that it fits the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results each time.
The report's assemblers proudly announce to the nation that they have learned nothing, hoisting one more time the flag of pre-emption, as though no one will notice how tattered and blood-stained it is: ". . . we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack."
The more I ponder these words, the deeper my confusion grows - at the consciousness that confabulated them, at the futility of any possible response. And so the war enters its fourth year, impervious to its own unpopularity, disabling critics with the irony it generates.
In the context of what can only be called worldwide despair, the Bush administration has issued a National Security Strategy white paper oblivious to the extent that it fits the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results each time.
The report's assemblers proudly announce to the nation that they have learned nothing, hoisting one more time the flag of pre-emption, as though no one will notice how tattered and blood-stained it is: ". . . we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack."
Newspaper suicide
AUSTIN, Texas -- I don't so much mind that newspapers are dying -- it's watching them commit suicide that pisses me off.
Let's use this as a handy exercise in journalism. What is the unexamined assumption here? That the newspaper business is dying. Is it? In 2005, publicly traded U.S. newspaper publishers reported operating profit margins of 19.2 percent, down from 21 percent in 2004, according to The Wall Street Journal. That ain't chopped liver -- it's more than double the average operating profit margin of the Fortune 500.
Let's use this as a handy exercise in journalism. What is the unexamined assumption here? That the newspaper business is dying. Is it? In 2005, publicly traded U.S. newspaper publishers reported operating profit margins of 19.2 percent, down from 21 percent in 2004, according to The Wall Street Journal. That ain't chopped liver -- it's more than double the average operating profit margin of the Fortune 500.
Americans call Bush "Incompetent, Idiot, Liar"
America has spoken, and for George W. Bush, it's not pretty. Asked to use one-word answers to describe how they felt about the president, an astounding 48%--virtually half the country--said "incompetent," "idiot," and "liar." The Pew Research Center survey released this week shows a stark contrast to how Americans answered the same question three years ago, when positive one-word descriptions of Bush, such as "honest" and "integrity," far outnumbered negative ones. In the current poll, only 28% used positive words. And previously used superlatives like "excellent" or "great" were virtually non-existent.
The survey casts Bush's overall approval rating at a pathetic 33%. With a few more dead soldiers and a civil war in Iraq, combined with a couple of more political blunders like Harriet Miers, the ports deal and illegal NSA wiretappings, the president just might find himself facing single digits in the not-too-distant future.
Other highlights of the survey include:
-Only 42% now approve of Bush's job in handling terrorist threats, an 11-point drop since February.
-Only 73% of Republicans approve of Bush, down from 89% in January 2005.
The survey casts Bush's overall approval rating at a pathetic 33%. With a few more dead soldiers and a civil war in Iraq, combined with a couple of more political blunders like Harriet Miers, the ports deal and illegal NSA wiretappings, the president just might find himself facing single digits in the not-too-distant future.
Other highlights of the survey include:
-Only 42% now approve of Bush's job in handling terrorist threats, an 11-point drop since February.
-Only 73% of Republicans approve of Bush, down from 89% in January 2005.
On the executive branch and war powers, continued
It is my purpose here to continue our examination of the Executive Branch in relation to the powers of war. I expect to raise a few reasonable doubts about the premises and consequences of currently prevailing war-powers doctrines, which are all too common amongst us as of late. Perhaps, in the end, the ideological structures of absolute power in the Executive, with full presidential sovereignty and endless war powers, are sound. Maybe we should all become believers in this new way of administering a free government. I think, however, on the evidence to be reviewed, that we shall wish to return, at minimum, to the expressly-stated powers of the Constitution; those delegating to the Executive the power to wage war, and to the Legislature, the power to declare war.
True to its history, FBI is still violating civil liberties
According to a report released last week by the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) violated procedures for wiretapping and other methods of obtaining intelligence more than 100 times in the last two years. The department’s inspector general regarded some of the violations as “significant,” including wiretaps that were broader than what a court had approved, and wiretaps that were allowed to go on for weeks, even months, longer than had been authorized. Given the bureau’s history, this shouldn’t be surprising. The F.B.I. was created for partisan political purposes, and has blatantly violated civil liberties since its inception.