Month: February 2006
Bush’s Fear-Mongering Comes Home to Roost on Ports Deal
Be afraid: Over the past five years and five months, President Bush and the Republican Party have become experts at using fear of Islamic terrorists to manipulate the public will. Simply by muttering code words like “9/11” and “dirty bomb,” He and his grim-faced marauders have tilted elections in their favor, trashed the Constitution, handed our resources over to their corporate betters and plundered an oil rich nation — all with the blind obedience of millions of American sheepul.
The Republican base is as unhappy about the ports sale as it was when the president nominated his secretary to the Supreme Court.
After spending years convincing the populace that Muslims are terrorists, Republicans are experiencing blowback, perhaps for the first time. Their plan to allow the sale of major East Coast ports by the current owners, a British company, to Thunder FZE, a subsidiary of Dubai Ports World in the United Arab Emertis may be scuttled because the citizenry — especially Republicans — are afraid of the ports’ new owners are terrorist sympathizers.
Whether or not the sale of the ports to a conglomerate owned by the Arab royals would impact our national security, the issue has become another major public relations snafu for Team Bush, who seem to be bungling something new just about every week.
Bush’s poll numbers have been bumping around 39 percent for several months, and this weakness has emboldened Republican politicians to come out against the sale. Just to name a few, Gov. George Pataki of New York, Gov. Bob Erlich of Maryland, former homeland security czar Tom Ridge have gone on record opposing the deal, as have GOP members of congress who have been getting hot calls from their Red state constituents: “Why is the preznint selling our ports to Ay-rabs?!”
Judging by the response from rank and file Republicans calling in on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, I would say the base is as unhappy now as it was when the president nominated his secretary to the Supreme Court. This issue, along with their concerns about Dead-Eye Dick, may erode the president’s approval rating even more, inching him down into Nixon territory.
But let’s savor the moment. President Bush and the GOP spent five years successfully packaging Islam as a 1.5 billion member terrorist organization, and now their terrified chickens are coming home to roost.
Grandmas Who Say “Take Me to Iraq Instead” Turned Over to Police
How bad is it when the military files a police report on a group of grandmas trying to show support for the troops?
A couple of hours after the women were denied and left the building, Sgt. Casey Luedke, recruiter for the Air Force, called the Sheriff’s Office
My 81-year-old friend Renee was among the six grandmothers, members of a Florida activist group, who staged the world’s most peaceful demonstration on Valentine’s Day. They simply asked military recruiters to take them to fight instead of young people.
“This is not a demonstration against war,” said Peg McIntire, 95. “This is a gesture of love.”
The theme of the day was to “Take Us Instead!” And the idea was for grandmothers, who are heartbroken over the loss of life in Iraq, to enlist and replace young people who are off fighting, said McIntire, who founded Grandparents For Peace in St. Augustine 20 years ago…
“We want the young people to come home to their families,” McIntire told him as she explained her desire to enlist.
[U.S. Air Force Recruiter Sgt. Casey] Luedke calmly explained to the women that there was an age restriction and nothing he could do about it.
One woman made the case that Bush/Cheney fans, who stick a ribbon magnet on the back of the SUV and consider their duty done, miss.
…Nancy Vines, 54, attached a picture of her son, Jason Burns, in uniform to her Grandmothers For Peace T-shirt. He was an airborne ranger in the U.S. Army who fought in The Gulf War. Also, her son-in-law is currently in the Air Force and did a tour of East Pakistan…
“I see a lot of support the troops talk, but I don’t see a lot of support the troops action,” Vines said…
Unlike the Air Force guy, the Navy recruiter seemed to get the spirit the women tried to convey.
Navy Recruiter-In-Charge, Yousef Abdulsalam, greeted the grandmas with a giant smile.
“We appreciate all you guys supporting us,” Abdulsalam said. “I wish everyone was like you ladies.”
So how surprised was our town a few days later to pick up the paper and see that the Air Force is so paranoid, it ordered its recruiter to file a “general offense” report on the ladies?
A couple of hours after the women were denied and left the building, Sgt. Casey Luedke, recruiter for the Air Force, called the Sheriff’s Office and a general offense form was filled out. In the Sheriff’s Office report, it said Luedke explained to his superiors what happened and they requested the report.
These are some strange times we’re living in, kids. When grandmothers get in trouble with the police for trying to keep their grandkids out of harm’s way, we have a problem.
California Trend Watch: Liberal-Leaning Independents
Coming at you: California politics is experiencing another slow-mo earthquake that could upend the status quo of both political parties and send aftershocks across the country. The last seismic political trend out of California was the Reagan Revolution which began here in the 1960s. The rise of liberal-leaning independent voters could have a similarly dramatic effect on national politics, but this time it will be the leftwing that undergoes reinvention — and repackaging.
California has 6.7 million Democrats, 5.5 million Republicans and 2.9 million who “decline to state.”
Recent voter registration trends in California show that such large numbers of voters are choosing no party affiliation — especially among younger voters — that over the next two decades, “none” could become the largest party in the state:
California voters are shedding their identification with the two major political parties so rapidly that if current trends continue, independent voters could outnumber Democrats and Republicans in the Golden State by 2025…
Homeland Security Goes on Porn Patrol
Here is a bizarre story about two officers of the Maryland Homeland Security agency raiding a public library where they suspected that visitors were accessing porn sites on library computers:
Two uniformed men strolled into the main room of the Little Falls library in Bethesda one day last week and demanded the attention of all patrons using the computers. Then they made their announcement: The viewing of Internet pornography was forbidden.
The men looked stern and wore baseball caps emblazoned with the words “Homeland Security.” The bizarre scene unfolded Feb. 9, leaving some residents confused and forcing county officials to explain how employees assigned to protect county buildings against terrorists came to see it as their job to police the viewing of pornography.
After the two men made their announcement, one of them challenged an Internet user’s choice of viewing material and asked him to step outside, according to a witness. A librarian intervened, and the two men went into the library’s work area to discuss the matter. A police officer arrived. In the end, no one had to step outside except the uniformed men.
They were officers of the security division of Montgomery County’s Homeland Security Department, an unarmed force that patrols about 300 county buildings — but is not responsible for enforcing obscenity laws.
This is an example of what happens when the government’s security apparatus is overly empowered. These two super cops worked for the state of Maryland, but they share the mentality of the worker bees at the NSA who are under direct orders of President Bush to spy on anyone they choose.
There are always a few bad apples in the basket. Imagine what the bad apples at NSA have been up to — spying on congressional representatives of both parties and their staffs or the president’s political enemies, perhaps. It can’t be said that this couldn’t happen because it already has.
Spying on your enemies was the sport of choice not so very long ago. J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon perfected it to an art. Nixon got caught, however, which led Congress to enact the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in order to keep future presidents out of the personal affairs of innocent Americans.
Jeb Going Squirrely Over Common Cause Victory
Columnists for the Orlando Sentinel outlined the perpetual piss-offedness of Gov. Jeb Bush, who this time is pissed at Common Cause for beating him at the Florida constitutional amendment game.
The governor then turned on Common Cause, saying he wasn’t satisfied that the organization had just disclosed top contributors to the $2.6 million Florida ballot campaign it has waged to have redistricting taken out of the hands of the Republican Legislature.
“I appreciate they gave up some of their donors. But what about the rest?” Bush said. “Where’s the outrage?”
Common Cause spokesperson Mary Boyle said, “the only secret squirrels we know about are hiding from Dick Cheney”The list of 44 Common Cause contributors who gave $5,000 or more to the organization over the past year failed to include any big left-leaning donors such as George Soros, the financier who helped back the John Kerry presidential campaign.
Those major Common Cause contributors represented $1.3 million of the Florida campaign’s funding — with the remaining donations out of a pool averaging $50 each, the organization said.
But Bush isn’t satisfied. After earlier accusing Common Cause of raising “secret squirrel” money at “secret squirrel meetings,” he again raised the specter of the organization laundering its Florida contributions.
“What would happen if they gave a big transfer from the secret squirrel corporate headquarters in New York . . . down here for this?” Bush said.
“Common Cause of all people that tout themselves as being for good government and clean elections shouldn’t be participating in this. Where’s the outrage?” he said.
Common Cause spokesperson Mary Boyle called Bush’s allegations “ridiculous” and a “total diversionary tactic.”
“If the governor is still talking about ‘secret squirrels,’ ” she added, “the only secret squirrels we know about are hiding from Dick Cheney.”
Good one, Mary. Heh heh.
‘Brokeback Mountain’ Wins 4 British Oscars
“Brokeback Mountain” won four prizes at the British Academy Film Awards today, including Best Picture, Best Director for Ang Lee, Best Adapted Screenplay for Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana and Best Supporting Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal.
Heath Ledger lost the Best Actor to Philip Seymour Hoffman who won for “Capote.” Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line.”
“Crash” was nominated for nine awards but only won one of the top tier prizes. Best Supporting Actress went to Thandie Newton.
Hagel: Cheney’s Misfire a Result of Draft Dodging
“If [Vice President Cheney] had been in the military, he would have learned gun safety.”
— Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Vietnam war veteran
Poll: Bush Under 50% in 44 States, Including Texas
Glenn Greenwald at Crooks & Liars:
This 50-state polling chart compiled by USA Survey is quite telling. Bush’s approval rating is above 50 percent in only 6 states in the entire country, and Texas is not one of them. In 40 out of 50 states — 80 percent of the country — more people disapprove of Bush than approve of him.
Most revealing is Bush’s intense and pervasive unpopularity in Ohio, the state which swung the election in his favor. People in Ohio disapprove of Bush’s performance by an amazingly lopsided margin of 37-60 percent. Apparently, they’re not happy that they have no jobs, their kids have no health insurance, their neighbors have been stuck and are being killed in an increasingly unpopular, endless and senseless war in Iraq, and the President is surrounded by cronyism and corruption and thinks he has the power to break the law. But at least gay couples can’t get married, so that’s good.
Tarheel Gops Drop Pretense, Demand Church Members’ Contact Info
It had to happen: Republicans have taken control of the government largely by abusing the trust of gullible Christian conservatives. Now it appears that one state GOP group has forgotten that there is supposed to be at least the appearance of a demarcation between the spheres of politics and church life.
“It is imperative that we register, educate and get these potential voters from the pew to the ballot box.”
Yesterday, the Greensboro News & Record reported that the North Carolina Republican Party was collecting church directories, and it quoted two local pastors as objecting to the practice. The Rev. Richard Byrd Jr. of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Greensboro said anyone who sent in a directory “would be betraying the trust of the membership,” and the Rev. Ken Massey of the city’s First Baptist Church said the request was “encroaching on sacred territory.”
Chris Mears, the state party’s political director, made the request in a Feb. 15 memo titled “The pew and the ballot box” that was sent by e-mail to “Registered Republicans in North Carolina.”
Mears said the “Republican National Committee has completed a study on grass-roots activity that reveals that people who regularly attend church usually vote Republican when they vote.”
“In light of this study’s findings, it is imperative that we register, educate and get these potential voters from the pew to the ballot box. To do this we must know who these people are,” the memo continued.
“I am requesting that you collect as many church directories as you can and send them to me in an effort to fully register, educate and energize North Carolina’s congregations to vote in the 2006 elections,” it said.
It added that the “North Carolina Republican Party holds your church’s directory in strict confidence” and will not use it “to solicit church members for any other reason.”
The North Carolina Republican Party’s demand that churches turn over databases containing their members’ contact information has upset ultra-right Christian extremists:
“Such a request is completely beyond the pale of what is acceptable,” said the Rev. Richard Land, head of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The surprising thing is that anyone is surprised by this.
