See ‘Cheney’s Got a Gun’
Atomfilms: Check out the short cartoon “Cheney’s Got a Gun,” spoofing Aerosmith’s “Janies Got a Gun.”
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Year: 2006
Republicans Form Circular Firing Squad over Ports Deal
Ready. Fire! Aim: Bush worshipers are already trying to make opposition to the president’s deal to allow the sale of major East Coast ports to his crony, the Emir of Dubai who owns Dubai Ports World, a Democrats versus Dear Leader fight.
But the opposition to the sale is dominated by Republicans, including:
- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who sent an email to supporters yesterday that said, “As of today, I’m requesting briefings on this deal. If the Administration does not put the deal on hold, I will introduce legislation doing so … to ensure that this decision gets a more thorough review. Common sense warrants it; our national security requires it.”
- House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who said, “We must not allow the possibility of compromising our national security due to lack of review or oversight by the federal government.”
- Gov. George Pataki of New York
- Gov. Robert Erlich of Maryland
- Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Richard Shelby of Alabama and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
- Members of the House including Homeland Security chairman Peter King of New York, Mark Foley of Florida and Vito Fosella of New York
It was not a Democrat but Sen. Graham who said,”It’s unbelievably tone deaf politically at this point in our history. Most Americans are scratching their heads, wondering why this company from this region now?”
Newser News: Kagan and Rush Break Up
Ick factor: CNN newsreader Daryn Kagan can now start to reclaim whatever dignity she had before she started dating Rush Limbaugh, according to Lloyd Grove:
I hear that right-wing radio guy Rush Limbaugh and CNN daytime anchor Daryn Kagan — who’ve been dating for nearly two years — are finally kaput. The good news, of course, is that the fabulous Kagan is back on the market.
Insurgents Blow up Baghdad Shrine
Sectarian animosity in Iraq escalated yesterday when anti-Shiite forces destroyed the gold-domed shrine of Samarra. The action could ignite full-fledged civil war:
Suspected insurgents blew up the gold-domed shrine in Samarra that houses two important Shiite imams today in an act apparently tailored to stoke sectarian passions between Iraq’s Shiite majority and Sunni minority.
Witnesses near the Askari shrine complex said it was badly damaged in one and possibly two 6:45 a.m. explosions. There was no official word of casualties, but some witnesses said victims might be under the rubble.
Little of the massive gold dome remained, witnesses said. Residents were angrily chanting, “God is great.”
Sen. Hatch: Nobody ‘with Brains’ Denies Saddam Aided Al Qaeda
“Nobody denies that [Saddam Hussein] was supporting al-Qaeda…Well, I shouldn’t say nobody. Nobody with brains.”
— Sen. Orin Hatch, Republican of Utah, perhaps forgetting that the 9/11 Commission said there was no connection between the secular Iraqi government and Islamic fundamentalists
Ports Controversy Coverage Trumps Ohio Terror Arrests
The political firestorm about the plan to sell U.S. ports to an Arab country shoved this story off the list of top headlines:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says an alleged plot uncovered in Ohio is “a reminder of the need for continued vigilance in the war on terrorism.”
A federal indictment charges three men who lived in Toledo in a plot to kill Americans and allies in Iraq.
One of the men, who carries joint U-S and Jordanian citizenship, has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges. He also pleaded not guilty in a federal court in Cleveland Tuesday to charges of threatening President Bush.
The other two men are being arraigned in Toledo. The five-count indictment says the suspects recruited people as early as November 2004 to train to wage a holy war against the U-S and its allies in Iraq.
Bush Compares UAE to ‘Great British’
“I want those who are questioning [the president’s plan to allow the sale of major U.S. ports to the government of the United Arab Emerits] to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I’m trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to people of the world, we’ll treat you fairly. And after careful scrutiny, we believe this deal is a legitimate deal that will not jeopardize the security of the country, and at the same time, send that signal that we’re willing to treat people fairly.”
— President George W. Bush
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…
