Day: January 17, 2007

Rocket Scientists, Brain Surgeons Agree: End is Near

Trish

Really smart people think, after six years of Bush, the world is in big trouble. But Bush is probably still trying to figure out how to “bring it on” faster.

The world edged closer toward nuclear holocaust and environmental catastrophe, a prominent international group of scientists warned today, moving their symbolic Doomsday Clock ahead two minutes.

“It is now five minutes to midnight,” said Kennette Benedict, executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “This change reflects the global failures to solve the problems posed by nuclear weapons and by climate change.”

It is now five minutes to midnight on the Doomsday Clock

…The symbolism of the move is significant because the organization, which includes more than a dozen Nobel laureates, has moved the clock only 18 times since it was set to seven minutes to midnight in 1947. The clock has been closer to midnight, two minutes away after the Eisenhower administration tested a nuclear bomb in 1953. But it is also a long way from its most optimistic setting, at 17 minutes to midnight in 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Today’s change was the first since 2002.

The organization cited North Korea’s recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a renewed emphasis on military uses and proliferation of nuclear weapons and the presence of 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia. The organization added global warming to its concerns, saying in its statement, “the dangers of climate change are nearly as dire as those of nuclear weapons.”

Tancredo Exploring Run for Prez

Buck Banks

Jingo-In-Chief: Colorado Republican Rep. Tom “Miami Is a Third World Country” Tancredo thinks he has what it takes to be president of these United States. Of course, that might have something to do with the low bar the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has set. Tancredo has announced the formation of an exploratory committee to assess the nation’s need for a jingoistic, mono-issue conservative from the suburbs of Denver.

‘They believe that there is a void in this race that none of the other candidates are willing or able to fill.’

Tancredo’s single issue is immigration reform, by which he means close the borders and kick out the illegals. Following a weekend meeting with Repugs in Iowa, Tancredo was convinced that the increasingly crowded GOP field of runners needs one more. Indeed, he explained to the Associated Press Tuesday what the Iowa GOP brain trust told him: “They believe that there is a void in this race that none of the other candidates are willing or able to fill.”

He’s probably right, you know. What sensible presidential candidate would hitch his wagon to the lone horse of immigration reform, an issue which reared its ugly head before the midterm elections but had absolutely no effect on any key races. Indeed, while the 109th Congress was well-known for its ability to get nothing accomplished, one got the sense that few on Capitol Hill had any real stomach for taking on the immigration issue, so no one did. Well, except for enacting a law that calls on the federal government to build a 700-mile-long Great Wall of America on the Mexico border — without appropriateing the $49 million to $70 million it will likely take to build it.

So Tancredo sees himself as the Void Filler of the GOP in the race for president in 2008. Good luck with that, Tom. He’ll likely garner some support from the true conservatives out there, but he’s such a polarizing and monomaniacal figure that I can’t imagine him becoming a viable candidate for president. But then, I thought the same thing about George W. Bush.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

The increase in armaments that is intended in each nation to produce consciousness of strength, and a sense of security, does not produce these effects. On the contrary, it produces a consciousness of the strength of other nations and a sense of fear. Fear begets suspicion and distrust and evil imaginings of all sorts.

— Sir Edward Grey (1862-1933), British statesman

Obama Fever – Not Feeling It

Jon Ponder

In the unlikely event that Sen. Barack Obama becomes the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, I will vote for him in the general election that November. However, I will be very surprised if there is any chance he will win.

It is a harsh indictment, I know, but while Americans will vote a functionally retarded white guy into the Oval Office twice, there is no chance in hell the country is ready to vote for a black person or, for that matter, a white woman.

I agree that he has all the attributes ascribed to him by the Gang of 500 — he’s smart, well-spoken and telegenic, and all of those qualities would be a refreshing change after eight years of Bush. Unfortunately, none of those qualities will have an impact, finally, on his ability to win.

His lack of experience is a factor, but the main reason he’ll lose, I’m sorry to say, is his father’s race.

It appeals to our higher selves to believe that America is ready to elect an African-American president. Unfortunately, recent electoral history indicates otherwise:

  • Harold Ford Jr.’s loss of the Tennessee senate seat to the revolting Bob Corker last year.
  • Former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt’s two close losses to the even more revolting Sen. Jesse Helms in North Carolina a decade ago.
  • Former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s two losses to the odious Gov. George Deukmejian in California in the 1980s.

In each of these cases, white independent voters just couldn’t vote for a black candidate, even though in each instance the black candidate was equally or more intelligent, articulate and experienced than the white candidate.

There were other factors, of course. Both Gantt and Bradley were mayors of the biggest cities in their states, and thus stigmatized in the eyes of rural voters. Both Gantt and Ford were targeted with racist advertising. Sen. Helms ran an ad showing a white man receiving a rejection letter for a job purportedly because a black man had been given “his” job because of affirmative action. Ford was the target of the infamous “Harold, call me” ad that implied he dated white women, heaven forfend.

In the cases of both Bradley and Gantt, polling throughout the election showed close races, but on election day, the white candidates won decided victories. So white people were telling pollsters they would vote for a black candidate but couldn’t actually do it when the time came.

Of course, Deval Patrick was elected last year as Massachusetts’ first black governor, and as a presidential candidate, it wouldn’t surprise me if Obama were to win Massachusetts. He might even win all the states John Kerry won in 2004, but as we saw then, that was not enough.

Every election is momentous but the stakes are as high as they can be in 2008. The future of the United States depends on a Democratic victory. It is a harsh indictment, I know, but while Americans will vote a functionally retarded white guy into the Oval Office twice, there is no chance in hell the country is ready to elect a black person or, for that matter, a white woman.

Like all good liberals, I yearn for the day when race, gender and, what the heck, sexual orientation, are not a factor in who we elect to be president. And while I wish Sen. Obama well in the coming campaign, unfortunately, America is not there yet.

Pentagon Surplus Sales of Fighter Jet Parts Going to Iran

Jon Ponder

Before the Iranian revolution in 1979, when the Shah was a U.S. ally against the Soviets, we sold the Iranians the latest, greatest state-of-the-art military equipment our contractors could produce. Now, three decades, Iran is our enemy, so when they need to repair their aging helicopters and fighter jets, who do they buy from? The Pentagon’s sidewalk sale:

“Right Item, Right Time, Right Place, Right Price, Every Time. Best Value Solutions for America’s Warfighters.”
— Pentagon advertisement

Fighter jet parts and other sensitive U.S. military gear seized from front companies for Iran and brokers for China have been traced in criminal cases to a surprising source: the U.S. Defense Department.

In one case, federal investigators said, contraband bought at auction from Defense surplus stocks was delivered to Iran, which President George W. Bush had in his “axis of evil” grouping. Just Tuesday, the State Department branded Iran as the world’s worst exporter of terror

In the Iran case, a Pakistani arms broker convicted of exporting U.S. missile parts to Iran resumed business after his release from prison. He purchased Chinook helicopter engine parts for Iran from a U.S. company that had bought them in a Pentagon surplus sale. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents say those parts made it to Iran…

“Right Item, Right Time, Right Place, Right Price, Every Time. Best Value Solutions for America’s Warfighters,” the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service says on its Web site, calling itself “the place to obtain original U.S. Government surplus property.”

Federal investigators are increasingly anxious that Iran is within easy reach of a top priority on its shopping list: parts for its precious fleet of F-14 “Tomcat” fighter jets the United States let Iran buy in the 1970s when it was an ally.

In one case, convicted middlemen for Iran bought Tomcat parts from the Defense Department’s surplus division. Customs agents confiscated them and returned them to the Pentagon, which sold them again, customs evidence tags still attached, to another buyer, a suspected broker for Iran.

“That would be evidence of a significant breakdown, in my view, in controls and processes,” said Greg Kutz, the Government Accountability Office’s head of special investigations. “It shouldn’t happen the first time, let alone the second time.”

Too bad the Pentagon didn’t offload some of their famous $500 hammers or $2,000 toilet seats on them.