Author: Trish

Which Bush Brother Do Floridians Hate More? Tough Call

Trish

Get out, and take your mean, nasty brother with you.

Finally, some uplifting news from the Sunshine State. A recent poll finds that Floridians want Jeb gone, and his war-mongering big brother even goner.

A growing majority of Florida voters disapprove of the job President Bush is doing, a poll shows.

Most also say they wouldn’t likely vote for his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, if he seeks the presidency in 2008.

The Quinnipiac University telephone poll of 855 registered Florida voters Nov. 8-13 found 61 percent disapproved of the president’s performance, compared with 37 percent approval…

Floridians’ assessment of the president’s performance mirrors the way they feel about his handling of Iraq: 64 percent disapproval, 31 percent approval. Sixty percent said going to war there was the wrong thing to do.

As for Gov. Bush, 58 percent of Florida voters said they probably or definitely would not vote for him for president, while 33 percent said they probably or definitely would.

[…]

The Upside of Being Reamed by Big Oil

Trish

Corporate welfare: If oil companies hadn’t dropped prices after Congress threatened to not only withhold their tax breaks but take back a share of their ill-gotten gains, their profits could have stayed as high all year as they did in the heady, price-gouging days following Hurricane Katrina. In that case, here are their annualized gains over last year, along with the portion of the checks you and I are picking up:

Exxon Mobil — $9.92 billion (75 percent annual increase)
Royal Dutch Shell — $9.03 billion (68 percent increase)
BP — $6.5 billion (34 percent increase)
Conoco Phillips — $3.8 billion (89 percent increase)
Chevron Texaco — $3.6 billion (12 percent increase)

This year Congress handed oil and gas companies $2.6 billion in tax cuts as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It also included funds for a $1.5 billion oil consortium (in Rep. Tom Delay’s Congressional District). The total payout in the energy act is over $4 billion.

In addition to the 2005 energy act, billions more in handouts are in effect, including: $5.1 billion credit for non-conventional fuels; a $2.8 billion depletion allowance; and $2.4 billion credit for “intangible drilling” costs.

In total, the U.S. government is subsidizing oil and gas to the tune of nearly $14 billion — at a time when profits are at record highs.

These breaks were meant to act as incentives for cutting edge exploration and alternative fuels. Even President Bush, who never met an oil man he didn’t like — said recently, “With oil at more than $50 a barrel, by the way, we do not need taxpayers’-funded incentives to explore for oil and gas.”

No, “we” don’t. But I can’t help but think that oil companies did us a favor by bleeding us dry. For the first time, we are hearing Congress – even some of its Republican members – calling for fossil fuel alternatives, and threatening to come up with a real energy policy (as opposed to a bundle of tax breaks and freebies for oil companies) that will encourage us to use less non-renewable resources. They are also starting to demand truthful answers from the lying liars.

I say to oil companies, keep the prices high and enjoy it while you can. The more you squeeze us, the faster you put yourselves out of business.

X-treme or Main-stream: You Call It

Trish

There’s an interesting debate going on in the comments section of a story posted by Popular Pensito Review Editor Buck yesterday. The original story was about Bush’s poll numbers, now reportedly lower than his grades at Yale (thank you late night TV).

The discussion at hand is what constitutes “extreme” views in today’s America. Are people like us, who have opposed pretty much everything Bush has done, right down the line, from Day One extreme, or are eternal optimists, who hold out hope that noncompetitive Halliburton contracts, jailing people without charges, and occupying a Middle Eastern country will just all work out extreme? What do you think, and where do you fall in this continuum? We’d like to hear.

Now THAT’S Some Sick Stuff: Scooter Libby

Trish

Good lord. Nerve.com:

In this week’s New Yorker, Lauren Collins alerted us to the diverse sexual content of Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s 1996 novel The Apprentice. Today, to further edify the American public, Nerve brings you some longer excerpts.

The book is about a young Japanese man who runs a remote mountain inn and becomes embroiled in a world of intrigue. “A world of intrigue,” in this case, involves:

* a scene of incest between two uncles and their niece;
* a hunter asking his companions if they should fuck a freshly killed deer while it’s still warm;
* the description of a prepubescent girl’s painted “mound” and pleasing lack of vaginal odor;
* a story about a girl who’s kept in a cage and raped by a bear to train her to become a prostitute.

Thanks, Scooter, for reminding us — once again — about the healthy sexual psychology that lurks within the political party of “family values,” abstinence-only education, restricted reproductive rights and opposition to same-sex marriage! Below, some selections penned by the vice president’s former right hand:

I can’t stand any more. You’ll just have to click the link if you can.

Tutu Supports Gay Bishop

Trish

I love this guy:

Sexual orientation is something that cannot be changed, and the Anglican community should support the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu said Saturday during a visit to [Jacksonville’s] University of North Florida.

Archbishop Tutu told about 100 students that consistency is important when speaking out against discrimination, whether based on race, gender or sexual orientation. Immediately after the forum, Tutu explained that he does not understand religious anger over New Hampshire’s gay bishop and expressed his frustration with opponents.

“I am deeply saddened at a time when we’ve got such huge problems … that we should invest so much time and energy in this issue,” he said. “I think God is crying.”

Tutu, 74, returned to UNF, where he taught for a semester in 2003, to receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree.

Jeb Consoles Arnold and Fellow GoOPs

Trish

Leave it to Jeb to look on the bright side. Florida News’ Mike Vasilinda, in a blurb called “The Jebinator” quotes the sunny* Florida governor’s words of hope for Arnold and the nation.

Florida’s Governor doesn’t seem to have much political clout on the left coast. Jeb Bush helped California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger raise money to try and pass four constitutional amendments. But voters in the golden state said no to all four, plus 4 others that were on the same ballot. Bush says the terminator didn’t do so well.

“Arnold took it on the chin, but he’s a strong guy and he’ll get up again,” Bush said. “Here’s an example of someone who was doing right in his mind and took on some very powerful interests. And while he didn’t win, I hope that doesn’t discourage him or others to do the same thing. It was…in terms of the Republican Party it’s not a great day, but two Democratic governors were replaced by Democrats. There was no net gain.”

No one said there was, Jebby. But everyone without exception is saying the recent elections showed Republican domination has peaked and is on the way downhill from here. And that sounds like the definition of a “great day” to me.

*Note to non-Floridians: Yes, this is sarcasm.

Who You Callin’ a Republican? Them’s Fighting Words!

Trish

How do you smear a progressive Democrat? Call him a Republican. An email, labeled a hoax, proclaims Tom DeLay’s support of Florida candidate for governor and state senator Rod Smith.

How bad is it when the way to make someone else look bad is to say they are like you?

The e-mail sent to Smith supporters mixes crude innuendo with suggestions that Smith — campaigning as a moderate Democrat — is a closet Republican. Smith’s campaign calls the missive “crude and juvenile.”

But the e-mail seeks to poke fun at Smith, who often says he’s the only Democrat in the race who can appeal to Republicans and independents, as well as to conservative Democrats who have fled the party in recent years.

DeLay, the faux e-mail from ”Republican Rod” says, endorsed Smith because of his “reliably conservative voting record.”

Smith’s campaign said it hasn’t spent much time tracking down the origin of the e-mail, which refers to Smith as “The Mallet” — a play on DeLay’s moniker in Congress, “The Hammer.”

Since I am more amenable to the other guy, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, I would hate to think – and have a hard time believing – his campaign is behind this. They of course deny it.

The really tantalizing thought is that Republican strategists – and there are some nasty ones in Florida – cooked this up. How bad is it when the way to make someone else look bad is to say they are like you?

FEMA Given Green Light to Work in the Dark

Trish

A federal judge in Fort Myers, Florida has ruled that it’s none of our business how FEMA spends our money.

The case involved the efforts of three newspapers — The Fort Myers News Press, Florida Today and the Pensacola News Journal — to obtain the names and addresses of people who received disaster aid after the 2004 hurricane.

Judge John Steele rejected the request, ruling that releasing that information would violate recipients’ right to privacy…the information could cause the residents embarrassment or make them subject to identify theft. Unscrupulous contractors could use the information to scam people looking to repair their homes.

Exactly what is embarrassing about finding a tree in your dining room and accepting some government cash to remove it, I’m not sure. It’s not like it’s a big secret anyway. The FEMA guy (or gal, in our neighborhood’s case) pulls up in the white FEMA truck and stands in the front yard, interviewing you about your damage. If you’re lucky, he or she will issue you a FEMA roof (blue tarp). Then they go next door, and to the house after that, and the one next to that, and so on. No one has electricity during this process, so they are either sitting outside trying to catch a breeze or clearing debris from the yard. There are no secrets – and no shame – after a hurricane.

Except for the secret of who’s getting your tax dollars.

…FEMA distributed close to $6 billion in Florida after last year’s hurricanes. Taxpayers deserve an accounting. Some questionable expenditures already have been uncovered…

Releasing the names of those who received FEMA dollars and how they were spent would guard against waste and abuse. If necessary, certain details could be excised from the public record.

…The likelihood of harm to recipients is small, whereas the likelihood of taxpayers being swindled if FEMA’s expenses are kept in the dark is great.

Lord Help Us, Democrats Are Being Told To Find God

Trish

The tea leaves at the bottom of the pot of Democratic victories in this week’s elections are getting closer scrutiny than the models in the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Everyone has a theory about why Democrats, considered by some dead and buried as a party, could still win. One explanation I am particularly loathe to embrace is that it’s about getting religion. Some pundits think that in the future, everyone should be Virginia Governor-Elect Timothy M. Kaine.

…Mr. Kaine’s advisers and some top Democratic strategists say their victory in Virginia shows that Democrats, including liberals, can win in culturally conservative states if they talk about deeply held religious beliefs.

That lesson is likely to be studied by many Democrats across the country as they head into next year’s midterm elections, political analysts and party officials say…

Representative Ted Strickland, who is running in next year’s Democratic primary for governor of Ohio, said the party had hurt itself by not trying to identify more closely with religious voters. He has already begun talking in his campaign about religion’s role in his life and politics.

“I do think the Democratic Party has for far too long been hesitant to talk about the things we deeply believe and value,” said Mr. Strickland, a former Methodist minister. “Many public policy positions have their foundation in religious beliefs that we hold dear.”

Sure they do. But freedom of religion and freedom from religion are bedrock values in America, or they were in the America where I grew up.

At least former Pres. Jimmy Carter, who has a new book out criticizing the Bush administration, isn’t letting the smell of victory go to his head. […]

We Can Do Better Than Trash TV, Obama Says

Trish

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) is trying to wake us up from our TV stupor, just as a new study shows that sex on TV is becoming ubiquitous. Ad Age:

One reason I think George Bush gets away with so much is that we are becoming a nation of George W. Bushes

In its fourth biennial study of TV, the [Kaiser Family Foundation] reported that both the number of shows with sexual content and the number of sexual scenes has risen sharply. Some 70% of shows now have some sexual content, compared to 56% in 1998, and there are 5 sexual scenes per hour compared to 3.2 in 1998. The study excludes news, sports and children’s shows.

Obama, although threatening broadcasters with legislative action, makes some great, long-overdue points not just about sex on TV but the vapid assumptions behind “entertainment.”

“We don’t teach our children that healthy relationships involve drunken, naked parties in a hot tub with strangers — but that’s what they see on ‘The Real World.’ We don’t teach them to express their anger by seeing how much blood they can draw with a round of ammo, but that’s what they learn in the most popular video games. And we don’t teach our kids that the height of success is inheriting a family fortune to buy Gucci bags without ever working a day in your life, but that’s how Paris Hilton gets by on ‘The Simple Life.’”

“You can say that kids know this isn’t real,” Mr. Obama, said, “but when they’re fed a steady diet of these depictions over and over again from the time they’re very young, this behavior becomes acceptable — even normal.”

I’ll go Obama one better, and say that not only do kids not question this bilge, but neither do adults. People get tired of hearing me say I don’t watch TV because they think my point is that I am superior because of it. The truth is I can’t afford cable, plus I’m only home in the evening one or two days a week (that second job). But what happens when you are not exposed to a steady diet of this stuff is that over time you notice differences in thought between yourself and people who are exposed to it, even cool people with their hearts in the right place. There are built-in assumptions that go along with TV-watching, and the more you watch, the more they become internalized. […]