Tag: Worst President Ever

I’m going to say something that will have my ancestors whirling in their graves, something I never thought I would say, something that even to me seems incomprehensible.

I’m willing to abandon the Democrats. There it is.

Understand, I come from a line of Democrats so long it has no known end. My peeps have forever been Dems, in registration if not always in action. My Uncle Bill, who like me was Democrat at birth, once told a former Republican friend who changed to our side, “It’s O.K. buddy. Before I was a Democrat I wasn’t nothing either.”

But times change. And I’m tired of our team losing, mostly at its own hands. I’m not for one minute suggesting that I would go over to the Dark Side. I’m saying I’m willing to entertain the idea of a third party if it will do what mine isn’t — saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done.

If Samuel Alito gets on the Supreme Court, it won’t be entirely the fault of the conservative whack jobs of which he is one. It will because good Democrats were too busy listening to themselves talk, since talk is all we can do. Others are trying so hard to please everyone that they end up pleasing no one, least of all “the base.”

The problem is that this matters so much. George Bush wants to stand democracy on its head, to abandon the constitution, to literally do what terrorists can’t — kill America and replace it with a fundamentalist totalitarian regime. All he needs is a compliant Supreme Court to go along with his compliant Congress.

I’m tired of being in the sheep party. I’m tired of hoping the next election will be the one that turns it all around. I’m tired of wondering if George Bush will have to roast babies in the Rose Garden before anyone who represents me will stand up.

I have emailed Sen. Bill Nelson, who has always done the right thing before, and asked him to vote no on Alito. Wherever you are, please let your own Democratic elected officials hear from you on this. They need to know we will back them up if they will just make this one brave move. They also need to know we aren’t kidding anymore. We are looking for a better party, either our own or a new one.

Molly Ivins is asking some important questions about the recent fatal mining disaster.

Some of the press is starting to get the drill. Give us something like the West Virginia coal mine disaster, and instead of standing around emoting like Geraldo Rivera, a few reporters have enough sense to ask the obvious question: What is this mine’s safety record? And when it turns out to be abysmal, a few more reporters have enough sense to ask: Who’s in charge of doing something after a mine gets 205 safety violations in one year? Where’s the Mine Safety and Health Administration? Who runs it? What’s their background — are they professionals or mining industry stooges? Who’s the Michael “Heckuvajob” Brown in this outfit? Why are so many jobs at MSHA just left completely unfilled? How much has MSHA’s budget been cut since 2001 to pay for tax cuts for the rich?

The Sierra Club has the answers to some of those questions.

Among the earliest signs of danger, however, was when the Bush administration’s first head of MSHA, Jack Spadaro, was forced out of his job when he tried to investigate another mining disaster, this one a 300-million gallon coal slurry spill in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. “The Bush administration came in and the scope of our investigation was considerably shortened,” Spadaro told 60 Minutes in April 2004. “I had never seen something so corrupt and lawless in my entire career.” He was replaced by Dave Lauriski, a former mining executive. It is also worth noting here that President George W. Bush raised $376,000 in campaign contributions from coal mining interests in 2000 and 2004…

Thomas Frank at USA Today also reports that MSHA has issued $9.1 million in fines since 1999 to companies for safety violations. Less than a third of that money has been collected, a trend which is getting significantly worse with each passing year. Recouping that money would more than make up for the deep budget cuts in the safety agency, which has lost more than 170 positions over the past five years.

Team Bush set up the scenario by which the 12 miners were killed. But along with flying planes into buildings, this is likely another case where – if asked to take responsibilty – they would simply say, “Who could have ever imagined such a thing could happen?” We need a president with a little better imagination. And a lot less profit motive.