The U.S. Senate would like to offer you a $100.00 bribe.

Although lawmakers in Washington prefer to be on the receiving end of the graft game, this time, they’d like to grease the palms of the American people. And what would they like in return? They’d like us to turn a blind eye to the raping of the environment in the form of “oil exploration” in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Oh, and by the way, would you please re-elect us in November.

In an amendment to an emergency spending bill, Senate Republicans Charles Grassley of Iowa, Ted Stevens of Alaska, Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania are proposing a $100 “rebate” to ease our pain at the gas pump. How kind of them. Never mind that the proposal has no real substantive measures to address the profiteering on the part of the oil companies, or any long term solutions to our dependence upon foreign oil. No, this is a bribery attempt, plain and simple.

And in terms of a bribe, it’s downright insulting. The fact is that for most Americans, $100 wouldn’t even come close to compensating for the extra money we’ve had to pay over the past 5 years to give oil companies record profits. The fact is, the price of gasoline has DOUBLED since Bush took office. That’s right, when dubya was sworn in, gas was at approx. $1.50 a gallon. Now it’s around $3.00 a gallon. At the rate of inflation over the past 5 years, it should be at about $1.87 a gallon right now. Based on that, I will pay an extra $587 just THIS year to keep gas in my relatively fuel efficient Jetta. So my question to Sen. Grassley & Co… Is this just the first installment??

Meanwhile, our illustrious President has offered nothing but lip service in regard to high energy prices. His “generous” offer to halt new deposits into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would by most accounts, do little or nothing to ease prices at the pump. And his proposed easing of environmental safeguards would be of great benefit to the oil companies, but offer no relief for Americans when filling up.

Unfortunately, we’re not hearing anything substantial from the left side of the aisle either. The Democrats, with a few exceptions, have not really offered a comprehensive solution to the nation’s energy woes. And those that have expressed anything innovative have been shoved aside by both parties, in favor of maintaining the status quo.

Perhaps the next Congress will have better luck at addressing this important national security issue. However, unless there is a MAJOR shakeup in the midterm elections for BOTH parties, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Pumping up the profits at America's expense.

Gas prices at record highs. Oil company profits at record highs. Bush’s poll numbers at record lows. Is there a correlation here? You bet.

While average Americans, whose “real wages” have gone down every year since Bush took office, are spending more of their wages on the high cost of gas; oil company execs. are laughing all the way to the bank. The only real benefit to the situation? Bush appears to be taking a pummeling as a result. Small comfort to those of us who are paying twice as much for gas today as we were when Bush took office.

Apparently, it takes a communist foreign head of state to get Bushco to pay attention to the woes of Americans paying way too much for fuel. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced yesterday he plans to expand the year-old program of providing reduced-cost heating oil to low-income households in America’s northeast. Last year, Chavez’s program provided heating oil to 45,000 needy families in Massachusetts alone. Ironically, some Republicans have criticized Chavez for doing this just to “embarrass” President Bush.

I got news for you neanderthals on the right… Bush embarrasses himself through his total lack of concern for the American people, and his total lack of action during his presidency regarding U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Bush's energy policy (if you can call it that) has been a total failure. And while Mr. Bush may feel "embarrassed" by a foreign head of state helping Americans, he obviously feels no shame for his total lack of leadership.

America can only hope that good old-fashioned American ingenuity will come to the rescue where our government has not. And we’re getting there, but we’ve got a long way to go. We need another technological "quantum leap" to really reap the benefits of hybrid, fuel cell, and other next generation energy technologies.

What we really need to address the energy concerns of this and future generations is what I believe is the logical next step in the evolution of mankind's technology. Mark my words... the next technology that will truly "change the world" (I'm talking the likes of the wheel, the plow, the incandescent bulb, splitting the atom, etc.) will be a discovery in the area of energy storage and transmission.

Current battery technology is inefficient, cumbersome, environmentally unfriendly, and unnecessarily expensive. The guy who comes up with the quantum leap in "battery" technology will be the new Edison, the next generation's Einstein. And he or she will truly change the world.

And while the former execs. of the fossil fuel industries are wallowing in their newfound lack of power and recently discovered lack of vision, the innovator who comes up with this new technology will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Another boondoggle for corporate America...

At the expense of the average American. It’s called an HSA health insurance plan. I have a real soft spot in my heart for these plans, seeing that I and my family are victims – I mean participants – of such a plan.

These HSA (health savings account) plans are touted as a method to give Americans greater flexibility on their healthcare spending, and allows participants to "save" money in a bank account, which can then be used to pay for health care not covered by the insurance portion of the plan.

What Bush & Co. (who have been the champions of this approach) don't tell you is that the main beneficiaries of this type of plan are the financial institutions that "manage" the HSA accounts (translates to: "make lots of profits off of other people's money"), and the employers who offer these plans to their employees.

Why is it advantageous to the employers? Because they get to write off their employee's contributions to the HSA accounts on their taxes. That's right, they get to take credit for the employee contributions as EMPLOYER contributions. In the case of my company, they have 4000 employees corporate-wide. At an average of about $2000 annually set aside by employees for their HSA accounts, that's an $8,000,000.00 tax write-off for the company.

Nice perk eh? And of course my company, like all the other companies who will jump on this corporate welfare bandwagon, pretty much shoved the plan down the employee’s throat. In the name of “maintaining consistency” across the corporation, they eliminated all other plans that were available to employees. After all, the more employees in this plan, the bigger their tax break. Makes sense.

The other corporate advantage to an HSA plan: You have to meet your entire deductible (excluding “qualifying” preventative care) before the insurance company has to pay a dime of benefits. They are often referred to as HDHP HSA Plans. The HDHP? It stands for “High Deductible Health Plan”. As a matter of fact, to qualify as an HSA plan, there is a MINIMUM deductible for both individual and family. Here’s the requirement:

“A qualified HSA plan has a single deductible that applies to all medical expenses covered by the insurance policy whether you are insuring yourself or an entire family. This deductible must be satisfied each year before the insurance company pays on any medical claims. The single deductible for an individual must be a minimum of $1,050 and can be any deductible up to the maximum out-of-pocket limit of $5,250 and the single deductible for a family must be at least $2,100 up to the maximum out-of-pocket limit of $10,500 for the year 2006.”

I’m so glad Bush & Co. are making sure to cover the insurance companies. Too bad they’re not as interested in making sure that actual health care gets covered. Gosh, combined with the Medicare Drug Plan windfall for pharmaceutical and insurance companies, this President is really doing great things for corporate America… As usual, at the expense of the American people.

Scotty beamed himself outta here…

Now if only Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld & Co. could follow his lead. Yep, the media’s favorite administration punching bag, Press Secretary Scott McClellen has decided to call it quits. Wonder if it has anything to do with him being the only person in the room, day after day, who takes himself seriously. Face it Scotty, you had an impossible job. You had to appear in front of the cameras every day, telling nothing but lies, and try to keep a straight face. I’m sure Faux News will be more than happy to give you a job – what you did at the White House is right up their alley.

Speaking of Faux News, it looks like Tony Snow, host of Fox News radio show, creatively named the “Tony Snow Show”, is being offered the position as the new White House Press Secretary. As I stated about McClellen above, whether lying for Faux of lying for Bush, I’m sure Snow is more than qualified for the job.

Tony Snow is no stranger to the White House; he was chief speechwriter and then “deputy assistant to the president for media affairs” for G.H.W. Bush from 1991 – 1993. So Snow has good crony credentials as well. To my knowledge, Snow has not yet accepted the position. C’mon Tony, join the cabal and help serve the corporations – I mean your country.

Meanwhile, someone I have a soft spot in my heart for, Lee Iacocca, had a great quote during an interview in Calabasas magazine. I didn’t always agree with Iacocca, but I love his candor:

"I make speeches for the Washington Speakers Bureau, get $75,000 for 30 minutes, and all I ever say is, ‘Here's what management is about. Hire good people and set some basic priorities and objectives’ Well, let's see how George Bush qualifies. The people that surround him are just friends, and I think most of them just schmucks, because I know a lot of them. Who runs the country? Cheney, is getting old and sick and had this hunting accident. And "Rummy," Rumsfeld, whom I know real well -- they've been together forever, and they run the country. They had Condoleezza Rice for lunch. I don't know what she's got on Bush, but, boy, he believes in her. Other than those three, the mastermind of them all, the boy genius, is Karl Rove -- slime bucket that he is. You've got to know him to see how slimy he is.” (found on isteve.com - thanks Steve)

Senile or not, at 81, you gotta love this guy’s way of shooting from the hip. Perhaps he should be the new Bushco Press Secretary.

Have we become that which we fought so hard to defeat?

Yesterday, I talked about an issue that seems to have dropped off the national “radar”, to the detriment of us all, New Orleans. Today, I’m going to discuss another such issue that has been swept under the rug by the mainstream media… the gulag at Guantanamo Bay.

Today, there are still nearly 500 prisoners at Guantanamo, being held without charges, in an administration-created legal limbo that denies them any rights under U.S. and international law. The Supreme Court ruled two years ago that detainees could use the U.S. court system to appeal their detentions. However, a combination of administration stall tactics, virtually no access to legal counsel, and the formidable bureaucracy of the U.S. justice system has made that all but impossible for most of the detainees.

The case of two such detainees, a pair of Chinese Muslims who have been held at Gitmo for 3 years, and in U.S. custody for 4 years, ran into a roadblock yesterday. The Supreme Court refused to hear a direct appeal of their detention. A federal judge has already ruled that their detention was illegal, but stated there was nothing U.S. courts could do about it. The administration claims that they are working to release the two men (and 36 other Chinese Muslims) to a third country (to be determined), because they are afraid they will be tortured or killed if they are returned to China. Members of the detainees ethnic group, the Uighurs, who are themselves refugees residing in D.C., have offered to put up these detainees, even give them jobs. For reasons beyond explanation, the administration opposes that. Bushco says of the men’s continued illegal incarceration, it’s OK, because “the men have had television, a stereo system, books and recreational opportunities including soccer, volleyball and ping pong.” Well hot damn! Why would they ever want to leave?

The fact that a gulag-like facility like the prison camp at Guantanamo even exists is an atrocity in and of itself. The fact that it exists under the auspices of the U.S. military and our federal government is a crime against the very foundations of what our nation is supposed to stand for. This is what we found so abhorrent about the former Soviet Union, and what we still take issue with the Chinese government over. That’s what always made us the “good guys” and the communists the “bad guys”. Well Mr. Bush, the world is watching. Who are the good guys now? ‘Cause it sure ain’t us.

A portrait of "The Man Who Would Be King" if anything happened to dubya...

A great expose on our illustrious Vice President:

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/dickcheney/index.html

Pretty scary, eh?

I love this...

Turns out Bushie is suffering from a psychological condition. Perhaps he can plead insanity when he's brought to trial. Check it out:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1017546,00.html

City Elections coming up in New Orleans… displaced blacks need not apply.

Disenfranchisement. Institutionalized disenfranchisement. I honestly didn’t think I’d see it in my country ever again. I thought we were smarter. I thought we had learned our lesson. I thought America as a nation had evolved beyond this. I guess I was wrong.

According to an article in The Nation, the New Orleans municipal elections coming up on April 22 will have to do without an estimated 250,000 African Americans citizens (more than half of the city’s residents). Why?? Because the Bush administration is opposed to satellite voting stations that would allow New Orleans voters, scattered throughout the country in the wake of hurricane Katrina, to vote in the upcoming elections. And the Bush Justice department actually publicly lied in their ruling supporting the Louisiana State Legislature’s plan to exclude satellite voting stations outside the state. The Justice department claimed that "minority members of the Louisiana House and Senate were unanimous” in their support of the plan, a claim that is disputed by minority members of the Legislature.

And the result of this decision? The majority of New Orleans residents will have no say in who leads the reconstruction of their city. They will have no input in how their school system is redefined. They will be denied their birthright as citizens of this great nation to select their representatives, and set the course for the future of their city. In a democratic republic, is there anything more fundamental, or more important than that? To deny these citizens their Constitutional right to self-determination through their vote is tantamount to revoking their citizenship. One dedicated public servant, Rep. Barney Frank, referred to the administration’s policies in New Orleans as “ethnic cleansing by inaction.” What else can you call Bushco's response to Katrina? I think Kanye West hit the nail right on the head: “George Bush doesn't care about black people.”

This is an attack upon the very foundations of democracy in America, and it CANNOT be tolerated. Write your Congressman, write your Senator, run through the streets with your hair on fire. Don't let this issue get brushed under the rug by Bushco & the mainstream media. DO NOT allow the right to vote to be taken away. Not in New Orleans, not anywhere. This simple thing, this basic right to express one’s views, to express one’s confidence, or to express one’s displeasure with the status quo, can never be taken for granted, and MUST NEVER be surrendered for any reason. To do so would be to dishonor the memory of all those before us who have fought and died to guarantee us that right.

I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again… America, we need to take our country back. We need to take a stand, and send a message to this administration: Enough already. ENOUGH! We will tolerate the hijacking of our democracy no more. We will no longer allow you to pervert the Constitution to your own selfish ends and forward your evil, corrupt, and fascist agenda. We will no longer sit idly by while you sell our nation’s, our children’s’ future to the highest bidder. We’ve been tolerant and complacent long enough. It's time to get involved. And it’s high time that “We the People” took back the reigns of our nation.

America appears to be suffering an Alzheimer’s moment.

Our collective memory in this country seems to be failing us… on multiple issues.

Remember Katrina?? Remember how thousands of people died and tens of thousands of people were displaced? Remember the federal government’s pathetic response? So, it’s 8 months later… where are we at now? Well, if today’s news is any indication, it looks like the administration is still falling on its face with regard to their response.

Yesterday, 8 months after the storm, the federal government is just releasing its guidelines on rebuilding homes destroyed by Katrina. Just the guidelines. I’d love to find out how much actual progress has been made in the rebuilding efforts. That information doesn’t seem to be reported by the mainstream media these days. It appears they have forgotten about this tragedy as well. (BTW, anyone who has first-hand info on the progress made post Katrina, please comment here, or send me an e-mail.)

Remember the run-up to the war in Iraq?? Remember the ratcheting up of the rhetoric? Remember Colin Powell’s presentation before the UN, presenting the U.S.’s “slam dunk” case that Iraq had WMDs? Remember the fear tactics that the administration used to enlist the coalition of the coerced? Well, events from recent days and weeks are looking eerily similar to the run-up to the debacle known as “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

The ratcheting up of the rhetoric has started. It’s been discovered that war planning for Iran is well underway (including the option to use nuclear weapons). And yesterday, Assistant Sec. of State Stephen Rademaker, said that Iran would be 16 days away from producing a nuclear weapon if they install the 50,000 centrifuges the facility at Natanz can accommodate: "Natanz was constructed to house 50,000 centrifuges…. Using those 50,000 centrifuges they could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in 16 days." Mr. Rademaker obviously went to the “Be afraid, be very afraid” school of diplomacy.

Remember the questionable elections of 2000 & 2004?? Remember the questionable ethics of Katherine Harris in Florida and Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio? Remember the questionable voting machines provided by major Bush campaign contributor Walden O’Dell of Diebold? Remember the disenfranchisement of thousands of Blacks, Hispanics, and the poor?

Do you think anything has changed since then? The network that the Republicans put in place to guarantee their victory is still in place, stronger than ever. Diebold has been given the blessing by Ken Blackwell (who, incidentally is running for Governor in Ohio) to be the ONLY voting machine vendor approved for use in the state. Republican state and federal legislators, as well as representatives from Diebold and other voting machine manufacturers, are vehemently fighting efforts to mandate paper records for electronic voting. There have been recent reports about Diebold technicians making unscheduled visits to election offices to “service” voting machines. Many of these “visits” have occurred when elections supervisors are out of town. “Black Box Voting” is a great website to get more information on electronic voting issues.

We need to remember these things. We need to do everything in our power to make sure that events like these never happen again. We owe it to ourselves, to each other, and to our nation to say “never again”. After all you’ve heard the old adage, “those who forget the past…” Oh, damn, I forget how that one ends.

How many smoking guns do we need?

Once again, the pathological liar who occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has been caught in a lie. Remember those “biolab trailers” that the administration touted as proof positive that Iraq had a covert WMD program? Turns out an expert team, sent by the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency – a contradiction in terms), came to the conclusion that there was no way these trailers could have been used for WMDs. And Bushco knew about it in May of 2003. Here’s a Washington Post article about the report:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041101888.html

Now it seems to me, that given this new development, given the admission by the President that HE was behind the “Plamegate” leak, given the false statements in the state of the union address, given the illegal NSA spying program, given the debacle of a response to Katrina, that this President has some serious explaining to do. Leaking classified information (the NIE wasn’t declassified until 10 days after the leak), knowingly making false statements during a state of the union address, going to war on false pretenses, violating federal law by eavesdropping on Americans, total incompetence in the wake of a national tragedy. Is there any question at this point, that a case can be made for the impeachment of this President?

It’s time we as Americans took action to end the charade that is the Bush administration. Write your Congressman, write your Senator, protest in the streets. We’re finally at a point (I believe) where the issues of abuse of power, deception, incompetence, and illegal activity in this administration have reached critical mass. Even the dye-in-the-wool Bush apologists and blind supporters are starting to shy away from this President. I smell the blood in the water. It’s time to pounce.

Does the Constitution allow for a President to be removed by reason if insanity?

'Cause this guy is certifiable. In a piece by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker magazine, officials inside and outside the administration have confirmed that there have been discussions about using tactical nuclear weapons in air strikes on Iran.

I have just one question for the Bush administration: ARE YOU PEOPLE COMPLETELY INSANE??!!! Does this administration honestly believe that they can solve the problem of Iranian nuclear ambitions BY USING NUCLEAR WEAPONS? Do these people have any idea of what will likely happen if we use nukes in Iran?

First off, our already pathetic image in the rest of the world will hit an all-time low (sort of like the President's poll numbers). Secondly, Iran will retaliate by cutting Hezbollah loose on U.S. interests around the world, including attacks on U.S. soil. Third, Iran will no doubt seek to cause the price of oil to skyrocket to make the U.S. pay for military action against them. And finally, China, who relies on Iran for a good portion of its oil, will likely feel compelled to retaliate against the U.S. as well. If THAT happens, game over.

That's right folks, this administration is willing to risk global war because the Iranians aren't going to fall in line and do what we tell them to do. Dubya is so used to getting what he wants, he's willing to subject the whole world to his temper tantrum. Former first lady Barbara Bush should be smacked for raising such a spoiled brat.

Just say “no” to pork.

And the Democrats did. Too bad the Republican Senate is willing to put special interests before the public interest.

In a testament to how broken things are in Washington, the Senate last week failed to pass the compromise legislation on immigration reform. In a “test” vote to see if the legislation would fly, the measure was defeated 60-38. In his radio address this weekend, President Bush accused Democrats of using “blocking tactics” to prevent the passage of the bill.

Oh really?? Well, lets take a look back at that vote on the bill… 38 “yea” votes, 37 DEMOCRATS, 1 Independent. 60 “nay” votes, 56 REPUBLICANS, 4 Democrats. Sure looks to me like the Republicans were the ones who defeated their own bill. So what were the “blocking tactics” that the Democrats used? They refused to allow nearly 400 amendments to be added to the bill.

Amendments are the Republican Senate’s favorite method for adding “pork” to otherwise beneficial legislation. So for example, a Senator in Kansas (with no borders with a foreign country) can tack a “pet project” onto a “border security” bill. This is how fiascos like the “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska came to be. So when the vote came on Friday to forward this bill to the Senate Judiciary committee, Senate Democrats chose to take a stand and prevent a bill, weighed down with unnecessary amendments, from continuing on as proposed. And the Republicans refused to forward the bill without the amendments attached. The result? The Dems. voted FOR an unadulterated bill, and the Repubs. voted AGAINST their own bill.

Proof positive that the old adage is right on the money: “If the opposite of pro is con, then the opposite of Progress? Congress.”

The NSA spying program… have we only heard the half of it?

In testimony before the House Judiciary committee yesterday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez suggested the possibility that the administration also considered it legal to listen in on a completely domestic call without a warrant if it felt it was related to Al Qaeda. Thus far, the administration has only admitted to warrantless wiretapping of calls where one party was outside the U.S. The Washington Post has a story on this in today’s edition:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040600764.html

My money is on the likelihood that Gonzalez is just “priming the pump”, if you will. I think the administration knows this portion of the NSA program is about to become public, and they want to be “ahead of the story”. Don’t be surprised if you see this story break in the next week or so.

Meanwhile, the silence from the White House is deafening regarding yesterday’s revelation that “Scooter” Libby got authorization to leak a portion of the NIE to Judy Miller (effectively outing Valerie Plame) from President Bush himself, through V.P. Dick Cheney. I figured this would be the logical progression of this case, seeing that Libby had previously been quoted (in testimony) as saying his “superiors” (plural) had given him authorization to leak the information.

Here’s a hint to the conservatives out there… Cut your losses while you can. Get your President & V.P. to resign. If you don’t (which you won’t), and even half of what those of us on the left suspect comes to light (and it will), Republicans won’t even have control of the Capitol janitorial service for the next 50 years. And America will never trust you again.

Some would say, “well, look at Nixon – even after what he did, people still trusted the party.” Big difference here – Pres. Nixon didn’t send 2500 Americans to their death halfway around the world on false pretenses. Nixon didn’t leak classified information just to discredit someone who tried to tell the truth. And Nixon was smart enough, and not so god-damned arrogant to know when the jig was up, and he resigned for the good of his country.

“For the good of his country” is a concept that Bush, Cheney, Rove, Gonzalez, and Rumsfeld just don’t comprehend. And that is what will be their undoing. Because if you cannot be a patriot, then you have no business holding the highest offices in the land. You clowns may not be smart enough to figure that out, but I am quite sure that America is.

Gentlemen, start you nukes… and they’re off!

Looks like dubya is bored with just terrorizing the Middle East, he wants to spread the wealth. In a move prompting the response “you want to do what??” from most rational people, our government has decided to get back into the nuclear weapons business. The United States hasn’t produced a new nuclear weapon since 1989 (ironically, under daddy Bush’s tenure), but Bushco has now announced that they want to gear up to produce 125 nukes a year by 2022. The LA times has a good article on the topic:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nuke6apr06,0,5989419.story?coll=la-home-headlines

How in the hell can we preach non-proliferation around the world and at the same time ADD TO OUR NUCLEAR ARSENAL??? It's as if Bushco hasn't met a hypocrisy it doesn't like!

Here's a clue, numbskull... if we re-start the arms race, China, Russia, N. Korea and Iran will pick up the gauntlet and join us. But that’s okay, now that we’ve inked a deal with India on nukes, maybe they’ll be on our team!

How can these terrorists who call themselves our government spew on about National Security while doing everything in their power to make us (and the world) less secure????

“It Can’t Happen Here” – Well guess what? It is.

Sinclair Lewis’ famous work is as apropos today as it was in 1935. Different regimes, same theme. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, Lewis’ fictional (?) novel is about fascism taking over America. Here’s a synopsis of the book by one Amazon.com reviewer:

“Surprisingly, Sinclair Lewis' darkly humorous tale of a fascist takeover in the US, "It Can't Happen Here," is not merely out-of-print, but also quite hard to find. As dated as it is (1935), its themes will be quite familiar to Americans today. It starts with the highly contested election of an oafish yet strangely charismatic president, who talks like a "reformer" but is really in the pocket of big business, who claims to be a home-spun "humanist," while appealing to religious extremists, and who speaks of "liberating" women and minorities, as he gradually strips them of all their rights. One character, when describing him, says, "I can't tell if he's a crook or a religious fanatic." After he becomes elected, he puts the media - at that time, radio and newspapers - under the supervision of the military and slowly begins buying up or closing down media outlets. William Randolph Hearst, the Rupert Murdoch of his times, directs his newspapers to heap unqualified praise upon the president and his policies, and gradually comes to develop a special relationship with the government. The president, taking advantage of an economic crisis, strong-arms Congress into signing blank checks over to the military and passing stringent and possibly unconstitutional laws, e.g. punishing universities when they don't permit military recruiting or are not vociferous enough in their approval of his policies. Eventually, he takes advantage of the crisis to convene military tribunals for civilians, and denounce all of his detractors as unpatriotic and possibly treasonous.”

Sound familiar? It should. The current administration’s approach to the economy, national security, religion, human rights, organized labor, corporate power, etc., are all eerily similar to past fascist regimes, fictional AND real.

A political scientist by the name of Dr. Laurence W. Britt, has studied several fascist regimes from the past, including Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Franco’s Spain, among others. He identified 14 characteristics of fascism, which he published in the Spring 2003 edition of “Free Inquiry” magazine. Here are the 14 characteristics:

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.

The “Patriot Act”, “God Bless America” at every ball game, Flags everywhere, etc.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.

Guantanimo Bay. Need I say more?

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.

Terrorists, Democrats, Liberals, Intellectuals, Gays, Immigrants, take your pick.

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.

“Support the troops”, U.S. Military spending at an all-time high, including expenditures not approved by Congress.

5. Rampant sexism.

Abortion rights (or lack thereof), inequality in pay, “Traditional family values” Translation – Mom should be at home with the kids.

6. A controlled mass media.

Fox (faux) News, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. Here’s a hint: Corporate control STILL means control. Just take a look at which party the execs. from these corporations are contributing to.

7. Obsession with national security.

“Patriot Act”, Dept. of Homeland Security, NSA spying program, etc.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.

“Faith-based initiatives”, Famous Bush quote: “There’s a higher father”, Robertson, Fallwell, etc.

9. Power of corporations protected.

Enron, Halliburton, The Carlyle Group, Diebold, etc.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.

Establishing the Dept. of Homeland Security eliminated the collective bargaining rights of 170,000 federal employees. Revoking the federal requirement for overtime pay for an estimated 80 million people.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.

Hollywood is “out of touch” with mainstream America, reduction in funding for the arts, etc.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment.

Bush’s record on capital punishment in Texas. Need I say more?

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.

This one speaks for itself.

14. Fraudulent elections.

Katherine Harris, Kenneth Blackwell, Diebold. Need I say more?


Americans are deluding themselves if they think that the similarities here are mere coincidence. The fact is, we ARE dealing with fascism in America. Institutionalized fascism. We can try to rationalize it all we want, we can attempt to explain it away, and we can simply ignore it. Or, we can do something about it before it’s too late.

We CAN take our country back, but we must act quickly to do it. Mark my words, the next major crisis this nation faces, whether it be another terrorist attack, a financial calamity, or a major military conflict, will be all that is necessary to impose total fascist control of our country. Bush & Co. are just itching to turn the thumbscrews that last little bit.

America must organize and mobilize to thwart the current perversion of our Democratic system. More than anything else, organized labor needs to step up to the plate. The unions in this country seem to be the only remaining organized force with enough power and clout to pose a serious threat to the entrenched fascist regime that calls itself our government. Organizations like Moveon.org need to spend more time on the “big picture”, rather than focused issues, and help to educate America as to exactly what’s going on in our country.

And average Americans need to quit being so fat, dumb, and happy. Quit the complacency. “Well, it’s not so bad”. YES IT IS. “We’re still a free country.” NO, WE’RE NOT. “It can’t happen here." YES, IT ALREADY HAS.

“ABC” should stand for “Another Bush Calamity”

A recent report released by the GAO, is critical of the Bush administration’s insistence that the majority of the funds for their global AIDS program be used on “Abstinence only” and “Fidelity” programs. The GAO concluded that efforts to adhere to the program’s “ABC” strategy, “abstinence until marriage, being faithful thereafter, and using condoms in high-risk sexual encounters” was diverting money from other vital AIDS relief efforts. Of the 15 countries reviewed in the report, 9 of them reduced the amount of money for programs aimed at preventing mother to child transmission of HIV in their ‘06 budgets, so as to meet the spending target for abstinence promotion. “In perhaps the largest adjustment, one country cut from $8 million to $4 million its spending on prevention services for couples in which one person has HIV infection and the other doesn't -- an extremely high-risk group -- as well as on sexually active youths and sex workers.” – from today’s S.F. Chronicle.

Here’s a clue numbskull… You can't legislate morality, and you can't force your morality on other cultures. You can't criminalize "sin", you can only criminalize crime. And you can't deny basic human nature. Period.

"Abstinence only" programs WILL NEVER WORK. Period. They DON'T work in this country, so what makes us think we can shove them down the throat of another culture?

If Bushco doesn't care about, and doesn't want to provide funding for AIDS programs, fine. Then be honest about it and say as much. But how can these right-wing-nutjobs force people in the third world to adhere to their extremely narrow, puritanical, prudish beliefs on sex??

Next thing you know, they'll be telling the people of New Orleans "We'll provide you with hurricane relief, but first you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior." It may sound like an exaggeration, but morally speaking, the analogy is identical. They're immorally placing a "morality" condition on doing the right thing. Yeah, that's a real "Christian" approach.

What do I call the resignation of the former House Majority Leader?

A good start. And no doubt the first in a series of dominos to fall thanks to the best friend that the American political system has had in a long time… Jack Abramoff. Yes indeed, after months of scandals and indictments, Mr. DeLay has finally read the writing on the wall and has announced he will resign from Congress. Of course, in typical Republican style, DeLay made it a point to “spin” the issues behind his decision.

"I refuse to allow liberal Democrats an opportunity to steal this seat with a negative personal campaign". Excuse me? “Steal this seat”?? Did it ever occur to you, Congressman DeLay, that your constituents might not look too favorably on money laundering, gerrymandering, and bribery? Sorry Tom, you can’t pin this one on the Dems. You did this to yourself. Deal with it.

And of course, in typical Republican style, the Bush administration decided to “spin” their reaction to Mr. DeLay’s decision. "Congressman DeLay has been a good ally whom the president has worked very closely with." Yeah, with friends like that, who needs Abu Ghraib, or Plamegate, or Katrinagate, or WMDgate, or an opposition party for that matter? Really dubya, you sure you still want to cozy up to this guy? I mean he’s so radioactive, you can see the glow a mile away. Oh well, suit yourself.

And in an unnecessary attempt to improve his chances of winning the “Bonehead of the Year” award, Rep. DeLay has actually suggested that he might want to become a lobbyist. That he might be able to accomplish more outside of Congress than within. Well Mr. DeLay, your buddy Jack Abramoff has had a great deal of experience as a lobbyist, why don’t you ask him how that’s working out for him?

This is the beginning folks. As Abramoff continues to sing, more crooks will continue to tumble. Consider it Darwin’s theory of natural selection being applied to the American political scene.

A nuclear Iran is no doubt a serious global threat…

But then again, the U.S. with nukes is a serious global threat. As is Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Gr. Britain, France, Israel, N.Korea, etc...etc...etc.

I think the United States must be EXTREMELY careful in acting unilaterally against Iran. We are talking about a country with a very effective and well-established human intelligence network. Not to mention that Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are at their beck and call. I would say it is extremely likely that the U.S. would be targeted for a terrorist attack in the event of any unilateral military action against Iran on our part.

Having said that, I think the real threat of a nuclear Iran is to Israel, not the U.S. (other than the threat to our country's drug of choice - oil) It's likely that Israel also has better intelligence than we do on the extent and location of Iran's nuclear facilities.

My bet is that when Israel deems that the Iranian nuclear program has gone too far, they will act themselves to attempt to put an end to it, and won't ask us for permission. Will this start a full-scale military conflict in the region? Probably. Will it start WWIII? Possibly. But I would like to believe that cooler heads would prevail.

Whatever the outcome of the situation in Iran, I find it highly hypocritical for the U.S., or quite frankly any of the current nuclear powers, to lecture Iran or any other country on non-proliferation. How can we tell other countries not to develop nuclear weapons when we are taking absolutely no serious steps to reduce our own nuclear arsenals?

Friends don't let friends vote for Mike DeWine.

There are so many reasons not to send this guy back to the U.S. Senate. A brief look at Sen. DeWine’s legislative record should be more than enough for most rational people to come to this conclusion.

Here’s a man who has proposed legislation to “suspend temporarily the duty on” 9 different chemicals that the U.S. imports. This seems to be a very common practice among Senate and House Republicans. I’ve looked at the Congressional record, and while I haven’t looked at all of the 540 pieces of legislation from the 109th Congress that involve this practice, every single one that I have looked at (about 100), was proposed by a Republican. Obviously, suspending the duty (or tariff) on an item makes it cheaper to import it into the U.S. This of course is a benefit to any company who would prefer to import cheap alternatives to U.S. products. Now, really, is there any question as to whose pockets Sen. DeWine and many other Republicans are in?

Senator DeWine, in 2003 & 2004, co-sponsored legislation to add a Constitutional Amendment to outlaw the desecration of the United States flag. Now I’m not the flag-burning type. I never have burned one, and I likely never will. But I recognize, as should all Americans, that it is a citizen’s right, to exercise their FIRST AMENDMENT rights, by burning the U.S. flag in protest. And quite frankly, if the sanctity and stability of our nation is threatened by the mere burning of a piece of cloth, then we’ve got much bigger problems than outlawing flag burning.

And let’s not forget S.2455, the “Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006”, in which Sen. DeWine is attempting to change the law to make President Bush’s breaking the law more palatable. And this is the part of this legislation I love:

“SEC. 8. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS.

(a) Establishment of Offense- Chapter 37 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 798A the following new section:

`Sec. 798B. Unauthorized disclosure of information on surveillance programs

`(a) In General- Any covered person who intentionally discloses information identifying or describing, whether in whole or in part, electronic surveillance authorized by section 2 of the Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006, or any other information relating to the Terrorist Surveillance Program under that Act or any program of surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) to any individual not authorized to receive such information shall be fined not more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.”

So basically, Mr. DeWine is trying to make sure that when the government undertakes a questionable surveillance program again, nobody can talk about it, especially the media. This way, that inconvenient little thing known as THE TRUTH won’t embarrass Sen. DeWine’s beloved President again. Fifteen years and $1 million fine. Pretty steep. I wonder what the penalty is for violating the FISA law in the first place?? I’m sure White House counsel knows what that is.