Every single governor signed a letter stating that Bush is stealing National Guard equipment and putting our country at danger from natural disaster and domestic attacks.
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Category Archives: Polities
You might have heard of the 45-day compromise on the Dubai deal. Here is the fine print:
1) The deal would not be delayed. The management structure is temporarily altered until the review is finished.
2) If the outcome is different (Dubai is denied or the contract changed), Dubai Ports World said it may sue.
3) The administration has already made up their mind. And Bush is the only one who would see the ‘report’ at the end of the review.
The latest Gallup poll finds that 55% of Americans believe the War in Iraq is a mistake. From E&P:
More Americans than nearly ever before now say the war in Iraq is a “mistake” for the United States, according to a new Gallup poll. That figure now stands at 55%, up 4% point since late January. Only once before was the figure higher, at 59%, and that was during the period of overall pessimism right after Hurricane Katrina hit.
Gallup noted that it had asked this question about other wars involving the United States, “and only the Vietnam War engendered more public opposition than the current Iraq War.†The peak opposition to the Vietnam conflict was 61%. That figure for the generally unpopular Korean War was 51%.
As many of you probably know, the situation in Iraq seems to have finally escalated to a civil war. On Wednesday, insurgents destroyed one of Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrines, which in turn brought attacks by Shiites militias on over 90 Sunni mosques. While a curfew has been put in place, the violence continues to this day. Juan Cole does an amazing job explaining all the events of that fateful day, pointing out that there was much more than just attacks on mosques..
Here are some interesting stories related to the outbreak of violence:
– For almost 3 years, Bush has ignored the warnings of Iraqi civil war from congressmen, the security committees, and the CIA.
– William F. Buckley, the founder of the conservative magazine Nation Review, stated last Thursday that “One can’t doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed.â€
– There are now zero Iraqi battalions capable of operating without U.S. support. That’s right. The Pentagon announced that the one battalion that was capable of operating self-sufficiently has been downgraded. This is down from 3 of 100 reported last June. Check out the Daily Show from last October.
– Conservative columnist George Will: “This is a civil war.â€
– – And only on FOX News: “All-Out Civil War in Iraq: Could It Be a Good Thing?†No. Probably not.
Here a few more interesting items on Cheney, his alcohol, and his gun:
Cheney has a history of drunk driving.
Cheney’s victim gave his first public statement yesterday. His doctors say he is doing fine. Why then did he say the accident happened on Friday when Cheney said it happened on Saturday?
Apparently, the Bush administration looks the other way for terrorists willing to give the United States money. They have now outsourced the operation of six of our country’s largest ports to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). If approved, Dubai Ports World, managed by the UAE government, would control the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami, and Philadelphia for $6.8 billion. Here are some known facts about the UAE:
– The UAE was one of three countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
– The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Lybia.
– According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system.
– After 9/11, the Treasury Department reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden’s bank accounts.
So, let me get this right. They recognized the government helping the 9/11 terrorists, transferred money to those same terrorists, will not help us find said terrorists, and aided Iran in possibly assembling nuclear weapons? I am thinking it probably does not sound like a great idea to give them control over key entry points into our country or ever really do any sort of business negotiation. But that’s just me.
Luckily, a 7-member bipartisan group in Congress is calling for a suspension on the approval until the Treasury Department investigates the national security implications of the sale.
A few people have sent this to me. Apparently, Rumsfeld is troubled by our current level of technological ability in the war on terrorism. From Reuters:
The United States lags dangerously behind al Qaeda and other enemies in getting out information in the digital media age and must update its old-fashioned methods, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday.
Modernization is crucial to winning the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide who are bombarded with negative images of the West, Rumsfeld told the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Pentagon chief said today’s weapons of war included e-mail, Blackberries, instant messaging, digital cameras and Web logs, or blogs.
“Our enemies have skillfully adapted to fighting wars in today’s media age, but … our country has not adapted,” Rumsfeld said.
The sad thing is that Rumsfeld lack of technological ability has been reprimanded because of his domestic response to hurricane Katrina. It turns out that he does not even use e-mail.
When it came to documentation of how Secretaries Michael Chertoff and Donald Rumsfeld responded to Katrina, however, congressional investigators got a different answer from the administration. The House committee established to investigate Katrina was “informed that neither Secretary Chertoff nor Secretary Rumsfeld use e-mail,†reported Reps. Charlie Melancon and William Jefferson, two Louisiana Democrats who participated in the inquiry despite a boycott by other House Democrats who felt that the inquiry was too partisan. The Democrats made the disclosure in a report attached as an appendix to a widely publicized investigative report released today by the Republican majority which led the House Katrina investigation.
What is that about talking the talk and walking the walk? I am sure it is comforting to know that most second graders have a stronger grasp on internet communications than our Secretary of Defense.
Last Tuesday, the Ohio Board of Education voted 11-4 to remove science standards and lesson plans that encourage students to seek evidence for and against evolution. The critics of the material believed it was an open door to teach intelligent design, a fancy word for Christian creationism. Marth Wise, a critic of the material, stated “It is deeply unfair to the children of this state to mislead them about science.â€
It is good to see that our school administrators are willing to see intelligent design advocates’ true motives to push faith and Christianity. This seems to be greatly due to the U.S. District Judge Jones’ ruling against intelligent design/creationism in Dover, Pennsylvania, schools. He described Dover’s policy as “breathtaking inanity†and stated that the six-week trial illustrated that intelligent design “is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory.â€
Jones stated:
(The Dover policy) singles out the theory of evolution for special treatment, misrepresents its status in the scientific community, causes students to doubt its validity without scientific justification, presents students with a religious alternative masquerading as a scientific theory, directs them to consult a creationist text as though it were a science resource and instructs students to forgo scientific inquiry in the public school classroom and instead to seek out religious instruction elsewhere.
I am glad that our board is standing up for the educational standards of our science classes. Now, if only they would stand up to this.
From J-Luv:
This is appalling in the face of the 2007 proposed budget cuts. Small
snippet quoted below.
Bush Administration Spent $1.6B on ‘Propaganda’ Efforts
The study, requested by the House of Representatives Democratic leadership, found that from 2003 to mid-2005, the administration racked up some $1.4 billion in contracts with advertising agencies to broadcast positive messages about its policies and initiatives. Another $200 million went to public-relations companies, and $15 million were spent building connections with media outlets. Individual members of the press received a total of $100,000 in promotional contracts.
George Gongora, a photographer for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and avid quail hunter, simulated the impact of Cheney’s shotgun on his victim. You can read the article and watch the video. (via ThinkProgress)