Are You a Neocon?

...Well, Are You? This quiz will help you find out.

My result? It said that I am a...

I just liked this one so much I thought I would share 8^)

Bush couldn't have done any worse

If George W. Bush had sat down and deliberately planned to endanger the future security of the nation, to diminish our standing in the world, to empty the national coffers, to raise oil prices, and to imperil the lives of all Americans, both at home and abroad, for generations to come, he couldn't succeeded more completely. The simple fact is this: short of doing something completely unimaginable, like starting a nuclear war or invading Mecca, George W. Bush COULD NOT HAVE DONE ANY WORSE for the United States.

I couldn't agree more.

Think about it: When Bush started his presidency, Iraq was a stable secular Sunni nation that posed no threat to the security of the United States. It even supplied America with 712,000 barrels per day of oil, which the United States purchased via third-party countries like Russia and China. And when this Iraq debacle is finally over, what will be left? At best, Iraq will be a fundamentalist Shiite theocracy that will quickly ally itself with neighboring Shiite Iran, and almost certainly become an enemy of the United States. At worst, it will become a failed state, something like Afghanistan after the Russians left, an open sore in the Middle East, where America's enemies come from all over the world to train in Al Qaeda-run terrorist training camps.

This should be obvious to anyone who has been watching the situation in Iraq. As Larry C. Johnson, a former Deputy Director of the U.S. State Department's Office of Counter Terrorism, pointed out in an article on Davidcorn.com recently, victory for the Bushies now entails suppressing the Sunni-led insurgency long enough so that the Shiite-dominated parliament can form something like a stable government. Put more simply, the United States is spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and wasting thousands of young American lives, so that it can construct another fundamentalist Islamic state in the heart of the Middle East.

Do you see what this means for the country? If Bush 'succeeds,' he will have constructed a future enemy state. If he fails, he will have constructed the world's largest terrorist training camp. Is this not a tragicomic spectacle of truly historic proportions? Can you not hear the derisive laughter howling from all corners of the world, as the enemies and critics of the United States savor the spectacle of this ignorant boy-king single-handedly reversing the fortunes of this great country?

And, as Johnson pointed out, the Bushies cannot and will not commit sufficient resources to defeat the Sunni-led insurgency. Thus, it seems that the second of the two alternatives is the inevitable outcome: Bush will have spent close to a trillion dollars to create another failed state in the Middle East ˆ a terrorist training camp for decades to come.

And, more importantly, in the process, he will have provided the rationale for generations of future terrorists to train there and to commit untold atrocities against Western targets. For you would have to be comatose to miss the truly historic implications of the pictures which surfaced from Abu Ghraib, and the stories of desecration of the Koran in Guantanamo Bay (both of which were caused directly by Bush's actions and words). George W. Bush HAS LITERALLY SIGNED THE DEATH WARRANTS OF THOUSANDS, EVEN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF WESTERNERS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DECADES. He has plunged the West into a permanent state of war with Islam from which it cannot escape, however hard future politicians may try.

This truly historic blunder (although this seems like a far too mild word) might be excusable if there was some acceptable rationale for invading Iraq. But, there was none. The Bushies only ever had one goal in invading Iraq: OIL. That is, Oil, Israel and Land (as in bases). This was all clearly spelled out in The Project for the New American Century's manifesto titled 'Rebuilding America's Defenses,' published in 2000 (and signed by the chief architects of the invasion: Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld). Thus, the entire invasion was based on lies and deceit. This catapults the blunder to an entirely different level. It was a disastrous and COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY blunder. English lacks the proper word to describe a failure of this nature and magnitude.

If you subscribe to an apocalyptic version of Christianity, in which you believe that the end is near, and may even be hastened by bringing to pass Armageddon, then perhaps this is not such an alarming prospect. For everyone else, this is the worst possible news. For Bush has Israelized the entire West: We will now live in a world where crossing every border is a humiliating ordeal of searches and interrogation; where our public places are patrolled with men bearing machine guns; and where hundreds or thousands of us are subject to instant death at a moment's notice.

In short, if Bush had purposely set out to do as badly as possible for United States and the world, he simply could not have done any worse.

Mission accomplished indeed.

Indeed.

Spilled Milk

I'm tired of talking about it, but I'm writing this post anyway. The United States had NO BUSINESS invading Iraq. Are there really people out there who still think otherwise? I don't want to unilaterally pull troops out of there - at this point that would do more harm than good - but I want EVERYONE to admit it was a terrible, idiotic mistake, and I want Bush fired. Get a real leader at the helm of this country. PLEASE!!!

The credible argument against Bush's reasons for turning his back on the UN and world opinion to invade Iraq is that all of them - each and every reason - could be applied to numerous other countries. It seems rather "convenient" that Iraq was the one out of at least a dozen nations that Bush chose to invade. It made it look conspicuously like he had ulterior motives - which the Halliburton thing further exasperated.

Weapons of mass destruction? Do we even need to go there?? Like I said, that litmus test could be applied to NUMEROUS other countries including Pakistan and North Korea. On top of that, IRAQ DIDN'T HAVE ANY WMD, just like the UN told us!

Al Qaeda training camps? What about Pakistan, Iran, England, the United States, Egypt, & Saudi Arabia? They've all got them too. We could go on and on discrediting every solitary reason Bush had for going in there. The bottom line is, the only logical motive for invading had to be his oil interests, and probably because he had a vendetta to fulfill since his daddy went in. It's that simple. It's not a leftist conspiracy theory, it's not communist propaganda, it is just common sense - something that has become virtually extinct in our federal government.

This is the type of "leadership" Bush has shown throughout his presidency in almost all matters. He cannot lead effectively because his administration is filled with Bush family corporate cronies and he has an overwhelming sense of entitlement and foolish pride.

We're seeing more and more true conservatives turn their back in disgust at this administration because they see Bush & Co. only stand for corruption and indifference. If only the dems could have put a more realistic alternative up in last year's election (instead of "Bush Lite"). Maybe then we would be seeing a modicum of change right now instead of more of the same. Regardless of whether you voted for the man or not, the entire country should join most of the rest of the world in feeling betrayed and left behind by this administration of jackals. If only partisan loyalty wasn't so strong, then we would probably stand a chance of impeaching this monster and getting someone with morals that aren't mere sound bites and lip service. I am a proud American, and as such I hang my head in shame of our leadership. With any luck, when we look back at the debacle of George W. Bush's eight years in office, we will be so appalled that we start to embrace diplomacy and strive for real world peace, instead of acting through short-sightedness, fear and greed. With any luck we'll get a person with integrity in office. Wouldn't that be nice for a change?

Now he wants Americans to conserve energy

Interesting that after saying he won't budge on tax cuts or on the highway bill that has enough fat in it to rebuild the entire Gulf Coast, George Bush now wants Americans to conserve energy. Is he serious?

New Orleans: The Project of the New American Century

This article in the Boston Globe today discusses how the reconstruction of New Orleans will be grounded on conservative principles. Among them are school vouchers, waiving the prevailing wage law, and weakening clean-air laws. The reason they use is to rebuild the city as fast as possible. There is a lot wrong with this whole approach. Firstly, there is no reason that rebuilding New Orleans should be a rush job. Of course, it is important to get the people back to their home city, but rushing such a massive reconstruction unlike any we have seen in recent memory would leave far too much room for careless errors. Democrats argue Republicans are using the reconstruction effort as a political opportunity, which seems to be the case if they want to do this as quickly as possible, as opposed to doing it as diligently as possible to ensure the safety and prosperity of the city once it is resurrected. As for school vouchers, say what you will. It would divert money from public schools, but this is a reconstruction, and honestly, I am willing to see something different tried here. However, weakening clean-air standards is a bad move. The city is already in a state of pollution with oil from cars and homes floating around the streets, dead bodies, waste and trash floating in the streets for days as well. Within days the city became a giant cesspool. It will take a massive environmental cleanup before that city could ever inhabit people again; I cannot understand how lowering environmental regulations can be any part of the solution here. Nor is repealing the prevailing wage law. I would imagine that it will take many people from the area working to rebuild their city. These people should be given hope and they should be inspired to partake in what could be quite possibly the greatest reconstruction we will ever have witnessed in our lifetime. If Bush is so hellbent on sticking to his idelogy and not doing what is truly best for the people, let him. Surely the media will let him have it, they love to do that. But I would issue a moral challenge, if you will, to any contractor who partakes in this: pay all of their workers at least $3 more than the minimum wage. Since Lousiana does not have a set minimum wage, let us set the threshold at $8.15- the federal minimum wage is $5.15. What is wrong with giving the people a respectable wage? Surely these contractors will be getting more money than they will know what to do with from the government.
While the Republicans are optimistic and are bringing forth ideas about the city's reconstruction, those are some of the things I wish they would do differently. Everyone should set aside their ideology and do what is best for the people of New Orleans. An example of what that is not is Rick Santorum; when he says that the city's conditions were a result of liberal policies, he contributes to everything that this should NOT be about. The people already know that they cannot count on him for anything other than him saying something ridiculous and he has rapidly become the mellowed-out version of Howard Dean. As for the Democrats, instead of just disagreeing with the Republicans and throwing accusations, they need to bring forth some of their ideas, they have yet to be heard. There really is a lot to be proven here; a majority of the people in this country lack faith in our government. While we have been trying overzealously to be the leading example in the world, our government has been rendered the ultimate challenge: to prove to its own people that they can actually work together and provide for the common good. They need to rally the country around this project, be optimistic, do not be so quick to issue blame but be quick to offer solutions. With that, perhaps we will regain some respect and credibility in the world. New Orleans is more than the reconstruction of a city or a study in geography, it is America's incomplete metaphor for the 21st century. Through this ordeal and project, the people will see the direction we are truly headed in. This is so incredibly difficult and unlike anything I will ever see in my lifetime, save for the tsunami. But if we cannot ultimately take care of our own and help them get their lives back together, how can we try and fix problems all over the world? Not just America, but the entire world, will be watching.

Freedom Isn't Free

You know the pro-war movement is in trouble when they turn to Trey Parker for their slogans...

Broussard is one of the good guys

Jefferson Parish President Broussard appeared for the second time on Meet the Press since Hurricane Katrina. He really does speak from the heart and he was convincing in his defense of comments he made during his first appearance criticizing the federal response. Once it's available take the time to read Broussard's comments.

America's Fun-est Family

Apparently, Jeb Bush's son was arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest. Thank goodness! That means he is well-qualified to follow in the grand, time-honored traditions of the Bush Crime Family: Look at the shoes he's got to fill. Everything from run-of-the-mill white collar crime to full-blown treason. Hoo, boy! That's a tall legacy to follow! Why, even the other Bush kids are already accomplished criminals! He's got a lot of catching up to do! Go get 'em, Johnny!

Back with a Vengeance

Okay, I admit it: I have been in a hell of a slump for weeks. I've hardly written anything, and hardly done any commenting on your fine blogs... what the hell is wrong with me?

Well, for one thing, this stuff, current events and all that, is just so overwhelmingly depressing. I live in a world dominated by heartless, murderous liars. They control it, and they're going to keep on controlling it. Republicans. Democrats. Corporate whores at every level. Completely immoral and unethical. Their only goal is to obtain more money and power for themselves. They lie, cheat, steal, and kill to achieve their goals.

Honestly, I don't know which is worse: The devils I've just described, or the blind fools who sustain them. Case in point: the news medias' constant chatter about Bush's popularity dropping in the polls. What!? Since when does popular opinion matter to Bush and the neocons? They do whatever they want, and when election time comes, no matter what the polls say, no matter who votes for whom, they install themselves in office through litigation and vote fraud. Polls? Fuck the goddamn polls! Why not report about the fucking fraudulent elections that have demolished the last vestiges of democracy from this country!?

I swear, the supporters of these world leaders remind me of the poor, sick, sad souls who fall in love with incarcerated serial killers and send marriage proposals to them. If my own eyes and ears are to be believed, then most people in the world want to be abused; physically, psychologically, morally, everything; horribly. Those of us who don't want to abuse or be abused are taunted and subjected to derision, and told we are ignorant, and crazy. "Tin foil hat." "Take your meds." The same old tired taunts are dragged out time and again. We are the misfits because we can see that the emperor wears no clothes, while the supporters of these monsters revel in their Freudian orgy of appeasement of their masters.

As I said, I just became overwhelmed, for the last few weeks, with the madness of it all. Madness that would not be believed if it were portrayed as a story; it is so outrageous. Yet it happens. Again and again and again. And almost everyone loves it. And I go a little more mad each day.

I'm sorry it took me so long to get back in the saddle. But, as story came along that seemed like a good one to get back with, so I just had to write about it. It is the current goings on surrounding the ruling that the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional.

Ha! Ha ha ha ha HA! Lets begin with a bit of history, shall we? Did you know that the pledge of allegiance was written by a socialist!? Hah! Is that a hoot or what? Dig this, truthseekers (the boldface emphasis is mine):

Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. In his Pledge, he is expressing the ideas of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of the American socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).

Francis Bellamy in his sermons and lectures and Edward Bellamy in his novels and articles described in detail how the middle class could create a planned economy with political, social and economic equality for all. The government would run a peace time economy similar to our present military industrial complex.

The author of the pledge of allegiance was a proponent of a government-run planned economy, the very antithesis of the free market conservatives champion? Ha ha ha ha ha! There's more:

In 1954, Congress, after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, added the words, 'under God,' to the Pledge. The Pledge was now both a patriotic oath and a public prayer.

Bellamy's granddaughter said he also would have resented this second change. He had been pressured into leaving his church in 1891 because of his socialist sermons. In his retirement in Florida, he stopped attending church because he disliked the racial bigotry he found there.

So, these holy-rolling (and holier-than-thou) religious fanatics who want to force little kids to pray in school want the pope to control the way Americans voice their support for their country!? That is what they consider true-blue American: Papal sanction of patriotic loyalty!

Henry VIII didn't like that sort of thing, and neither do I. I'm glad that judge ruled that the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional. As long as "under God" remains in it, it is a prayer. Take it OUT of public schools!

Changing leadership not enough

Although the resignation of Michael Brown is a positive first step, it does not address the fundamental issue that was a contributing factor to the delayed FEMA response. The president needs to pull FEMA out of the Department of Homeland Security, increase its budget, and promote the agency to the cabinet level.

A couple of quotes

On Judge Roberts.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York: "If you answer important questions forthrightly and convince me that you are a jurist in the broad mainstream, I'll be able to vote for you."

Virginia Republican Senator John Warner: "I've never seen the credentials of any nominee with stronger qualifications than Judge Roberts."

On Michael Brown

Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman: "I certainly will support your nomination."

Republican Senator Ben Campbell: "I cannot state firmly enough that I believe Michael Brown to be more than qualified to serve FEMA and the people of this country as part of the administration."

Democrats just don't get it.

Uphill Battle

If polls are any indication of public sentiment towards the administration then Bush has a lot of work to do. Even his conservative base appear unhappy with the outcome. No doubt the removal of Brown from the relief operation is a sign of internal acceptance that this event must have consequences. Maybe Bush will be more careful in the future not to promote loyalists. Perhaps he should reconsider Bolton's UN appointment?

Avian Flu

Let's hope the government learns enough from Katrina to ensure we proactively plan for the very real possibility of a flu pandemic. WHO officials have been warning of the potential of an outbreak for the last 12 months, perhaps we will take them seriously. If other countries follow Thailand's lead it may be possible to avoid a substantial loss of life.

FEMA Chief, Over Qualified?

Some may claim that FEMA director Michael Brown is over qualified for his current position. After all, he had been commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association for 11 years before joining FEMA in 2001. One more thing, he didn't voluntarily leave his job with the IAHA, he was fired.

Compassionate Conservatism

Barbara Bush speaking about the evacuees in Texas: "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality and so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

After all they poor. The Astrodome must be like a 5 star hotel to those people. It highlights just how dislocated the Bush family is from reality.

One week later

It’s unfortunate that it has taken a catastrophic event to solidify public opinion against an incompetent US administration. Early last week headlines claimed “This is our tsunami”. Besides the insensitivity of the comparison to a disaster that affected 11 countries and has conservatively killed more 200,000 people, it has not been in any way similar. Response to the tsunami was swift, the governments accepted international help quickly and food was delivered in hours.

The response to hurricane Katrina has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of people. There are reports of FEMA representatives turning away water, Russian rescue units being denied entry into affected areas, an offer of 1500 Cuban doctors being ignored and an inability to decide where to deploy a mobile hospital resulting in 5 day delay. All while people continue to die. Americans are angry and understandably so.

FEMA has been relegated to an agency within the massive bureaucracy that is the Department of Homeland Security. It was not considered a priority in this age of fighting terrorism. Funding for this agency has been reduced and the leadership is a testament to Bush’s policy of appointing the faithful, not the competent. When the water is pumped out of the city of New Orleans and the bodies are counted Bush will have to take responsibility for a rescue effort he described himself as “unacceptable”.

Many Americans, liberal and conservative, republican and democrat are wondering how their government could fail so miserably.

Bureaucracy still killing people

With all the presssure on FEMA they are still failing to adequately protect the citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi. It's not enough to fire these people, they should be sent to jail.

Update 9/6: Trent Lott identifies ANOTHER example of FEMA incompetence.

Not a time to blur reality with religion

Each day victims of hurricane Katrina proclaim their faith in God and their reliance on prayer as reasons for their survival. Following 9/11 there was a resurgence in religion in the US, driven both by the insecurity of American people and an administration tied closely to the religious right. With the growth of faith-based groups under Bush, Christian charitable organizations will form the backbone of support for Katrina survivors. Religion will play a large role in the recovery of areas destroyed by Katrina and today many Christian priests chose to pray for victims of this tragedy. Muslims have also offered sympathy for the plight of survivors. Alternatively, some Israeli media outlets are claiming that Katrina is the wrath of God brought on by Bush's support for the withdrawal from Gaza. A senior Kuwaiti official wrote a letter claiming that Katrina represented "the wind of Allah" and quoted the Koran as a predictor of future disaster in the US, "The disaster will keep striking the unbelievers for what they have done, or it will strike areas close to their territory, until the promise of Allah comes to pass, for, verily, Allah will not fail in His promise."

A core concept of Judeo-Christian belief is "love thy neighbor as thyself". Does anyone not feel that this country let down the poorest amongst us in Mississippi and Louisiana? Mississippi is the poorest state in the union, New Orleans the poorest city. By ignoring their plight we allowed this catastrophe to occur. We will blame the President, congress, the governor of Louisiana, FEMA and the department of homeland security, but as citizens of the United States and neighbors to the people of Louisiana we should bear some of the responsibility. Instead of turning to God and faith for comfort and security it's time to face some reality. This is a time to push faith aside and embrace a secular debate on poverty and race in this country.

Bush is going to talk a lot about the importance of faith and generosity in the coming weeks. Many Americans will be galvanized by his call to arms and give assistance to survivors. These people will then go on with their lives placated by that self-righteous emotion associated with acts of benevolence. But this isn't enough, not nearly enough. As a population we need to address racism and poverty, the relationship between them and the fundamental causes. This is not a partisan argument they are issues we have to address as a country. Black people were slaves in this country, then they were afforded rights, now they are they poorest amongst us. This issue isn't going away and religion shouldn't be used to blur the debate.

France, Cuba, Venezuela among those offering aid

France, Cuba, Venezuela among those offering aid

Well, what do you know. Countries despised by right-wing America are offering to help us. Countries who have been insulted, ridiculed, and been made the object of derision by the right-wingers, even been the target of American covert subversive intervention, are offering to help us.

Hmm.

Ray Nagin

Everyone should listen to Garland Robinette's radio interview with Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans. It captures the feeling of the people in New Orleans and gives us an insight into the level of frustration with the federal response. I have linked to the transcript, the actual interview is available on cnn.com.

Commander in Chief

President Bush contemplating how he can blame the chaos on a lack of religious education in schools, the liberal elite, politics, Al Qaeda, Saddam or the vast left wing conspiracy.

It's time to make our government accountable for their bullshit. While funding was dropped for projects to strengthen levees around New Orleans, Alaska was getting their $200 million bridge to nowhere. Congress and the administration have these people's blood on their hands.

Down South

I heard this morning that police are no longer participating in the rescue effort in New Orleans and are instead focusing their attention on looters. If that's true it's a horrible mistake. At this point saving people's lives needs to be the number one priority. I watched video of a black woman being arrested for stealing Bacardi 151. I didn't really see the point of arresting her, other than to appease Bill O'Reilly's audience.

On Anderson Cooper's 360 last night he was visibly upset by the slow FEMA response in Mississippi. He had been told that people may have to wait 2 or 3 more days for supplies. He had met people that were not going to last that long. We are now seeing the reason why it is a mistake to send National Guard troops to fight in a war on foreign soil, we need them here.