Cheney: The Sequel
Ah geez. You almost feel sorry for these guys. The Cheney shooting story is gonna have a second week.
Or more. There’s always a chance that the administration will do something else stupid to pump even more life into this dreadful story. I mean, they tried pretty hard to do so on Sunday when they set loose Mary Matalin on Meet The Press. I couldn’t watch more than 15 minutes of Tim Russert groveling before Cheney’s personal witch before I ran off screaming to comfort myself by feeding my Siamese fighting fish. I’ll leave the dissection of this fearsome twosome to my pal Arianna.
The Republicans, of course, are all in a fit. It’s all about David Gregory and the wild-eyed media liberals playing out their secret anti-Bush agenda. We know, however, there are other factors that are keeping the heart of this story beating (no pun intended). How about Bush stuck at a 40% approval rating and Dark Dick still submerged at 29%? I suck in math, but even I can figure out that means less than 3 of 10 Americans approve of the Veep’s job performace. So, heck, if I owned a big magazine or TV network, I’d sure be doing what I could to beat the stuffing out of the guy. Easy money, as we say over at the craps tables.
One thing about this story I can’t quite figure out. Time magazine talks about the hunting faux pas “stalling what momentum the president may have had.†And the White House itself is whining about it being time to get back to the people’s business. But did I miss something here? What exactly is the President’s political agenda right now anyway? I wasn't aware that there was anything to stall out.
If I were Bush, I’d be sort of quietly happy that the public eye remains on Dazzling Dick. Where would they prefer we be looking this week? At the new set of Abu Ghraib photos that slipped right away into the memory hole? Or on congressional scuttling of ethics reform? Or would they prefer we focus on radical Islamic cleric Moqtada El Sadr emerging as Big Man on the Iraqi Campus? There might be time to ponder the White House stonewalling on the NSA probe. Or maybe this little farce of a Bushie ommission? If I were consulting for this administration I’d tell ‘em to get Dick back out there shootin’it up again as soon as I could.
Â
February 20th, 2006 at 6:40 am
Nice list of lousy aspects of Bush policies. You’re absolutely right that Bush & the Reps seem kind of driftless — the Rep base wants earmark- pork reform (=reduction/ elimination), but the Reps in office aren’t so keen on it.
Naturally, par for the Dem course, no attempt at offering realistic alternatives.
If the Dems weren’t almost as big scumbags, personally and financially, as the Reps in office, they’d be all over the airwaves with obvious suggestions of internet reforms with all laws publicized and publically available on the internet.
Probably all US gov’t contracts for non-secret services should have the entire contract on-line, including prices and specifications of services to be provided; and milestone reports.
February 20th, 2006 at 8:40 am
While some people would frame this as the politics of envy, I would frame this as the politics of what fucking century do these people live in?
from : http://tinyurl.com/nc5rt
“Kenedy County, among the last Texas counties formed, was not established until 1921, when Willacy, Cameron, and Hidalgo counties were reorganized. The stated reason for the county’s formation was the considerable distance to the county seats of the other counties. But perhaps more important was the attempt of ranching interests to stave off the growing power of farmers who were beginning to develop the Rio Grande valley. The new county seat was established at Sarita, where John G. Kenedy, son of the founder of the King Ranch, had built his headquarters. Since that time the county has changed little. Although Kenedy County was a ranching area from the advent of the Spanish to the early 1990s, there have never been more than twenty-five ranches in the county, and most of the land still remains in the hands of the Armstrong, King, Kenedy, and Yturria interests. In 1930 there were thirteen ranches in Kenedy County, with an average size of 61,500 acres. By 1945, after several consolidations, there were only seven ranches, averaging 70,130 acres.
[snip]
The same families that helped Mifflin Kenedy and Richard King to build their empires continue to work on the ranches. In Kenedy County locals are still sometimes identified as Kiñenos and Kenedanos, as workers at the King or Kenedy ranches. These individuals are tied to those ranches by generations of tradition, and as late as the 1990s their lives had changed little. Until very recently most Kiñenos and Kenedanos were uneducated; only 15 percent of the population over twenty-five had received a high school education in the mid-1970s. There was little opportunity for economic advancement, and many county residents stayed on the ranch for their entire lives. Traditionally the children of these individuals, boys especially, were encouraged to train in specific ranching techniques and take over their parents’ roles. This system provided a constant labor supply for the ranches and helped to control wages to the benefit of the ranches’ owners. This pattern began to change in the later twentieth century, but income and adult education levels in the county remained among the lowest in the state. “
February 20th, 2006 at 9:44 am
“with all laws publicized and publically available on the internet.”
They are.
February 20th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Marc—there was so much to talk about last week in Washington, besides DICK’S buffoonery—here is an essay I wrote about some of the latest “crap†that hit the fan.
RED WHITE AND BLUE; NOT OWNED BY YOU!
There are so many myths bandied about—myth one–China is a communist country—NO, NO, NO IT IS A CAPITALIST/DICTATORSHIP—myth two globalization will help to create democracies in other countries —NO, NO, NO globalization just means imperialism, one country occupies another for its resources and cheap labor—third myth—U.S. Workers and the U.S. economy will benefit from globalization—NO, NO, NO IF YOU BELIEVE THIS MYTH, YOU MUST ALSO BELIEVE THAT 1 + 1= 3!
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 19 Feb 2006:
$ 8,246,576,254,977.39
The estimated population of the United States is 298,568,137
so each citizen’s share of this debt is $27,620.42.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$2.21 billion per day since September 30, 2005!
The effect of globalization on the U.S. economy is seen in our soaring deficit which is created by increased imports and diminished exports. The U.S. Federal Reserve hides this mess with their ENRON accounting techniques–they balance our U.S. checkbook by only counting deposits; the paltry amount of goods exported and neglects counting our withdrawals–the staggering amount of goods the U.S. Imports.
By the time our debt explodes into a “million little pieces†or lies our devastated economy will substantially damage all American workers, and workers in all countries that have been subjected to our exploitative globalization policies.
The U.S. Treasury last Thursday acted to avoid hitting the national debt limit and said it’s “imperative†that Congress raise the debt ceiling by the middle of March. The Treasury is suspending reinvestment in the so-called “G-Fund,” an investment vehicle for a federal employees’ retirement system. The action will free up $65.266 billion, without this action we would reach the debt limit today.
Congress and the Bush administration have been negotiating an increase in the current $8.18 trillion debt limit. On Wednesday Treasury said it would suspend sales of state and local government non-marketable securities.
The U.S. government has “blessed†a sale that gives Dubai control over the operations of six of our busiest ports: New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. “Dubai Ports World†is owned and operated by the government of the United Arab Emirates.
WE ARE IN SO MUCH DEBT THAT THE U.S. WILL NO LONGER BE OWNED BY THE U.S.
Sheik Mohammed ibn Rashid al Maktum, United Arab Emirates Defense Minister and Crown Prince for the emirate of Dubai, often dined with Osama bin Laden. The CIA notes the UAE acts as a nexus of illicit drug “transshipment†and, due to its position as a major financial center, is important to many organizations for their money laundering activities.
If we are giving the United Arab Emirates easy access to one of our soft spots—major American ports; is there really a threat of terrorism or is that just some made-up propaganda to keep us fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So maybe we are not that concerned about security problems if tankers in the port of New York could be shut down for weeks and remove billions from our economy; or if problems in the port of Philadelphia could shut down the port and interrupt material and munitions shipments to our soldiers fighting in Iraq; or if problems with a tanker in the port of New Jersey could halt oil shipments to the New Jersey refineries and send gas prices rocketing upwards. So maybe, the long war on terrorism has ended and nobody in the government thought it was necessary to notify the American people; OR MAYBE WE ARE IN SO MUCH DEBT THAT WE DONâ€T CARE WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM!
THE LITTLE RED BOOK OR IS IT THE BIG DEBT BOOK?
The trade deficit with China, reached $202 billion in 2005, it was responsible for the entire increase in the United States’ non-oil trade deficit. The trade deficit in manufactured products increased $46 billion, to $655 billion (an 8% increase).
Total U.S. imports of goods and services reached $2 trillion in 2005 for the first time, 57% more than the $1.3 trillion in exports. To keep the trade deficit from widening further, the growth rate of exports must exceed the growth rate of imports by 57%. Last year, import growth (13%) exceeded export growth (10%), and imports expanded by $228 billion, almost twice as much as the increase in exports of $120 billion. Net imports as a share of GDP have increased for 10 consecutive years in a row (since 1995). If imports continue to grow at a 13% rate, the trade deficit will decline only if exports grow faster than 20%, which would be double their 2005 growth rate. In the absence of a dramatic and sustained slowdown in U.S. growth, exports can grow more than half again as fast as imports only with a substantial reduction in the value of the U.S. dollar.
The dollar must fall by at least an additional 30% to 40%, or more, to achieve the needed increase in export growth relative to imports. Imports grow rapidly and export growth slows when the dollar is increasing in value. Increases in the value of the dollar make imports cheap and U.S. exports more expensive on world markets. When the dollar appreciates, the rate of growth of imports typically surpasses the growth of exports. Deficits can also be reduced by large, sustained falls in the dollar, as occurred between 1985 and 1991 when the dollar lost 26% of its value, which caused exports to grow faster than imports between 1987 and 1991, resulting in a large decline in the trade deficit.
AND GUESS WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE AMERICAN WORKER? WORKERS WILL HAVE TO WORK LIKE DOGS—THEY WILL PRODUCE MORE AND MORE AND MAKE LESS AND LESS! AND YOU CAN THANK ALL THE POLITICIANS, REPULICANS AND DEMOCRATS ALIKE, WHOSE ECONOMIC POLICIES SINCE THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN SETUP SOLEY TO BENEFIT BIG BUSINESS AND CORPORATE AMERICA!
THE IDEA BEHIND globalization was to make the American worker on par with all other workers internationally, so that eventually your wages and benefits would be similar to workers wages in China and India. Don’t fret this won’t effect the lifestyles of CEO’S, they will still live quite well, but of course, it will be at your expense!
SO WHAT ASSESTS WILL WE SELL TO CHINA? MAYBE THEY ARE INTERESTED IN BUYING THE WHITE HOUSE, THE U.S. CAPITOL OR THE PENTAGON? WHY NOT BUY ALL THE FEDERAL BUILDINGS, SINCE EVERYONE INSIDE OF THEM, HAVE ALREADY SOLD THEIR SOULS TO BIG BUSINESS! LET’S PUBLICLY AUCTION ALL AMERICAN ASSESTS TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER! ISN’T THAT WHAT OUR CURRENT GOVERNMENT BELIEVES ANYWAY, THAT ALL FEDERAL PROGRAMS SHOULD BE PRIVATIZED?
GLOBILIZATION HAS NOT MADE CHINA A DEMOCRACY—IT IS ONE OF THE LARGEST DICTATORSHIPS IN THE WORLD!
This week there were Senate hearings about Google, Yahoo and Microsoft and how they are being used by the Chinese government to suppress Chinese citizens. Most of main stream media was absorbed with Cheney’s hunting mishap, so this news story was swept under the Oval Office carpet.
At a congressional hearing Wednesday in Washington, legislators grilled executives from Google, Yahoo., Microsoft, and Cisco Systems Inc. about their role in helping China filter information or track down those who believe in free speech. Reporters without Borders, a Paris-based advocacy group, say 49 Chinese are known to be in prison for “posting on the Internet articles and criticism of the authorities.” There could be other, unknown cases. Asked at the hearing how many times Yahoo had turned in e-mail users to government authorities, Michael Callahan, a Yahoo lawyer and company executive, said Chinese law prohibited revealing such information—I guess, Michael now works for the Chinese Government.
Yahoo complied with a Chinese demand for e-mail information about journalist Shi Tao, who was convicted for e-mailing information about the government and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. China doesn’t make public the list of pages it blocks or filters, but Internet experts abroad say they number in the tens of thousands.
Most of the cyber-dissidents have been sentenced to jail by the Chinese authorities for posting comments on forums, creating websites, and for sending e-mails overseas. The official Chinese news media have often published reports on the arrest of Web users to impose fear on the Chinese audience. A Shanghai man was sentenced to a four-year jail term for trying to post a critical essay on the website of the People’s Daily. It was a pro-democracy essay on the People’s Daily Web page; there are many people who are in prison for posting things on the Internet.
China estimates that about 110 million of its people are using the Internet, second only to the number of Web users in the United States. But there is a “digital apartheid†that controls what anyone can say on the Chinese Internet. China is the world’s largest prison for journalists and cyber-dissidents. Most authoritarian regimes try to control what their citizens read and do on-line, but China is far and away the world champion. . . . It’s one of the few countries that have managed to block all material critical of the regime, while at the same time expanding Internet facilities.
SO THOSE BILLIONAIRE YUPPIES WHO OWN GOOGLE, MICROSOFT AND YAHOO AND ARE CONSIDERED SO HIP AND SO COOL, DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANTHING EXCEPT THEIR BILLION DOLLAR EMPIRES! THEY LOOK FOR CHEAP RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN CHINESE GRAD SCHOOLS, SO THAT THEY DON’T HAVE TO PAY AMERICAN WORKERS A DECENT WAGE, AND THEN THEY USE THEIR SOFTWARE TO REPRESS CHINESE FREEDOM FIGHTERS.
IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE U.S. CITIZENS WILL SHARE THE SAME FATE AS THE CHINESE CYBER-DISSIDENTS!
WILL OUR FINANCIAL DEBT TO CHINA CAUSE US TO FORSAKE OUR DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES?
Debts and lies are generally mixed together. Francois Rabelais
Crooked schemes will end by overwhelming their authors and coadjutors in disgrace, and… he alone who walks strict and upright, and who, in matters of opinion, will be contented that others should be as free as himself, and acquiesce when his opinion is fairly overruled, will attain his object in the end.” –Thomas Jefferson
February 20th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
Where was this published besides here? Selling off the family jewels isn’t a sign things are going well. If the countries that hold our markers call them in at once he’d be in trouble. That said neo-econs don’t seem to think anything of this. They say precent of gdp is small and that’s what matters, low inflation, growing jobs and all of that. I don’t see it but Bill Thomas said it yesterday. They believe it. I’d go with what Rubin says myself.
Is slave labor better than no labor and starvation? Some think so, and there is some merit to it. How much can be debated.
February 21st, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Cheney shoots his friend in the face, with behavior afterward like he was in fact drunk. What does the President do to deflect the issue? Threatening to veto a bill that would stop the sale of six of our major US ports to an Arab Country with ties to terrorists and our Treasure Secretary Snow.
Way to go for god sake. If the Democrats cannot take this direct hand-off of the National Security issue and run with it, nothing else can help them to save us from what apparently is a oil/money/commerce/Freetrade drunk administration.
Nothing trumps the Iraq War but money grubbing close friends and associates willing to sell their country and souls for just one more million in profit. And this is from a conservative that voted for him. It’s just sad……
February 21st, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Nothing like shooting your supporters in the face Mr. President. Have you been drinking again?
July 12th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
What Happened To Us Ringtone…
Shines Right Through Me Ringtone Shines Right Through Me Ringtone Kremlin Dusk Ringtone Kremlin Dusk Ringtone As The World Falls Down Ringtone As The World Falls Down Ringtone Creep Ringtone Creep Ringtone Promise You Anything Ringtone Promise You Anyt…
July 19th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
Well done!
[url=http://plzjnpaz.com/flvz/gilh.html]My homepage[/url] | [url=http://twdyahjd.com/yxja/rawm.html]Cool site[/url]
July 19th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Good design!
My homepage | Please visit
July 19th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
Well done!
http://plzjnpaz.com/flvz/gilh.html | http://dctckgok.com/ufxu/cykp.html
July 29th, 2006 at 3:55 am
craps table craps table
June 29th, 2007 at 1:24 am
fund accounting…
Hi. Thanks for the good read….