Loyalists vs. Liberals: Identity Theft

It's funny how the Republicans like to profess their dislike of liberals and their affection for the "founding fathers” of the United States. Funny, because the founding fathers were liberals. They stood together and revolted against the established order. Only about a third of Colonists supported independence. Come the revolution, that American revolution, these Republicans would have been among the royalists/loyalists.

Substitute "liberal" for "Communist" and many of the Republican attack ads are recycled from the Red Scare days of the 1950s. Listen to an ad and try it yourself. Are you now, or have you ever been, a liberal?

The administration is full of self-styled "conservatives". But considering how they've increased the debt, it would be more appropriate to call them spendthrifts. Instead of "tax and spend" they favor "borrow and spend". The proverbial drunken sailor is limited to wasting their own pocket money: this bunch are drunken sailors with credit cards – and the credit cards have your kids' names on them. This identity theft will leave the next generation with debt, white elephants (masquerading as weapons systems), smoldering wars, and a tarnished reputation for justice.

Crying “wolf”: That dog won't hunt no more.

Tim Russert on Meet the Press confronted Dick Cheney with his lies. No link between Iraq and 9/11, no WMD, etc. The Democrats could learn focus and plain speaking from Russert. (If only Lieberman had been one-tenth as assertive in the 2000 VP “debate”...) Cheney's body language was telling – head dropping, hands waving, and even sputtering – he knew it was bad. He recovered his paternalistic attitude later in the show. You've got to credit Cheney for having the courage to appear. It is evidence of the panic this administration feels about an election that might produce a Democratic House that takes its oversight responsibilities seriously.

Cheney crowed about there being no terrorist attacks on US soil in the 5 years since 9/11. He claimed this as evidence of their successful management of the war on terror. Remember, there were no foreign terror attacks for 8 years before 9/11 - ZERO. Would this administration credit Clinton with this success? Not likely. Moreover, the perpetrators of the 1993 attack were successfully prosecuted and convicted within a few years using legal investigation and interrogation methods. They are in prison while Osama is free and producing videos – and probably worse.

Vince Young, Superman, and Texas Champion

The Texas loss at home to Ohio State today shows how much they miss their quarterback Vince Young, who graduated last year. Sure, Coach Brown has made Texas a consistently good program. But not great. It was Young who willed the Texas win over Michigan 2 years ago and last year's wins in Columbus against OSU and the BCS championship over USC. He should have won the Heisman. He should've been drafted #1 into the NFL. OSU, Michigan, and USC have programs that are well-oiled machines, regularly producing good teams that play well. Texas had a superman and they won against these machines. In 40 years of watching college football, I have never seen one player so important to a team. Tonight just proves it.

Idiot Tutor: Congress lectures Business

Congress, shaking off it's byzantine sloth, has roused it's indignation and is now presuming to lecture British Petroleum (BP) on how to run it's business. Congress is shocked by BP business practices. Oh! They scrimped on maintenance! Well, they have an enormous infrastructure and performed standard tests. Oh! They made a lot of money last year! Well, ain't that the point in a capital economy? Un-be-liev-able!

These Congressmen, many of whom like to pose as businessmen, try to make "profits" sound obscene. Fact is, BP's profits are average for oil companies and returns on investment in the oil sector are similar to returns in other areas. "Big oil's" profit margins are not unusual. There is no evidence of price gouging. They make a lot of money simply because they sell a lot of oil.

The real reason for Congress's indignation is the fear that oil spills in the arctic threaten their political cover for selling out the Arctic National "Wildlife Refuge" (ANWR). Big oil will pay handsomely for this opportunity. Oops, did I say "pay"? I mean "support" the Congressman (in their pocket).

If YOU don't like what BP has done, your choice is easy: don't buy your gas from BP. (Maybe you prefer to get your oil from Exxon, still trying to clean up Prince William Sound?) We don't need to involve Congress. I wish we had a similarly direct action to register frustration with our government's stupid, counter-productive war mongering masquerading as national defense.

Fool enough of the people and Steal the rest

Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president (start with a bang, end with a Wimper [sic]), said you can't fool all the people all the time. The puppeteers of the current administration have overcome this limitation in the election system. They rely on 30% of the voting public being too dumb or distracted to ever change their "minds", then manipulate enough of the remaining votes to win the election. Ballot boxes are not stuffed, the tallies are simply changed. Electronic voting machines are not hacked, they are deliberately manipulated by companies such as Diebold who have committed to this kleptocracy.

It happened in Ohio and elsewhere in 2004 and it's going to happen many more places in 2006. The administration is extremely worried what Democratic control of the House would entail. It would mean not just an end of the lapdog rubber stamp, but a start of serious investigations into this lawless administration.

Personally, I don't think they should worry so much because the Dems have proven themselves incapable of turning even the most craven Republican criminal activity into political capital. Watergate doesn't count because the script written by Woodward and Bernstein of the Washington Post and the evidence provided by John Dean and the tape recordings would make rank amateurs look like Clarence Darrow.