9/11 a campaign narcotic

Bush and Co. need their 9.11 fix.

Elmer, I love ya

On Monday, I wondered aloud when Republicans would break ranks with their party and really and truly examine the movement they have birthed. Is it good for Americans? Is it good for the world? I have sadly concluded that the bulk of the GOP is not decieved by the actions of their party. Rather, they know the score and like what they see. What that tells us is that we are moving away from the Constitution and towards something else, if the GOP stays in power.

Wouldn't you know. The minute I write a piece that allows my growing cynicism to peek through, an old-timey Republican redeems the party beautifully. Lifelong Republican Elmer Anderson, former Republican Governor of Minnesota, writes scathing indictment of the Bush Administration:

Liberal Republicans of my era and mind-set used to have a humane and reasonable platform. We advocated the importance of higher education, health care for all, programs for children at risk, energy conservation and environmental protection. Today, Bush and Cheney give us clever public relations names for programs -- need I say "No Child Left Behind? -- but a lack of funding to support them. Early childhood education programs and overall health care are woefully underfunded. We have not only the largest number ever of medically uninsured in this nation, our infant mortality rates, once among the lowest in the world, have worsened to 27th.

That's the GOP we knew and loved once upon a time. It's a wonder that more don't stand on principle against this poser in the whitehouse.

Lynn Cheney doth protest too much

Party mouthpiece Washington Times takes a whack at Kerry for mentioning Mary Cheney. Here's what Kerry said:

KERRY: We're all God's children, Bob. And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.

The big meanie.

I am completely ok with Kerry bringing up the fact that the Cheney's have a gay daughter. It throws a harsh light on the fact that the GOP is willing to sacrifice their own families on the altar of their ideology.

If Lynn Cheney loved her daughter she would say something affirming about her - not take offense that someone said she was being who she was born to be. For heavens sake Ms. Cheney - It's ok that your daughter is gay. You don't have to be ashamed.

What is it exactly that Ms. Cheney, and other republicans, are upset about? It isn't privacy, that's for sure. It must be (ahem) gayness.

ps.Salon does a great job writing about the reaction of the gay community.

Oh won't you come home to America, Republicans?

It's fascinating, really, how the President has maintained his support in the face of overwhelming evidence that his decisions have had disasterous consequences for our safety and economic well being.

I invite you to read, Where did the middle go? How polarized politics and a radical GOP have put a chill on measured debate [via Chuck at New Patriot]. The author, Theodore Roszak, challenges a point of view that I have long held. I think, in my idealistic naive way, that if people know the truth, they will change their minds. So I labor to be objective, to assemble evidence that this administration, this president, and the GOP has wandered off in the wilderness towards right wing authoritarianism that has little to do with the fundamental American values embodied in the constitution, as I understand them.

But what if people know the truth, say about WMD in Iraq, or that Rumsfeld authorized torture at Abu Ghraib, or that John Ashcroft is steadily removing information about your government from public view, or that the government is producing advertisements that look like news, or that suspected terrorists are simply dissapeared by the US government, or that every single rule of civility and due process is being broken in the House and Senate by Tom Delay and Dennis Hastert, or that US taxpayers are being defrauded of millions by cronies of the Bush administration, or that the environmental legacy of the last three decades has been dismantled by this administration, or that the fiscal policies of this administration could throw the dollar in a tailspin that would make the Mexican Peso of the nineties look rich, and on and on....What if they know all this and just don't care?

As Roszak points out:

What if Bush's political base never needed to be lied to? That might explain why, despite "Fahrenheit 9/11" and all the other enraged documentaries (the best of which, incidentally, is "Hijacking Catastrophe" by the Media Education Foundation), the polls keep reflecting strong popular support for Bush's "leadership" and why he continues to find cheering crowds, especially at military bases where troops give their commander-in-chief the big "hoo-ah." These people aren't deceived. They know exactly what Bush is up to -- and it's OK with them.

What are you thinking, Republicans? I used to be an independent voter. Occasionally, I would pull the lever for the GOP. Now, and for the forseeable future, that is impossible. That could change if, with the defeat of George Bush, the GOP cleans house, and renounces its disgraceful leadership. While they are at it they can shitcan the loyalty oath (are you guys kidding me?) and the steady drive to replace the national values enshrined in the Constitution with the values of the Christian Right. Maybe then the GOP will come home to America. Maybe then I will consider voting for them. But not until then. I suspect I will have a long wait.

You go Bubbie...

Here's how to do it. New Jersey girls rock when they swing those purses on a fat Neocon heads. Funny.

Can you say My Lai?

This is not good. Seymour Hersh details further atrocities.

Gosh, thanks a bunch!

The twin legacies of dubya. Massive budget deficits and massive trade deficits. Thank you very much.

Norway sends a message

Norway to US voters: Come to your senses!

Endorsement city

Editor and Publisher is keeping a running tally of endorsements (Kerry is winning, if that means anything).

Fraud

This caught my eye today:

Lawsuit claims politically connected firm defrauded millions in Iraq

Extended commentary at New Patriot.

Ministry of truth

The Bushies are out to fool you once again. They are making advertisements that look like news reports:

Bush Ad Surfaces As News Story on Schools

Joe Goebbels eat your heart out. It is a very short step from here to a Ministry of Information. I cannot stand these liars.