Politics

Don't see a thread for this yet, so... Yeah, much ado about Obama calling middle Americans a bunch of gun toting bible thumping bigots, or something. What's the deal? Everything he says is taken painfully out of context and blown completely out of proportion. Meanwhile McCain and Hillary are trying to make it out like they're actually in touch with Joe Blow. Is it me, or is Obama just speaking his mind in a way unbecoming of a canonical politician?

Well, I guess the site got overloaded. It now says "Service Unavailable". It was a compendium of news clips of politicians statements about the certainty of Saddam's possession and intent to acquire WMDs. It contained some statements from Hillary and her husband that I thought I would share since she's a candidate. If it becomes available again I'll fix the link with more of an abstract on it. Seems the link is working again - http://www.bercasio.com/movies/dems-wmd-before-iraq.wmv Many call it Bush's War but this movie shows it was quite a bipartisan effort that began before Bush. It includes statements from Madeline Albright, President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, …

Bush pardons self from war crimes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy6QpMeaq4Y What Caused 9/11 (see description) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhyyYefB4xg IMO Bush should not be excuses from his actions and disisions. Because: In the end a leader of an country is responsible for everything that happens to and from that country.

An article came to my attention recently showing a man holding a suitcase-sized supposed nuclear bomb. It seems that some drop-out from former KGB times emigrated to the U.S. and claims the Soviets developed operable bombs carryable by one person, and secreted many of them in various hidden places within the U.S., and is now awaiting the appropriate time to begin using leverage over us with them. Anyone else hear of this; what do you think of this? imp

now I don`t know about you, but I simply Cannot take a political campaign whose Catch-phrase is based entirely upon an Infants well Known TV cartoon character! allow me to elucidate: now compare... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IWKhYQarJU can you see a Disturbing similarity? Yes You Can!

A few days ago, I saw this financial advisor on television advising people to pay off debts with their rebate check, saying that this was the best way, the optimal way of distributing people's rebates in the most advantageous manner for the average Joe Blue taxpayer. Surely, she was just saying that to vent her veiled frustration with the current administration as everybody else does, saying it completely out of spite. Who cares what the original intent was, what the package is actually named, labelled, defined as. Of course, even if everybody went out and bought a television on the same day, it might add up to one day of Christmas, so it really is a moot point and so…

It's been interesting to watch what's been happening in Iraq this week, in part because what's mainly been happening is actually Shi'a versus Shi'a, with Sunni (relatively) quietly watching from the sidelines. The al-Maliki government is mostly Shi'a, but it's been demanding that the militias in the South step down and turn in their weapons, which local leaders like Moqtada al-Sadr don't want to do. Interestingly, today al-Sadr told his forces to stand down and cease fire. This may have something to do with the fact that Iran has apparently closed its border, which may indicate support for the government over groups like al-Sadr's. In a funny sort of way thi…

Obsession is a film about the threat of Radical Islam to Western civilization. Using unique footage from Arab television, it reveals an "insider's view" of the hatred the Radicals are teaching, their incitement of global jihad, and their goal of world domination. The film also traces parallels between the Nazi movement of World War II, the Radicals of today, and the Western world's response to both threats. Part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DBwCWaBhmDQ Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suGOnwCUhBs Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joqoMfh7cr0 Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1LETOk20X4 Part 5: http://www.youtube…

When I first read this it was just that headline, her quote, and the photograph you see below, so my initial reaction was "right-wing spin". Then I noticed the source: The Washington Post! Apparently this is for real. So I think this is an interesting example of how useful scrutiny of candidates can be on the campaign trail. We never really get to know these people -- we have to use the press as a surrogate. That's what makes real spin and ideological partisanship so dangerous -- it distorts and defends things like this, making them harder to detect and expose. I have no doubt that if Hillary were the sole Democratic candidate at the moment that this story woul…

McCain has had a number of policy mis-steps lately. Actually kind of a staggering number of them. It's almost as if he decided it was time to start taking policy positions, but hadn't quite gotten around to talking to an advisor about it. Yesterday Joseph Lieberman had to step up to McCain while he was still at the microphone and correct him after he claimed that Iran (shiites!) was helping Al Qaeda (sunnis!), which of course is their blood enemy! It's more than a little embarassing, and if so much attention wasn't being focused on the Democratic "civil war" at the moment I think it would be getting a lot more attention.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7308563.stm When I read this I had think "Wow, that is a really good idea. Finally, someone in the West is making a sane foreign policy move." This is just one more reason why I like Sarkozy. These are the steps that smaller nuclear powers need to be taking toward disarmament and non-proliferation. Now I just want to see if the UK leadership has the guts to do the same. What do you think?

First, Glenn Beck: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/14/beckfloridamichigan/index.html "People who bought houses they couldn't afford with loans they didn't understand want their lenders to change the terms." Next the BBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBIJH6--vsM First, let assume Glenn Beck wasn't directing his comments at everyone affected by this situation but just at the people who were truly ignorant of the terms of their loans. The BBC program highlights people who were unable to meet their mortgage payments resulting from outside circumstances like illness. However, I'm a little bit annoyed by placing the onus of this problem squarely on the …

I have mixed feelings about the John Hagee situation, but I think more questions need to be asked. For those who haven't heard, he's McCain's pastor, has been drawing controversy after some of his more insensitive (but apparently quite common) remarks became public. Here are some examples: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/28/hagee/index.html Source here Hagee also said that I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that. and that I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans. Anyway, to sum…

So, let's vote. That's what Democracy is all about, right? http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=164519&title=recessional-terms http://thousandreasons.org/ http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushresume.htm

76% of Americans think their (and also my) country is in a recession: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-03-17-economy-poll_N.htm For the first time in history, the Swiss Franc is worth more than the dollar: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aeOYYi8PVJG8 Not to mention that the Japanese Yen now outvalues the dollar, which it hasn't been for more than ten years. Oh, and Canadian dollars are worth more than American dollars. So much for all those jokes. This is scary: I know it hasn't been 2 quarters yet, but can we start calling it a recession?

There was fascinating Supreme Court debate yesterday over gun ownership. For the first time in 70 years the Supreme Court is going to consider, and perhaps finally resolve, one of the great unanswered questions in US constitutional law. The case involves a total ban on handguns in (ironically?) Washington, D.C., which has been in place for over 30 years but has more or less failed to stop handgun violence. Opponents accuse the ban of being unconstitutional, and in most parts of the US lawmakers would agree (in fact over 300 congressmen & women signed an amicus brief to that effect). The D.C. mayor has a different view, and his view does have its supporters. …

Women ski jumpers -- the only Winter Olympic sport that doesn't allow competition for both men and women. It may not sound like a big deal, but I think it's interesting to look at why they're being denied. In the case of most male sports, female versions were brought in under an equal rights action. But ski jumping wasn't included back then because it was considered "too dangerous". That excuse isn't used anymore, now they say "not enough competition". But that argument doesn't work either, because over 80 women would like to compete in Vancouver in 2010, versus only 36 in the first female snowboarding competition that was allowed just a few years ago. Accordin…

This is a subject I'll admit I don't know a lot about. I've read various places that the technology now available to drill is very low impact and could be used without any significant ecological damage. I do recall a cartoon from back when this issue was hot that I thought made a fair point. If I can recall it had the US on an ark while the Flood was proceeding and they were preparing the drill through the bottom of the ark (i.e. drilling in ANWR to make gasoline to contribute to global warming). That's one of my favorite political cartoons. So what do you think about this? Is it ecophilia gone amok or does drilling really present a great enough danger to the Arc…

This is really the essence of what continues to drives this war. Should we feel obligated to make everything perfect for however long it takes, or should we step back and realize that this was already a big mess that we just happened to complicate? I think the answer is pretty obvious, but I had to do a little research to back up my claims. Yeah, there has always been old wounds between Sunnis and Shias, between pagan Persians and Shia Arabs, between Iranians and Iraqis, and between secular Baathists and anyone else, though they obviously favored Sunnis over Shias. It looks like the key issue these days is that the Baathists are out of power, especially Saddam is o…

I was a bit surprised to find that the typical suicide bomber in Iraq is not a born and bred, down-and-out Iraqi youngster with nothing left but to take out their frustration on the current system. Rather, they are pawns in an organized recruiting system involving young Sunnis from Saudi Arabia and North Africa, not necessarily on their last legs, but social outcasts coming from large families where they want to make their mark on the world. Kind of interesting to see that they know about this operations center in Syria. It would seem that if we know this much about the system, then fellow Moslem nations should be doing more to stop it, especially Saudi Arabia. This …

This is the title of a new book that details some of the costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to the American people and the American taxpayer. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/03/08/bosti108.xml The direct costs of the Iraq war - including salaries, munitions, materials, aircraft flying costs etc - are now approaching a trillion dollars. However, the INDIRECT costs are far greater. This includes what the war is doing to oil supplies and oil price, the cost of rehabilitation of the wounded, psychological trauma etc.

Two weeks ago I wouldn't have thought much of anything could convince Rush Limbaugh and the far right to get behind John McCain. But this story seems to be doing exactly that. I doubt Limbaugh is outright supporting him (has anybody caught his show this week, by any chance?), but he certainly railed at the New York Times over this story. McCain stood before reporters yesterday and fielded questions until they literally ran out of them. As I understand it, the general idea is that he's being accused of cheating on his wife with a lobbyist about eight years ago, and more importantly, giving inappropriate legislative favors to the lobbyist in question. This is…

[edit]split from here[/edit] So is your deductive reasoning, then. Halliburton is not an oil company, and its stock rise is due to the fast-track, bidless contracts they received from the Bush administration regarding the rebuilding of Iraqi infrastructure, not the rising price of oil or the reopening of Iraqi oil production, neither of which benefit Halliburton in any way. You would have been better served linking ExxonMobil stock. But then you can't just throw an ellipses after it and auto-link them to the Bush administration, huh? This is what I mean by SFN political correctness, by the way. You can just scream "Hallburton!" and throw an ellipse…

Lots of chatter today about the possibility of a new primary in Michigan. Florida governor Charlie Crist is still holding out for a seating of the existing delegates, but that would be hard to rationalize in Michigan, where Obama didn't even appear on the ballot (something I was surprised to hear today). Michigan could hold a new primary as soon as June, but what I thought was interesting (and therefore worth mentioning here) was that the kind of primary they're talking about having is a firehouse primary. That's not a term that you hear every day in on the national level but you do hear from time to time on the local level, especially in the old South. I've hear…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080308/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_torture Certainly not entirely unexpected, but I really dislike living under leadership whose bottom line seems to be the argument that torture (in addition to stripping us of our civil liberties like spying on us and imprisoning people indefinitely without trial) keeps us safe. How about we sacrifice some of that alleged safety for basic human rights and civil liberties?