Some things going on with the American citizens

January 27, 2006

I had a conversation today with Ken our propane delivery guy. He told me that he was hearing his customers complaining about the fact that their propane bills are two times as costly as last year. I told him that I agreed and that gasoline for my truck and diesel for my tractor had also doubled in price since last year. He agreed. We also talked about the government 20 year study that was just released today that claims the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The study showed that the rich income level rose by 59% in the past 20 years while the poor income level only rose by only 19% in that same 20 year period. The study cited a basically flat minimum wage and jobs being shipped overseas as a couple of reasons why the poor are staying poor. This is a problem we have been hearing about from some politicians and media personnel for several years now. What’s going on?

People are getting fatter, meaner, less tolerant, closed minded, ignorant and more fearful. These truths sadden me just as much as they scare me. What’s going on? I mean look around. Have you noticed how many of us are overweight? A recent study reported on CNN Headline news and other news networks stated that our tolerance for “over weight people” has shifted to be more tolerant over the last 20 years. I wonder if that has any correlation with the fact that so many more of us are now overweight. Have we become such a gluttonous society that we are literally destroying ourselves? Bigger vehicles, larger debt and much bigger waistlines, that’s America today. Keeping up with the Jones is taking its toll on us. There are potentially serious medical risks with being overweight. I’m no doctor but aren’t diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease a few of the potential medical risks from being overweight?

Acquiring larger debt should really speak for itself. We may say that the check is in the mail but the bill really comes due someday. This goes for us as individuals as well as our governments. If we don’t care about our own physical health and let ourselves get fat, we will make our loved ones pay the emotional price and in some cases the monetary price for our poor health. There will be a monetary and by extension emotional price to pay for allowing our government at the federal level to accumulate so much debt. But it seems we stopped caring about anyone but ourselves a while ago. That is sad. We don’t care enough about our own children’s future to spare them the emotional burden of the repercussions of our gluttony. Nor do we care about their financial and by extension emotional well being by allowing the federal government to accumulate unprecedented debt. The bills will come due someday. This scares me.

We are borrowing more money as a nation from countries such as China and Israel than we ever have. We are borrowing 2.2 billion dollars every day just to keep us running. What would happen if they called in their notes? According to most economists our economy would collapse. This is an important issue. It concerns me. I care. It scares me.

We are meaner now than I can ever remember in my 41 years. Mean is everywhere. There is much less respect and tolerance than when I was a child. Television has corrupted us. Many of the shows on t.v. or movies at the theatre are filled with violence and intolerance. Killing people has become so desensitized that murder has no value anymore. We murder people for murdering people. We murder people in the guises of such things as weapons of mass destruction and then when we find none we switch our reasoning and justification for these murders to “spreading democracy”. I guess it is like in the movies. Since it is not happening here it really isn’t real. But you know what? The bill also comes due someday for this. Ken and I touched on this too in our conversation today. Do we really believe that we can go into a sovereign nation who posed no imminent threat to us whatsoever and murder thousands upon thousands of innocent babies, children and women under any guise without future negative repercussions? What’s going on? Might we actually be creating a thousand, maybe a million or more Bin Laden’s by our unjustified murder? God Bless our children and their children and so on. Lord keep and protect them from our sins. This is not a political thing. This is basic humanity. This is the true culture of life. Who would Jesus bomb?

I believe the reason so many American’s support this murder of innocent babies, children and women is two fold at least. One we have become mean. And two we are easily brainwashed and scared. Our allegiance to a particular political party clouds our judgment as well.

The recent beating murders of homeless people in Miami and the brawl with fans in the stands during the NBA game November 19, 2005 in Detroit are just two examples of meanness. Why has it become acceptable for us sports fans to throw things at the players? Why has it become a “game” for teenagers to beat and kill homeless people? When did it become o.k. for us to kill the parents of our girlfriend just because they didn’t want us committing statutory rape on their daughter?

We have become fatter, in spite of gluttony being one of the seven deadly sins. We have become much less like Jesus. We are much less tolerant than some would think about such an “advanced” society. Anti gay marriage legislation drove many right wing conservatives to the polls during the presidential election in 2004. This was a direct effort by the Republican Party to motivate their base. It worked. They were able to capitalize on the intolerance within their base. They used it to their political advantage. While their jobs were being shipped overseas and the wages of those who still had jobs were flat, these same people went to the polls in droves to express intolerance over self preservation. While Osama Bin Laden was still running loose plotting more and more terror to rein down on all Americans the republicans were more concerned about keeping hate and intolerance alive. The American people rewarded them.

Our borders are still not safe; we still have not captured Osama. We have now sold 6 U.S. ports to a terrorist nation. Our nuclear power plants are still not protected from terrorists nor is the cargo flying on commercial airlines when you and I fly. However, and I say so sarcastically, more importantly the other day Bill Frist reintroduced the idea of an “anti gay marriage” amendment. This is another example of how the Republican Party uses wedges issues involving intolerance to hide the truth about the real issues that concern America.

Our close mindedness is a direct result of our intolerance and ignorance. We read less and watch television more. My friend and I recently were out looking for a book mentioned in a local newspaper. Since it was much closer to go north nearer to Indianapolis we headed that way. We could not believe how hard it was to locate a bookstore. There was one in the mall hidden behind a barrage of kiosks selling cell phones, cell phone accessories and personalized t-shirts. The book store was small and not very well stocked. We left the mall and continued up and down the major byway looking for a “real” bookstore. It was a slap of reality. Americans don’t read.

By not reading books, magazines and newspapers we make ourselves close minded and ignorant. If we don’t care about our physical health (fatter) then why should we care about our mental health, right? And since most all of our media outlets are owned by right wing companies [i.e. NBC is owned by G.E. (defense contracts…great in time of war), ABC is owned by Disney and Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch right wing pundit and mouth piece of the Republican Party filled with hate filled propaganda and spin.] our news is not really news but rather what they want us to know. The news is inarguably shaped by the interests of the ownership. Why would NBC allow real news, negative news about the war Iraq and the repercussions of war to be shown to its viewers when this would be counterproductive to the bottom line? BASF…."we don’t make the products you buy….we make the products you buy better.” Have you ever wondered like I did for years what that commercial was all about? BASF is a petroleum industry and unless you are very very rich and in the market for an oil rig you most likely will never do business directly with BASF. However, to control the news content of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CNN, BASF buys huge dollar advertising space/time.

Since we don’t read books, magazines or newspapers anymore and opt for t.v. all of the time, we have become close minded. We buy the propaganda and lies being peddled by special interests. As long as we can sit in our living rooms and watch our big screen hd tv eating pizza, wings and drinking soda pop and beer, we don’t give a damn about “dumbing down.” Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is dangerous. Ignorance is dangerous to our physical health, our mental health and our democracy too. Ignorance mixed with apathy may bring the end to our democracy.

Go ahead and continue to buy all of the fat ridden products being dangled in your face through repeated advertising. Go ahead and support the illegal war in Iraq because you have bought changing lie after changing lie as justification. Go ahead and be ignorant to the truth. If the cholesterol, hyper tension or heart disease doesn’t kill you then the newly created Islamic jihadist just might. The long term repercussions of our illegal war and murder of thousands upon thousands of innocent babies, women and children will likely be much more deadly for your children or their children. Do you really care about them anyway?

Of course our intolerance, close mindedness and ignorance are all possible because of fear. Whatever happened to the “land of the free….and the home of the brave?”
America is no longer brave. Give me a break. The Bush administration and the Republican controlled congress have you people scared to death. The boogie man is going to get you; the boogie man that they can’t catch. But do they really want to catch the boogie man? If they catch the boogie man then how will they use fear to control us?

911 is invoked so often during a canned speech that Bush or Cheney give it is nauseating. Smoking guns and mushroom clouds were frightening things Condoleeza Rice and Dick Cheney used to scare us to death. Bush just kept mentioning Osama bin laden and Sadam Hussein in the same sentence as often as he could in a deceitful way in hopes to make us believe they were linked together. He still does even though the 911 Commission Report found no links between Hussein and Bin Laden or Al Qaida. Oil and water do not mix well. Osama bin laden is an Islamic fundamentalist and Sadam Hussein was a non secular dictator; oil and water. But by constantly mention the two in the same speeches every member of the Bush administration could “fear” us to death.

History has proven that fear can be used to control the masses. If worked well for Hitler. And our own government used fear as a tool during the Cold War but it has been used much more under Bush and the republican controlled congress.

We have indeed become fatter, meaner, less tolerant, close minded, ignorant and more fearful as a people. These things scare me. They sadden me. All of these things contribute to the erosion of our values, mental and physical health and respect for ourselves and from others in our shared world. My suggestion to all of us would be put down the cheese burger and fries; take a deep breath and count to ten instead of exploding when something doesn’t go our way; accept that others are different than us while being equally a human being; open our minds to other points of view that may differ from our own; read some books, magazines, newspapers and blogs; and realize that knowledge is power, fear is weakness while freedom is being brave and aware.
Good luck and God Bless You.

Could this be the final piece of the Fascism puzzle?

I am currently re-reading "1984"
I first read it back in 9th grade civics class. It seemed way paranoid and out there when I first read it. It seems plausible today.
I believe that we must question our government at all times no matter which party is in control.
After all, we are a government for the people, by the people and of the people right? In this piece I will make a case for why I think the Bush administration is trying to implement a form of Fascism in place of our Democracy.
Before I go on I would like to list two important words with their definitions.

Fascism: 1. Political philosophy, movement or regime that exalts nation and race above the individual and that stands for a centralized and autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader; severe economical and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
2. a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control.

Autocrat: 1. a person ruling with unlimited authority. 2. one who has undisputed influence or power.

*definitions of Fascism and Autocrat taken from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

I'm not paranoid. I wouldn't consider myself a conspiracy theorist. I am very concerned about the possibility of losing our Democracy.

The Supreme Court of the United States chose to intervene in a State level election in 2000.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the re-count of the presidential vote in Florida must continue. Bush sued Gore and the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a stop immediately and awarded George W. Bush the presidency. I posit as others do that the Supreme Court of the United States therefore by their action gave Bush the presidency. Many of the newspapers in Florida continued polling and research and determined that Al Gore undisputedly won Florida and thus should have become the president. The makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court at that time in 2000 went like this, William Rehnquist was appointed by republican Richard Nixon; John Paul Stevens was appointed by republican Gerald Ford; Sandra Day O'Connor, antonym Scalea & Anthony Kennedy were appointed by republican Ronald Reagan; Clarence Thomas and David Souter were appointed by republican George H. W. Bush.
The five justices that gave Bush his presidency were Rehnquist, O'Connor, Kennedy , Thomas & Scalia all republican presidential appointees.
I call this the First part of the neoconFascism Trilogy.

Bush took office in January 2001 - September 11, 2001 We all know what happened. Prior to 911 the Bush administration ignored warning that "Osama bin laden intent on attacking within the United States....." They ignored this warning because they were intent on regime change in Iraq not only before 911 but even before they worn sworn in.
911 sealed Bush's future fate with a guaranteed victory in his second presidential election. No president has ever been voted out of office during the time of war.
We also know that W. Bush's first business involved one of Osama bin laden's brothers.
We also know that H.W. Bush was at a meeting of the Carlyle Group in New York City with another one of Osama bin laden's brothers the morning of the 911 attacks.
Coincidence?
35 members of Osama bin laden's family were allowed to fly out of the U.S. the day after the attacks while you and I and even H.W. Bush were not allowed to fly.
I will not posit that Bush nor his family nor anyone in his administration had anything to do with the 911 attacks but you are allowed to make your own decision about such.
I will posit that Bush and his administration ignored the serious threat. I say that they were
beneficiaries of this horrible tragedy.
I commend Bush and congress for immediately attacking Afghanistan. Afghanistan was where the terrorist were trained by Osama bin laden. The Taliban leadership aided and abetted Osama and the terrorists. They should have been destroyed in retaliation for attacking us on 911. However, Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, if we take it to the top of both departments, decided to quit looking for Osama bin laden, the man who attacked us and head elsewhere to "more attractive targets."
Only 3 countries recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan; Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and The United Arab Emirates & we just sold 6 U.S. ports to the U.A.E.
Bush, Cheney & Rumsfeld saw 911 as the perfect opportunity to invade Iraq.
Genocide was, and is being committed in Darfur but they decided to cherry pick intelligence so they could trick the American people into a war with Iraq. They gave no bid contracts to their buddies.
We all know now how it went. The First lie was Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Second lie was links to the 911 terrorists. The Third lie Iraqi Freedom. 19 sacred Suni mosques were bombed today in Iraq by the Shiites. Civil war is what the situation appears to be in Iraq. We have helped through "spreading democracy" to install Islamic Fundamentalists into power in Iraq. The Shiite Islamic Fundamentalists have very close ties to Iran.
By lying about the war in Iraq the Bush administration was able to use fear to get a strong hold on the minds of most of the American people.
Karl Rove recently stated that the republicans won the election in 2002 and 2004 on National Security (Fear, Fear, Fear) and they will win the 2006 mid term elections on the same.
Karl Rove the mastermind of the political machine and a very smart man knows how effective fear was for Adolph Hitler.
Like minds think alike.

The people who no longer participate in the physical reality of the home of the free and the land of the brave, because they are afraid, only have us more liberal citizens to save them.

The terror alert level kept going up and down like a yo yo during the 2004 presidential election campaign. This was a blatant political attempt to control us by using fear. Soccer moms everywhere along with the idiots that watch the F News Network were mortified. They definitely were not participating in the home of the brave. They readily gave up article one and article four of our constitution.
I began to wonder if martial law was going to be declared by the Bush administration so that they could have unlimited authority.
If you don't completely support Bush and the republican controlled congress' every move no matter how terrible it turns out to be, then you are called a terrorist. No one can have an opinion or idea that was not released by the White House as a daily talking point. Each day Rush, Hannity, O'Reily ad nauseam get the talking points from the White House so that they are all pontificating about the same message. This propaganda spit out by the White House and spewed over the air waves daily keeps you in fear. The boogie man is gonna get you!

FEAR is the Second part of the neoconFascism trilogy.
With just the right amount of FEAR they could declare martial law and never allow elections again!

This leads me into what I am afraid will be the final stage of their implementation of neoconFascism.

Part Three of the neoconFascism trilogy was announced yesterday. George W. Bush, republican, sold 6 U.S. ports to what I call a terrorist nation the United Arab Emirates. The U.A.E. laundered money for the 911 hijackers. The U.A.E. failed to cooperate with the U.S. government when the FBI tried to follow the money trail of Osama bin laden and the hijackers. Two of the 911 hijackers, murderers of innocent Americans were from the U.A.E.
The Port of Dubai is known to have been the port that Dr. Kahn shipped nuclear proliferations through illegally to Pakistan, India and Iran.

Birds of a feather stick together.

Why would we sell our ports to any foreign government?
Why would we sell our ports to a terrorist nation?
Bob Dole was hired today as a lobbyist to help sell the deal to the American people. The republicans are great with the lobbyist huh?
911 can never be repeated!
We can not allow that to happen.
Our National Security is in jeopardy if we sell our ports to terrorist nations.

but......

What if a year or so down the road after the U.A.E. has taken complete ownership and control of the 6 major U.S. ports one little dot gets overlooked? Since the terrorists are smarter than apparently Bush thinks they are (like they wouldn't have known we were listening to them.....Please) who is to say that some fundamentalist jihadist doesn't end up being employed by one of the ports owned by the U.A.E. right here on our east coast? It is possible that weapons of mass destruction could get into the United States through one of these 6 ports and then be used on us.
We can not allow this to happen.
We can not sell our ports to terrorist nations.

but.....if we were attacked again before George W. Bush and the republican controlled congress leaves office or control, then he/they could declare martial law and we would never have elections again. It could happen. This would give them absolute Power. And that would be the completion of the neoconFascism trilogy.

Supporting cast for the neoconFascism trilogy:

The media. For the most part media will not allow themselves because of ties to corporate America to actually be "free."
Rubber Stamp republican controlled congress
Apathetic citizens of America
Fox News Network, fear, hate and intolerance
Far Right Extreme Wing of The Christian Right

Honorable Mention:
U.S. Supreme Court

If anyone disagrees with them within the military (Gen. Shinseki) they get "retired."
If anyone disagrees with them that is in any other branch of government they get fired or outed. (CIA covert op Valerie Plame because of her husband Joe Wilson's dispute over the tubes, Richard Clarke etc.)
If we citizens disagree with them we are labeled terrorists, traitors and said to be siding with the enemy or "them."

We are proud to be American! I know I am. But I'm proud to be American because of the people, not the government and its actions. Bumper stickers are everywhere. Wow what a market.....Support our troops.....Amen to that!!
Nationalism is at an all time high it seems.

Exalts Nation and Race above individual.......Exalts nation is covered in previous paragraph.....Katrina (Race)....it's like Jimmy Carter said at the honorable Cloretta Scott King's funeral, "you only have to look at the color of the faces on the rooftops....."
Both of these are elements of Fascism.

Severe Economical and Social regimentation.....the gap between the rich and the poor is larger than it has ever been. A recent 20 year study found that middle and lower class incomes only rose by 19% within that 20 year period while the upper class incomes rose by 69% within that same 20 year period. Funding for Medicare, Education, Veterans, Needy Children etc. has been cut. Bush in a campaign speech back in 2000 said ".....the haves and the have mores....some call you elite, I call you my base."
This pretty much sums it up. That is why he continues to cater to the wealthiest Americans through his high end benefit tax cuts.
Both of these are elements of Fascism.

Dictatorial control andAutocrat: Person with unlimited authority.
Bush is spying on American citizens without using the FISA Courts. The republican controlled congress is allowing it to happen.
Bush is acting with Unlimited Authority.
The checks and balances set up in our constitution are obsolete.
He lied us into the war in Iraq. The 45 day investigation rule when a foreign entity attempts to buy things like American Ports was completely ignored.
Bush is acting with Unlimited Authority.
This is a part of Fascism. I call it neoconFascism because there are more than just Fascist, Autocratic elements to this movement. There are as Randi Rhodes calls it "Corporatocracy" and Oligarchy.
Oligarchy is government by the few....hmmm.....Bush, Cheney, Frist, Hastert, Thomas, Scalea, Kennedy, Roberts, Alito, Karl Rove, Bush Sr., Abrahmoff, Delay......to mention a few......you get the idea. It is because of the many things listed herein and many more that I have failed to mention that I believe our Democracy is in jeopardy.
I believe that if we are not careful as American citizens we will no longer be free.
We can not allow the neoconFascism trilogy to get us.
We must fight back to save our Democracy.

Port Security?

How can we turn our ports over to a Terrorist Nation?
Two of the 911 hijackers came from The United Arab Emirates.
The United Arab Emiraites did not cooperate with our government after 911 in our efforts to trace the funds of Osama Bin Laden.
The funds used to finance 911 came through the United Arab Emirates.
Today from the White House lawn president Bush said that he would veto (he has not vetoed one bill from the republican congress during his entire presidency) any bill that congress tries to pass blocking the sell of our ports to Terrorists!

"Shock & Awe"

I finally figured it out.
They used shock and awe so well in Iraq that they figured they could use it on us. Iraq is the sovereign nation that had no weapons of mass destruction, had never harmed America or its people, posed no imminent threat to America yet we invaded it and now occupy it. I digress....
Shock and awe is being used on us. George W. Bush and the republican controlled congress must think that if they continue to Shock and Awe us with their Culture of Corruption that we will be too stunned to react.
How else can you explain why we would put up with so much corruption and ineptitude. There is literally a new "oh my gosh" corruption scandal or lie(s) daily.
Here is a list of but some of the failures/crimes/lies imposed on us by Bush and the republican controlled congress since 2001 (in no particular order.)
1: borrow more money from foreign entities than all of the previous presidents combined
2: record national debt that replaced a huge surplus
3: do nothing when warned "Osama bin laden intent to attack within America....by flying planes into large buildings." Condy said in the view of the administration the threat was "vague." Bush opted to attend class of elementary students even though he had been informed that the first plane had attacked tower one of the New York trade center.....opted to continue reading about a child's goat when informed that a second plane had attacked tower two of the New York trade center
4: leave Afghanistan without capturing bin laden so it could invade a sovereign nation that had no weapons of mass destruction, no links to the terrorists of 911, had never harmed America or its people, posed no imminent threat to America
5: failed to deploy enough troops
6: troops did not have proper body armor; pentagon study found that 80% of the soldiers who died from upper torso injuries could have lived with proper body armor
7: realized the need for proper body armor and made the troops buy their own
8: failed to properly armor the humvees leading to many more unnecessary deaths of our troops
9: implemented a policy of torture and used lower level soldiers as the fall guy/gal
10: sold our ports to Terrorists
11: failed to protect our borders
12: failed to protect airline cargo
13: the Katrina Disaster
14: Americans dead on this administrations watch 3,000 on 911, likely 4,000 from Katrina, 2270 and counting from illegal war in Iraq, 200plus dead in Afghanistan
15: outted a CIA covert operative who worked on weapons of mass destruction in countries like Iran. Risked her life, any one's life who she worked with overseas. Damaged National Security by outing the CIA operative by rendering likely impossible now to get accurate intelligence about Iran's possible nuclear weapons program
16: Lied to Congress and the American people to drag us into the illegal war in Iraq. Richard Clarke (worked for Reagan, Bush sr., Clinton and W. Bush as head of counter terrorism) told us
before the war that W. and his administration was intent on war with Iraq before they even took office in January 2001.....we now know that Clarke was correct about no links with Iraq and 911.
17: Replacing article four of the constitution by illegally wiretapping Americans without warrant
18: Replacing article one of the constitution "free speech" with "free speech zones" instead
19: attempting to replace afore mention articles with an amendment to ban gay marriage
20: getting involved with a families end of life decision in the Terri Shaivo case by enacting federal legislation when 80% of Americans told them to stay out of it
21: cut funding for hot lunches for needy children
22: cut Veterans funding by 1.7 billion
23: cut 12.7 billion from education
24: failed to fully fund their own "no child left behind" program
25: cut funding for "clean coal" for fuel from $50million to $5million immediate after his 2006 State of (Illusion) the Union Address when he said he would spend more.....also promised to spend more on alternative fuel source research but actually cut funding instead
26: cut funding for first responders on 12-2-02 even after 911 instead of spending the 660 million the democrats proposed
27: I. Lewis Libby vice president's chief of staff indicted for obstructing justice & lying under oath....Karl Rove still may be indicted and there could be even more indictments concerning the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame
28: Zero oversight from republican controlled Congress
29: Nation is less secure than before 911
30: Did not outlaw abortion or gay marriage even though they told Americans that if they voted for them they would do both
31: Created the departments of homeland security (remember Katrina?) and faith based initiatives (violates separation of church and state).....these make the government bigger than it has ever been but they claim they are for smaller government
32: house leader Tom Delay indicted on 3 felony charges; loses his house leader position but the republicans put him on the appropriations committee (he is under indictment for laundering money)
33: Senate Majority leader Bill Frist (the one who unethically diagnosed Terri Schaivo from the Senate floor) under investigation for insider trading (Martha Stewart's crime)
33: republican representative Duke Cunningham pled guilty to various felonies
35: Jack Abrahmoff republican lobbyist pled guilty to various felonies including bribery for the purpose of influencing legislators and will likely bring charges against many more republican congress persons
36: Haliburton (former CEO Dick Cheney) under investigation for defrauding America in the war in Iraq. Haliburton and other corps tied to the White House were given no bid contracts (never a good business practice) in Iraq and after Katrina in the Gulf Coast region
37: Intelligence Committee Chairman (republican) Arlan Spector said he would have full hearings on Bush's illegal wire tap program but allowed senator Pat Robertson to call an end to the hearings.....no oversight
38: called for an up or down vote on all judicial nominees but did not allow the same right to Harriet Meyers who their own president appointed but she did not meet the litmus test of the extreme right wing that controls their party
39: calls anyone who ask questions about their policies a "traitor or unpatriotic"
40: arrests Cindy Sheehan for a "thought crime." She wore a t-shirt to the State of the (Illusion) Address 2006 which stated how many U.S. troops have died in Iraq and asked how many more.
She had a ticket but was arrested without incident nonetheless. Wife of a republican congressman was only asked to leave instead of being arrested for wearing a similarly controversial t-shirt
41: uses fear fear fear to scare us....to terrorize us and therefore control us
42: still have not caught Osama.......

Are you in Shock and Awe yet?
Stay tuned..............

Our soldiers, our heros! & Our government fails

It’s not about the war in Afghanistan
It’s about the war without a plan
For, not against our heroes who fight
It’s about doing what is right

The bible tells us not to lie
Yet so many soldiers had to die
No weapons of mass destruction
Their first reason for war’s function
No links to terrorists of 911
Blessed our soldiers who are now in heaven
Dead without armor support would have given
Hope for their future soldiers so driven
Fighting a war for changing reasons
Support is with armor else it’s treason

Flip flop, flip flop
Accuse your enemy of being you
Don’t do what you say
Flip flop is your way
Your own enemy is likely you

Propaganda is always just that
Whether from commander or rat
To risk your life for us what a gift
As the American flag we lift
The flag they won’t let us see
Draped or’ the coffin of thee
Our soldiers our heroes within do lay
God bless their loved ones we pray
Our constitution they die to protect
While leaders get to select
Which of the Bill of Rights they enforce
The first and fourth they divorce
If our soldiers are fighting for democracy in Iraq
What will America be when they get back
If our forefathers were here today
What would they say
Our land that was once home of the free
And the brave the anthem does decree
Free speech zones replace free speech
Warrant less wiretaps for each
Of their political enemies we fear
If done just to catch Al Qaida we cheer
We all want to get the bad guys
But we are tired of all these lies
No protection for our borders or cargo
While honesty and integrity they embargo
Double speak it seems abundant
Fear, fear, fear gets redundant
They use fear to control the masses
An agenda to destroy the middle classes

If the terrorists intend to instill fear
Look what is going on right here
Fear, fear, fear they keep promoting
Our civil liberties they keep demoting
The land of the free the home of the brave
This is no way to behave
In all of America let freedom ring
And back to government checks and balances bring
A melody of gratefulness for blood shed
As a nation we look ahead
To getting things back on track
Our fortitude let not crack
Love your neighbor as yourself
Don’t put our democracy on a shelf
Black and white rich and poor
And One America forever more


We just don’t trust them

Their track record fails
Heil Hitler the fascist populous hails
Fascism racism pick your neocon ism
No rose colored glasses, crystal or prism

My friend overseas

I have a friend who lives overseas. We used to work together here in America many years ago. He was born in America and is an American but has lived and worked over seas for several years now. Today I received an email from him. He is much better at maintaining our friendship than I am. I'm grateful for that. However today when I replied to his email I couldn't help but to wonder if he and I are now on the "watch list." You know, the watch list for domestic spying without a warrant being conducted by the Bush administration.
It is an outrage that I have to be concerned with such.
To compound my fears I am afraid that I may have unintentionally gotten another friend caught up in this mess today when I asked him to check out "1984" from the local library. Now he is likely on the "list" too.
Annie get your gun while we still have the second amendment. You heard me right, I'm a moderate that believes in the right to bear arms.

Cheney shoots friend

The American people should have been informed immediately about the shooting.
If you or I "accidentally" shot one of our friends we would have definately, unequivicably immediately informend members from both families.
This is another example of how this administration supresses the truth and acts as if we work for them instead of vice versa.
We can not trust this administration.
An "administration" would normally alert the media and let the American people know of a shooting involving a top official.
If you can not see the evil in Cheney's eyes then you are not looking.

Bill Frist "Coming Out of the Closet?"

As reported on cable news today Bill Frist has gone to the closet and pulled out the wedge issue the republican party had only just briefly stored away for future use. The future is apparently now...or rather the November 2006 elections. Bill Frist today announced that he will be pursuing the anti gay marriage amendment that his party has long used as a wedge issue to drive their base to the polls. Their base carries false hopes to the polls and ends up supporting a party with an agenda hell bent on making the rich richer, the poor poorer and their own interests both financially and ideologically more robust. Bill Frist is the same man who diagnosed Terri Schaivo from the senate floor. He was dead wrong. His diagnosis inarguably was unethical. The two things absolutely necessary for any doctor to make a diagnosis as I have been taught is 1: complete review of medical history 2: personal (in person) observation of the patient. Neither of these did Bill Frist do. A few weeks ago he said that he learned that the American people do not want the federal government involved in end of life decisions of families. What the hay? Eighty percent of the American people surveyed at the time said that the federal government should not intervene in the Terri Schaivo case. Should this have not been a huge sign to Bill Frist? Of course he knew what the polls were saying in this regard. He along with the republican party don't care what the overwhelming majority of the American citizens want or need. They forget that they work for us. He is now back to believing that we want a "anti gay marriage" amendment.
Furthermore, if Bill Frist had a vagina like Martha Stewart he would have already been sent up the creek for the same insider trading charges that she was. This is disgusting. Bill Frist is a disgrace to all Americans.
Amendments to the Constitution are generally to grant civil liberties not take them away. Prohibition was the last amendment designed to take things away from the American people. That one didn't last long did it?
OH....back to the Wedge issue of "Gay Marriage" don't we have much more serious and real issues that need to be addressed. Or is this about the addresses of the known voters in the red states? Our economy is going poorly unless you are rich rich. Heating prices, gasoline prices are incredibly high and wages have been flat for sometime now. The mess concerning our illegal war in Iraq is not getting any better while our troops are getting killed and the financial costs are many folds more than this administration estimated possibly 2trillion dollars. Frist wants us to focus on an "anti gay marriage amendment." Maybe this amendment will help the economy....yeah right......maybe it will help bring heating costs and gasoline prices down....yeah right.....maybe this amendment will bring our troops safely home....yeah right.
What is up with Medicare/Medicaid? Your mother, father, sister or brother, your aunt or your uncle, grandpa or grandmother have certainly fallen victim to the new Medicare scam right? I think they figured if they could confuse the process as much as possible then many seniors and the needy would stop participating in the process and therefore save Medicare money. This is shameful. Maybe if the republicans get their "anti gay marriage amendment" then the seniors who die without their medicine will forgive them. I mean who needs medicine as long as gay people can't get married?
As long as we have an "anti gay marriage" amendment needy students will not care that the republican controlled congress and president Bush cut 12.7 billion dollars from student aid right?
A National Health Care Plan would be a good issue for Bill Frist (senate majority leader) to take up. He opts for a "anti gay marriage" amendment instead.
The Constitution is under attack. Articles One (freedom of speech, press, the right to assemble etc.) and Four (due process, privacy etc.) are all but history and Bill Frist apparently feels America will be better if we replace either Article One or Article Four with an "anti gay marriage" amendment.
A couple of guys that I know have been in a loving committed relationship for more than a decade. They tell me that they have no interest in "getting married." They have themselves and their relationship protected contractually. They are much more concerned that the basic civil liberties granted in the Bill of Rights which all American citizens are entitled to are being stripped. They say they do not want any more "rights" than every other law abiding citizen has under the Bill of Rights. They would just like to keep the rights our forefathers granted you and me.
A little more of this silliness concerning "gay marriage." Former republican senator Bob Barr was one of the senators who introduced the "defense of marriage act" under the Clinton administration. Could someone tell me what he/they were trying to defend? Bob Barr is on his THIRD WIFE. Are these people really just scared that gay people may have a better marriage success rate than those of their heterosexual counterparts? Last I checked, the divorce rate is over 50%. Seems like the heterosexuals in America are doing a great job all by themselves of destroying the "sanctity of marriage."

Bush's evidence of leadership

Evidence came forth through Michael Brown's testimony today to the Katrina commission that the president sat on his hands and did nothing for 12 hours after the White House had been informed that the levees had broken in New Orleans.
Of course Bush thought that "New Orleans dodged a bullet."
Bush lied about not knowing that the levees had broken.
Bush made a special emergency trip back to Washington D.C. to sign the "Terri Schaivo" legislation but he could not leave his ranch in Crawford to "lead" our country in arguably its greatest natural catastrophe in history.
What if your grandmother, mother, sister or brother were left on their rooftop without food or water for days? Would you think that Bush was a good leader?
The night Katrina hit I personally watch Louisiana governor Kathleen Babino Blanco asking for help. She let CNN's Aron Brown know that "this is bigger than us.....we need help!"
Bush had already called republican governors Haley Barber of Mississippi & Robert Riley but where the greatest loss of lives and physical damage had occurred (Louisiana) he had not called governor Blanco a democrat.
This is despicable.
Homeland security? Karl Rove thinks that the republicans will win again in 2006 on National Security like he feels they did in 2002 and 2004. They have been exposed.

Cherry Picked Intelligence

Former top (28 years) CIA official Paul R. Pillar states that the Bush administration "cherry picked" intelligence to make its case for war with Iraq. He was the intelligence officer for the far east.
He also stated that the intelligence was used to politicize the case for war. I.E. "They are going to meet us in the streets with flowers".....
One year into the war was the first time that he was asked for a post war assessment by the Bush administration.

Cheney goads Libby

We found out today that vice president Cheney goaded I. Lewis Libby to reveal classified information to certain reporters in an attempt to bolster the administration's case for war.
The administration that refused to cooperate with the 911 commission, the Katrina commission and the warrantless wiretaping of Americans due to "classified" status of operations etc. loosely encourages the release of classified information when they feel that it will help their political standing.

Alberto Gonzales and George Washington

If anyone knows anything more than I do about president George Washington's use of electronic surveillance please let me know....Oh....same for president Lincoln.....
This of course is a reference to the Lie Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday 2-6-06.
He also claimed that not only did presidents Washington and Lincoln use electronic surveillance but that presidents Wilson and Roosevelt did too....Of course he hoped he could deceive them. F.I.S.A. was enacted in 1978.
This is a good example of the lengths this administration will go to lie to and try to deceive us.

Democratic Stand

I'm tired of the Republican Machine telling everyone through the media that the Democrats Don't Stand for Anything. You/we need a National MediaBlitz/Campaign informing Americans what we stand for such as:
1: Fiscal Responsibility (balance the budget/eliminate our debt, like Clinton did instead of leaving it to our children and grand children to pay our bills….how is that a family value?)
2: Worker's Rights (support for unions so workers actually have a voice….a living wage etc.)
3: Civil Rights (protecting them…free speech zones? Illegal wire taps? This is not America. Our forefathers would not recognize this place if they were here.)
4: Education (fully fund No Child Left Behind & quit cutting secondary education funding. Increase the Pell Grant amount etc.)
5: Health Care (national health insurance plan, every other industrialized nation has it and less money is spent per citizen with better results…don’t let the pharmaceutical companies write our legislation.)
6: Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid (after all it was Democrats/Roosevelt who enacted socialsecurity.)
7: Values of Truth, Honesty & Integrity (promises which Bush made during his first Presidential campaign and are things his administration has failed on all levels to practice and Indictments are plentiful and more to come.)
8. National Security(4plus years later Bin Laden is still out there...Protect our borders, our Ports, all Cargo on airlines, nuclear facilities etc.)
9. Energy Policy(actually have a real one, not one written by the Oil Industry which gives them billions of dollars in grants/free money at a time they are recording record profits and we citizens are paying nearly two times as much as a year ago for gasoline and heating oil/gas.)
10. Environment Policy (a policy that will reduce green house gases, join the Kyoto agreement, stop destroying nature for our large corporations’ financial benefit etc.)

I was listening to Air America Radio (thank God it exists!) yesterday and acouple of liberal voters/callers were stating that the Democratic Party does not "Stand for Anything." This is hogwash/brainwashing successfully implemented by Karl Rove, Karen Hughes and the Republican Win At All Costs Political Machine through the right wing media which is owned mostly by ultra conservative companies. i.e. G.E. ((defense contracts…great business in a time of war)) owns NBC, Fox ((republican mouth piece owned by right winger Rupert Murdoch)), Disney owns ABC, just to mention a few.) It is Past Time that we, our Party the Democratic Party begins to Scream and Yell at every opportunity about Who We Are and the Values We Stand For, like the 10 that I have mentioned above. We have to Pound it in the American Citizens heads, keep saying it. I don't see anyone taking this issue to heart. Our Party is way too Passive. The Least we can do is to let these brainwashed/misinformed American Citizens Know the Values We Stand For. Now is the time. America seems to be in shambles. We are about to lose our Democracy to Fascism. We need to let the American Citizens know our values, what we stand for, the options they have for CHANGE. I Never See One TV Ad or Hear One Radio Spot Hammering Home Our Democratic Values. Let's do it Now!

p.s. The republicans have had complete control of the legislative and executive branch and arguably the judicial branch of our federal government for 5plus years now. If Abortion and Gay Marriage are so important to them why have they not enacted legislation to Outlaw both? Why can’t their base/followers see this point? They have all of the power. Why have they not acted? Is it because these are really just wedge issues, trump cards to get their mindless hate filled base/followers to the polls? Their base/followers should hold them accountable!

The Daily Lies

Each day it seems more lies and corruption are perpetuated on us American citizens. The new Downing Street Memo further proves Bush's lie about "going to war as a last resort."

Bush says we can't revisit the reasons we went to war in Iraq. He is a liar. Why not? Does he make the rules? The media continues to let him slide on this claim. The republican controlled congress and specifically the Senate still have not completed a review of the pre war intelligence and it's use by the Bush administration. Where is the Independent Council?