Now I've Heard And Seen Everything

Oil Industry Says Biofuel Push May Hurt at Pump - New York Times:

And some oil executives are now warning that the current shortages of fuel could become a long-term problem, leading to stubbornly higher prices at the pump.

They point to a surprising culprit: uncertainty created by the government’s push to increase the supply of biofuels like ethanol in coming years.

In his State of the Union address in January, President Bush called for a sharp increase in the use of biofuels, along with some improvement in automobile fuel efficiency to reduce America’s use of gasoline by 20 percent within 10 years. Congress is considering legislation calling for a nearly fivefold increase in the use of ethanol.

That has forced many oil companies to reconsider or scale back their plans for constructing new refinery capacity.

So the latest excuse for ever higher gasoline prices is our planning to use less in the future?!!! The temerity! The hubris! The greed!!!

Say Goodnight, Rudy

For the First Time, New York Links a Death to 9/11 Dust - New York Times:
“The city medical examiner has now accepted what thousands of people with 9/11-related illnesses and their doctors have long understood: that ground zero dust was harmful and even deadly,” said Representative Carolyn B. Maloney."Considering the revelations of late concerning Rudy's pre- and post-9/11 shortcomings, this will probably keep the controversy center stage during the primaries, and that can't be good for Mr. Giuliani. Good for us, though.

The Next Recess Appointee?

Candidate to Lead Consumer Agency Withdraws - New York Times:

Mr. Baroody was the latest in a line of industry executives and lawyers put forward by President Bush to head safety agencies. Some of them have been critical of excessive regulation and have advocated rolling back numerous rules.

His nomination began to founder after the disclosure last Wednesday that he would be receiving a $150,000 special payment from the association, and that the severance package was amended by the association in January, shortly after he was identified as the top candidate for the post.

I'm just wondering, is all. We know what happened the last time somebody withdrew from a BushCo nomination.

Feingold: ‘This Is No Time To Back Off’

Think Progress » Feingold: ‘This Is No Time To Back Off’:
"You know what’s going to happen in September? They’ll bring General Petraeus back and he’ll say, Just give me until the end of year. I think things are turning around. And then we’ll be out of session, come back in late January, February, and the fact is a thousand more troops will lose their lives in a situation that doesn’t make any sense and it is hurting our military, hurting our country. This should not wait till September."

It Doesn't Seem To Matter

Think Progress » NYT poll: Opposition to war at all-time high.:
"“Americans now view the war in Iraq more negatively than at any time since the war began, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Six in 10 Americans surveyed say the United States should have stayed out of Iraq, and more than three in four say that things are going badly there — including nearly half who say things are going very badly, the poll found.”"

BuzzFlash Says It Too

Capitulating to the Party of Surrender: The Dems Help Bush Pull Domestic Political Victory From the Jaws of Defeat | BuzzFlash.org:
"They claim that they don’t have the votes to override a veto. But they do have the votes to keep passing a bill that Bush will veto, effectively bringing the war in Iraq to a close because funding will run out."Like I've been saying...!

Why Bush hasn't been impeached

Excellent analysis. And like a failed marriage, we need a divorce from the Bush administration. It's up to the People to make a change and heal the nation.



read more | digg story

Why Are We Not Impeaching?!

But there's a deeper reason why the popular impeachment movement has never taken off -- and it has to do not with Bush but with the American people. Bush's warmongering spoke to something deep in our national psyche. The emotional force behind America's support for the Iraq war, the molten core of an angry, resentful patriotism, is still too hot for Congress, the media and even many Americans who oppose the war, to confront directly. It's a national myth. It's John Wayne. To impeach Bush would force us to directly confront our national core of violent self-righteousness -- come to terms with it, understand it and reject it. And we're not ready to do that.

The truth is that Bush's high crimes and misdemeanors, far from being too small, are too great. What has saved Bush is the fact that his lies were, literally, a matter of life and death. They were about war. And they were sanctified by 9/11. Bush tapped into a deep American strain of fearful, reflexive bellicosity, which Congress and the media went along with for a long time and which has remained largely unexamined to this day. Congress, the media and most of the American people have yet to turn decisively against Bush because to do so would be to turn against some part of themselves. This doesn't mean we support Bush, simply that at some dim, half-conscious level we're too confused -- not least by our own complicity -- to work up the cold, final anger we'd need to go through impeachment. We haven't done the necessary work to separate ourselves from our abusive spouse. We need therapy -- not to save this disastrous marriage, but to end it.

I've noticed that people just don't want to accept the end of this bizzarro "marriage" and take the next logical step. The notion that there isn't enough time or that we might as well wait it out is ridiculous. It may be the only way for America to heal itself and move on to bigger and better things. The whole world needs to see Bush, Cheney and the rest go down in flames and wind up, hopefully, behind bars. And the Democrats need to go for broke here, because they may not get another chance. Simply holding on and waiting it out is not going to cut it. They need to show that they are different, and like the ethics reforms and ending the war, they need to follow through. It's now or never.

Keith O. Gets Down

Crooks and Liars » Special Comment:
“The only things truly “compromised” are the trust of the voters…friends, and family, in Iraq”: "You, the men and women elected with the simplest of directions-Stop The War-have traded your strength, your bargaining position, and the uniform support of those who elected you… for a handful of magic beans."

Gotta' love the guy! K.O. for president! Or at least Secretary of State!

The Blog | Russell Shaw: If Bush Said 2+2 Equals Four, I Wouldn't Believe Him | The Huffington Post

The Blog | Russell Shaw: If Bush Said 2+2 Equals Four, I Wouldn't Believe Him | The Huffington Post:

Three questions:

1. Prior to our invasion of Iraq, weren't these same terrorists Bush is warning us about repressed by Saddam?

2. If we knew that Osama had been trying to stoke up terror back in 2005, why did this Administration minimize the importance of catching him at the time?

3. What does it say about how ungrounded you are if you still buy into this Administation's 'be very afraid' messages?

Whose Surge Is It?

In Baghdad, fighting their 'Alamo' - Los Angeles Times:
"U.S. troops in the Iraq security push face daunting foes: snipers and bombs. A captain fears it may be 'their surge, not ours.'"

Get Ready For The Other Shoe To Drop

The Raw Story | Two US aircraft carriers reach Gulf waters

Combine this with the extra buildup of ground forces in Iraq (twice the number of combat troops that we were told would be in the "surge") and the new homeland security directive that gives ALL governmental power to the president or vice president in the event of any calamity anywhere in the world that the president deems a sufficient threat to the U.S., and you're looking at the imminent end of democracy as we know it in the U.S.

Have a nice day.

Well This Sucks!

Democrats Find Ethics Overhaul Elusive in House - New York Times:

WASHINGTON, May 22 — House Democratic leaders pushing a promised lobbying overhaul are facing resistance from balky lawmakers and fending off accusations that a prominent member is flouting new ethics rules.

The Democratic leaders were forced to scrap a promise to double the current one-year lobbying ban after lawmakers leave office. Now, they are struggling to pass legislation requiring lobbyists to disclose the campaign contributions they “bundle” — collect and deliver — to lawmakers. Failing to deliver on both measures would endanger similar provisions already passed by the Senate.

What are we to think, Democrats? We elected you to stop the war, bring home the troops, impeach the administration, and drain the swamp that Washington politics has become. So far, you are batting .000. I supported you. I campaigned for you. I made calls for you. Come on and give us back some respect and do the right things, or you will not have a chance to establish a new and prosperous dynasty in the West. Didn't we teach you anything last November? Is there something in the D.C. water that rots the brain and enlarges the anus?

Oh, that reminds me, we want you to stop global warming and pollution of our vital fluids as well.

Dems Blink On Deadline

Democrats Pull Troop Deadline From Iraq Bill - New York Times

Disappointing if not unexpected. I don't see why they couldn't just keep sending a bill with withdrawal deadlines (binding ones, at that) and let Bush keep vetoing. Each time, they should get more votes in favor until they have enough to beat the veto.

This just gives the Reps and the so-called Moderates a window of opportunity to make political hay of the Dems "weakness." They should have stuck to their guns.

One in every 32 U.S. adults behind bars, on probation or on parole in 2005

A record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department.



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By Presidential Decree...

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive:

The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.

[...]

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall serve as the President's lead agent for coordinating overall

continuity operations and activities of executive departments and agencies, and in such role shall perform the responsibilities set forth for the Secretary in sections 10 and 16 of this directive.

[...]

(10) Federal Government COOP, COG, and ECG plans and operations shall be appropriately integrated with the emergency plans and capabilities of State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate, in order to promote interoperability and to prevent redundancies and conflicting lines of authority. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate the integration of Federal continuity plans and operations with State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate, in order to provide for the delivery of essential services during an emergency.

[...]

(16) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall:

(a) Coordinate the implementation, execution, and assessment of continuity operations and activities;

(b) Develop and promulgate Federal Continuity Directives in order to establish continuity planning requirements for executive departments and agencies....

Welcome to the end of democracy as we know it in the United States. When the next emergency comes (and do any of us think this bunch of incompetent cronies and co-conspirators can or would do anything to stop it?), something as quaint as "marshal law" may come to be seen as the good old days.

Rrruh-rrrroh!

Number of Evangelical Law Schools Growing - TalkLeft: The Politics Of Crime

Escalation Continues In Iraq

Bush could double force by Christmas:

The little-noticed second surge, designed to reinforce U.S. troops in Iraq, is being executed by sending more combat brigades and extending tours of duty for troops already there.

The actions could boost the number of combat soldiers from 52,500 in early January to as many as 98,000 by the end of this year if the Pentagon overlaps arriving and departing combat brigades.

Separately, when additional support troops are included in this second troop increase, the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq could increase from 162,000 now to more than 200,000 -- a record-high number -- by the end of the year.

Just another detail they forgot to mention? Sure. And as the number of U.S. soldiers is increasing, the number of coalition forces is going down, and the violence is still going up.

A Travesty Of Justice

First Draft: Father of murdered Airman 1st Class Ashley Turner: "I feel you have a killer among you now"

Corporate Greed Knows No Bounds

Bilking the Elderly, With a Corporate Assist - New York Times:
"InfoUSA advertised lists of “Elderly Opportunity Seekers,” 3.3 million older people “looking for ways to make money,” and “Suffering Seniors,” 4.7 million people with cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. “Oldies but Goodies” contained 500,000 gamblers over 55 years old, for 8.5 cents apiece. One list said: “These people are gullible. They want to believe that their luck can change.”

Sick. Just sick. This is what we have to look forward to?

More Money Down The Drain

U.S. Pays Pakistan to Fight Terror, but Patrols Ebb - New York Times:

The administration, according to some current and former officials, is fearful of cutting off the cash or linking it to performance for fear of further destabilizing Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is facing the biggest challenges to his rule since he took power in 1999.

The White House would not directly answer the question of why Pakistan is being paid the same very large amount after publicly declaring that it is significantly cutting back on its patrols in the most important border area. But Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, emphasized Pakistan’s strategic importance in the region.

Hey! I'll take a billion a year to sit on my ass! Honest! Trust me!

Do we need any more testaments to the utter catastrophe that is this administration? They let Bin Laden and his closest cohorts escape from Afghanistan, and now their outsourced cronies are ripping us off while giving safe harbor to those who were actually responsible for the attacks of 9/11. And the fools in the White House don't even have the courage to make the Pakistanis uphold their part of the deal. They're being played by both ends and don't seem to care enough to stop paying for it.

Well, what did we expect? A billion a year is only chump change compared to what we pay Black Water and Haliburton in a year, and they don't exactly deserve it either. How much longer are we going to let the profiteers steal our money and future? Impeach the bastards already!!!