Had Enough?

[flamin lib]

Remember a few months back when the Dubai Ports deal hit the fan? Well, it’s back. The Republicans in Congress have cooked up a deal that will allow Dubai to set up shell companies and take over control of US ports. Democrats are doing their best to stop it but they are, after all, the minority party. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2730360

Yesterday, amid all the hubbub of “$#it” going out over an open mike, Attorney General Gonzales testified before Congress that President Bush personally intervened in the investigation of whether the NSA spy program was legal. The Office of Professional Responsibility is supposed to oversee the actions of the Department of Justice and White House lawyers to make sure they have jurisdiction and use it appropriately. President Bush personally pulled the security clearance of lawyers in that department to prevent them even finding out about the NSA program details. For somebody who doesn’t do anything illegal he sure seems to be secretive. They keep saying that if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear from being spied on by the NSA and FBI. Wonder why he’s so shy about us looking into his stuff?

It looks like Bush will use his veto for the first time in his two terms. He plans to veto the Stem Cell bill passed by Congress. At first I wondered why he didn’t just add a signing statement saying he planed to ignore it like he’s done more than 750 times. Then I realized that doing that wouldn’t play as well with the religious right. Nope, this time he needs a bit of grandstanding. He is, after all, a Christian whose life is directed by his enduring faith. Funny that his faith dictates he veto this bill but doesn’t seem to interfere with his use of foul language and obscene gestures.

The conservative wing of the Republican Party is turning against poor George. There have long been concerns among the conservatives over domestic policy with the “borrow and spend” attitude that has bumped the deficit to historical levels. Levels so high that Bush celebrated the fourth largest deficit in history as a victory (deficits 1 through 3 were his as well). Now it seems that conservatives are noticing the abject failures of the Bush foreign policy. Increased violence in Afghanistan, the return of the drug trade there, Iraq’s inability to form a functioning government and what appears to be a full blown civil war and now we are reaping the fruits of Bush’s hands off policy in the Isreal/Palistine conflict. North Korea and Iran have both gone nuclear with complete impunity because the US has lost all credibility with allies and enemies alike. The military is so hopelessly mired in Iraq that there is no possibility of using the threat of force against Iran. Hammas and Hezbolla have both won political victories in real democratic elections with real ballots (so completely unlike US elections).

U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that the increase in oil and energy costs could adversely affect the economy. Fear of inflation due to the “oil tax” on almost everything we as consumers buy could cause the FED to make more drastic changes to interest rates. The “strong and growing” economy seems to be headed for an abrupt turn around. Yeah, strong economy my @$$. The National Association of Realtors reports that foreclosures nation wide are up 38% over 2005 and Texas set a record in December ’05 with a 61% increase over the year before. Why is oil so volatile? Because the Middle East has most of it and the whole region is dissolving into chaos. Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Iran are all involved in combat to one degree or another. All this can be traced back to Bush and his cowboy policies.

All I’ve got to say is that if you like how things are going at home and abroad vote Republican. If you’ve had enough, vote Democrat in ’06.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801195_pf.html Dubai ports deal

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0607190172jul19,1,5062335.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true Bush personally blocks investigation of NSA spy program

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/19/stemcells.veto/ Bush to veto stem cell research

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071801373.html Conservatives wary of Bush policies

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.chapman19jul19,0,7640408.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines Op Ed on Bush policies

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-07-19T161239Z_01_WAT006074_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-BERNANKE-INFLATION-URGENT.XML Oil prices and economy

[Skittles]

1. I have convinced a conservative coworker to vote Dem

he was sickened by Katrina and recently told me he is seeing things in bush he never noticed before.....

[flamin lib]

2. Good on you! If I can't move them completely to our side

I hope to disgust them enough to just stay home.

[IndyOp]

3. Bumper Stickers -

Red/Blue Bumper Sticker

Red /White Bumper Sticker

I wish someone had a t-shirt for sale!