This one's for you... While reporters at The Post and The New York Times have been vetting McCain, many others give him a free pass. Their default cliché is to present him as the Old Faithful everyone already knows. They routinely salute his “independence,” his “maverick image” and his “renegade…
This has to be one of the strangest things about Texas Republicans... When health care in Texas makes headlines, the issues raised by administrators and physicians are hardly rosy. They include overcrowded emergency rooms, mounting hospital budget deficits created by unfunded indigent care, and uninsured rates for adults and children…
Today I imported all of the posts and comments from my old political rant site "Blues From The Red Side Of Life" into this blog and shut down the old Blogger site. It seemed the thing to do since I haven't posted over there in about a year and I…
So far so good. Other than a raspy voice not much to report after the first weeks radiation treatment. No news is good news I guess. The promised cooling effect of afternoon thunderstorms did not happen yesterday. So it was quite warm as I finished the yard in the late…
March 27, 2006I have decided that trying to keep up with multiple blogs requires more time than I want to devote. So I am now keeping my political musing on my main blog. If you wish to wander over you can follow this link...Political MusesYou will have to read through…
There is a firestorm brewing in Washington DC. It is a storm fueled by scandal...Scandals based on the perception of dishonesty. At this moment, it is only the perception of dishonesty that is fueling this firestorm of scandals. But each days news cycle brings more reports of lost documents, lost…
Leave it to the Senator to put his finger on the "New" policy for Iraq. One innovation of the new strategy is closing markets to vehicles, thereby precluding car bombs that kill so many and garner so much media attention. Petraeus understandably wanted us to see this development. How far…
On Easter Sunday the Iraq prognosis could be better. A political breakthrough in Washington already happened, Hamre (John J. Hamre, a former deputy defense secretary) said, when November's elections turned into a referendum on the war. "The American people have been waiting to hear how we were going to win in…
1992 was the year I became a Democrat. That was the year I got the opportunity to attend every session of the Republican National Convention. I was in the building before the delegates and I left each evening after they went off to their parties. The thing that turned me…
You know, either politicians are getting really stupid or they think we are. It really doesn't matter a whole lot if they are being paid off any more, the appearance that they are being paid off is something they should have avoided. The smell of this mandate by the Gov…
OK, maybe I'm dense...I know all of you on the right are sure of it, but...That big unanswered question...But, when exactly will the war in Iraq be over? We keep being told it will be over when we win. Who is going to decide that we have? Or haven't? Why…
I didn't look to see how the op-ed pages tried to spin their own survey, but the data looks pretty bad for the gang in the White House. Nearly half of Americans don't trust President Bush to reform the nation's health-care system, a new Wall Street Journal Online/Harris health-care poll…
Jim Wright says it all right here... It would help immensely if the president can remember that every senator and representative considers him- and herself chosen and charged by the public and instructed by the Constitution to be a "decider," too. Source: Will the 'decider' branch out? | Chron.com -…
This was in the newsfeed from the Houston Chronicle today. In the new spirit of media disclosure, I should tell you that I own several Dixie Chicks CDs. But I'm not writing this as an adoring bluegrass fan. I'm writing this as a shame and empathy researcher. That was how Brene'…
The take away paragraph tells the story of this President's term in office. Bush has always supported a faith-based initiative, but his recitation of beliefs in the East Room yesterday -- he listed no fewer than 18 principles he holds to be true -- sounded less like a question-and-answer session than…
Tony Snow had this to say about his boss and his environmental policies... Mr. Bush had in fact been “keenly committed both to environmentalism and conservationism from the start.” Must be something in the Kool-Aide up there in the White House. As the NY Times points out in an editorial...…
Somehow, after four years, the debate on Iraq is still animated by wishful thinking. The White House talks as if a surge of 20,000 troops is going to stop a civil war. Democrats argue that when America withdraws its troops, Iraqis will finally take responsibility for their own security. But…
Charles Krauthammer takes us to task for those blaming America for the deaths in Iraq... We have made a lot of mistakes in Iraq. But when Arabs kill Arabs and Shiites kill Shiites and Sunnis kill all in a spasm of violence that is blind and furious and has roots…
Another tribute to a life lived large... Remembering Molly Ivins Source: Remembering Molly Ivins
Molly Ivins, the liberal newspaper columnist who delighted in skewering politicians and interpreting, and mocking, her Texas culture, died today at her home in Austin. She was 62. Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman, via Associated Press Molly Ivins in 2006. Her death, after a long fight with breast cancer, was confirmed by…
I don't know about you but to me it looks to me like Bush and Cheney have seen to many police shows on TV. I mean come on guys, good cop bad cop is so lame... We often wonder whether there is a limit to the Bush administration’s obsession with…
You have to wonder what they are putting in the Kool-Aid at the Cheney manse. Vice President Cheney said yesterday that the administration has achieved "enormous successes" in Iraq but complained that critics and the media "are so eager to write off this effort or declare it a failure" that…
Some day we will be able to put the DeLay era behind us. I feel sorry for Virginia... AUSTIN — A part of the criminal case that helped drive former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay from public life is hanging on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will…
All it took was for the ruling party to be kicked out of power. Now we have legislators actually legislating. Perish the thought, the Republican minority may have to prove that government can actually can work for the American people contrary to anything they may have espoused in the past.…
Today's papers are full of news of war and rumors of war, both real and political. There are a number of sites around the internet that will give you better coverage of this than I will. But the little, oft unremarked news stories are more problematic. This is just one small…
William F Buckley Jr has an article on the thought process behind a vote on "the Surge" that starts like this... You are a Republican legislator, retiring after this, your fifth term. Last night, into the midnight hours, you composed a questionnaire for yourself. You vowed to submit to it before…
Today's Washington Post Editorial by Richard Cohen goes a long way in making me understand the "inner" Bush that has seemed so out of touch with reality. Mr. Cohen gets your attention with the first sentence. George W. Bush has executed 153 people, 152 of them in Texas and one…
This Washington Post Editorial touches on a number of points about the Bush tax cuts, most of which are not in the President's favor. PRESIDENT BUSH wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Wednesday that "it is also a fact that our tax cuts have fueled robust economic growth and…
Just don't "suggest" to the "decider" that he can't do what he wants...He may pick up his ball and go home... After an election in which war-weariness was a motivating force for the defeat of Republican candidates, the president has to face the reality that the only decision on Iraq that…
I read George Will's column last evening and couldn't wrap my mind around his argument. I revisited it this morning and find his bait and switch tactics perverse. A three-judge federal court recently tugged a thread that may begin the unraveling of the fabric of murky laws and regulations that traduce the…
Even in a holiday season, politics requires that politicians put in an appearance. Presidential funerals don't happen often, when they do, you go. Nothing shows the depth of a man like the way he shows respect to those who went before him. And a show of respect that requires nothing…
From the parallel universe of Robert Novak. "Environmentalists' well-financed propaganda operation"...Does the man live in this universe? Industry has been spending many times the amounts the environmentalists have but the truth is still coming thru their lies and distortions. Industry has controlled the conversation for 12 years in congress and…
Isn't this just so like the American cliche that the rest of the world sees...We don't like the results of this messy thing called democracy so lets change the government that resulted. Isn't Bush just repudiating his own policy by not working with the elected government he says he went…
After listening to some of the hearing on the radio, I am forced to agree with the Post. What does it say about America, that the ruling party for the last decade have placed the biggest obstructionists in positions of power and then blamed the opposition for being obstructionists. THE LAST hearing…
It's a bit disconcerting to have Peggy Noonan agree with me on anything. But she seems to have had the same gut reaction to the Bush/Web confrontation that I did. Sadly that was pretty much all we agreed on. Though I do find part of her theory on why there isn't…
I am sorry Ken, but it has nothing to do with Conservative or Liberal Principles and everything to do with Moral Principles. Mehlman acknowledged voter anger about the Iraq war and a spate of GOP corruption scandals, but he pointed to a broader culprit: the erosion of the core conservative principles…
George Will has decided he will hold a newly elected Senator to a higher standard that the President and Vice-President of the United States. Go figure. I agree if Jim Webb really wanted to make a statement he should have stayed away from the reception...He could have put out a press release…
I found the following paragraphs most telling. In an article in the latest issue of the conservative Weekly Standard, Yuval Levin, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, explains the tension between the market and the family as clearly as anyone has: "The market values risk-taking and creative…
It was pretty obvious even right after the elections that the president wasn't changing his approach. If anything he seemed to be rubbing the fact that he wasn't in the democrats face. President Bush's political fortunes have changed for the worse, but he himself is announcing that he hasn't changed…
Jim Hightower is one of the few Texas Progressive Politicians my generation has seen. He has a real talent for cutting through the BS that most politicians sling...Hey, how about indulging yourself with a hot new Maserati? Yeah, it's got a sticker price that'll make you go blind – but,…
The election may be over but the battle to protect the American Constitution has just begun. Do not think that if these rulings are allowed to stand that they will only be used against non-citizens. It will only be a matter of time before someone born in this country is spirited…
Why can't papa Bush just slap him up side his head? Where will this country be after two more years? Hell, everyone reading these posts know how I feel about the decider-in-chief, so forgive my whining...please? Good lord, if even Henry Kissinger now says that military victory in Iraq is…
I find myself intrigued... I'd like to try this idea in Elizabeth, New Jersey Tyler Cowen How about cities without any traffic signs or lights?: European traffic planners are dreaming of streets free of rules and directives. They want drivers and pedestrians to interact in a free and humane way,…
This morning's OP-ED from David Broder makes some interesting points. He has divided the Bush Presidency into four phases. I think he should have added a fifth. In trying to gauge where things stand in our government after the political upheaval that has taken place, it helps to think back through the…
Excuses sound hollow when you’re trapped in a flimsy trailer. For Gulf Coast residents waiting for long-promised government housing assistance, patience has given way to anger, and anguish. What is clear more than a year after Hurricane Katrina is that their needs — and the demand for action from the…
It is nice to read something on the Op-Ed pages at the WSJ that I can agree with for a change. Looks like the new Senator from Virginia has a way with telling it like it is... The most important--and unfortunately the least debated--issue in politics today is our society's steady drift toward a…
She was the last of the Blue Governors from the Great State of Texas. Bush and Rove lied her out of office. Now the whole country knows what it's like to live in Texas. AUSTIN — A downtown bridge famous for political marches, parades and a bat colony will soon…
Today's emails brought the following: On their journey through the stages of grief, conservatives don't yet seem to have gotten past denial. Republicans may have lost, conservatives argue, but only because they misplaced their ideology. "[T]hey were punished not for pursuing but for forgetting conservatism," George F. Will, conservatism's most…
It really does my heart good to see the "l" word starting to be used in regards to the administration. Maybe if we quit dodging the truth, it will set us free..."Washington's easy acceptance of lying, especially presidential lying, is beyond lamentable. It has cost the country plenty, including, of…
"When Democratic committee chairmen issue subpoenas and conduct oversight hearings, will news accounts portray them as harassing the White House? Or will journalists recognize that aggressive congressional inquiries were a normal practice until the GOP Congress, which loved to investigate the Clinton White House, essentially stopped scrutinizing the Bush administration?…
It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.After arguing during the campaign that Democrats would undermine national security, President Bush changed course today and said America's enemies should not read this week's ground-shaking election results as a sign of U.S. weakness.Bush radio: Elections do not reflect a loss of…
"Journalists by nature shy from pinning the "liar" label on any political leader, but President Bush's acknowledgments that he had not been forthcoming about his plans to dump Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have kicked up a fuss at the White House and sparked a debate about the limits of…
I guess the reason I have been quiet in regards to the resounding change in the political climate is I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Congratulation to all of the winners across the country. In particular, congratulation to us, the American people. We have begun the…
This story caught my interest today because the company I work for changed our insurance to United last year. Now I wonder who it is that is being insured.How William McGuire earned that fat paycheck | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "Moral hazard theory, which has governed health insurance since the…
If there is any question about what happened yeaterday, think about this...Half full: Perceptions of the economy, like its rewards, vary wildly and help to explain the election results. | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "Houston is an informative example. In a city that is home to some of the world's…
Angry Campaigns End on an Angrier Note - washingtonpost.com:"'As you go to the polls, remember we're at war,' (President Bush) told thousands of GOP supporters in Pensacola, Fla. 'And if you want this country to do everything in its power to protect you and at the same time lay a…
I think anyone who has read my post would know my political leaning, but that's beside the point. Today's lesson in democracy is Go Vote. This really is one of those things where if you don't use it, you lose it.
That's the question Eugene Robinson asks in today's column.Eugene Robinson - How Low Will Bush Go? - washingtonpost.com:"If Democrats manage to take control of one or both houses of Congress on Tuesday, the reason will be that voters were not adequately roused into a state of heart-pounding, knee-knocking, teeth-chattering fear.Not…
All I am going to say is, I agree.The Great Divider - New York Times: "As President Bush throws himself into the final days of a particularly nasty campaign season, he’s settled into a familiar pattern of ugly behavior. Since he can’t defend the real world created by his policies…
The record of this administration should be the textbook example in why corporations are not “persons”. And now, before they can’t get away with it anymore, it’s time for the payback. As if most of the laws and tax cuts haven’t done enough…Groups draft plan to protect corporate America:By STEPHEN…
No one else would have come up with the throw down quote below.Who Needs to 'Help' America Vote? - washingtonpost.com:"Having fixed Iraq and New Orleans, the federal government's healing touch is now being applied to voting. As a result, days -- perhaps weeks -- might pass after Election Day without…
No wonder they all want Hillary to run. How else can they blame it on a Clinton?Future Tax Shock - New York Times: "One of President Bush’s be-very-afraid lines this campaign season is that Democrats, if elected, will raise taxes. What he doesn’t say is that if you are one…
Those of us forced to follow George W Bush's career from the start have been saying it for years. Now the press is starting to catch on. They would have done a better job of living up to their charter had they just believed it in the beginning. Sadly they…
Instead of a GOTV the GOP has started a SOTV...GOP Aims to Scare Up Big Voter Turnout - washingtonpost.com: "With top Republican strategists now privately predicting substantial House losses, President Bush and top GOP officials plan to spend the final days of the 2006 campaign attempting to rally partisans and…
I found the following passage intriguing. It may have taken them a hundred plus years, but those “Republican editors” appear to have found the butter…But now it’s margarine, as it a imitation of the real thing.The Blog of Henry David Thoreau: Thoreau's Journal: 19-Oct-1859: "Thoreau's Journal: 19-Oct-1859Some eighteen hundred years…
Do you feel safer with your lawful rights in the hands of these people?A Dangerous New Order - New York Times: "Once President Bush signed the new law on military tribunals, administration officials and Republican leaders in Congress wasted no time giving Americans a taste of the new order created…
Eugene Robinson makes a good point today.'Values' Choice for The GOP - washingtonpost.com: "The culture war is supposed to be about morality, but really it's a crusade to compel Americans to follow certain norms of private behavior that some social and religious conservatives believe are mandated by sociology, nature or…
Once again Keith Olbermann speaks strongly from the point of view a growing majority of Americans are beginning to share. Sadly, he is one of the few willing to speak directly to President Bush about the dishonesty inherent in his policies. Mr Olbermann seems to be one of the few…
You know, it is getting really old hearing time after time that had we been told Bin Laden was going to blow up the Twin Towers we would of listened but since it was so vague, you know, we can't be held responsible for not listening.Tenet Recalled Warning Rice -…
George Will spends a whole column being apologetic for the Bush administration before closing with the key paragraph...George F. Will - The Leaders We Have - washingtonpost.com: "'Where's the leader?' Bush, according to Woodward, has exclaimed in dismay about the Iraqi government's dithering. 'Where's George Washington? Where's Thomas Jefferson? Where's…
Be prepared, cause the Washington Post is on a roll this morning...Richard Cohen - Can Bush Save Bush? - washingtonpost.com: "Not too long after Franklin D. Roosevelt died, Republicans insisted on what was to become the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. It was meant to ensure that never again would…
E. J. Dionne Jr. - A Backlash Against Bickering - washingtonpost.com: "The irony is that Bush has fostered a backlash against himself, against ideology and against partisanship that, as a former governor, he should have seen coming." As Governor of Texas, Bush had a very strong democratic legislature to work…
I see I'm not the only one thinking along these lines...Safety Rule 4001 » Nightmare Scenario - Bush Jails Congressional Democrats Citing Aid to Terrorists: "Washington, DC 8/12/2007 - In a stunning move today, President Bush adjourns both houses of Congress and instructs military units to detain all democratic members…
I was sitting at the kitchen table going through my morning emails, reading the blogs I keep up with and generally doing what I do during the quiet of a Saturday morn when after checking out Fragments I started running Fred's link list. Basically, I was looking for some new…
John Scalzi started a hell of a conversation. Join in...I'm proud to be an American, but I'm tired of being ashamed of my government. I'm tired of having to count the seconds until this bilious waste of a president is shoved out the door in January of 2009. I'm tired…
I really did not think the oil companies would be this desperate to keep the Republicans in charge but I guess you keep the ones that are letting you get away with it all. I originally predicted gas at $1.98 by the week before the election...I was about a month…
The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Colin Powell is not backing down from his stand on the issue of American Principles...Nor the decision to invade Iraq.American principles are vital to terror fight, Powell says: "Former Secretary of State Colin Powell defended Wednesday the decision to invade Iraq and topple leader…
You can always tell when election season rolls around, the Republicans start warning about voter fraud. And I love the way they do it... Georgia Law Requiring Voters to Show Photo ID Is Thrown Out - washingtonpost.com: "'There have been enough reports over the years of voter fraud that it…
I guess this is what sticks in my craw most about these self-righteous leaders we are stuck with and Eugene Robinson said it pretty well...Eugene Robinson - Torture Is Torture - washingtonpost.com: "But we shouldn't have to talk about the practicalities of torture, because the real question is moral: What…
Mr. President, this is not a Monopoly Game ('though I'm sure from your point of view, there isn't much difference). You will be held accountable by history if not by the Courts of this world. Congress will not give you a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.You have "Decided" how…
Bush's problem is he sees big issues and has simplistic responses. With his inability to expand, and unwillingness to change, his ideas he leaves even his own party scratching their heads.Tribunal Dispute Could Ruin GOP Strategy - washingtonpost.com: "The problem, Lungren said, is that the complexity of the tribunal and…
After reading this editorial this morning I had the uneasy experience of seeing the White House's Stephen Hadley on Face The Nation, try to justify their reasoning about their "Torture Amendment". His appearance after Sen. Linsey Graham (R-S.C.)who articulated the reason he is opposed to the program was a sham…
You know, I'm getting really tired of this Administration trying to tell me what morality is. As they lie and cheat and push crony politics to new limits, they seem to have a disconnect with reality (like I'm the first person to say that). I can only hope that the…
A few days ago I thought I posted a comment on gas prices, but, for some reasons I could not find it anywhere. So here is a reprise...And the election season has begun...Isn't it just amazing that after months of exceedingly high profits for the oil company's and $3.00 a…
Former Texas Governor, Activist Ann Richards, 73 - washingtonpost.com: "Former Texas governor Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Sept. 13 after cancer was diagnosed this year, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73."She was a breath of fresh air in…
You know I avoided ABC's fictional account of the lead up to the terrorist attack. Not hard to do since most evenings I turn the TV off after the Newshour if I have even turned it on at all. But for some reason I flipped on ABC to listen to…
Harold Meyerson - With No Ideas, The GOP Seeks to Scare - washingtonpost.com: "What's a party to do when its high road leads nowhere but down? The Republicans tried privatizing Social Security, but their numbers never added up. They tried spreading democracy with unilateral, preventive war but instead unleashed a…
Ok I was wrong...Bloggermann: This hole in the ground - Bloggermann - MSNBC.com: "History teaches us that nearly unanimous support of a government cannot be taken away from that government by its critics. It can only be squandered by those who use it not to heal a nation's wounds, but…
I was reading the morning papers (on-line of course), and Richard Cohen's column had some interesting thoughts. His contention that Bin Laden has won resonates. He lays out a very good case that everything Bin Laden set out to accomplish he has, and the Bush Administration has taken each of…
I was trying to come up with a way of expressing my feelings for this anniversary of the day America awoke to the realities of the world...This post led to same thoughts...Daily Kos: The lessons of 9-11: "The lessons of 9-11by kosMon Sep 11, 2006 at 10:53:17 AM PDTAravosis learned…
