The Man Every President Fears:

Watch Charlie Rose's interview with former President Jimmy Carter, the man every president is terrified of.

Supreme Court Moves One Step Closer to Destroying American Democracy:

The Republican handpicked members of the U. S. Supreme Court moved one step closer to killing off democracy in America with its decision yesterday in support of the Indiana law requiring voters to provide photo ID when voting.

This will allow pole workers to deny anyone they suspect as voting contrary to their wishes to be denied the right to vote.

Please note, this will allow pole workers the right to deny anyone the right to vote, regardless of whether they have a photo ID or not.

How so? Now if a pole worker believes you might vote for someone other than their candidate, they can simply deny that you are the person in the photo. The burden of proof is on you, and by the time you are able to prove you are in fact that person, your vote will be irrelevant. This is an extension of the tactics employed in the 2004 and 2000 elections which brought the Royalist nincompoop George Bush to power.

(See Linda Greenhouse's New York Times story.)

Pandering to Voters:

Sen. Clinton has joined forces with Sen. McCain in pandering to voters by advocating a reduction in fuel taxes. The question is whether voters are dumb enough to fall for this. The federal gas tax amounts to a tiny drop in the bucket at 18.4 cents per gallon. But the nasty secret is that suspending the tax, while further escalating the national debt, meaning that the tax would have to inevitably be paid anyway, is that tax paying drivers wouldn't save money anyway. Do you really think for one second that the price at the pump will go down for longer than a day or two? The oil companies are very aware that you are willing to pay $4.00 a gallon for gasoline. So that's what they're going to charge you. The question is whether you want all of that money going into their pockets or some of it being used to help maintain the roads and bridges you drive over. (See The New York Times story.)

In the meantime, oil production capacity is suffering from a variety of causes. (See The New York Times story.) In some cases, wells are drying up, while in others the above ground capacity to produce and refine is running into roadblocks.

And no one is talking about global warming, which looms over us and our children, like the monster in the TV show, Lost. But this monster is real, not simply a distraction.

David Brooks Anoints Demography King:

The New York Times' token Republican has spent far more time talking about Obama and Clinton than his party's candidate, old what's his name, in recent weeks. In today's Op-Ed pages, Brooks explains that "[t]he upscale liberals who revere Obama have spent their lives championing equality and opposing privilege. But they’ve smashed the old WASP social hierarchy only to create a new educational one."

It's a fair analysis—what else would I say when a stooge for big oil agrees with me. The big question for the Democrats, as everyone knows, is can they regroup once the party finally chooses a candidate.

The bigger question is whether whoever is elected president will be able to effect an upright ship of state over the course of the next four years. The boat's leaking and the forecast is for worse weather. Will any captain be able to prevent it from swamping?

Bush Blames Congress for Economic Crisis:

Georgie Boy, in a bit of brilliant analysis, declared congress was at fault for whatever was wrong with the economy today. The Prez wants lots of tax cuts for his buddies at the oil companies and the country club crowd, and congress is hesitant to grant them. In making his argument, Bush, who has an MBA in business, declared he'd let the economists describe the economic situation the country is in as he lacks the expertise. Now there's a revelation! (See the NPR story.)

Crude Hits $119.93 per Barrel:

As the price of crude oil reaches a new record high, Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum record their largest profits in history. The New York Times reports, "Shell’s net income in the first three months of the year rose 25 percent to $9.08 billion and BP reported its profit increased 63 percent to $7.62 billion."

What the Dude was thinking a while back: "We look forward to analyzing and working with legislation that will make—it would hope—put a free press's mind at ease that you're not being denied information you shouldn't see." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 2005. (George Orwell would have been proud.)

China Facts: "China is expected to overtake the U. S. as the world's largest economy in ten years." (Source: ngm.com)

More on Bush's Privatization of the Federal Gov't:

The New York Times reports that "[m]ore than 60,000 federal contractors owe $7.7 billion in back taxes, according to the Government Accountability Office. Almost half of the deadbeats are defense contractors who owe the Treasury $3 billion."

Elizabeth Edwards Scolds the Press:

Former Sen. John Edwards' wife chimes in on the criticism of the press over the current coverage of the presidential candidates, including the failed coverage of the early campaigning. The press, Edwards complains, is more interested in reporting bowling scores than health care plans. She's right, of course. But then the average voter doesn't understand his or her current health care plan, and is so easily duped that he or she believes that government involvement in health care will inevitably lead to no health care at all.

The real concern here is, on the one hand, the consolidation of the press into the hands of a few powerful persons like Ruppert Murdock, and on the other, the emulation of reality TV in order to garner viewers who are too lazy and poorly educated to either care about or investigate serious news and issues.

If there is good news here, it is that more and more voices are speaking out against the shoddy quality of journalism in a country that has unparalleled resources.

Here's the Dude's take on just about everything: "I hope we get to the bottom of the answer. It's what I'm interested to know." — George W. Bush, to the Associated Press, April 26, 2000.

China Facts: "Beijing enforces a one-dog policy that prohibits pets more than 14 inches high." (Source ngm.com)

The Myth of Privatization:

Everybody knows that government is inefficient, right? No competition, jobs going to the person who has the most minimal of qualifications, high pay, great benefits, and the average citizen is the one person who never benefits.

This myth has existed for many years, growing out of the old, pre civil service system of allowing elected officials to appoint cronies to government jobs. Bush came to power preaching privatization. He wanted us to give our Social Security money to the stock market. (Have you checked out the stock market lately?) He wanted us to abandon our public education system and send our kids to private schools, many completely untested.

The government doesn't even protect its own officials anymore in places like Iraq, where private contractors who got their contracts without even offering competing bids, more often than not, now ride like hired guns in 1950s Hollywood westerns, and with no oversight, through war zones, killing civilians without restrictions of any kind.

Yesterday's Washington Post reported on other areas where Bush and his ilk attempted privatization within the Federal Government. In this case, the Feds had to compete to prove that they were more efficient than the private sector. The results are interesting.

The civil service boys have been beating the private sector in the vast majority of cases:

Let's face it, the Bush push to privatize has never been about improving things for Americans any more than the baseball stadium he and his cronies profited from in Texas had anything to do with improving the lives of the Texans within the community there. It was about a few people making large amounts of money by conning the tax payers. Just ask the average person in New Orleans.

Naomi Klein on The Charlie Rose Show:



McCain Panders to Republican Base:

Back in 2001, John McCain voted against the massive Bush tax cuts that helped move the country from solvency to massive debt. Now he's offering to make the tax cuts permanent. He'll save money, he says, by keeping earmarks out of bills. But the truth is that earmarks at most amount to only 1 percent of the national budget, a drop in the bucket of red ink. (See the Washington Post story.)

The American Theocracy:

The Bush administration's open support for evangelical Christianity has empowered fanaticism within the U. S. military forces where officers and non-coms feel perfectly free to harass soldiers who accidentally reveal religious beliefs that don't fall into line with theirs. The American Constitution, it appears, does not apply to soldiers serving in Iraq. (See The New York Times' story. So much for bringing democracy to the Middle-East. It will be interesting to see how the military tries to cover up this story.)

John McCain on why he is opposed to equal pay for women:

What women really need is "education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else. And it's hard for them to leave their families when they don't have somebody to take care of them."

Uh, yeah, right? Whatever.

The Dude chimes in on the economy: "It's very important for folks to understand that when there's more trade, there's more commerce." — George W. Bush, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, April 2001. (And PhD. stands for "pile it high and deep.")

China Stats: "Three in ten Chinese families have grandparents living in the same household." (Source ngm.com)

Education:

Many, many, many years ago, in a time now long past, and often misremembered, my little high school in the mid-west had a graduation rate of 90 percent or better. I had no idea what an anomaly that was at the time. I simply thought very nearly everyone went to and graduated from high school.

The truth is that as recently as the early 1980s American high schools were only graduating students at a 75 percent rate. That rate is now down to 70 percent. Here's the question: what are those students who never graduate from high school doing?

Of the ones who do graduate, nearly two out of three go on to college. In other words, about 50 percent of American youth have at least some college (slightly more than half of those who go graduate), while 30 percent never graduate from high school. That's a significant gulf, with significant questions about a work force in a state of flux. (See Edward Fiske's Op-Ed piece in today's New York Times.)

Here's the Dude demonstrating the value of an Ivy League education in preparing you to communicate: "First, we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I thought made sense for the country." — George W. Bush, Washington Post, April 24, 2001. (And that clearly illustrates why the economy is simply in a down turn and not a recession.)

China Demographics: "45 percent of Chinese women surveyed say they do not want to give up their careers to get married." (Source ngm.com)

NPR Reports on a World War II Hero, Whose Story Was Mis Told and under Reported:

National Public Radio reports the story of Marine Pvt. Guy Gabaldon, who single-handedly captured more than 1,400 Japanese prisoners during World War II. His commanding officer recommended him for The Congressional Medal of Honor, but it wasn't granted. A movie was made, but Gabaldon, a Mexican American, was portrayed as white.

It's an old story. If the truth doesn't fit what we want to believe, then we change the truth.

The Big Lie:

Ed Rendell grinned like a possum and denied race had anything to do with Sen. Clinton's margin of victory in the recent primary against fellow Democrat, Sen. Obama. Rendell, a master of race politics in the state known as "Pennsyltucky" and "Northern Alabama," is the same politician who in his last election sent pol workers around to use the "N" word as much as possible to push white voters to vote for him rather than his African American opponent. It ain't for nothing that Pennsylvania is the state known for its massive "T" geography.

Racism and bigotry don't disappear just because you change vocabulary. (See The New York Times' story.)

Back at the Ranch:

Little Johnny McCain is visiting the lower ward in New Orleans, promising never again will their be leadership in the White House as bad as that which made the Katrina disaster truly horrible. Evidently, McCain has given up on Bush campaigning for him and has realized he'd better distance himself considerably from the terribly failed policies of the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

In the meantime:

The militants in Pakistan have decided to talk with the government, which means that things have turned hot for them so they'll make allegiances temporarily until they think it's safe to go on the offensive again. Creating and breaking allegiances is a way of life for leaders in that neck of the woods, much as it is around the Tigris River.

You can expect a cooling off period, maybe through the American elections.

What the Dude said about foreign affairs: "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." — George W. Bush, The New York Daily News, April 23, 2003.

China Facts: "The number of unmarried young men—called bare branches—is predicted to be 30 million by 2020." (Source ngm.com)

Murdoch To Buy Newsday:

Rupert Murdoch, the man behind Fox News, is attempting to buy New York's Newsday, one of the top ten newspapers in terms of circulation in the U. S. If he succeeds, he will own three of the top ten papers in the country, further consolidating his hold on the information available to U. S. citizens.

In a related story, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, Murdoch's latest major purchase, resigned yesterday. (See The New York Times' story.)

PA Primary Results Come Out as Expected:

The Pennsylvania primary results fit the expectations. Clinton won, but Obama closed the gap between them. Most of the morning's focus questioned on why Obama could not completely close the gap after having spent what would have amounted to several fortunes.

The real news, however, was the massive turnout for a primary election, rivaling that of a general election, and what it might portend for the November election. Most believe it illustrates the anger over the current Bush administration's policies. (See The New York Times' story.)

What on Earth was he trying to say: "The other thing the volunteers do is they welcome people here, for this is the people's land. This isn't one person's land, it's thepeople's land, and foreign visitors about the mountain so they can enjoy their time and leave only footprints behind"? — George W. Bush, Wilmington, New York, April 22, 2002.

One out of every one hundred American adults behind bars:

The New York Times reports on the record number of people locked up in America's prisons. It should be noted that more and more American prisons are becoming private, for profit operations, paid for with tax payer money. The U. S., with only 5 percent of the world's population has more prisoners by far than any other nation. China, with four times the population of the U. S., comes in a distant second. (See The New York Times' story.)

China Figures: 119 baby boys are born in China for every 100 girls (Source ngm.com).

Food—The New Global Crisis:

While many countries face food riots and shortages, in the U. S. the problem shaping up is "price volatility." Today's New York Times tries to address the complicated issue. Most Americans take food for granted. We've always had so much food that our primary issues with it have focused on our over eating issues. For the most part, we've left the management of production up to the whimsical forces of the market place. Can we afford to continue this practice in the face of global warming issues that challenge the continued existence of civilization within the lifetimes of our children?

War of Words:

The Bush administration is complaining that Jimmy Carter is interfering with their last minute peace process thing, as the administration takes a stab at bringing stability to an area of the Middle-East they have mostly ignored for the past seven years, Israel and its most immediate neighbors. Former President Carter, it should be remembered, famously ignored the Clinton administration's wishes and negotiated with North Korea, stopping what possibly could have esculated into a nuclear war. (See today's New York Times' story.)

About China:

China's one-child policy created a generation of only children that numbers 90 million. (Source ngm.com)

The Dude: "My job is to, like, think beyond the immediate." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 21, 2004.

On Education:

Every 26 seconds a student drops out of high school in America, more than a million each year.

A recent survey by Common Core revealed that 1 out of 4 teenagers do not know who Adolf Hitler was, 1 out of 3 do not know what the Bill of Rights is, 1 out of 2 do not know the Civil War took place sometime between 1850 and 1900. No knowledge. No perspective. No future. A life of addiction, crime and incarceration. And watching American Idol on TV.

Is this the America you want to leave to your children?

The Washington Post reports on the use of drugs by interrogators at Guantanamo. The story begins with a tale told by Adel al-Nusairi, " former Saudi policeman captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2002." Nusairi is now free in Saudi Arabia, but he recalls that when he was first questioned while in prison he was first given a shot, against his will. To this day, he has not been told what drugs he was given. Although he has been released because he had no connection with al-Qaeda and should not have been arrested in the first place, he has never been told what was forcefully placed into his body and what the long term effects might be.

You will recall that the American forces were paying Afghanis to deliver prisoners to them, with little if any evidence that the prisoners were in fact al-Qaeda. This is equivalent to paying for scalps.

Interestingly enough, the persons responsible for directing this behavior were draft dodgers.

More on Naomi Klein:

Ms Klein's interview with "Big Think":

John Stewart Explains It All:

Authoring Failure:

Every cloud has its silver lining, so if you could just manufacture more clouds and if you have the right companies, you could harvest all of that silver.

Last fall, Harper's published Naomi Klein's "Disaster Capitalism," an adaptation of her book, The Shock Doctrine (Metropolitan Books), which lays out a case for collusion between government officials and private enterprise to exploit disasters around the world. The argument is extremely convincing and is a must read. This past December, Klein was interviewed by Charlie Rose, which you can see here.

The article begins with a quote from Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman: "Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around." Friedman, it should be stated, believed in the privatization of very nearly everything.

Manipulating the News:

Today's New York Times reports on the Pentagon's efforts to control the flow of information. In order for democracy to have a chance at succeeding, there must be a steady flow of accurate information. No one doubts this, although even under the best of circumstances democracy can still fail, sometimes dramatically. Large groups almost always produce average results at best, and sometimes those are inadequate.

The Pentagon, like their masters, the current residents of the White House, remember all too well the role the press played in bringing about change during the 1960s and early 1970s, from racial integration to the fall of the Nixon administration, has sought to control the flow of information since the Reagan administration, when reporters were denied access to Granada.

Today's story focuses on the Pentagon's hand picking of military analysts to present information from the major news outlets:

Hidden behind [an] appearance of objectivity … is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used … analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance.

If you read far enough into the article, you begin to uncover the connection between the Pentagon's efforts and the Naomi Klein article referenced above.

The New Is the Old:

In the good old days, operators of coal mines had no employees. They subcontracted their work. When you went to work in the mines, you weren't an employee, you were self-employed. Thus you could be exploited to the extent that the owner of the mine was able to get away with. If you got hurt in the owner's mine, that was your look-out, as my grandfather explained. If you needed a shovel, you bought it—at the mine owner's store, naturally.

It took a hundred years of pitched battles, including at times open warfare, for the workers to unionize and find success at turning back this sort of exploitation, only to find that while the United Mine Workers of America may no longer be exploited in this fashion, plenty of other workers continue to be.

Today's New York Times reports on FedEx Ground, and how that company is using this method to not only exploit their employees, but is likely cheating the government out of hundred of millions of tax dollars, including undermining Social Security.

WalMart is cited as the chief example of this form of exploitation, but the model is an old one.

On Education: "Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis." — George W. Bush, CNBC, April 2000.

Predators Abound:

A new method of predation on the halt and the lame is coming to light. The New York Times reveals that benefit managers, the people big companies hire to help insure that their workers receive appropriate drugs for illnesses at the best prices, are colluding with drug manufacturers to bilk insurance companies and the very people they have been hired to protect.

The Times story leads with an outrageous example of the epilepsy drug H. P. Acthar Gel, which had been selling for $1,600 per vial and is now selling for $23,000.

The situation is like being arrested for a crime only to discover that your court appointed attorney is also the prosecuting attorney. Kafka's world realized.

Are you ready for the church bells to ring in Philadelphia?

A 5.2 level quake struck in southern Illinois yesterday morning that was felt from Chicago to Memphis, from Kansas City to Cincinnati. Fortunately, little damage occurred, and there are no reported injuries. The last quake to hit this zone occurred in 2002, but that was minor. A more serious quake occurred in 1968.

Many experts believe that a truly serious quake in the region is overdue, perhaps like the series of quakes that took place between 1812 and 1814, when the effects were so powerful that the Mississippi River flowed backwards, creating new channels and even lakes. And yes, the church bells rang as for away as Philadelphia and some say Boston. People wrapped themselves in sheets and mounted roof tops, expecting the rapture to occur. Napoleon, it should be remembered was widely advertised as the Antichrist. But then, in some circles, so was the Pope. (See The New York Times' story.)

$50 Million Air Force Contract Goes to Company Close to Air Force Officials:

The Washington Post reports on the letting of a multi-million dollar contract to "a company owned by people close to senior Air Force officials." According to the story, "A Defense Department Inspector General's report disclosed Thursday showed that senior officers pushed the contract to Strategic Message Solutions as part of an effort to improve the Air Force's Thunderbirds air show."

You can cry about pork all you want, but the real money has always been in the military industrial complex. Debt has always been directly tied to military spending.

On Political Pundits:

"The desperate search for the novel has become even more desperate." Michael Kinsley, The Charlie Rose Show, April 19, 2008, commenting on the ceaseless search for something new to say about candidates.

The Decider reveals himself:  "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the Secretary of Defense." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 18, 2006. (Then he changed his mind.)

Clinton v. Obama:

The lead story in today's New York Times addresses last night's debate between the two Democratic candidates. The upshot of the story and the debate is that it probably did neither of them little good. The truth about debates is that you can win them and still lose an election, as Nixon did in 1960, when historians generally agree the vice-president one three of four against John Kennedy, and as Carter did against Reagan in 1980, when the president clearly outmatched his Republican rival time after time, only to be swamped in the general election.

When it comes down to it, Clinton's strongest assets are 1) the loyalty of women, 2) the wishful thinking of some men that a woman ought to be given a chance after all this time, and 3) the nostalgia that American's have for the 1990s. Her greatest detractions are her husband and the general belief by many men and women that all women, like all politicians, are deceivers.

Obama's strongest asset is that he is black. His greatest detraction is that he is black.

None of this has anything to do with how well either of them might govern, which would be considerably better than the current administration—undoubtedly the worst administration in living memory.

The real consideration here is that neither of these candidates chase off voters from the fall election. In order for the Democrats to win the White House, they will need to win by a convincing margin. We've all seen what happens in close elections. And John McCain has clearly demonstrated that he is willing to sell his soul to whomever in order to gain residence to the ivory manse.

China v. Tibet (and the West):

The New York Times continues to address the issue today. Perhaps the most telling statement is that "many Chinese recall the role of the Central Intelligence Agency in Tibet during the 1950s and interpret Western sympathy for the current protests as another foreign effort to destabilize and divide China." Before the communist revolution, if you were Chinese and wanted to ride a train, you had to pay a foreign country for the right to do so; if you wanted to mail a letter, you had to pay a foreign country in order to have it delivered. It was the west who brought opium to China because there was so little that the west had that the Chinese wanted and the west was desperate to trade with China. The Boxer Rebellion of 1905 was as much about driving the west's opium trade out of China as anything else.

In addition, many in the west have forgotten that China and India have fought wars since the end of World War II. Tibet is a buffer state for China, just as eastern Europe served as buffer states for Russia during the Cold War. Couple this with the fact that the Chinese view the Tibetans as backwards and lazy people, willing to be exploited by superstition, and you have a situation that will be extremely difficult to negotiate.

Put more succinctly: On the one hand we have a culture that admonishes its people that ambition is the greatest evil versus another that places its highest value on ambition.

In Tibet, you rise to the highest level because a group of monks, through mysticism, declares that you, from birth possess the soul of some past leader. In China you rise to leadership through the expression of your ambition, your drive, your self interest.

The Tibetan way may severely inhibit progress, but we have seen what unchecked ambition leads to: unjustified wars, genocide, slavery.

Five years ago, the great man said, "You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it will take time to restore chaos and order—order out of chaos. But we will." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 2003. (We're still waiting, George. Maybe in a hundred years?)

How To Get a Bill Passed in Congress:

Make sure there are big tax breaks for businesses included in the bill. That's the answer Sen. Christopher Dodd, Conn. Dem., came up with.

The federal budget, which hasn't been balanced since the Clinton administration, will go further into the red if the senate has its way. It's time to go after those votes by bailing out homeowners who got in over their heads by buying property they couldn't afford from lenders who were irresponsible enough to sign them up to loans that weren't worth the paper they were written on.

By the way, getting votes costs lots of money, so you'd better toss in some major tax breaks for the folks who donate the big bucks for your campaign. (See The New York Times' story.)

McCain's Economic Plan:

The New York Times reports on John McCain's most recent economic speech in which he revealed a plan to nibble at the edge of problems. (See The New York Times' story with video.)

Economy in the Tank? Not if you are a hedge fund manager:

So if we're all losing money, where's it going? Well, the oil companies are making unbelievable profits, so we know they are getting theirs, even as global warming moves resolutely forward. Other huge chunks of money are landing in the laps of a few hedge fund managers' pockets, as wealth continues to consolidated in fewer and fewer people's hands.

Nobody seems to quite understand what hedge funds do or how they work. But whatever it is, they are making a few people super rich, so rich that some of them feel guilty enough about it to write books that proclaim the current economic policies are a disaster (George Soros).

So how would you like to make $3 billion dollars a year just by moving money around? (See The New York Times' story.) Here's a paragraph in the Times' story you do not want to overlook:

Since 1913, the United States witnessed only one other year of such unequal wealth distribution — 1928, the year before the stock market crashed, according to Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. Such inequality is likely to impede an economic recovery, he said.

Words of Wisdom: "We must have the attitude that every child in America—regardless of where they're raised or how they're born—can learn." — George W. Bush, New Britain, Connecticut, April 2001.

Supreme Court Gleefully Restores Death Penalty:

The U. S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, in effect restored the death penalty, which had been place on hold. The crux of the matter came down to whether it is humane to employ a "three-drug-final-solution." The state of Kentucky deems it inhumane to euthanize animals in this fashion, but perfectly humane to dispose of throwaway humans this way.

This is a particularly telling moment in American history for the Court to hand down the decision, as it coincides with the Pope's visit. The Pontiff has condemn capitol punishment, as has numerous of his predecessors. Perhaps the Court thought that the Bishop of Rome was too busy apologizing for recent "indiscretions" on the part of the priesthood to take note. Or perhaps they simply didn't care. After all, they elected the last president, surely they could do so again.

To his credit, Justice Stevens, while voting with the majority, called into question the whole validity of the death penalty. There is no doubt that the two convicts who brought the suit have been convicted of crimes that were truly horrific, taking the lives of more than one person in each case for the most venal of reasons.

The question is whether or not we, as a society, want our government murdering people so that a few politicians can parade before the electorate with puffed up chests. But I guess we answered that question during the last national election. (See The New York Times' story.)

Pope Visits Bush:

For the first time in his presidency, GW went to the airport to greet a visiting dignitary. That was yesterday's news. Today, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Methodist president in the White House.

Interestingly, the Pope had this to say to the crowd: "Democracy can only flourish, as your founding fathers realized, when political leaders and those whom they represent are guided by truth." Hard to argue with that, but one wonders if this were not a severe criticism of his host or simply an empty platitude? Still it's nice to know that one of the two men is articulate enough not to become tongue-tied in front of an audience.

The Next Big Thing:

Stuff, can we live without it:

The surging cost of necessities has led to a national belt-tightening among consumers. Figures released on Monday showed that spending on food and gasoline is crowding out other purchases, leaving people with less to spend on furniture, clothing and electronics. Consequently, chains specializing in those goods are proving vulnerable.

(Michael Barbaro, The New York Times, 15 Apr 08)

Fuel costs and bad credit are impinging on the economy in ways most of us don't think about. When it comes to choosing between getting to work or buying yet another pair of sneakers, … well, just how many pairs of shoes does one person need after all?

In any event, a new wave of bankruptcies is upon the economy. This time the banks are unlikely to strong arm the congress into passing new legislation to prohibit or even cut down on them. They only do that when working class people want to file for bankruptcy because they can't control their spending habits.

When businesses file for bankruptcy, the banks will press congress for federal relief, drawing upon the taxpayers to bail them out. We'll be told that it's for the good of the economy. And maybe they're right. You and I, well, we're just worker ants and bees. It's the queen of the hive who passes along the building blocks for the future, isn't it?

Unexpected Consequences:

Biofuels seemed like an idea too good to be true, and it's proven to be so. Early critics pointed out that biofuels were no more environmentally friendly than oil or coal, but few of us thought about the possibility that they would lead to food riots and the toppling of governments. Last week, as The New York Times points out, Haiti's prime minister was dismissed, in part due to food riots.

The United States consumes about 25 percent of the world's energy. The idea that farmers could start selling their crops to energy hungry Americans caused the price of grain around the world to begin increasing dramatically. In the U. S., doubling the cost of food will make most of us grouse, but we can still get along, even if we have to give up buying an extra pair of sneakers. But for millions of people outside the U. S., doubling the cost of food means starvation or near starvation.

Speaking of Energy:

Oil prices reached a new record: $114 a barrel. Or put another way, it cost me 3 times as much to heat my home this year as it did twelve years ago when I moved in, even though I've reduced my energy consumption by more than 20 percent.

So just why are people like me upset with the state of the economy, and why is my outlook bleak? ("Gee, Jim, I can't imagine. So how about those McCain tax cuts for the wealthy? I'll bet a little trickle-down would look pretty good right now." Yeah, uh, I'm still waiting on the Reagan trickle-down effect. Have you seen it?)

Adding Fuel to the Fire:

Need any more evidence that the American health industry is out to get you? This afternoon's New York Times reports a new twist on the Vioxx/Merck episode (the drug was reportedly responsible for thousands of heart attacks). It appears that Merck was paying doctors to sign their names to reports that had been produced in house. That is, by signing their names to the reports, these doctors were asserting that they had conducted or in some been involved in the research when in fact their only involvement was to sign their names after the fact. It is now believed that the research never took place at all.

Why didn't government oversight catch this before? Well, we don't believe in government regulation. The market place will take care of such indiscretions by forcing these kinds of businesses out, right? After all, that's exactly what happened in the Merck case. ("Yeah, right, Jim, but not before a few thousand people had heart attacks and died!" Details! Details! At least we didn't have government interference in our business.)

The Great Man on Social Security: "I'm going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy it. I enjoy taking on the issue. I guess, it's the mother in me." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 14, 2005. Just think how better off we'd all be if we allowed George to put our social security money into today's stock market. Maybe we could own a part of Baer Stearns and get bailed out!

NOTE: Today is tax day. It is also the 61st anniversary of the day Jackie Robinson played his first major league baseball game.

The Straw:

The Democratic Bactrian camel's back may have been broken with the Obama gaff this week. Sen. Clinton has pounced, suddenly becoming a "two guns in every pot" candidate, after having been an advocate of stronger anti-gun legislation over the years. (See today's New York Times' story.)

At this point it's hard to imagine how either of these candidates could join later this summer to become the Democratic dream team. McCain may have just won the election, and the right to be blamed for what very well could be the coming economic catastrophe.

The truly humorous part of this story is that Senators Clinton and McCain are calling Senator Obama an "elitist." There's a phrase for that—it has to do with a pot and a kettle.

More Corruption in the Bush Administration:

The Washington Post reports on housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson, the man in charge of the Bush administration's policy to increase housing during Bush's tenure. Jackson spent $100,000 of taxpayers' money on oil paintings of himself and four other HUD secretaries. He spent $7 million on an auditorium and cafeteria at HUD headquarters. He ignored warning within his own department about the impending crisis, and he traveled around with his own retinue of body guards and a personal chef. Now he's leaving office under a cloud and investigation.

When the coach doesn't pay attention (or even understand the game), the players are likely to perform poorly at best.

The Republican "Man behind the Throne":

Kate Zernike reports in today's New York Times on Charlie Black, the quintessential power behind the throne guy in the Republican party. Black is the guy who is guiding straight talking, anti-establishment McCain through the quagmire of lobbyist controlled Republican party politics.

You might find it interesting that Charlie Black is one of the best connected lobbyists in Washington, whose firm is owned by Burson-Marsteller, the firm that Mark Penn, until recently Hillary Clinton's chief adviser, works for.

So now maybe you'll stop sneering at the cynics who ask, "If this is a two-party democracy, where's the second party?"

Zernike reports that

Mr. Black has worked for some of the city’s most controversial clients (Jonas Savimbi, Philip Morris, Blackwater) and with the baddest boys of Republican politics (he cut his teeth on Jesse Helms’s campaigns, and was a mentor to Lee Atwater).

A Sign of the Times:

You know the economy is really hurting when you lose your job and you can't find another even after months of searching AND the best connections the country has to offer. Today's New York Times reports that months after leaving office former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, despite his close connections with George W. Bush, including loyalty that seemed to know no bounds, still can't find a job. Maybe President Bush assumes loyalty flows in only one direction. You'd think papa Bush could find something for this Harvard Law School grad. But then if you consider how he handled his last job, would you want this lawyer representing you?

Frank Rich Explains American's Bury Your Head in the Sand Iraqi Stance:

Frank Rich writes in today's New York Times that Americans not only disapprove of our involvement in Iraq, we don't want to even think about it. If you want to guarantee a movie's failure or a TV program's immediate flop, Rich argues, just mention Iraq.

We are so disinterested, that Gen. Petraeus could show up before congress and answer the question about when the war would be over by stating that it would be concluded when America's "national interest" was satisfied.

When I was a kid, on holidays my mother would bake two pies. Which did I want, she would ask, the apple or the cherry. "Yes," I invariably answered. And I always wanted to eat cake.

What the great man said four years ago today: "This has been tough weeks in that country." — George W. Bush, Washinton, D. C., April 13, woo4, primetime press conference regarding Iraq.

China v. Tibet:

Matthew Forney, former bureau chief for Time magazine, comments in today's New York Times' Op-Ed pages about the Chinese people's view on Tibet:

Educated young Chinese are therefore the biggest beneficiaries of policies that have brought China more peace and prosperity than at any time in the past thousand years. They can’t imagine why Tibetans would turn up their noses at rising incomes and the promise of a more prosperous future. The loss of a homeland just doesn’t compute as a valid concern.

Some years ago, a Chinese-American friend of mine explained that the average person in China viewed Tibetans in a fashion similar to the way white Americans viewed African-Americans and Hispanics. I won't use the language he used. Let's just say it was considerably less than flattering.

Americans are prone to think of Chinese as one homogeneous lump of people, sharing beliefs language and racial characteristics (if there is such a thing). But the truth is that China is made up of many peoples, and they are as prone to racial bigotry and other forms of bias as the rest of us.

Forney concludes his piece by warning that those who attend the Olympic games this summer and expect to find sympathy for Tibetans among the young are likely in for a shock. In all probability, young educated Chinese city dewellers view the West's support of the Dali Lama as little more than a wedge in service of western jealousy over the rapid rise of the Chinese economy. For well over a century, until 1948, the west exploited China mercilessly, in the Chinese view, lacking opium to exploit the country with, is simply now trying to exploit a moral high ground which the Chinese believe does not exist. After all, as Forney reports and the Chinese are quick to point out, they are treating the Tibetans better than white Europeans ever treated Native Americans and black Africans. Or for that matter, even the Irish.

The Cost of Education:

Myth: America is a place where anyone can become anything he or she might want to be.
Fact: America is a place where anyone with the price of a lottery ticket might become rich, but the odds are better in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

Since the end of World War II, the ticket to success came stamped with "education" written across it. The GI Bill offered millions of young people a way out of the cotton fields, factories and mills, and the chance to become professionals or at least low level managers in the places where their fathers had toiled in manual labor.

As late as the early 1970s, the price of education was primarily the loss of wages one might have earned in the work place during the years one spent in the classroom. And then the colleges and universities discovered they had a money making machine. Banks and other lending institutions were quick to jump on the bandwagon.

"Last year," according to The New York Times, "students and their parents borrowed nearly $60 billion in federally guaranteed loans, a figure that has grown more than 6 percent annually over the last five years after taking into account inflation." In other words, the cost of higher education is far outstripping the rise in inflation.

College presidents are quick to point out that the rising cost of education is fueled by the increasing cost of medical insurance for faculty and staff and the need to compete for students by turning college campuses into "club meds."

Once upon a time, a college education included a Spartan lifestyle, a sacrifice made for knowledge, but today's college campuses more closely resemble resorts than centers of learning. In the good old days, the library was the center of campus life, now more often than not the football stadium and the sports bar form the heart of the campus experience.

In the past, students lived in attic rooms, warding of pneumonia; today they live in rooms that more closely resemble good hotel rooms with all the amenities, and their biggest health concern is STDs.

On a side note: One of the interesting things about stories like today's Times' story is that an example is always provided of a parent with a modest income who wants desperately to send his or her child to a private college, rather than a community college or state university. I am always somewhat befuddled by parents and students who seem to believe that all doors be opened to them simply because they exist. Personally, I'd love to win the lottery, but I realize that as long as I refuse to buy a ticket my chances are even more remote than extreme.

If neither you nor your kid is smart enough to figure this out, just how well do you think your kid is going to do in school? It's bad enough to graduate from college owing $31,000; imagine leaving school early with no diploma in hand and still owing the money.

Peace in the Middle-East:

According to Bush administration officials, the leading threat to Iraq is Iran. The real problem, however, is that in the six thousand years of recorded history the only times that the Middle-East has ever known peace has been when some power, whether external (i.e. Rome) or internal (i.e. Turkey), dominated the region. Even then peace was relative and short term. Peace, regardless of its appeal, has been seldom achieved anywhere in the world and usually at the cost of considerable personal and political freedom.

There should be little doubt that forces exist within Iran that choose to exploit the situation in Iraq. But what isn't clear is whether those forces come directly from the Iranian government and whether the Iranian desire to exploit the situation isn't in fact being exploited by forces within Iraq. In other words, are the Iranians pushing guns and ammunition onto Iraqis who would rather lead peaceful and quiet lives, or are the Iraqis seeking guns and ammunition from whatever supplier they can and the Iranians are simply willing sellers?

Without an understanding of the dynamics that exist within the region, we are left with one conclusion: only a police state can insure peace. This was the conclusion in the 1950s when Saddams' party was placed in power with the assistance of the U. S. Why should we believe the current situation is any different?

What George said four years ago: "They could still be hidden, like the 50 tons of mustard gas on a turkey farm." — George W. Bush, Washinton, D. C., April 2004, speaking about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Obama Speaks Truth and Clinton Attacks:

Sen. Obama, perhaps speaking unwisely if he hopes to garner votes, spoke the truth about small town America recently, citing small minded people's love of guns and a superstitious relationship with religion, in addition to fear of "the other." The press, playing gotcha, ran with it, and Sen. Clinton saw an opening, hoping to open the gap at the poles between her and Obama's numbers.

This is just another example of the risks in running for political office. If you are going to run and speak the truth, you have got to be extremely careful. Of course if Obama had spoken the full truth, he would have included cities and suburbs in his analysis as well. America is filled with small minded, even closed minded folks, who cling to their guns and their Bibles and fear whatever is different or new. That's just the nature of the beast, and it's hardly unique to America.

Memory:

David Brooks, our favorite right-wing whiner, waxes eloquent on the future and past: "It is especially painful when narcissists suffer memory loss because they are losing parts of the person they love most."

Speaking of narcissists with memory problems, "I want to thank the dozens of welfare to work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 2002.

Health Care:

"According to a recent estimate by the Urban Institute, the lack of health insurance leads to 27,000 preventable deaths in America each year." — Paul Krugman in today's New York Times.

Whose Army Is It:

In the west, we call it Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. Members of the militia claim they're willing to die if Sadr asks them to do it. The U. S. can't seem to decide how to deal with him. But the longer you look at the region, try to understand its history, the more likely you are to come to the conclusion that the young cleric is just a shrewd operative who has figured out how to get out in front of the crowd, an old method of achieving political power. It has, however, a serious problem. It's hard to keep your eye on which direction to lead the crowd when the crowd has a mind of its own and you're trying to watch them in a rear view mirror. (See The New York Times' latest story on the Mahdi Army.)

As G. E. Goes so Goes America:

General Electric has been one of the most stable earners for decades now. So if its stocks fail to meat expectations, what does that say about the whole economy? Recession has become a foregone conclusion at this point. The question of whether we are currently in one or headed for one has more to do with the seriousness of the situation than anything else. (See this afternoon's Times' story.)

Airlines Crashing:

On top of skyrocketing fuel costs and irate passengers dealing with long security lines, now fliers are facing massive delays because American Airlines has had to ground hundreds of flights due inspections. (See the latest Times' story.)

Strange Bedfellows:

Bill Gates once declared that Rupert Murdoch was the man he feared most in the world, commenting on something about the latter's principles and ruthless business tactics. The latest news is that Murdoch's News Corporation might join with Gates and company in a hostile takeover of Yahoo, which has been resisting Microsoft's bid for the company.

As The New York Times puts it such a joint venture "would create a behemoth that would upend the Internet landscape." Precisely in what direction the landscape would tilt, however, isn't exactly clear. Microsoft, in large part, has become monolithic by buying out competition. When it couldn't buy out competition, it created imitations and built them into its operating systems, which is decidedly different from giving software away. (Note: When software is built into the operating system and you have to buy the operating system, the software is not given away; you pay for it along with the operating system.)

Microsoft itself, like the rest of the western world's economy, is in a dangerous place. It's newest operating system has had mixed results. Revenue from sales has generally been good, but adaptation by business and government has been sluggish, with most sales coming from new computer sales. In the meantime, it appears that Microsoft will rush to put out its latest operating system (currently called "Windows 7"). Google has placed enormous pressure on Microsoft, along with the advent of "social networking."

So is Microsoft betting the ranch?

Bush Reduces Length of Duty:

The White House announced tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan will be reduced from 15 months to 12 months, corresponding more or less to the amount of time Bush has left in office. However, the White House also stated that there would be no reductions in the number of troupes in those two regions.

What the great man had to say six years ago: "And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours." — George W. Bush, Bridgeport, Connnecticut, April 2002. (Will we learn that this man, like Reagan, has Alzheimer's, after he leaves office?)

We Brought These Guys All the Way Back from Iraq To Say What?

General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker came back to Washington, D. C. to tell congress nothing's changed. (See The New York Times' story.)

NEWS FLASH! Did anybody really think we could bomb a whole culture into changing its ways when nothing had worked for thousands of years?

Truckers Are Slowing Down:

Well, some are. Others are parading around, demanding that state governments lower their already low fuel taxes. Four-dollar-a-gallon diesel fuel hurts. A few of these guys are starting to realize that driving the speed limit increases their fuel efficiency. The question that puzzles me has always been why on earth we are shipping so much in trucks any way? The rails are far cheaper, more environmentally sound, and use considerably less energy per pound of goods moved.

Note: Behind me on the TV, Condi Rice is reporting to the congress on the proposed free trade agreement with Columbia. Rumor has it that she hasn't been very busy with her Secretary of State duties of late. Instead she's been bustling about, trying to convince the powers that be within the Republican Party that she should be John McCain's running mate. Now there's a happy thought. To date, in addition to her sex and race, Secy. Rice is best known for not having any answers for congress, promising to deliver the answers to questions, and failing to deliver those promised answers. In other words, she is best known as the stone wall in the administration's relationship with congress.

Perspective: The Rich Keep Getting Richer through Good Times and Bad

Between 2002 and 2006, the richest 1 percent of Americans saw their incomes steadily grow by 11 percent each of those five years. On the other hand, the rest of us were lucky to see our average income increase by 0.9 percent each year, less than inflation.

According to The New York Times, "In 2006, the 15,000 families in the top 0.01 percent of the income distribution — earning at least $10.7 million apiece — pocketed 3.48 percent of the nation’s total income, double their share in 1993."

What about those financial officers who blew it over the mortgage crisis? "[C]hiefs at 10 financial-services in [a Times' study] made $320 million last year, even as their banks reported mortgage-related losses of $55 billion."

Oh, yes, in case you've forgotten, these are the same folks who received the greatest benefit from the Bush tax cuts, the ones Georgie Boy wants to make permanent.

Signs of the Times:

Paris has long been the scene of protests, and the latest is focused on the Olympics over China's relations with Tibet. The New York Times reports that "thousands of people from around Europe, many with Tibetan flags, massed to protest the relay and deny China the promotional boost it hoped for in the runup to the games." The torch, which is supposed to never go out, did go out several times, and in the end the police transported the torch by bus on its last leg through the city.

Over 3,000 police were deployed to prevent interruption to the procession, according to the Times. On Sunday in London, dozens of people were arrested after "a tumult of scuffles" broke out.

China has ruled Tibet for decades now, but the Olympics have finally brought attention to the situation that hasn't existed before. (At this point, one wonders if today's protesters would have been the same people carrying around Mao's Little Red Book if this were forty years ago. Idle speculation, I suppose.)

The following from the Times article almost seems to have been written for a movie script:

A helicopter circled above as rival teams of onlookers, cheering supporters waving Chinese flags and protesters responding with chants demanding “freedom” for Tibet, crowded behind metal barriers lined by paramilitary police officers. A small truck decorated in the Olympic logo and carrying a percussion band was almost inaudible.

In the meantime, a large portion of the world stands on the brink of a major food crisis, with riots having already taken place in several countries around the world. Paul Krugman addresses the issue in the Times' op-ed pages, concluding that "Cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past."

As the leader of the free world put it, "Part of the facts is understanding we have a problem, and part of the facts is what you're going to do about it." — George W. Bush, Kirtland, OH, April 2005. (We must all be pleased to know that our leader is so cognizant of the definition of "facts." Now we understand that WMD thing.)

Technology:

Yahoo again rejects Microsoft's buyout offer. At the heart of the problem is that Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo with Microsoft shares, and the value of the shares have been falling. The Times reports Yahoo CEO in a letter to Microsoft CEO Ballmer, "the result of the decrease in your own stock price, the value of your proposal today is significantly lower than it was when you mae your initial proposal."

Microsoft, which has been having difficulty convincing businesses and governments to switch to its newest operating system, Vista, is coming closer to the release of yet a newer operating system. For more than a dozen years now, Microsoft has existed in fear that the computer operating system might become passé, that computing would all be done within a web browser. This fear lead to the development of the Microsoft Web browser, Internet Explorer, which was built into Microsoft's operating system and given away for free.

As Web browsers like FireFox, Safari and Opera make headway into the browser market, browsers which are independent of specific operating systems, running on Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD, and Unix, Microsoft's fears are beginning to be realized.

Net Neutrality:

The boom years in the economy were the 1990s. No surprise there. Those were also the years that might be described as the wild west years of the Internet and computer usage. Since the Clinton years, the focus has been on how to concentrate the wealth generated in those years into as few hands as possible.

Look at where this has taken us: more than 400,000 people are now unemployed, 80,000 added to the roles in just the past month alone. A 9 trillion dollar debt. A war that sucks 20 billion dollars a month out of the economy. Failing banks that have to be bailed out by governments. And food riots around the world.

Oh, yeah, there's the price of gasoline and heating fuel that's doubled as well, not to mention the fact that global warming and all the other environmental issues have failed to be addressed.

So what's the big deal about "net neutrality"? (Geeky terms are always so off putting.) For an explanation that's understandable by the average reader, see Damian Kulash's op-ed in today's New York Times. The Internet may not be the engine behind the economy, but it is the highway down which that engine runs. A handful of Internet providers not only want that highway to be a toll road, they want to determine what can travel down it and when as well.

Being an X Prez ain't such a bad thing:

Jimmie Carter became the leader the world always hoped he would be after suffering a humiliating loss in his second bid for the Oval Office to the wooden headed former second tier movie actor, Reagan, best known for mouthing empty platitudes (although you've got to give Ron credit on moving the world away from nuclear confrontation).

In the meantime, while most of the rest of America has seen the economy hurtle toward the 1930s, the Clintons have managed to rake in $109 million. That's not quite equal to the top tier of pro sports athletes, but it ain't bad for a guy who got caught with his pants down, so to speak. Naturally, some of that coin was hauled in by Bill's very significant other, but still, for a poor boy from Arkansas, it ain't exactly hay. (See The Washington Post story.)

Education:

The Jeffersonian dream of an educated electorate has never gained much traction in the U. S. A report in today's New York Times discloses that U. S. students continue to grossly under achieve on literacy tests. According to Sam Dillon,

girls outperformed boys by far, most decisively at the eighth-grade level, where 41 percent of them achieved proficiency, compared with 20 percent of boys. The racial achievement gap narrowed slightly, with black and Hispanic students’ writing improving a bit more than did whites’.

At this point in America's history, it is difficult to understand why we are not dissatisfied with 90 percent proficiency levels, while instead we are coasting along with considerably less than half that level. Is it any wonder that so many wanna be home owners were duped into signing loans they couldn't begin to fathom?

The literacy of America's decider: "My mom used to say, 'The Trouble with W'—although she didn't put that to words." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 2002. (And it used to be Lincoln who was held up as proof that anyone could grow up to be president!)

The Fraud of Competition:

Republicans love to assert that competition is the cure-all to keep the cost of everything low. Then why is it that, as Paul Krugman points out on today's Op-Ed Page of The New York Times, "the United States has the most privatized [health care] system, with the most market competition—and it also has by far the highest health care costs in the world"?

80,000 Jobs Lost in March:

Still don't think we're headed into a recession? Ask the people who lost those jobs. The unemployment rate now stands at 5.1 percent. The real kicker is that the figures exceed expectation, and that has economists and planners worried. (See the Times' article.)

Today in history: Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered in Memphis, TN. He was only 39 years old.

The Economy:

It might be a recession:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke acknowledged yesterday for the first time that the United States may be in a recession, projecting that the economy could shrink during the first half of this year.

— reported by The Washington Post, April 3, 2008.

In the meantime, GW's in the gym, working on his pec's. Well, thank goodness for that. The man knows nothing about economics.

The number of people filing for unemployment claims last month = over 400,000. The last time the numbers reached this level was in the immediate wake of Katrina (another moment when GW shone). The last time the numbers reached that level and remained that high everyone admitted a recession was occurring.

Today in history: Today is the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "Mountain Top" speech, the last he would give before his assassination on the following day. (See and listen to the NPR story.) Just days before, President Johnson had shocked the nation by announcing that he would not run for reelection.

Speaking of memorable speeches: "But Iraq has—have got people there that are willing to kill, and they're hard-nosed killers. And we will work with the Iraqis to secure their future." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 2005. (Presumably, Bush wants to secure the future of hard-nosed killers, although, considering the man has no idea whether Iraq is singular or plural, one cannot be certain that he means anything at all.)

Memo to Pres. Bush:

You're God, do whatever you want, signed, John C. Yoo, Justice Department, 2003.

The memo that the Justice Department sent to the Pentagon in 2003, informing the military that it could "cause a profound disruption of the senses or personality," thus authorizing torture because, in the Justice Department's opinion, American laws only apply to American citizens and not its duly elected officials, has come to light, as reported in today's Washington Post.

This is on the same order as the memos discovered in cigarette manufacturers' offices that admitted that they knew what everyone in the world already knew that they knew. It's just too bad that Bill Clinton didn't have Yoo working for him in the last decade. He could have used this defense in his impeachment trial.

Make sure you save the PDF copies of the memo. It's over 80 pages long.

What the man had to say: "Sometimes when I sleep at night I think of [Dr. Seuss'] Hop on Pop." —George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., April 2 2002, discussing education.

The Biggest Pork Barrel of All:

The Washington Post reports on the GAO's report of military cost over runs. Bush/McCain like to thump their chests publicly about cutting out pork, but they have nothing to say about the billions of pork in military spending. Remember what President Eisenhower had to say just before he left office about the military/industrial complex? This is what he was talking about.

Bush on language: "I've coined new words, like 'misunderstanding' and 'Hispanically." — George W. Bush, Radio & Television Correspondents' Dinner, March 29, 2001.

With the state of economy in mind, it is interesting to note that we don't hear much about privatizing Social Security any longer. Remember when Bush had this to say on the subject: "If they pre-decease or die early, there's an asset base to be able to pass on to a loved one, to help that loved one transition" — George W. Bush, discussing privatized Social Security, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 2005.

Three years ago, Bush was pushing hard for privatizing Social Security. In April of 2005, he had this to say in Falls Church, VA: "It means your own money would grow better than that which the government can make it grow. And that's important."

Don't forget, Bush was wound up tight with Enron. Remember them? Remember how Enron's employees were forced to keep their retirement tied up in Enron stock? That's privatization.