Stand up. or wimp out

I have a dread feeling that this port deal may be the fork in the road that decides whether we have a tripartite federal government where each of the branches has equal power and provides the balance that keeps each branch in check, or Congress rolls over and turns the balance of power over the executive branch.
In my opinion, this is far more than port security. It goes to the heart of the Constitution.
If the wrong road is taken, we may slip inexorably into a state of fascism, and the miracle that our country's founders wrought after the War of  the Revolution will be lost.
My Great-great Grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War. Will his memory be dishonored?

Is the pot calling the kettle black?

Bolton: U.N. riddled with bad management, corruption scandals

 

By PAUL BURKHARDT
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK -- John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Saturday declared the international body is hobbled "by bad management, by sex and corruption and by a growing lack of confidence in its ability to carry out missions."

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--un-bolton0225feb25,0,3318403.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

 

He could be talking about the folks he works for.

The war is spreading

Saudi Arabia Is on High Alert After Attempted Oil Plant Attack

Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabian security forces are on ``high alert'' for further attacks following an attempt yesterday by militants to blow up the Abqaiq oil center, which handles two-thirds of supply from the world's largest producer.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aVoNmGW7v758&refer=home

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We were supposed to get oil from Iraq. Not working out. Now if they are able to interrupt oil from Saudi Arabia, the weeping and wailing of the SUV drivers will be heard throughout the land. Oil prices have already taken a pop.

Nothing is working out. Will the voters in this country wise up? We appear to be on a path of self destruction. When will the first bomb hit one of our ports? Is this what it will take to turn us away from madness?

It was inevitable

Blast tips Iraq closer to civil war

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1140652482476&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

While the factions fight among themselves, they will eventually agree that the enemy is the United States. Then we will have all sides shooting at us. This was bound to happen. Are our "leaders" so "out to lunch" that they couldn't forsee this?

When we have to leave, as eventually we must, one side will win, a Saddam type will gain power and we'll be right back where we started. 

"when will they ever learn"? 

He was out of the loop?

Bush Didn't Learn of Port Deal Until After Approval, Aide Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aNE2G7S6OXjg&refer=top_world_news

What's the real story?  These folks do whatever they want, then they wind Bush up and send him on the road to get support for the plan?

Who's in charge here? I'll bet Cheney knew all about it.

Congress should veto Bush

Bush Says Dubai Port Deal Should Proceed, Threatens Veto

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=auP6XjMk11cM&refer=home

Isn't it time for Congress to stop being the lapdog of the Executive branch, stand up on their hind legs and quit being bushbootlickers?

Has the time come to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate this asinine deal and uncover the quid pro quo?

At this time in our history, this deal is beyond all imagination. Not only is security involved, but outsourcing  more business to foreign countries is stupid.

The workers and taxpayers in our country are being royally screwed, and it's time to say, "ENOUGH".

More thoughts: 

Regardless of the merits or demerits of the deal, it's still a UAE government owned company. Just for sake of argument, before we invaded Iraq, we had 50 million Islamic enemies. Now we may have 500 million. Saudi Arabia is our friend, right? Egypt is our friend, right? All the 9-11 terrorists were Saudis except for 2 Egyptians. You can bet your life that there are Islamics working for this port company that hate our guts, and would be willing to sacrifice their life to cause great harm to a port city.

Sale of U. S. ports

Just when you think it can't get worse, guess what? It gets worse.

What can these people be thinking? Handing over control of ports of entry to a foreign entity in the Mid-east is the smart thing to do? Every U.S. citizen should be contacting their elected representatives, and insist that a stop be put to this stupid act of near treason.

How long before the first bio-bomb arrives in a container?

More on the link:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=U.S.Port+sale&btnG=Search+News

P. S.  There must be a quid pro quo lurking undercover. What rewards do Bush and Company receive for approving this deal?

Cheney speaks

(vice) President Cheney has finally spoken about the shooting while hunting in Texas. What a surprise that he would only speak to FOX (Republican Pravda), where he was assured of having a sympathetic interviewer, and the program could be carefully scripted.

 

Cheney shootng aftermath

There is a famous quote that applies to the stupid way that Cheney and his people have handled the shooting aftermath.

-------------------

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!

                           Sir Walter Scott

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Then there's the line from a popular song in the Vietnam era:

"When will they ever learn----------"

-----------------------------------

When indeed??!!

 

Another Bush dum-dum nomination

In the mode of the unlamented former head of FEMA, Michael(you're doing a heckuva job Brownie) Brown, Bush has nominated for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board an unknown political hack with no qualifications. This person who works in the White House is the son-in-law of a very large contributor to the Bush re-election campaign fund.

This is political patronage at it's worst. There are plenty of highly paid jobs in the system to put people like this where they can do minimum harm.

The Federal Reserve is NOT such a place.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zfed11feb11,0,7906958.story?coll=sfla-business-front

Added later: I'm wondering if this nomination of a former Morgan Stanley employe to the Fed Board has anything to do with Bush's idiotic plan to privatize Social Security? Obviously the big Wall Street money boys are fully behind this wreckage plan. They would benefit bigtime from privatization, and I'm sure would be happy to have a willing tool on the Fed.

 

The gang that couldn't shoot straight

Headline in the New York Times online edition:

"Cheney Accidentally Shoots a Fellow Hunter"

These guys can't even do a proper job of quail hunting, and we're supposed to believe they can successfully wage war in the mid-east?

Is there no limit to evil duplicity?

Excerpt from an email sent by Congressman Tom Lantos concerning Social Security:

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"In a shocking note, the Administration made a stealth attempt to push through privatization of Social Security.  While, the President conceded in this year’s State of the Union address that Congress resisted his attempts to privatize Social Security, and Democrats stood and cheered, hidden in the budget is a nearly identical plan to the one touted with such fanfare last year.  Believe me, this will bring people in both parties and across the country back to their feet – to battle against any attempt to push this plan through. I consulted the Congressional Research Service, which confirmed that the budget proposal includes replacing guaranteed benefits with risky private accounts, making the largest single benefit cut in Social Security history, and siphoning off the Social Security Trust Fund in order to cover the new program’s costs."

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These people will stop at nothing to get their way. Damn majority opinion and the will of the people. Full speed ahead and wreck the country on the rocks of fiscal and moral irresponsibility.

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More on this: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060210/OPINION01/602100366

P.S. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would look back on the Richard Nixon years as, "the good old days".

Molly Ivins--------------------

----------------------is proof that there is intelligent life in Texas. An excerpt from her latest column: "It is one of the most famous sentences in all of American rhetoric: 'My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total.And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution. ' " Barbara Jordan.

Ms. Jordan's words should be engraved in stone and placed in front of the Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House

 

Read the whole column by clicking the link.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/09/ivins.gonzales/

 

GOP chairman: Hillary shows lot of anger

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-02-05-gop-chairman_x.htm

The demonization of Hillary Clinton has begun. Proof enough that the Republicans are running scared. Believe me, by election time they will have a significant number of voters convinced that Hillary is a combination of the Whore of Babylon and Lizzie Borden.

Lest anyone think that there are no depths to which the Republicans won't sink, just remember how they savaged one of their own, John McCain.

 

Democracy and freedom of speech in Iraq----------

---------------but how about in the good old USA?  Cindy Sheehan wonders about freedom of speech here. Did her son die for freedoms for others but to the diminishment of ours?

Read:

The 'freedom' my son died for

Cindy Sheehan

Sunday, February 5, 2006

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/02/05/EDGQGH2HCE1.DTL

Are we going broke?

It occured to me that if our major import is automobiles, and our major export is war, then we will surely go broke. Already public and private debt is at an all time high, and private saving is in the hole. Worst since 1933, the depth of the Great Depression. Think about it. This is telling us something, and it AIN'T GOOD!

Congressman Tom Lantos on the State of the Union speech

Concerning healthcare

"Health Savings Accounts, a focal point of tonight’s speech, is brought to you by the same people who created the confusing, special-interest driven Medicare prescription drug bill and promoted the privatization of Social Security.  Association Health Plans and Health Saving Accounts will do nothing to reduce soaring health care costs or the number of uninsured Americans.  In fact, the proposed health savings accounts will benefit only those who already have enough income to set aside and who can afford higher deductibles.  We need real reform  to allow the federal government to negotiate lower prices, and we need health care plans that provide more affordable health care for all Americans."

On economics

 "The president’s economic policy is heaping mountains of debt on our children and grandchildren.  It is also making us more beholden to foreign debtors, which threatens our national economic  security.  We must reduce the national debt and reverse the tax cuts for the rich.  While the Administration provides tax breaks for the wealthy, hard-working Americans are feeling a middle-class squeeze.  The Administration has allowed the deficit to spiral out of control., and has the worst record of job creation since the Great Depression.  As a result of reckless spending, every American’s share of the national debt is now more than $27,000."

United Airlines coming out of bankruptcy

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/02/01/BUGBJH0BNJ49.DTL&type=business

United may be coming out of bankruptcy, but what about  retirees that have had their pension and healthcare benefits slashed?  Will some of them be headed into bankruptcy because the benefits they worked for and were promised, are gone?

The per capita savings rate in our country is at it's lowest point since 1933. Without savings as a backup, what will happen to some of these people?