Quote for the day

“I know lots of stupid people who went to Ivy League schools.” Karl Rove.

Yeah, we know.

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The Bush Legacy by David Horsey

What I love about David Horsey is the attention to detail.

See the original in full here.

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They don’t give up power easily, do they?

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is in federal custody on corruption charges, a law enforcement official said Tuesday.

Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois.

Federal prosecutors say Blagojevich, Harris and others conspired to gain financial benefits in appointing President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate replacement, according to the statement.

The Bush Administration has been pretty effective pulling out all the stops when it comes to squashing their opponents.

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The Bailout Plan

I’ve been reading Jon Taplin’s blog about the proposed 700 billion bailout plan. One of his commenters asked, and I’m totally paraphrasing here, given the the complexity of the situation on Wall Street and the fact that the administration allowed our markets to get into the state they are currently in, why should we believe that a bailout plan hurredly created in 5 days is going to solve the problem? It’s a good question.

Taplin’s blog is a good read for anyone interested in business.

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Naomi Wolf: Sex Crimes in the Whitehouse

I like how Naomi Wolf always takes a subject that the average American may think is far removed from themselves and puts that subject in a context that is recognizable.

I had a sense of déjà vu when I saw the photos that emerged in 2004 from Abu Ghraib prison. Even as the Bush administration was spinning the notion that the torture of prisoners was the work of “a few bad apples” low in the military hierarchy, I knew that we were seeing evidence of a systemic policy set at the top. It’s not that I am a genius. It’s simply that, having worked at a rape crisis center and been trained in the basics of sex crime, I have learned that all sex predators go about things in certain recognizable ways.

All this may sound bizarre if you are a normal person, but it is standard operating procedure for sex offenders. Those who work in the field know that once sex abusers control a powerless victim, they will invariably push the boundaries with ever more extreme behavior. Abusers start by undressing their victims, but once that line has been breached, you are likely to hear from the victim about oral and anal penetration, greater and greater pain and fear being inflicted, and more and more carelessness about exposing the crimes as the perpetrator’s inhibitions fall away.

The perpetrator is also likely to engage in ever-escalating rationalizations, often arguing that the offenses serve a greater good. Finally, the victim is blamed for the abuse: in the case of the detainees, if they would only “behave,” and confess, they wouldn’t bring all this on themselves.

Silence, and even collusion, is also typical of sex crimes within a family. Americans are behaving like a dysfunctional family by shielding sex criminals in their midst through silence.

Via Huffingtonpost.

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It’s almost like they want us to leave or something

It’s encouraging to know that it is the Iraqis themselves who may end this war and thus control their own destiny. Think about every justification you have ever heard about the war from George Bush. Those justifications are tremendously hollow when the liberated people don’t want you there.

Iraq will not accept any security agreement with the United States unless it includes dates for the withdrawal of foreign forces, the government’s national security adviser said on Tuesday.

The comments by Mowaffaq al-Rubaie underscore the U.S.-backed government’s hardening stance toward a deal with Washington that will provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to operate when a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

On Monday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared to catch Washington off-guard by suggesting for the first time that a timetable be set for the departure of U.S. forces under the deal being negotiated, which he called a memorandum of understanding.

Rubaie said Iraq was waiting “impatiently for the day when the last foreign soldier leaves Iraq.”

So Congress, including a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, have failed to end this war. The Iraqis must be very proud to know they have the power to end it on their own.

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Do we stay the course?

I’m the type of person who worries a lot. If I have nothing to worry about, I assure you I will think of something to worry about. My worries are primarily comprised of rare happenings like terrorist attacks, plane crashes, car seat problems, medical mishaps, child abductions, exploding cell phones, re-useable plastic bottles — you know the things that pop news tells me to be worried about.

The Republicans aren’t doing very much to assuage some of my fears. In fact, they seem to be hoping that something will happen to re-heighten my fears.

• Lieberman told the show’s host, Bob Schieffer, “Our enemies will test the new president early. Remember that the truck bombing of the World Trade Center happened in the first year of the Clinton administration. 9/11 happened in the first year of the Bush administration.”

• First, Black described the assassination of Pakistani political leader Benazir Bhutto in late December as an “unfortunate event” — but one that boosted McCain’s stock just before the must-win New Hampshire primary. The candidate’s “knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who’s ready to be commander in chief. And it helped us,” Black said. Then the longtime Washington lobbyist went further. Asked what the political ramifications of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil might be for McCain, Black told Fortune, “Certainly it would be a big advantage to him.”

• John McCain predicted the general election race would come down to the buzzer Friday, declaring himself the underdog but quipping that he’d ride to victory in the last “48 hours.”

Now just what could they be planning? BTW, if Lieberman is supporting the Republican candidate for President then he is a Republican in my book.

The question is whether we carry on with the same course because we are too afraid of an alternative? Do we stay the course as George Bush wants us to? There is no question in my mind that diplomacy leads to a safer country. The ideals of the conservatives do not include being diplomatic or playing nice. They rule (or not as the case may be) by force. To them the answer to all of our problems is force. Yet this war is proof that their strategy has no credit to it. We as a country are less safe, and this country has lost a bit of its intimidation factor. Do we continue with a course that is failing us because we are too afraid of an alternative? Do we stay the course?

The Republicans want you to be afraid of taxes, of environmental regulation, of the price of gas, of your money being taken away. But we already know what their answer is. We pay more for gas, we pay more for food, we pay more to repair the damage done by hurricanes and floods than environmental protection would have cost, and our money is being taken away and given to the richest individuals in this country. To quote Dr. Phil: how’s that working for you. Do we stay with a known course of folly or do we try an alternative?

The politics of fear are very powerful. Voting out of fear — how is that working for us?

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