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Did Gonzales commit a federal crime by lying to Senate?

CREW says he may have. Does the Senate find it, oh, even the slightest bit ironic that we have be confirming a criminal as the top law enforcement official in our country? Read More......

US Deficit Rising; US Dollar Falling

Tension is growing around the world over the ballooning budget deficits and the weakening dollar. Europeans say they're bearing too much of the cost of Bush's profligate ways, no one thinks he's up to the task of tackling the deficit, and analysts compare our economy to the tepid Japanese economy of the 90s that went into a tailspin and lengthy recession.

Even China is chiding Bush. "The prime minister complained about the fall of the dollar, asking, 'Shouldn't the relevant authorities be doing something about this?'" according to the New York Times.

In an unrelated article (darned if I can find it) it was noted that even criminals are abandoning the dollar: in Russia's blackmarket, the US dollar used to dominate but the euro is gaining on it by leaps and bounds. (This might also be due to the fact that the euro comes in 500 note currencies that make carrying larger amounts of cash around that much easier.

And as Paul Krugman points out in an aside in a column about the replacement for Alan Greenspan,

"The United States is running record budget and trade deficits, and the foreigners we depend on to cover those deficits are losing faith. According to yesterday's Financial Times, central banks around the world have already started shifting into euros. If Mr. Greenspan is replaced with someone who looks like a partisan hack, capital will rush to the exits, the dollar will plunge, and interest rates will soar."

Nonsense says Treasury Secretary John W. Snow. He's a deficit "hawk!"

Oh wait: The latest NYT headline says:

White House Predicts $427 Billion Deficit, Including New War Costs

If you've got a floating interest rate on your mortgage, now might be a good time to lock it in. Read More......

Religious Right's Social Security Blackmail Part II

I want to echo a point in our thread about the Religious Right's blackmailing of Bush. As you know, they threatened to withhold support for Social Security reform unless Bush heartily backed the anti-gay, anti-marriage amendment.

Now think about that: if they truly believed Social Security was in a crisis (it's not) and that Bush's ill-defined plan was going to protect the elderly from falling into poverty, going hungry and homeless, etc. how could they possibly threaten NOT to back it? How could any Christian reject a plan they believed in that would feed old people simply for cynical political purposes?

On the other hand, if they thought Social Security was fine, how could they in good conscience tamper with it to advance a political agenda and risk plunging old people into hunger and despair? If they could get prayer back in the schools (or basic science out), would they really be willing to accept Bush doubling the number of senior citizens living below the poverty line?

Where or where are the activist religious groups on the left that can criticize these shameful cynical tactics with moral authority? They might just convince people that in politics God DOES take sides -- He's on the side of the weak and the hungry and the helpless and He always has been.
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Drudge and them there "Jew Groups"

This is currently on Drudge's site - no comment necessary.



PS Before anyone says "but Drudge is Jewish," he's also gay. Lot of help he gives us on that issue.

NB Credit to The Moderate Voice blog for spotting this little gem. Read More......

For those of you reading this via a site feed, important info...

I'm changing my site feed over to FeedBurner.com - I figured with everything else going so well technically on the blog, I may as well try to screw up the feed too :-) Actually, the feed did start screwing up after the Blogger meltdown, and still isn't back to 100%, so I'm hoping by switching this it will fix things - that remains to be seen.

So, if you do already use a feed, please turn it off and resubscribe to one of these below - and let me know if it's actually working (Yahoo may take a day or so to get moving again). Thanks, JOHN




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Senate Dems. (minus Lieberman) Lambaste Bush and Rice

The Senate Democrats are using the debate over Condi's nomination to strongly criticize Bush foreign policy....oh, and the fact that Bush and Condi are LIARS.

The New York Times reports that the Democrats are using this as an opportunity to show that they are going to be aggressive:

Senate Democrats who oppose President Bush's Iraq policy spoke today against Condoleezza Rice's nomination to be secretary of state, signaling that they intended to vigorously oppose the administration's foreign policy despite their minority status.

By midafternoon, six Democrats had spoken against Ms. Rice's nomination, accusing her of deliberately misleading the American people and being an architect of a tragic and unwise war and a bungled postwar effort at peacekeeping.

Looks like they are following the lead of Senator Boxer from last week's hearing. Hopefully, this is the way the whole session will play out. It will drive Frist and the rest of the GOP crazy if they actually have to answer for the Bush policy.

There is, however, one glaring exception: Joe Lieberman. Not only does he support Rice, according to the Times piece, "Mr. Lieberman urged the Senate to 'resoundingly endorse' her nomination." That whole air of moral superiority and sanctimoniousness from Lieberman is tiring enough. But, how can this self-appointed moral voice condone the lies that led to a war? Come to think of it, where was moral Joe last fall during the elections? I don't remember him taking on the Bush administration over their moral failings. That must be something he reserves for his own party.

Hopefully, even Lieberman will begin to realize the Democrats are better served when they act like the opposition party.
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Open thread

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Anti-gay Alabama sheriff's letter is gone now, ha ha

From the Huntsville Times:

Marshall County Sheriff Mac Holcomb said Monday he will remove a personal letter critical of the homosexual lifestyle from a county-sponsored Web site.

A California man whose mother lives in Arab found the letter on the county Web site several weeks ago and complained about it.

"The letter was never meant to be an expression of official county policy," Holcomb said in a news release. "We at the Marshall County Sheriff's Department have always treated all victims of crime, all criminal suspects, all detainees, all inmates exactly the same.

See, all of these things make a difference in small ways. Not to mention, that story is making its way around the country, pissing off the religious and empowering our folks. All good stuff. Read More......

New blog format, what do you think?

I got an interesting email from someone who noted that the bright red background made it hard to read my blog at work - i.e., if someone walked by and saw my blog up on the screen it would look fishy with all the color. So, I decided to try to make the page a bit more text-y and wonk-y, without getting too boring. Removed the background color, and a bit more. Hope this isn't boring, but rather helps some of you read this at work and get away with it :-) Let me know what you think. JOHN Read More......

Senior US military officers bilking system to get combat pay and tax breaks

From David Hackworth:

Another loophole creates an even more gross inequity: senior officers – read generals and colonels – regularly fly into Afghanistan and Iraq on monthly 48-hour useless VIP visits in order to both collect their combat pay for the entire month and rack up tax breaks that can run almost seven grand a month. Not bad double-headers for Perfumed Princes who can barely tell a foxhole from a bidet.

They're your tax dollars. Absolute pocketbooks corrupt absolutely.

The rest of the story is interesting as well. It tells how the Bush administration is screwing our troops at the frontlines. Small children in foreign sweatshops practically make more money than these guys. And the guys at the front lines get the same "hazard pay" as troops in a far off safe country.

But hey, you troops reportedly voted for Bush en masse, and you know what they say, you get the army you voted for. Read More......

United Church of Christ welcomes SpongeBob

Brilliant.



From the UCC press release:

Jesus' message of extravagant welcome extends to all, including SpongeBob Squarepants - the cartoon character that has come under fire for allegedly holding hands with a starfish.

"Absolutely, the UCC extends an unequivocal welcome to SpongeBob," the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, said, only partly in jest. "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we."

For that matter, Thomas explained, the 1.3-million-member church, if given the opportunity, would warmly receive Barney, Big Bird, Tinky-Winky, Clifford the Big Red Dog or, for that matter, any who have experienced the Christian message as a harsh word of judgment rather than Jesus' offering of grace.

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Gates donates $750M for vaccines and immunisations

When I first started working in the software business back in 1990, Gates was about the cheapest person in the industry. I may not be terribly keen on Microsoft or Gates but donating $750M no matter who you are is pretty impressive.
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Dem's to continue Rice debate today

Even though they can't stop the confirmation, I'm glad to see that they're not acting like a rubber stamp for the radical right. Rice is a liar and wouldn't know diplomacy if it bit her in the ass.
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Bush and Blair teach democracy to Allawi administration

Birds of a feather... Yes, it was working so well for the US and UK so why not?
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