What Part of "He Failed" Don't GOPPERs Understand?

From the Huffington Post:
Republicans in the House are Behaving like the Collapse of Bush's Policies Never Happened -- Mitchell Bard

Say you belonged to a charitable organization, and you and your friends were appointed to the steering committee for a big fundraiser, so you chose to have a combination bake sale and casino night. And let's say that you scheduled it on the same night as the town's homecoming football game, so nearly nobody showed up, and the peanut butter cookies in the bake sale gave the few guests that did visit salmonella. Oh, and let's say that in setting up the casino equipment, you accidentally cut off the electricity for the entire block. When the time rolled around the next year for the annual fundraiser, would you stand up and advocate a salmonella bake sale held on the same night as the big game? Of course not. You'd sit down, shut up, and wait for someone else to come up with a new idea. Even if you thought a bake sale/casino night could work under the right circumstances, you would probably be able to figure out that having overseen a colossal failure, the timing might not be right for you to pitch the same idea again.

Unless, apparently, you are a Republican member of the House.
Click here for the complete text.
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It looks to me like the Rethugs have taken a page from Rush's book: they want Obama to fail.

They want the country to go to hell in a handbasket so they can have the satisfaction of saying, "I told you so." And, maybe, claw their way back to power in 2 or 4 years.

What they don't seem to be taking into account, though, is the fact that this stimulus package [which passed despite their best efforts] just might succeed. If that happens their constituents will remember that the very first thing they did after Obama was elected was to act in a way that elevates Marie Antoinette to sainthood.

Once again, the Rethuglicans are getting it wrong.

The Losers' Gallery

"Gallery Devoted to Presidential Losers Grows by One"
When I first saw this title, I thought the gallery [located in Norton, Kansas] would be filled with pictures of such people as Grover Cleveland, Andrew Johnson and, of course, G.W. Bush. It isn't though--the pictures are of people who ran for president and lost. So, McSame is hanging among people like Thomas Jefferson and Al Gore. To my mind, it's too good a fate for him--considering the fact that he would have continued Bush's policies. But, of course, there could be much worse outcomes.
Click here for the complete text.

Leggoland

The inauguration-- all in leggos.

Chris Matthews of Hardball Put His Foot In It

Rush Limbaugh goes on the air and says he wants Obama to fail. And Chris reports it. Now, you know that’s exactly what Rush wants. As long as he can grab headlines he figures he’s on top.

I’m of a like mind with the Prime Minister of Germany when a Holocaust Denier was convicted of a hate crime. He disagreed with the court’s decision saying, ‘The appropriate thing to do with a fool is to ignore him.’

From the White House's Website

Talk about hitting the ground running!

The website lays out proposed legislation to address civil rights for all minorities including all ethnic groups, GLBT's, and women.
Issues such as ending employment discrimination, addressing hate crimes, equal pay for equal work, repealing the 'don't ask don't tell' rules, drug discrimination [prosecuting crack possession differently from possession of powder cocaine], sending non-violent drug-crime perps to treatment rather than prison, dealing with the rise in AIDS infection among women, etc. etc. etc. are all slated to get early billing according to the website.
Click here to get a look at the White House's agenda.

It's a brand new, bright Obama day!

Well, I spent the day glued to the TV and it was such a lovely change to hear an articulate man talk about the issues we're facing as if he actually understood them. No false bravado and, "Bring it on!" No mispronounced words. No pride in being uneducated.

I felt myself breathing deeper than I had in years. And, in fact, I hadn't known how much tension I'd been holding in till I let go of it.

One lovely note: someone said Obama will be hitting the ground running tomorrow and gave an outline of the meetings he has scheduled. And I was reminded of the day after the inauguration 8 years ago when Bush lit out for a month's vacation in Texas. At the time, I asked anyone who would listen why he worked so hard to steal the election if he didn't want the job.

On another note:
This is the first time I've ever watched an inauguration. So, can someone please tell me-- are the male reporters ALWAYS so preoccupied with what the women reporters are wearing? I don't know how many times I heard some man ask a professional woman about the label of the clothing she had on. Most of the women dodged the question or tried to make a joke of it but he just kept on inserting his foot in his mouth [Biden has nothing on this guy].

Finally, a man who was being interviewed made a joke about who had designed his tie and guy who had been quizzing one woman after another shut the hell up. When will men stop seeing professional women as being fit only to discuss fashion design on television?

I hope someone will soon do for women what Obama did for non-white men today.

Happy Obama Day!
Finally! Finally! The long nightmare is over.
No guarantees, but we can certainly hope President Obama will be up to the numerous tasks before him. We need to be patient and give him the time he needs to pull us out of the quagmire. If anyone can do it, I think he can.

But, today, is celebration time!

Sagan and Druyan Search for Answers

The issue had been decided years ago. The court had chosen the middle ground. You'd think the fight was over. Instead, there are mass rallies, bombings and intimidation, murders of workers at abortion clinics, arrests, intense lobbying, legislative drama, Congressional hearings, Supreme Court decisions, major political parties almost defining themselves on the issue, and clerics threatening politicians with perdition. Partisans fling accusations of hypocrisy and murder. The intent of the Constitution and the will of God are equally invoked. Doubtful arguments are trotted out as certitudes. . . . Politicians check the latest polls to discover the dictates of their consciences. Amid all the shouting, it is hard for the adversaries to hear one another. Opinions are polarized. Minds are closed.

Is it wrong to abort a pregnancy? Always? Sometimes? Never? How do we decide?
Click here for the complete text.
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A thoughtful examination of facts articulately conveyed. And, like the Supreme Court in Roe vs. Wade, they support the middle ground.

Norman Lear is taking this video along with a copy of the Declaration of Independence to the Inauguration and will present it to Obama. If you visit the site here you can hear the song, sign the Declaration, remix the song, write your own lyrics or create a plan for what you want to do to help get this country back on track.

If you want the embed code you can get it at
http://www.bornagainamerican.org/spread.html

Getting Serious

Remember the Republic Doors and Windows Company?
The one that went bankrupt and tossed out its employees while reneging on their vacation pay, health benefits and severance pay?
Well, the employees locked themselves into the plant and refused to leave. For six days they staged a sit-in demanding the benefits they were owed under federal law. And they won their benefits!
Fast forward.
Another company, Serious Materials has offered to buy the company and rehire the former employees. The company makes energy efficient building materials. So, they're going to turn the employees from blue-collar workers to green-collar workers. They will be unionized.

The decision rests with the bankruptcy judge. Serious Materials and the union are requesting a quick decision so they can get the employees back to work and hold onto their old customer base.

YAY SERIOUS! YAY WORKERS WHO DIDN'T BUCKLE!
Finally, some good economic news.

Heard on Rachel Maddow:
Susan Crawford, the convening authority for the U.S. military commissions and a life-long Republican, said that Mohammed al-Qahtani was tortured. Al-Qahtani was hospitalized twice. On at least one occasion, his heart rate dropped to 35 beats per minute.
Judge Crawford further stated that this situation has "tainted everything going forward."

So now, IF this man is guilty, well, it's just too bad. He cannot be prosecuted.

Even a lawyer whose job it was to prosecute one of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has stated that the evidence against many if not all of them is so disorganized that fair prosecutions may be impossible. He is now calling for the release of the man he was scheduled to prosecute.

Of course, we've been hearing for years that many, many of these prisoners were not guilty and our government knew it.

Sen. Jim Webb [Va-DINO] came out as an apologist for the White House saying things like, "We need to look forward" and quoted McCain [of all people] on the matter. He also used the same words the White House spin-doctor-- excuse me --press secretary did, "These techniques were not used as a matter of policy."

Then he dropped off-thread and started talking about Pakistan instead.
^^^
So, a Republican judge called the White House out on the matter of torture.
And a Democratic [?] senator gave them a pass.

What Pat Buchanan Said

I had a hard time believing my ears.

Pat Buchanan saying that Obama was "smart" for going to George Will's home last night for dinner with Will, Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol and David Brooks, Paul Gigot and Peggy Noonan--some of his harshest critics over the last couple of years.

Pat Buchanan calling Obama a "class act" on Hardball when noting his invitation to McCain to join him and Michelle for dinner the night before his inauguration.

I can't believe it. Buchanan and me. Agreeing on something. And you know how that makes me crazy.

Surprise! Not All Texans Love Him
From The Dallas Observer News:
George W. Bush, Texas' Prodigal Son, Returns --
by Jim Schutze
George W. Bush is returning here to live, and that means people in our community are going to have to live with him. So my question remains.
How?

Say I'm in the plumbing aisle at Home Depot. . . I look up sideways. Damn it! It's George W. Bush.
"Oh, Hi, Mr. Presi...uh...former Mr....the ex...you... you... can you just tell me what the hell you were thinking...?"

I'm at a loss even trying to find a parallel. Herbert Hoover, the 31st president, retired to California in 1932. So how did people greet Hoover? "Interesting to meet you, sir. Thanks for the economic depression."

With Bush, helping ruin the global economy was only the last thing he did. "Hey, sir, before you leave the plumbing aisle, do you mind my asking about the thing where you attacked the wrong country?

Maybe shoe-hurling will be common here too. What is that strange, muffled sound in the distance? Thunder? A marching band? Oh, no, it's former President Bush coming our way, and the ominous sound we hear is the rolling tympani of shoes bouncing off his motorcade.

I just don't think Dallas gets it yet. This is the worst president in the history of the United States. He started a war for no good reason. He couldn't handle a flood.

And who else will come with him? Cheney lived here before. What if Cheney starts showing up in Dallas again? Oh...my...goodness. The difference between Bush and Cheney is that people give Bush a tiny break for being a hapless character in an Oliver Stone movie. But Cheney is real.
Click here for the complete text.

The Smaller Than Life President

From The New York Times:
A President Forgotten but Not Gone -- by Frank Rich [excerpted]
"You start to pity him until you remember how vast the wreckage is. It stretches from the Middle East to Wall Street to Main Street and even into the heavens, which have been a safe haven for toxins under his passive stewardship. The discrepancy between the grandeur of the failure and the stature of the man is a puzzlement. We are still trying to compute it. . . .

"Almost poignantly, he keeps trying to hawk his goods in these final days, like a salesman who hasn't been told by the home office that his product has been discontinued. Though no one is listening, he has given more exit interviews than either Clinton or Reagan did.

"[An] elaborate example of legacy spin can be downloaded from the White House Web site: a booklet recounting “highlights” of the administration’s “accomplishments and results.” With big type, much white space, children’s-book-like trivia boxes titled “Did You Know?” and lots of color photos of the Bushes posing with blacks and troops . . . .

"This document is the literary correlative to 'Mission Accomplished.' Bush kept America safe (provided his presidency began Sept. 12, 2001). He gave America record economic growth (provided his presidency ended December 2007). He vanquished all the leading Qaeda terrorists (if you don't count the leaders bin Laden and al-Zawahri). He gave Afghanistan a thriving 'market economy' (if you count its skyrocketing opium trade) and a 'democratically elected president' (presiding over one of the world's most corrupt governments). He supported elections in Pakistan (after propping up Pervez Musharraf past the point of no return). He 'led the world in providing food aid and natural disaster relief' (if you leave out Brownie and Katrina).

"The man who emerges [from all those exit interviews] is a narcissist with no self-awareness whatsoever. It's that arrogance that allowed him to tune out even the most calamitous of realities, freeing him to compound them without missing a step. The president who famously couldn't name a single mistake of his presidency at a press conference in 2004 still can't.

"He can, however, blame everyone else."

May you all have a wonderful year with all good things flowing your way. Now that we have a President with a brain and the will to help us out of the mess the last 8 years have brought-- mebbe there's a chance this New Year's Wish will come to pass. Peace.

This article from WebEcoist presents twenty nine disturbing ads illustrating what we as a species are doing to the environment that sustains us--but for how much longer? Please take a look and pass these on to your email list. We need to get the word out and these ads capture the imagination in ways that are difficult to ignore.

I've just discovered some books that sound intriguing. So, I'm going to start listing and excerpting them. Since, for the most part, these won't be political in nature, the best venue for them is, I think, Scattershot Thoughts. So, if you're in the market for some good reading matter, hop over there and check them out. I'll flag book-review entries so they'll be easy to spot as you scroll through the blog.

This article in the Huffington Post seems to put the final nail in Norm Coleman's coffin. And about time.
Of course, the Rethugs aren't going to go down without another ridiculous fight. **sigh**
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Cornyn released a statement on Tuesday indicating that some GOP senators would resist seating Franken before the courts have their say, even if the Democratic challenger is declared the winner of the recount. "I expect the Senate would have a problem seating a candidate who has not duly won an election," Cornyn claimed.

Gee, I wish we'd thought of that argument before letting Bush into the White House.