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December 29, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Thursday's Links
Cold and Flu season is upon us, and not even Still Fighting is immune! Sorry for the delay today, folks.
Activism
Help Us Drive A Stake Into The Ohio GOP. A little while ago we linked to the Reform Ohio Now campaign. Pounder, over at Daily Kos, has a list of 10 more things you can do to help out the campaign. Don't live in Ohio? It doesn't matter! The current GOP-controlled government of Ohio is stunningly corrupt, and it affects the entire country. There's the obvious case of the (likely fraudulent) 2004 election, but there's also redistricting and money laundering issues. Every stronghold of corruption that we can take away from the GOP brings us one step closer to returning true democractic principles to our country. And the amendments being voted on in just about four weeks aren't partisan: "RON's amendments would put the people back into the process by making politicians more accountable to voters. These reforms don't favor one party over another; they simply ensure that neither party can rewrite the rules to stay in power." Sounds reasonable to us.
News
U.S. Probes Afghan Body Desecration Charges. Just because the war in Afghanistan was justified (at least, we still think it was), that doesn't mean our corrupt government can't screw that up as well. The Army's Criminal Investigation Division is looking into reports that "shows U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan burning the bodies of two Taliban fighters, then using the incident to taunt Taliban forces." This is what happens when you have no leadership, and an "anything goes" attitude. And there's no better way to ensure that the world, which supported our efforts in Afghanistan, turns their back on us on that front too. The fact is that not only do our leaders not get how incidents like these incite more terrorism, they just don't really care.
Senate Votes to Forgo Annual Pay Raise. Holy crap! The Senate did something right, for once! In a 92-6, the Senate voted down their annual pay raise, which was simply going to be a 1.9% Cost of Living Adjustment. Even though it seems that Jon Kyl (R-AZ) stole Russ Feingold's (D-WI) thunder in proposing the amendment, the fact is that this is one of the few cases where our elected officials are actually making sacrifices themselves. Of course, $3,100 per year is just a drop in the bucket, both for the Senators personally, and for the government's massive deficit, but at least it's a start. $2 million down, $300 billion to go! (Out of curiosity, how does $3,100 times 100 Senators equal $2 million?)
Federal Law Blocks Photo ID Law at Polls in Georgia. As John Conyers said, this never should have gotten to this point in the first place. But the reality is that the Republican-led state legislature passed a measure last spring requiring all Georgia citizens who showed up to vote produce a specific ID. Or, rather, the legislation disallowed 12 of the 17 possible forms of ID (as we wrote about last March). Well, a federal judge has blocked that ruling, and we couldn't be more pleased. As Brad writes, if that law were to go into effect on a national level, it would prevent an estimated 10-20 million people from voting. Of course, all they would need to do is get a legalized ID, right? Wrong. because that way leads to what is essentially a poll tax, and that's unacceptable. And it's not like Republicans care, because Caesar knows that the poor and disenfranchised voters won't vote Republican anyway.
Editorials
Gunning for the Poor. Harold Meyerson breaks down Congress's new objective; screw the poor. Aside from the pittance news article above about voting to suspend raises, Congress seems to have it out for the disenfranchised. Katrina victims, Medicaid, student loan programs - Congress has been on a tear cutting funds. Nothing that would affect them personally, but cutting nonetheless. As Meyerson writes, "What we have here is an ideologically driven dereliction of duty. If the Bush White House had been put in charge of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer and Teller would still be puttering around in the New Mexico desert today." We couldn't have said it better.
Why Can't the Left Face the Stolen Elections of 2004 & 2008? By all accounts, Bush should never have been elected in 2000 and 2004. We all know the facts. In 2000, hanging chads and a divided Supreme Court handed Bush the election. In 2004, it was "larger-than-expected" voter turnout, bullying of voters and a Secretary of State who didn't give a damn. So why haven't Democrats hammered this point? We're not suggesting Democrats continue to trumpet the idea that they should have won. What they need to do is trumpet the idea that "they shouldn't have lost, and here's why." Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman have written what amounts to an essay, and you are highly encouraged to check it out.
Blogger Commentary
Bush knew Rove was the leaker in 2003. Lied in 2004 when he said he didn't know who leaked. Obstruction of Justice. Look, we really like this idea of "innocent until proven guilty". It's a really neat idea. The problem is that sometimes it can be horrible naive, when you have people who are willing to abuse our trust. In the case of the Leakgate case, we're supposed to believe that while it's pretty apparent (although not yet proven, we'll admit) that Rove and Libby were involved, Cheney and Bush had nothing to do with this. But we've never really bought that, although the press and even most of the lefties have merrily played along with the charade. But read John at AMERICABlog, quoting from a recent New York Daily News article, which says that Bush was furious with Rove for how he handled the leak. This has many, many implications. For one, Scott McClellan has been lying through his teeth, insisting that Bush is waiting for the outcome of the investigation to find out what happened. Furthermore, if true, it shows that Bush has been lying about his (since weakened) promise to fire anyone involved in the leak. But if this story is true, Bush already knew that Rove was involved when he made the promise!
US Puts Corporate Profits Above Preparedness for Bird Flu. is it cycnical that we saw this title and immediately thought, "Of course they do"? We rant and rave time and time again about how the health industry in this country absolutely sucks, and we need no more proof of that than this commentary. Only this time, it's the WTO and American pharmaceutical companies. This winter, when you've got the Avian Bird Flu, you can thank Karl Rove and Pascal Lamy, and wonder why we don't have universal health care.
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December 29, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Thursday's Links
Cold and Flu season is upon us, and not even Still Fighting is immune! Sorry for the delay today, folks.
Activism
Help Us Drive A Stake Into The Ohio GOP. A little while ago we linked to the Reform Ohio Now campaign. Pounder, over at Daily Kos, has a list of 10 more things you can do to help out the campaign. Don't live in Ohio? It doesn't matter! The current GOP-controlled government of Ohio is stunningly corrupt, and it affects the entire country. There's the obvious case of the (likely fraudulent) 2004 election, but there's also redistricting and money laundering issues. Every stronghold of corruption that we can take away from the GOP brings us one step closer to returning true democractic principles to our country. And the amendments being voted on in just about four weeks aren't partisan: "RON's amendments would put the people back into the process by making politicians more accountable to voters. These reforms don't favor one party over another; they simply ensure that neither party can rewrite the rules to stay in power." Sounds reasonable to us.
News
U.S. Probes Afghan Body Desecration Charges. Just because the war in Afghanistan was justified (at least, we still think it was), that doesn't mean our corrupt government can't screw that up as well. The Army's Criminal Investigation Division is looking into reports that "shows U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan burning the bodies of two Taliban fighters, then using the incident to taunt Taliban forces." This is what happens when you have no leadership, and an "anything goes" attitude. And there's no better way to ensure that the world, which supported our efforts in Afghanistan, turns their back on us on that front too. The fact is that not only do our leaders not get how incidents like these incite more terrorism, they just don't really care.
Senate Votes to Forgo Annual Pay Raise. Holy crap! The Senate did something right, for once! In a 92-6, the Senate voted down their annual pay raise, which was simply going to be a 1.9% Cost of Living Adjustment. Even though it seems that Jon Kyl (R-AZ) stole Russ Feingold's (D-WI) thunder in proposing the amendment, the fact is that this is one of the few cases where our elected officials are actually making sacrifices themselves. Of course, $3,100 per year is just a drop in the bucket, both for the Senators personally, and for the government's massive deficit, but at least it's a start. $2 million down, $300 billion to go! (Out of curiosity, how does $3,100 times 100 Senators equal $2 million?)
Federal Law Blocks Photo ID Law at Polls in Georgia. As John Conyers said, this never should have gotten to this point in the first place. But the reality is that the Republican-led state legislature passed a measure last spring requiring all Georgia citizens who showed up to vote produce a specific ID. Or, rather, the legislation disallowed 12 of the 17 possible forms of ID (as we wrote about last March). Well, a federal judge has blocked that ruling, and we couldn't be more pleased. As Brad writes, if that law were to go into effect on a national level, it would prevent an estimated 10-20 million people from voting. Of course, all they would need to do is get a legalized ID, right? Wrong. because that way leads to what is essentially a poll tax, and that's unacceptable. And it's not like Republicans care, because Caesar knows that the poor and disenfranchised voters won't vote Republican anyway.
Editorials
Gunning for the Poor. Harold Meyerson breaks down Congress's new objective; screw the poor. Aside from the pittance news article above about voting to suspend raises, Congress seems to have it out for the disenfranchised. Katrina victims, Medicaid, student loan programs - Congress has been on a tear cutting funds. Nothing that would affect them personally, but cutting nonetheless. As Meyerson writes, "What we have here is an ideologically driven dereliction of duty. If the Bush White House had been put in charge of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer and Teller would still be puttering around in the New Mexico desert today." We couldn't have said it better.
Why Can't the Left Face the Stolen Elections of 2004 & 2008? By all accounts, Bush should never have been elected in 2000 and 2004. We all know the facts. In 2000, hanging chads and a divided Supreme Court handed Bush the election. In 2004, it was "larger-than-expected" voter turnout, bullying of voters and a Secretary of State who didn't give a damn. So why haven't Democrats hammered this point? We're not suggesting Democrats continue to trumpet the idea that they should have won. What they need to do is trumpet the idea that "they shouldn't have lost, and here's why." Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman have written what amounts to an essay, and you are highly encouraged to check it out.
Blogger Commentary
Bush knew Rove was the leaker in 2003. Lied in 2004 when he said he didn't know who leaked. Obstruction of Justice. Look, we really like this idea of "innocent until proven guilty". It's a really neat idea. The problem is that sometimes it can be horrible naive, when you have people who are willing to abuse our trust. In the case of the Leakgate case, we're supposed to believe that while it's pretty apparent (although not yet proven, we'll admit) that Rove and Libby were involved, Cheney and Bush had nothing to do with this. But we've never really bought that, although the press and even most of the lefties have merrily played along with the charade. But read John at AMERICABlog, quoting from a recent New York Daily News article, which says that Bush was furious with Rove for how he handled the leak. This has many, many implications. For one, Scott McClellan has been lying through his teeth, insisting that Bush is waiting for the outcome of the investigation to find out what happened. Furthermore, if true, it shows that Bush has been lying about his (since weakened) promise to fire anyone involved in the leak. But if this story is true, Bush already knew that Rove was involved when he made the promise!
US Puts Corporate Profits Above Preparedness for Bird Flu. is it cycnical that we saw this title and immediately thought, "Of course they do"? We rant and rave time and time again about how the health industry in this country absolutely sucks, and we need no more proof of that than this commentary. Only this time, it's the WTO and American pharmaceutical companies. This winter, when you've got the Avian Bird Flu, you can thank Karl Rove and Pascal Lamy, and wonder why we don't have universal health care.
|
December 29, 2005
Activism
Help Us Drive A Stake Into The Ohio GOP. A little while ago we linked to the Reform Ohio Now campaign. Pounder, over at Daily Kos, has a list of 10 more things you can do to help out the campaign. Don't live in Ohio? It doesn't matter! The current GOP-controlled government of Ohio is stunningly corrupt, and it affects the entire country. There's the obvious case of the (likely fraudulent) 2004 election, but there's also redistricting and money laundering issues. Every stronghold of corruption that we can take away from the GOP brings us one step closer to returning true democractic principles to our country. And the amendments being voted on in just about four weeks aren't partisan: "RON's amendments would put the people back into the process by making politicians more accountable to voters. These reforms don't favor one party over another; they simply ensure that neither party can rewrite the rules to stay in power." Sounds reasonable to us.
News
U.S. Probes Afghan Body Desecration Charges. Just because the war in Afghanistan was justified (at least, we still think it was), that doesn't mean our corrupt government can't screw that up as well. The Army's Criminal Investigation Division is looking into reports that "shows U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan burning the bodies of two Taliban fighters, then using the incident to taunt Taliban forces." This is what happens when you have no leadership, and an "anything goes" attitude. And there's no better way to ensure that the world, which supported our efforts in Afghanistan, turns their back on us on that front too. The fact is that not only do our leaders not get how incidents like these incite more terrorism, they just don't really care.
Senate Votes to Forgo Annual Pay Raise. Holy crap! The Senate did something right, for once! In a 92-6, the Senate voted down their annual pay raise, which was simply going to be a 1.9% Cost of Living Adjustment. Even though it seems that Jon Kyl (R-AZ) stole Russ Feingold's (D-WI) thunder in proposing the amendment, the fact is that this is one of the few cases where our elected officials are actually making sacrifices themselves. Of course, $3,100 per year is just a drop in the bucket, both for the Senators personally, and for the government's massive deficit, but at least it's a start. $2 million down, $300 billion to go! (Out of curiosity, how does $3,100 times 100 Senators equal $2 million?)
Federal Law Blocks Photo ID Law at Polls in Georgia. As John Conyers said, this never should have gotten to this point in the first place. But the reality is that the Republican-led state legislature passed a measure last spring requiring all Georgia citizens who showed up to vote produce a specific ID. Or, rather, the legislation disallowed 12 of the 17 possible forms of ID (as we wrote about last March). Well, a federal judge has blocked that ruling, and we couldn't be more pleased. As Brad writes, if that law were to go into effect on a national level, it would prevent an estimated 10-20 million people from voting. Of course, all they would need to do is get a legalized ID, right? Wrong. because that way leads to what is essentially a poll tax, and that's unacceptable. And it's not like Republicans care, because Caesar knows that the poor and disenfranchised voters won't vote Republican anyway.
Editorials
Gunning for the Poor. Harold Meyerson breaks down Congress's new objective; screw the poor. Aside from the pittance news article above about voting to suspend raises, Congress seems to have it out for the disenfranchised. Katrina victims, Medicaid, student loan programs - Congress has been on a tear cutting funds. Nothing that would affect them personally, but cutting nonetheless. As Meyerson writes, "What we have here is an ideologically driven dereliction of duty. If the Bush White House had been put in charge of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer and Teller would still be puttering around in the New Mexico desert today." We couldn't have said it better.
Why Can't the Left Face the Stolen Elections of 2004 & 2008? By all accounts, Bush should never have been elected in 2000 and 2004. We all know the facts. In 2000, hanging chads and a divided Supreme Court handed Bush the election. In 2004, it was "larger-than-expected" voter turnout, bullying of voters and a Secretary of State who didn't give a damn. So why haven't Democrats hammered this point? We're not suggesting Democrats continue to trumpet the idea that they should have won. What they need to do is trumpet the idea that "they shouldn't have lost, and here's why." Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman have written what amounts to an essay, and you are highly encouraged to check it out.
Blogger Commentary
Bush knew Rove was the leaker in 2003. Lied in 2004 when he said he didn't know who leaked. Obstruction of Justice. Look, we really like this idea of "innocent until proven guilty". It's a really neat idea. The problem is that sometimes it can be horrible naive, when you have people who are willing to abuse our trust. In the case of the Leakgate case, we're supposed to believe that while it's pretty apparent (although not yet proven, we'll admit) that Rove and Libby were involved, Cheney and Bush had nothing to do with this. But we've never really bought that, although the press and even most of the lefties have merrily played along with the charade. But read John at AMERICABlog, quoting from a recent New York Daily News article, which says that Bush was furious with Rove for how he handled the leak. This has many, many implications. For one, Scott McClellan has been lying through his teeth, insisting that Bush is waiting for the outcome of the investigation to find out what happened. Furthermore, if true, it shows that Bush has been lying about his (since weakened) promise to fire anyone involved in the leak. But if this story is true, Bush already knew that Rove was involved when he made the promise!
US Puts Corporate Profits Above Preparedness for Bird Flu. is it cycnical that we saw this title and immediately thought, "Of course they do"? We rant and rave time and time again about how the health industry in this country absolutely sucks, and we need no more proof of that than this commentary. Only this time, it's the WTO and American pharmaceutical companies. This winter, when you've got the Avian Bird Flu, you can thank Karl Rove and Pascal Lamy, and wonder why we don't have universal health care.
