WagTheNews

This week takes the cake for White House smokescreens and diversions. The Scooter Libby verdict draws near- the Vice President flies the coop. Does the White House believe they're pulling another fast one? As Libby prepares for the worst, his former boss and co-conspirator Dick Cheney is as far away as one can be without leaving the planet. 

No sooner did closing arguments begin than the VP did the only practical thing: pack the bags, board a plane and get to another time zone, and fast. The last thing Cheney wants or the White House needs is for the Commander of Leaks to be within a soundbite of the United States when Libby's fate is sealed.

So Cheney barrels off to Austrailia, the country that is the least relevant one on the world stage today. Nothing against the Aussies but the country hasn't been tearing up the talk shows and wasn't behind the American election revolution of 2006. Any tennis fan knows that when daytime strikes Austrailia, we're fast asleep. Those Austrailian Open matches are always seen live at 2am in the States. So there's Cheney being seen but not really heard, half a world away.

Cheney and company thought they'd need just a few days away, knowing full well that Libby is toast. But while they planned for Cheney to be back by now, the jury is taking longer than even the guilty assumed it would. So here's Cheney making a surprise detour to Pakistan without any notice. The American media has learned nothing about trusting this Vice President. Not only did he hand the New York Times a crap of lies about WMD and the truth about Valerie Plame and her CIA role, but now he coaxes the media not to disclose his secret Pakistani visit under the pretense of security. When George Bush visited Pakistan, no such security request was ever made. Cheney's people may be on trial for media manipulation, but they get the latest laugh by duping the mainstream once again.

In Pakistan, Cheney scolds Pakistani President Musharraf for not squashing the Taliban and Al Qaeda. After Cheney left, Musharraf proudly scolded the U.S. saying "Pakistan does not accept dictation from any side or source." They don't accept dictation, but please don't forget that 10 billion in U.S. aid at the door!

The trial gets delayed as one of the 12 jurors is excused for, ironically, being exposed to media accounts. Cheney can't stand it but still can't return to the U.S. just yet. So here comes surprise visit number two: across the border to Afganistan for an unscheduled visit with President Karzai.

How many trips, how many days will Cheney stay far, far away from Washington and the Libby verdict? Cheney has a trump card in his briefcase. A snowstorm in Afganistan has grounded flights so his meeting with the Afgani leader is on hold. Cheney will be praying for more snow because he's running out of airfields to land at.

But wait, there's something even better than snow, something to divert any attention from the pending Libby verdict. "I heard a loud boom,” Cheney exclaimed as terrorists tried to blow him up this morning. This attack will certainly keep the attention focused on good versus evil and couldn't have been staged any better had Karl Rove been involved. Now regardless of the Libby verdict, the true terror threat is at Code Red in Afganistan, the place most Americans wanted U.S. military attention all these years.

Isn't it amazing that we've gone full circle back to the home of Al Qaeda and Bin Laden. Isn't it amazing that we've gone full circle from 9/11 to Afganistan to faulty intel of WMD to the Iraq invasion to Joe Wilson outting Bush, to Cheney and Libby outing Wilson's CIA wife to thousands of American deaths to the midterm revolt to Libby's trial, Cheney's diversion overseas, an attack against Cheney in Afganistan. Whew. You can't make this stuff up.

Two questions: do you think Cheney brought his hunting rifle along, and has anyone seen Harry Whittington lately?   2/27/07 

The midterm elections put a happy face on Americans. The outcome repressed and erased much of the unspoken guilt bleeding from sea to shining sea. Afterall, Americans can now say they don't support President George Bush, the Iraq War, illegal prisons, torture, suspended civil liberties, leaks of CIA agents, macho talk like "Bring It On!" and "Mission Accomplished" and the Republican blind eye of governnance and accountability. But while Americans sleep soundly, the rest of the world is pulling out faster than a teenager's promise in the backseat of a Chevy.

Tony Blair is no longer standing side-by-side Bush in his quest for world dominance. As Bush tries to add 21,000 troops to Iraq, Blair is pulling out 1600 British troops. Hmmm..1600. The address where George and Laura live. Let's just say the numerical coincidence is England's parting shot to Bush. Blair stood by Bush through 9/11 (an easy call) and the Iraq War (a co-conspirator who also knew there were no WMD). His days are numbered after announcing he'll step down by next year.

Another Prime Minister casualty with Bush's fingerprints around his throat is in Italy. Just nine months after taking office as Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi saw the writing and resigned.

What does England and Italy have that America doesn't? Geography for one; Governments with balls a close second. The two counties live within enemy missile range which must make its citizens a bit more jumpy at what they see going on in Iraq and now Iran. We've admired the public speaking qualities of Blair, especially his style while debating in Parliament, live on television, face-to-face with his critics. If George Bush ever faced non-hand picked audiences, it would be a train wreck worthy of a reality TV show. 

When Prodi took over Italy's shaky government, expectations and excitement were high. Troop buildups was a concern, but not enough to make Prodi touch the third rail. No Italian troops were engaged in Iraq. 2,000 are in Afganistan. What made Italians really crazy was the United States plan to expand a military base in Northern Italy. That was just too much for even his far-left coalition members, who abstained from a key vote, leading to this Prodi's unexpected resignation. Prodi stood by the U.S. even as he was going down. “To change course would be a hostile act against the United States.”

In the United States, those calling for a timetable for troop withdrawals are called weak, unsupportive of our troops, killers of a democracy in progress. So how can Blair, a loyalist to Bush, have no trouble bringing his troops home, with a timetable, in the coming months. Blair's PR line doesn't stick- that the British troops are in Southern Iraq and not in the raging civil war around Baghdad.

Bush ends another day seeing his allies either running for cover or listening to its citizens. Add Denmark and Lithuania to the pull out frenzy; the Danes will  withdraw 460 soldiers, Lithuania may bring home its 53 solidiers. Which leaves the question of what allies are left and Bush's response to  John Kerry during their first Presidential debate in 2004: "Well, actually, he forgot Poland."    2/22/07 

The world is watching American democracy and it's been moving as slowly as poaint drying. The week ended with a split decision in Congress. The House scolded President George Bush's Iraq War and the Senate failed to even bring it to a vote. Ever since the midterms, lawmakers have had their eye on one easy vote: Knowing everything you know, are you for the war or against it? Lawmakers have their eye on 2008 whether running for re-election or running for President. They need an easy vote, not the ones based on faulty intel. Look at the commotion over Hillary Clinton's vote for the war. Instead of apologizing, she'll stick to her soundbite that her vote was based on Bush's lies and it's the President who should apologize. Her peers don't want to be in that box, so they were looking this week to be clear, defined, and smart about where they stand. It's that simple.

What's also simple is how easy Iran has been playing George Bush. It's abit naiive to think any differently. Remember the great comic capers of our time. Paul Newman playing cards on a train in "The Sting", Abbott and Costello playing cards on a train in "Buck Privates" ("Little Joe!"). They knew what they were doing all along and they knew their prey would bite. The "startling news" we woke up to one day that Iran was helping the insurgents was in the making for many years. To add to instability and fuel the world's hatred for the United States, Iran set the trap and have been waiting for some time now for the United States to take the bait. Don't you think Iran WANTED to get caught? Bush and company treat it like they've been working overtime and cracked some kind of complicated scheme. Iran wanted the world to know they were playing Bush.

The timing of linking Iran to Iraq is no coincidence either. But again, it's not Bush who is orchestrating this. Iran is doing the choreography. This past week, the U.S. helped disarm North Korea of its nukes to the tune of $250 million dollars. If North Korea folded for a quarter billion, Iran is holding out for more. After all, North Korea threatened Japan and the Far East, but Iran poses to be more of a nusiance by threatening to de-stabilize many more countries in the oil-rich Middle East.

The Bush team is spinning the Iran link wildly, hoping it will turn American public opinion for the troop buildup. But whatever Bush knows, experts know it's more complicated. “I just don’t think we have a very acute understanding of the internal workings of the regime in Iran,” said Patrick Clawson, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.      2/17/07 

Just say the whole world was watching. Just say the world cared about American football as much as Joe Six Pack. Just say the world bought into the hype surrounding the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears. From sea to shining sea, from Mexico to Canada, from Afganistan's caves to Iran's scientific labs, from North Korea to Kosovo, from Somolia to Darfur, from Venezuela to Cuba, from the Palestinian state to Israel and from Iraq's capital to its oil refineries (Insert your favorite hot spot here). The whole world was captivated by the Super Bowl. Just make believe.

Second terms. Escalating Wars. Heightened scandals. Falling public opinion. Republican infighting. Coincidence or history repeating itself? Two milestone are left in comparing the two worst scandals in American history. A Vice President resigns and a President impeached. Not only is this possible, but it can happen in a flash. 

For the first time in 80 years, the White House has no heir apparent in the form of the Vice President becoming the frontrunner. This time it's because the Veep has already assumed the role of Commander in Chief while the sort-of-elected President has been mis-directed by the Cold War hawks waiting to rumble.

We've written for months that after the '06 midterms, the White House will find a way to ease Dick Cheney aside, perhaps citing failing health, and install a public-looking good guy as the #2. Unless George Bush picks Donald Rumsfeld or John Ashcroft, the selection will make Americans feel better about the GOP.

Changing Veeps will leave the Bush Impeachment as the final act in this 8 year production. Ask yourself, what will it take for the public and the Congress to turn on Bush in such a way as to throw him out of office before January 2009. Read, watch and listen and you see the impeachment landscape already forming.

Congress appears to be waiting in the weeds right now. No one wants to raise the heat this soon. After all, the Democrats just took control and are focusing on their promised gameplan. Bush appears thoughtful to those who pity him. He waited and waded through December to define his war plan, ignored the Iraq Study Group, got input from all his tried and true federal agencies, made a pitch to the American people for more troops, unleashed Cheney to a friendly Sunday talk show before doing his own bit of product placement on 60 Minutes.

In the meantime, more American troops are killed, including the largest contingent of American higher brass. First a chopper is hit, then insurgents dressed in American uniforms, driving American vehicles, and speaking English, are waved into our compound where gunfire leads to kidnapping and more American deaths.

The battle cry of giving Bush one more chance for this charade to work is akin to the final Bush Death March. History tells us how this will end. And it's not with Condeleeza Rice bringing the region together.

Richard Nixon lasted less time after his re-election than George Bush has, even tough Vietnam was ending and the Iraq War is getting reinforcements. The Watergate break-in preceded Nixon's re-election landslide by nearly 5 months. Two months later, in January '73, aides Liddy and McCord are convicted in the break-in conspiracy. Three months later in April resignations galore: Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Attorney General Kleindienst. Within weeks, nationally televised hearings. In June '73, John Dean reveals he talked about the cover-up at least 35 times with Nixon. Days later, Watergate prosecutors find a memo detailing plans to break into the psychiatrist of Pentagon Papers defendant Dan Ellsberg. At the same time, we learn Nixon recorded all conversations in his offices for the past 2 years. Nixon stops taping, refuses to turn over tapes, and initiates the Saturday Night Massacre not even a year after re-election. In October '73, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after pleading no contest to income tax evasion charges. Weeks later in Nov '73, Nixon declares "I am not a crook" but can't explain an 18 1/2 minute gap in a subpoenaed tape. Leave it to Chief of Staff  Alexander Haig to precede Hillary Clinton in theorizing "some sinister force" erased the segment.  By July '74, Congress had had enough. The House Judiciary Committee passed the firsts of three impeachment articles and on August 8, 1974, Nixon became the first U.S. President to resign.

One long paragraph to show how a President becomes undone and a country says the party is over. Nixon was hiding a break-in for political gain. Bill Clinton was hiding an affair for personal gain. Bush can't hide his agenda anymore. What's left is for America to take back power and throw the President out.            1/28/07

The Bush "60 Minutes" interview should have started with this disclaimer: "The following interview is being conducted by a lightweight reporter who will ask "yes" and "no" questions, will not follow up on insufficient answers and has failed to pass off the interview to more scrutinizing reporters. CBS News does not apologize for this. It's more a reflection of the state of journalism in America."

Where was Mike Wallace when America needed him?  The reason CBS was chosen for this Sunday night sit-down was because it was Scott Pelley. A virtual love fest for George Bush, just days after delivering news to 21,000 more American families that he's escalating a war with no end.

It's too late for Bush to work a miracle. He sticks to the script conneting 9/11 with Iraq, even as he denies he ever made such a connection. "If we were to start withdrawing now, we'd have a crisis in our hands in Iraq. And not only in Iraq, but failure in Iraq will embolden the enemy. And the enemy is al-Qaeda and extremists." Even the few Americans barely paying attention know Bush and his policies are already emboldening the enemy, already encouraging more recruits, more suicide bombers. 

Bush told of specific mistakes he's made. "Abu Ghraib was a mistake. Using bad language like, you know, "bring them on" was a mistake. I think history is gonna look back and see a lot of ways we could have done things better. No question about it. (Troop levels?) Could have been a mistake."

The most distressing dot that Bush won't connect is his policies causing more of the world to hate the United States. But no quote shows how far removed he is from reality than this: "I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude, and I believe most Iraqis express that. I mean, the people understand that we've endured great sacrifice to help them. That's the problem here in America. They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq.

Telegram to Iraqis! No one in America expects you to show us gratitude for dismantling your country. No one in America wonders whether your level of saying "thanks" is significant enough.

Bush says "we've got people criticizing this plan before it's had a chance to work." Mr. President, with all due respect, Americans have trusted you, given you enough time and rope to see your plan through. The country even returned you to a second term to finish what you started. Your citizens failed to criticize you enough in the course of your plan. The honeymoon of public opinion is officially over.

For Pelley, a man who wanted Dan Rather's chair as much as any of the other also-rans, his interview techniques let the President off the hook time and again. When referring to the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, Pelley didn't even ask a question, but tried to show what an average folk he is. "You had to be angry as hell." Which garnered the captivating reply: "Yeah, I wasn't happy." Nice work.

Pelley had no follow up for Bush's gushing over Cheney as "a great vice-president" or for Rumseld doing "a really fine job as Secretary of Defense." No follow-up, even though those two Bush loyalists were plotting this Iraq invasion, knowing there would be unneccesary American casualties, the moment Bush won election in 2000.

In the end, words that go from Bush's brain to his mouth are so sadly ironic, you can't help but sit stunned when he's asked that Barbara Walters-type question, "what would you say to Iran's President about meddling in Iraq?"  

"I'd say, first of all, to him, "You've made terrible choices for your people. You've isolated your nation. You've taken a nation of proud and honorable people, and you've made your country the pariah of the world.....You've defied international accord. And you're slowly but surely isolating yourself." 

Terrible choices. Isolated nation. Country the pariah of the world. Defied international accord. Isolating yourself. If that's not a best self-description of President Bush and his White House, then I'm a founding member of the Scott Pelley fan club.     1/15/07

For a clear vision of what failed leadership looks like, one needed to just tune into to primetime television Wednesday night. President George Bush standing alone trying to convince the world he's got more bright ideas.

Bush calls for more troops four years too late. Bush calls for Marines to knock down those nutty insurgents and, are you sitting down, those foreign al-Qaida fighers in Iraq. There's that link again . Bush calls for mo money to fund all these troops, even though Iraq's oil profits were to foot the bill and then some. Bush calls on embedding U.S. advisers in the Iraqi security forces. Maybe then we'll learn who used all those cell phone minutes at Saddam's execution.

Iraq is expected to do their part. But we know what that will look like. Will someone tell them that 90% of life is just showing up. We can't even expect them to do that. Their country in a full scale civil war. If U.S. troops can't stop random attacks, how will the rag tag bunch of Iraqi slackers ever do the trick?

The only regime shakier than Iraq's is the one holed up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Republicans have long now abandoned their over-confident leader. The nation is made of thoughtful Democrats and Republicans who had the good fortune of not being up for re-election last November. Those lucky GOPs resemble Democrats these days but no one is calling them cowards or unpatriotic. Where's a Swift Boater when you really need to out a coward?

Let's hope the country doesn't fall for the Bushites spin that this plan is some new direction, a new way forward. Already we know the mainstream news is all aflutter about the Presidential Speech. They've set the bar so low that Bush should come out ahead. The networks are using language supplied by the White House, with no perspective that it was that language (Mission Accomplished, With Us or Against Us) that helped convinced lawmakers and the general public to fall asleep and trust the President.

This time, Americans populace is ahead of the game. Web sites, bloggers and millions of voters who won't be fooled again. Ad the President said himself, "Fool me once, shame on-shame on you. Fool me-you can't get fooled again."     1/10/07

Say what you will about Vice President Dick Cheney. The man knows how to survive. See the photos of Cheney during the all-week tribute to Gerald Ford? A young Cheney actually looked subordinate to the 1970's. Today, Cheney looks like a caricature of himself. Try telling the difference between the Veep and the actor playing him on Saturday Night Live. 

Today as we enter a New Year, it's time for the GOP to ceremoniously dump him. Cheney has outlived his political usefulness. Chosen to add bulk to George Bush in the 2000 Presidential campaign, Cheney provided age and wisdom, politics and national security to the Texas Governor. He also knew where the bodies were buried in DC and around the world.

But now the future of the Republican Party hangs in the balance of Cheney's presence. For the first time since 1928, the sitting White House will be sitting out the next Presidential race. Unless Jeb Bush decides to run for President in '08, it'll be the first election since the 70's when a Bush either wasn't running or wasn't adjacent to the race.

Do you really believe the Bushites will let their legacy be carried out by McCain, Romney or Giuliani? In the coming months, Cheney will find a way to bow out gracefully, if even just to GOP insiders. Bush will find a new Veep who will instantly become a Republican front runner in the GOP sweepstakes. Do you really think Bush forgets McCain's epic battle in 2000 and the black baby smear it took to defeat him in the South Carolina primary? McCain may be reaching out to conservatives, but the evangelicals would much rather rubber stamp a Bush clone, especially given the time he'll have to show independent leadership from Bush between now and primary season.

While Democrats do what they tend to do, beat each other down, the GOP will reflect from the midterms and get a disciplined plan on how to retain the White House. The first step is creating a viable candidate from inside the White House. The next step is finding a date for Cheney to step down.     1/1/07

 As George Bush gets closer to plunging another 20,000 United States troops into Iraq's civil war, the world gets set to face life after Saddam Hussain. Saddam's pending execution is unlike any death sentence the world has seen in decades. Saddam may have ruled with terror, ordered the execution of his detractors and baited the United States into thinking he supplanted the former Soviet Union as our new Cold War enemy.

But will his execution be hailed worldwide as the execution of Nazi war criminals in 1946. Is there a difference between what Saddam did and what the Nazis did? Saddam ruled in modern times just like dozens of other leaders. Many of those leaders have been aided by democratic countires like the U.S. and its allies. But Saddam will be put to death as the latest diversion to the Bush War in Iraq. Never mind that Saddam's crimes were, in part, retaliation to plots to kill him.

At this time of civil war, Saddam's execution will only heighten the insurgency against a democratic foundation finding little traction in Iraq. In the way the Bush War has helped recruit a new generation of terrorists, Saddam's execution will elevate him from former leader, to convicted killer to a forever martyr. Just what the world needs at it tries to straighten out the mess caused by Team Bush-Cheney-Rove.

What would it look like if somehow, someway Saddam's life was spared? Would it make the free world look like wimps? Would it give more power to terrorists who don't believe Americans can stomach a long-lasting war of the ages? Or would it give pause to a world amid confusion, from the Middle East to Africa, from the former Soviet Republics to the Mexican-US border?

In one fell swoop, President Bush can take the biggest step since Neil Armstrong, by advocating, yes advocating life for Saddam Hussain. In one fell swoop, it would unite America behind a President whose approval rating has done nothing but slipped. It would show the world that the Decider has compassion, and more importantly, has some understanding of leadership, perspective and a longer worldview. In short, it would mean leadership, something Bush has not shown in a long, long time.

If Gerald Ford opposed the Bush War, which is coming out after his death, where do you suppose Bush's father stands? Our current leader is holding onto his black and white view of the world, as former American leaders are talking from their graves that George the Second is a crazed moron.

If execution of Saddam is a just reward, what will history want to do with George Bush when his final judgment is made?    12/29/06

Was President George Bush suffering from a stroke during today's "news" conference? Senator Tim Johnson sounded more coherent as he pardoned himself from the microphones and made his way to the hospital last week. We were not so fortunate today.

President Bush showed America and the world a new level of attention deficit disorder. His newser was sprinkled with cliches', campaign stump phrases, arrogance, delusion, and hypocrisy.

Years after declaring "Mission Accomplished," Bush spent the past few weeks "staying the course," exploring a "new direction forward", "we are winning" to today's tie, draw or stalemate, "we're not winning and we're not losing."

Bush said the year-long civil war, ahem, "sectarian violence", is "one aspect of this war that has not gone right." He failed to mention all the other areas of what hasn't gone right: waging a war on phony intelligence, without proper troop levels, without adequate armour for troops, without plans to deal with roadside bombs, a blind eye to wasteful and corrupt no-bid contracts, falsely relying on Iraq oil revenue to pay for the war, extended deployments for weekend warriors, three-thousand American and nearly a million Iraqi civilian deaths, demanding democracy, ignoring ethnic strife...shall we go on?

Today the President went on record that he'll be ignoring the recommendations from the Iraq Study Group. The United States won't change its military goals or leave Iraq. "Victory in Iraq is achievable," the President declares even though the rest of us are done with the testosterone laced, cold war rhetoric. 

Why does Bush cling to a black and white outcome in Iraq? Why is he advocating more troops when the mere presence of existing ones is fueling violence? Is this what we can expect from Bush as he faces a Democratic Congress one month from now?

Today Bush talked of working with Congress on a host of domestic issues. He prides himself of bi-partisan spirit from his days as Texas Governor to now. But that spirit ends with Iraq.

“The most painful aspect of my presidency is the fact that I know my decisions have caused young men and women to lose their lives.” 

The most painful aspect of the Bush presidency is that he was ever allowed to run the country in the first place.   12/21/06

"All the News That's Fit to Print" was unfit this Sunday. Was it because of the hellish few years the paper and the world has faced? It's tough stuff dealing with plagiarism and then Judith Miller's conspiracy as a GOP pawn that convinced Americans that war with Iraq was good. Thanks to Frank Rich who did more to set the Bush record of misjudgment straight than 365 episodes of "The Daily Show." In between, we've seen the Times shine with a five year 9/11 retrospect that was second to none. The newspaper even raised the bar by adding gay nuptials to the Sunday marriage page. And why not. Kinky Friedman campaigned in Texas that gay marriage is an equal rights issue: gays have equal rights to be just as miserable as the rest of us.

But it was still glaring, surprising and self-servingly time-saving to read the front section of the New York Times on Sunday December 17th. One hard news story on the front page. ONE. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered early elections to try to break the stalemate with Hamas.

The feature laden front page is one thing.  But what happened inside? 32 pages usually devoted to international and national news, plus interesting NYC-metro pages and a world-famous obit. But on this Sunday, a day devoted to a cup of java, Church and a $5 cover price (the price missing for some reason on this day) we were greeted with ads, full page ads, several full page ads, a total of 23 full page ads. Two thirds of the Sunday Times was junk and other pages were dominated with more ad space. Furs, Watches, Jewelry, Gift Cards, Skin Enhancers, Clothes, more Watches, the Survivor Finale', yet more Watches, again Watches for a fourth time, more Clothes, Hi-tech, more Clothes with a cute dog, more Gift cards, a Cell phone, a Bank, a fifth Watch ad, a sixth Watch ad covering 2 pages this time, BMW, Diamonds, Medical device company, and another Cell phone.

Perhaps this is what it takes to employ many of the best journalists in America. Sellout a week before Christmas. It's a week when Congress if off, the Supreme Court is on vaca, the elections are long over, and the White House mulls over desperate plans to end the Iraq War. But Christmas week has served as a litmus for second term Presidents. Reagan faced the music of Iran-Contra and Clinton heard the roll call of Impeachment as shoppers were decking the halls. For all their griping about the liberal media, Bush, Cheney and Rove were given a free pass from today's Sunday Times. Take a day off thy Fifth Estate. The lives of  hundreds of thousands of troops from around the world lie awake tonight wondering if the mess this White House created will come to an end anytime soon.    12/18/06

Not since the hospitalization of Vito Correlone has so much been riding on the health of one man. South Dakota Democrat Tim Johnson slurred his speech, was rushed to the hospital and may have suffered a stroke.

Prayers go out to Johnson and Johnson (Tim and wife Barbara) but you could also say God bless America. Johnson's health points to the fragile majority the Democrats hold in the U.S. Senate ever since the anti-war rally on November 7th.

Could this be part, any part, of the Republican strategy to keep control of the Senate? Laugh if you must, but George Bush, the White House and the GOP are grasping for any hope to keep their crusade alive.

Will the GOP be sending super-sized french fries to Senate Democrats? Will K-Street lobbyists be encouraging Senate Democrats to take up tobacco? Will Karl Rove look to Russia for advice and find some way to poison a Senate Democrat? 

This Administration was hellbent on desecrating the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions by invading our privacy and torturing prisoners, hellbent on killing innocent American Servicemen and women in a war built-up on lies, hellbent on dividing the nation and the world while it mandated democracy, or else.

The health of Senate Democrats is vial, but their health is not equal. 20 Senate Dems living in Republican-controlled states mean the difference between a new direction for America and business as usual for Bush and company.

Those Democrats are Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye in Hawaii, Evan Bayh in Indiana, Barbra Boxer and Dianne Feinstein in California, Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan in North Dakota, Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota, Chritopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman in Connecticut, Tim Johnson in South Dakota, Patick Leahy (and Independent Bernie Sanders) in Vermont, Bill Nelson in Florida, Ben Nelson in Nebraska, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse in Rhode Island, Harry Reid in Nevada, John Tester in Montana, and Claire McCaskill in Missouri.

Vito Corrleone survived the night because of the heroic acts by his yet-to-be-made son Michael. For the good of America and the world, say a prayer for our leaders, so men and women abroad have a fighting chance to come home alive.   12/14/06

George Bush and Dick Cheney are starting to resemble the fictious characters in the television sitcom "The Office." The Bush and Cheney characters are well-known to us. In the TV series, Michael Scott is the feeble leader at the Scranton branch of the Dunder-Mifflin paper company. His self-proclaimed #2 is Dwight Schrute, a power-hungry co-worker who would blow the place up if it meant being in charge. While George and Michael are likeable yet incompetent leaders, their #2s Dick and Dwight are dangerous.  All four are in denial. All four believe they can motivate. All four have no clue the rest of us are laughing. On TV, the joke's on them; in real life, the joke's sadly on us.

Bush and Cheney are lost. They've had years to come up with solutions to their war. But instead of acknowleging their goals, vision and methods were mis-guided, mis-managed, and mistaken, Bush is waiting for some advice from inside his own Administration. Both parties have given the President enough outs to end a baseball game. The summer polls, the midterm elections, the American death toll, and now the Iraq Study Group. A bi-partisan, collegiate-named Study Group served 79 counts of advice the White House basically declared dead on arrival. Why take suggestions from both political parties when the White House can direct what they'll be seeing. Bush prefers to get his advice from people he's hired: the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the State Department, the Treasury Department and the National Security Council. 4 groups alligned to the White House. 4 groups who will avoid placing blame, and instead rubber-stamp whatever notion Bush has this time. Are we to believe any information coming out of this Administration regarding Iraq? Blue states and red states say not anymore.

Bush is looking for an early Christmas gift from the American public when he addresses the nation in the next few weeks. But what he'll really be doing is re-packaging a set of lies when he says he is looking for a new way forward. Bush and Cheney want one thing: a victory. Years ago, victory meant spreading democracy across the Middle East. Instead Bush spread a civil war. Victory is as undefined today as it was all along. What a travesty for the tens of thousands of American troops stationed in the middle of it all. They believed in Bush; now they watch the Commander in Chief fire the Defense Chief. For Bush, victory was always black and white, "You're With Us or You're Against Us,"  "Mission Accomplished", all with no historical perspective. Bush never learned that when one side experiences victory, the other side is usually planning a dangerous response.

Bush has lost the nation and the world. He will use the last few weeks of GOP control as his final days as Emperor George. By late January common sense will be arriving in huge doses to DC. Bi-partisan common sense. With Bush still looking to go his own way, with his own partisan, internal advice, America is on a collision course pitting a lameduck President full of arrogance with an American public ready to move a new way forward, but only a lot faster.    12/11/06

Bottom line: a Democrat should have been nominated and confirmed to lead the Defense Department. Instead Robert Gates received a free ride. It shows once again that Congress has no guts. Democrats and Republicans on the Hill caved in to President Bush and the recent resignations by war architects Donald Rumsfeld and Michael, ahem, John Bolton. The White House threw their two polarizing figures under the bus in hopes that the next Defense Secretary would get approved. It worked.

Americans, whether Democrat or Republican, blue state or red, should have demanded a new approach to lead the DOD. A bold move would have been an authentic response to getting whipped in the November elections. A bold move would have shown Americans that the United States is serious about fixing the mis-steps of the past 6 years. A bold move would have shown the world there's a new vision in town. And a bold move would not be without bi-partisan precedent.

On this day, December 5th, in 1996 President Bill Clinton nominated Republican William Cohen to run the Defense Department. Few Presidential cabinet appointments have ever crossed party lines. Cohen made a living being a GOP, but had flashes of independence. As a Congressman during Watergate, Cohen was one of the first Republicans to break ranks and vote for a Nixon impeachment. Gates is imbedded in GOP philosophy, propaganda and lies. Gates was a problem to Democrats during Iran-Contra, got a licking when he was nominated to run the CIA, but now gets a love-fest by the Senate committee while Americans are dying each day. Democrats didn't even make the White House work at a bi-partisan approach, didn't even wait a day for the Iraq Study Group's findings, didn't even wait to see the group's recommendations to garner whether Gates was the right person to implement the new plan. The Senate rushed this nomination through, at a time when Americans have shown a keen awareness that nothing is right, and everything wrong, in Washington.

How do you drive to work listening to the hearings on the radio, and drive home the same day and hear Gates got approved? In a time of lies, mistrust and civil war, how does American democracy ram an important nomination through in the time it takes to clear e-mails, have a meeting, eat lunch, go to the bathroom and return to rush hour traffic? Congress has shown once again its true colors. Rock the boat to a point, get mad about being left out of decisons, threaten hearings when voters are making up their minds, but return to normal as soon as the public loses interest. After the election, Congress proves it just wanted to return to its land of cozy deals and ignore the American mandate.

By choosing a Democrat to run Defense, Bush would have shown he gets the bigger picture. End the war, save lives, make peace. Did the idea ever come up, did Democratic power-brokers ever raise it, was there ever a Plan B to Gates that the public deserved to hear?

Clinton chose Cohen after getting hammered in the midterms. Clinton said Cohen was the right guy "to secure the bi-partisan support America's armed forces must have and clearly deserve." Once again, Bush failed to respect history.   12/6/06

Shame on any of us who question whether our vote matters ever again. The 2000 election was one thing. And look where the result left the United States. In 2004, wishy-washy voters elected to stay the course and let President Bush finish what he started. And look where that left the United States. The 2006 elections have been just as dramatic, even though Bush wasn't even on the ballot.

Like potential energy locked up in a bottle, the American people were waiting it out for months and years. But after ineptitude at staging a war, winning a war and leaving a war, the Bush Administration has gone from the authority in the U.S. to a weak understudy.

How did this happen and how did it happen so fast? Perhaps the nation wasn't as asleep as we all believed. Perhaps voters were waiting in the weeds, waiting for a chance to scream out that they had enough.

Whatever it was, the echoes from the November 7th election are screaming from rooftops right now. The election showed the emperor with no clothes. The nice-guy image that carried Bush through 6 years as head of state has shown it's too little to lead a nation thirsty for a world with more order. The White House, through its manipulation of the media, lies to Congress, and law-breaking tactics, wakes up to the realization that it cannot spin its way to harmony, that it cannot lie its way to a majority, and it cannot smear its way to victory.

In less than a month, the White House has been forced to do what Americans have been screaming for it to do for years: Up or Out in Iraq. Bush under-estimated the resistance in Iraq and under funded the troops from the United States. Now he faces leaving Iraq embroiled in civil war.

How much did your vote matter? The Hadley memo, the Rumsfeld memo, Bush's trip to Iraq, the convenient leak that the Iraqi government  isn't up to governing, and now John Bolton, the man representing the United States at the United Nations is out. Bolton was named when Congress was in recess thus bypassing a Republican-controlled Senate confirmation. Now with the Democrats in charge of the Senate, eveyone knew Bolton was never getting "re-confirmed."

How much did your vote matter? Bush couldn't even ramrod Bolton through in the remaining weeks of GOP control of the Senate. The writing isn't just on the wall for Bush, it's on the floor, the ceilings and in the sky too!

Bush is criticizing obstructionists in the Senate, a Senate led by the GOP. If the Senate had more obstructionists the past 6 years, fewer Americans would be dead, fewer iraqi civilians would be dead, and America's place in the world would be strong.

If Bush thinks he's got obstuctionists in the Senate today, wait until January. Bush will either figure it ot, or go kicking and screaming as he fires one loyalist after another in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.    12/5/06

As Americans count down the days before Christmas, it's a reminder of President Bush's advice after 9/11. Don't Worry, Be Happy, Go Shopping. This month, it's the season for giving, and Bush and his White House will be getting their due. In the days ahead, Bush will resemble the nervous Ebenezer Scrooge when the character faced the 3 ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. Bush faces the ghosts of Wars Past, Present and Future. When he is met by those ghosts, will Bush be able to survive and learn from the revelations he'll see? Scrooge saw clarity and became a compassionate man. It may not be so easy for Bush. 

In just two days, the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group reveals ways to clean up President Bush's ill-conceived, poorly executed, illegal piece of fiction. The White House knows the clock is striking 12, that this week the Administration sits alone in its bunker. They wasted worldwide support after 9/11 and lost the nation even before the midterms.

None of this is stopping the White House from insulting our intelligence yet again. Bush and his band of merry partridges have tried to orchestrate the news by dilluting the findings of Iraq Study Group. This bi-partisan group of 10 has worked for months, interviewing experts in an attempt to have an exit plan that makes sense for Americans and the Iraq that we've left in civil war. Even though the group is led by Bush croney James Baker, the White House is trying to confuse Americans with an overkill of information.

Nothing was more humorous than the Rumsfeld Memo. Are we to believe that one day before Americans voted, the Defense Secretary sat down to write a memo, saying his war was not working and needed a major course correction? Are we to believe that one day before the election, Rummy formulated 21 options to improve Iraq? One option Rumsfeld suggests is straight from the mouth of Democratic Representative John Murtha, a suggestion blasted by the White House during his bloody, but successful election. Remember, Bush claims he and Rummy held several talks about his job, and Bush was already interviewing Rummy's replacement.

The release of the Rumsfeld memo has nothing to do with his legacy. Everyone knows his legacy is and will always be the architect for the Bush War. The release of the memo was a blatant attempt to seize the findings of the Iraq Study Group before they're released Wednesday, and to make innovative ideas appear to originate inside the White House.

So the last few days were about the Bush team baragging Americans with memos and ideas just as Bush returned from Iraq. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley piled on with his own scribe doubting the Iraqi leadership. The American public, after doing its duty on November 7th, is now more focused on the holiday season. Americans have shown they see through the Bush spin.

This week will provide another vision for the future, and will show who's leading and who's standing in the shadows.  ready to steal any idea that sounds good. In "A Christmas Carol", Scrooge comes through in the end, and helps save the life of a crippled boy near death. This week with the world watching America's democracy at work, perhaps Tiny Tim's famous line will ring out: "God bless us, everyone!" 12/4/06

We all know the networks were asleep as President Bush was building his ficticious case for invading Iraq. He lost Osama bin Laden, saw the futile chase through the Afganistan caves getting costly, watched his post 9/11 appeal starting to tank, and was urged by his inner circle to go for the pot of gold in Iraq. Take down Saddam Hussain and grab the billions of dollars in Iraqi oil.

Years later and an historic lost midterm election, Iraqis are dying in droves. Not from American, British or Polish fire. Iraqis are killing Iraqis in a way Americans killed Americans in the 1860's. In those 4 years, the North and South lost more than 200,000 in action, 600,000 overall, and wounding another 400,000 more. Then and now, we call that "The Civil War".

Those of us shining a spotlight on the mainstream media's ineptitude have written for months that Iraq has escalated into an all out Civil War. Americans also turned the corner by September of this year. Polls revealed the vast majority ignored the Bush spin and believed for themselves that Iraq had turned into a Civil War. 61% in an NBC poll, 65% in a CNN poll and 72% in a Gallup Poll. Those poll numbers held firm in November when more Americans voted Democrat than any other political party and returned Congress to sanity.

These pol numbers and the midterm results provided cover to NBC, who this week, declared Iraq in a "civil war." Had NBC suddenly woken up? Had their leaders finally believed what the rest of us had been spelling out all year? Was NBC feeling guilty for being asleep during the Bush War buildup? Was the network kneeling in contrition for laying low when it had the responsibilty to be shouting out? 

NBC, just like every other television network, was more concerned with waving the flag and making money. Easy for them; they weren't sending masses of employees or close family members to the front. At least CBS was still going after Bush's war record, even if they did overshoot when they didn't need to, and succumbed to the GOP political machine and the anti-Dan Rather sentiment. FOX news hasn't helped, by intimidating the traditional media into not calling a spade, a spade. Instead FOX has defined the parameters of the mainstream media's language, and along with Bush, have seeped into the decison making at NBC, ABC and CBS.

Execs at CBS, still reeling and playing catch up in the public's eye, pooh-poohed NBC "civil war" pronouncement saying "it's a political statement, not a news judgment." ABC stated the obvious when it remarked about NBC, "It was their decision to make."

The networks know where their bread is buttered. While fewer and fewer Americans rely on network television for its real news, the networks news divisons have been hijacked by entertainers and beancounters. The networks spend millions trying to relax regulations limiting their scope. They lobby Congress and the Federal Communications Commission for permission to buy more of America's media, reaching a greater percentage of American households. They boast that the more they own, the more differentiated the voice the public will have. But we all know that's the network lie.

The reason the networks have layed so low on Iraq, Bush and all the lies is that they can't piss off the feds, for fear they'll lose support for buying up more and more stations, owning more than one media property in a city. Networks don't have to tell their employees to undercover a failed Presidency. It does so by cutting back staff, buying out veteran gatekeepers with perspective and who have a calling to be a journalist. Networks are left with ambitious youth out of J-School, who bring their one dimensional view of life into editorial meetigns, with no understanding of depth, perspective or the real role of jornalism.

If you need anymore proof, just look at which program NBC decided to declare the Iraq chaos a "civil war." The Today Show, not the Nightly News, not Meet the Press, not Dateline. The Today Show made the pronouncement, a program  known more for celebrity interviews, recipes, musical performances and Willard Scott's birthday wishes.     12/1/06

As American pundits and pols debate the similarities of the Iraq War and Vietnam, more Americans and civilians are dying.

The debate is ridiculous, a smokescreen to real life. "Is Iraq another Vietnam?" is a waste of time. Even if an exact answer was extracted, what difference does it make? The answer is as valuable as "Ginger or Mary Ann?" The answer doesn't end the debate. President Bush and his band of liars benefit by the debate, even encourage it. The Iraq-Vietnam debate diverts attention to the real pressing issue, what to DO in Iraq.

Bush's recent visit to Vietnam fueled the debate once again, and lulled the mainstream media into mindlessly writing and squawking about the Iraq-Vietnam similarities once again. Is it that hard for the media to realze they're playing into the Bush White House PR plan? Mission Accomplished. For every dateline from Vietnam, was a missed opportunity to focus on WHY it was Bush's first tour of duty to Vietnam and SHOULD we be electing President's who know more about Gilligan's Island than the real world?

The real question worth debating is this: What if Bush served in Vietnam? What if, instead of sidestepping his responsibility and relying on Dad the his GOP cronies for help, what if Bush wasn't hiding beneath a bunk bed with the Alabama National Guard from May-September 1972? Would Bush have dealt with Iraq any differently? Would Bush have had world history on his side and been leader enough to tell the Cheney-Rove-Rumsfeld (should we go on?) trifecta that he has his own vision? Does Bush regret not getting his hands dirty with the troops in Vietnam, not seeing first hand the realities of war, not forming his own opinion of right-wrong, good-bad, with us or against us?

By losing the midterm, Bush no longer has a mandate for deciding when American troops will leave Iraq. By losing the midterm, Congressional Republicans have no authority to hide waste and corruption with no-bid contracts to reconstruct Iraq. By losing the midterm, Bush will either get behind the American movement for endng the Iraq War or be seen as a crazed warmonger.

Bush's first visit to Vietnam waited till after the midterm electons, leaving him with two final years in office to either figure it out the hard way, or go down in history as the worst President in United States history, even worse than the ineffectiveness that led to the Great Depression. Sorrowfully we know the answer. When Bush touched down in Vietnam, he stuck to the script of free trade. How funny that he threatened Asia to buy outdated, gas guzzling cars or else. That's one way to unify North and Southeast Asia. Make them open their ports to America's cars or we won't buy their products made at slave wages by many of the world's poor and exploited.

Bush also talked about a Vietnam that has changed drramatically. How would he know? His only impression of Vietnam is through the eyes of his band of liars. Before you can say something has changed, it's helpful to have an accuate picture of what it had been. Bush has no world perspective other than what he's been told by one dimensional Republicans,.

Maybe there is one similarity between Iraq and Vietnam that doesn't need anytime to debate. In the 60's and 70's, the U.S. backed war killed more than one million Vietnamese. That death toll of innocent Iraqi's is within Bush's reach.    11/24/06

Within hours of an historic "thumpin'", President Bush mystified America and the world by sacking his loyal Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The timing is beyond bizzare. The move extends the look into Bush's Brain. It's not a pretty sight either.

Bush could have avoided this Democratic onslaught if he canned Rummy a long time ago. There were many opportunities to bring fresher eyes to Defense, thus helping Bush, the GOP and our brave troops abroad. Fire Rumsfeld when no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. Fire Rumsfeld when Iraqis didn't welcome US troops with flowers. Fire Rumseld when troops complained about inadequate body armour. Fire Rumsfeld after an American serviceman openly questioned him in front of TV cameras. Fire Rumsfeld after Bush's re-election victory over Kerry in 2004. Fire Rumsfeld when Democrats called for it. Fire Rumsfeld when the GOP asked. Fire Rumseld when Bush's base said to.

But there was no better time to fire Rumsfeld and avoid the Democratic "thumpin'" as when respected United States military veterans, mainly retired Generals, called on Bush to do it last spring.

Bush, Cheney, Rove and company didn't think it would ever be necessary. They didn't think the American people would ever get their collective acts together, drop their remotes, turn off American Idol to pay attention to the truth.  Bush and company didn't think the truth would galvanize across America, didn't think Americans would see through the layers of lies. Even at today's announcement, Bush still asserted that Iraq is linked to terrorism. The President was amazed not at the media, the critics or the Democrats. Bush thinks Americans are stupid. "I thought when it was all said and done, the American people would understand the importance of taxes and the importance of security. But the people have spoken and it's time for us to move on."

The quote is the latest in a long line of arrogant leadership by Bush. In those words, the President of the United States says Americans don't understand the importance of security. If they had, he believes, they wouldn't have rejected dozens of Republicans this mid-term. When will Bush realize it is HE who doesn't understand, HE who bungled the build-up to war, HE who turned worldwide sympathy and support into worldwide hatred towards America, HE who broke laws overseeing domestic spying, secret prisons, inhumane treatment of prisoners, HE who made post-September 11th political.

And it's all been political. Dumping Rumsfeld today of all days. As Democrats, the nation and the world were celebrating liberation from tyranny. Bush politicized the war and now can't even see the truth. Anyone with half of Bush's Brain would have seen the opportunity to sack Rummy a long time ago and fortify suburban support for struggling Republicans. Today Bush says he and Rummy agreed "after a series of thoughtful conversations" that it was time for fresh eyes. Mis-managing the war has now extended to mis-managing this election for the GOP.

By blowing this strategy, Karl Rove is exposed as beatable, exposed as a guy who really didn't win the White House in 2000, shown to be the guy who only won in 2004 because a few counties in Ohio hated gays kissing. Rove is the emperor without clothes, a political hack who wins by dividing the nation. He has no role in unifying the nation.

The Democrats didn't make the world less safe by winning big. That was the latest scare tactic Bush laid out as Americans headed to vote. Democratic victories from coast to coast show the world that the US is more than a guy named Bush. Karsten Voigt, the coordinator of German-American relations in the foreign ministry, sums up the Democratic blitz. “This shows that the reality is far more diverse and multi-faceted. I hope it will lead to a diminution of anti-American prejudice.”

And that, inevitably, makes the world safer beginning right now.     11/9/06

This summer, the GOP chose Minneapolis-St. Paul as the site of its next national convention. The strategy looked good a few weeks back. Bring the GOP's national stage to the Midwest, to a state with heavy democratic roots, one that has transitioned from a blue state to a purple one.

But purple returned back to blue as Minnesota turned away countless Republicans and nearly threw a popular sitting Governor out of office. Incumbent GOP Governor Tim Pawlenty's 1 point win over Democrat Mike Hatch is one of the few GOP brightspots. Minnesota Democrats sent a message this election. They took back control of the State House of Representatives for the first time in six years, maintain control the Senate and won every major office in state government, defeating two incumbents. 

Pawlenty has been part of the national GOP talk circut, positioning himself as a player in the future of the Republican Party. Four years ago, it was a phone call from Vice President Dick Cheney who talked Pawlenty out of running for the U.S. Senate. Cheney and company wanted Norm Coleman to challenge liberal Paul Wellstone, a tight race as Wellstone's plane went down 10 days before the '02 election.

The payback for Pawlenty has been endless Bush-Cheney visits, fundraisers and a national role as Vice Chairman of the National Governor's Association. Then, low and behold, the nationals chose Minneapolis-St. Paul as the site of the 2008 National Republican Convention. Heck, there's even a website waiting for Pawlenty to run for higher office. "Future home of www.pawlentyforpresident.net."

Exit polls show why Pawlenty was having such a tough time. Pawlenty lost confidence among the richest voters. Just days ago Pawlenty was winning big, 50-33% among voters making over $75k, and winning 50-42% among voters making over $100k. Election day exit polls showed Pawlenty losing among the wealthy.

The national GOP will be dealing with losses in the Senate, House and State Houses across the United States. But the poor showing among Minnesota Republicans leaves the national GOP with egg on its face, in a state that returned Democratic and blue.    11/8/06

What Americans can't be deceived about any longer is why this election is so hotly contested. Not since Iran-Contra has a government gone this far to lie to its people. In the 1980's, President Reagan and his gang broke laws, and sold arms to terrorists, and used the money to pay for the release of hostages. This time around, its even worse. Within a year of first being "elected", President Bush was suffering from staggering low approval ratings, his Administration was lost in August 2001, he was a depressed President at his Texas ranch with no vision for the future. September 11th vaulted Bush to heroic heights, in an accidental way. As Bush waited to enter a classroom in Florida to read "The Pet Goat" to school kids, he recalled in december 2001, "I was sitting outside a classroom waiting to go on and saw an airplane hit the Tower. And I said 'There's one terrible pilot'." Since then, America has suffered from one terrible President.

But after being told, "America is under attack", Bush sat here, doing nothing, mobilizing no one, making no orders, no directives and providing no leadership.  

Leadership. The Republican Party has none of it, even though Republicans have controlled both houses of Congress, the Executive and the Judiciary branches of the United States government. Forget who voted for the Iraq War and who didn't. That vote was based on totally fabricated information. Useless information. If you voted for war, you were likely caught up in America's patriotism and the Bush lie machine. 

The bigger reason why the Republicans must lose in a landslide is 9-11. Not the attacks, but how the United States has failed to respond to the recommendations by the 9-11 Commission. A bi-partisan group of 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans. Five years after the attack, and years after the commission issued its report, the United States government, led by Republicans across the board, has not implemented the findings of the 9-11 Report.

The public has known since September 11, 2001 that our country doesn't have enough agents who speak Arabic. So why after five years, and all the money in the world going towards Homeland In-Security, does the United States have just 33 FBI agents with limited proficiency in Arabic? None of the 33 working in areas dealing with international terrorism.

Just one percent of the FBI's 12,000 agents have any familiarity of the language. You better believe US companies making billions on government contracts in Iraq have found ways to attract employees who speaks Arabic, Urdu, Farsi and other languages of the Middle East and South Asia. The private sector outbids the US government, even though its the government that's entrusted by those private companies to make sure their workforce is safe in Iraq.

Bush banked on the Iraq war to keep American support in his favor. Now, with the war going nowhere but down, and Bush not running for re-election, Americans can see the truth about the Bush's failed leadership, and just as important in this mid-term election, the failed leadership of the entire Republican Party. "The Pet Goat" is a story of a girl's pet goat which eats everything in its path. Parents want the goat gone, but girl defends it. In the end the goat is a hero when it butts a car robber into submission.

In real life, Bush and the Republicans deserve to be rammed into submission for their 3000 and counting deadly sins.    11/5/06

Turn back the clocks and you'll recall the major reason Al Gore stopped fighting for the Presidency after he won the popular vote on November 7, 2000. After 36 days of lawsuits and court decisions, Gore conceded the White House to George Bush. In that concession speech, Gore accepted "the finality of this outcome." At the time, the country was burnt out of court challenges, scenes of ballots being examined, and interviews with Florida election officials. What foolish reasons to give up the fight. Gore quit "for the sake of our unity of the people and the strength of our democracy." It's hard to think the country would have become any more divided than it is today.

In the land of instant gratification, 24-hour shams of credible news organizations, and a public too unwilling to get dirty for democracy, the United States got what it deserved: a wimpy Democrat not ready to fight the fight, and a dopey-looking  Republican who promised $1.3 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years. Was it that hard to envision what Bush would do, after the GOP gained control of the White House and Congress for the first time in over 45 years?

Yes, there's no greater lapdog than the American public. 51 million people knew better, but many still begged for the Gore challenge to go away in November and December of 2000. The American public is more able to choose the next American Idol than it is to endure the process of democracy. The American people have more patience for a 20 week game show to play itself out each and every week, than it is to embrace 36 days of important political infighting.  When given the chance to stand up, be counted, literally counted, Americans would much rather cast their vote, go on their merry way, and then ask for an instant outcome.

The hijacking of a Presidential Election seems quaint compared with the hijacking of our country. Back then, voting irregularities called "butterfly ballots" gave Pat Buchanan 3,407 votes in Palm Beach County, as residents confused Buchanan's circle for Gore's. Buchanan's Florida coordinator thought his guy won only 400-500 votes in Palm Beach, "1,000 would be generous." The way the Bush operatives bored us to death in 2000 during the recount, is the way they did it again in the build-up and susequent ill-advised, poorly-planned, and deadly-executed war in Iraq. 

Bush won Florida by .009%. That's NINE-THOUSANDTHS OF A PERCENT. Knowing what we know now, was it worth everyone going to sleep? In Bush's acceptance speech on December 14, 2000, he pledged to "seize the moment." He seized it alright, and America is paying for it, with a country more divided today than if Al Gore said, "Tough shit, I'm fighting for what 51 million Americans want me to fight for. The direction of our country."      10/23/06

Give Americans credit. They made up their minds. Not long ago, Red States were laughing as Democrats lost their sense of purpose. They linked Hollywood, gay marriage and weakness right on the Democrats doorstep. Conservatives were watching with patriotic fervor as Blue States were turning Purple before their eyes. The GOP sensed a mandate behind their ever popular President George Bush. Nothing was going to stop them. Except themselves. And that day is, remarkably, here.

The White House lied about Iraq instead of laying the true foundation for its goals. Was Bush, Cheney and Rove so worried that if Americans knew their ultimate goal, Americans would say no. If Bush thought God was on his side, why worry that Americans wouldn't support his views? What was so harmful for Americans to know Bush wanted to change the Middle East forever, wanted to secure oil to feed America's thirst, wanted to spend trillions on building up the United States military, wanted to compromise civil liberties and treatment of prisoners in the name of 9-11. If Bush and the White House knew they were right, knew hey had divine intervention, knew the world would welcome America as democracy prophets, why lie?

Bush and the White House squandered worldwide support after 9-1-1. Even with Republican control of the Senate and House, Bush blew it big time. Remember, prior to 9-11, the Bush Presidency was a disaster. No direction, no vision, no leadership. Those three facts were the foundation of the White House. 9-11 overshadowed this deficiency, and it was just a matter of time that Bush's strong image at Ground Zero would disintegrate. You can't run away from who you are and what you stand for. And today, Americans have caught up with this.

Americans have known for some time that the Emperor has no clothes. But the White House zealots barely convinced voters in 2004 that a vote against Bush, was a vote for the terrorists. Two years later, moderate Americans look to their shoes when asked, "what were you thinking" when voting for the GOP in '04. This time around, they won't be fooled again. Pity the Republicans who took the spotlight the past 6 years in support of  Bush and his worldwide assault. Pity the Republicans who supported the lies, the spin and the dismantling of American values. Pity the Republicans who divided the country into two colors and into "us versus them." American voters are ready for payback. 

It was easy for many Americans to blame the likes of the Dixie Chicks for speaking out and punishing the group by not buying CDs and concert tickets. But as Americans wake up, they realize the lyrics were right on. The American Revolution is a runaway train. One American who woke up is journalist Bob Woodward who finally returned to reporting with his latest book "State of Denial."  Today Senate races nationwide are looking to send Democrats back to power as conservatives weigh in with disgust towards this White House. In the next six weeks, every trip Bush and the White House Liars take will be out of desperation. Whether it's to campaign for Republicans, meet with world leaders, or to visit their local neighborhood politician consultant fast at work crafting feel-good commercials that are a waste of money.

Americans won't be snowed any longer.       10/2/06

How many diversions will the White House throw at American voters between now and Election Day? Let us count the ways. The George Bush faithful are already busy trying to cloud the issues. Their hope is to divert attention from the War, their War, and keep control of the Senate and House for another two years. But voters with any sense of Bush's failed Presidency will not go into hiberntion the way they did on previous Election Days. Not even falling gas prices will give voters Election Day octane to re-elect as many Republicans to Congress. The White House will still beg, plead and manipulate. One ploy is the free fall at the pumps. No sooner did the polls open on Primary Day this week than gas prices came crashing down to the $2.20s. How convenient.

You may want to believe other factors were at hand for cheap Texas tea. Fewer hurricanes, a cease fire in Lebanon, OPEC's "generosity" by producing more oil. If that makes you sleep better, be a believer. At this rate, we'll be paying $1.50/gallon by November and gay marriage scare tactics won't even be needed by Karl Rove.

But voters won't be asleep in the next 6 weeks. Democrats are mobilized with hope of taking back Congress and several Governor's seats. Lawn signs in unfamiliar yards, fundraisers in uncharted living rooms, and Democrats with a message, yes finally a message, that can't be mangled by even their most novice of candidates. Democrats are not alone and that fact will make Bush's final two years unbearable. Moderates, the group that loves to sway with the wind each Election, are finally motivated to vote against Bush War Supporters (BWS).

So that leaves the Republicans and guess where they'll be on Election Day? Republicans, especially the RINOs (Republican In Name Only), will be renting movies, going to dinner, and turning in early. For them, the neighborhood polling place is a symbol for their failed decisions the past six years. They had all the moxie and faith after 8 years of the Bill Clinton. They rallied behind morality, as if gays were encroaching on their country club lives. They wanted to make more money, even though the Clinton years made them richer than ever. And they prayed, man did they pray, for a Christian mandate for the United States and the entire world, even if Christianity is a minority religion worldwide. So come November, the last place these Republicans will be seen is inside their friendly neighborhood polling place. (Added benefit for us: quicker lines at the polls!). The polling place, whether in an elementary school gym or a community center, is Ground Zero for these sorry zealots. The spot where they chose George Bush, and their mandate that put America in the Woldwide breakdown lane.  Republicans won't bear the emotionality of returning to the place that their zeal helped screw America and the world order. These Republicans elected George W. twice (okay really just once) and by showoing up to vote for a GOP puppet (BWS) will be all too much for this group. Watch for Republican turnout to be an all-time midterm low.

Then what? What should we expect after November's midterm. If the numbers, the momentum and common sense continues like it is today, and Democrats take over Congress, Bush stands a chance of being impeached.

 Even if Bush survives, he'll face the first true test of questoining by the House and Senate, questioning that will come years too late, failed leadership that led to lies, deaths and thousands of families whose lives have been changed forever.     9/15/06

Here's what WagTheNews discovered about September 10, 2001, events that appeared in print on the morning of 9/11. 

No international story captured any deep importance except for the Israel-Palestinian violence/truce-talks, and that's been going on for years. America's psyche, it's imagination and it's place in the world was dormant. The news was more a variety show, examining culture of  morning television and the debate over school dress codes and high schoolers revealing too much skin. New York City was in the middle of a Mayoral race, while Elizabeth Dole planned to announce her Senate bid to replace Jesse Helms.

Then, it was the economy (stupid), with key lawmakers talking of a possible deal to revive a "darkening economic outlook."  

Scientists urged a bigger supply of stem cells, while there were calls for strict arsenic limits (after the Bush Administration had suspended the standard).

Overseas, a Baltic Army Officer was selling 100-grand worth of high-grade uranium and a teacher was charged 30 years later for a Canada to Cuba hijacking.

Maybe the United States is days away from catching Bin Laden. Perhaps all the unwarranted spying the U.S. government has done will reap benefits. Maybe the growing distrust of the American public, from faulty intel of Iraq's WMD to prisoner abuse, will turn around with Bush being appreciated for being a wartime President, even with his flaws. And maybe not. But one thing is certain. Americans may want to retreat and live a life of isolation, being as far from reality as the country is geographically from the rest of the world. But 9/11 showed us that 9/10 was a mirage, a fantasy, that real life WAS going on all around the world, but Americans didn't demand to see it or pay attention to the clues.    9/11/06 Re-printed from 5/20/2006

After years of Presidential hibernation, George Bush is finally working this summer. The leader, who enjoys nap time and R&R, is being steered towards the working class. Maybe putting in a few more hours of actual work will open his eyes, make him see the world beyond his black and white vision, and observe how his actions lead to reactions. Let's hope so.

Every August of his Presidency, Bush has ventured from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to his 1,600-acre Crawford ranch . He's spent more time here in August than most of us take off from work in a full year. During the infamous summer of 2001, when regional FBI offices were warning DC that Al Qaeda was sure to attack the U.S. using planes, when his presidency was in shambles and his popularity spiralling to new lows, Bush spent 27 of the 31 hot August nights at his Texas ranch. During 2002, as Bush was hunting bin Laden, planning the phoney sales job of invading Iraq, and lining up innocent American military and civilian forces for his March on Baghdad, Bush again spent 27 of 31 August days at is ranch. After invading Iraq in 2003, Bush upped his Crawford love-in by spending 29 of 31 nights in the heart of Texas, as he did again in August 2005. Outside of 2004, when Bush was running for re-election and spent 13 days in Crawford, the President has used August in Crawford as a symbol of inaction, ineffectiveness and outright Presidential malaise.

But this year is different. Spurred on by combat in Lebanon, a stronger alliance with Israel, a new Chief of Staff in the White House, and Karl Rove fighting for GOP survival nationwide in dozens of midterm districts, Bush's handlers are seizing the moment to invent the "Involved President."

Come hell or high water levels, Bush will not be seen vacationing during this year's Katrina, will not be seen taking on anti-war emblem Patty Sheehan, will not be seen for twenty-something days cutting brush, riding horses, and popping wheelies on his bike. This August, Bush will vacation for just 10 days in Crawford. Then expect to see him fundraising for desperate Republicans running for their lives, talking to foreign leaders about war, civil war and the war on terror. 

Bush will still squeeze in some "alone time". His summer reading list includes two books about Abraham Lincoln, a President who took an unpopular stand, presided over the United States' Civil War, and brought a bloody nation together. Perhaps Bush will learn a lesson in leadership this August. Bush has yet to acknowledge history, which as we know, repeats and repeats itself.               8/6/06

Just when you thought the Bush Administration hit rock bottom, comes more chaos, spanning more countries, and threatening to dilute and endanger more American troops around the world. The latest Bush embarrassment centers on Lebanon, and the radical Hezbolah miltia which instigated Israel into an all-out offensive. Hezbollah is backed by Iran, a country led by Shiites. Iran's Shiite's used to be against Iraq's Sunnis, whose leader was then-President, turned hunger-striking inmate Saddam Hussain. As the United States toppled Hussain and the Sunnis, Mr. Bush propped up the Iraqi Shiites. Mr. 29% has lost any leverage he ever had in world diplomacy. The Iraqi Shiites and the Iranian Shiites, both in power, now have a common foe: Israel. Well done Mr. Bush, you finally unified two countries. 

It comes as no coincidence that the Mideast bombings erupted as Bush was in Europe for the failed G-8 summit. The G-8 was like organized crime gone bad. It was like bringing together the Five Families in "The Godfather" to devise a plan to divide territory and share the wealth and power amassed by the Corleone's. And just like in the movie, there was no breakthrough, only bloodshed and gangland murders.

Bush's call for world-wide democracy is now an all-out joke. Americans know it, laugh at late night comics and shake their heads each morning looking at the headlines. But this is dangerous laughter. The laughter dilutes the seriousness facing U.S. troops, now more hated than ever in Iraq, now more diluted than ever in Afghanistan, now facing illegals at the Mexican border and an all-out Israeli invasion in Lebanon.

The juxtaposition to all this was dramatic. While bombs drop in Iraq, Lebanon, and Israel, kinder, gentler virtues were seen in England and France. Two American athletes captured two prestigious titles on European soil, the British Open and Tour de France. Athletes live to make millions of dollars for hitting a golf ball and riding a bike. Soliders die to protect such freedoms.  On September 7, 1940, newsman Edward R. Murrow's dead panned delivery alerted the world that "London is burning." 95% of Americas could care less back then, and didn't want a war with Germany. Nearly four years later, Americans woke up and took on the Germans.

On June 6, 1944, Americans staged the largest seaborne invasion in history involving nearly three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy, France. Try that Tiger Woods or Floyd Landis. Today, American sports victories in England and France seem so unimportant compared with the unending web of death and destruction, and the new world order that has terror, religious sects and America's arrogance unifying our ememies.      7/23/06

News that violent crime is rising in the United States has civic leaders, community groups, neighborhoods and victims pointing to traditional root causes. But one connection to America's murderous summer is getting zero attention: the War in Iraq.

No doubt druggies, gang bangers and career criminals have plenty of ammo to commit crimes without anyone's help. But today America is self-defined as "A Nation at War." And in war, we kill or be killed. We mobilize weekend warriors, who signed up to serve in the National Guard for an assorted reasons: money, camaraderie, volunteerism. We debate the phoney pre-war build-up, snoop on Americans private lives from phones to banks, we "out" a noble CIA career spy at a time she was working on gaining real intel on Iran, the country throwing gas (and high oil prices) on the latest war in Lebanon.

President Bush simplifies the world as either with us, or against us. It's the clearest battle line. Criminals in America's cities and heartland aren't watching pundits advancing their careers on 24 hour cable babble. But rest assured, criminals play off the war, the simplicity of life and death, kill or be killed. It is the tone Bush presents to the American public and the world at large; whether it's during campaign stops, United Nations lectures, visits with world leaders, or the endless Republican pulpits of the Senate and House.

In Washington, D.C., the pulpit of failed national leadership, there have been 14 murders in 13 days. Cops declared their city a crime emergency. Killers are using more guns, firing more rounds and leaving behind crime scenes that often stretch for blocks. Lt. Robert Glover says it's beyond reality. "I wish we could just wave a magic wand and say, 'Stop killing each other.' "

Cops see the latest FBI statistics, stats that show murders in the U.S. jumping almost 5 percent last year while overall violent crime was up 2.5 percent. The upsurge is among juveniles, the nation's young who are growing up with only the images and talk of war, with only the world view of us versus them, kill or be killed.  

Mayors and crime experts believe America is distracted by the war, that federal resources for crime fighting are being diverted to homeland security. The next generation will grade this one, for spending money on homeland security but diluting America's neighborhood security.

Crime fighting programs work as the 1990's proved. But the one difference is that the White House didn't commit a crime by taking it's eye off America's neighborhoods when wars, famine and terror struck around the world. Today, Bush sees it as black and white. You want money to go after terrorists aborad or terrorists at home? he's banking our future on his mis-guided crusade in Iraq, while more and more crime occurs at home.             7/15/2006

Joe Lieberman is in trouble and he's willing to take down the Democratic Party. Lieberman has thrown a stink bomb into the political landscape. If he doesn't win the primary August 8th against Ned Lamont, Lieberman says he'll collect signatures and run as an Indepedent. In a state that heralds true-blue Indy Lowell Weicker, Lieberman's ploy is not only laughable, but it's dangerous.

Democrats from Coast to Coast are running this November on a central theme: President Bush's ill-conceived, ill-planned, and ill-executed War in Iraq. That makes Lieberman vulnerable since he'll go to his grave backing Bush's War.

Bush made a memorable Web-Gem as he tried to strengthen his case that Saddam had already deceived the West by stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. Bush's quip: " Fool me once, shame...shame..shame on..you." (long pause) "Fool me- can't get fooled again!"

Now Lieberman is trying to either fool us, or fool himself. Neither will work. The man ran an inept race for Vice President in 2000, visiting Minnesota on Election day when his role was to turn out the Jewish vote in Florida, the state that determined the election. The man ran an incompetent race for President in 2004. Lieberman is hoping to scare the be-Jesus out of Connecticut voters by saying 'fine don't vote for me next month, I'll run anyway and either win or divide the vote and have a Republican win.' This scare tactic is boiler room politics, and Connecticut voters must not take the bait.

This is the ultimate in hutzpah. Perhaps any other U.S. Senator could get a bye on this one. But Lieberman was so close to the White House (or at least the Executive Office Building). He endured the campaign trail, defined himself as an alternative to the GOP, took on Dick Cheney in debates. Then after Bush's 2005 State of the Union speech, Bush walked down the Senate aisle, stopped and hugged Lieberman, and kissed him for his war support. Lieberman's repsonse was that he "didn't kiss him back." What Lieberman forgot was that he already had sex with Bush by voting for the War. The kiss was just their cuddle time.

It's still a mystery. How does a U.S. Senator, involved in the last two Presidntial races against George Bush, break ranks and supports the war with Mr. 29%? How does a U.S. Senator who debated Dick Cheney, stumped for Al Gore, make speech after speech with Demoratic values, go so far off the reservation? 

Veteran Democrats will stump for Lieberman in the next month. But if Lieberman fails in the primary, how hard will the Democratic establishment support Lamont? Hillary Clinton and John Kerry say they're going with whoever is the Democratic nominee.  

Lamont is hoping for the Bush backlash to continue. ''I'm not sure, in a year where people are fed up with Washington, having a bunch of Washington politicians travel the state for Joe Lieberman will help at all,'' said Lamont campaign manager Tom Swan. ''It would only reinforce the idea that Joe is more about Washington than Connecticut.''         7/6/2006

A PRESIDENTIAL MASSACRE

Here's what WagTheNews discovered about September 10, 2001, events that appeared in print on the morning of 9/11. 

No international story captured any deep importance except for the Israel-Palestinian violence/truce-talks, and that's been going on for years. America's psyche, it's imagination and it's place in the world was dormant. The news was more a variety show, examining culture of  morning television and the debate over school dress codes and high schoolers revealing too much skin. New York City was in the middle of a Mayoral race, while Elizabeth Dole planned to announce her Senate bid to replace Jesse Helms.

Then, it was the economy (stupid), with key lawmakers talking of a possible deal to revive a "darkening economic outlook."  

Scientists urged a bigger supply of stem cells, while there were calls for strict arsenic limits (after the Bush Administration had suspended the standard).

Overseas, a Baltic Army Officer was selling 100-grand worth of high-grade uranium and a teacher was charged 30 years later for a Canada to Cuba hijacking.

Maybe the United States is days away from catching Bin Laden. Perhaps all the unwarranted spying the U.S. government has done will reap benefits. Maybe the growing distrust of the American public, from faulty intel of Iraq's WMD to prisoner abuse, will turn around with Bush being appreciated for being a wartime President, even with his flaws. And maybe not. But one thing is certain. Americans may want to retreat and live a life of isolation, being as far from reality as the country is geographically from the rest of the world. But 9/11 showed us that 9/10 was a mirage, a fantasy, that real life WAS going on all around the world, but Americans didn't demand to see it or pay attention to the clues.    5/20/2006

Even if you could care less about pro sports, there's nothing like the excitement of the playoffs. After enduring 80 to 162 games, true blue sports addicts get to overdose this time of year. Their spouses ask incredulouly, "You mean the season isn't over YET?" Every night another playoff game or two, in both basketball and hockey. You may not care about either sport in the dead of winter or the warmth of spring. But you should. This is the best reality TV, with drama, muscle and heart.

In a span of 2 hours last night, three UNDERDOGS came within a shot of pulling off an upset trifecta. It's easy to think there's no need to watch these games. All year the favorites amassed the best team, the best record, the best superstars and the home court or home ice advantage. But something happens to the underdogs this time of year. The favorites get tight, the underdogs gain composure.

In Edmonton, the city that watched The Great Gretsky championship years, fans are waking up hoarse, again.

Their team was the last to make the playoffs, barely being good enough to play on. But the last team in, crushed the best team of all, the Detroit Red Wings in the first round. In the next round, Edmonton lost the first two games, but out of nowhere won the next four to advance again. Last night they clinched in front of their screaming fans. Wonder if they'll be the underdogs a third time.

Basketball followed the script too.

In Texas, the battle doesn't include Bush or Cheney. San Antonio, though the favorite, has slept through their series with Dallas

San Antonio competed in their very own Survivor episode last night, holding on for another day as Dallas missed a shot at the buzzer to win and advance. Dallas could wrap it up tonight in front of their home fans.

Underdogs work harder. Few of them coast into the playoffs, usually needing the final few weeks to make the post season. That means the last two weeks of their season is just like the playoffs. Win or go home. You COULD turn in early, but then you'll wake up, see the score and have regrets all day. That'll be your lesson for the next night. The playoffs is a time to lose sleep, and watch the unexpected happen. The next time someone tells you a favorite is a lock to win, take the odds and say to yourself, "That's why they play the game."    5/18/2006

In Saudi Arabia, it's about the women and man's power to control them. In a land where all media is either state-owned or state-run, women cannot vote, cannot run for municipal office and cannot drive. But there's another example that Saudi women have not 'come a long way baby'. 

Last night as President Bush was outlining his plan to tighten U.S. borders, Saudi King Abdullah sat face-to-face with his editors to share his breaking news. The King told editors to stop publishing pictures of women because the photos could lead young men astray. Obviously he hasn't caught American TV lately. Photos of women have sprouted up in Saudi papers in recent months, but the women are always shown wearing the traditional Muslim headscarf.

Not any more. The King said "One must think, 'do they want their daughter, their sister, or their wife to appear in this way'? Of course, no one would accept this. The youth are driven by emotion ... and sometimes they can be led astray. So, please, try to cut down on this." 

The King is considered a quiet reformer, having ventured away from Saudi conservatives since taking office in August. But he's clamping down. He also called on editors to stop printing stories that portray Saudi Arabia in a negative light. It's one thing for Americans to distrust Saudi oil moguls, the constant change in gas prices and the Saudi connection to 9/11. But it's another for Saudi citizens to get a birds eye view of themselves. "Don't write anything that can be harmful to the country. Some reporters, they want to stand out and they end up going too far and this should not be allowed to happen."

So what's worse in 2006. A far-away country, with deep ties to the United States, continuing to suppress the rights of women under the cloak of tradition. Or a government spying on reporters, to learn who's leaking information that turns out to repulse a majority of Americans and leads to the world lining up against our form of democracy?       5/16/06

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She took a New York rabbis advice and encouraged Ag officials to explore "Celestial Drops" to cure citrus-canker disease. It didn't work. And now she's being told 'don't let the door hit you on the way out.' Is that anyway to thank Katherine Harris?

Instead of hero-worshipping Harris until the President's term expires, the Grand Old Party is telling Harris the party's over. Harris is currently a member of the U.S. House of Representative.

Never mind Percy the dog ran against her in the 2002 Republican primary as a write-in candidate.

Never mind a man tried exercising his "political expression" when tried running her over with his car.

Six years after the Battle of the Chads, she wants to move to the Senate. She has the money, the support of the conservative base, and a comes from a famous Florida family. But Bush may be the one family that matters right now. Florida Governor and First Brother Jeb Bush says "I just don't think she can win."

Hey, it's not like the President's numbers are riding high. Why is the GOP establishment so reluctant in getting behind Harris? The canker cure is water under the bridge. Harris once alarming people there was a terrorist plot that never existed can't amount to much. Her management style ticks off staff but what politician isn't headstrong? Isn't that an asset to governing?  

What makes Harris such a slippery candidate is her entanglements with the DC lobbying scandal. A scandal that could do in Republicans nationwide this midterm. In February, a DC defense contractor pleaded guilty to bribing a California Congressman. The contractor made $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Ms. Harris, plus treated her to a $2,800 dinner at a fancy DC restaurant. Try spending that much the next time you go out.

Soon after, advisors of both President Bush and Governor Bush encouraged Harris to withdraw from the Senate race. Harris seemed willing, realizing her candidacy could hurt the entire Republican ticket. Her staff set up a news conference to announce she's done. But Harris, who started listening more to her spiritual advisor than campaign staff, changed her mind. She reportedly said God wanted her to stay in the race and become a U.S. Senator.

Will Harris be a stronger candidate by bucking the Bush family? Or will voters take revenge against her for her role in electing Bush in 2000? One thing is certain: for Katherine Harris, riding the coattails is a two way street. What got her elected will also get her tossed aside.      5/10/06

Someone call Dr. Phil. 

This letter was immediately dismissed by the U.S. government. But should it? Couldn't this be the start of an international pen pal friendship? Forget shuttle diplomacy. We can be excited scribes like the characters in You've Got Mail. Maybe Iran really isn't interested in becoming a nuclear player. Maybe Iran really isn't interested in destroying Israel. Maybe Iran really isn't interested in poking the United States in the eye. Yeah that's it. Iran wants us to respond to their nuclear buildup, not with sanctions, soldiers, missiles, but with pen, paper and postage.

This pen pal thing could catch on. First Iran, then Hamas, North Korea, and that pesky Venezuela. Let's throw in Castro while we're at it. Stamps to Cuba would be cheap. Writing letters would seem so much more civilized. And better yet, much less expensive than showing military might. Imagine if pen pals became the norm. Instead of lobbying scandals involving defense contractors and Congressmen, there would be investigations surrounding lobbyists for Bic, Papermate and the U.S. Postal Service.

Of course, that's all wishful thinking. We don't need a lobbyist to tell us what's going on with Iran. Like Bin Laden's invitation a few months back for a truce, Iran is playing games with the United States. And the timing coincides with the world's most powerful countries meeting at the United Nations this week to attempt to find unity in dealing with Iraq, Sanctions could be coming against Iraq if only China and Russia were on board.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said "This letter is not the place that one would find an opening to engage on the nuclear issue or anything of the sort. It isn't addressing the issues that we're dealing with in a concrete way."

In the five years since 9/11, the most successful example of espionage is seen in Mission Impossible III which opened this weekend. Since 2001, President Bush promised to fix breakdowns in American intelligence. The Office of National Intelligence now oversees 16 U.S. spy agencies, including the CIA. But where are we today? More turmoil. Bush's nomination of General Michael Hayden to lead the CIA marks the third director the agency would have since 9/11. It's the most telling report card to measure how the President is failing to fix U.S. intelligence problems.

IS HISTORY CALLING IN 2008?

HOMELAND INSECURITY AT $6/GALLON 

Americans are spending all their energy debating immigration, port security and the scope of Presidential powers. But these last few weeks point to the serious and unspoken hole in homeland security. And it has nothing to do with our homeland but everything to do with our security.

With rising gas prices comes the political finger-pointing, the half-baked solutions and the Johnny-come-lately calls for conservation. But there's nothing that will come close to Americans pent up anger than if (or when) our largest supply of oil is interrupted.

Polls point to Americans belief that another terror attack on U.S. soil is not just possible, but probable. But what happens if that attack is against Saudi Arabia, America's #1 supplier of oil? Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey says if the next attack is against Saudi Arabia's oil refineries, crude oil prices could double from $73 a barrel today to easily surpassing $150 a barrel for more than a year.

Even without that scenario, Americans chose not to see the vicious cycle we're in. It's one thing for soccer moms in SUVs to gripe about oil company profits and the price at the pumps. But who among us realizes where our $3/gallon ends up? It's not just to Exxon and Mobil, but to established Middle Eastern regimes that restrict women's rights, have poor education systems and fail to invest in their societies. Are we sure money we pay to our oil suppliers isn't being funneled to terrorist groups? No one cares to go there. 

Who's responsible? Woolsey echoes the view of WagTheNews: "If you want to see who's paying for all that, next time you pull in to fill up, turn the rear view mirror a little bit so you can look at yourself for a minute as you get out with your credit card."

What will it take for Americans to wake up and connect the dots?   5/3/2006 

WHOSE ENERGY POLICY IS IT?

As the White House, Congress and the American public cope with high gas prices, solutions and finger pointing are running amok on Capitol Hill.

Democrats criticize a failed energy policy, citing oil company profits. Some Republicans want to give citizens a $100 check. One fact the White House doesn't want repeated is how their energy policy was conceived.

In March 2001, the American Petroleum Institute e-mailed the Energy Department proposing language for a Bush policy on energy regulations. In a stunning move that again calls into question lobbyists' influence on this Administration, the White House barely edited API's language when devising it's energy initiatives.

API suggested "any substantive action by an agency that promulgates or is expected to lead to the promulgation of a rule, regulation or policy, including, but not limited to, notices of inquiry, advance notices of proposed rule-making, notices of proposed rule-making, and guidance documents."

Two months later on May 18, 2001, the Bush executive order states that it applies to "any action by an agency . . . that promulgates or is expected to lead to the promulgation of a final rule or regulation, including notices of inquiry, advance notices of proposed rule-making, and notices of proposed rule-making."

33 words with barely an edit. Has the American public become de-sensitized to the power of lobbyists? Or have voters already made up their minds about who's helping them and who's hurting them at the pumps.   5/2/2006

MAY DAY OR MAYBE NOT

Workers of the world unite! Or could a planned walkout by the immigrant community backfire? It all depends where it occurs and what services are curtailed to the non-immigrant population. Some food processing companies have closed for the day, to show support for their workforce. No American will go hungry because of this.

But what happens if the walkout spreads beyond the agriculture business? What if Americans, not patient when the line at Starbucks makes them late, get a surprise jolt by an expanded walkout? Take cabbies, a profession with a growing immigrant population. If drivers choose to idle their engines, how will people react? Cab companies may not be as sympathetic as food giants. And white business people will be left stranded at airports, hotels and at curbside pickups. It's not life or death, but it cause grumbling for the self-important left looking for a ride.

Americans truly don't know the depth for how immigrants shape our lives. They think of the stereotypical jobs such as dishwashers in restaurants, but fail to see their significance in schools, hospitals and public service.

Congress is closing it's blinds at the Capitol today, eager to debate gas prices than the prospect of a guest worker program or the deportation of 11 million illegals.

Today's walkout will seem less like a one-day strike than an extension of last month's marches and demonstrations. The marches up to today have humanized the immigration debate. Today's walkout gives the White House more ammunition to convince House Republicans to relax their position and support the Senate bill allowing illegals to pursue the American dream.    5/1/2006 

BLACK GOLD, TEXAS TEA

Three short months ago, President Bush declared in his State of the Union address that Americans are addicted to oil. But unlike most addiction, the President gave us an out, he enabled us. All he asked was for the United States to reduce our dependence on foreign oil within 20 years. 20 years.

Leadership comes in all shapes and sizes but to see politicians, both Republican and Democrat, using high gas prices as the latest feeding frenzy to get the electorate excited (and diverted from other issues) is a joke.

You don't need to be an interventionist to take more aggressive steps to stop an addiction.

Gamblers turn to Gambler's Anonymous. Alcoholics turns to AA. Eaters find support in Weight Watchers. And smokers have the patch.

So why do leaders accept the 20 year solution to solve our addiction to oil? Could it be those leaders don't really want us to wean ourselves. Of course they don't. In fact, in the President's SOTU address, he never asked us to sacrifice and change our behavior. He just called on new technology and new forms of fuel to feed our wasteful consumption. Even Dick Cheney has said "Conservation may be a private virtue but cannot be a public policy." Not when oil is in his blood.

So it's up to a Americans to take a stand. Here's another case where the American people will lead lawmakers to a new standard. The voice of Darren is sounding the alarm. While driving his 15 mpg truck on a 6 hour trip recently, his tank need $100 to fill up. Upon return, he downsized his vehicle of choice and is now driving a 55mpg car. In his own words, 'You can't drive a truck like it's a car.'

If Darren could do this overnight, why are our leaders telling us it'll take 7300 nights?    4/26/2006

THE GAS PRICE INVESTIGATION

Nothing like a water cooler story to get politicians stirred up. Forget immigration reform (until the May 1st boycott, that is). Spending over $40-60 to fill your tank is the next biggest thing. So as Congress returns from its two week vacation perk, everyone's talking about the high price of gas, and politicians are doing what they do- taking notice after the fact.

President Bush is calling on the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department and the Energy Department to investigate whether the price of gasoline has been unfairly manipulated.

Journalists should be keeping track of what President Bush wants to investigate, and what he doesn't. Gas prices-yes. authentic WMD info-no. CIA/prison leak/Pulitzer Prize story-yes. CIA/Valerie Plame ID leak-no. It's no surprise Mr. Bush is seizing high gas prices for this week's message. The public is steamed, his approval ratings are low, and gas prices are a gift from the political heavens for him to show leadership. This is his "9/11" of the midterms.

No one should be surprised gas prices are high. It's not even surprising Americans need to point a finger at someone to blame for $3/gallon. But Americans have no one else but themselves to blame. Driving is like spending- we're out of control and no one wants to budget. The headlines will be government probes, but what about government taking meaningful measures to reduce consumption? That's not the American way. No one wants to be told how to live. 

So it's up to individuals to slow down, to car pool, to drive less. But for every conscientious objector are many more who cannot pull in their reigns. Americans are not just obese in the waist, they're obese at the pumps.

Not even a war has effected the way most Americans drive, or what we drive or how fast we drive. We could pull out of the Middle East today if it weren't for the natural resource we need to fuel our economy, to fuel our addiction, to fuel our waste.

What we need are days to come together. Monday is "innovation day", a day when companies get rewarded for inventing a new system to curb reliance on foreign oil. Tuesday is "slow down day", a day when we all drive 10 mph slower, even if it means we all get there later.

Americans have shown NO national unity to conserve. We hear freedom it's our right, our freedom to drive whatever vehicle we want, go however far we want to go, and at whatever speed we want.

Does price gouging occur, sure. Will there be examples plastered on the news of gas station's in trouble, yes. Rest assured the crackdown at the pumps will help make Americans sleep better.  The impression that someone, in this case politicians, are hard at work cracking down on gas stations, will make us feel like our complaints are being heard. If prices reach the predicted $3.25, $3.50 and perhaps $4 during the summer, there promises to be new investigations. All along, the public will have a choice to go about its disgruntled way, or embrace change. Which do you think will happen?     4/25/2006

WHITE HOUSE SPRING CLEANING

April comes to an end and the media is both under fire and on fire. Cable talk show hosts and political pundits weigh in on the latest polls showing President Bush at an all-time low. Republican strategists argue tactics to help the President rebound. With the war in Iraq, the potential conflict with Iran, and political scandal dogging the Republicans, the White House turned to what it could control: cleaning it's own house. Scott McClennan's departure as White House Press Secretary was likely not his choice: the Republican conservative base is livid with the message coming out of the White House. As a nod to those concerns, the White House made McClennan the sacrificial lamb and told him he's leaving.

This move, soon after a new Chief of Staff was installed, is intended to communicate with the conservative voters that the lights are on at the White House. It is a simple move to acknowledge to the Republican base that this year's midterm elections are important. The Republicans hope this move will shift the focus from losing the daily message on Iraq, to bolstering the next few months for the Republicans.

The biggest sign the White House is awakening is the shifting, at least publicly, of White House policy adviser Karl Rove. Rove will concentrate more on politics than splitting his duties between politics and policy. As if the two are distinguishable for the GOP at this point. Either way, Rove getting back to the midterms is sweet news to the conservatives, who fear losing control of Congress in November.

Journalists must stay on top of the White House message, looking for shifts in public comments from a new Press Secretary. Newsies must also keep tabs on Karl Rove. If Rove is focusing on politics, journalists must analyze the most important seats up for re-election this fall. Are the Republicans inventing a new message? Will the GOP distance themselves from President Bush? Will Democrats capitalize on fundraising and low GOP poll numbers?

Will any of these moves resonate with the electorate? It's far too soon to say. Candidates running in September and November are spending most of their time raising money, fortifying their war chests when the general public is paying little attention to their races. As summer heats up the skies, look for campaigns to begin their television assaults. Not all at once, but enough to start laying the groundwork for each side's message for the fall.   4/20/2006