The Real State of the Union: A War Story
We’ve tried to get away from talking politics here at Misunderestimated Again.
Really, there’s nothing positive or constructive to say about the state of affairs in this country. While this election cycle has reminded us just how much is left to be desired by our two major political parties, it has further exposed the media for not only enabling this sad scenario but being overtly complicit. The bipartisan media effort to ignore and/or marginalize Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul has been appalling and promote their own candidates has been shameless and transparent.
But watching the parliamentary charade that was Bush’s final State of the Union Address compels me to relay a story.
It’s not exactly a war story, and I’m thankful that this is as close as I’ll get to an actual war story, but this should illustrate the State of the Union better than the disingenuous speech Bush gave last night.
There’s no link and no names, so if you choose to believe that I made this up, that’s your prerogative. Here goes:
I’m having a drink in my neighborhood bar the other night when two active duty US Army soldiers walked in for a beer.
I begin chatting up one of the soldiers over a beer and asked him what he was doing in town.
“We are escorting a solider here. He’s kinda fucked up”
…he said, pointing to his head.
“Post traumatic stress disorder?” I asked?
“No. He fell off a 3rd story window on his head. But yeah he needs that [mental help] too. We’re bringing him to the VA hospital in Palo Alto to get fixed up”.
Shocked to hear that, I ask him what he meant.
“Well, he had tried to commit suicide before he fell off the building. So now he’s got all kinds of broken bones, pins in each hip, and his head is still a little scrambled and he can’t hear anything. We have to write things down to communicate with him.
But we’re bringing him to the VA hospital to get him fixed up. They told him he’s got to fulfill his contract.
I look at him incredulous. “No fuckin way” was, I think, as eloquently as I could put it at the time.
“For real. I asked the doctor if this was really going to work and he [the doctor] said ‘He’s going to run faster than he did before’”
Wow.
Just wow.
Who Knew Foot Tapping Was A Crime?
Someone asked me the other day if I had ever had someone next to me in an airport bathroom stall tap his foot towards me. While it’s possible that I’ve just never considered looking for that sort of thing, I’m reasonably sure that nothing like that has ever happened near me. Furthermore, I can’t imagine that if two men were engaging in some sort of sexual behavior in an airport bathroom stall near me that I wouldn’t have at least seen or heard something. After all, I think I’m pretty savvy and airport bathroom stalls aren’t exactly spacious.
And I’ve done quite a bit of traveling over the past 5 years.
So even if this sort of thing does occur, why on earth do we have law enforcement resources devoted towards stopping it? I mean besides making Larry Craig, yet another scandal-ridden Republican, the butt of jokes. Arianna Huffington was smart enough to ask the question and I don’t really have anything to add to her well thought out argument. If “9-11 changed everything”, why aren’t we focused on real threats?
To further the point, I’ve been on 2 round trips in the past 2 weeks. That’s 4 trips through airport security, and I can report that:
1) Not once did I put my liquids/gels/hair products in plastic bags and I never took them out of my carry-on. They remained in my bag and I was never stopped or questioned.
2) On one of the trips I walked through security without ever showing anyone my driver’s license. I didn’t deliberately try to sneak by anyone, but it was clear after the fact that someone somewhere didn’t do their job.
Now, the good news is….I’m not a terrorist. (As a side note, I’m also unfortunately aware that the asinine rule regarding putting gels and liquids into plastic bags has absolutely no impact on anyone’s safety) But wouldn’t that cop patrolling the men’s room have been better served making sure everyone’s ID gets checked before clearing security?
2nd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
Today marks the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As I’ve mentioned before, the blogosphere needs to put a spotlight on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Those folks just aren’t in the blogosphere and do not know how to make their voices heard online or offline.
Not surprisingly, the MSM hasn’t done a good enough job with this. I’m trying really hard not to pile on the Bush Administration (and the rest of the inept and/or corrupt Congress) but the complete disregard with which they are treating the Katrina aftermath can be chalked up to yet another and completely separate disaster on the watch of the Bush Administration and Congressional leaders.
As Time.com’s Michael Grunwald notes:
The most important thing to remember about the drowning of New Orleans is that it wasn’t a natural disaster. It was a man-made disaster, created by lousy engineering, misplaced priorities and pork-barrel politics.
So not only is the damage itself largely the fault of the Federal Government, but the ongoing lack of attention and slow death of one of America’s great cities and regions is completely the fault of the Government, with Federal, state and local officials all to blame.
Please take just a few minutes and check out this trailer from Robert Greenwald, who does fantastic documentaries. Please consider signing the petition or making some other kind of noise. Ask yourselves what you would do if this were your hometown.
As I’ve said before:
“If you aren’t outraged, you aren’t paying attention”
On Democrats, the Press and Dennis Kucinich
I’ve chosen not to pile on the Democrats sickening display at the end of last week. It goes without saying that they know that the Emperor wears no clothes, yet they bowed down to him as soon as he threw a childish tantrum.
Part and parcel to this display of leadership is this gutless “run out the clock”/”play not to lose” strategy employed by the Democratic leaders. So while “The Decider” continues his assault on the Constitution and civil rights, Democratic Presidential hopefuls are playing “he said, she said” and engaging in parliamentary election games of a similar nature. The press continues to follow Obama, Clinton and Edwards; Romney, Giuliani and McCain and hang on their every hollow word.
How about following Dennis Kucinich? Yeah he’s a little squirley and doesn’t fit the profile of a “real candidate” but he has bold ideas, wants to be a leader and is trying to get accountability where others are not. If the media were doing their job and giving voters all the information they need to make an informed decision, they’d have reported that Dennis Kucinich grilled former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over the Pat Tillman cover-up. Isn’t that the kind of leadership we are looking for?
Only through the blogosphere does Kucinich get the credit he deserves (Hat tip: Media Bloodhound and Crooks and Liars). Is Kucinich going to become the President, likely not, but no thanks to the press who don’t give him nearly the coverage he deserves for having the right ideas and the balls and conviction to pursue them.
Bush Comments On Minnesota…Katrina Part Deux?
How appropriate that while I was putting together my blog post on Bush turning his back on Katrina victims did another disaster occur in Minnesota. First off, let’s compare Bush’s comments post Katrina and post Minnesota.
we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.
Minnesota Bridge:
We talked about the fact that the bridge collapsed, and that we in the federal government must respond and respond robustly to help the people there not only recover, but to make sure that lifeline of activity, that bridge, gets rebuilt as quickly as possible.
Bush then went on to try to chastise Congress for not getting any spending bills passed. This stuff is beyond belief. Bush continues:
If Congress doesn’t pass the spending bills by the end of the fiscal year, Cabinet Secretaries report that their departments may be unable to move forward with urgent priorities for our country.
Didn’t Bush make rebuilding the Gulf Coast a priority? Should anyone in Minnesota believe that the Federal Government will provide assistance?
Bush’s mind-blowing comments continue:
Unfortunately, Democratic leaders in Congress want to spend far more. Their budget calls for nearly $22 billion more in discretionary spending next year alone. These leaders have tried to downplay that figure. Yesterday one called this increase — and I quote — “a very small difference” from what I proposed. Only in Washington can $22 billion be called a very small difference. And that difference will keep getting bigger. Over the next five years it will total nearly $205 billion in additional discretionary spending. That $205 billion averages out to about $112 million per day, $4.7 million per hour, $78,000 per minute.
I’m not sure where to begin. Could that $22 billion number be the $21+ billion that Bush threatened to veto for the Gulf Coast? But even more incredulously, is Bush not responsible for spending like a drunken sailor taking the budget deficit to record heights? Hasn’t the Bush Administration taken us into a war that will cost over $1 Trillion (Trillion with a capital “T”)?
I feel badly for the tragedy in Minnesota and for all the families affected, but the Federal Government shouldn’t divert one dime or resource to fixing the problem in Minnesota while the Gulf Coast remains in ruins.
Bush To Tell Lousiana To Go Fuck Itself
No sooner did I write that there was nothing to blog about than did I come across this tidbit on Memeorandum . And yes, the profanity is called for.
As a former resident of New Orleans, I fully understand the dynamic of New Orleans as well as the entire region affected by Katrina. It’s well known that the area doesn’t have much of an economy or highly educated population (a major reason why I don’t live there now), but it’s not well known how behind they are on technology adoption. I’d bet that >50% of Louisiana residents have never heard of a “blog”.
That’s why I feel it’s important for me, in my humble place in the blogosphere, to speak out on their behalf. I doubt that many in the blogosphere have any idea just how bad it still is in the region to this day. There are still entire neighborhoods that are literally devastated to this day, and lack of progress has many current, well-off residents ready to bail out. We are seriously in danger of losing one of America’s greatest cities….again….and this time for good.
But it’s not just the lack of progress. It seems that the White House, which hasn’t vetoed very many bills over the first 6 years of the Bush Administration, has threatened a veto for the reauthorization of the $21 billion Water Resources and Development Act.
Among other things, the bill would authorize a 72-mile system of hurricane protection of levees and floodwalls to shield Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes from storms sweeping in from the Gulf of Mexico. It also would streamline project approvals within the Army Corps of Engineers, provide enhanced hurricane protection levees for New Orleans and green-lighted coastal restoration projects.
Why is the White House threatening a veto?
link
But the Office of Management and Budget sent a letter to Capitol Hill on Wednesday saying that the price tag is too high and shifted too much of the cost of new projects from local governments and onto federal taxpayers.
“This is not how most Americans would expect their representatives in Washington to reach agreement, especially when it is their tax dollars that are being spent,” OMB Director Rob Portman and John Paul Woodley, the assistant army secretary over the Corps of Engineers wrote.
Now, just to refresh your memory, here’s what Bush said in his national address from New Orleans right after Katrina.
And tonight I also offer this pledge of the American people: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives. And all who question the future of the Crescent City need to know there is no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again.
Just four months later, Bush reiterated his pledge to improve the levees.
Bush praised the city’s success in getting services like electricity and water mostly on line, said new federal tax incentives will encourage businesses to create jobs and insisted stronger promised levee protection will make the city both safer and more attractive for investment. All those things, he said, will help turn New Orleans back into a “shining part of the South.”
Where is the accountability on this? Rather than spend the $21 billion fulfilling domestic promises and shoring up the levees, we’ll spend between $30 billion and $40 billion just shipping another, yes another, 21,500 troops to Iraq (estimate from John Murtha D-PA)
Republican (LA) Senator David Vitter said he was “stunned” and more importantly noted
I’m afraid the promise the president made to the nation in Jackson Square comes across as hollow today.”
For a Republican like Vitter, perhaps it’s a surprise that Bush is “all hat and no cattle”. I like cliche’s, and in this case it’s appropriate to note:
If you aren’t outraged, you aren’t paying attention
Brief Update
I haven’t been able to blog much recently due to the fact that I’ve been with family on a vacation in Calistoga, CA, the heart of Wine Country. It’s both beautiful and relaxing here.
There also hasn’t been too much worth blogging about. I was going to comment on the whole “Facebook Bankruptcy” issue, but that devolved into a childish pissing match among a number of the Interweb’s greatest self promoters about how popular they are and less of a real discussion over the proliferation of social networking tools.
However, I did want to comment on the latest political scandal involving Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. When I was choosing a name for my blog, I went with “Misunderestimated Again” only because it was catchier than something related to “A Series of Tubes”.
It’s really easy to suggest that I am just picking on Republicans, but the truth is….the comedy writes itself. You can’t make this stuff up and this helps to prove the old adage that truth is funnier than fiction. So while I’d like to laugh at Ted Stevens’ latest plight, I can’t because the truth is it’s tragic for both the United States and the American people.
Web 2.0’s Most Significant Accomplishment Yet: Impeachment?
At this point, the “I” word is no longer relegated to the fringes of a far left liberal movement. With more editorials from MSM sources calling for the “I” word adding to voices like Keith Olbermann and Cindy Sheehan, the calls for impeachment are quickly picking up steam. In the blogosphere, the debate has reached the point where the ultra-conservative fanatic Michelle Malkin concedes that the issue won’t go away.
And the time has come where impeachment is the prudent action for the country. The Bush Administration, according to the NY Times, is continuing to “expand its power beyond all legal justification” further insulating itself from Congressional checks-and-balances, the principles which merely form the basis for the Constitution.
A monarchy is defined as a form of government in which a single person is the head of state, or a “Decider” for the less verbose. More than a track record of unparalleled corruption or shocking incompetence or complete disregard for the law or the will of the constituency that theoretically elected him, it is the continued monarchical pursuit of unchecked power that cannot be tolerated.
Any member of Congress that does not actively oppose this is complicit to the systematic invalidation of the Constitution, and that’s a violation of the oath each of them took to defend the Constitution, not the President or a Political Party.
Think that’s hyperbole? Habeus Corpus down, Checks-and-Balances on deck.
Around the rest of the free world, impeachment proceedings would restore shaken confidence in the United States while serving as notice to all of the enraged Jihadists that we don’t all share Bush’s imperialistic view of the world. Domestically, impeachment proceedings could be a catalyst for change badly needed for a government that has been so paralyzed by partisan politics that it does not see impeachment as a realistic option, and it would serve to invigorate a populace that feels ignored and disaffected.
But if impeachment proceedings do begin, it will have come from the Internet, the “long tail”, rather than our “leaders” in Congress. You see, Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are staunchly against impeachment and continue to take the stance that they won’t even consider it. Last week, I gave Reid some credit for “finding his balls” when he put pressure on the Republicans, but it’s now clear that was just political theater with no intended follow up action. (John Conyers rumblings aside)
Pelosi and Reid are against impeachment because the Bush Administration’s corruption and incompetence is destroying the Republican party from within. Pelosi and Reid are content to watch the GOP further unravel and coast to a major victory for their political party in the 2008 elections. By doing nothing, they figure, they can’t lose.
Little do Pelosi and Reid know that they are blowing their big chance. As any successful leader knows, you always “play to win”, never “play not to lose”, and Pelosi and Reid are not to be confused with those who show leadership. (Where are the Democratic Presidential candidates on this while we’re on the topic of those that need to be called out?).
Unless a Democratic leader emerges and shows the leadership or the will to take on the great responsibility that will come with being the next President, the impeachment movement will likely only go as far as the power of the “long tail” of the Internet will take it. While a simple Google search shows a staggering and quickly growing 2.12 million results for “impeach bush”, no Web 2.0/social techniques have been applied to the effort. In fact, we still have an activist mother staging old fashioned marches and protests. What would happen if someone created a nifty little social networking or Facebook application to advance the cause? None of the these grassroots causes have effectively employed viral feedback to engage the disaffected and leveraged their collective outrage.
While our elected leaders on both sides of the aisle continue to fail the American people on an unprecedented scale, the Internet carries the impeachment torch. How far will it go before the politicians and MSM catch on to what the blogosphere already seems to know?
In the meantime, here’s a neat little video that catches the Bush Administration with their pants down. It’s pretty difficult to argue with this. (Hat tip: Informed Comment).
Feel Good, Inc.
This is almost a week old, but so good that I had to share it here. For anyone who knows the Gorillaz, Nick Anderson really nailed the Cheney part. Enjoy.
Keith Olbermann’s Latest Special Comment
Keith Olbermann came out with another one of his blistering Special Comments last night. I have great admiration for Olbermann for having the cajones to speak out the way he does, because about a year or so ago when he started with these well articulated rants it was not as socially acceptable to ruthlessly blast the President as it has become now. And make no mistake, Olbermann was the first member of the mainstream media to articulate the national outrage.
A few of the Olbermann “Special Comments” have been epochal to say the least, starting with his recent call for Bush to resign and clearly highlighted by his blistering rebuke of Condoleeza Rice’s ignorance. Regarding his Special Comment on Rice, I’m not sure there has ever been a greater public…..”bitch slapping”, for lack of a better term, than what Olbermann did to Condoleeza Rice in that broadcast. Has anyone seen Rice make a public appearance since?
Last night’s special comment was clearly not one of Olbermann’s best, but he did continue to ratchet up the anger and spoke again of impeachment and that’s good enough for me. Any mainstream media acknowledgment of both the nation’s collective outrage and the obvious need to bring the “I” word back into play is a step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.