Did Dorgan get money from Abramoff Apolitically?

Senator Dorgan appeared on the Ed Schultz show today on air America. At around 12:50 PM he said that he hadn't politically received any money from Abramoff. I wonder why did he have to put the qualifier "politically" on it? That makes it sound as if he has personally or shall we say "non-politically" received money from Abramoff. If I were a politician I would say I never got one red cent from Abramoff.

How can Dorgan sit up there and have the nerve to say he was a whistle blower along with McCain? I don't know if I can trust the guy. I want to hear him say he hasn't received money in any way. I want to hear someone else ask him the question again to see if he consciously qualifies his answer.

p.s. I never scientifically published this entry.

Heave Ho, to the left they go

Bush told the crowd at the annual "Let Freedom Ring" performance that Congress must renew provisions of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act that are set to expire next year. The president had previously declined to support the renewal until last month, and the crowd erupted in applause when Bush insisted that it be renewed.
I don't think I understand how people can't see this is a political gimmick. It's timing. I mean could he have said he was going to renew it 5 years ago or so? I wonder why he would support the renewal now? Could it be because there are election in '06 and this would be a nice talking point?

I guess it isn't as bad as Ah-nold's blatent swing toward the left recently. Is anyone going to push the fact that this man who has been riding a motorcycle for two decades does not have an M1 license? Is anyone going to point out this is the same man who says we have to "drive sensible and defensively" in the Calfiornia Drivers Handbook? I wish Ah-nold would pass a law that allowed every person who voted for the Goobernator to be slapped. I'd like every one of those voters to get one hard slap to the face for putting in the one-liner king.

So yeah, go ahead and vote for those left leaning Republicans...left leaning Republicans...left leaning Republicans. Jeez, it's almost as bad as that commercial where they call Democrats "RATS".

Those Republicans are oxymorons...oxyMORONS...oxyMORONS...

Wal-Mart Moves On, Gunman or No Gunman

[Insert Wal-Mart here]

A couple days ago, December 28, 2005 to be exact, there was allegedly a gunman in Wal-Mart at the Long Beach Tone Center at (where else?) Long Beach, California. My family and I went to Wal-Mart to get Alka-Seltzer (if I add a link can you pay me Bayer?) and we were not allowed to enter because a gunman was supposedly inside. Somehow they did not know who the gunman was but one woman who had been turned away earlier said there was supposed to be a black man who had been waving a gun around inside the store...(no description...just a black gunman...I'm sure he was going to be ok...) "Everyone" (black males) was checked when they left the store. I had been there 30 minutes watching officers (I saw at least 6 black and whites) wander around lackadaisically. SWAT was not called in and Wal-Mat ade sure that, while no one was allowed to enter, customers who were already inside at the time would be ushered through the checkout lanes as they finished shopping.

[insert shopping cart picture here]

Isn't that a trip though? A gunman is supposed to be inside, no one is allowed to enter, but you can finish shopping. Wal-Mart needs to make a new ad... "Wal-Mart, not even a gunman will stop you from shopping here."

They Recovered Enough Bodies Anyway...

After 4 months of searching for bodies of Katrina victims in New Orleans, I hear searches have stopped. These searches have ended despite still missing people and unsearched rubble. I was recently watching CNN where I heard a New Orleans resident say (and I paraphrase) police, the state, the country is ending their search and the police say it is not their responsibility. Perhaps it was just easier looking through rubble in New York in 2001.

I guess it's that paradoxical situation where you can stop looking for your dead yet you can't pull out of Iraq. Maybe I'm sleepy and that's not the same thing.

The irony. It takes Dick Cheney to make me come out of Hiding...

I also know how to use the term liar. Apparently Cheney has lost his knack for the English language.

At least I know how to spell "liar"

We know Liberals are lyres, their sole purpose is to discredit conservatives what ever it takes.
~Conservative Voice

I'll be back later to rip on his article. I like how he throws thoughts around carelessly. God Bless You Ken Hughes.

Notice How She Always Has to Keep an Eye On Republicans

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers meets with Sen. Jeff Sessions,
R-Ala., in his office Tuesday in Washington. Confirmation hearings for Miers,
Bush's White House counsel, could begin as early as Nov. 7. (Kevin Wolf / AP)

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, right, meets with Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in the Hart Senate Office Building on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005 in Washington. President Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) (Kevin Wolf - AP)

Supreme Court Nominee Harriet Miers meets with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.) on Tuesday.

Next with a Liberal

Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, meets with White House Counsel Harriet Miers on Capitol Hill
Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005, to discuss her nomination to the Suprme Court. (AP
Photo/Dennis Cook) (Dennis Cook - AP)

I think she's more comfortable around Democrats to tell you the truth. Who wouldn't be!

"I picked her, didn't I?

President Bush announces his nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers,
left, to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, in
the Oval Office of the White House in Washington Monday, Oct. 3, 2005. (AP
Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Other possible captions:
1. "I just know the b------d wants me to croak so he can put another man on office"
2. President Bush announces his nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers, left, to replace deceased William Rehnquist on the Supreme Court. When you think about it the real caption is a little more morbid isn't it? I mean was Bush planning on putting another woman on the bench or not? Does it take a second judge being removed by death before you'll put a woman on the bench or were you planning on this happening? (AP Photo/Somebody who gives a d---)
3. President Bush realized he was going the opposite way of Compassionate Conservatism.
4. President Bush thinks to himself "I did it- I put a woman on- are you happy now Jesus?" (AP Photo/Somebody who gives a d---)

From Eschaton -

Bush II on Brownie Miers:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, of all the people in the United States you had to choose from, is Harriet Miers the most qualified to serve on the Supreme Court?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Otherwise I wouldn't have put her on

Or would you have....

Polls Rise Despite Incompetence

What is with the last poll done on this guy? Why is he allowed to resurface? Is the American attention span so short that one trip down to the gulf makes him a better person. He was just doing his job if anything.

It's like congratulating someone for dodging the second kick of a mule. If five hurricanes came up in the next 3 months and he showed up to every one of them does he get a 70 percent approval rating? What has to happen in Iraq for people to get mad? Do we have to lose another couple thousand soldiers? I just don't get it.

Bush's Domestic Story Shadows His Broad International War

Harriet Miers's Supporters Cite Her Evangelical Christian Faith...

While a couple dozen worshippers at at Shiite Mosque are blown up in Iraq (you know, that country Bush wanted to have a quick little war in)

Look at the nonsense he spews after the attack.

"We fully understand they intend to disrupt the constitutional process, or will
try to do so, as well as stop the process of democracy," Bush said from the Rose
Garden, standing with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Joint Chiefs Chairman
Gen. Peter Pace and Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the former commander of the effort
to train and equip Iraqi soldiers.
"We're seeing progress on the ground," Bush said. "And we're also seeing political progress on the ground."

The attack happened at a mosque in the Shiite region. Could religion have anything to do with it? You have allowed them to adopt some religious principles in the constitution have you not? Are you forgetting that factor or what? The political process you see is the constitution you're trying to force down the throats of a very complicated eople. There are going to be years of struggle ahead. We shouldn't use phrases that marginalize the situation or make it seem "all better" for the American public.

Bill O'Reilly - Lies from the Right

O'Reilly "complains he couldn't get any guests for the segment." after turning a guest away. How can a man lie like that and garner so much support, even if it is coming from liars on the same side as him.

Sorry I haven't been updating much. Education and Work have been piling on (two things George Bush should try to do more often)

I got it from Escatchon

edit ~10:24AM Oct 5, 2005: I can't believe I didn't notice this picture.

Cutting the Fat to Pay for Katrina

I accidently posted this to another blog of mine so here it is a little late.

When we went to "war" with Iraq no one ever said we would have to cut any budgets to pay for it. To say we would have to take away from the people of the United States to pay for the war would have put even more controversy into it. So emergency acts were put into place and money was hurled over the Atlantic ocean.

Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any care of controversy over aiding Katrina. Already there are people reading through the constitution saying federal help is not obligatory. It doesn't help that everyone is talking about cutting programs nation wide to pay for Katrina. That only fuels the flames of all the "Article 1. Section 8ers". There are suggetions that Lousiana should pay for the damage from the natural disaster by themselves despite their being unable to generate income with most of the city shut down.

Taxpayers for Common Sense Vice President Keith Ashdown (requires Real Media Player) points out that it would be great for the people in Louisiana to help shoulder the burden of paying for the disaster if not for the fact that only 4 of the 34 who've been given contracts for reconstruction were out of state. Two of the largest are those who are getting contracts in Iraq without public bids. It's unfair to think the citizens of New Orleans should have to shoulder a burden that they are unable to bear.

Since the country is rolling the way of the offset, I guess we have to find places to "cut the fat".
Instapundit in conjunction with www.truthlaidbear.com has been finding some places where the budget has gotten a little porky.

Along the way I've seen these articles.

The Gavina Access Project: A Bridge to Nowhere

"The Porn Police"

Also TCS has made their own fiscal offsetting budget.

Let's see if Congress wants to follow the lead of the people finding ways to cut costs so everyone can stop trying to make tragically jobless, homeless and impovershed people pay for a natural accident.

Only Now Am I Starting To Grasp The Meaning Of Institutional Racism

President Bush may not be racist. Dick Cheney may not be racist. Former FEMA head Brown, "Condi" and those photographers Chris Graythen and Dave Martin may not be racist at all.

There is no need for anyone to be actively or extrovertly racist today. Institutions from schools to government to corporations were originally designed over the course of centuries to hold back people of color. Since Jamestown, Africans and then African-Americans were not allowed to read, write, speak their native tongue and were debased of their cultural background. After the Civil War slavery turned into share-cropping and share-cropping has turned into bad credit and inadequate jobs. It took a hundred years after "slavery ended" before the Black person was allowed into the boiling stew that is America and it is only this last couple of generations that has started easing up on racial divisions. Still, the slack recent peoples have given to the color line has not been enough to lift the racial cloak that has covered this country. Only an active change can abolish the racist institutions left standing since the beginning of America.

It is not enough for the recent generations to be tolerant, color-blind or neutral in opinion. Neutrality will only allow racism's continued existence. Active destruction of racial barriers is the only way to create a level playign field.

http://pkarchive.org/column/091905.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1139640
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091900543.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-091905katrina_lat,0,7596816.story?coll=la-home-headlines
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/050912/12simon.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1136969
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/19/134911/458

Peter Daou and His Blog Analysis

Everyone else was doing it so I figured I'd do it to. It looks like a good report anyway.
Peter Daou talks about the blog-politician-media triangle needed to create victory.

It makes sense. The way the Daou triangle works you can get rid of those pesky judges who decide who runs the country.

Stealing from the Poor to Feed the Rich

As New Orleans is reopened to its population, residents trickle back into the city. Mayor Nagin invited New Orleans back into the city and

(Drafted and unfinished in 2005, posted on 1/31/08)

Bush: 59 years old and going on 35

President Bush still fails to do well in the polls. Even after a recent speech of his he fails to rally even his base. A 35% rating of of good or excellent for his response to Katrina doesn't say much for him.

I do like the fact that for the first time in Bush's Administration African-Americans are in support of his proposals for rebuilding New Orleans. It really shows where this country's heart is at. You have a city that is one of the cultural bases of the nation and white people are opposed to rebuilding it. That's rich.

Maybe we need a hurricane in Beverly Hills, no? That wouldn't help. They would have some reason for Beverly Hills being more important than New Orleans. Somehow they would put a spin on it as if it had nothing to do with money. Sort of like how Cheney pretends he doesn't care about where the money is going down in the Katrina aftermath.

G.O.P. officials say Cheney opposed a czar largely out of his affection for standard operating procedure. [yeah right] But a presidential adviser tells TIME that Cheney was also concerned that the new office would invite more meddling by Congress and create another power center. "If you appoint a czar and he doesn't get what he wants, like if you start to tamp down the spending, all he has to do is go to the press and create sympathy for his viewpoint and make it difficult for the President," the adviser says. Bush and his inner circle agreed, with little debate, top aides said.

So you go Bush administration. Keep pretending like you aren't running a money game under the public.

America is starting to wise up to you. It's taken everyone long enough. I just hope another "9/11" doesn't occur so ratings can be bolstered before '06 and '08.

p.s. Please excuse my absense. School and work find time to take time from me.
Might I recommend looking at the other blogs on the sidebar when I get a little slow.

May I acknowledge DailyDissent

The Buck stops where?

For the first time in his presidency Bush decided to personally shoulder the blame.

President Bush took responsibility Tuesday for breakdowns in the
federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, saying the massive storm
had "exposed serious problems in our response capability."

But President Bush still says flaws occurred "at all levels of government".

At the same time

(Drafted in 2005 but posted on 1/31/08)

Barbara Bush, George W Bush, Racist?

Something that strikes me as amazing is that racism exists but some people refuse to believe it does.

There must be an incredible number of people who are either racist, sexist, apethetic or at least prejudiced to a degree that it hurts others in some way. It is hard to get an accurate number because you can't just send out a questionnaire expecting everyone to be forthrite.

I imagine if I walked up to Barbara Bush and asked "Do you care about all people," she'd give a resounding "Yes!" Unfortunately for her it is statements like this that show where her heart is at. Then we are supposed to believe George W. Bush's apple hasn't fallen far from that tree?

I originally saw the link to the article at Beautiful Horizons

(Drafted in 2005 and posted on 1/31/2008)

Booooo!!!!

Court Rules U.S. Can Indefinitely Detain Citizens

By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 9, 2005; 12:27 PM

A federal appeals court ruled today that the president can indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen captured on U.S. soil in the absence of criminal charges, holding that such authority is vital to protect the nation from terrorist attacks.

Read on...

Hooray!!

FEMA Chief Relieved of Katrina Duties

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
The Associated PressFriday,
September 9, 2005; 1:35 PM

WASHINGTON -- Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being removed from his role managing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Brown is being sent back to Washington from Baton Rouge, where he was the primary official overseeing the federal government's response to the disaster, according to two federal officials who declined to be identified before the announcement.

Brown will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad w. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts.

Read on

It's a start. Still, he's probably going to be used as the scapegoat. I doubt they'll throw too much fire at anyone else. You'd think Bush would have let him stay seeing as we're not supposed to play the "blame game" or use "politics" during a time of need.