Have a Happy New year!

My family is already in 2003 - how is the view from there?
Me, I hope for a less unhappy year for the world.

If It's Not About Shut-Ins, the President Is
Otherwise Engaged

By Dana Milbank (excerpts)

Tuesday, December 31, 2002; Page A15 Washington Post

CRAWFORD, Tex. -- It's New Year's Eve. Do you know where your
president is?

President Bush has been seldom seen in the waning days of 2002. On
Friday, while North Korea was spreading nuclear panic in Asia, a White
House spokesman announced that the president spent the morning
"clearing brush" and then went jogging; yesterday it was fishing and
more brush clearing.





All of which raises various questions. With all the time the president has spent clearing
brush, how is it possible that there is still any brush left on his ranch? And what is he doing
about North Korea's nuclear shenanigans?

snip

This president, it would seem, has been engaged more often than Elizabeth Taylor.

The attestations of Bush's private engagement appear to be proffered in inverse proportion
to Bush's public engagement in a subject.

The president's isolation on his ranch and at Camp David may explain his peculiar affinity for
citizens he calls the "shut-ins." Probably no group has received more attention in presidential
rhetoric this year. snip

A collection of his recommendations:

"You can go to a shut-in's home and say, 'I love you.' "

"If you want to help this country, go across the street to a shut-in's house and say, 'What
can I do to help you?' "

"You can serve something greater than yourself by just walking across the street to a
shut-in and saying, 'I love you; is there anything I can do to make your day better?' "

Find "somebody shut-in and [say] 'I think I'm going to spread a little love today.' "

"[Find] somebody who's shut-in and [say], 'I'd like to just love you for a second.' "

Is it possible that Bush, so often homebound himself, has come to see himself as a shut-in?

"We Know he's Got Weapons of Mass Destruction - we've got the Receipts!
Mark Russell

I Get to Decide, you Get to Shut up!

Once again, rightfully outraged at the chutzpa of the press in asking him questions, Bush* (not a moron) put yet another uppity reporter in his place:


"
"You said we're headed to war in Iraq -- I don't know why you say that. I hope
we're not headed to war in Iraq. I'm the person who gets to decide, not you."

A Lunch Lady on School Lunches
Posted on DU, by Tikki



...I am purposely not going to tell which of these students
were or were not on
'free' or 'reduced' lunch....what I am going to tell you is the
reality of young
growing students and their nutritional and caloric needs.

I was a public school 'lunch lady' for 10 years.

The doors to the cafeteria open, and in the line of students
waiting outside on a
cold afternoon....a 14 year old boy 'passes-out' the second he
smells the food
from the kitchen. He was very hungry......and until you have
seen this happen, you
may not really understand.

Two sixth graders go from table to table asking for anyone's
uneaten bread and
peanut butter spread...they take it out to the playground and
share with a 'new
girl' in school.

Buffet style lunch every Thurday and the first trays that empty
are those with the
fresh fruit and cooked corn. Next comes the bread........the
pudding and jello trays
are, often, hardly touched.

Just your average teen students.... ..I have seen many of them
eat the equivalent
of three prepared meals at one sitting.

I have seen students grow 5 or 6 inches in a matter of months.

I remember when Reagan wanted to qualify 'ketchup' as a
vegetable. I remember
when a former student introduced me to his new wife...and
said..'This was the lady
who made sure I was always eating good. I was as proud of that,
as if I had been
his 'football' coach.

Yes, mistakes can be made...some adults allow their children to
cheat the
sysytem......most don't. Yes, I have seen students throw their
food away, but most
do not.

Cafeteria staff's plan menus, portion control and product count
carefully and there
is actually very little waste.

I would never turn down a growing student's request for a meal
......because for,
whatever, reason......they asked and they needed to eat.

Bring Back the Draft

By CHARLES B. RANGEL

WASHINGTON
President Bush and his administration have declared a war
against terrorism that may
soon involve sending thousands of American troops into combat
in Iraq. I voted against
the Congressional resolution giving the president authority to carry out
this war — an
engagement that would dwarf our military efforts to find Osama bin Laden
and bring him to
justice.

But as a combat veteran of the Korean conflict, I believe that if we are
going to send our
children to war, the governing principle must be that of shared
sacrifice. Throughout much of
our history, Americans have been asked to shoulder the burden of war
equally.

That's why I will ask Congress next week to consider and support
legislation I will introduce to
resume the military draft.

Carrying out the administration's policy toward Iraq will require
long-term sacrifices by the
American people, particularly those who have sons and daughters in the
military. Yet the
Congress that voted overwhelmingly to allow the use of force in Iraq
includes only one member
who has a child in the enlisted ranks of the military — just a few more
have children who are
officers.

I believe that if those calling for war knew that their children were
likely to be required to
serve — and to be placed in harm's way — there would be more caution and
a greater
willingness to work with the international community in dealing with
Iraq. A renewed draft will
help bring a greater appreciation of the consequences of decisions to go
to war.

This seems to me quite the gamble: will it pay off in that it will expose the chickenhawks? Or will the GOP call his bluff and draft anyone without the right connections to get out?

No Child Left Behind - Shaking them Down for Lunch Money

Free lunches may end for some pupils
Bush administration reviews school program,
might require parents to prove they're
poor
By Lisa FriedmanWASHINGTON BUREAU - Oakland Tribune
WASHINGTON -- There will be no free lunch for
kids whose parents can't
prove they're poor enough to deserve one under
a policy being considered
by the Bush administration.

In its 2004 budget proposal to be released in
February, the White House is
expected to demand that low-income parents
prove how much they earn
before their children are allowed to eat free
or reduced-cost lunches at
school. The move is aimed at cutting an
estimated $1 billion annually in
waste."

For the Iraqui People, yeah, That's the Ticket!


The United States plans to secure Iraqi oilfields if it invades and is looking into the
possibility of ramping up oil production beyond the U.N. oil-for-food program to
pay for post-war reconstruction, Bush administration officials said on Sunday.

"The oilfields are the property of the Iraqi people," Secretary of State Colin Powell
told NBC's "Meet the Press."

"And if the coalition of forces goes into those oil fields, we would want to protect
those fields and make sure they are used to benefit the people of Iraq and are
not destroyed or damaged by the failing regime on the way out the door," he said.

Revenue generated from the oilfields would be used "in accordance with
international law and to benefit the people of Iraq," he added.....

Well, at least we know that we won't let the unwashed Iraqui masses use their oil, but we "will generate revenue for them". Wow! Lucky Iraquis!

If you can't say Something Nice, Shut up!


From Democrats.com:

Seeking to kill the messenger and hide the truth, the Bush Administration has
defunded a program that highlights mass layoffs: "This is the final news release for
the Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program. Since 1994, the Department of Labor's
Employment and Training Administration has funded the program. That funding will
end on December 31, 2002. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has been unable to
acquire funding from alternative sources and must discontinue the MLS program."
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm

"You don't go after the Biggest Threat..."

Typical scene - on NBC - empty blue eyed anchorman interviews a republican. After discussing Korea, anchorman lands the logical question: "Then why don't we deal with this threat instead of going after Saddam?" Same bewildering answer is delivered once again: You don't go after the biggest threat, but after the biggest threat to be followed by full fledged rant against Sadam. Blue eyed anchorman stares into the void whithout ever asking: and where will the IMMINENT threat go as we worry about the future? Since this entry, a new logo was invented for this flight of logic: "taylored containment"

Get your pitchforks: Raelians are Cloning! A Myth is a Myth is a Myth

News about the sci-fi inspired Raelians sent very liberal gatherings into gales of laughter: aliens????. One reasoned opinion asked why is a man living in the sky and creating the world in six days so much respectable than aliens seeding the Earth?
And I think: just because a certain myth garnered more followers (by sword, by fire or whatever means) that majority does not confer it legitimacy in my book.
It's what they do with the fellowship in that belief that is more relevant to me. So far, cloning beats bombing, torturing, terrorizing other people/nations because they do not share your belief in a particular myth.

Crowford Pigfarm Renamed:it's the SOUTHwestern White House Now

Whether the intelligence data finally revealed that Texas is not in the West, or it's a move to appease the sheet wearing folk from the South over the loss of Trent, the "South" was added just now to the former logo of "The Western White House". In spite of the "White House" misnomer, we are still talking about the pig farm the Resident bought right before the election to pretend he's a cowboy with roots in Texas. That was deemed better than "a Connecticut boy sent by his Poppy to secure a state with more electoral votes"

Election won by Most Votes? This Democracy Thingy is a Hoot: Broder Thanks the Horse

"
The e-mail basket was flooded for a time when a left-wing outfit condemned
me for saying that George Bush had won the 2000 election. By their oddball
logic, it doesn't matter who is in the Oval Office; Al Gore "won" because he
received more votes.

They awarded me the title of "media whore of the month." Thanks for the
honor."

Korea about to Nuke us? Time for a Two Weeks Vacation for our Fearless Leader!

Doing nothing might just save us!

A Compassionate American for Every Citizen (and some Pot in every Chicken)

The goals for this country are peace in the world. And the goals for
this country are a compassionate American for every single citizen.That
compassion is found in the hearts and souls of the American citizens.

-- George W. Bush, Dec. 19, 2002
As Mark Crispin Miller observed, faking compassion has disastruous effects on his tongue.

More "Peace to the World" from The Hindu:



Axis of evil: Russia's rift with U.S. deepens

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW DEC. 24. The rift between Russia and the
United States on the ``axis of evil'' states deepened
today, as Moscow reiterated its opposition to a unilateral
U.S. attack on Iraq, moved forward on nuclear
cooperation with Iran and blamed Washington for
increased tension over the North Korea's nuclear
programme.

Sometimes They get it Right


Vatican terms war against Iraq as aggression


VATICAN CITY, Dec 17: A senior Vatican prelate on Tuesday condemned any
so-called "preventive war" against Iraq as "aggression".

Archbishop Renato Martino, who heads the Pontifical Council for Justice and
Peace, said: "Preventive war is a war of aggression and does not come under
the definition of a just war."

Martino was referring to the current US military build-up for a possible war
with Iraq, which has been labelled a "preventive war" by US officials, including
President George W. Bush.

The prelate, the Holy See's former representative at the United Nations,
where it has observer status, made the comments as he presented Pope
John Paul II's message for World Peace Day on January 1.-AFP

"Objective" Journalist: Gore is like Nixon, only Worse

After reading a pathetic article in Philadelphia Enquirer trying to turn history upside down, I wrote the author the following e-mail:
n your despicable apology of the GOP, comparing Gore to Nixon, you
> conveniently left out one difference (which is the very purpose of your
> article): GORE WON! He beat Bush, while Nixon lost to Kennedy. You can
> try to conceal this to the end of days, there is no elected president at
> this time in the White House.

To which he immediately responded:

I'm always grateful when pro-Democratic readers call my work "despicable,"
because usually it's pro-Republican readers who say that, and much
worse....You may have the luxury of saying that Gore won, but as a
journalist I don't have that luxury. I have to abide by the official
results. I also have to abide by the official results in 1960, even though
there's plenty of historical evidence to suggest that Mayor Daley in
Chicago, and underworld leaders in key wards, created thousand of voters to
help put Kennedy over the top.
Thanks for writing. I respectfully disagree with the premise of your email,
but I won't call it despicable. Happy holidays.

To which I replied:


If you really insist on convincing me that as a journalist you are bound by
the truth, than you'll check the history on your beloved Nixon: the GOP did
not allow him to challenge the results because the number of votes in question
were not enough to change anything.
So much Nixonian bitterness, so many laughable efforts to appear
objective...Not that the article was not plain enough, but the letter sealed
it. Journalism used to be a respectable endeavor, until it moved into the
PR/propaganda zone. And I do believe you that you get critical letters from
Republicans. They'll never be satisfied with your dedication. You'll never
praise Bush enough, tar Gore enough to satisfy the right wingers. But God
knows, you're trying hard!

Sadam:CIA Can Come Inspect me!

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 22 — Saddam Hussein’s science adviser on
Sunday invited the CIA
to send agents to Iraq to show U.N. weapons inspectors any
weapons of mass
destruction that Iraq is hiding. “We do not even have any
objections if the CIA sent
somebody with the inspectors to show them the suspected
sites,” presidential adviser
Amir al-Saadi said at a news conference.

Poor Good Christian Lott! Heathens got him!


"A lot of people in Washington have been trying to nail me for a
long time," Lott said. "When you're from Mississippi and you're a
conservative and you're a Christian, there are a lot of people that
don't like that. I fell into their trap and so I have only myself to
blame."

"My Wife Said I Was A Coward"...Painting the Lawn Jockey White

Cass Bellenger returns in a worthy sequel with the symbol of the new GOP: now our lawn jockeys are painted over!

Ballenger said Tommy Luckadoo, who runs his 10th Congressional
District office, had come over that morning and painted the black
lawn jockey.

"(Luckadoo) was saying it was sort of like Trent Lott being the
image of the Republican Party," Ballenger said. "That little black
jockey could be the image of the Republican Party here, and he
didn't want that to happen. I didn't care ... Now he's a little white
jockey.

"My wife said I was a coward. I said it was removing something
that Democrats could use as an image to attack Republicans
here...."

Luckadoo said he primed the 3 1/2-foot, cast-iron statue as part
of an overdue restoration. But he said he's been urging Ballenger
for years to change the statue.


Critics of the statues see them as insulting caricatures. Ballenger's
jockey has sparked controversy for 20 years.


--

A Disappointing Day for Peace

pResident Bush Friday said the Iraqi arms declaration "was not encouraging" and that
the United States "will fulfill the terms and conditions" of the U.N. resolution calling on
Saddam Hussein to disarm.

"Yesterday was a disappointing day for those who long for peace," Bush said.
Which begs the question: what kind of day was it for warmongers?

North Carolina White ; We Need War to Change the Subject

Asked if he believes Lott is a
segregationist, Ballenger said, "I'd
have a hard time saying he wasn't. ...
Basically in some areas of
the South, in Charlotte and everywhere
else, there are people
who get rubbed the wrong way (thinking)
`We've got to bend
over backwards; we've got to integrate' and
things like that."

Ballenger, of Hickory, said he felt similar
sentiments dealing with
Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a Georgia Democrat
known for her liberal
politics and combative personality.

"If I had to listen to her, I probably
would have developed a little
bit of a segregationist feeling," he said.

and the very revealing:
"The news media has worked this thing
over," said Ballenger.
"The Democrats aren't going to let it die,
and I doubt the news
media will let it die. What we need is to
go to war somewhere,
and then you'd have something else to write
about." -- STAFF
WRITER JEN TALHELM CONTRIBUTED TO THIS
ARTICLE.

-- JIM MORRILL: (704) 358-5059;
JMORRILL@CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former
President Clinton said
Wednesday it is "pretty
hypocritical" of Republicans to
criticize incoming Senate
Majority Leader Trent Lott for
stating publicly what he said the
GOP does "on the back roads
every day."

"How do they think they got a majority in
the South anyway?" Clinton told CNN
outside a business luncheon he was
attending. "I think what they are really
upset about is that he made public their
strategy."

He added: "They try to suppress black
voting, they ran on the Confederate flag in
Georgia and South Carolina, and from top
to bottom the Republicans supported it."


Asked if Lott should be removed, Clinton
said, "That's up to them, but I think they
can't do it with a straight face."

The former president then said, "He just
embarrassed them by saying in
Washington what they do on the back
roads every day."

He accused Republicans of "trying to run
black voters away from the polls" in states
such as Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida.
Clinton also cited recent gubernatorial
elections in Georgia and South Carolina,
won by Republicans.

"I think the way the Republicans have treated
Senator Lott is pretty hypocritical since
right now their policy is, in my view, inimical
to everything that this country stands for,"
Clinton said.




--

Now, Even Democrats don't Count Votes

Following their brilliant strategy in Florida, DNC fecided to go with the system national: sabotage the frontrunner, ignore vote fraud and watch the voters stay home in droves. Ag Gore has been forced out of the race and I pretty much lost interest in the whole pathetic losing process. (I've given up trying to figure out weather it was selling out or terminal idiocy involved - it matters not. My voting days are over.

Gore as Lott on Saturday Night Live:


Gore (as Lott): "Chris, when I said our country wouldn't have all these problems if
Strom Thurmond had been elected president, it had nothing to do with segregation. I
simply meant that things would have been better if Thurmond were president because
he would have kept white people and black people separate. I just hate it when liberals
take me out of context like that."

Gore (as Lott): "Chris, Chris! It has come to my attention that some of comments
about Strom Thurmond a minute ago may have been construed as racially insensitive.
Let me apologize. I meant no respect -- no disrespect to any white people. I myself
am a white man and some if not all my friends are white. Let me make this clear, as
long as I'm in office, we will leave no white person behind."

Gore (as Lott): "If I may, Chris. Too much emphasis has been placed on Senator
Thurmond's pro-segregation campaign. There was a lot more to his 1948 platform. He
wanted to make it illegal for black people and white people to marry each other. He
had great ideas for raising tax revenue, like makin' black people pay to vote. The man
is a genius."

Matthews: "As soon as I finish counting all the ways that's stupid I start yelling at you."

Matthews: "We're going to take a break. When we come back, Trent Lott explains why
America would be better off if the Germans won World World II. Hubba dah hubba."
(End of Hardball skit.)

We are Oompa Loompa Doompity Screwed - Al Gore on SNL

It may well became the epitaph of the Jr years.

> "It still pains me to think about how hard Kerry and Edwards
> cried that night. But I wish them the best and, I'm sure that, they'll
> make someone a wonderful vice president someday."
>

> "I'd never intentionally go in and bomb another country for no
> good reason!"

And the big clue for the future:


> "If I decide to host, we'll have great show for you tonight!"

BREAKING NEWS: KISSINGER OUT, LAW IN!

December 14, 2002 6: 13 AM

Moonie Moon News Service

By Carolyn Kay

The White House: President Bush today announced that he would name
Cardinal Bernard Law to replace Henry Kissinger, who yesterday resigned
his position on the commission to study the 9/11 disaster. "I wanted
someone with a proven record in coverups," Bush said. "Cardinal Law is
that man."

Law's threat to have the ultrawealthy Boston Roman Catholic Archdiocese
declare itself bankrupt to avoid paying claims to the victims of
sexually abusive priests may have planted doubts in President Bush as to
whether Henry Kissinger was the best bald-faced liar for the 9/11
inquiry commission. An official in the Bush administration who refused
to be named, but whom the President calls "Domehead" admitted that is
the real reason for Kissinger's resignation.

Law is available for the position, as yesterday he resigned his job
running the archdiocese of Boston, though he will retain the title of
cardinal. "I'm very please that President Bush chose me," said Law. "I
was beginning to feel unwanted."

"I like his red hat," Bush said.

"The Lott Record - which ones did he mean lightheartedly? compiled by Monica SF



* Lott made almost the same statement about Thurmond two decades ago at a rally in
Jackson, Miss. on Nov. 2, 1980. "You know, if we had elected this man 30 years ago, we
wouldn't be in the mess we are today," he said.

* In 1992 he gave a keynote address to the Council of Conservative Citizens, which
advocates the preservation of the white race. He said, quote: "the people in this room
stand for the right principles and the right philosophy." He also hosted some group
members at his
Washington office.

* Years earlier, Lott gave an interview to Southern Partisan magazine, which published
articles defending Confederate figures and sold a T-shirt
commemorating Abraham Lincoln with the phrase his assassin uttered, "Thus always to
tyrants."

* Lott was one of 24 House members to vote against 1981 legislation extending the
Voting Rights Act, which created penalties for Southern states that didn't assure open
polls to black voters. "They are still trying to exact Reconstruction legislation that is just
not fair," he said at the time.

* Lott tried to help Bob Jones University keep its federal tax-exempt status despite the
school's policy prohibiting interracial dating two decades ago. "Racial discrimination
does not always violate public policy," Lott, then a congressman from Mississippi, wrote
in a 1981 court brief. "If racial discrimination in the interest of diversity does not violate
public policy, then surely discrimination in the practices of religion is no violation," he
argued.

* Lott led the fight to restore Jefferson Davis' U.S. citizenship and once suggested the
Confederate leader would support the Republican Party if alive today. While serving on
the Republican Party platform committee in 1984, he attended a meeting of the Sons
of Confederate Veterans in Biloxi, Miss., in which he was quoted as saying, "the spirit of
Jefferson Davis lives in the 1984 Republican Platform."

* Lott opposed the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and voted against it in 1983. "I just
think it was basically wrong," he said of the vote.

* Lott supported segregation when as a college student he watched armed U.S.
marshals escort the first black student to the University of Mississippi. He also
advocated keeping blacks out of his fraternity. In a 1997 interview with Time magazine
he said: "Yes, you could say that I favored segregation then ... The main thing was, I
felt the federal government had no business sending in troops to tell the state what to
do."

* In 1979, while representing Mississippi in the House of Representatives, Lott joined a
bipartisan group that supported a constitutional amendment to prohibit school busing.

Pravda's comment on the Bush's(not a moron) rape lawsuit:

"A lot of women liked previous President of the United States Bill
Clinton. Women thought that he was a very charming and attractive
man. However, the situation with incumbent President George
Bush is totally different. Mr. Bush is definitely a representative of
another psychological type of human being. It is evident that he is
often drawn to solve all problems with the help of the military force.
As it turns out, this trait of his character it
also seen when it comes to sexual relationships with women.

Officials: No Hard Evidence in Nerve Agent Report
From John King; Also resignations uptate


Thursday, 12 December, 2002

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials are downplaying a report that indicated Islamic
fundamentalists in Iraq with ties to al Qaeda had obtained a deadly poison for possible use in
terrorist attacks, senior administration officials tell CNN.

No corroboration of this intelligence report from around late October or early November has
been found, and neither has any evidence of involvement by the Iraqi government, these
officials said.



Oops! So, why are we nuking them now?

Henry Kissinger, Cardinal Law and Mary Matalin resigned their respective posts. Not so Trent Lott who is continuing the apology tour. Oh, well, still a pretty good Friday the 13!

War is hard, 'cause it Leads to Huggin', Gut Instincts - GWB on Barbara Walters:

But let me talk about war in general
if you don’t mind. War is my last option, not my first option. See, it’s easy
in this town for people to commit troops, the US troops, to combat, through
opinion and the noise you hear in Washington. But there’s only one person who
is responsible for making that decision, and that’s me. And there’s only one
person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives and the kids on the
death of their loved ones. Others hug, but having committed the troops, I’ve
got an additional responsibility to hug, and that’s me, and I know what it’s
like.

--snip--

BARBARA WALTERS

“You know you’ve talked in the Bob Woodward book, you said, ‘I’m not a text
book player. I’m a gut player. I rely on my instincts.’ Can you give us an
example of where your insights were right or where they were wrong?”

PRESIDENT BUSH

“My instincts are that ... here’s my instincts ... and they’re consistent. If
people, if a person does not respect freedom, if somebody is repressive, if
somebody doesn’t understand the value of freedom, that person is a failed
leader right off the bat. That’s an instinct. And so I make judgments based
upon, many times based upon on a value system that I believe is true and
universal.”

New York Times: Squirrel in Gore's Yard Convinced he won't run (DU-er Left Hander)

NEW YORK - A grey squirrel that has lived in a tree in former Vice President Al
Gore's front yard for three years is "not going to run in 04". The declararion came
after the squirrel noticed in increase in bird seed spillage around the bird feeder.
"When that happens..." the squirrel who wished not to identified "there is know way
in hell that who ever lives in this house is going to run for president."

"Are you Secretly in Control?" (Conan to Gore); "We'll Nuke you!" Coup Anniversary


Conan: "You said they should fire their economic team, soon after they fired
their economic team. You said Lott should apologize, hours later Lott
apologizes. Are you secretly in control?"
Gore: "Yes, its a secret arrangement. The control actually goes through the
news media"

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, news of Lott's past racism comes fast and furious (defending Bob Jones University right to prohibit interracial dating - "Racial discrimination is not always against public policy"). Eventually, even Jr(not a moron) had to align himself with the public outcry and condemn the remarks. Of course, he did not ask for his resignation, that is reserved for people who call HIM a moron (or Hitler, or other stuff).

Bush* threatens to nuke the planet (in the Iraq area) and makes the cover of NY Post (I nearly dropped my eggs in the supermarket when I saw it).

This day in 2000 the Supreme court hijacked a national election, installing not-a-moron in the White House. Recession, terrorism and war followed naturally, as civil rights are going the dinosaur way. Happy Anniversary! :-(

Hey, Lott: Apologize for This too:


After a fiery speech by Thurmond at a Mississippi campaign rally for Ronald Reagan in
November 1980, Lott, then a congressman, told a crowd in Jackson: "You know, if we
had elected this man 30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today."

It's been suggested that African-Americans need to "get over" slavery and Jim
Crow. Maybe. But why can't Trent Lott "get over" the Civil Rights Movement?

Robert George (black Republican) in NY Post

Joe Conason: Gore's moral victory

Al Gore proved his moral courage
yesterday. He didn't hesitate to say that he opposed Trent Lott's racist
speech,
that Lott had to withdraw those remarks,
and that if Lott failed to do so, the Senate should censure the
Republican
leader. Having endured so many venomous
attacks from a press that is openly biased against him and would surely
relish another chance to sting him, Gore
spoke out fearlessly. (It is also a triumph for him over his tormentors
in
the press. With some honorable exceptions,
they waited too long to speak up against Lott's nostalgia for the
barbarism of his political forebears.)

Gore calls Lott's Statements Racist


Gore offered no criticism of Thurmond, saying the
retiring senator has since
"repudiated" those views. But he said Lott's
remarks are "divisive" and fit the
"definition of a racist comment."

"To say that the problems that we have in America
today, some of them, stem from
not electing a segregationist candidate for
president ... is fundamentally racist," Gore
said.

Asked if he believes Lott is a racist, Gore said,
"Trent Lott made a statement that I
think is a racist statement, yes. That's why I
think he should withdraw those
comments or I think the United States Senate
should undertake a censure of those
comments.

"It is not a small thing, Judy, for one of the
half dozen most prominent political
leaders in America to say that our problems are
caused by integration and that we
should have had a segregationist candidate. That
is divisive and it is divisive along
racial lines. That's the definition of a racist
comment," Gore said.

WOW! Even Andrew Sullivan is Shocked by Lott:



TRENT LOTT MUST GO: After his disgusting remarks at Strom Thurmond's 100th
birthday party, it seems to me that the Republican Party has a simple choice. Either
they get rid of Lott as majority leader; or they should come out formally as a party that
regrets desegregation and civil rights for African-Americans.
snip----
And where's the president? It seems to me an explicit repudiation of Lott's bigotry is a
no-brainer for a "compassionate conservative." Or simply a decent person, for that
matter.

Meet the Press (via AMpol) re: Lott's Rhapsody to Good Old Lynching Days


Tim then turned to Trent Lott's unconscionably racist salute to Thurmond on his 100th birthday -- then said that Jesse Jackson
labeled Lott a "segregationist" in a call this morning to NBC as he called for his resignation as Majority Leader. Broder made a
longwinded answer before saying Lott blew it. Novak said this was just Lott winging it at a birthday party -- it was no big sin, and
it's ridiculous for Jackson to call for his resignation.

Wow! We can't wait for Bob to say that Rick Kahn asking Democrats to support Wellstone's positions at a public memorial tribute
to Wellstone as no major sin. Klein skewered Novak for in effect blaming the media. Novak kept whining, "But it was his birthday!"

Food For Hope - Whose Senate?



Daschle just announced on CNN he is having a press conference tomorrow with
"exciting" news, not of a presidential nature but of a senatorial nature.

I'm thinking McCain and Chafee will organize with the dems and Daschle will remain
majority leader.

I think everything hinged on a Landrieu win and since she won, this could really
happen.

Crossfire Exchange Sweet to Revisit




CARVILLE: Candy, the sugar industry is huge in Louisiana. The Bush administration wouldn't
dare do anything so dishonest and sleazy as already have a dealer import more Mexican sugar
in the United States and wait until after the election to do that, would they?

CROWLEY: Well, let me tell you that Mary Landrieu as you may know, already has an ad out
saying that there in a Mexican paper there was talk of a secret deal about bringing Mexican
sugar in, which clearly would not be good news for jobs in Louisiana.

I can tell you that Suzy Terrell has said, Look, I called the U.S. Trade rep today. He said
there is not deal, secret or otherwise. There are ongoing negotiations.

NAFTA, they point out James, was -- negotiations began in the Clinton administration,
but there is no secret deal at the minute -- at the moment.

What's interesting to me is the sort of heat of this back and forth about sugar. It just shows
you how close this race is.

CARVILLE: Right, I understand. But if they actually did increase the amount of sugar,
that would be a sleazy, despicable, lying thing for this administration to do, wouldn't
it? And every journalist should criticize it.

(LAUGHTER)

CROWLEY: Whatever you say, James.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: No, but, Candy, truly, I mean there's really no chance that Susie Terrell is
going to lose this, is there? I mean, if you were betting, you would never bet on the
incumbent senator, would you?

CROWLEY: Look, I can tell you that they're very -- they're pretty cautious in the Terrell
campaign. And they say, Look, we know that the Landrieu campaign is calling around and
saying that they're going to lose, but we think that this is pretty translucent.

They're going to try to set it up that if in fact Landrieu does win, it will look like a big
defeat for George Bush.

I don't think anybody can call this race. I really don't. I think anything can happen because
there's sort of two opposing things here. Will people come out because they want to show
George Bush that indeed they support him, or will they come out because they want to show
George Bush that the mid-term elections were not just a blanket approval for him?


Alert | IP | Edit

Celebrating the Louisiana Win:

The NYT article begins "In a rebuff to President Bush's political power and personal
prestige, Louisiana voters today rejected Suzanne Haik Terrell, his hand-picked
candidate......

Boston Globe headline reads: "Democrat Landrieu Keeps La. Senate Seat: Beats Drive
Led by Bush..."


La bartizen:

Terrell's campaign ran heavily on the abortion issue. The mass mailings in the last
two weeks were overkill. Most of them portrayed Landrieu as being big-time
pro-abortion (as opposed to pro-choice.

The telephone calls were relentless. From the Repug. governor to pResident Moron
and beyond, at least 4 per day all damn week. A half hour after Carville exposed
the Administration's secret foreign sugar-cane deals on Crossfire, the Repug.
governor rang up with a mass phone message to refute the claim.

There was no way to turn on a radio or tv without hearing the GOP smear Landrieu,
and it went on for WEEKS. They pulled out all the stops and it didn't work.

Louisiana said:

"Shove your "mandate" where the sun don't shine, pResident Moron!"

Way to go, Louisiana

Senate Majority Leader Pines for Lynching Days

The headline the "liberal media" will not print. But, to understand why was he so proud of voting for Thurmond for President, I went to the ballot, and there, right on the ballot was the answer:

REMEMBER:
A vote for Truman electors is a direct order for the Congressmen and Senators from Mississipi to vote for the passage of Truman so called civil rights program in the next Congress. This means vicious FEPC- anti-poll tax, anti-lynching and anti-segregation proposals will become the law of the land and our way of life in the South will be gone forever."

So, I now have to add a bartizen image of Strom blowing his 100 burning crosses of his cake for the "awww" effect. I guess Senate can now get rid of them pesky anti-lynching laws. Buy stock in sheets!

Lott Decried For Part Of Salute to Thurmond

By Thomas B. Edsall
Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi has provoked criticism by saying the United
States would have been better off if then-segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond had won
the presidency in 1948.

Speaking Thursday at a 100th birthday party and retirement celebration for Sen. Thurmond
(R-S.C.) in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Lott said, "I want to say this about my state:
When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest
of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these
years, either."
This quote from the article made me do a doubletake:
"Senator Lott's remarks were intended to pay tribute to a remarkable man who led a remarkable life. To read anything
more into these comments is wrong."

How can you attack that? We will NEVER apologize for nothing"
Anyone who has deja vu now, please write Rick Kahn .

After Elections, Spin Slowly Adjusts to Reality (a Bit):

Unemployment Rate Unexpectedly Surges

By LEIGH STROPE, AP Labor Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation's unemployment rate unexpectedly shot up to 6.0 percent
in November, matching an eight year-high set in April and raising new concerns about the
strength of the economic recovery. "

Ugh, guys...what recovery would that be? Surplus gone, deficit rising, wall to wall bad news for the past 2 years - what recovery are you talking about? We are falling and we can't get up!

The Republican Trifecta


Jay Leno, "The Tonight Show": "So President Bush's party has taken control of Congress. ... They gave themselves pay raises, and
canceled pay raises for all other employees. I think that's called the Republican Trifecta."

The Family Values Party Strikes Again:

Bush will repeal Clinton-era family leave plan
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration will repeal a Clinton-era rule that allows
states to use unemployment insurance money to help new parents who take a leave
from work, officials said yesterday.

The executive action will effectively shut down legislative efforts in as many as 16
states to make unemployment compensation money available to working parents who
have taken time off to care for a newborn or adopted child.

Night of the living dead"
By John Chuckman
YellowTimes.org Columnist (Canada)

– One by one, in the dead of night, they push ghastly, rotting fingers through
dank earth in an effort to grasp something solid and pull themselves up from moldering
graves,
figures of long-dead flesh, blank-eyed, capable of no feeling save an unnatural hunger that
animates and drives them shakily forward. They are the gruesome remains of an earlier time,
mysteriously returned to life, once more to exercise their malevolent influence on the planet.
They
are the Bush appointments -- Cheney, Rumsfeld, Reich, and Poindexter.

And now we have the decayed bulk of Henry Kissinger again lurching into Washington.

Kissinger has been reanimated and assigned to study the causes of what he himself helped
create,
terrorism.

--

Talking Back To Talk Radio - Fairness, Democracy, and
Profits
by Thom Hartmann

"All Democrats are fat, lazy, and stupid," the talk-show host said in grave, serious tones as if he were
uttering a sacred truth.

We were driving to Michigan for the holidays, and I was tuning around, listening for the stations I'd
worked for two and three decades ago. I turned the dial. "It's a Hannity For Humanity house," a different
host said, adding that the Habitat For Humanity home he'd apparently hijacked for his own self-promotion
would only be given to a family that swears it's conservative. "No liberals are going to get this house," he
said.

Turning the dial again, we found a convicted felon ranting about the importance of government having
ever-more powers to monitor, investigate, and prosecute American citizens without having to worry about
constitutional human rights protections.....
Published on Tuesday, December 3, 2002 by CommonDreams.org

Better Wear your "Not Working for Al Quaeda" Hat - Don't Leave Home Without it


WASHINGTON - American citizens working for al-Qaida overseas can
legally be targeted and killed by the CIA under President Bush's
rules for the war on terrorism, U.S. officials say.

The authority to kill U.S. citizens is granted under a secret
finding signed by the president after the Sept. 11 attacks that
directs the CIA to covertly attack al-Qaida anywhere in the
world. The authority makes no exception for Americans, so
permission to strike them is understood rather than specifically
described, officials said.

Bush Restoring Cash Bonuses for Appointees
By ERIC LICHTBLAU


ASHINGTON, Dec. 3 — The White House has decided that several thousand political
appointees across the federal government will be eligible for cash bonuses,
abandoning a Clinton-era prohibition that grew out of questionable practices in the first
Bush administration.
The Bush administration
did not help matters last week with the announcement that it was setting pay increases
for career federal employees below what Congress was seeking.

Inspectors still not finding Weapons in Iraq

Bush(not a moron) finds this fact "not encouraging". Iraq has to provide a list of their weapons (that they do not have) by September 8 or be attacked. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Birdbrain Droppings


The tree will be decorated with 400 birds native to the United States, making it the centerpiece of this year's official White House
theme — "all creatures, great and small."

snip

"Families around the United States are comforted and amused by the animals that they get to watch out in nature, like bird
watching, or that they live with in their own homes, their own pets," Mrs. Bush told reporters at a ceremony on the North Portico of
the White House.
snip

"Our animals have been a great source of comfort to us since Sept. 11, 2001," she said. "They are a great amusement and
distraction, but also they make the White House home for us." All three pets went to the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas for the
Thanksgiving weekend.
snip
While Mrs. Bush spoke, anti-war demonstrators pounded drums just outside the gate. She did not acknowledge the protesters,
though the sound rumbled across the North Lawn throughout her remarks.

Mark Morford treatment of the News Story:

The tree will be decorated with 400
birds native to the US, making it the centerpiece of this year's
official White House theme -- "all creatures, great and small," as the
press announcement read. "Except for you filthy immigrants and poor
minorities and Godless progressive bastards and evil evildoers and
independent women and freaky scary gay people and environmentalists and
vegetarians," it was clearly implied. "I love Christmas it is my
favorite time of year yes very special to me and George please OK
good," Laura might've droned in a very odd monotone, eyes wide and
unblinking, head tilted just slightly to the side, a strange grin
shellacked to her face, as Dick "Lipless" Cheney stood nearby, snorting
and snickering and apparently working a small black remote-control
device in his pale scaly hands.

More on Compassionate Conservatives from DiIulio (Huston Chronicle)


"Mayberry Machiavellis" is DiIulio's term for the political staff and most particularly
Karl Rove, Bush's chief adviser. He describes Rove as "enormously powerful, maybe
the single most powerful person in the modern, post-Hoover era ever to occupy a
political-adviser post near the Oval Office."



As a result, DiIulio said, the administration has accomplished almost nothing
domestically except Bush's tax cut and an education bill, which DiIulio described as
"really a Ted Kennedy bill."

"There is a virtual absence as yet of any policy accomplishments that might, to a
fair-minded nonpartisan, count as the flesh on the bones of so-called compassionate
conservatism," he said. What there is, he said, is "on-the-fly policy-making by
speechmaking."

Trouble in Paradise



The former aide, John J. DiIulio Jr., a domestic affairs expert and professor
at the University of Pennsylvania, was appointed by President Bush to head the
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the second week
of the new administration, claims all decisions are politicized by Bush's top
adviser Karl Rove, and that the policy staff is afraid to confront him.

....
In an interview with Esquire, DiIulio said: "There is no precedent in any
modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a
policy apparatus. What you've got is everything, and I mean everything, being
run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis."

L'Etat C'est Mois! Bush (not a moron) Can Detain/Punish his Enemies at Will

Those Designated 'Combatants' Lose Legal Protections

By Charles Lane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 1, 2002; Page A01

The Bush administration is developing a parallel legal system in which terrorism suspects --
U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike -- may be investigated, jailed, interrogated, tried and
punished without legal protections guaranteed by the ordinary system, lawyers inside and
outside the government say.

Civil libertarians accuse the Bush administration of an executive-branch power grab that will
erode the rights and freedoms that terrorists are trying to destroy -- and that were
enhanced only recently in response to abuses during the civil rights era, Vietnam and
Watergate.




Probably the most hotly disputed element of the administration's approach is its contention
that the president alone can designate individuals, including U.S. citizens, as enemy
combatants, who can be detained with no access to lawyers or family members unless and
until the president determines, in effect, that hostilities between the United States and that
individual have ended.

It is unconstitutional to subject U.S. citizens
to indefinite confinement on little more than the president's declaration, especially given the
inherently open-ended nature of an unconventional war against terrorism.

"The notion that the executive branch can decide by itself that an American citizen can be put
in a military camp, incommunicado, is frightening," said Morton H. Halperin, director of the
Washington office of the Open Society Institute. "They're entitled to hold him on the grounds
that he is in fact at war with the U.S., but there has to be an opportunity for him to contest
those facts."

The Myth of the Liberal Media: R.I.P - Joe Conason's Eulogy


The legend of the liberal media is finally dead. When the mightiest
voices of the
mainstream gang up on Tom Daschle with Rush
Limbaugh, who can believe in that old myth any
more?

The historic rumble started after the Senate
Democratic
leader compared the shrill radio host to
foreign fanatics,
and complained that he and his family receive
threats
when Mr. Limbaugh airs a diatribe against him.
snip
It isn’t so far-fetched, however, that a loony or two or a dozen among
the millions who listen to Mr.
Limbaugh every day might threaten Mr. Daschle. Why? Because of what Mr.
Limbaugh has actually said
about Mr. Daschle—and because a serious physical threat has already
occurred at least once as a direct result
of irresponsible broadcasts by Mr. Limbaugh and others.

On May 11, 1999, Hardball host Chris Matthews coaxed Kathleen Willey
into naming Cody Shearer, a
longtime Clinton friend, as the man who had allegedly used threats to
silence her. That this was a wholly false
(and easily disproved) assertion didn’t matter to Mr. Limbaugh, who
repeated the inflammatory slander the
following day and even spelled out Mr. Shearer’s surname on the air.
Several days later, Mr. Shearer started
to receive death threats.

Then on a Sunday afternoon, Hank Buchanan, a brother of Pat and Bay,
decided to visit Mr. Shearer’s
Washington home. He broke into the garage, slashed the tires of two cars
and threatened three other people
with a handgun before fleeing. Hank Buchanan was apprehended and sent to
a mental institution. Mr.
Matthews made an on-air apology to Mr. Shearer and to his viewers. And
while that was the end of the
matter, the assault by the deranged Buchanan showed that ugly broadcasts
may have tragic consequences.

What Gore Said (to get Kurtz & al balistic):


"The media is kind of weird these days on politics, and
there are some major institutional voices that are,
truthfully speaking, part and parcel of the Republican
Party," said Mr. Gore in an interview with The
Observer. "Fox News Network, The Washington
Times, Rush Limbaugh—there’s a bunch of them, and
some of them are financed by wealthy ultra-conservative billionaires who make
political deals with Republican administrations and the rest of the media …. Most
of the media [has] been slow to recognize the pervasive impact of this fifth
column in their ranks—that is, day after day, injecting the daily Republican talking
points into the definition of what’s objective as stated by the news media as a
whole."

It's relevant to note that this (and another quote) is all that made it in the NY Observer acrid article out of a phone interview with Al Gore, complete with unflatering drawing. The bulk of the article contained peeved reactions from RNC and "lifelong Democrats" which in it of itself makes Gore's point.

> Sunday, December 1, 2002
> To jobless, White House is Scrooge
> By MARIANNE MEANS
> SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
> WASHINGTON -- President Bush displayed no interest in having Congress,
> before it adjourned, extend unemployment benefits for more than
> 800,000 jobless workers whose essential federal lifeline will expire
> right after Christmas.
> And a Happy New Year to you, too, Master of the Universe.
> The White House and the incoming Republican-controlled Congress are
> gleefully making plans for many more tax giveaways to benefit rich
> individuals, and lavish loopholes to benefit corporations. But the
> victims of a wave of corporate collapses and employee downsizing in
> the shaky economy were stiffed by the GOP-controlled House of
> Representatives and the White House. The president ignored Democratic
> pleas to lean on his party's House leaders.

The Gloves are off: Wash Post gives up Pretenses of Objectivity Howard Kurtz:



What, after all, does the ex-veep gain by denouncing the likes of Fox News and the
Washington Times?

Maybe he's just frustrated that his book isn't selling better, despite a zillion media
appearances with Tipper.

Let's say Gore is right, that conservative news outlets are trying to blacken the
reputations of people like him. Doesn't complaining about it just sound like whining? Or
is he playing to his base, the way conservatives have done all these years by moaning
about the liberal media?

After all, if you're going to take on Saddam and Osama, you'd better be able to deal
with the likes of the Washington Times. The conservative media aren't going anywhere.
Deal with it.

Grim Bartizen Prediction on the Kissinger 9.11 Commission role

The
"investigation" is going to lead
inexorably to the conclusion that Bill Clinton and Al
Gore committed treason.

In today's New York Times it was heavily emphasized
that the commission is
charged with looking into previous administrations
actions. I think we can expect
that there will be slow but constant leaks giving an
impression that the Clinton
administration pretty much planned 9/11 because of
their great hatred of
freedom and morality.

The report will be released just before the election
and it will portray a resolute
and commanding George W. Bush singlehandedly fighting
a corrupt bureaucracy
staffed by hold-over cells of Democratic al Quada
sympathizers while Dick and
Condy and Rummy bravely and without thought for their
own personal safety
worked feverishly to cut through the layers of
ingrained ineptitude of the national
security apparatus made fat and stupid after 8 years
of Democratic cronyism.

By that time, of course, months of leaks and non-stop
shrill, shrieking,
Wagnerian hyperbole by thoughtful, mainstream analysts
like Rush Limbaugh
and Hannity will have dominated the discourse so
thoroughly that the Democrats
will gather around the microphones en masse like a
quivering mound of aspic
and feebly point to the fact that the report contains
no proof while pronouncing in
dolorous tones that Clinton is, nonetheless,
deplorable and reprehensible and Al
Gore freakishly lied about his wife's shoe size to
investigators.

How Bill Clinton’s ghost still haunts the Bush White House

Newsweek

Nov. 27 — The numbers just didn’t add up. For days leading up
to George W. Bush’s trip to Lithuania and Romania late last
week, White House staffers were projecting that huge crowds
would turn out for the president’s visit. “The initial estimates are
between 50,000 and 100,000,” Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told
us on Air Force One. “In each place?” asked an incredulous
reporter. “Yes.”

WELL, ACTUALLY, no. Another top staffer, trying to tamp down
the hyperbole, nudged Fleischer to revise his estimates. “I stand
corrected:
25,000 to 50,000 in Lithuania and 50,000 to 100,000 in Romania,”
Fleischer said. He was still off by nearly 100,000: about 10,000 turned out
in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius and about 50,000 in cold and rainy
Bucharest.
At first, I didn’t understand why White House staffers—always loath
to engage in “hypotheticals” of any sort—were talking up the hypothetical
turnout in the first place. The only answer I could come up with: Bill
Clinton. When the former president visited Bucharest five years ago, about
100,000 people packed the downtown square of the Romanian capital. Of
course, the people of Eastern Europe would turn out for any American
president, such is their love of the freedom we espouse. But whenever
Bush has had to follow Clinton anywhere—notably to the D-Day
ceremonies at Normandy last Memorial Day—his administration has been
keenly aware of Clinton’s shadow.

My Letter to Leno

Dear Jay

You were right on your show last night. And Gore and Daschle were wrong.
It is not the likes of Limbaugh or Moonie Times they should have taken issue with (and
what's a
little anthrax between friends, right?). At least these mouthpieces are quite transparent
in their
RNC connections. They don't seriously contend that they are anything else.
It's the "liberal media" - The New York Times, CNN and the NBC they should take issue
with.
The New York Times which publishes a poll analysis and gushes about Bush's
popularity,
neglecting to mention the newsworthy finding that only 32% would vote for him in 2004.
It's CNN
which beats the drums of war without bothering to tell us why that war is so necessary.
It's people like you who called my senator "trailer trash" in an interview once. You are
not
mainstream, you are not benign, you are vicious propaganda outlets of the thugs in
power.
And, for your information: Paul Wellstone's memorial was one of the few moments this
year
when I felt proud and hopeful for the cause of the many. No amount of vicious venom
from you
and your cohorts is going to take this away - not from the numerous young people
calling
themselves Wellstone Democrats these days. And, NO. Our mourning and celebrating
our best,
does not entitle you to fill the airwaves with hatred and violence. Nothing does.
I had not watched you - never having considered you funny - even before you came out
of the
right wing closet. But I did have friends and family who did. I called in a few favors and
they
promised to turn you off for good . With most, it was very easy. One word did it:
Wellstone.

-------------------------------------
Bush Refuses To Pardon White House Turkey
Calls Ceremonial Bird 'Evil' By Andy Borowitz

In a break with a White House tradition going back several decades,
President Bush
refused to pardon the ceremonial White House turkey today until it
agreed
to disarm
itself unconditionally.

Onlookers appeared stunned as the President used the typically
light-hearted photo
op to deliver a dire warning to the turkey, whom Mr. Bush called "evil."

Fixing the turkey with his icy stare, Mr. Bush warned, "Give up your

arms, or face
the consequences."

Mr. Bush later told reporters that he was "a patient man," but that
his
ultimatum
to the White House turkey was a crucial part of his ongoing war against
what he
called "The Axis of Poultry."

But at the United Nations, Security Council members were openly
critical of the
President's call for the White House turkey to disarm.

"To our knowledge, the turkey has no arms," said Jean-David Levitte,

the French
ambassador to the U.N.

The crisis involving the White House turkey was occurring just as
Washington was
rocked with revelations that Attorney General John Ashcroft had detained
as
many as
20,000 turkeys this Thanksgiving in various coops and pens around the
country.

"We believe these birds have information, and we have ways to make
them
talk," Mr.
Ashcroft said in a brief statement.

The Liberal Media in the 2000 Campaign (Paul Begala-Crossfire)

There were exactly 704 stories in the campaign about this flap of Gore inventing
the Internet. There were only 13 stories about Bush failing to show up for his
National Guard duty for a year. There were well over 1,000 stories -- Nexus stopped
at 1,000 -- about Gore and the Buddhist temple. Only 12 about Bush being
accused of insider trading at Harken Energy. There were 347 about Al Gore wearing
earth tones, but only 10 about the fact that Dick Cheney did business with Iran and
Iraq and Libya.

Idiots,
imbeciles feeling left out - letter to the editor, Toronto Star



Bush fails to meet moron criteria


Opinion, Nov. 26.

Thomas Walkom does not tell the whole story. Idiots and i
mbeciles all across the U.S. are outraged at being excluded
from the remarks of Françoise Ducros. One idiot complained,
"Bush is always called a moron, but he is also an idiot and
that's never mentioned." One imbecile, demonstrating in a
combined rally of a reported 5,000 idiots and imbeciles
outside the federal building in Los Angeles Sunday said that,
"Imbeciles are among Bush's strongest supporters and we are
beginning to feel left out."


Ronald Rubin, Topanga, Calif.

Moronic Statement of the Day (no, it's NOT from Bush*):


"Lieberman, who pushed for the commission over Bush's initial objections, called the appointment a good beginning and said
he suspected that Kissinger did not want to end his career on a partisan note."

. Psst! She really said 'Mormon'

By MARGARET WENTE
Globe and Mail
Tuesday, November 26, 2002

… … No one actually cares what Francie Ducros thinks of George Bush. What matters
is what the gang she hangs around with think. And the truth is, most of them
(including her boss, no doubt) agree with her. She's simply reflecting a view that's
widespread among the nation's political elite. As for the CBC Radio reporter, who
knows what he thinks? But it is safe to say that, within the CBC, the range of
opinions on Mr. Bush pretty much runs the gamut from "drooling imbecile" to
"warmongering idiot."

… … Ms. Ducros, meanwhile, has not gone unsung in Baghdad, where her "moron"
comment has been quoted with approval by the Ba'ath party's official newspaper. It
says she has supplied yet more proof that "Bush has become the most hated
person in the world."

Well, that's one thing we all can probably agree on….

Toronto Star:

BUSH FAILS TO MEET MORON CRITERIA
by Thomas Walkom

The debate over whether George W. Bush is a moron continues to sputter.
Morons are outraged at being lumped in with the U.S. president. Americans,
meanwhile, are mildly amused that it has taken Canadians so long to discover
the obvious.

The controversy exploded last week when Francoise Ducros, an adviser to
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, was overheard at a NATO meeting in Prague
saying, "What a moron," apparently in relation to Bush.

Morons say this is an outlandish slur. "We're nice people," explained one.
"We don't threaten other countries or use the courts to steal elections.
George W. Bush may be a dangerous lunatic. But he's no moron."

Chrétien seems to agree. "He's not a moron at all," the Prime Minister told
reporters on Thursday, referring to Bush.

Still, the opposition parties are not content. The Canadian Alliance argues
that if Bush discovers he is a moron, this could affect Canada-U.S.
relations.

Chrétien, however, says there is nothing to worry about. Bush, he said,
doesn't read Canadian newspapers

According to the International Dictionary of Medicine and Biology, most
morons are "educable and do not require institutionalization but need some
supervision in working at some simple job by which they can become
self-sustaining members of society."

Some have argued that this definition fits Bush to a tee. In most matters,
they note, he is carefully supervised by Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defence
Secretary Donald Rumsfield and Attorney-General John Ashcroft.

Cheney and Rumsfield run Bush's wars while Ashworth stifles domestic
opposition. At home in the White House, first lady Laura Bush is charged
with watching over the president.

"Since the president's inauguration, he's only been left unsupervised once -
to watch a football game on television," recalled one expert. "And look what
happened. He fell off the couch, choked on a pretzel and hurt his head."

While the Canadian media have gone gaga over the Bush-is-moron story,
Americans seem to have taken it in their stride. "Once again, Canadians have
discovered the obvious," editorialized the Wall Street Journal dismissively.
"Duh, Canada" riposted the New York Post.

In a lengthy analysis, the New York Times pointed out that Americans have
long made a practice of electing dead people to the Senate and morons to the
presidency.

"This kind of flexibility is what makes U.S. democracy so vital," the Times
went on. "Why should the Senate be denied the wisdom of those who have
passed on? Why should the presidency be the preserve of the mentally
capable?"

Recent polls suggest that most Americans agree. A stunning 67 per cent of
respondents think that Bush is a moron compared with the next largest
category, 28 per cent, who believe him to be a space alien.

Yet neither has affected his 82 per cent approval rating.

Moron Definition - for Better Understanding of Moron Affair

Moron comes from Greek moros `foolish, stupid.' It was coined as a scientific term by
Dr. Henry H. Goddard and proposed to the American Association for the Study of the
Feebleminded by him in 1910. It was accepted by the Association and described a
person suffering from mental deficiency who was between eight and twelve years in
mental age and who possessed an I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) below 75. It was the
highest rating of a mentally deficient person, the two lower ratings being imbecile and
idiot. Moron was quickly adopted in common English to mean `fool' and it is no longer
in scientific use.*

Another Photo Caption:




File photo of U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) who was
described as a moron by a top aide to the Canadian Prime Minister Jean
Chretien. REUTERS/William Philpott"


Sorry, I cannot post photos here, but you'll have to trust me, it fits.

"Not a Moron" afraid of Turkey (AP photo caption)


President Bush (news - web sites) is cautious in petting a female turkey named Katie by
first using the hand of Ron Prestage to touch the bird as he participates in the annual
pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkey in the Rose Garden of the White House, Tuesday,
Nov. 26, 2002.

Klein adviser calls Bush 'idiot'

A media adviser to the Alberta government has apologized for referring to George W. Bush as "that idiot" in an internal memo commenting on the controversy over a senior federal aide who called the U.S. dictator "a moron." Here's the apology:

"MediaWorks West sincerely regrets our editing
error in today's 1
p.m. SCRUM. It was completely unintentional and
the result reflects
exactly the opposite sentiments of our staff,"
Ms. Chase wrote in
her apology. "George Bush holds a BS from Yale
and an MBA from
Harvard ... and cannot be fairly characterized
as uneducated or
unintelligent."

Only 32% Would Vote Bush in 2004 (not that NYT would comment on that)

The article analysing their poll talks about our love for the GOP and how we don't like Gore - even found the proverbial "lifetime Democrat":

"In another follow-up interview, Wayne Denson, 75, a
Democrat and retired optician from Kansas City, Mo., said:
"I voted for him to start with but now that Bush got
elected, I'd rather vote for Bush than Gore. Bush has got
more intelligence."

From the Specious News:

Tape Shows Ari Fleischer Called Jean Chretien a Bitch


OTTAWA, Canada -- A tape recording obtained from an Ottawa newspaper
reporter gives startling evidence that more than a few people were
exchanging insults at last week's historic NATO summit in Prague.

Although it is still unclear who started the name-calling, a recorder was
activated just
as Prime Minister Jean Chretien's communications director Francoise Ducros
muttered
the words "What a moron", apparently in reference to U.S. President George W.
Bush.

Over laughter and light applause, Bush's press
secretary Ari Fleischer is clearly heard to reply, "Oh
yeah? Well Chretien is a bitch". Snip...

However, Prime Minister Chretien
has declined Ducros' offer of resignation, amid general consensus that her only
offense was stating the obvious.

In an effort to smooth international relations, Chretien later said of Bush "He
isn't a
moron, he's my friend".

Likewise, President Bush made it clear no action would be taken against
Fleischer,
saying of Chretien "He may be a bitch, but he's MY bitch".

Poetic Irony (still waiting for Justice)

The communists took power in Romania by hijacking the anti-fascist movement (and with outside help). Now, the new fascists from outside, try to further their goals (permanent war) by hijacking the anti-communist feeling still lingering after all these years. And, as a friend said, if a majority here refuse to see the new fascist reality, how can I expect people at the other end of the world to renounce the old bastion of freedom image that America once was?

Also Having a Birthday: the J&B Twins

OK, kids: now you can get drunk in public all you want - you've came of age, so no more fake IDs needed, no more police busting you, no more judges slapping you on your imperial wrists. Let your hair down girls all the way, cause even if it's notorious, the pundits will only gush: "I mean who amongst us hasn't been young, got drunk, fallen on the street, had some crack, faked some prescriptions, stolen drugs from a rehab center...We're all human, right?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATI!

Changing the Tone in International Debate - Welcome to Kindergarden


Chirac shields Chretien from 'moron' fallout

By BILL RODGERS, SUN OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA -- A furious French President Jacques Chirac shielded
Prime
Minister Jean Chretien from questions about a "moron" scandal
surrounding his communications director yesterday, saying the
subject had
no place at an international meeting on aid to Lebanon.

"We are in France," Chirac said sharply to a reporter during a
news
conference at L'Elysee, his palatial home. "We are not here to
discuss
Canadian domestic issues."

Chirac glared at the Canadian reporter, covered Chretien's
microphone
with his hand and quickly moved to another question from the
floor.

The scandal had already inflamed passions in the United States,
with
conservative pundits fuming after Chretien said he'd decided
not to fire
his aide, Francoise Ducros, for calling U.S. President George W.
Bush "a
moron."

Commentator and failed presidential candidate Pat Buchanan
called
Canadians "spoiled brats of the new world order" on Friday, and
Sean
Hannity, best-selling author and rabid defender of Bush on his
daily radio
and Fox TV programs, said Chretien was "obviously a leftist."

On Friday, Chretien threatened to end a pre-taped CBC News:
Sunday
interview if his questioner didn't stop asking about the issue.
Interviewer
Carole MacNeil started by asking: "Prime Minister Chretien,
regarding the
moron comment, what happened?"

Chretien curtly replied, "I discussed that earlier so ask me
about NATO,
OK?"

Four times the PM tried to steer the interview back to
questions about
NATO before snapping: "All right, if you don't want an interview
..."

MacNeil relented for a few minutes but went back to the subject
that
dominated Canadian news for most of a three-day international
gathering
last week in the Czech Republic.

Miracles from God, Special Effects, the Deal of the Century

The fuhrer was received like the second coming of Ceausescu in Piata Palatului - now "Revolution Square". And why not? He promised them to defend them against Communism (Hear that Albania and Cuba? Attack Romania and you have Bush to recon with!) and all they have to do is die for his oil in Iraq. Hollywood effects were mentioned - huge screens, music and such...A rainbow appearing was conveninetly noted on a board: "Only Freedom Makes Such Miracles" Reportedly, Bush* ad-libed the "sign from God" thingy so the crowd did not get it, BUT APPLAUDED ANYWAY" Ah, the good old times..."Cu mustar.."

How do we stop them? What do we have to do to stop them?

These were little Maya's anguished words after the little talk we had on the bus. After telling her that she'll drink water at Bubbie's house and her saying: "Everyone has water" I let out a sigh: "Well, at least until the Republicans fix it so only rich people do" "Why would they do that?" "Out of Greed" After she asked me how do we stop them, I had to promise that we'll find a way - in spite of my not promising stuff I cannot deliver. The question remains: why was it so easy for a 4 years old to get it and so difficult for most "Murikans?

THE REPUBLICAN Non-Scandal Scandals by Bridget Gibson

"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now
possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their
knowing it." - Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, America's No. 1
Publicist in the 1920's
When is a scandal not a scandal? When a scandal appears to be connected with a
member of the Republican Party, it is not reported as a "scandal." Only when a
member of the Democratic Party has involvement in anything that broaches the
questionable grey area is something "determined" to be a "scandal." After an eight
year-long investigation of William Jefferson and Hillary Clinton was concluded with
"no evidence," it is still reported as a "scandal."
That $70 million in taxpayer dollars and untold hours were devoted to finding
something, anything, to throw at the Clintons has shown that there was nothing to
throw. The media (and I mean the major corporate media) still consider it to be a
"scandal." One that just won't go away. One that has to be lied about and
drummed constantly into the psyche of the American public until something
resonates. What is resonating are the words that have been repeated endlessly
until almost everyone can recite them verbatim.
But let me tell you what was not a "scandal."
There was no "scandal" when Republican President George Herbert Walker Bush
pardoned Caspar Weinberger with an indictment filed against him, thus avoiding
any questions regarding the involvement of that same Republican President in the
Iran-Contra Affair.
There was no "scandal" when a partisan court appointed the highest elected official
in this country.
There was no "scandal" when an intern was found dead of mysterious causes in
Florida Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough's office. There was no "scandal"
when Republican Mayor Philip Giordano of Waterbury, Connecticut was caught and
charged as a sexual predator of young girls.
There was no "scandal" when the Republican President George Walker Bush
nominated Theodore Olson (investigated for obstruction of justice and lying to
Congress during the Superfund investigation) to the office of Solicitor General.
There was no "scandal" when Florida Governor Jeb Bush's daughter, Noelle Bush,
was charged with felony fraud in obtaining a controlled substance. There was no
"scandal" when Republican President George Walker Bush's daughters, Jenna and
Barbara Bush, then 18, were convicted with using illegally obtained and false
identification to obtain alcohol.

snip
They do not want you to remember Republican "scandals." It makes it easier to
demonize Democrats. They do not want you to look around. They do not want you
to question their version of the news. There are only Democratic "scandals". You can
recite them as easily as you can recite the Pledge of Allegiance: Whitewater. The
Blue Dress. Chandra Levy. Chappaquiddick. You know the drill.

The Ceausescu Moment

Recently, a bartizen was waxing nostalgic about that delicious moment when an absolut dictator got booed by the crowd and subsequently chased away. (It took Romanians 25 years of misery to get to that, but I did not have the heart to tell them).Anyway, Chimpy will be today in the very place - will the Universe release his karma today?

Putin Reminds Bush of Terrorism


PUSHKIN, Russia (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Bush on Friday the United
States should not wage war alone against Iraq, and he put Bush on the spot by questioning whether
White House allies like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are doing enough to fight terrorism.

"Where has Osama bin Laden taken refuge?" the Russian said in a joint news conference with Bush
at an 18th century czarist castle.
According to the New York Times, Bush* avoided answering Putin through the clever maneuver of...saying that he has a plane to catch (guess Air Force One was otherwise engaged).

Bush is NOT a Moron - Declares Cretien in a Press Conference - Bob Boudelag Vindicated:


Well, all those who said that Our Great President was a disaster when
dealing with other countries have to be pretty embarrassed this morning!
The Canadian Premeer, whoever he is, has held a press conference just
to point out that George W. Bush is not a moron!

You will notice that nobody ever held a press conference to point out that
Slick Willy Klintoon was not a moron. Arrest my case!

In fact, as far as I know, no U.S. president has ever had to have the
head of another foreign country make a special announcement to tell
the world he is not a moron.

>President Bush may be "moron": stupidity experts

> TORONTO, Nov. 22 /CNW/ - A high-ranking federal official may be correct
in an assessment of US president George Bush as "a moron" say a group of
Canadian stupidity experts. "Technically, a moron is someone who is stupid but
looks normal," said Albert Nerenberg, a Toronto-based film director who is
completing a television documentary titled Stupidity. A controversy has
erupted over newspaper reports that a top Canadian federal aide called Bush a
"moron" for his hard-line stance on Iraq at the current NATO meeting in
Prague.