William Arkin needs to have a reality check.

This steaming pile is one of the worst things I have seen written in a long time. I was not in favor of the Iraq war, nor have I been happy with the way it has been handled. Mistakes have been made.

However, there is no excuse for the pile of inhuman waste DNA that is William Arkin of the Washington Post. Yes, there is freedom of press. This is not the press though. This is hate speech. It is also an attack on the troops by calling them mercenaries. Now if you want to go after military contractors with that term, I have no problem. To apply that to the rank and file troops is just vile. I have no use for idiots like Arkin and he should be fired post haste.

What should the question about global warming/climate change be?

It seems that there is now a consensus that something is happening to the climate. Shouldn't the question now be "what can we do about it or how do we prepare for it?" Personally, I lean towards human caused warming; but I am not completely sure. I actually hope it is human caused. If it is not, what are we going to do next??

If this is truly a cycle increase, where are the programs that are studying how we are going to mitigate the losses? Where are the climate models to show us what the non-human caused warming is going to do?

Assuming you accept that it is not human caused, I guess there is nothing we can do to stop it. Historically, we know that large land masses have been submerged in the past. Therefore, it is safe to say that natural warming will lead to submersion of some very major and populated cities. We need the non-human warming group to come forward with models so we can try to understand how much climate change is going to happen. How much is the mean sea level going to rise? How much is rainfall distribution going to change? Should we start to consider banning further development in low coastal areas? Should we even bother with rebuilding New Orleans? Do we need to begin developing relocation programs?

If the administration really feels that there is change, why are they not addressing these questions? Or is it really human caused and their claims are just a smokescreen to put off having to act? I really don't know.

As I said before, I hope it is human caused, because we would still have a chance to do something about it. If its not, the ultimate result is going to cost a heck of a lot more than anything we can imagine.

Restart the engine...lets talk SOTU

I thought the President had good presentation on the speech. However, I found the substance lacking. I will be the first to say that my foreign policy ideas and the Presidents do not mesh. I personally feel that we need a smaller military with more special forces and covert ops for the WOT. More bang for the buck. I dislike the idea of 92,000 more troops and the Civilian Reserve Corp. The first sounds like a budget buster and is counter to my own feelings on military direction. The second is a big UHHH?

What the heck is this Civilian Reserve Corp? Is this suppose to be a new level of contractors/mercenaries? Are we just going to give another excuse for some of our own loony militia groups to exist? I need a lot more details on this before I can even start to give it serious consideration.

Lets talk about oil and alternative sources of energy. First off, scrap that doubling of the SOR. Another budget buster and only serves to increase oil demand. I suspect the idea alone will drive oil prices up a couple of bucks a barrel today. The President needs to match his deeds to his words. I never saw any effort after last years comments on alternative fuels. Until I see an actual proposal, I am a skeptic. If he actually tries to push CAFE standards up, I might give him more credibility on the issue.

Health care now. Interesting ideas, but I think it has about as much chance as a lead balloon does of hitting an altitude record. I need to see hard numbers before I think it can work in reality. He mentioned payroll tax. Does that mean that it won't count against Social Security? That will help the Social Security solvency problem. Once again, I need to see the details because I am skeptical.

And now - the budget. I don't know. I know what he said. However, I hold the current budget numbers in contempt because the WOT should no longer be funded outside the budget. With the WOT and the other items proposed last night, I see it as hollow and impossible to balance the budget without tax increases and maintaining the minimal level of services that should be provided. I am not a fan of privatizing government services. That is the only way I can see these goals being met. Sell items off for a short term gain. Similar to the idiot states that sell off roads and lotteries for money now. Their kids should rise up and attack them now. Heck, I would not be surprised to see the current generation of teens pass mass euthanasia against their elders because of the idiocy of their actions in search of short term satisfaction.


The speech was good. The content was useless. I heard nothing that I can get behind the President on. I decided to sleep on it to see if my initial opinion changed. It only got worse.

Until the leaders of this country come to grips with the foolishness of their actions, I suggest the youth of this country take some Chinese lessons. It may come in very useful about 30 or 40 years down the road.

sotu

SOTU....ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Color me unimpressed. It appeared to be a speech by a President who is definately weaker and in lame duck status. I thought he did do a good job on justifying the evesdropping issue. While I may not be in favor of it, it may be politically unwise to attack.

His anti-cloning stance, I can understand. He is obviously clueless on the ideas behind human/animal hybrids though. I guess he must be thinking scientist are trying to make those anime catpeople he sees on Cartoon Network at night. Completely misses the point of making the research closer to human conditions to improve the speed of reasearch.

His budget cutting ideas are a joke. $14B is a sneeze in the budget. Could cut three sacred cows from road projects and get more then that. Line item veto redux. I am surprised it has taken him six years to bring it up. Of course, I am not sure he knows what a veto is. He certainly has never used one [a new record for a two term president by a mile at this rate].

Immigration reform, I found him soft. However, he did say "no amnesty." That, to me, should be a key part of any immigration reform. We have done it too many times and the illegals expect it now.

Health care reform, he came across even weaker than I expected. I sensed no real urge or push from teh President here. Seemed to be throwing things up against the wall trying to find something that might stick.

His alternative fuel stance was better. It is nice to hear him same that we need to reduce our dependency on oil and not just foriegn oil. Nice proposals, however, I feel the odds of them being funded are about as good as Abramhoff getting a return phone call these days.

My only eyebrow raise was his call for a bipartisan commision on Social Security and Medicare. Talk about running up the white flag after getting trounced in the public opinion last year. I have about as much confidence in this commision as I did in the tax reform commision. That one did a fabulous job, didn't it?

Democratic response was underwhelming. I felt like I was listening to a sales pitch of someone trying to sell me something. Problem is, I had no idea what the product that he was pushing was. Sounded more like an advertisment for companies to come to the Commonwealth of Virginia instead of a response to the Presidents State of the Union address. Looked nice, sounded nice but left me about as satisfied as diet soda when I really want a beer.

Nothing like watching the Democrats wanting to eat their young[and old]

This thread over that the Daily Kos is a woderful example of Democrats canibalizing themselves. They really have not learned that you have to pick the fights you can win and not to waste your self on a lost cause when it comes to politics.

One of my favorite comments is this one:

I consider this more important than the Nov elections. Now, it's 40 more years of a ultra-conservative Supreme. They've got bare minimum - Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito who will all vote the same every single time. Domestic spying, ok; 2-term Presidency, out the door. Vote Reform; no.

What a brainiac this one is. Does not seem to grab the concept that the 2-term is part of the Constitution. Oh, and its 40 years of ultra-conservative Supreme. 40 years? I guess he is planning on a bunch of guys living to 80 and 90 on the court.

The great unwashed and uniformed. Aren't blogs such a wonderful thing?

Blog not dead!

Give me a few more weeks. Last day on the job is February 17. Shortly after that, My schedule opens up. Full work and 12 hours of classes but homework leaves little time for social commentary.

Quick updates:
As more info has come out, no longer thinking impeachable offense. Just think the domestic program is not legal.

I think Bush has done a better job, spying not withstanding, as of late.

I expect nothing interesting from the State of the Union. He has gone major lame duck.

Bush will set a record for least vetos in any term.

The Wall Street Journal's opinion on the "mere Constitution"

Seems like the Wall Street Journal editorial page is playing as Bush's lap dog again. In their editorial on the wiretap issue, I was flabbergasted by this flippant comment:

The mere Constitution aside, the evidence is also abundant that the Administration was scrupulous in limiting the FISA exceptions.

You know, this "mere Constitution" is the reason you are allowed to write piles of poo like this. The Neocons have gone totally flipping stark raving power mad.

Inside the executive branch, the process allowing the wiretaps was routinely reviewed by Justice Department lawyers, by the Attorney General personally, and with the President himself reauthorizing the process every 45 days. In short, the implication that this is some LBJ-J. Edgar Hoover operation designed to skirt the law to spy on domestic political enemies is nothing less than a political smear.

Uh, what?! The process is reviewed by the Justice Department and the Attorney General? the same Attorney General who supports torture? Look, that is not a review. That is called a rubber stamp. The process of going to FISA is a review and a check by the judicial branch. There is not check here. This is a blatant violation of Presidential power and the Fourth Amendment rights of US citizens. There is not paper trail, At least not one that this President will be allowed to be reviewed. There is NO PROOF that this is not LBJ-J. Edgar Hoover all over again. Plus, the "trust us" line is no longer valid. They have long since lost the trust on issues like this.

The FISA process was designed for wiretaps on suspected foreign agents operating in this country during the Cold War. In that context, we had the luxury of time to go to the FISA court for a warrant to spy on, say, the economic counselor at the Soviet embassy.

The BS flag is on the field and it is getting deep. FISA allows for 72 hour retroactive authorizations of wiretaps. However, that would mean documenting what was done. Can't have a paper trail. God forbid someone finds out the NSA just happened to listen to something they should not have.



This policy must stop now. The system that is in place has enough loopholes to drive a planet through. There is no reason to subvert this system, unless the administration and NSA is really doing something illegal. I would sooner be killed by a terrorist then allow the liberties of this country to be destroyed in the name of protecting this country. If this policy does not end or is rolled back under FISA review, I would support impeachment and removal of President Bush for a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment. Something that is a hell of a lot worse then lying about getting a blowjob under oath and far more dangerous to this country. America and the Country are a lot higher on my list then party loyalty. As a Republican, I call on the President to end this policy or be impeached!