Category: Politics

GOP Scandals Dog Ohio Candidate – washingtonpost.com

“You think the Democrats are any better?” is the familiar refrain one hears in response to documentation of Republican corruption. It is such a silly response to the widespread corruption that has been plaguing the Republican Party. This wave of corruption that is unprecedented, certainly so in the past fifty years. From Randal Cunningham, to Tom DeLay and now to the disgraceful gentlemen from Ohio. California, Texas, Ohio. The corruption of the GOP knows no boundaries, no cultural barriers and no moral barriers. What the documented cases of fraud demonstrate is that the GOP is a party corrupt to the core, and that vast majority of the party is wholly dedicated to goal of wielding power at any cost, to the total sacrificing of morals, ethics and decency.

So, yes, the Democrats are better. The facts about the GOP demonstrate prove the allegation. It is impossible to be worse than the worst, to fail morally more than those have failed totally in that respect.

Does that makes Democrats good? Probably not, because because being better than the worst does not qualify one as good. Being better than the worst does make one, well, better. That should be enough.

AP Wire | 10/10/2006 | U.S. forms task force to crack down on Cuba sanction violators

Surprise, surprise, surprise! The GOP elects to pander to Cubans in Florida again when elections arrive. If campaign slogans were truthful, the GOP’s would read

We destroyed the economy. We lost Iraq. We made Iran more powerful. We encouraged the proliferation of nuclear weapons. We disrupted an international order that was generating wealth for the US. BUT, we did manage to punish a few small businesses who were selling things to a third world country we don’t like.

And, thank God that they did! Thank God, indeed.

If no, then now you can find out exactly.

LegiStorm – The Web’s only source for congressional staff salaries

Of course, one only gets the sinking feeling that many perks suddenly cease to be classified as compensation, and this site will become worthless.

But, until then…

More than any other mantra, this one perhaps captures the essence of all George W Bush endeavors. Not a single company he has headed has outperformed its competitors. If you read the rest of the posts in the Politics category on this blog, you will see a nice sampling of all the standards that George W Bush has sought to lower: environmental and educational (read the saga of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test).

Now, a new category in which W has lowered standards: moral standards.

Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule – Los Angeles Times

Character and strength are reflected in the ability to maintain one’s composure in the face of adversity. That is the essence of the Geneva Convention, to which the US was the first signatory. This signature was a promise that we would maintain our poise in the face of adversity; that we would not act like Nazis when confronted with Nazis; that we would not react like barbarians even confronted with barbarians. Now, we are explicitly stating that we are weak enough to react like barbarians when confronted with barbarians. Not only are we too weak to define our role in this conflict, but we lack the strength to prevent our enemy from defining us in the conflict.

If only people could realize that these are George W Bush’s defining moments, the milestones of a legacy of corruption and barbarism that will be recognized as a gross insult to humanity.

When you recklessly increase Defense spending, it makes sense to cut programs that generate money and that save lives, of course!

Christian Science Monitor: Bush energy plan whacks conservation

The competition between ignorance and evil continues. Ignorance has struck some staggering blows since evil struck on 9/11.

It’s no joke. According to Chemical and Engineering news, a draft report by the White House claims that EPA air pollution regulations have generated between $94 billion and $449 billion in economic benefits. The economic cost of the regulations was between $44 and $47 billion annually. So, it’s a break even affair.

One rule, however, is truly profitable. The one that limits emissions by coal fired plants in 28 states and D.C. costs $1.8 billion and has benefits of over $50 billion annually.

So, is it any wonder that so many states are suing the Bush EPA for wanting to relax these rules?

Everybody loves a good fight. This is especially true for Americans who will fight for the sake of fighting. The distraction over a bill touted as immigration reform¹ is a prima facie (thank you very much) example. Everyone seems to agree that immigration laws need to change, but nobody cares to pay heed to the nature and the structure of this change. Consequently, this debate, like most American political debates, has decomposed to a senseless shouting match, much sound and fury representing nothing. In fact, the so called debate scarcely aspires to triviality.

The premise of the whole enterprise is dubious, of course, because, as the name implies, the bill only seeks to “strengthen” existing laws. With respect to immigration, this is a silly proposition because strengthening existing laws will not remedy the problem, lack of enforcement. Existing laws already proscribe hiring illegal aliens. They also provide remedies for deporting those who have entered the US illegally and provisions for preventing illegal entry. We have a problem because these laws are not enforced. Immigrants cross the border freely, employers employ illegals without consequence, and American businesses cater to their economic demands. Hence, making tougher laws will solve nothing because, without enforcement, the tougher laws will also collect dust.

If this were not sufficient incentive to let this piece of rubbish die a well deserved death, then the unfortunate, unconvinced soul may indulge himself/herself by reading the body of the bill by clicking the link below. The reader will discover that, with respect to national security, the bill prescribes no new duties for the Department of Homeland Security. Redundancy is original only in Washington, D.C., it seems, and only in the minds of ideologically obsessed Republicans.

It should come as no surprise then, that the bill is written by a man with no credibility as a politician. James Sensenbrenner² is a proud prosecutor of an impeached president, Bill Clinton. In as much, he is proud of being an ideologue and of being a servant to ideology, rather than to mankind–not even those who elected him. Given the merits of this “reform” bill–the criminalization of charitable organizations and codifying the forced expulsion of 11 million people without appropriating the tens of billions of dollars and the tens of thousands officers that the task would require–it should come as no surprise that it is the product of such a petty mind. (Why has nobody bothered asking how we go about the task of deporting 11 million people once we declare them to be criminals after having welcomed them with open wallets and open arms?)

Opposition to this bill is understandable. It is even justifiable. Opposition is a rational response, but what of the solution to the problem? Will illegal immigration ever stop? Will there ever be a balance between the human rights of illegal immigrants and the insatiable appetite of businesses for cheap labor? Are we going to move toward an integrated society, or are we going to forge ahead to a more fractured society composed of the “legals” and the “illegals”, each with its set of rules, entirely unequal before the constitution?

This debate would lead to progress of course, but instead we are faced with braying of the masses in response to the braying of one ass. The middle did not used to be this miserable a locale. Or was it?

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1. HR 4437 introduced by J. Sensenbrenner
2. Sensenbrennerwatch Criminalization of charity