etc, etc, etc.

There have been a number of informative, inciteful posts at the following sites. Make time to read through the comment sections, because there are jewels to be found there as well. Although I link here, I also refer you to the right side of this blog, where links to Josh Marshall, Brad DeLong and Juan Cole can be found. If you are interested in economics, the Iraq War or the troubles in France, these will not fail to elucidate.

I would also like to mention this editorial from the New York Times (via Yellow Doggrel Democrat) that basically slams the Bush administration. As go the polls, so goes the NYT. The fact that "all the news fit to print" in the United States has only now opened their eyes to what is happening in this administration should be more frightening than anything the paper has to say.

There are, of course, many more topics to cover. The Alito nomination, Texas' approval of a ban on gay marriage (or any marriage), and torturegate (not to mention phosphergate), but those will have to wait for another time. In the absence of new posts from BOTB, please keep these issues in your thoughts and remember to write your representatives and senators. Every opinion matters!

World to US, Step Back

The comments on bubba's post, Bush - Most Hate Man in the World, have started me thinking about the administration in a number of new ways. Is Bush really the most hate man worldwide, since Hitler? Do the neocons in his administration deserve most of the credit for this perception, or does the buck stop with the president? Who else is responsible? Is the War in Iraq small potatoes compared to Global Warming? Or are they related?

I think the truth is world opinion on Bush was formed in 2001, when he reversed President Clinton's support of the Kyoto Protocol shortly after he was inaugurated. That one act sent a message around the world that he and his people care more about keeping their corporate benefactors happy, than they do about keeping the world from self-annihilation.

Rather that being a red herring to detract the country from Peak Oil and Global Warming issues, the war in Iraq is emblematic of their indifference to all things not seen as contribuatory to their business-controlled self-interest. War is good business, especially when no one today is being asked to pay for it. Driving up massive deficits can't hurt the current administration because they will not be in power when the bill comes. What matters to Bush is 2006 shareholder return on investment and executive bonuses for the favored 500.

Hurricane Katrina caused an unusual blip on the screen for Bush and associates because it threatened to reveal the awful truth of what Bush and his team of Terrell Owenses have done to this country. Unfortunately a gutless congress, too scared to open Pandora's Box of evil created by those in power this close to elections, have paved the way to more debt, buried with the pork spending they so adroitly deny.

Americans are to blame for the mess this country is in because they had all the information about what this administration was up to and voted to reelect the man anyway. We live in a greedy, self-absorbed ignorant culture in America and the world is watching.

If the world could send just one message to the US, I am sure it would be to: look around for the forest through the trees; step up to the plate of humanity and try some falafel; step back from the abyss that is ignorance of science and history, the two speeding trains threatening to collide if not attended to responsibly. Bush and his people don't care, but it is not too late for the rest of us, if we start paying attention now.

Does Cheney Owe Libby? Big Time

I haven't posted on the Plame Game since the summer, and had been somewhat hesitant to do so until the whole thing finished playing itself out, but this post by John Dean (via Brad DeLong, Nov.7th) is so intriguing, I just had to put in my dos centavos. Make sure you read to the bottom, because though he actually contradicts himself in the middle (maybe the implications hit too close to home), but his conclusion seems right on the money.

Dean should know a thing or two about politics and the law, having been the "Mastermind" behind the cover up in the Watergate scandal and having served time for obstruction of justice for his involvement. While serving his sentence, Dean flipped on his former Nixon administration cohorts, and became the sweetheart of federal prosecutors.

Libby is no John Dean. While Dean had files of information to protect him from becoming the Watergate scapegoat (this was the Nixon White House), Libby told what everyone knows now is the biggest fishing story ever. It was so stupid, he had to have known he would get caught., so what's the point? What Patrick Fitzgerald found in investigating the whole sordid affair, is that Libby's lie basically set up a firewall to protect Big Time Cheney. Unless the prosecutor can find someone or something else to pry open Libby (and maybe Rove), investigation over, Scooter takes the fall, gets pardoned, writes more porn.

Dean writes that the only thing that might throw a spanner in the works is a Democratic Revolution in the Senate at midterm election. That would be a tall order even in today's anti-administration climate. I count 43 Dem Sens + Jeffords (an anti-war independent). That makes 7 seats needed to take over the floor and demand accountability. Why not just six and force a tie vote? Who gets to break ties? The same guy who likes to break legs and laws, Big Time Dick himself.