John Boehner - Shut UP

John Boehner, Republican from Ohio and House Majority Leader, was on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday. He stated that al-Qaeda is wreaking havoc in Iraq. He repeated the line often used by Republicans that we have to defeat the terrorists in Iraq or "we'll be fighting them on every street in America."

What would you do if you were a leader of this country and believed that a military loss in Iraq meant we would be fighting terrorists on EVERY street in America? Well, in World War II, when that might have been a possibilty, we geared up a massive response. Every fiber of the country was committed to making sure the enemy never got that close.

If I thought a loss in Iraq meant fighting terrorists on my street, I would reinstate the draft. I would gladly go. I'm 50+, but I can shoot a rifle, or drive a truck or cook and deliver meals. I would expect Homeland Security to be organizing local self-defense units. I would expect my taxes to go up to help pay for whatever resources are needed. I would send an Army of 500,000 to Iraq. Seal the borders and then scour the country.

What kind of sacrifices has John Boehner, the President, the Vice-President and most Republicans asked of the American people? Reinstate the draft? No. Raise taxes? No. Significantly enlarge the armed forces? No. Send more troops to Iraq? Not really. The only sacrifices Republicans have asked from Americans to help win the war in Iraq is to live in a state of fear and give Republicans more power. The main thing they want from you is your vote.

John Boehner's actions do not show that he is really worried about fighting terrorists on every street. He is just trying to scare you into voting for Republicans. To my fellow citizens in Ohio, please vote the jackass out of office!

I've heard many times that Democrats think Repbulicans are stupid. I don't think all Republicans are stupid. But I saw Richard Nixon elected twice. When he was elected the second time it was clear that he was a very bad President to anyone who was paying attention to the news. I saw George W. Bush elected twice. Similarly, it was obvious by 2004, that George Bush was not up to the job of President of the United States. If voters do not throw Republicans out of office in droves next week, I and many Democrats, will once again have reason to wonder what kind of logic Republicans use when they enter the voting booth.

Are you really willing to retain politicians who support an ill conceived and an utterly failed policy in Iraq for a promise of a ban on gay marriage?

Technorati Tags: Political John Boehner Iraq War on Terror

Stay The Course? Sorry, My Bad!

According to President Bush, when he said "Stay the course", he didn't really mean "Stay the course". At least not the way we all understood it.

Since we just don't understand that the war on terror requires new thinking, we really can't appreciate the subtleties behind the phrase "Stay the course". So as not to confuse our simple minds further he is not going to use the phrase any more. Maybe Karl can come up with something less complex.

Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Stay the course Iraq Political Cartoon

Used with permission.

It Takes A Rack To Keep You Safe

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Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Habeas Corpus Political Cartoon

Used with permission.

Send The Bill To My Kids

The President today said something along the lines that you can count on Republicans to keep your taxes low.

Are you really motivated to vote for Republicans because they promise low taxes? Even when you realize the country is running record deficits each year and that your children and grandchildren will be paying the bill for your low taxes?

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This Is A Sad Day

An American citizen is declared a terrorist by a government, grabbed by the police, spirited off, tortured and never told what he is accused of or given legal assistance to defend himself.

Guess which country this could happen in...

The United States - after the Congress passed and the President signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 today.


Wake up people. This President and the Republicans pose a greater threat to the long term security of this country than do terrorists.

VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE!

Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Republicans Habeas Corpus

Happy Birthday! You Owe $28,500.

Happy Birthday to the 300,000,000th U.S. citizen born today.

Your share of the national debt is about $28,500 and growing every day.

Grow up fast. Get a good education and a good job. We need your taxes.

Technorati Tags: Political National Debt

The President Can't Lose in November

News reports have President Bush and Karl Rove very upbeat about the coming election even though polls show Republicans in trouble.

This make sense. President Bush is very concerned about his place in history. If Republicans lose either the House or Senate or both, President Bush will spend the rest of his term blaming Democrats for his inability to do what is necessary to solve problems. It has to have been very frustrating to have Republican control of the Presidency, House, Senate and Courts and have such a terrible record to show after six years.

President Bush might even be relieved if Democrats won one of the legislative branches. He could dump all of the problems he has created on the Democrats and probably start sleeping a little better at night.

Karl Rove would love a Democratic win. He would have two years to prove Democrats are just as incompetent as Republicans when they can't solve all the problems Bush created in six years. Two years to spin six years of failures and orchestrate a Republican Presidential win in 2008.

So, of course, President Bush and Karl Rove are upbeat about the mid-term elections. No matter who wins, they can't lose.

Unless the Democrats win big, then get their act together and show how a party in power can truly lead.

Technorati Tags: Political Republicans

Hey, Republicans, Listen Up

I know this is a waste of time, but I do believe that when presented with the facts in a straight forward, non-confrontational manner, people can understand truth from obfuscation. I believe Republicans are good people who want the best for this country, but sometimes they are not skeptical enough of what the authority figures in their party tell them. So Republicans, listen up.

Be skeptical any time a politician includes the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism in the same sentence. The 9/11 Commission and the President (among many others) have made it clear that there was no connection between Iraq (and Saddam Hussein) and Al Quida. Yes, since we went into Iraq and removed Saddam Hussein there are now Al Quida terrorists in Iraq, but if we killed all of them tomorrow we still couldn't bring our troops home. We would still be in the middle of a civil war in Iraq. And if we killed all the Al Quida terrorists in Iraq tomorrow we would not have decreased the threat of attacks inside the US AT ALL. I have not read of any connection between the Madrid and London bombings and members of Al Quida in Iraq. Iraq is not the central planning location for terrorist attacks and threats around the world.

The war on terror and the war in Iraq are slightly related because we opened the door for terrorists to cause trouble there, but there is only a tenuous connection between Iraq and the war on terror. Whenever someone equates the war on terror and the war in Iraq, start listening very carefully because they are trying to confuse you.

Another way Republican politicians try to confuse the situation is their claim that Democrats do not understand that this is a war. Democrats are accused of wanting to go after the terrorists as if this were a police issue and not a war. Well, let's look at the situation. You can call the fighting in Afghanistan a war. We are fighting pitched battles with heavy weapons. We were correct to go into Afghanistan to take out the Taliban. We weren't completely successful, so now NATO has agreed to take over the fight.

We are in a war in Iraq, but most of the fighting does not involve terrorists. We are in the middle of a war that revolves around internal Iraqi factions and issues.

So where in the world are we fighting a war with terrorists? Where are we fighting battles with mortars, machine guns, tanks, helicopters, etc.? There are terrorists in Spain. Are we fighting a war there? There are terrorists in Great Britain. Are we fighting a war there? Most of the war on terror is being fought by collecting intelligence, disrupting operations, stopping the flow of money and arresting people. We fight the war on terror with tighter security at air ports and sea ports. Most of the war on terror is not being fought with troops. We have certainly needed our armed forces in the war on terror and may need them again, but military action will not win the war on terror by itself. It is not even the major component.

So when Republican politicians tell you that Democrats don't understand how to fight the war on terror, ask them how they think it should be fought. When they start talking about Iraq, ask them how the war in Iraq and the war on terror are related. Then ask them if we won the war in Iraq tomorrow, would the threat from terrorism go away. Listen to the answer carefully because at this point they will be trying to confuse you because they don't have good answers.

Technorati Tags: Political Iraq Republicans

Show Your Patriotism

It is clear that many people believe that the welfare of the country and the welfare of President Bush and the Republican Party are one and the same. If you attack the President, you are attacking the country. If you don't support the Republicans, you are unpatriotic. If you disagree with the President's handling of the war on terror, you either don't understand the situation, you would rather harm the country than admit the President is right or you support terrorists (by Republican definitions all these people are Democrats).

There is one sure way to show them you are as patriotic as they are ..........

VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE!

Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Republicans

Let Them Vote!

A recent poll taken in Iraq suggests that the majority of Iraqis would, at the very least, like the United States to leave, soon. While this poll received some attention, it may not reflect the will of the Iraqi people.

We properly applaud Iraqis for risking personal danger and voting in two national elections. We respected their right to elect their own government. Maybe we should suggest that they schedule a nation wide referendum to let us know their true feelings. Voters would be able to choose from the following options.

• The U.S. should stay until the violence stops and basic utilities are restored.


• The U.S. should stay until asked to leave by the elected government.


• The U.S. should stay for no longer than one more year.


• The U.S. should leave within six months.


• The U.S. should leave immediately.

This would obviously be a non-binding resolution since the Bush administration would refuse to believe any result that didn't match their need at the time.

Technorati Tags: Political Iraq

Good Idea, Newt

I wrote a few days ago that Newt Gingrich suggested that Bill Clinton come up with a few ideas for catching bin Laden. Newt, the sharp witted politician he is, had the start of a good suggestion.

I suggest that Bill Clinton invite the leadership of the Democratic Party and all Democratic 2008 Presidential hopefuls to a secluded location. Probably no more than 30 to 35 people (that was not a joke about how many hopefuls there may be). They would agree that they would stay together until they could work out a detailed plan for an exit strategy from Iraq. Since you could never get that many Democrats to all agree on anything, they should shoot for an agreement that two thirds of the group can support. I good plan with lots of support could turn the tide for the Democrats and the country.

I know I'm dreaming, but what the heck.

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Ready, Fire, Aim

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Technorati Tags: Political Republicans Political Cartoon

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Home For The Politically Arrogant

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Technorati Tags: Political Cartoon Political Republicans

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Just Be Glad You Can't Smell The Stench

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The Clean Up Crew

The Democrats should call themselves the "Clean Up Crew" because after the mess President Bush and the Republicans have made, what the country needs now is a clean up crew. And the way things have been going the past couple of weeks, the clean up crew is going to need a lot of disinfectant just to kill the stench.

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Gingrich ASSumptions

Picking up on my previous post about the Chris Wallace interview with Newt Gingrich on Fox News Sunday this morning. At one point Gingrich said,

We are in a very hard war against people who hate us and want to destroy us. The fact is neither administration has gotten bin Laden. And instead of pointing fingers at each other, it would be nice for President Clinton to give us six or eight solutions. It would be nice for President Bush to admit this is going to be much harder than anybody ever dreamed. Winning this campaign is going to be a long, bitter, difficult problem.

I would like to challenge the statements "this is going to be harder than anybody ever dreamed" and "Winning this campaign is going to be a long, bitter, difficult problem."

There are a number of assumptions in those statements. First, though, are you talking about the war on terror or the war in Iraq? You confuse people when you don't make that clear. Certainly some people warned about the dangers of Islamic terrorism and the danger in post-war Iraq. Is it going to be harder than anybody ever dreamed? You bet, because no one would have dreamed that President Bush would screwed up the war on terror as badly as he has. Or would have dreamed President Bush would mislead us into a war in Iraq. Or would have dreamed that he would have failed so miserably in rebuilding post-war Iraq. I think you are implying that President Bush is making the best of a bad situation and I think the reality is the President turned a winnable war on terrorism that should be largely over after five years into "a long, bitter, difficult problem."

If we face a long difficult war on terror, place the blame where it belongs, on George W. Bush. If we had a competent President, the war on terror would, for the most part, be over.

Technorati Tags: Political Republicans

Be Careful What You Wish For

Chris Wallace interviewed Newt Gingrich on Fox News Sunday this morning. At one point Gringrich said,

We are in a very hard war against people who hate us and want to destroy us. The fact is neither administration has gotten bin Laden. And instead of pointing fingers at each other, it would be nice for President Clinton to give us six or eight solutions. It would be nice for President Bush to admit this is going to be much harder than anybody ever dreamed. Winning this campaign is going to be a long, bitter, difficult problem.

Be careful what you wish for, Speaker Gingrich. Everytime Bill Clinton speaks he shows by comparison how poor a President George Bush really is.

Technorati Tags: Political Republicans