Treason !

If Bill Clinton's White House had a senior staffer that committed treason, don't you think that the media would be jumping up and down screaming about it? But when George Bush's Administration outs a covert agent, which is TREASON, then the whole story goes away.

Great Hardball segment linked to this post.

No, I Did Not Go To Yale

It's just a sweatshirt! It's not a resume!

Somehow, throughout Washington, DC, I am constantly getting comments on the Yale Bulldogs just because I wear this sweatshirt. It's warm! It cost a dollar! Leave me alone!

Especially in AU Park. People will call across the street to me. Others poke their children and point at me and shout, "Look! There's a Yalie!"

Others just ask me if I went to Yale.

"No, I just buy the sweatshirts at thrift shops."

Today someone asked me about my Yale sweatshirt on the way to my legal temp assignment and actually seemed annoyed that I was wearing the shirt without having gone there.

It's just a sweatshirt. You know, like Yale is just a school. Because it is.

People should be more concerned about something else. Maybe they could ask, instead, "Are you related to George Bush?"

or

"Are you getting foreclosed on?"

or

"Does your father own an oil company?"

or

"Is anyone in your family fighting in the war in Iraq or Afghanistan?"

Georgia On My Mind

Russia's assault on the sovereignty of Georgia is a major challenge to the influence and credibility of the United States. If we can't, or won't, stand up for an ally then an alliance with the U.S. won't be worth much.

And if an alliance with the United States isn't worth much, our opinion on international matters won't be worth much, either. In a very real sense, the Georgian conflict will determine the power of the United States for many years.

Europe is continuing their spineless ways, just as they were content to allow mass slaughter in the former Yugoslavia, they are content to remain passive in the face of Russia's direct threat to their neighbor and themselves.

Anything other than harsh response will lead Russia to invade another country. Why not? If we don't do anything but talk, there is nothing to stop them. Of course, we cannot ignore the role of our Iraq war in all this maneuvering. Russia is betting, accurately, that the United States does not want another major conflict simultaneous with two full-scale wars.

This is the time for Germany and other nations to place troops in Georgia to protect their democracy, as well as Georgia's. And any alternate energy plans should be made top national security priority. Without oil, Russia is just another has-been on the world stage.

Bush, McCain and Iraq

John McCain is a good soldier. So when he tells the President that he has his support on Iraq policies, John McCain means it. And he doesn't just mean it for the moment, he follows through with his words and his actions.

So Barak Obama wants to set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and the President of Iraq agrees. John McCain stands his ground as he doubtless agreed to do. Then the President talks about a timetable to withdraw himself, leaving John McCain as the only person supporting prolonged and indefinite staying in Iraq.

John McCain is at a disadvantage in dealing with George Bush. The President has no honor.

At bottom is a President who is incredibly threatened by a successor. So even if it is a clear advantage to do so, President Bush will not allow John McCain to succeed.

Mr. President, there will be no one to protect you from international prosecutions if you don't have John McCain in the Presidency. I just thought someone should tell you, that's all.

Note to Ari Fleischer

Ari Fleischer has it wrong. The criticism of the press corps for failing to properly investigate the claims made to justify this war is not limited to the uncomfortable questions they asked him while he was Press Secretary.

It is the failure to investigate and report.

So Mr. Fleischer was asked questions he found tough. So what. It probably would have been easier on him if he wasn't a part of the campaign of deception in the White House that talked people and countries into a war that wasn't justified.

McCain and the Oil Wars

Presidential candidate McCain promises to end U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil "so we never have to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East." The implication is that once we are energy-independent they can all kill each other for all we care. (The Arabs. Not Israel.) And it's an appealing thought. Without oil, the United States would never have defended Kuwait and Saudi Arabia against Saddam Hussein. As much as Osama bin Laden hates Western influences in his country, let's see how much he likes complete indifference.

With the United States relying on other means of fueling our vehicles and our economy, it would be a welcome relief to not care about placating religious crazies in Saudi Arabia. After all, we have enough of them here.

My position has always been that the excessive focus on Israel by other Middle Eastern nations is only to distract its citizenry from internal conflicts that would otherwise lead to civil war. And let's face it, none of them want the Palestinians.

But It's Only A Little Bit of Torture ...

What's with this idea that you need permanent physical damage to call something "torture."

And why do you think anything is improved because "it was only three times" - ?

This Administration doesn't have the foresight to see how this admission causes damage to our interests abroad. We have just admitted to torturing people. Now how are we going to tell people that Chinese Christians should not be beaten and jailed? We, after all, don't behave better ourselves.

I remember an America where the idea that we torture people was offensive. I remember when our meat supply was safe. I remember when college was affordable. What happened, America? The Reagan Revolution, that's what.

Cindy Sheehan Quits

Good for her. She had banged her head against the wall long enough. She sacrificed her life and health and marriage and now realizes nobody meant what they said, even Democrats.

I'm waiting for the tell-all book. That would be great.

Wake Up!!

Be prepared this summer for yet another baby boomer self-indulgence in the form of yet another movie about Vietnam. Ummm, we're fighting a war now guys. Unlike the 60's however, the class divide has separated those fighting from the rest of the U.S. So the outrage is muted.

I have an idea. You don't need to go back forty years for a dose of invigorating anger. Just live in the moment. The outrage is right now.

The United States, your government, is torturing people. It is torturing teenagers.

The United States, your government, handed the reconstruction of Iraq over to political incompetents who were talked into massive, useless expenditures by contracting companies.

The United States, your government, is run by people who wait for the bureaucracy to feed them problems instead of thinking and asking the right questions.

The United States, your government, is sending our citizens into war without protective equipment they need.

The United States, your government, is shielding the children of the middle class from paying any cost for the debacle in Iraq.

Bill Moyers Presents a Bombshell

WOW!! Bill Moyers skewered the right wing pundits who mindlessly promoted the war in Iraq. It was unbelievable. He showed Vice President Cheney outright lying on television. And he showed the pundits repeating the lies.

In short, the credibility of many journalists and pundits was outright attacked and destroyed. There is no way to ignore what Bill Moyers reported.