A House Divided
I have never quite understood the way that candidates within a party go after each other with such zeal and glee. I understand that each candidate believes he is the best man for the job, but what good is accomplished by attacking and back-stabbing the other candidates. Because eventually only one of them will be selected. Meanwhile the candidates from the other side are watching and keeping notes of every little word. Every slanderous innuendo. I can still recall the all out attact that George Bush's people made on John McCain. The 'good ole rich boys club' had to make damn sure that they had someone they could control and it was for certain that man was not John McCain. John McCain was not going to be anybody's puppet. Therefore John had to go. A great loss. Not just for Republicans but for Americans everywhere.
The Democratics are using the same smear tactics now with Howard Dean. It's almost as if each candidate is saying, if I can't win then you won't either. How stupid can people be? Paul Krugman has a great article in the NY Times about this foolish behavior. He says it so much better than I can. Democrats had better wise up. Well that is if they have any sincere hope of taking back this country. Of course it could be that they are all so selfish that they would rather lose the election than to see the 'other guy' win. How pathetic is that?
posted by wanda at 10:19 PM

Equal Pay for Equal Work
Finally someone besides ME is speaking up about the lack of 'support' our military has to endure. Jarhead has several post concerning the way the U.S. actually treats our troops. Anyone (and that wouldn't be too many people) who knows me, knows I have been bitching about this for a long time. I am sick of people who spout 'support our troops' then aren't willing to back it up with good ole American $$$$'s. If you break it down into hours, the men and women of our military make less than minimum wage. People, that is less than the people at Burger King make!!! How disgusting is that? In my opinion these folks should be paid higher than any government official in Washington. Or any government official period.
While I am at it, let me re-state that I am sick of hearing about the families of the victims of 9/11. I realize it's not 'politically correct' to speak ill of these folks BUT, give me a break. This whole damn country acts as if these people were the first to ever die in an terrorist attack. Just like Rush says, most of those folks were just people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why do their families deserve to be compensated into the millions of dollars? What about the families of the victims in Oklahoma City? Or the families of the victims of the Embassy bombings? Or what about the families of the vitims of the 747 that was blown out of the sky over Scotland? They were all victims. Not hero's. Just victims. Yes there were some hero's. Some who stepped up to the plate and went beyond the call of duty. But most were not. Why are they alone entitled to millions of dollars. Yet every day our troops are dying. What do their families receive? Less than $10,000.00 and a mere pittance to live off of after that. Talk about a slap in the face.
It's a pretty sad state of affairs when a country not only refuses to pay their military a decent wage, but then refuses to even give their families decent support if they should die in service of their country.
Can you tell how bad this pisses me off?
posted by wanda at 11:18 PM

What DID Bush Know
While reading this over at Take Back the Media , I started remembering something that I had been thinking about some time ago. First let me comment on the film that Showtime is (or was) making about the events of Sept 11th, and President Bush's reaction to them. We were all there. We KNOW what happened. We saw it with our own two eyes. No Showtime film will alter what we already know. I haven't heard anything else about this little project so I don't know what the status of it is. Don't care. The last thing I want to see is another re-play of Sept 11th. The images of that day are permanently imprinted on my brain. I doubt that I or anyone will ever forget. I don't need anyone to show me or tell me how the President acted or re-acted that day. I already know.
Anyone who knows me knows I harbor a strong dislike and distrust of President George W Bush. That said, I don't think his actions that day were all that inappropriate, or ill advised. According to certain sources, he was informed about the first tower being hit, while still in his limo on the way to the school he was visiting. I don't think it was so wrong that he chose to continue on to the school. There was a room full of school children waiting to meet the President. There was very little information and he chose to honor his committment to these kids. That's not such a bad thing. He remained calm and went about his business. That's okay with me. Now in regards to his 'hopping' around from hole to hole for the rest of the day. Well I suspect he had very little to do with that decision. He was virtually kidnapped by the people in charge of his security and he did what they told him to do. Why would we expect anything more of him? If there is one thing George W. does well, it's follow the orders of his band of merry men. Which is headed by Karl Rove. Regardless of my personal opinion of him, I do believe it was of the utmost importance that our President be kept safe during that time. We needed to know that the leader of our country was secure. Him and his front man, the President. You see I no more believe that George W. is the man in power in Washington than I believe that Saddam Hussein had WMD. Dubya is the front man. He is the puppet. Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and their 'secret club' of rich old white boys are the real power. He's just the pretty face they put on stage. On Sept 11th he played his role perfectly. I'd say he deserves an award. I guess that's why he gets to sleep with Laura.
posted by wanda at 1:29 PM

New Years Resolutions

During the 2000 election, many journalists deluded themselves and their audience into believing that there weren't many policy differences between the major candidates, and focused on personalities (or, rather, perceptions of personalities) instead. This time there can be no illusions: President Bush has turned this country sharply to the right, and this election will determine whether the right's takeover is complete.

Read this article in it's entirety HERE.

Also Mustang Bobby has some serious questions (scroll down to the entry "Four Questions") that the Democratic candidates need to be asking President Bush. Instead of quibbling over whether or not one candidate ask another candidate if he would consider being his running mate. Come on people , smile on your brother, EVERYBODY get together, we have an election to win. The Oval Office is up for grabs and it's time the BEST man was sitting behind that desk. Instead of a puppet on a string.
posted by wanda at 2:17 AM