Me thinks thou doest protest too much

In his weekly radio address President Bush was quoted as saying...
"If we do not act now, government will eventually be left with two choices: dramatically reduce benefits or impose a massive economically ruinous tax increase," the president said. "Leaving our children with such a mess would be a generational betrayal."

I guess leaving them a debt of $7,601,217,898,159.00 isn't nearly as bad. Which is what the U.S. national debt, was as of Monday, Jan. 10, 2005 . I'm thinking it will take our grandchildrens, grandchildren to make a dent in that one.
On the other hand there is a simple solution to Social Security. Take back those tax breaks given to the upper 10% of society and stop any future ones from taking effect. Then funnel that money into Social Security. I mean if the country is doing so well that you can afford to cut taxes then why not give the surplus to a system that benifits everyone instead of only the rich getting a break? On the other hand if the country is in trouble, it's certainly not the time to be cutting taxes.
posted by wanda at 2:19 PM

Support Our Soldiers

When you have continuing violence like this...
Baghdad election center director killed

Is it any wonder that you have this as well...
Army sergeant refuses 2nd Iraq deployment

For me the wonder lies in that there aren't more military men and women taking this stand.
Why should we expect our troops to continue to put their lives in jeopardy when we read stories like the one sighted by Voice of A Vet .
Especially when you factor in that those troops are in the midst of a war that was initiated based on false information (see my post below).
It's enough to make a grown man or woman cry/drink/curse.


posted by wanda at 1:23 PM

U.S. Ends Fruitless Iraq Weapons Hunt

WASHINGTON Jan 12, 2005 — "The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has quietly concluded without any evidence of the banned weapons that President Bush cited as justification for going to war, the White House said Wednesday."

White House Says Iraq Weapons Search Over; Evidence That Bush Used in Argument for War Not Found

This coming immediately on the heels of CBS/Rather-gate, makes me wonder. Do we only hold those accountable who work in the network media? Interestingly enough we haven't seen much attention given to the lies perpetrated by our President and his administration. Will anyone be fired or held accountable? I suspect not.

I hadn't really paid too much attention to "CBS/Rather-gate". I was't shocked or impressed by incident or the findings of the investigation into it. From the beginning I thought it was much ado about nothing. Dan Rather trusted the people he worked with to provide him with honest and valid information. Much the same as the President trusted people who provided him with information regarding Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. Both men were failed by those they depended upon. I find it odd that there are people who feel Rather and his co-workers should be fired or chastised for their mistakes, yet feel no such action should be taken against the President and his administration. You might say the two are vastly different in their level of importance. You'd be right. One concenerd documents over 30 years old that had no real relevant value. The other concerned information that ultimately led this country into a war that we are still reeling from and where men and women are still dying. No one lost their life over the falsified documents that were pandered about by Rather and CBS. I also find interesting that it was only the documents that were proven to be false, not the information they alleged to. Because in fact the information itself was/is correct. Not much to argue about there.
I agree integrity and accountability should begin at the top. If you are going to hold Dan Rather responsible for the validity of the information provided to him by his co-workers, then I think it is only right and resonable that you hold the President responsible for the information that was provided to him by those in his administration. After all one is but a news journalist, the other is the President. Why should one be held more accountable than the other? Well, one of them is the President. He should be held to the highest standards. That of course is just my opinion.
I can't help but remember Dan Rather on September 11th. As he did his broadcast, more than once he had to wipe away tears. You could see and feel his pain in his voice. He was a man shook to his core by the events he was reporting. Not anywhere did I see such open and honest emotion from a news journalist. There were those who critisized him for that too.
To be honest, I think Jaye over at Winding Road in Urban Area expressed my feelings much better than even I have.
posted by wanda at 2:24 PM

The Tsunami

No,I'm not referring to the one that devastated southern Asia. I'm talking about the one that has devastated Iraq. The countless victims, the homes,the schools,the hospitals,the highways,the bridges, the lives that will never be the same. The right-wingnuts would have us believe we aren't seeing and hearing the real story . All is coming along just fine. Sure there are a few rough patches along the way, but all is going according to plan. I agree we aren't getting the whole story. If you really want to know what's happening you'll have to look elsewhere besides the conservativly biased media. Their all so busy bending over ass backwards trying to put a positive spin on the situation that the truth has escaped their line of vision. Iraq: The Devastation , is an incredible first hand commentary by Dahr Jamail, who has worked in Iraq 7 of the last 12 months.
How is it that the fine upstanding citizens of this country can be so moved, and saddend by an act of nature, yet be so cavilier, and unconcerned about the acts of man. Especially when the man is one of their own. In fact the man is a man 60+ million of them chose to return to office and give carte blance to continue on with his self-aggrandizing agenda. Don't try to tell me that George W. Bush isn't the man who unleashed this tsunami we call a war, on Iraq. Because he is. He came into office in 2000 looking for a reason to declare war on Saddam Hussein. September 11th gave him all the excuse he needed. He presented Americans (and the world) with one trumped up excuse after another and far too many bought his story, hook, line, and sinker. Now, they don't want to hear about it. The tsunami in southern Asia, has given them a new story to fixate on. They can blame Mother Nature, or even God for this one. They can assuage themselves of any guilt, even by association. Forget about Iraq , we have to help those poor souls in Asia. The fact that the situation in Iraq is getting worse by the day and the so-called upcoming election is a farce seems to escape them. What kind of election is it when the names of those running aren't even made public before election day? Is this someone's skewed idea of a democracy? Maybe it is. Maybe that's the way the right wingnuts would like to see elections held in this country as well.
I for one am sick of excuses. There has been a disaster of tsumani proportions in Iraq and YOU my fellow Americans created it. Every single one of you who voted for George W. Bush and then voted yet again, to put him back in office, YOU helped to create the devastation in that country. The next time you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for the people in this country. The people you have forced to live with yet another four years of this man, his administration and the devastation he has yet to bring down upon them. If your wondering if by this country I'm referring to Iraq, or the US, then let me make this clear. I mean both . Don't be a smart ass and tell me "if you don't like it leave...". I'm a fifth generation American, this is my country as much as it is yours. I'm not going anywhere. Nor do intend to suffer in silence. I am going to be in your face, on your case, every day from now until Bush leaves office. After all why should we suffer alone?
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Thanks to
oldwhitelady for the link to the article by Dahr Jamil. You can find plenty of good reading over at her place.
posted by wanda at 1:01 PM

No Blue Monday Blue's Here


Fahrenheit 9/11 took home the "People's Choice" Award for best movie. Imagine that.
Although he was amazed , Michael Moore was quoted as saying "I love making movies and I'll take this as an invitation to make more 'Fahrenheit 9/11s".

Can the Oscar be far behind?

Take Bill O'Reilly and all you pundits who snubbed Moore's film.
posted by wanda at 2:58 AM