Franklin Pierce Moves Up One Position

Is Franklin Pierce the worst President in US History?  Many believe this to be true, or once believed it to be true. Things change.

Is Franklin Pierce due for a promotion? Pierce, the only New Hampshire man elected to the White House, is a perennial nominee for Worst President Ever. But as that office's current occupant finds his own reputation under attack from many historians and the public, Pierce could move up a notch from the bottom of the presidential rankings - a boost Pierce partisans say is long past due.

"When I speak to groups, somebody always asks, 'How does it feel to know your man is no longer the worst?' " said Peter Wallner, author of a recent two-volume biography of Pierce. "I take a little bit of pleasure in the fact that (President George) Bush is viewed by them as worse than Pierce."

[…]

Such rankings, of course, are meaningless when set against the long sweep of history, and historians warn against premature judgments. Still, Bush's slide may bring some measure of justice for Pierce advocates who feel their man has been wrongly maligned by history.

"This whole rating presidents is very, very subjective, but I've always thought it was unfair to put Pierce at the bottom," said Jayme Simoes, chairman of the committee that commemorated Pierce's 200th birthday in 2004.

Pierce, who served as president from 1853 to 1857, has been the object of scorn from the moment he left the White House. Critics dismiss him as an ill-prepared political lightweight. He's been blamed with pushing the nation toward civil war by allowing slavery to expand to the West. Even his official White House biography notes that Pierce, "far from preserving calm, hastened the disruption of the Union." Some people say he was a drunk, too.

Things are looking up Franklin Pierce.  

The Disaster that has been the Bush Administration - Chapter 3

Let’s check in with our running multi-part series documenting the failures of the Bush Administration. 

In today’s edition we find one of the cruelest instances of incompetence: the bait and switch from Afghanistan to Iraq.  With special forces and intelligence operatives on the ground closing in on Bin Laden in late November and early December 2001, we see that all the commanders on the ground need to finish off Bin Laden and his remaining dead enders is reinforcements.  

We knew he was there—he had fallen into the mountains with about a thousand of his followers. That’s why we threw a BLU-82 [the bomb known as a “daisy cutter”] at him. At one point we knew where he was; we allowed food and water to go in to him. And then we came in with a 15,000-pound device. Bin Laden was outside the lethal effects of that blast. I understand he was injured.

I got a message out and made my request for inclusion of what I believed was needed—800 Rangers. The army of the Eastern Alliance on the north side had blocking positions there, so al-Qaeda couldn’t get back out into Afghanistan. But I was always concerned about the Pakistani side. I explained clearly that this was our opportunity to, so to speak, kill the baby in the crib. I was very concerned about them breaking out [south] into Pakistan, because I knew, if they did that, containing this thing would be a significant problem.

Unfortunately, the decision was made at the White House to use the Pakistani frontier force. What the White House didn’t understand is that the frontier force had cooperated with the Taliban. So they used individuals who were very, very sympathetic to the Taliban to set up purported blocking positions. ~ Gary Berntsen, C.I.A. intelligence commander at Tora Bora, Afghanistan

But despite the pleas from Commanders on the ground, reinforcements never came and Bin Laden slipped away, free to this day.  Later the effects of this reallocation of resources is noted by Bob Graham. Specifically, that by taking his eye off the ball and switching Saddam for Bin Laden, Bush risked bungling two wars.

In February of ‘02, I had a visit at Central Command, in Tampa, and the purpose was to get a briefing on the status of the war in Afghanistan. At the end of the briefing, the commanding officer, Tommy Franks, asked me to go into his office for a private meeting, and he told me that we were no longer fighting a war in Afghanistan and, among other things, that some of the key personnel, particularly some special-operations units and some equipment, specifically the Predator unmanned drone, were being withdrawn in order to get ready for a war in Iraq.

That was my first indication that war in Iraq was as serious a possibility as it was, and that it was in competition with Afghanistan for matériel. We didn’t have the resources to do both successfully and simultaneously. ~ Fmr Sen. Bob Graham, (D-FL) chairman of the Senate intelligence committee

And so it was during the Bush Administration.  What should have been done to defeat the terrorist organization which attacked America from Afghanistan was held in reserve for a preventative war in Iraq.  Bush tells us we have to wait 50 years before one can appreciate his legacy. But the results are here for all to observe, today.  

However, even if Bush’s reverse domino theory, i.e., turning Mesopotamia into Minnesota and causing the rest of the Middle East to fall like democratic dominoes, yields some results, and that is a big if because those societies are much more likely to change and modernize upon terms internal to those cultures rather as a result of terms dictated from afar, Bush will undoubtedly be known for the stunning levels of incompetence surrounding his actions. Waging a preventive war in Iraq without a plan to win peace and no exit strategy before finishing the fight in Afghanistan was reckless and irresponsible, not to mention just plain wrong.

Bush calls his endeavors a “Catastrophic Success.”  I think in Texas however they say “All Hat and no Cattle.”

UPDATE: Read Jawbreaker, by Gary Bernsten for an insider's account of Tora Bora.

Lawrence Wilkerson is MEAN!

Here is what he lists as George Bush's deficiencies as a commander in chief:

"personality vacuum, character vacuum, details vacuum, experience vacuum."

Mean. Just Mean.  He also calls Bush Sarah Palin - like. I have, on occaission, heard Bush compared to Dan Quayle in a cowboy hat, but I am not sure if this is fair to Dan.

Mission Accomplished...Illegal Immigration Reduced!

Chalk up another Stunning Accomplishment for George Bush.

He and his adminstration have successfully reduced illegal immigration.  Illegal immigration is at its lowest levels since 1976.

Apparently, with the Bush-league economy in the tank and enhanced border security, illegal immigration has dropped to pre-Bush lows.  Nevermind that the reason for the southernly migration has to do with the failed economic philosophy that he practices, I'm giving George Junior another feather for his cap.  

Heckuva Job Junior.

GOP to Turn to the Inmates?

For the first time in memory Party Officials will look to the grassroots for leadership:

For the first time in party history, members of the Republican National Committee have called their own unscheduled meeting without the aid of the Washington-based party apparatus.

Organized by North Dakota Republican Party chairman Gary Emineth, the meeting will convene for the specific purpose of hosting a forum for candidates running to chair the national committee. 

[...]

“Most Republicans do not know who the RNC chairman is or anything about this process. The more exposure of the candidates, their values and how they intend to turn the party around is good for public input and debate,” Emineth told The Hill. “I think Republicans are ready for a new era without Karl Rove calling the shots.”

Up until now, the GOP has trusted its organizational prowess to the dark axis formed by the intersection of "K" Street and Wall Street.  Could this be changing? Will the people have a voice now?

Still, some may wonder about Duncan’s control over the committee, given the unprecedented nature of the new meeting. The lack of a call from RNC headquarters in Washington give some members cause to wonder just how much control Duncan asserts over the committee he ostensibly leads.

Then again, Emineth said, echoing a number of other national committee members’ concerns, the call from members is the latest step in ongoing efforts to increase state leaders’ influence over the national party.

“I consistently heard that we need to be a ‘bottoms up’ committee rather than an ‘inside the beltway’ party,” he said. “The grassroots believe the core principles of the Republican Party and are frustrated with issues from the bail out to Washington’s inability to get things done.”

Be careful of what you wish for here fellows.  My advice: hold two meetings at the same time.  One meeting could be called to question Obama's citizenship or birth certificate or some other conspiracy and the other meeting would address the GOP Chair.  This way you could draw some of the crazier folks away.

Of course, Chip Saltsman won't like this approach. I'm sure he'd like his supporters participating.

 

Mission Accomplished Watch --- The Southern Strategy!

A big mission-accomplished style shout out goes out to George W Bush and the GOP today courtesy of David Broder, Dean of the Washington Media Establishment.  

It appears, from what we are told,  that today's version of the GOP has arrived at its destination after many years of travel. It is the promised land of milk honey, not the land of Lincoln but of Dixie.   What started with the vision of Nixon, the heroism of Gingrinch and capped off by the stellar leadership of Bush has come to fruition. The GOP is increasingly becoming a regional party headquartered in the South.  

And what does the future hold? Will it be public interest over partisan interest in the coming months as the Nation tries to recover from the current financial crisis?

All the signs are that the stimulus spending will be opposed by congressional Republicans, whose shrunken ranks are increasingly dominated by right-wing Southerners who care not what their stance does to harm the party's national image.

The spectacle of LaHood facing off in congressional testimony against those naysayers will dramatize a split that is crippling the GOP.

The answer is neither.  Today's GOP does not care about the Party the previous generations built.  They care about Ideology foremost and all else secondary.  The Southern Strategy has now created a straight jacket that will guide future of the GOP. 

Expect the wilderness.

People still think Bush Sux

I am currently still on Festivus Break, but the poll reported by CNN, on Bush's popularity, warranted further comment.

Now the Bush Administration has been marked by a series of screw-ups, calamities and outright disasters so bad that many of them had to have been done on purpose.  George Bush is incompetent, but nobody could be that incompetent. Right?

Anyway, a new poll is out showing 75% of the public will not miss George Bush and are glad he is going away.

Everyone knew this, but the news gets even worse:

Only a third of those polled said they want Bush to remain active in public life after he leaves the White House. That 33 percent figure is 22 points lower than those in 2001 who wanted Bill Clinton to retain a public role.

So 75% are glad the disaster that has been the Bush Administration is nearly over, while 67% of the public does not even want Bush involved in public life afterward.  

In other words, don't let the door hit you on the way out, George. Just. Go. Away. 

Ouch.

Palinism Watch - Part 12

GIZZI: Who is your role model?

PALIN: Susan B. Anthony. I have great respect there for the history. She was a pro-life feminist and those things that she stood for, and she was so far ahead of her time. It amazes me. ~ Human Events

WTF?? Susan B Anthony was pro-life?  I did not know the anti-abortion movement had its roots in the women suffrage movements.

Merry Festivus All

It is Festivus.  Seasons Greetings! 

Christmas is really, really, really cool too, but today is Festivus.

Blow Back from Bush's Blunders?

Turns out that the incompetence we've come to expect from the Bush Administration, which has been flowing down hill to hit first the people who actually fight the wars, is now flowing to Defense Contractors.

Christmas is over.  

Now Bush's Bill has come due.  We are now looking at the cancellation of all sorts of super cool, albeit obsolete or unnecessary, weapon's systems that wingnuts have come to revere.  This is all because George Bush is an utter failure as a War President.  

Enjoy the self imposed exile, wingnuts, neocons, and the rest. 

Corker Duped! His efforts may betray Chattanooga!

Looks like Bob Corker may have outsmarted himself here with his hurtful grudge against General Motors.  

Recall if you will, that it was Ol'Corky that was the GOP front man on Killing the GM Bailout Loan. Those workers in those Northern states were just paid to highly Ol'Corky asserted.  They needed Wage and Price Controls, pondered Corky.  And he was just the man to set them. And so the deal fell apart and Bush rode to the rescue.

The reason for Corky leading role in the debacle, was not due to Corky's mastery of the subject matter, but rather was probably due to his lack of seniority in the Senate.  With Ol'Corky at or near 100th in Seniority, it'd be hard to pin the fiscal recklessness of the past 8 years on Corky.  This way Corky can stand on the Senate floor and wax fondly of the need to restore fiscal responsibility, him being insulated the charge of hypocrisy from the profligacy of wasteful spending that occurred under the watch of his fellow Republicans.

But how could Ol' Corky have snatched defeat from the jaws Victory?  

You see, Detroit’s Peril is Tokyo’s Peril as well.  The foreign car makers in the USA, use the same automotive parts suppliers as domestic car makers. And the part suppliers will get screwed if GM and Chrysler go away.   With no parts suppliers, foreign automakers lose out, too. Their business models flounder.

So that new $1 Billion VW plant that is being built outside of Ol' Corky's home town of Chattanooga, and 2,000 new jobs expected to be created, may not be served well by Corky's antics.  That is, however, if VW ever needs to buy auto parts.  Oh well, at least Corky got 15 minutes of fame.

HECKUVA JOB Corky!

Bush to the Rescue.... Corker Victorious!

Well, the Whitehouse has gone and provided TARP money to the General Motors and Chrysler to tide them over for while.   It is something called a bridge loan.

And now it looks like GM will live on for a while longer.  It also looks like Bob Corker's master stroke has worked to perfection.  

How so, has Bob Corker succeeded, you may ask?  By blocking aid to the Car Companies, Corker who is not fond of the wages paid to autoworkers and pensioners, has now placed their fate in the hands of the George W Bush.  By doing so, Ol'Corky surely must believe he has doomed GM to bankruptcy.  Even though Corky is not the sharpest tool in the shed, he has surely seen enough of Bush's reverse Midas touch in action to know, that if Bush gets involved, things are sure to go to hell in hand basket right quick.  This had to be the reason Corky did not want Congress involved.

Heckuva Job Corky!

UPDATE: Greater Wingnuttia is enraged and call the Loan to Car Companies Illegal.  Silly Wingnuts.  Don't they know that if the President acts, then such action, by definition, is LEGAL. I read that somewhere.

UPDATE:  FYI, for whatever reason, spell check on blogspot identifies "Whitehouse" (see above) as a misspelling and in its place suggests using the term "Whorehouse."  Just passing this fact along for no particular reason.

UPDATE:  Looks like Corker may have outsmarted himself here.  You see Detroit’s Peril is Tokyo’s Peril as well.  The foriegn car makers in the USA use the same parts suppliers as domestic car makers. And the part suppliers will get screwed if GM and Chrysler go away.  So that new VW plant outside of Chattanooga may not be served well by Ol'Corky's misdeeds.

Casualties of War

Today the AM Radio tells me that Christmas Caroling has fallen and become a casualty in the War on Christmas.

This is unfortunate.  We now know just why Bill O'Reilly is angry all the time.  He is no longer able to sing X-mas songs with his colleagues in public, apparently he is not able to do this anyway.

RIP.

A Day Late. A Dollar Short.

Congressman Darrell Issa (R - San Diego) has an ingenious plan:

In a bid to beef up House Republicans' ability to scrutinize an Obama administration, incoming House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is moving to increase the GOP side of the panel's oversight power. 

A day after he was formally selected as ranking member last week, Issa ousted 14 of 39 Republican committee staffers, including many senior aides. Outgoing staffers said they were told the panel's minority will shift its focus away from legislation toward oversight of federal agencies. By bringing in aides with investigative backgrounds, committee Republicans believe they can increase their capacity to conduct independent investigations, despite lacking the majority's subpoena power.

"The role of the Republican committee is going to change," Issa spokesman Frederick Hill said. He declined to discuss details, but said Republicans want to be ready to probe executive branch waste, fraud and abuse....

What a novel concept.

All of a sudden after 8 years of waste, fraud and abuse, the GOP is suddenly interested in good government?  Astounding!  

Anyone sense a little irony here?  If Issa and his followers had been a little more concerned about waste, fraud and abuse, maybe they could have functioned as a check to the utter incompetence and recklessness of the Bush Administration as well as to the venality of the House GOP Caucus.  And just maybe, if instead of rubber stamping every bad decision that Bush made (all while cheering the results of his follies), just maybe had the GOP done otherwise, they’d find their party in a much healthier condition.  Just Maybe.  That’s all I’m saying.

Say, wasn’t Duke Cunningham, you know the congressman convicted of taking $2.4M in bribes, also from San Diego? And did the Congress lift a finger to police its own or not during the last 8 years. Not one inch. Yeah, these guys were really on the job during the last 8 years. I'd put their credibility right now at ZERO. 

New Rule

If you are family values politician and are thinking about upgrading to a trophy wife, you should have to do what this politician did: convert to Islam:   

Haryana deputy chief minister Chander Mohan, who mysteriously disappeared from public view over a month ago, was on Sunday sacked from the post ....

His removal has come shortly after media reports that he had converted to Islam and married a woman, who was a former Deputy Advocate General in Punjab. The woman has also reportedly converted to Islam....

Mohan, who is already married and has two children, surfaced on Sunday with a woman. They told a private news channel that they embraced Islam and entered into wedlock recently

I think this should be a requirement among members of the political class given to lecture the masses about the importance of family values.  If you are going to break your commitment to wife, made before the Lord, you can’t do so and still be a moralizer without a really good reason.  Because otherwise, if you do, no one with any sense will take you seriously.

This could be a really good option for Newt Gingrich, who, at this very moment, may be planning the acquisition of his 4^th or 5^th wife or whatever number he is up to these days.

Operation Restore Honor and Dignity to the Whitehouse Continues

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME, comes this Op-Ed from the WSJ Opinion Journal Online proclaiming that Gitmo Detainees have unfair advantage in Habeas Proceedings. 

Now let me get this straight, some of these guys have been at Gitmo for 7 years.  The Justice Department has had all this time to prepare for legal status reviews but is now at a disadvantage in proceedings for habeas?  What have they been doing all these years? How badly have they screwed this up.

This is outrageous. 

I am willing to accept the premise that some of the remaining 200 prisoners are dangerous terrorists.  Some may even be some of the most dangerous the world has ever produced, as has been claimed by various Bush Administration flacks.  But others are not terrorists and as a matter of fact many have been quietly released after years of confinement. While it is an outrage that the innocent have remained in confinement without the basic legal right of habeas, what is even more spectacularly calamitous is the possibility the Bush Administration will screw up so badly that some of the most dangerous terrorists, known in the history of mankind, walk free.  

We have been told that the War of Terror Global Struggle Against Violent Extremists is the greatest challenge this nation has faced since WWII.  We have also been told that these Terrorists pose an Existential Threat to Western Civilization.  Now armed with all these assertions of dire threat combined with all the time it has had to ensure that the guilty are treated accordingly, if after all of this, the Bush Administration has bungled the detention of these Terrorists so profoundly that some walk free, it would truly be beyond the pale even for the Bush Administration.  

Time after time, the Bush Administration has let us down.  The Administration launches a Preventative War to secure the world’s oil supply from tyrants and terrorists, not only do they screw it up spectacularly, but we get no oil, prices skyrocket and the American Taxpayer is stuck with a generational bill to pay for the misadventure.  With the threat of terrorist attack and America at peril from disaster both natural and man-made, Michael “Heckuva Job Brownie” is appointed to head the Department of Homeland Security.  Time after time.  And now this, after the Bush Administration demanded that the opportunity to establish military tribunals to try terror suspects out side the legal system, we find another monumental screwup just waiting to unfold.

The disappointment has gone far beyond any policy disagreements.  You may be against Preventative War and Torture. Or perhaps one believes that the markets should be regulated with a light touch or that terror suspects should be treated in a extralegal manner.  But whatever the ideology, whatever the policy perspective, one thing remains crystal clear and that is that the Bush Administration, viewed from any vantage point, right, left or center, has been an unmitigated disaster.

Uh-Oh! Quote of the Day

"Well, the Bush Administration said they are ready to step in now and help the auto industry. And believe you me, whenever the Bush Administration gets involved in something, it is solved immediately. So, I think we'll be fine on that front." ~ Jay Leno

And I thought doing nothing was a bad idea.  Sen. Corker (TN-Empty Suit) better be careful of what he wishes for.

The Disaster that has been the Bush Administration - Chapter 6

There is a new study out documenting the Budgetary and other Costs of the War in Iraq and Afghanistan indicating that the Wars have been deceptively budgeted denying the public with an accurate picture of the true costs of the wars.  

....the costs of all previous major conflicts were financed through a combination of tax increases, cuts in domestic programs and borrowing. The Bush Administration has taken a starkly different approach to financing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rather than raising taxes, the administration has proposed, and Congress has implemented, significant tax cuts. This marks the first time in American history that taxes have been cut while the country was involved in a major war. Nor have major reductions in spending been implemented in non-defense portions of the budget to help pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This has led a number of observers to argue that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been financed entirely through borrowing.

It does not matter what Bush set out to do.  It all instances he was sure to screw the pooch in doing so, at least in some maner. He bungled the War in Iraq in a dizzying fashion.  Then, by not paying for the war, cutting taxes during the war and with energy price spikes, Bush has done his best to merge the future of the USA with the polity of the nations in the Middle East.  These are calamities on a scale so large, it is almost as if he was trying to accomplish these results on purpose.

Chalk up the burden of paying for the War in Iraq as another problem handed off to future generations. Heckuva Job Junior.

Quote of the Day

"You know today, actually, five years ago tomorrow, I believe," they "captured Saddam Hussein. ... You know who gets a really big kick out of that" is "bin Laden. He just thinks that's the funniest thing." ~ David Letterman:

The Disaster that has been the Bush Administration - Chapter 2839

Why does this not surprise me that during the Reign of one of the most business friendly administrations in US history, the very engine of our Capitalist System, is under funded and neglected.

The Patent and Trademark Office, which grants intellectual property protection for private innovation, faces a backlog of 1,200,000 applications. Gerald Mossinghoff, who ran the office under Fmr President Ronald Reagan, calls the problem Horrendous and is very critical of the Administrations approach to the growing backlog, seemingly suggesting that the Administration has redefined the word "Backlog" in order to meet goals for processing applications.  Now that's a first.  Who would've thought they'd use the old change the definition of the word trick here, too.

Now, it is unfair to blame Bush for everything that has broken over the past 8 years.  For all we know, Congress fucked this up instead of Bush.  But as an ardent supporter of the free market, check that, a faithful adherent to the tenets of supply side economics that hold that the Markets solve all problems, one would think that protection of Private Property would be a priority to this Administration. 

After all capitalism, does not work without respect for private property.  And if capitalism is to solve all ills, don’t you want to see that the wheels of the free market are well oiled and running? Like I said, the incompetence may not be his fault, but given his track record.... I'll just say that it fits the pattern of what we know about the way Bush operates. It's just how he rolls.

So chalk the dysfunctional Patent Office up as another problem handed off to future generations. Heckuva Job Junior.

Question of the Day

David Letterman asking whether Blagojevich is either stupid or nuts. 

 I think a rare combination of both. ~ John McCain:

Bob Corker, Loser, Scoundrel and Man of Unfortunate Notoriety

Who's doing his level best to cut the American Automobile Industry off at the knees, during the worst economic downturn since WWII? Bob Corker, that's who. 

You see, before allowing others to lend a hand, Ol'Corky demands with righeous certitude that the labor and pension costs at General Motors be the same as the labor costs at Toyota. Course the folks at Toyota don't have the Pension Costs that GM has.  But that ain't gonna stop Ol'Corky from demanding either pay cuts down to minimum wage for workers or that pensioners be turned out into the streets.   

Ol' Corky he's pretty fired up at the folks earning 50K a year and the at pensioners, who worked their entire lives to earn a square deal during retirement.  Doesn't have quite so much to say about pay cuts for Executives make the Millions.  Shouldn't the Executives at GM have their wages cut down to the same levels as Executives at Toyota then too, Corky?

Just who is Bob Corker anyway? This is who:

One last thing to say about Bob Corker.  

If you were to put a list of the 100 most competent United States Senators together, I would say with great certainty that Bob Corker would be on that list.  However if you were to put a list of the Top 99 US Senators together, I would not be able to make a similar assertion.

On Contrasts

Elections have consequences.

There are some Real Differences that we will see after the transistion of power from one Administration to the next Administration.  One such difference touches on the manner in Obama administration staffs the executive agencies that are responsible for the execution and administration of the Law.  Congress enacts the Law and the Executive Branch enforces and the Law under our Constitution.  If a President respects the Consitition and the will of the people, he will appoint serious, dedicated and well qualified people to administer the Agencies and enforce the Laws.

Unfortunately the Bush Administration has not taken this responsibility with diligence that is due. There are no other more glaring examples than the appointment of Michael "Heckuva Job Brownie" Brown to run FEMA.  Ol'Brownie may be good at running the Arabian Horse Association's office of Legal Counsel and Standards, but this does not necessarily translate in the right qualifications to run The Federal Emergncy Management Agency.  We all know the score with regards to Hurricane Katrina and heaven only knows how Brownie would have responded to a terrorist attack.

Another such example of Executive indifference to the Health and Safety of the American People and Constitutional Responsibility to implement the Laws of the land can be found in manner the Bush Aministration has run the Environmental Protection Agency and by the appointment of Stephen Johnson as Director of the EPA.   

Mr. Johnson has proven to be a loyalist, an apparatchik, an Ideologue and a man indifferent to responsibilities of his post.  This approach, a failed approach toward stewardship of the Public interest, is documented here.  We see the Bush Administration's view of the EPA not as Agency to enforce the Law and protect the Public Interest, but rather as an Orwellian operation with a mission to help industries around Environmental Laws and to facilitate pollution. 

(EPA Administrator) Johnson and an antiregulatory Bush administration weakened the federal agency charged with safeguarding human health and the environment. But what happened on climate change dwarfed everything else.

"The country and the environment have been on hold for eight years," said William K. Reilly, who led the EPA under President George H.W. Bush. "The scorecard is very, very disappointing. For a long time, conservatives have said follow the science, and in the climate-change decision, [EPA] did not follow the science - it abdicated leadership and responsibility."

Johnson, whose image over four years morphed from scientist to ideologue, will leave office as one of Bush's most loyal and controversial cabinet members. His decisions alarmed environmentalists, infuriated his own scientists, and led to calls from Democrats for his resignation.

Thus the modus operandi of the Bush Administration has been to staff the government with hacks, loyalists, ideologues and, in the case of Mr. Johnson, a fellow who does not understand the differences between the Book of Genesis and Science.

Johnson majored in biology. At Taylor, that includes discussion of creationism.

Taylor biology professor Timothy Burkholder, who was Johnson's adviser, said, "We would adhere to the view that God is the creator of all things and in charge of our lives, and I think Steve recognizes that and did from the beginning."

Asked about this, Johnson declined to express his views on the evolution-creation question.

"It's not a clean-cut division," the career EPA scientist said. "If you have studied at all creationism vs. evolution, there's theistic or God-controlled evolution and there's variations on all those themes."

A 21st Century Creation Scientist, i.e., the school of thought that told us that Noah's flood caused the Grand Canyon has updated their theology/ideology for today, is running the EPA .  This is the Bush Administration in a nutshell, broken down to its most base element: Ideology Before All Else.  Another Orwell style example, War is Peace, Truth is Propaganda and Environmental Protection is really about facilitating Pollution:

Perhaps one of the best insights into Johnson's vision for EPA can be found in written testimony he submitted to a Senate committee this year. In the document, Johnson laid out his top 11 goals.

No. 1 was clean energy, particularly approving drilling for "thousands of new oil and gas wells" on tribal and federal lands. No. 2 was homeland security.

Environmental enforcement and sound science ranked ninth and 10th.

"If it wasn't so sad, it would be laughable," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the committee with EPA oversight.

The failings of the Bush Administration are not only a matter of opinion.  Reasonable people do not differ on the subject.  It is a matter of fact that the Bush Administration has failed. This is, as a matter of fact, the official position of the Government Accounting Office.  After responding to a request from Senator Voinivich about the challenges the next Administration will face running the Government, the GAO produced a 155 page report documenting problem areas and challeges at each agency.

You can read the GAO's report right here: GAO-09-194. The EPA section addresses questions and challenges the next EPA Administrator will inherit; it starts at Page 80 [emphasis-mine]: 

1    During the past several years, concerns have been raised about the length of EPA’s scientific chemical risk-assessment process, and the influence of industry groups, the Department of Defense, and others on what should be a scientific process. What role have you played in either making decisions based on scientific data, or in assuring the quality of such science? What are your views on the importance of transparency in decision-making processes, such as the chemical risk-assessment process? What steps would you take to help restore the credibility of EPA’s scientific assessments and ensure that decisions are based on sound science? 

2    Many agencies, including EPA, often inappropriately appoint members to their Federal Advisory Committee Act committees as representatives rather than as special government employees. Since these members did not go through a screening process, EPA cannot ensure that committee members are free from significant conflicts of interest and that the committee as a whole is appropriately balanced. What steps will you take to ensure that EPA’s federal advisory committee members are free from conflicts of interest and that the committees are appropriately balanced as a whole? 

3   Over the years, EPA has convened several advisory groups, such as the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee and the Clean Air Advisory Committee, to help the agency develop policy, guidance, and laws. Some have questions about how effectively the agency is using these groups. Could you describe your experience in proactively using expert groups? What organizational construct and specific steps would you take to ensure that the views of groups are appropriately considered?

 […] 

10   Under the Clean Water Act, EPA is responsible for publishing water quality criteria that establish thresholds, including for pathogens, at which contamination may threaten human health. In 2000, the Beach Act required EPA to create new or revised water quality criteria for pathogens by October 2005. However, in 2007, EPA had not yet established a firm timeline for completing the necessary studies or developing new water quality criteria. How would you approach the complex problem of establishing water quality criteria? What expertise do you have that would help you ensure that such criteria are consistent, regularly updated, and protective of human health?

 [...]

15  Since the passage of the Clean Air Act, EPA and its state, local, and tribal partners have made significant progress in decreasing harmful air emissions from a variety of sources. However, in recent years, EPA has undertaken efforts to revise its existing clean air regulations and issue new regulations to help meet air quality standards, and in many cases, EPA’s efforts have been challenged by others and overturned by the courts. Can you give examples from your work where you have applied tools to build consensus among a variety of federal, state, local, tribal, and private partners?

So there it is.  There will be a change from the way of Bush come January 20, 2009.

To the Battlements! Fifty-Four, Forty or Fight!!!

Holy Militarism Batman! 

From the Angry Left comes a call to arms.  

Now is the Time to Launch a Conquest of Canada!

I hear they have a lot of Oil.  So I guess it would help out a little with energy independence.

Say, didn’t some of the 9/11 terrorists enter into the USA through Canada?  

Maybe Bush should have considered Canada as an alternative to Iraq.  It would have made about as much sense as invading Iraq to retaliate against Bin Laden.

Coming to a state capital near you?

Red Alert --- Red Alert --- Red Alert --- Red Alert

WAR DECLARED ON X-MAS CHRISTMAS!

The Soviet Socialist Republic of Washington State will display a Festivus Pole on Capital Grounds.

An All Points Bulletin has been issued. 

Bill O’Reilly you are to report to the Front Lines at once. It is Time for the “Airing of Grievances.” Proceed airing grievances at once!

Red Alert --- Red Alert --- Red Alert --- Red Alert

Quote of the Day

"Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is now in Federal custody on corruption charges. ... They say he conspired to sell the US Senate seat held by Barack Obama. Remember he left it vacant?" (he) "was trying to sell it to the highest bidder. Yeah, now, I don't want to say he was brazen about it, but he did it on eBay. Come on!" ~Jay Leno

Neocon Desolation Watch, continuing….

Not all is lost from the perspective of the Neoconservative Camp with the coming of Obama. 

Neocon Job Artists such as Max Boot revel in surprise that Obama will not replace Sec Def Gates with Dennis Kucinich or that he has chosen Hillary Clinton instead of William Ayres for Secretary of State. The mere fact that said Neocons thought this path was a possibility just demonstrates that it is not just Iraq of which they were mistaken.  They share their misconceptions abundantly on a large variety of matters.

But today, ominous clouds appear on the horizon, as I give you the Headline of the Day:

Turkish Leader Volunteers to Be U.S.-Iran Mediator

Today, Turkey has emerged to offer to participate in the most devilish of all activities: Diplomacy with Iran. This seems a welcome development.  Turkey maintains a secular constitution, is a growing economic power and has an interest in peace and commerce in the region.  Seems it presents the opportunity for a win-win-win situation someday.  But why, you ask, would this proposal give pause to the Neocon Camp?  Answer: it just might lead to results someday. 

No word yet on why Turkey's proposal is bad from the third and fourth tier neocons that call the Weekly Standard their home.  Presumably they are waiting marching orders from higher ranking Neocons. My Guess is to check for an Op-Ed at the WaPo this weekend or next.

Everyday Low Prices and Wages

As previously reported here, Walmart was nailed by the State of Minnesota last summer for playing fast and lose with wage and hour laws during the 1990s.

Reportedly, employees routinely had to work through rest and meal breaks. Wal-mart’s management knew about the practice, the Judge found, but did nothing to correct it and apparently Walmart must not have cared. Yet to be determined is how much it has to compensate the employees. Minnesota law puts this amount up to $1000 per violation. With 2 million total violations, the compensation could be up to $2 Billion (but we know it won’t be this high).

Today Walmart agreed to pay up; will pay $54.3 Million for requiring workers to work without pay. Not exactly the $2 Billion maximum under the statute, but enough to get their attention.  And Walmart is not off the hook yet:

The lawsuit is one of more than 70 cases, including class actions, or group, suits, in which Wal-Mart has been accused of wage-law violations. The retailer lost a $78 million jury verdict in Pennsylvania in 2006 over rest breaks and unpaid work and a $172 million verdict in California in 2005 over meal breaks.

One would think that these guys would have invested in proper human resources management oversight by now and these law suits will become a thing of the past.  One would think.

Blago upon further review

A commenter makes a good point that comparing Governor Blagojevich to Bush is unfair.  This is probably so.

A more accurate and contemporary comparison would be to compare Gov Blago to Fmr Senator Larry Craig.  This comparison seems apropos in so far as each knew his conduct was under scrutiny, each knew that continuance of such conduct could lead to a humiliating end to their respective careers, but yet like a moth drawn to a flame, neither could forbear.  Thus when the fall comes, and fall we know they must, it comes as tragedy. 

When mocking the conduct of one Larry Craig, it is not unseemly to point out the contrasts between the preconditions required for participation in today’s Republican Party with the reality that its members are merely human.  They fall, just as do others. See Blagojevich, See Craig above.

Claiming moral superiority to your neighbor as core political ideology, while arbitrarily defining the values one must hold to be sufficiently ideologically pious, as the modern Republican Party has been wont to do, is destined for Failure. It is not unseemly to point out this contradiction.

It is also possible to show some sympathy for an individual who had to compromise his core sense of self just to be accepted into good society.  As they say out on the Street: Don’t hate the playa, hate the game. So we call out the game.

As far as Blago goes, his transgressions, if indeed there are transgressions being innocent until proven guilty and all, are of a degree worse than Mr. Craig’s transgressions against self, family and those who needed to use the facilities while he lurked about.  Blago will have been found to having betrayed the public trust, innocent until proven otherwise, etc., etc.  

And as far as Blago’s planned foray into the 2016 Iowa Caucuses, he, of the 4% approval rating, should probably reconsider that plan.

Even I was Suprised at This

BREAKING NEWS:  

This also just in: Bush to move into a Whites Only Neighborhood (or at least the neighborhood was whites only up and until 2000). 

Now, I'm not going Kanye West on  Bush.  But this just proves the central tenet of the Bush Administration and that is no matter what Bush tries to do, the odds are pretty high that he'll fuck it up in some manner.

The dude is seriously hapless.

UPDATE:  And what's up with this Blogojevich Character?  Is he related somehow to the Bush Family? This dude is seriously hapless, too.... maybe even more so than Bush and that's saying something.

End of the World Coming?

RED ALERT ---RED ALERT --- RED ALERT ---RED ALERT

This just in: Bush renouces the Bible?  

Bush says Bible not True.  Presumably it is full of errors.

Wingnut meltdown to ensue.

RED ALERT ---RED ALERT --- RED ALERT ---RED ALERT

UPDATE: This just in from the predicted meltdown:

I am confident, however, that Bush's statements will do nothing to diminish his god-like status with James Dobson and the rest of the Religious Right in America. For eight long and bloody years, Christian conservatives have been selling their convictions, doctrines, and even their consciences to George W. Bush.

I will even go so far as to say that, in many respects, millions of Christians have turned President Bush into an idol. Many of them would forsake their pastor, their friends, and even their own family before they would forsake George W. Bush and the Republican Party.

Of course, none of this would have happened had Christians—and especially Christian pastors—not lost touch with their American heritage. Had they maintained a studied understanding of constitutional government, and of the principles of Natural Law upon which it rests, they would not have become dupes for Bush and his fellow neocons.

I doubt very much whether Thomas Jefferson was a born-again Christian (after all, he, like Bush, expressed doubt regarding the Bible's literalness), but he fully understood—and embraced—the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and was more than willing to inculcate those principles into our country's most sacred document: our Declaration of Independence. As such, Jefferson will be forever regarded as one of America's greatest Founding Fathers and Presidents.

Believe me, America was far better off with Thomas Jefferson than with George W. Bush!

Waking up to find that the Republican Party has become the church of your fellow fundamentalists must be a drag.