Author: MichaelPellegrini

Well, we did it. Barack Obama got elected. Now the fun begins.

The stench of George Bush – America’s worst president ever – will linger for years and years. It’s hard to even begin to count the ways George Bush has screwed up the United States and the world.

Where do you begin? Our economy is in ruins, and the whole country is falling apart at the seams, with the world economy trailing behind us like a drunken sailor, bobbing and weaving, about to pass out. Then we’ve got wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a trillion dollar debt, the loss of many of our civil liberties in the name of freedom – and that’s just the beginning.

After eight years of a Bush republican, Neo-Con feeding frenzy – where Bush’s buddies spent day and night gorging themselves on the spoils of our labor, things are kind of rough. Bush and his buddies have raped and pillaged their way through much of our children’s inheritance. All that’s left are the smoking ruins.

I really don’t envy Obama – he’s coming into a pretty hopeless situation.

But at least I am heartened by the fact that I believe Obama is better qualified to turn the situation around than anyone else I can think of. To the extent anyone can, Obama has the best chance.

And more importantly, we’re not continuing to dig ourselves any deeper.
If John McCain had been elected, it just would have been a third term for Bush – no difference at all. That would have been a fate worse than death.

By electing Obama, we’ve prevented that – prevented further damage from being done.

Continue reading “Let The Games begin!”

Washington State Measures

Initiative 985 – This measure would open high-occupancy vehicle lanes to all traffic during specified hours, require traffic light synchronization, increase roadside assistance funding, and dedicate certain taxes, fines, tolls and other revenues to traffic-flow purposes

Yes

Initiative 1000 – This measure would permit terminally ill, competent, adult Washington residents, who are medically predicted to have six months or less to live, to request and self-administer lethal medication prescribed by a physician.
Yes

Initiative 1029 – This measure would require long-term care workers to be certified as home care aides based on an examination, with exceptions; increase training and criminal background check requirements; and establish disciplinary standards and procedures.
Yes

It seems like 99% of all the politicians from all the different parties are cut from the same mold. They all have slightly different messages and slants left or right, but basically it’s all the same. A politician is a politician is a politician.

Barack Obama defies these stereotypes.

An early opponent of the war in Iraq, Obama had the courage to speak out and voice his opposition, even though at the time – because of the hysteria Bush had drummed up, reminiscent of the Joe McCarthy era – it was considered un-patriotic to oppose the war.
That really was a courageous act. Obama has maintained that position – that the Iraq war is wrong and that we must get our troops out – consistently since the war started.

The war in Iraq is one of the biggest problems we now face.

Obama has promised to get our troops out – and for that reason alone, I would vote for him. McCain’s “we’ll keep the troops there for 100 years or as long as it takes” is just completely intolerable.

But there are other reasons I support Obama, as well.

Continue reading “Barack Obama For President”

John McCain has an extremely impressive record – war hero, POW, statesman – he has it all. Twenty years in the US Senate. He’s traveled extensively around the world, getting close-up views of all the trouble spots. He’s on a first name basis with world leaders and other key people everywhere around the globe. He really and truly knows his stuff.

Four years ago when the presidential face-off was between George Bush and John Kerry, I found myself wishing McCain had run instead, because I would have almost preferred him over Kerry.

At that time, McCain was a centrist. He was a true maverick, disagreeing with George Bush and his party on key issues such as the use of torture and on tax cuts and other important issues.

But no more.

Since that time, McCain has undergone a metamorphosis – as he tried to mold himself into what he or the republican party saw as a contender for the 2008 presidential race.

He’s moved a good ways farther to the right. He’s become a more doctrinaire republican, embracing many of the same right-wing ideas and values he used to oppose.

Continue reading “John McCain: Change We Don’t Need”

Pictured at right, Dino “Italian Stallion” Rossi – the BIAW Candidate for Washington Governor, with his head up his ass, as usual.

After losing a tight race for Governor in 2004, Dino Rossi is back again this year, facing off against incumbent Christine Gregoire.

Rossi’s main distinguishment in this campaign is that he seems to blame everyone else for the economic mess the country is in – he blames Christine Gregoire, and he even blames his own party – which he conveniently distances himself from, by proclaiming himself the “GOP” candidate (hoping that people will think that’s different than a “republican.” ).

Rossi has proposed no new plans to help get the state out of the various messes we’re in, he’s just spent all of his time blaming others, in attack ad after attack ad. Nasty, viscous stuff, mostly full of lies and innuendo. These ads make the 2004 “Swift Boat” ads look like fluff in comparison.

And this coming after he kicked off his campaign by claiming sour grapes for Seattleites having “stolen” the last election.

Continue reading “Dino "Italian Stallion" Rossi for Govenator of Washington? No Way!”

A picture of Sarah Palin at her best.

I just can’t believe anyone is taking Sarah Palin seriously any more.

In picking Palin for his running mate, it looks like John McCain was trying to appeal to women voters and “just plain folks.” And initially, his strategy appeared to work. It gave him a good boost in the polls.

A young, vibrant woman – a former beauty contestant and now governor of Alaska at the tender age of 44, she’s certainly a rising star – “Sarah Barracuda” – what a great nickname. And topping it off, she’s very, very conservative. Basically, she was a dream candidate for the republicans. The perfect foil to attract the disgruntled Hillaryites.

However, if you take a close look at Palin, things start to fall apart.

First, there was the interview with Katie Couric, where Palin stumbled badly. Question: How does being governor of Alaska prepare you for foreign affairs? Answer: because Alaska sits right next to Russia. Here’s the clip, and then another clip here. The whole interview was pretty much a disaster.

Continue reading “Sarah Palin For Vice President? I Think Not!”

It’s hard to imagine one man creating so much havoc, but George W. Bush really takes the cake.
In just a little under eight years, he’s managed to:

• Ruin our economy, plunging the United States into the worst recession since the Great Depression;
• Take us to war against Iraq for no good reason at all (other than to steal their oil – or maybe it was because Saddam tried to kill his dad);
• Take us to war against Afghanistan looking for bin Laden, only to withdraw most of the troops before their job was done, insuring bin Laden could safely escape;
• Taken away many of our civil rights in the name of combating “terrorism”;
• Condon the use of torture against what in many cases were innocent civilians, again in the name of combating terrorism;
• Promote the raping of our wilderness and public lands to find gas and oil, as well as generally raping the environment;
• Allow oil companies to post record profits at the expense of consumers and the economy in general (in 2000, the average cost of gas was $1.48 a gallon; contrast that to the $4.00 a gallon we recently had to pay). That’s a 170% increase in the eight years Bush was President!

And those are just the high points. The bottom line: His rich buddies got richer; the rest of us paid their way. Bush and his cronies raped the world.

Without the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Bush would have been a one-term wonder. Pre-9/11, he was a rudderless, bumbling non-entity. His presidency distinguished itself by creating no distinguishments. He was mediocrity incarnate. No plan to do anything. A caretaker president. His approval ratings were abysmal. Bush was going nowhere, fast.

Continue reading “George W. Bush – Our Worst President Ever”

I would like to protest the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial industry.

What Secretary Paulson is asking for is a blank check – no controls, no real plan no nothing. And that, coming from the Bush administration is laughable.
Perhaps they can contract out the reconstruction of our financial industry to Halliburton? And if you’re willing to buy that, I have a nice bridge you may be interested in…

The single over-riding reason the country’s economy is where it’s at right now is because of the Bush administration, and the feeding frenzy they’ve allowed to exist for the last eight years. Capitalism in its finest hour. Bush’s whole economic plan for the last eight years has been recycled Ronald Reagan era trickle-down economics coupled with lax regulations and no meaningful oversight.

So what happened?

What happened is they’ve raped the economy, they’ve raped the American taxpayers, they’ve raped Iraq and Afghanistan, and basically, they’ve raped the whole world.

Greed run rampant, without controls; without reason or care.

Continue reading “Corporate Welfare? No Way! Wall Street Bailout Wrong!”