So George Bush gives us platitudes, pats us on the head and tells us daddy knows best: the only way to succeed in Iraq and make America safe from the menace of al Qaeda is to increase troop levels there and send more American kids off to their deaths. What a load of tripe! I can’t believe he’s still peddling the tired myths about al Qaeda. Let’s get this straight: before we got involved in Iraq, there was no link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Sure, they were both Sunni Muslims, but to say that they were even…

It’s been over a week now since the release of the Iraq Study Group report. The basis of the report is that the situation in Iraq is “grave and deteriorating,” and that there is no workable military solution. The report states that the only path with some potential for success is a joint diplomatic/political venture involving Iraq’s neighbors. Iraq Study Group Report The bipartisan panel includes heavy-hitters from both sides of the aisle: a former Supreme Court Justice, two former Secretary of States, a former Attorney General, a former Defense Secretary, a former White House Chief of Staff. Study Group…

“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “”Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my…

Our hypocrite of the decade award goes to none other than George W. Bush. Mr. Bush, the world’s premier champion of the democratic form of government, has made spreading democracy Job Number One for the good ol’ US of A. This mantle of good-natured philanthropy surfaced, as you’ll no doubt recall, after it finally became apparent that there were no actual Weapons of mass Destruction in Iraq, and further, that Iraq and Saddam Hussein posed no threat to anyone at all beyond Iraq’s borders. Without the threat of WMD’s as a justification for the invasion, Mr. Bush obviously needed something…

In defense of his domestic spying program, George Bush said today, “When terrorist operatives are here in America communicating with someone overseas, we must understand what’s going on if we’re going to do our job to protect the people. The safety and security of the American people depend on our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, and what they’re planning.” He went on, “Federal courts have consistently ruled that a president has authority under the Constitution to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance against our enemies. My predecessors have used the same constitutional authority on numerous occasions. And…

There you are, you’re George W. Bush, you’re trailing badly in the polls, you’ve got this nasty little problem with domestic spying making headline news all over the place, your war in Iraq is continuing to go sour, and all your best buddies are getting indicted for corruption and bribery. So what do you do? You call out the heavy artillery, that’s what! Last week, after a year’s absence, George W. Bush’s biggest supporter, Osama bin Laden made a rare appearance, via an audiotape mailed to Aljazeera TV. In the tape, bin Laden alternately threatened to bring the war back…

The Bush administration continues in its downward spiral, its ultimate, grisly end now hastened by the charges of domestic spying by the National Security Agency. According to news reports, the Bush administration authorized the NSA to conduct wiretaps of hundreds if not thousands of American citizen’s phone and email conversations within the United States – all without warrants. Such warrantless wiretaps are prohibited under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, where it provides that: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and…

The movement to immediately end the war in Iraq gained an unlikely spokesman last week: John Murtha, longtime Congressman from Pennsylvania, a ranking member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. A consistent hawk for the 33 years he’s spent in congress, Murtha is a decorated combat veteran with a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Murtha, who retired from the Marine Corps as a Colonel, served in both Korea and Viet Nam. Murtha, who supported the war in Iraq initially, proposed a bill Thursday to immediately withdraw all American troops from Iraq. According to Congressman…

I was watching Meet The Press on NBC this morning. Tim Russert was interviewing Orin Hatch and Charles Schumer, talking about possible appointments to the Supreme Court. Everything was going along great, and then Russert asked Hatch about the possibility of “non-judicial” appointments – that is, making an appointment of a person who was not a judge to the court. Hatch picked it right up. He said something to the effect that the necessity of appointing judges to the judiciary was overblown. All that was necessary, really, was to appoint someone “who knew what was going on,” and that a…

Terri Schiavo Should Be Allowed To Die Bush the Savior There you are, and the worst happens: your wife dies after a sudden heart attack. Somehow, you get through the surreal nightmare of the funeral and all the rest, and begin the grieving process. Several years down the road, if you’re lucky, your life has more or less returned to normal. But not for Michael Schiavo. For him, the nightmare has continued for all of the last fifteen years. As a side-effect of bulimia in February 1990, Terri Schiavo suffered a heart attack and sustained severe non-reversible brain damage as…