51st State in Washington

Not D.C., Eastern Washington

Ten Republican senators from Washington State are proposing the creation of the 51st state, dividing the existing state just east of the Cascades. This portion of Washington is really more like northern Idaho than the Western part of the state both in climate and politics.

While the western part of Washington, including Seattle, is generally liberal (and milder and lush), the eastern portion is far more conservative (and arid and harsh).

(As a side note, the conservatives in the eastern (fifth) district of former House Speaker Tom Foley, voted Foley out of office in 1994 and replaced him with George Nethercutt. Exit polls indicated that those conservative voters assumed that their new man would automatically become Speaker of The House.)

The Democrats barely won the Governorship this past election in a close and controversial race. The senators seem to be a little upset with the results.

Uncle Warbucks

No Surprise Here

The AP is reporting that a Bush family member (Dubya’s Uncle H.T. Bush) has made $450,000 from the sale of his stock in a defense contractor making money off the Iraq war.

Who did you think would benefit from this war? The Iraqi people?

Ich bin ein Berliner

Well, maybe not

It should be well known by now that our boy George likes his public appearances tightly scripted.

During the first term and especially during the re-election campaign, his audiences were vetted to make sure all attendees were Bush loyalists (they actually had to sign an oath).

“Town Hall meetings” were not public forums at all but well orchestrated events where the questions were known and selected in advance. The soft ball questions were so soft in some instances that they became squishy: “Given your strong Christian faith, Mr. President, how does Jesus’ teaching guide you in everyday life”. Really probing stuff like that.

The debates with Sen. Kerry, were the only non-scripted appearances, and despite a long list of debate rules insisted upon by the Bush team, Dubya did an abysmal job. This was probably the only real (and really telling) view of Bush that the voters ever got. And he didn’t look all that impressive.

So, on his recent tour of Europe, tightly scripted events are the rule, as he shakes hands, makes statements, and tries to look presidential.

But apparently the Germans didn’t get the memo. They thought the “town hall meeting” scheduled by Bush would be a free-flowing question-and-answer session between the German citizens and an American President. Tightly scripted public events don’t set well with the German people these days as they are all too reminiscent of a recent dark era in German history.

Once the Bush team got word that the Germans weren’t playing ball, the event was promptly cancelled. Evidently, democracy and open, public debate are for the other guys.

Sweet Revenge

Will prevail, without fail

Howard Fineman, writing for Newsweek, shares two revealing stories from George Bush’s youth. In one, he takes vicious revenge on a classmate who playfully trips him in a soccer game. The other story is of Bush playing with his cousins on the family compound. Bush, being the oldest of the cousins, would change the rules of the game if he was losing or in some cases simply take the ball and go home.

This is a side of Bush that most Americans don’t see. Bush cultivates the image of an easy-going regular guy. But, George and others in the Bush clan are, Fineman writes, “expert at boarding-school blasé, at hiding a seething need to win behind a veil of bumbling nonchalance.”

A quick survey of Bush’s relatively short political history reveals that three of the major points in his career were likely motivated by revenge for the family. Becoming Governor of Texas he beat the popular Ann Richards who had famously said of Bush, Sr. “he was born with a silver foot in his mouth”.

The ascendancy to The White House was revenge on the later half of the Clinton-Gore team that handily beat his father in 1992.

And thirdly, and most obvious to many, his war on Saddam Hussein is revenge for, as Bush himself has put it: “He tried to kill my Daddy”.

To many, revenge is not only acceptable, but admirable. But as Bush continues to cultivate his personal image (including the “follower of Jesus” image), the American puplic might want to have a closer look at his character.

So Now You Tell Us

Two months, too late

Now that the mass hysteria of the campaign has worn off, the American public is waking up to the reality of four more years. Nearly every new poll shows the approval ratings for Bush dropping.

In addition, more of the American public thinks we’re on the wrong track than on the right track.

Perhaps a little buyer's remorse?

A Company Of Soldiers

Frontline Documentary

The always-excellent PBS program Frontline aired a documentary this week called “A Company of Soldiers”. The film was made over the course of a year with soldiers in Iraq as they attempted to carry out their mission there.

Three things are evident from this inside look into the day-to–day life of our troops in Iraq. They are often very young, in some cases just out of high school. They are also surprisingly professional given the circumstances they face.

Lastly, they deal with nearly impossible tasks: Trying to rebuild the economy of a war-ravaged nation; trying to keep the peace as an occupying military force; and trying to keep from being attacked and killed.

The Era of Big Government Is...

Back!

The single, big issue for Democrats and Independents running for office should be fiscal responsibility. It is the one thing almost everyone across the political spectrum says they liked about the Clinton years and it is the thing the Republicans are failing at so miserably.

Incoming DNC Chairman Howard Dean has talked about the Bush Administration’s “Fiscal recklessness” and about the “Enron-style accounting” in the Bush Budget.

Now it’s up to Democrats in Congress to realize what Republicans realized a long time ago: The thing people care most about is their money. Democrats need to alert the public that what Bush is spending is their money. Some of it they have paid in taxes already. The rest of it, Bush is borrowing from their savings or their children’s inheritance. The message needs to be: Wake-up America, you’re being fleeced. That miniscule tax rebate is like any “rebate”: it is a small financial motivator designed to get you to part with a lot more money.

Americans like money. But they also like to spend money. They will tolerate paying taxes if they are getting something for it. Liberals have long been labeled as “tax and spenders” which reads “money wasters.” It is now the Republicans in charge and they are wasting America’s money at an unprecedented rate. Even former Speaker of the House, Republican Newt Gingrich is now saying “the Republicans have lost their way” when it comes to fiscal discipline.

Democrats and Independents need to explain where Bush is spending money and where he is proposing not to spend money. Most taxpayers would be okay with their money being spent to demolish a crack house and plant a few trees. Most taxpayers wouldn’t be upset to see their money being spent to improve academic skills of American children. Those are the sorts of items Bush has decided not to spend money on. But building bombs to drop on other countries and building logging roads in the National Forests for timber companies to use are things he is spending money on. Most taxpayers are, I would guess, at least a little uneasy about that sort of spending.

It is up to the Democrats and Independents to make the voters aware of where their money goes, how much of it goes there, and who benefits. If they don’t, Bush and Company will gladly define these expenditures: Expensive weapons to kill people with? That’s “defending freedom”. Logging roads? That’s “preserving a way of life”. Bulldozing a crack house in an inner-city neighborhood? That’s “a wasteful and inefficient government program.”

The Bush team snuck out the details of the budget cuts late last Friday, a tactic designed to garner the least amount of press coverage. The cuts include slashing expenditures in the areas of health, education and law-enforcement. No wonder they didn’t want the cuts to get much attention. Informing the public has never been a top priority for this administration.

That will be the job of Howard Dean and the Democrats.

Arkansas Traveler

A charismatic, popular, musical instrument-playing governor from Arkansas is considering taking to the national campaign trail representing a “new”, more moderate, incarnation of his party…

A flash back to 1990? No, it’s 2005 and the candidate is current Republican Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee.

Is America ready for a President Huckabee?

Bush Fatigue

I think there comes a point for me when I get exhausted trying to keep up with all the misadventures of King Karl and Our Boy George. Call it Bush Fatigue.

The pattern of the story continues over and over: Some intrepid reporter gets the scoop on some absurdity or questionable move or outright scandal coming out of this White House. The press secretary denies it, the talking points are passed out among administration officials and members of Congress, the blogs go wild, the press is made out to be the enemy, the commander in chief regurgitates some rhetoric about “freedom” and “hard work”, and the general public barely notices.

The next week, or the next day in some cases, the pattern starts all over again.

The press doesn’t seem to have the energy to sustain the discussion, the Democrats seem exhausted by their own futile efforts, and the public is just plain bored.

Turn on the TV news any given day and you’ll be hard pressed to find any follow-up to these stories:

The outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame
Bush taking the country to war under bogus pretenses
The torture of war prisoners
Bush’s missing National Guard records
Paying of Right Wing journalists by the administration
Medicare Reform fraud
Budget fraud
Cheney’s secret Energy Task Force
Enron
Bogus claims about Iraq purchasing Yellowcake Uranium
Bizarre results in 2000 (and 2004) elections
Questionable nominees from Kerik to Gonzales
The Patriot Act
Halliburton and other contractors making big bucks off the Iraq War
The events of 9/11/01

(Imagine, for a moment, if any of this took place under a Clinton Administration…)

No, you won't be hearing much about these unresolved issues on your nightly news, but you’ll be sure to get all the mundane details of the court trial of Michael Jackson.

Bush's Political Doctrine

It is alarming to note that while Bush is promoting the representation of all people of Iraq in their new government, his political/policy advisor Karl Rove is declaring his desire to destroy the Democratic Party and have Americans represented exclusively by one party-the Republicans.

Hillary, Franken, and Dean

I'm not sure if this is good or bad news for the Democrats:

1. Hillary Clinton has become the clear front-runner among Democrats for the White House in 2008, beating both Kerry and Edwards by large margins. She also beats both George Pataki and Rudy Guiliani in some head-to-head match-ups in New York State.

2. Al Franken has announced he'll seek the Senate seat in his home state of Minnesota next year.

3. And finally, Howard Dean will head the DNC.

My thoughts:

1. It is way too early for any die-hard Hillary fans to get excited.

2. Al Franken might just bring some much needed comic relief to Capitol Hill.

3. Actually, Dean might be a good choice for spokesman of the Democrats. He was one of the very few with the courage and passion to speak out against George Bush early on. Something perhaps needed now more than ever.

Indefatigable Ian Fieggen

Just when you thought you’ve reached the outer limits of The Web, you stumble upon Ian Fieggen’s Shoelace Site. It is a site dedicated to everything you need to know about shoelaces, including a wealth of information on...well,tying your shoelaces.

There are colored diagrams of at least fifteen different ways to tie your shoelaces, details on lacing your shoes, and some helpful hints on aglet repair. Why not?

The site also has shoelace polls, frequently asked questions about shoelaces, and of course, other shoelace links. But you needn’t bother with those. Ian’s shoelace site has been ranked the number one shoelace site by Google and Yahoo…

Rove's New Job

Same as the old job

It has always appeared to many Democrats and Independents that the Bush White House deeply blurred the line between politics and policy. It was long suspected that George Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, was calling many of the shots on policy issues.

But now it is official. Rove-referred to as "Bush's Brain" by some , and referred to as “Turd Blossom” by Bush himself- is officially on the policy making team. He was named this week as deputy Chief of Staff.

I guess they figured there was no sense in pretending…

Two Letters From Texas

There are hundreds of letters to the current occupier of The White House posted on the website www.deargeorgeletters.com.

I stumbled across a couple letters that I think pretty clearly illustrate two divergent world views on the much-debated issue of “moral values”. Both of these letters are from women; one a teenager, the other middle-aged. Both women happen to be from Texas.

I'll let the letter-writers speak for themselves:

Dear George:

Benjamin Franklin once said "There was never a good war, or a bad peace." I believe this quote completely sums up your administration in one sentence. As I listen to your state of the union address I can't help but wonder if you see the error of your ways. Some people say just because I'm 15, I am not capable of understanding everything that's going on, but in truth I think that my eyes might be more open than most adults.

Having grown up in a Catholic Democratic household, I was taught at a young age that to live and be happy we must first accept all as brothers and sisters. This includes white, black, gay, straight, whatever the situation might be. I was puzzled as a little girl, because I saw how some children treated others. And then I learned why. We can't expect children to act civilized if we ourselves are not capable of it.

So Mr. Bush, although I can't do anything about you being reelected, I want to thank you, mainly for encouraging me to vote at the next presidential election. The last thing we want is someone like you ending up in office again.

Sincerely,
Anna
Age 15
Houston, Texas


Dear George:

Mr. President I have never written a president in my life, but, I know God's finest hour is coming upon the earth and how honored I am to live in this age.

I thank Jesus for you daily and I am so glad you are our president and you make me very proud to be a Texan by birth. I am very glad you are a Christian also because I know if we don't stand for something we will fall for anything.

The war in Iraq is horrible but it is only scriptural and I pray for our soldiers as I am sure you do also. In I Kings the word of God says "and there was the time when Kings went out to war" we are fighting for the Judeo-Christain way of life and I am proud of my president and the stands you are taking against same sex marriage and doing what you can for abortion.

I am not a fool I know u have as many strongholds against u as Joshua did at the battle of Jericho, but know that you are respected honored and prayed for in my corner of the states and as Joshua I know if we remain steadfast and keep to the Lords ways and instructions, like Joshua when at last we blow our trumpets our walls too will also come down.

God Bless You President Bush, and keep you and may his face shine upon you and may our Lord be gracious and give you peace.

With Respect and Honor For You I Remain
Sincerely Yours
Kathy
Age 48
Texas

Ink On Their Fingers

Blood On Their Hands

Writing on his blog at the MSNBC News website, reporter David Shuster offers this assessment of the ink-stained finger stunt pulled by some members of Congress during the State of the Union speech last week:

“To me, it was surreal to see the members of Congress arrive in their nice cars and motorcades... and then walk into the house chamber wearing their fancy suits and ties. It was even more surreal to see that some lawmakers, in this incredibly secure and safe cocoon, had stained their own index fingers.

The courage of ordinary Iraqis last Sunday was unmistakable. They were literally risking their lives by standing in line to vote and by getting their fingers stamped with ink. The members of Congress who stained their own fingers and wagged them proudly for the cameras were an affront to that courage. And in my eyes, those lawmakers diminished the true significance of what happened last weekend in Iraq. The fact is, few members of Congress have a son or daughter serving in the U.S. military. And few lawmakers have actually ever served themselves.”

I can’t help but wonder if maybe more than a few Iraqis who have lost family members to this war didn’t see the blood on the hands of the U.S. politicians instead of just ink.

On The Wire

The Bush Bulge is Back

The story of whether or not Bush was wired during the 2004 Presidential Debates is back in the news. The suspicion has been, of course, that Bush was recieving prompting from aides while he answered debate questions.

There was not much discussion about what a terrible job his aides did feeding him those answers.

Questions now focus on whether or not newspapers were encouraged to kill the story (rather than fan the flames of conspiracy like they usually do).

Nevertheless, the question has never been settled as to what that strange bulge under his suit jacket was.

Then again, there is this bit of evidence worth considering...

Click on George Bush Audio.

Check Your Attitude

Maybe you really like George Bush after all

There is a fascinating series of tests that can be done on-line in just a few minutes to test what you really think and feel.

The tests measure your perception on the subjects of race, age, gender, political preference and many others. You will gain some insight into your own attitudes and biases. You’ll see how stereotypes and culture influence how you view things.

The tests are conducted through a site at Harvard University. Each test is pretty quick and you get instant results. Take a few moments to check this out:

The Defiant Ones

Republicans to Watch

Democrats would do well to take note that not all of the Republicans are in lock-step with George Bush. There are a number of Republicans that might be important allies for the Dems if any of Bush's agenda is to be stopped.

A few to keep tabs on: Sens. Snowe and Collins from Maine. Sen. McCain from Arizona. Sen. Chafee from Rhode Island (who, by all his stances on the issues, should be a Democrat). Maybe Sens. DeWine and Voinovich from Ohio. Or Sen. Specter of Pennsylania.

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post notes that several of these Senators demonstrated lukewarm response to many aspects of Bush's SOTU speech this week, standing out (or remaining seated, as the case was) from the the majority of the Bush cheerleading squad.

Even conservative Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was quietly defiant in the face of a leader who puts a premium on absolute loyalty.

Democrats and Independents might also watch for those Republicans considering a run for The White House in 2008 (Sen. Hagel of Nebraska for one). They may be quickly distancing themselves from Bush as the second term begins to falter and "Bush Fatigue" sets in across America.

Freedom-free Fargo

While our boy George throws around the rhetoric of freedom, his staff continues the campaign tradition of limiting access to the "public" addresses Bush gives to Bush loyalists. This from North Dakota's Fargo Forum :

Fargo City Commissioner Linda Coates is among more than 40 area residents included on a list of people barred from attending President Bush's speech today in Fargo.

Among the 42 area people on the do-not-admit list: two high school students, a librarian, a Democratic campaign manager and several university professors.

White House spokesman Jim Morrell and Don Larson, a spokesman for the North Dakota governor's office, say they don't know anything about such a list.

"This is the first I'm hearing of it," Morrell said when contacted Wednesday.

But two sources close to Tuesday's ticket distribution confirmed the list exists and includes a handful of names of people who were not to receive tickets to today's event at North Dakota State University's Bison Sports Arena.

The list was supplied to workers at the two Fargo distribution sites, along with tickets and other forms citizens were asked to fill out upon receiving them. People who handed out tickets had copies of the list at their tables to determine if anyone should be denied access, both sources said.

The list contains a wide range of people. Several wrote opinion page letters to The Forum criticizing Bush or the war in Iraq. Others wrote letters in support of gay rights or of Democratic policies.

Grading Government

The grades are in. See how your state government performed.

Constitution Burning

Save The Flag. Burn The Constitution.

In a survey of 100,000 highschool students, University of Connecticut researchers reveal that 75% believed that flag burning was illegal. The truth, as the other 25% know, is that flag burning, like it or not, is allowed under the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The first amendment provides for a wide range of freedoms of expression (freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, freedom of the press, freedom of religion).

When the students were provided with the full text of the amendment, more than a third thought it went too far in the rights it protected.

Only about half the students surveyed thought that newspapers should be allowed to publish stories without governmental approval.

While many Iraqis are risking their lives for the first taste of freedom, and while U.S. servicemen are dying in the fight to help them get it, it is disturbing to know that many young Americans seem all too willing to give up the freedom others have fought and died for.

Missing In Iraq

From the news coverage and the giddiness flowing from the White House, you might guess that George W. Bush won the election this past Sunday in Iraq. But in Iraq the celebration may quickly subside as Iraqi citizens discover how much was left undetermined by the historic vote.

Frederick Barton, writing in The American Prospect addresses 5 major concerns that remain unresolved. Here is an extended excerpt:


The withdrawal of foreign troops. Iraqis should have a chance to vote on a referendum that would determine a departure date for foreign troops. The catch-22 evident in Iraq today -- a government unable to achieve legitimacy with U.S. forces in the country and unable to achieve security without our presence -- can only be resolved by the Iraqis themselves.

Individual political leaders. Running for office in Iraq is a dangerous occupation; candidates have been threatened and killed. As a result, only a party symbol and a candidate number are listed on ballots, not candidates’ names. Voting for stealth candidates undermines the idea of a free and fair election.

The ownership of oil. Much of Iraqis’ optimism about their future is based on the country’s projected oil wealth. Establishing a transparent model of ownership that directs the benefits of future oil production to widespread public needs could establish a foundation for renewing public hope. This topic, though, has been untouched by candidates in the run-up to the election.

Justice. Transitional justice is critical to any fledgling democracy. Consulting Iraqis on issues related to justice, human rights, and social reconstruction -- including Saddam Hussein’s future -- is vital to ending the culture of impunity that has existed in Iraq for the last three decades.

Power sharing. Those who have been excluded, left behind, or have chosen to remain outside of the political process will need to have a place in the future of Iraq. Sunnis and women in particular have been intimidated into staying away from Sunday’s elections. Their absence could impede any effort to build a true national constituency.

Copyright © 2005 by The American Prospect, Inc. Preferred Citation: Frederick D. Barton, "Election Day", The American Prospect Online, Jan 28, 2005.