New Revelation by Legislative Leader

Senator Bill "Fillibusterer" Frist, this week blamed the ineffectiveness of the current session of congress on the Democrats, who he says are guilty of, " all kinds of underhanded, obstructionist tactics". Somebody should tell him that the Democrats chair no commitees and the Republicans need no democratic votes to pass legislation.

Next, he'll be telling us he's on the same Al- Quieda "Hit List" that Bill O'Rielly claims the FBI told him he is on.

What are these guys smoking?

Another Bush Diatribe

For six years, Bush has gotten everything he wanted. He has been the decider. He has control of both houses of Congress and has been able to pack the Supreme Court. That's the way it should be, because he's a uniter, not a divider. I'm not whining, boss. More power to him, I say. The only thing I ask is that you don't go blaming the evil moonbats when everything turns to shit.

He has started a war he can't finish. He could have raised taxes to pay for it. He could have instituted a draft to fight it. He doesn't because his base won't stand for it. They don't want to pay. They don't want their children to fight. What do I think? I didn't like this war from the first. That being said, once we're in it, it behooves us to kick the shit out of the enemy. First rule of the playground, every boy learns it by the first grade. Nobody respects a loser.

He has lost us every ally we had and damaged our position in the international community. There is no organized left wing establishment, undermining his position here at home. Cindy Sheehan is so far out there on the fringe that during her "March on Washington" last year, not one mainstream political figure stood up with her. The most damning criticism of Bush has come from the Right. William F. Buckley, David Broder, George Will, Pat Buchanan, Lindsey Graham, John Warner, John McCain, Colin Powell, The list keeps getting longer. The Democrats have no organized resistance to the Bush trail of tears and no one listens to them anyway. Bill Clinton and Laura Bush are sharing top billing at a conference for African relief. Hmmm, I wonder if that's all they're sharing?

George Bush has been a failure all his life, at school, at work, at play. There are no old friends telling anecdotes about Georges younger days, he has no old friends. There are no old girlfriends coming out of the woodwork, there are no old girlfriends. No past business associates talk of his savvy or acumen, he has neither. The truth is, his parents have smoothed the way for him and pulled his chestnuts out of the fire all his life. They can't help him now. He's way out of his depth and all I feel for him is sorry. All I ask is, when it all comes apart, don't point your finger at me and call me less than a patriot for not adequately supporting him. It's true I dispise George Bush but I'm just one old man. I mind my own business. I pay my taxes, all of them. I go to work. I give my time to causes I believe in, none of them political. I served my country in my time and will again when they start to take 55 year olds. I vote in every election, just not for George Bush.

I don't know what's coming up for the USA in the next cycle and to tell you the truth I'm fast coming to the conclusion that we deserve whatever we get. I don't think it's too much to ask of our leaders to act like responsible adults. I don't think it's too much to ask of the American people to treat each other with civility and respect but apparently I'm wrong. The warm fuzzy feeling that we get from blaming our problems on the other guy is just too good to pass up. Gee, I'm getting a warm , fuzzy feeling from all this Bush Bashing. Please disregard this post and resume bashing away at those nasty moonbats.

I Guess These Things Are Relative

Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, is threatening to filibuster, in order to block the passage of an anti-torture bill that will be pushed through next week by Senators Graham, McCain and Warner. Does anyone but me think this is more than a little ironic?

If they do filibuster, does this mean we can go back and kick that bed wetting mamma's boy, Samuel Alito, off the Supreme Court?

All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA

This may be kind of a local story, so I don't know if all of you have heard about it. There is a church about 40 miles from where I live. It is a church attended primarily by people who tend to be politically liberal and has been for most of the last century. Shortly before the last presidential election, the minister gave a sermon in which he contrasted the views expressed by Bush and Kerry at a recent televised debate.

One of the points he brought up was that the US going to war against Iraq, a country that had not attacked us or posed a threat to us, was not a war that Jesus would have signed off on. He didn't go so far as to suggest that the congregation vote against Bush but I don't imagine that GW was presented in a very flattering light.

The interesting part is that now the IRS is seeking to remove the churches tax exempt status. I am not aware of the IRS seeking to remove the tax exempt status of any other religious institution on these grounds. If this is successful, the church will have to report all contributions for the last 2 years and in the future and pay taxes on them. They would also have to pay property taxes to the state and this would be a substantial amount. This will almost certainly drive the church out of business.

It seems to me that it isn't that unusual for churches to get pretty political. Jesus apparently told Pat Robertson that GW would win the last election and Pat passed the news along to the faithful. I heard some guy named Hagee on TV saying that the War in Iraq was ordained by God and we should do everything we could to support Israel and thwart Islam. There are Islamic mosques in this country where seditious activities are planned in the name of religion, nobody is lifting their tax exempt status.

I think the IRS may have tainted motives here. What do you think?

Time for a Warchief

We are into the 5th year of the Global War on Terror. By this time I would expect to see some changes in America. I would expect that by this time we would have identified the enemy and developed a strategy to fight them. I would expect that our borders would be secured. I would expect that through conservation, rationing and alternative technologies, we would be at or near energy independence. I would expect a whole new generation of weapons and strategies for their use, with which to fight this new type of war. I would expect to see a universal draft in place and the majority of the nations military age citizens under arms. I would expect that entire campaigns would have been fought and won, that the capabilities of the enemy would have been gauged, and our efforts adjusted accordingly. I would have expected that the world would have polarized into functional alliances.

I would have expected that the Islamic Jihadist population of the world would be much diminished.

I would have expected that the war would be over.

Why we have illegal immigration.

The problem with Americans today is that they want to live like, well, Americans. To do that costs money. Money that you can't make doing the jobs Americans won't do. Let's see how much it costs to live in my area.

Housing. A room with kitchen privileges and a shared bath. $800. That's the cheapest you can get. A car, insurance, and the gas to drive it around, $500 a month. We're talking 10 year old Ford escort. Food $200 a month. That's peanut butter, processed cheese food, beans and rice in bulk. No Micky Ds. Let's just stop right there.

To support this princely lifestyle you've got to have a full time job that nets you $9 an hour. With the standard payroll deduction package, your job needs to gross you $12 an hour. If you want the clothes, cell phone, the computer with the DSL connection, Friday night out on the town, whatever, then you're looking at another 20-40 hours a week of work, and most people do just that. The bottom line though is $12 dollars an hour. The problem is, of course, that 30-40% of the jobs in the economy pay less than $12 an hour. This is why we have illegal aliens.

The big fence won't stop them. Legislation won't make them go away. Anger will not make them afraid.

Crazy Moonbats are at it again

AHA! Just as I've always thought.

Lindsey Graham is a dangerous liberal.

John McCain is a loose cannon.

John Warner doesn't understand the need for a strong national defense.

We must listen to the voices of sanity in our government who support President Bush in the war on terror, like Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman.

Babylon is Dying

Vera Cruz-Warren Zevon-1978

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria crying
Late last night I heard the news
That Vera Cruz was dying
Vera Cruz is dying

Someone called Maria's name
I swear it was my father's voice
Saying "If you stay you'll all be slain
You must leave now, you have no choice
Take the servants and ride west
Keep the child close to your chest
When the American troops withdraw
Let Zapata take the rest"

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria calling
Saying "Vera Cruz is dying
And Cuernavaca's fallen"

Aquel dia yo jure - On that day I swore
Hacia el puerto volvere - To the port I will return
Aunque el destino cambio mi vida - Even though destiny changed my life
En Vera Cruz morire - In Vera Cruz I shall die
Aquel dia yo jure - On that day I swore

I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns
I heard Maria calling
Saying "Vera Cruz is dying
and Cuernavaca's fallen"

Some things never change, do they?

Donald Rumsfeld- A Great American

It is very popular right now for political pundits on the right and left to call for the ouster of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. This points out the failure of the American public to understand the workings of our government. No one should allow frustration with American policy to mask the fact that Donald Rumsfeld is doing an outstanding job. He is an appointee of the President of the United States. His job is to support the Administration policy and to implement that policy with the Armed Forces. He has done exactly that and better than anybody else could have done. The invasion of Iraq went like clockwork. The occupation of Iraq, while not going well, is being carried out with skill and finesse. American casualties have been suprisingly and blessedly small. Morale in the Armed Forces remains high. These are things that he can influence in his position and he has done so. Everything else is political.

Donald Rumsfeld supports the Bush whitewash. Of course he does. That's part of his job. He's a political appointee. Solidarity with the administration is an absolute requirement. Anything less would require his resignation. His resignation would damage the military and military morale. This is something he would never do. He does the best he can every day, with what he's got. He doesn't quit. He doesn't try and make himself look good. He doesn't worry about what his historical legacy will be.

If you are looking for a hero in America today, you can look to the right or left, depending on your point of view. Screw the right and the left. I'll just go with Donald Rumsfeld.

Do we need more latch key kids?

America has changed. I don't think anyone will argue that point. The questions we need to ask are how and why? Can we or should we do anything about it? There are so many variables that have changed in the life of the American people over the last couple of generations. Let's just look at one.

For an old guy, I get out and about in my community. The streets, parks, stores, beaches, riverbeds of my community are places I traverse regularly. People are out recreating and going about their business. It's a pretty nice place, clean, orderly, well maintained. The weather is usually perfect. One thing you notice after a while though. There aren't any children.

There are children and you can see them if you look. You can see them in cars and vans, the younger ones ensconced in their safety seats and the older ones securely strapped in with seat belts. You see them in the school yards. On weekends you see them on the athletic fields engaging in organized activities. There are children in my little subdivision. They don't play in the streets or prowl the neighborhood. Their moms herd them out of the house and drive them away, eventually bring them back and herd them back into the house. You almost never see kids out and about on their own or in small groups, anywhere. They don't walk to school, someone drives them. The parents are just doing what they think they need to do to protect and nurture their offspring. This is not new, it has been going on for the last couple of generations. It is becoming more extreme. During the last fifteen or so years, more and more parents don't even trust the public school systems with the education, socialization and supervision of their children. They network with likeminded others and homeschool their children. These kids are not like Huck, Tom or Becky, living in a children's world but interfacing in a real and independent way with the environment and society. This has got to influence the kind of adults these children will become and the kind of nation America will become. The question is how?

Will children raised in this manner be likely to join the military, become mining engineers, seek opportunities in the developing world? It's something to think about.

Parkland, Washington

Does anyone besides me think the story about the National Guardsman, menaced with a gun and beaten by five young male "peaceniks", sounds fishy. If true, the perpetrators need to be prosecuted under hate crime statutes, because that is exactly what it would be. It seems unusual though, and the detective investigating the case says as much, in the account I read. The whole waving a gun around and calling him a "babykiller" thing seems just too bizarre.

If it is true and this was done by five young white males, they will talk about it and someone will turn them in. I wonder if it is not a hoax. This kind of incident does great damage to the morale of the servicemen overseas, irregardless of it's veracity. It did forty years ago in Vietnam and it will today. I hope it is not true.

Moonbat

As a nation we seem to be polarizing. People are increasingly staking out positions on one end of the spectrum or the other on almost every political, religious and philosophical issue. I find this troubling. What I find even more troubling is that people seem to be buying the complete package of whatever they view as "their side". It is too much trouble for them to examine even the major issues of the day and make up their minds on individual issues. They just accept the "blue plate special" and take whatever is being offered up for general consumption. If this is truly what is happening, real democracy and the rights of the minority, face a perilous future. Another unsavory aspect of this group think mentality is that we tend to view others in general terms instead of individuals capable of diverse opinions.

I recently told an associate that I had a very low opinion of our current President and his administration. From that point on, I became, to him, just another "moonbat". Yeah, me and William F. Buckley Jr. Just a couple of liberal moonbats.

Update to Murder Ink-August 21, 2006

The FDA has authorized the over the counter sale of Plan B, a morning after pill less controversial than RU 486 to women 18 years old or older. Those younger than 18 will have to present a doctor's note at the pharmacy. This is more than I ever expected from the Bush administration.

Most urban and suburban communities have free community clinics that will not only provide a doctor's note but also dispense the medication, free or at little cost. There's one in my town. I have worked there both as a volunteer and employee.
In small town America, I suspect that there are sympathetic physicians who are known to maintain confidentiality and discreet pharmacists.

George Bush is really going out on a limb with his Christian conservative base on this and I salute him for it.

Since I always try to be both honest and pragmatic, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up this point, which I am sure George Bush and James Dobson are both aware of. It's hard to imagine there are many sexually active teenage girls in this country who don't have a sympathetic older girlfriend who would be willing to buy the pill for them. So GW and Dr Jim aren't really giving up very much.

Update to Stem Cells-July 19, 2006

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Murder Ink

The first time I saw it happen was in the Fall of 1963. I was in the 7th grade and not quite 12 years old. The girl who had the locker above mine disappeared. I never saw her again, not in church, not in school, not around town. No one said a word. Her picture was never on a milk carton. After that it became more common. By the ninth grade, several a year were gone. By the 10th grade, they stopped disappearing forever. After a while, you'd see them around town again, at a bus stop, walking down the street. They looked older and didn't dress as nice. They kept their eyes down and wouldn't wave back. In the 11th grade, they'd talk to you when they came back. they'd be working around town at little jobs or attending continuation ed classes. Sometimes they'd talk about what happened to them. Sometimes the stories were even funny. Still, you almost never saw the baby. In College, you'd know before they disappeared. Their behavior was manic. They'd go to parties and drink too much and end up crying. Then they'd pack up their stuff and move out of the dorm. Then they legalized abortion and it all stopped. The clinic with no sign out front opened. The local Catholic St. Jude Home for Girls closed.

You hear a lot from the pro lifers about how abortion is murder. It's a sin. It"s not safe for Doctors who perform abortions to admit it in public. It's not uncommon for them to wear body armor to work and back. I think they ought to give them medals and put up statues of them in public parks. I'm not in favor of abortion. I think as a society we need to do everything we can to prevent it, but you have to have lived in America the way it used to be to feel the way I feel. No one has the right to force a pregnant girl to carry to term. I don't care if it's murder or not. A woman has a right to choose!

Why would anyone want to take the opinion of the religious community seriously about an issue of morality anyway? On the other great moral issue of our time they were dead wrong. It's true that the church was active in promoting the cause of civil rights in this country. The black church. Churches were all segregated in those days. Come to think of it , they still are for the most part. Come to think of it, it was the Christian community that drove young girls out of society during the days before legalized abortion. They are the ones who want to restigmatize unwed mothers today.

RU 486 was developed decades ago. It's safe, effective and widely used around the world. It has never been widely available in this country because of the controversial way in which it works. It prevents the implantation of the fertilized egg onto the uterine wall. It was instantly branded the "abortion pill" because of this by the Religious right. Now, largely in response to this complaint a new drug with the trade name of Plan B has been developed. This drug prevents the ovary from releasing an egg and makes eggs that are released unlikely to be fertilized. Gee, what could be wrong with that?

George Bush and his nominee to head the FDA, today voiced their opinion today that Plan B should not be made available to minors. Presumably, this is because somewhere in his philosophy of a "Culture of Life", there is a subtext that precludes young people from having sex. Of course they can get the pill, they just have to get a signed release from their parents to present at the pharmacy. I can just see it now, "Mommy, Daddy, about yesterday, after my quinceanera, my boyfriend and I had unprotected sex, could you please sign this release form so I can get the morning after pill", Yeah, right. There's a scenario that will be played out in living rooms all over America.

You can't have it both ways. If you don't want a lot of abortion/murder going on in society, you have to do every thing possible to keep these girls from getting pregnant in the first place. Education, birth control, whatever it takes. Stress abstinence all you want, but it's not the answer. I realize that all of the juice has dried up in your pasty, shriveled, God fearing gonads, but try and remember back in the day. Young people have sex. That's what they do. It's the first thing that happens after young people start to honestly express their emotions to each other and whether you like it or not it's completely natural. Growing up female in America is a far different experience than it was a couple of generations ago, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that they all don't start to get pregnant as they emotionally mature. It's not going to change, so get over it.

Women make up over half of those graduating from college. They make up an even higher percentage of those going on to professional schools. Things have sure changed. Must be all that home schooling and abstinence training. I would use this opportunity, as I usually do in my posts to call George Bush a scumbag, but I guess he doesn't believe in those either.

They Only Call Themselves Terrorists

The "War on Terror" has been a failure. Nobody with a brain disputes this statement. Most are now disenchanted with the Bush administration's handling of the situation but many see no clear alternative. "At least he's doing something", is a statement you hear frequently in defense of the President. You gotta wonder though, who are we fighting? And why? And is it making any difference? Nobody is telling us this stuff and I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of it.

I see sound bites on cable of various Mullahs, issuing Fatwahs declaring Jihad on America. For some reason, I'm not too scared. These guys are obviously squirrels. They have such flat affects and don't seem mentally sharp. They look like they smell bad. Nobody would dress like that or grow those scraggly beards on purpose. Does anybody really think that a bunch of Q'uiran reading couch potatoes, who haven't figured out the mechanics of a toothbrush, are going to successfully lead the Armies of Islam in the destruction of the Great Shaitan. I'm having a hard time with it.

The Iraqis do not have their shit together. The only stable thing about Iraq is the American presence. It's clear that if we left, the whole country would explode like a cheap pocketwatch with an overwound mainspring. What's even more amazing, is that everyone there seems eager for it to happen. They don't even hate us, they just want us to get out of the way while they dismantle the country back into it's tribal components. So why don't we leave and let them get on with it.

Are we really worried about Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon? Say they do make one. It will be low yield and weigh about as much as a main battle tank. How would they deliver this bomb, by donkey cart? Say they managed to blow up D.C. It would be a tragedy, all those historic monuments, museums and libraries gone. Otherwise, no great loss. I've always thought Vegas would make a good Capital, or maybe Orlando. Our brave governmental officials might not be missed much, but they wouldn't go into that long, dark night unavenged. Just imagine it, a 630,000 square mile skateboard park, paved with a smooth, durable glass finish. I'd go.

Did you guys see those neat publicity films put out by the feared Islamofacist terrorist organization Hezbollah, at the beginning of the recent hostilities in Lebanon. I did, and they were GREAT! First, it had them marching down some street in close order. They were all dressed up in tailored uniforms, bloused boots and silk scarves. Very colorful. Then they broke into some kind of flashy, disco duck, double time. Man, I been to boot camp and I learned to march but not like that! That must have taken a long time to get down right. Next, these guys were way up in the air, hanging on ropes, doing all of these graceful, choreographed, twirling moves. I think they call it Hezbobatics. It was way better than Cirque de Soleil. It was very clever of them to put those films out. Almost nobody noticed that they didn't do any fighting. None, zero, nada. Their entire strategy was to fire a bunch of rockets in the general direction of Israel and then cower in basements. Their only other strategic move was to herd a bunch of retarded children into a building they were sure the Israelis were going to shell, and then call in the press corps to report on the predictably grizzly aftermath, complete with the ubiquitous, but always effective, wailing crones. That won the war for them, right there. I"m so scared of these guys, it makes the piss run right down my leg.

Are you guys tired of those long waits at the airport boarding gates? Contracting nasty fungal infections standing around in your stocking feet, while they X-ray your shoes? Having to buy back that gold plated manicure kit in the cool lizard skin case on eBay after every business trip? Not being able to find your favorite brand of replacement toiletry items in a strange city? Are you still sore from that last cavity search? I am and I've about had enough of it. How does this sound? Everybody that gets on a plane, over the age of eighteen, gets offered a complimentary taser for the duration of the trip. The flight attendant gives instructions for it's operation right after those for the seatbelts, O2 masks and flotation devices. I'd take one. It might not be the perfect solution but you can only do so much.

This is not a war of class. This is not a war of states. This is not a war of political ideology. Armies are of no value. This is JIHAD! Islam wants us to understand their disdain for us and requires only one thing in return, FEAR!

HEAR ME NOW, MY AMERICAN BRETHREN AND SISTREN. We have things to do and a country to run. Fear is not productive. Safety is not an option. Civility and trust are for those that are trustworthy and civil in return. You need not tolerate threats or aggressive behavior, from anyone, for any reason. A civilized society need not be weak or effete. We must put away our petty differences. One American threatened is a threat to all. Do not fight this threat alone. Form alliances with your fellow Americans at every level of endeavor. Be vigilant. If you see a potential threat, communicate it and gather more information. If it requires action, you'll know what to do and you won't have to do it alone. I'll help, I swear it. There are others that will too.

Will he Buff up or Punk out

In the case of the ACLU vs. George Bush yesterday a federal judge ruled, that by circumventing the FISA court and implementing warrantless surveillance, the Bush administration violated both the constitution and civil law and has done so in thousands of cases over the last 5 years.

It has been made public that the Bush administration is introducing draft legislation to negate the War Crimes Act of 1996 and to make this negation retroactive to 2001. The War crimes Act allows members of the US armed forces who violate the articles of the Geneva Convention to be brought to trial in American courts by those who they commit violations against. This is a tacit admission that American troops have been committing war crimes since the first days in Afghanistan. It has been US armed forces policy to adhere to the Geneva Convention, regardless of the nature of the opponent, for more than 50 years.

The significance of this is not that some American soldiers are committing violations of the Geneva Convention and George Bush wants to take it easy on them. It has been the policy of the Bush administration, from the very first days of the "War on Terror", to ignore the Constitution of the United States, the Geneva Convention, the prerogatives of the other two branches of government or any duly authorized authority, other than his own. These are not the actions of a chief executive who values the continuance of the democratic tradition in the society that he leads. These are the subversive and nefarious machinations of a tyrant, seeking to esconse himself as absolute monarch in all but name.

George Bush knows that if the Democrats take over the House in the mid term elections, there will be a special prosecuter. If the Senate falls as well he will be impeached. The level of the animus toward Bush by the Democrats is such that they will put him on trial after impeachment and he will go to jail.

The only choice for Bush at this point is whether to attempt to maintain control through the midterm elections using electoral fraud, which has worked well for him so far, or to declare martial law with some trumped up state of emergency as the pretext, and start rounding up the opposition and quietly putting the fear of God into them. The only other option is just to lay down for hard time and I don't really see him doing that.

Calling on the Holy Trinity

We are losing the struggle in Afghanistan. Al-Quaeda is secure in it's mountain strong holds. The Taliban regains it's ideological control over the cities and towns. The Narco-Warlords, sensitive to the shift in power, have slipped the bonds of their American masters. They were able to beat us because they have a terrible and secret weapon, their own version of Rambo. A moribund, cadaverous, six foot, eight inch, Bedouin super hero, able to slip stealthily through the American patrols, amid the caves and mountain passes, trailing behind him several hundred pounds of dialysis equipment and it's attendant electrical generator and medical supplies. How can you catch a guy like that?

Iraq is like something out of a Mad Max movie. The Sunnis are killing the Shiia, the Shiia are killing the Sunnis. The Mullahs are ordering the deaths of grocers who arrange their produce in a provocative manner. The Iraqi government is sending out Ministry of the Interior death squads to disappear anyone who calls for a return to sanity. At this point very few Iraqi deaths are the result of the action of American troops, who are mostly just trying to stay out of the way. George Bush says we've turned the corner. Yeah, but what a corner.

The Israelis are pulling out of Lebanon. George Bush is declaring a victory over Hezbollah. Hezbollah is still in place. Their secret weapon turned out not to be Iranian rockets, but the stategic placement of retarded children and wailing crones. Who can beat something like that? The fallout is just beginning. In Israel, the ruling coalition government will probably fail. In Lebanon, I don't even want to speculate on the future. I don't think anybody does.

You would think that this would be enough mayhem in the Middle East, even for George Bush. You would be wrong, Even now he is planning to bomb the Iraqi nuclear research facilities. It will be happening soon.

Newt Gingrich is going around telling anyone who will listen, that World War III has already started. Since no Arab country has much in the way of a functional army, I'm a little unclear as to his meaning. The TSA would seem to have the real threat to our shores under control. X-ray those shoes, confiscate that breast milk, full cavity search for anybody that complains.

I saw some fat, blowhard evangelist on TV, talking about how these are the end times. He said that Armageddon is coming to the Middle East and only the return of Jesus will end the slaughter. He said we all better call on Jesus to come soon.

He can call on Jesus if he wants. I'm going for the whole hog. The Holy Trinity!

LARRY! MOE! CURLEY! COME ON DOWN HERE NOW! GW NEEDS YOUR HELP!

If It Quacks Like A Duck

George Bush is a pathetic figure. Except for the fact that he was born into a wealthy and influential family, he has little to recommend him. Public speaking, intellectual attainment, business acumen, manners and social graces, in any of these pursuits, he makes Charley Chaplin's little tramp appear the most sophisticated and accomplished gentleman. As he approaches the end of his sixth of eight years as President, opinion polls show little support. Even Republicans in rural Red State America are leaving his camp. His war is a quagmire. His economic reforms have driven the country deeply into debt. The Republican controlled Congress is threatening to grow a spine. The Supreme Court, even with conservative new appointees, balks at his usurpation of power. His cobbled together coalition of the dumb and dumber is falling apart.

So, ask yourself this question. Why isn't he worried? He's continuing on his merry way as if he has all the time he needs and not a worry in the world. You know what? He just might. He has reconfigured the Executive Branch to include a huge new entity called the Department of Homeland Security, largely free of oversight or constitutional constraint, and answering only to him. He has a large, well equipped, army, trained and ready to fight a war of urban insurrection. This is an army unlike any America has ever seen. It is not drawn from the broad skein of the fabric of America, and these soldiers are not looking to return to the civilian world any time soon. How hard would it be for him to declare a state of internal security crisis in America. Who would speak up if opposing voices started disappearing in the night. Who would dissent if elections were postponed during the state of emergency. When elections were resumed, who would run against the men who controlled the death squads.

Are you sure you know what a duck sounds like when it quacks. Maybe you better brush up. Before you find yourself squealing like a pig in some damp basement.

Fidel Castro, if he lives, will turn 80 this year...

Fidel Castro, if he lives, will turn 80 this year. There is no arguing that he has been one of the biggest thorns in the side of the United States for the last 50 years. We have tried to topple his government many times and achieved only embarrassment. I was in the 6th grade in 1962 and vividly remember preparing to die in a thermonuclear conflagration precipitated by the Cuban missile crisis. CIA plots to shoot, stab, poison and explode him have become the stuff of legend. That same agencies support of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, is still a painful reminder of Fidel's ability to make America appear foolishly inept.

In the 3rd World, especially in subsaharan Africa , Cuban and American irregular troops have led opposing factions against each other in a succession of bloody, inhumane wars. Wars denied by World leaders and ignored by the press. Wars that nobody won. Forgotten. Nobody wants to remember the Congo in '65 or Bolivia in '67 or Angola or Ethiopia or Chad. Nobody remembers a Congolese postal clerk named Patrice Lamumba or who Jonas Savimbi was. They remember a young expatriate Argentinean doctor, named Ernesto Gueverra but not the revolutions he died trying to foment. They remember when he came down from the mountains into Havana, dirty, bearded, wearing fatigues, smoking a big cigar, with Fidel.

Everybody remembers Fidel. They have no choice. He's still there, dirty, bearded, wearing fatigues, smoking a big cigar, leading his country, as he has been, for five decades. Like all leaders of his ilk, he is a megalomaniac. He believes not in his people, country or political creed but only in himself. Even though he has failed in all his efforts to modernize, industrialize and force Cuba to thrive, the people still love him. Why? Because he works hard and doesn't steal, attributes they know they're not likely to see again in a Cuban leader. While the cities are crumbling, they're clean. The crime rates are low. While there isn't much to share, it's shared equally. Cuba's literacy rate is higher than America's. It's healthcare system is low tech but available to all. There is not much opportunity for advancement and people still seek to leave the country, in droves, but compared to it's neighbors in the Caribbean community, it's not so bad.

I sympathize with the Cuban people. Capitalism wasn't working out for most of them 50 years ago when it ended. Communism hasn't been the panacea that they hoped it would be. George and Condi are eager to sell them the franchise, crying crocodile tears over the fact that Cuba is the only country left in the American community that is not yet a "democracy". George Bush actually believes that democracy is an economic system and that it will "cure" Cuba's problems. He also believes he's rich because he's real smart and works hard. I would hate to see Cuba become a democracy like Jamaica, the Dominican Republic or, God forbid, Haiti. I suspect many Cubans hope Fidel does live forever and things just go on as they are. That won't happen. Still, there's no reason to push Fidel into the grave prematurely. If America was really so concerned about the welfare of the Cuban people it might consider lifting the economic sanctions and easing the travel restrictions that they have imposed on Cuba for the last 47 years.