Just to show how bad things are in Afghanistan:
Vice President Dick Cheney was whisked into a bomb shelter immediately after a Taliban suicide bomber struck the main American military base he was visiting in Afghanistan on Tuesday.
Up to 14 people were killed, including one U.S. and one South Korean soldier, in the Bagram Airbase attack which rebels said was aimed at Cheney.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has the dubious distinction of being the first candidate to drop out of the 2008 Democratic race. What? you didn’t know he was running? That’s all you need to know. Ten and a half months until opening night in Iowa and Hillary and Barack are already sucking all the air out the room. Let’s hope Edwards can hang in there, because the last thing this country needs is another conservative DLC democrat like Clinton.
I’ve heard about the reasons why some Democrats don’t want to pursue impeachment. Bush has less than two years left, they don’t want to pay a political price for showing backbone, etc. That’s not acceptable reasoning for backing down. If Bush and Cheney are allowed to walk away in January 2009 without paying a price, it will send a tragic message to all future potential leaders. It will say that they can essentially do whatever they want and as long as they play the “support your leaders in war-time” strategy and get away with it. It is imperitive more so now than ever in our history, that both Bush and Cheney pay the price for repeatedly lying to the people of the United States, going recklessly into an unnecessary war, handling it with criminal negligence, and now persisting in pushing forward against Iran.
Our legislators must set a high standard for the actions of whoever is in the White House, now and going into the future.  Our constitution must be restored to it’s preeminent place in our nation. They must move forward now and put an end to the madness that is our military misadventure in the middle East and hold those who are responsible accountable.
Lately, I haven’t written much about politics at least in part because I have not been paying as close attention to politics as I had previously. The past six years have been particularly painful for me from a political perspective, and I just needed a mental health break from it. After the November elections it became pretty clear, that the democrats were not going to aggressively pursue impeachment, which means that we were looking at two more years of the village idiot in charge.
Fortunately, my other writing tasks have been giving me an increasing amount of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. That’s something sadly lacking from the day gig as my real income has steadily declined in the past five years while at the same time, the CEO was making more and more. So without really consciosly thinking about it, I have withdrawn somewhat from politics for a while. I’m staying involved in school stuff with the school board podcast, and the tech committee, things that I can actually make a difference with. Bigger stuff is so aggravating that I just need to turn away for awhile to keep from exploding or losing hope. In the same way, I’ve been meeting people who read my ramblings on ABG and feel like I might just be having a little bit of impact in the area of alternative fuels and transportation. So I guess want to focus on the areas where I can have some positive impact.  It’s a lot easier to feel motivated when I can see some results of my efforts.
I was never a big Peanuts ( the comic strip, not the legume, those I love) fan growing up, but as I perusing Digg this afternoon I spotted the headline Charlie Brown Goes Anime and decided to check it out. There are a bunch illustrations of the various Peanuts characters done in the Anime style. If you are into that go check it out by clicking on the image.
Another peculiar story that popped up on Digg was about yet another politician who is desperately in need of a laryngectomy. State Sen. Phil Berger of North Carolina is proposing that movie scripts should be approved by the government before filming can start on movies in the state. This guy seems to be typical of bible belt Republicans who don’t believe in the Bill of Rights. I think it’s time to start telling these fools “If you don’t like it here, why don’t you move to another country! Like Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia.”
The White House announced earlier this week that they were going to end the warrantless wire-tapping program that they’ve had going for the last several years. Since the 1970s there has been a special court, that they could go to get warrants in secret to do surveillance. Bush, Cheney and Gonzales decided that they didn’t even need to do this much. So why should we believe that even now that they have said they will stop, that they actually will? Unless congress keeps up the pressure and actually goes after these criminals, I would say it’s a safe bet that they’ll just do whatever they feel like. Bush already said as much with regard to the war, so we can’t let up.
We were watching the documetary Iraq for Sale the other day, and it just never ceases to amaze me how corrupt everything associated with this war and the Bush administration is. One thing that the new congress should do is pass a law on war profiteering. Better yet, a constitutional amendment. If someone is found to be a war profiteer, they should be forced to pay back all money received from the government, and all officers of the company should receive a lifetime ban from ever doing business with the government in any way, shape or form. Furthermore, any company doing business with the government should be prohibited from any association with any individuals or companies who have been found to have been war profiteers.
Also all the tasks that were formerly done by military personnel such as maintaining equipment, security, feeding troops, etc, should be brought back into the military. A proper accounting system also needs to be established for the military. Past accounts are so screwed up that they can never be fixed, but all future expenditures need to be accounted for properly. Cost plus contracts also need to be eliminated, since they are a breeding ground for corruption. Past administrations from both sides of the aisle are to blame for this mess, but clearly the republicans will not take responsibility for cleaning it up, so the democrats must.
Yesterday I was going to the archery range with Max when I spotted a vehicle with a bunch of bumper stickers on I-94 near State St. The cluster of stickers included ones supporting such causes as the John Birch Society, The UN is not your friend and the America First Party. Normally I would immediately disregard anyone ignorant enough to support John Birch, but in this case I felt I had to share something with you. The make of the vehicle bearing all these messages? A Toyota!
Jose Padilla was held in a naval brig for 3 1/2 years in total isolation, except for his interrogations and now appears to be a broken man. Over on Dvorak.org/blog today I found this:
“Today is May 21,†a naval official declared to a camera videotaping the event. “Right now we’re ready to do a root canal treatment on Jose Padilla, our enemy combatant.â€
Several guards in camouflage and riot gear approached cell No. 103. They unlocked a rectangular panel at the bottom of the door and Mr. Padilla’s bare feet slid through, eerily disembodied. As one guard held down a foot with his black boot, the others shackled Mr. Padilla’s legs. Next, his hands emerged through another hole to be manacled
Go over there and read the rest. This case alone should be all the reason that we need to impeach Bush and Cheney and put both them and Rumsfeld on trial for crimes against humanity.
Article 6 – Debts, Supremacy, Oaths
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Enough said!