Blame Canada

Conservatives are blaming gays and tolerance

Republican campaign managers are blaming Democrats

Foley himself is blaming Religion and Alcohol

Reynolds is blaming Hastert

Hastert is blaming everyone but himself

No one is falling on thier sword or even owning up to thier own actions or lack of.

And this, and precisely this, is why this scandal will have so much greater an impact on our party than it should have.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly II

The Good- Lincoln Chafee hangs on and moderate Republicans retain our numbers.

The Bad- Bob Woodward book "State of Denial" is released and is more than simply accurate, it's scathing and baldly true on too many front to be dismissed or "denied"

The Ugly- Foley, the Page and the Coverup. Which will produce the most damage to our party? Hint- its not the first two, it almost never is.

State of the State

Arlen finds his conscience then voice, US Forces and Saddam find they have something in common, Ann Coulter loses her mind.

Arlen Specter is in a very tight spot these days. He is one of the most sensible and balanced minds in play at the center of our party. Sending Cheney an open letter poo-pooing him for attempting to bury the NSA domestic spying issue sent the administration the important message that the issue will not just go away and if it is allowed to continue, it must be legislated and be subject to oversight and warrants. Those who feel that oversight and warrants are unneccesary need only be reminded that this program has already been abused to spy on "domestic terrorists" such as Cindy Sheehan, Quaker peace groups, Leaders of MoveOn.org and select protesters.

Haditha Masscre and others like it prove to Americans that we too can be as if not more barbaric than Saddam Hussein himself. At least in the 1980s Saddam spared the women, children and the elderly. Someone correct me here, but isn't Saddam Hussein on trial now for exactly the same sort of crimes? I know, I know! It's different because he killed something between 2000 and 3500 villagers during the 1980s but has anyone bothered to put this number in context with the number of Iraqi civilian casualties resulting from this invasion and occupation of ours? Trust me you don't want to know.

Ann Coulter has found a new target. Victims of 911. Even the most Conservative of pundits and writers know how to balance their opinions with fact and acknowlege when they have gone too far in peddling one at the expense of the other. This has never been the case with Ann, who gets away with espousing her hate-mongering war-mongering fascism largely in part to her attractive looks and slutty outfits. This is the beginning of the end for Ann, though she may not be willing to accept it. Look for even more sensationalistic hate-propoganda from her as she desparately tries to hang on to the spotlight.

This is what passes for diplomacy these days?

Here's an idea. Let's tell Iran we won't enter into negotiations until they cease enrichment of uranium.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't ceasing uranium enrichment the reason we need to engage Iran diplomatically?
If they gave up enrichment then what would we then have to talk about? Would it be like one of those mind numbingly mundane conversations between old married couples?

Condi: So Iran, how was your day?
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Die Infidel
Condi: ummm, o...kay. Well then, now that you've stopped enriching uranium, lets talk about you giving up nuclear power completely.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Die infidel

In all seriousness, this administration can't bully anyone with their tired same old song and dance routine. Hot air, rhetoric, disregard for true diplomacy and ultimatims are what got us into Iraq. Looks like George is preparing to go it alone once more.
Diplomacy and engaging in dialogue in earnest and not from the bully pulpit is what America and the World needs right now. Can George figure this simple truth out in time to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power? We can only hope so.

Now Is the Time for
a Left-Right Alliance

A rebel alliance already exists that could stop Bush administration attacks on the Constitution
by Thomas R. Eddlem

...They criticized the Bush administration for deceiving us into the Iraq war. No problem there. They criticized Alberto Gonzales for his torture memos. Again, no problem. They criticized deficit spending, the PATRIOT Act, and corporate welfare. Hurray, hurray, and hurray!

So I called into a few "progressive" radio talk shows, identifying myself as a "right-wing radio talk show host," and explained my understanding of these issues. Stephanie Miller told me that I was a "not a very good right-winger." A liberal show host at my radio station even called me a "liberal."

But my views haven't changed one bit since I joined the John Birch Society during the Reagan administration. So this is not a conversion story.

What's changed is that the Bush administration has simply gotten that bad and that, according to some polls, we are almost at the point where most genuine conservatives realize it. ..

Click here to read the entire article

Leaker-In-Chief valid moniker? Let's Look Closely

If our nation goes to war to prevent a rogue regime from aquiring/building a nuclear weapon would it be in our national security interests to declassify the most detailed summary intelligence document available to the president which contains all information America's intelligence agencies knew about what materials our enemy may have and where this enemy might be hiding them.

Or more logically, wouldn't releasing this intelligence make our country less secure by giving our enemies the opportunity to know what we know and to give them a backdoor through which they could maneuver to hide or export to neighboring regimes (Syria, Iran) these WMDs and nuclear materials? Well, yes it very logically would make America less secure.

Had the entirety of the NIE document been declassified, the reasons for the invasion of Iraq would have been marginalized at best and revealed to be politically motivated at worst. Truth is the NIE document included reports that all intelligence agencies had strong doubts of all reports that Iraq was amassing WMDs and rebuilding its nuclear weapons program, none of this information was leaked, only the very dubious unsubstantiated information that supported the Administration's reasons for the invasion was leaked. Even as Libby was leaking selective pieces of this document, Condi Rice stated that selective declassification of this NIE document would not be prudent.

This leaves the only reason for selective leaking as being politics. It also demonstrates that our president knew well before his state of the union address that the claim that Iraq had a nuclear program and was in the process of building nuclear weapons was indeed false. These efforts were laser guided initiatives to derail what are even today being described by Scott McClellan as "wild accusations" even as most Americans are now aware that these wild accusations that Iraq had no WMDs are in fact indisputable and irrefutable truths.

Because of the political motivations and the damages to our Nation's Security caused by these SELECTIVE disclosures, I have no other conclusion that I am able to arrive at than to state that these disclosures were leaks, regardless of the legality of President's ability to declassify information.

Mr. President, you need to wash your hands of this. You have been preparing to clean house anyhow, hear this advice and get someone close to the fold on this issue (Rove) to fall on their sword with the promise of pardon at the end of your term. Just my suggestion as to how you can dig yourself out of this one if I were in your shoes.

You reap what you sow

I find it interesting that the Bush administration is fighting against dynamics they themselves put into play for political gain.

Xenophobia or fear of non-nationals or nationalism or isolationism served the administration well when any who opposed their heavy handed views on human rights, foreign policy and security were labeled as terrorist sympathizers. Now this xenophobia has fermented into hardline views among Bush's base who now cant understand why the President wants more porous borders, Arab controlled ports and to do anything to stifle any investigation into the treasonous leaking of realtime troop movements to Saddam Hussein by military commanders through Russian intelligence.

Additionally the Bush administration's thrown together defence of its war policy that is "spreading American values" and "spreading freedom, liberty and justice" is also having the same trouble of perception vs. reality. Afganistan is now less civilized, more controlled by poppy farming warlords, less secular and more in controll of "Kill all the Christrian Infidels" Clerics and politicians than it ever was. And how about the rights of women and the general quality of life in Iraq measured by access to water and electricity today vs. before the invasion? Trust me, you don't want to know.

I am a realist, I know we must lead with actions not mask with spin and we should only begin what we can finish. I hope our President can learn this important lesson, though I'm not holding my breath.

A familiar definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results. - Albert Einstein
When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross. - Lewis Sinclair

The Good

Fiscal conservatives are regaining some of their voice, bipartisanship is being viewed as productive rather than weak and Bruce Bartlett sounds in with his opinion of the Bush administration in his book "Impostor"

The Bad

GWB doesn't understand why port security is important to America, The new Supreme Court begins its roll back of Roe v Wade by allowing anti abortion protesters the right to block access to clinics through "demonstrations" and Plan D is being given a solid F as seniors end up in a mojority of cases paying more for less drug coverage as a result of plan confusion and big pharma profit raking.

The Ugly

73% of deployed troops want all forces redployed stateside by years end, New Orleans has been forgotten and Iraq is plunging into civil war as our leader seems more interested in spin than in plans.


I believe that George is bored, bored with his toy soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, bored with the plight of Katrina victims, bored with "No Child Left behind" and bored with "Plan D" His attempts to play with social security in order to shift the burden on to the working class failed so its time to try and do the same with health care. I only wish that George would someday soon take an active interest in THIS country and the issues facing it's citizenry.

Why Should We Worry About The Administration Line On Torture, Spying on Civilians, Suspension of Civil Liberties and Human Rights.

Ask an administration official about why its ok to deny human rights, spy on, torture and more and they will respond that its OK because the people involved are terrorists. What is happening now is especially alarming because the administration is now applying this same argument to "suspected terrorists" who happen to be United States citizens. It also is alarming because many in the Adminstration including Karl Rove, speaking at fund raising events have refered to Liberals and Democrats specifically as terrorists or as having sympathetic leanings towards the terrorists.

Add 2 and 2 and you'll see that this Administration is not above torturing, spying on and violating the civil liberties and human rights of anyone who is in their eyes, a terrorist. You're either with us or you're with them mentality has been taken to an unholy extreme and to watch this insanity go one step further would be a violation of everything we stand for. Will it take something on the level of Abu Graib being visited upon our own citizens, specifically political enemies of the President who have been labeled time and time again as terrorists by the Administration? Are these the "values" that we are fighting and dying for?

Mr. President, you are not above the law. You cannot spy on your political enemies and legitimize it because you have labeled them as terrorists and then tell the American people that what you did was justified because the people you were spying on were terrorists. Cindy Sheehan, Quaker Peace Groups, Environmental Activists and War Protesters are not terrorists and these are just some of the people you have choosen to spy on at your discretion. The people you are spying on, Mr. President, are American citizens. Furthermore the dividends you say have been achieved through this clandestine program are real yet that the same results could have been achieved through legal methods (FISA) is without question and only complicates your precariously framed justification.

My last (minute) prediction

Brace yourselves it could get much much worse. Looks like Rove may not be indicted and may be campaigning on his own behalf , independently, with Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald in order to avoid jail. What does this mean? Rove is cooperating with the prosecutor to reveal a conspiracy involving current VP Cheney and former head of CIA Tenet. If Rove is not indicted and the investigation seems as if it may continue, then the indictments coming later today will prove to only be the first shoe.

It would be far far better for the party if this were to all end today with both Rove and Libby leaving and the administration being able to move on by appointing replacements and starting fresh, but that is looking less and less likely.

Danforth Criticizes Christian Sway in GOP

Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former Sen. John Danforth said Wednesday that the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the Republican Party and dividing the country.

Click here to read full text

Libby and Rove will go

It is my opinion that Libby and Rove will quietly step aside this week as indictments are handed down. To be fair, the Vice President himself wil have dodged a bullet if he is not drawn into the investigation himself. If the administration chooses to fight the indictments, they would only end up focusing more media attention on the fact that GWB sent our country to war based on intelligence he knew to be false. No way to save Libby and Rove, really, and the best scenario GWB could hope for is for the whole affair to blow over before too much of the public catches on to the much MUCH bigger underlying story. Anyone who is unhappy with this outcome, suck it up and hold your tongues for the sake of our party. K?

A Reponse

My calls to end cronyism have created a bit of a stir. The facts are not all in and much could be debated however so many things cannot. The lame duck is giving our party black eye after black eye and it must end.
The following person is acountable for high level government no bid contract awards and services procurement. He has recently resigned and has been arrested. He was one of the most fiscally powerful senior administration officials in the White House. His bio and all references to his post have been removed from the White House web site- below is a link to the internet Archive of the page with his info and below is a link to the recent story involving his being linked to Jack Abramhoff and his role in awarding massive no-bid contracts and in the destruction of all checks and balances in procurement chain of command that might have prevented the robbing of America's coffers by these NeoCons.

Who is David Safavian?
Why should I care?

Fiscal Conservatives Must Find Their Voice

President Bush is referring to calls for a reduction or delay in his tax breaks by fiscally conservative Reppublicans as tax raises. President Bush has been given too much leeway in regards to spending our taxpayers capital. In fact theres none left for him to spend. He has spent our nations future (Social Security) burdened future generations with our debts, and put our nation in hoc by borrowing from the nations of China, Korea and Saudia Arabia in order to continue channeling hundreds of billions of dollars in no-bid contracts in massive profiteering schemes to his political cronies. Halliburton, KBR and Bechtel already had been awarded more than 34 billion dollars in no-bid contracts for the cleanup and rebuilding of New Orleans when survivors were stilll living in tents and scrounging for food and water.

Privatization of massive public works has proven to be folly. Truck drivers earn between 85 and 100K annual pay, engineers make more than 125k annual pay and the equivalent of laborers earn a minimum of $75 an hour. Once upon a time, massive public works were shown to be a fiscally conservative and sensible manner to enable poverty class and lower class Americans to pull themselves and their communities up out of hopelessness. The evacuees who desire to return should be indoctrinated into an army corp of engineers contracting force and put to work. This will cost the taxpayers less, will recycle capital into the region in a way that will speed the fiscal recovery of the region and begin to address the issue of poverty in a productive win-win solution.

Program cuts and halts to tax breaks and giveaways, ceasing the multibillion dollar cronyism and addressing the national debt today instead of leaving for future generations all are musts for this administration. The last thing our party needs is for this lame duck to further tarnish our good name by ditching out and sticking the people of America, present and future, with the bill.

Hagel Calls For Iraq Exit Strategy

Source: Meet the Press

WASHINGTON - A leading Republican senator and prospective presidential candidate said Sunday that the war in Iraq has destabilized the Middle East and is looking more like the Vietnam conflict from a generation ago.

Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record), who received two Purple Hearts and other military honors for his service in Vietnam, reiterated his position that the United States needs to develop a strategy to leave Iraq.

"We should start figuring out how we get out of there," Hagel said on "This Week" on ABC. "But with this understanding, we cannot leave a vacuum that further destabilizes the Middle East. I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur."

Hagel said "stay the course" is not a policy. "By any standard, when you analyze 2 1/2 years in Iraq ... we're not winning," he said.

Why Bolton?

Our President believes we need a person like John Bolton to be our point man to the United Nations for the purpose of "fixing" the world body organization. Apparantly the President intends to fix the UN in the same manner in which he fixed the intelligence to justify going to war with Iraq. What concerns me is, now that we know that the UN was right and that the President's administration was wrong, why are we trying to fix the wrong organization?

John Bolton has proven he is not above lying to achieve an end game that fits his anti-European and anti-Islamic world view. When asked whether he had in the last five years testified before any inquiry or Grand Jury he answered no, but had to recant when discovered just yesterday he had testified in the Grand Jury investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame's identity.

It seems to me that America needs very badly to rebuild bridges burned down by arrogance and ruthless anti-European sentiment that was allowed to run rampant through our President's administration. Republicans now have a reputation for being incapable of reasonable concensus and diplomacy, it is due in part to stunts like nominating polarizing and combative figures like John Bolton to sensitive diplomatic posts that require a very obviously opposite skill set and temperment that Mr. Bolton has to date demonstrated.

With so many obvious candidates that can handle this post, President Bush must rescind his nomination and select a moderate Republican who is capable of independant thought and one without a fervent anti-European neo-nationallist attitude who can reach out to the nations of the world and begin undoing the damage the administration's policies have done.

Rove an Insidious Traitor

It will be revealed this coming week that the President's most trusted adviser, put our entire nation at risk by revealing the identity of the leading CIA operative in the division of WMD reconnasaince.

The identities of the four hundred and seventeen other agents in Valerie Plame's division were either revealed or put at risk of being revealed as a result. The effectiveness of our nation's most desparately needed intelligence division was compromised beyond imagination.

Why did this happen? Our president needed to exercise a personal vendetta against another world leader, hundreds of billions of dollars in no-bid contracts needed to be awarded to friends of the NeoCons and this agent's husband decided to do his patriotic duty rather than be bullied into betraying his country.

UPDATE: It seems likely that the President's adminsitration will be playing games with semantics and dodging accountability by saying that Rove and Libby didn't "knowingly or with malicious intent" reveal Valerie Wilson's identity. This begs the question- Did Rove negligently or accidentally reveal a CIA agents identity when he disclosed the identity to Cooper, and then again to Judith Miller and then again to Robert Novak? How about Libby- same question to you. This outing of an agent could not have been accidental or merely negligent since so much effort was put into discrediting Wilson.

The fact that our President seems satisfied with the practice of putting petty politics over our national security baffles and angers me to no end.

A perspective on the current state of affairs

Thank god for Voinovich, Hagel, McCain and others for offering enough dissent to spur discussion and constructive criticism among our party leaders, maybe someday they'll think to include our senators in future discussions like who to nominate for specific posts (try someone other than Bolton) Not holding my breath, the spirit of cross party comraderie and polite discoure has not disappeared as the Neoconservatives had expected

A more sensible approach to stem cell research that shows that cross party co-operation can benefit the American people has borne fruit.Read more

Recent scathing remarks of "all Dems are terrorist sympathizers" from Rove has been seen as a heavyhanded and obvious attempt to stem cross party communication and cooperation by creating rifts through public speakings. Unfortunately for Rove and the Neocons, constituents of both parties are weary of the party battles that are distracting their repesentative from issues that more directly affect thier everyday lives, like education, quality of life, healthcare and energy costs. Those that refuse to work with members of the other party may not be as likely to be be re-elected as result. Story is, we see Hillary - Frist, Hillary - Lindsey, and McCain - Leiberman in television appearances to prop up this weak public perception of our politicians. Truth is, much more needs to be done than putting a narrow spotlight on the few successful crossparty initiatives and a spirit of co-operation must be seeded and encouraged from both sides at once.

Forgot what we're doing in Iraq? It was Weapons Of Mass Destruction and Mushroom Clouds, oh yeah, thats right. This memo begins to tell a story, the rest we will have to hear from the President himself. Not holding my breath.
Read unedited memo here
Today Americans are waking up to the reality that this country started an optional war that our President pushed not only us but the entire world into. Americans are waking up to the reality that Iraq is "not headed in the right direction."
The President's reaction? A primetime announcement this Tuesday to assure the nation that while all is not well, that there is a plan and that no, we can't share that plan with you in even the basest of terms.

If we lean any further right we'll capsize the boat.

The rank and file of this party are being attacked for not being enough to the right. Changing the rules of the house ethics committee, removal of two moderate Republicans from its board and changing the Senate rules of Fillibustering together seem to display a powermongering attitude among too many of this party. Fairness, decency amd goodwill for all of our nations people has been replaced with wickedness, lust for power and malice against those who we deem different from us. Label them a liberal, write them off, talk them down, break their spirit, and along with it our circles of friends, our families and our communities. Who needs unity these days I guess is the message those with a hardline conservative agenda want to send to America.

Balance lets people live among those who are not like us and lets us live in peace.

Republished here from My Party Too

2008 will be the first time since 1952 that neither Party has had an incumbent running for office.  No president to re-elect, no vice-president waiting in the wings.  It is, therefore, the perfect time to talk about the future look of our party. 

The centrists in the Republican Party have, for too many years now, failed to assert themselves as strongly as they should in insisting on their rightful place in the Party.

It is time for moderates in the Republican Party to become activists—activists for the sensible center, for reasonable policies based on the fundamental republican principles, which address the challenges Americans face at home and around the world.

I believe that moderates have to use a concerted strategy if we want to succeed in returning the party to its traditional, centrist roots.

First, we have to decide on the issues that are of the most importance—fiscal restraint, reasonable and open discussion of social issues, environmental policies that promote a balanced approach to environmental protection, and a foreign policy that is engaged with the rest of the world.

Next, we must begin to organize at the local level, involving like-minded moderates in the state and local party structures to ensure that the candidates the party nominates do not represent just the far fringes of the party, but instead come from the heart of the party’s moderate middle.

The responsibility of ensuring that the party follows the right path lies with those moderates who are willing to work to make it happen.

I hope that you will use this site and all the tools it offers to join our efforts in supporting the moderate movement!

Sincerely,

Christie Whitman

Hatred Unabated

This is precisely what is wrong with the current political climate, rhetoric that is hateful of anyone who doesn't share in the author's religous and political ideology along with overtures to galvanize in our elected leader a hatred of 50% of the United States of America. This sort of hatemongering is unAmerican to the very core. A divided America is a weaker America, Shame on you Bob Jones, Shame on you

Bob Jones III: Letter to President Bush

In your re-election, God has graciously granted America -- though she doesn't deserve it -- a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly.

Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you.

Dr. Bob Jones III, president of Bob Jones University, in a letter to President Bush

Election Day is Here

No matter what your political alignment, get out and vote. A trying day this will be for sure, and a long night to go with it. I hope this blog has served those looking for substantive non-partisan information on Kerry and Bush and that this information has helped such people in making an informed decision on this very important day.

Bush could win by taking Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida though the likelihood of such a sweep is slim. There are countless other scenarios but given the ad spending and campaign trail map it seems that this is the Bush team's strategy. Both sides will likely steal a state or two from the other's column from the 2000 election but nothing that would affect their standings dramatically. All told, impossible to make an absolute prediction.

Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee
appears on Tavis Smiley

Source: PBS Click here for full transcript

Chafee: I had some doubts when he went to Bob Jones University. I'm wondering, “Which is the real George Bush?” And then in January of '01, right after the inauguration, started to see a much harder line come out of the new administration. And this is before September 11th, of course. Pushing for the tax cuts, getting out of the Kyoto global warming treaty, talking about missile defense and some of the other--getting rid of international treaties gave me a great deal of concern. And then after September 11th, beating the drums for a war in Iraq, of all things, had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, all part of the process of saying I cannot support the president at this time.

Tavis: I think you just started down this road, and I want to give you more room to expound upon this for me. Tell me what it is more specifically about his Iraq policy that so concerns you. I heard the point you made earlier that he left Afghanistan, chasing Al Qaeda to get to Iraq, but go deeper for me if you can.

Chafee: Well, what concerns me most is that I know that certain--they call them the neo-cons--have a plan for the Middle East, but you don't hear it talked about. And now we hear that Prime Minister Sharon in Israel, his top chief of staff is saying there was never a commitment to the road map. We're trying to find out what is happening in the Middle East and why. And I'd just like some more honesty on it.

If it's not about weapons of mass destruction--that's obviously not accurate-- if it's not about Al Qaeda--that's not accurate--is it about getting peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, and if so, how are we gonna do that? It's kind of in the closet, it's in the shadows, this plan as to what we're gonna do in the Middle East. I'd like to have it debated nationally and talked about more, and I don't see that happening. So it all ties in to credibility, and the same doubts we have about weapons of mass destruction now we're seeing on the road map. It's kind of a lack of credibility that is a problem.

Tavis: When you said you'd like to see it debated more, isn't that what you all do in the Senate, have deliberations all day on C-SPAN?

Chafee: Well, it's hard to get someone from the administration to come up and talk about this whole new spreading of democracy in the Middle East. You get a lot of smoke screens, you get a lot of talk about a road map when we're finding out there was never a commitment to the road map. We're finding this out now. The chief of staff to Prime Minister Sharon is saying, “Oh, no, we were never gonna follow through on that process. And the American administration was supportive of our lack of commitment to it.” And that's what he's saying now. Well, we've been hearing from the administration for months and for years that the road map is the process. So as I said, we're trying to find out what the truth is, and sometimes it's difficult

Click here for full transcript

Without a Doubt

Source: TIME magazine

October 17, 2004 By RON SUSKIND

Bruce Bartlett, a domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan
and a treasury official for the first President Bush, told
me recently that ''if Bush wins, there will be a civil war
in the Republican Party starting on Nov. 3.'' The nature of
that conflict, as Bartlett sees it? Essentially, the same
as the one raging across much of the world: a battle
between modernists and fundamentalists, pragmatists and
true believers, reason and religion.

''Just in the past few months,'' Bartlett said, ''I think a
light has gone off for people who've spent time up close to
Bush: that this instinct he's always talking about is this
sort of weird, Messianic idea of what he thinks God has
told him to do.'' Bartlett, a 53-year-old columnist and
self-described libertarian Republican who has lately been a
champion for traditional Republicans concerned about Bush's
governance, went on to say: ''This is why George W. Bush is
so clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist
enemy. He believes you have to kill them all. They can't be
persuaded, that they're extremists, driven by a dark
vision. He understands them, because he's just like them.

''This is why he dispenses with people who confront him
with inconvenient facts,'' Bartlett went on to say. ''He
truly believes he's on a mission from God. Absolute faith
like that overwhelms a need for analysis. The whole thing
about faith is to believe things for which there is no
empirical evidence.'' Bartlett paused, then said, ''But you
can't run the world on faith.''

NOTE: WHILE I DON'T AGREE WITH SOME POSITIONS HELD BY THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, STILL NEWSWORTHY IS:

Kerry’s the One

By Scott McConnell
editor of Patrick Buchanan's "The American Conservative" magazine

Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations. The launching of an invasion against a country that posed no threat to the U.S., the doling out of war profits and concessions to politically favored corporations, the financing of the war by ballooning the deficit to be passed on to the nation’s children, the ceaseless drive to cut taxes for those outside the middle class and working poor: it is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliché about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy.

Without Fanfare, Bush quietly signs Corporate Tax Cuts

Sources: Reuters, CNN

Without fanfare, President Bush signed into law on Friday a nearly $140 billion corporate tax cut bill derided by both Democratic presidential rival John Kerry and Republican Sen. John McCain as a giveaway to special interests.

Click here to read story

Statement by William G. Milliken

Associated Press: Former Republican Gov. William Milliken of Michigan endorsed Democratic Sen. John Kerry for president on Monday, saying President Bush has pursued policies "pandering to the extreme right wing.''

October 17, 2004
     
As a lifelong Republican, I have had mounting concern watching this year's presidential campaign. I have always been proud to be a Republican. My Republican Party is a broad-based party, that seeks to bring a wide spectrum of people under its umbrella and that seeks to protect and provide opportunity for the most vulnerable among us. Sadly, that is not the Republican Party that I see at the national level today. My Republican Party has always been a party that stood for fiscal responsibility. Today, under George W. Bush, we have the largest deficit in the history of our country - a deficit that jeopardizes economic growth that is so desperately needed in a nation that has lost 2.6 million jobs since he took office.
To make matters even worse, this president inherited a surplus, but squandered it with huge tax cuts structured primarily to benefit the wealthy and powerful.

My Republican Party is the party of Michigan Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg who helped forge a bipartisan foreign policy that served this nation well and produced strong alliances across the globe. This president has, in a highly partisan, unilateral way rushed us into a tragic and unnecessary war that has cost the lives of more than 1,000 of our young men and women. In this arrogant rush to war, he has alienated this nation from much of the world. What's worse, the basic premises upon which we were taken to war proved to be false. Now, we find ourselves in the midst of an occupation that was largely unplanned and has become a disaster from which we cannot easily extricate ourselves.

My Republican Party is the party of Theodore Roosevelt, who fought to preserve our natural resources and environment. This president has pursued policies that will cause irreparable damage to our environmental laws that protect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the public lands we share with future generations. My Republican Party is the party of Lincoln, who freed an enslaved people. This president fought in the courts to strike down policies designed to provide opportunity and access to our own University of Michigan for minority students. My Republican Party is the party of Eisenhower, who warned us to beware of the dangers of a military-industrial complex. This president has pursued policies skewed to favor large corporations in the defense and oil industry and has gone so far as to let those industries help write government policies.

My Republican Party is a party that respects and works with the men and women of the law enforcement community who put their lives on the line for us every day. This president ignored the pleas of law enforcement agencies across America and failed to lift a finger to renew the assault weapons ban that they strongly supported as an essential safeguard for public safety. My Republican Party is a party that values the pursuit of knowledge. But this president stands in the way of meaningful embryonic stem-cell research that holds so much promise for those who suffer from diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries and other conditions. My Republican Party is the party of Gerald R. Ford, Michigan's only president, who reached across partisan lines to become a unifying force during a time of great turmoil in our nation's history. This president has pursued policies pandering to the extreme right wing across a wide variety of issues and has exacerbated the polarization and the strident, uncivil tone of much of what passes for political discourse in this country today.

Women's rights, civil liberties, the separation of church and state, the funding of family planning efforts world-wide - all have suffered grievously under this president and his administration. The truth is that President George W. Bush does not speak for me or for many other moderate Republicans on a very broad cross section of issues. Sen. John Kerry, on the other hand, has put forth a coherent, responsible platform of progressive initiatives that I believe would serve this country well. He wants to balance the budget, step up environmental protection efforts, rebuild our international relationships, support stem-cell research, protect choice and pursue a number of other progressive initiatives that moderates from both parties can support.

As a result, despite my long record of active involvement in the Republican Party, and my intention still to stay in the Republican Party, when I cast my ballot November 2, I will be voting for John Kerry for President.

Former GOP Governor
Endorses Kerry

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Former Republican Gov. William Milliken of Michigan endorsed Democratic Sen. John Kerry for president on Monday, saying President Bush has pursued policies ``pandering to the extreme right wing.''

Source: CNN Click here to read full text

Whatever became of fiscal conservatism?

Where has fiscal conservatism gone and does it require an epitaph. Under GWB, America has overextended, overspent, under saved, over-outsourced, and just plain simply stated, has laid down before corporate interests by turning a blind eye to national interests. NAFTA is a grand piece of legislature which has helped to bring about a wave of rising quality of life in countries where such opportunities did not before exist. However, this wonderful piece of legislature needs amending to close the gate on disappearing American opportunities that are seemingly evaporating from America's employment landscape. We have seen attempts at fiscal solutions that seem at best, overly simplistic and lacking in followthrough and execution. Did anyone in this administration really think these policies through and if so why is our economy and job outlook so off target?

To what degree does this administration intend to test the collective back of the struggling American worker?

To speak of our current jobless Americans, out-of-workers classified by our government as "Discouraged" These upstanding Americans are wanting to come off the sidelines in hopes of simply maintaining their current quality of life. They try to do so as their benefits have become the burden of those fortunate enough to be employed. Although this is not due to any capricious behavior on the part of the insurers, the system has become so inefficient that it has become a burdensome beast that can be seen to SOMETIMES interfere with patients rights and also produces a negative impact upon America's recovery efforts by way of distribution of the rising costs on to the backs of the American workforce.

The spoils of war have become too easily come by.

It was an insidious treachery when our financial institutions became so infested with insider trading that waning public confidence in the machine of our nations economy caused it to nearly halt. Now the appearance of the same form of insider dealing in the form of several billion dollar no-bid war contracts at a consulting firm that our vice president served as CEO up to his announcement to campaign for the position he now holds. This behavior as in the financial institutions, seems to be as widespread within our Government, as can be seen in the case of Darleen Druyun, a former Air Force official involved in the multibillion dollar Air Force contract tanker negotiations who later went to work for Boeing. These back room dealings buy not only multibillion dollar contracts, they can also buy immunity. Take for instance the case of First Energy and the blackout of 2003. Our leaders pointed to our neighbors to the north, when our very own federal energy agents in the field knew that the culprit was none other than a keystone member of our vice president's secret energy circle.

An America split upon itself is not a stronger America.

This administration more than any other has proclaimed that theri constituency must vilify the 'dems, the liberals, the gays and so on, in order to capitalize on their fears, turning them into votes. I reject this absolutely because I know that a divided America is a weaker America and that a united America is a stronger America. I stand with all Americans and reject the wayward winds that I must hate my neighbor, my friend or my family member based solely on race, sexual or political alignment. Our circles of friends, our families and our communities are being turned upon themselves in this most unpatriotic of fashions. I promise to do my patriotic duty and focus my perspective on the commonalities that bind ALL Americans. Our common ambition for a better quality of life and the strength of our differences are what holds this nation together in the most trying of times.