Surge of the Power Morons

Thoughts on The Surge

What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy

The human mind isn’t very well equipped to make sense of a figure like $1.2 trillion. We don’t deal with a trillion of anything in our daily lives, and so when we come across such a big number, it is hard to distinguish it from any other big number. Millions, billions, a trillion — they all start to sound the same......more

Abandon Ship?

To Flee Or Not To Flee How Republicans Handle A Failing President

For the legislators of today, this problem is largely framed in terms of Bush's proposal to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq. In the next few weeks, the House and the Senate will take up resolutions opposing the "surge." Though these measures will be nonbinding, they will amount to a no-confidence test for the Bush presidency......more

Escalate

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Glaciers' retreat in Greenland keeps mapmakers busy

All over Greenland and the Arctic, rising temperatures are not simply melting ice; they are changing the very geography of coastlines. Nunataks — "lonely mountains" in Inuit — that were encased in the margins of Greenland's ice sheet are being freed of their age-old bonds, exposing a new chain of islands.......more

Dean appearance at Patrick’s side fuels speculation

Gov. Deval Patrick was followed throughout Martin Luther King Day by Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, stirring speculation that the governor is already being eyed by power-brokers on the national political stage.“This has been an xtraordinary day for me to come to this state because of Gov. Patrick,” said Dean......more

The New Anti-American Axis: What Holds it Together?

“What do the leaders of the 'Bolivarian revolution' have in common with those of the 'Islamic revolution?' Nothing. Nothing but an anti-imperialist ideology that has grown in proportion to the stubbornness of George Bush's America.”.....more

MLK: An Unrealized Dream of Justice

The memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has never had more urgent relevance than it does today. America is at a crossroads moment, much as it was when he was murdered.
Five days ago, President Bush marked the boundaries of the national crossroads by escalating the war in Iraq and recommitting himself to "victory." Five days before King's death in Memphis, Lyndon Johnson gave an equivalent speech to the nation, although with an opposite purpose. The date was March 31, 1968.....more

35% of Americans

Who Are These People?

The collapse of the Bush presidency is truly historic. It is always worth remembering that when Richard Nixon was forced to resign the Presidency, his Gallup approval rating was 25%. The 35% Rasmussen figure for Bush is above the low points measured by most other polls (which is why it is the favorite metric for Bush followers), but it is still abominably low.......more

McCain Spends MLK Holiday Pandering to the Far Right

Nearly 24 years after voting against creating a holiday honoring Martin Luther King, John McCain is spending today at the inauguration of Alabama Governor Bob Riley who is a member of an organization that has been criticized for excluding African Americans. The "Grand Master" of the Grand Lodge of Alabama admits he knows of no African American members among the groups 30,000 plus membership.......more

A Time To Break Silence
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Africa's inferno

A humanitarian disaster is unfolding right now in the Darfur region of Sudan, and it could be prevented. More than 300,000 people, most of them ethnically African, have been killed in the past two years. Some 3.3 million have been forced to flee into camps as a campaign of terror by Janjaweed militias and the army of the government of Sudan clears large areas of the region.....more

Ten Problems With Bush's Latest Iraq Plan

On January 10th, President Bush presented his "new plan" for Iraq. Bush's proposal has ten serious problems. It wasn't a plan: A realistic proposal starts with an accurate assessment of the current situation and then presents a detailed program for achieving a set of measurable objectives given time and budget constraints. Bush's "plan" has none of these elements. It's wishful thinking wrapped in sophistry......more

Lisa Strikes Back

Dear Joe Scarborough,

Why are you trying to turn my webpage about you, What Liberal Media? into What Death of an Aide? by threatening me with a lawsuit? Resumes are important, Joe, and you fit the mold of my political comedy website, All Hat No Cattle -- People pretending to be what they are not. Gee, you like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, and they make fun of you, too! My feelings are hurt......more

New postal law lets Bush peek through your mail

Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions......more

Rattled America will find it can't spin itself out of this one

And who will trust the Americans now, after this and Abu Ghraib and hurricane Katrina, to get any process right in any country including their own? Not the British soldiers on the ground in Helmland Province, Afghanistan. Not the Australian "security guards" in downtown Baghdad. Not the Iraqi dentists, doctors, nurses, restaurateurs and university lecturers daily fleeing the country. Not the children with toothache. Not the pregnant women with nowhere to go to give birth. Not the grandmothers of dead babies in humidicribs whose electricity gave out. Not the middle-class parents afraid to put their children on school buses lest they never see them again......more

Santa Claus and bare-breasted women

The decision to let Shelton Brothers sell Santa's Butt Winter Porter and two other European beers reverses a decision last fall to deny the company's application to sell the beers in Maine.
After the denial, the Maine Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Belchertown, Mass., company in U.S. District Court in Portland accusing the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship.....more

The Candy Desk

With Democrats back in control of Congress for the first time in years, much is changing in the nation's capital, including a longtime tradition in the U.S. Senate: the "candy desk." For a decade until his defeat last year, Sen. Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, stocked the desk with donations from home-state candy makers including Hershey Co. and Just Born Inc., maker of Hot Tamales and Peanut Chews.......more

Martin Luther King Celebration in Ybor

In the spirit of unity, many cultures will come together to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the International Bazaar in Ybor City on Sunday, January 14, 2007, from 3-5pm. The Musical Celebration will be followed by an open consultation on Peace, Race Unity, Equality and Freedom.

Hosted by The International Bazaar
Sponsored by CDTB

From DFA Tampa Bay organizer, Susan Smith. Let's wear our DFA (or Mary Mulhern) t-shirts and attend this event.

Tampa Treasure

A New Direction for America

The New Direction for America advances the right priorities – to make our nation safer and our economy fairer; to make health care and college more affordable; to energize America with energy independence; and to guarantee a dignified retirement for all Americans. These initiatives – the product of a united Democratic House Caucus working together with our Senate colleagues - are our priorities for the 109th Congress. We are committed to building an America where all families can live and prosper in diverse, safe, and vibrant communities.....more

"In this House we may be of different parties, but we serve one country."

Democrats took control of both the House and Senate today for the first time in the presidency of Republican George W. Bush — and promptly embraced at least some of the trappings of bipartisanship.The House made history by electing Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco as its first female speaker, putting her behind Vice President Dick Cheney in the line of succession to the presidency......more

Liberal Media Bias

Something taken as a given by most conservatives, and even many moderates and a few liberals, is that there is a bias in the mainstream media that favors liberals. The problem with this is that there is actually no evidence to support this claim. And I mean that literally -- no evidence......more

Operation: Save Bush's Legacy

If press reports are correct – that George W. Bush will approve a troop “surge” in Iraq of 17,000 to 20,000 soldiers – the follow-up question must be whether the escalation will do anything but get more Americans and Iraqis killed while only forestalling the defeat of Bush’s war policy......more

And So It Begins…

It's a cliché to say that the 2008 battle for the presidency is the most open and competitive in our lifetimes, but a general examination of the race can't begin without pointing it out......more

Dems to Inherit Agenda Dominated by War

Now the majority party, Democrats will inherit an agenda dominated by the war in Iraq when the new Congress convenes Thursday, increasing their exposure to what has mostly been a politically damaging issue for Republicans.....more

God tells Pat Robertson of mass killing in US

"I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear," he said during his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network. "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.".......more