The Reagan years...
"Well..." it was the 80's, it was the cold war, and we had a guy who really knew how to deliver a monologue (including proper use of polysyllabic words) for President. One of his many helpers was a guy named John Roberts who apparently had quite a bit of
influence over at the White House, such as defending bills that "would have stripped the Supreme Court of jurisdiction over abortion, busing and school prayer..."; you know, controversial things...and oh, wouldn't it be nice to see how potentially influential he was during his time with Bush 41?
This guy at the
New York Times has an idea of what the Senate should ask Roberts during the confirmation hearings, but perhaps you also ought to send a note to your
Senator about your thoughts on this topic.
And speaking of people asking a lot of questions, apparently CIA leak-case special prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald is cutting a wide swath with the subpeonas as he "has asked not only about how CIA [agent Plame's] name was leaked but also how the administration went about shifting responsibility from the White House to the CIA..." [applauding} YEE HA! I say. About damn time somebody noticed that Bush and his people have a thing for passing the buck..*"uh, it was faulty intelligence...that's it, yeah..."*
And speaking of quietlt kept things at the White House...
Karen Hughes (yeah, remember her?) was quietly confirmed for her job as an undersecretary under Condi Rice (apparently still in North Korea "was it something I said, Mr. President?"). Hughes title is long and drawn out, as is her job: making America look good (again) abroad. (I suggest checking all photos of her for track marks, computer chip lumps in the back of her neck, miscellaneous liquor bottles, crystal meth use...what on God's green earth could have induced her to come back
again?)
And speaking of trying to make America look good, I wonder how it looks when, in the shadow of the London bombings, the Feds don't want to give as much money or "direction" to protecting
mass transit here? NYC, LA and Washington want some answers...
IN THE MEANTIME... Rummy must have done something as he was back in Iraq today on one of those "surprise visits", having a press conference with the Iraqi Prime Minister talking about a "fast pace pullout" from Iraq that could start in the Spring. Um...has George been told about this? Karl?
And wondering why Karl looks so perky during his scandal (besides that fact that he is the Dark Lord and thrives in such an environment)? Well, apparently, he has been able to find consolation with lobbyist Karen Johnson...who is
not his wife...(see "gossip round-up" at
wonkette as I could not steal credit for finding that link on my own)
All right, time to turn the AC up here, but if you, like I, are trapped in the HOT states, and are doing your best to avoid the feeling outside (or inside) that someone is not just breathing down your neck but your entire body, remember to KEEP E-MAILING!! E-mail, call, fax, write your friends and family, the press and your Congressfolk and let them know that you are PAYING ATTENTION!! And as always...pass it on, pass it on, pass it on!
Peace --Alex
*Ice Hotel...I'm am the Ice Hotel in Sweden...Ice Hotel*
Nixon had 18 minutes...
And the Bush Administration apparently had 12 hours. Yes it appears that Alberto Gonzales was notified of the Plame investigation by the Justice Department and told Andrew Card about it, but waited
12 hours before telling anybody else, so, if Card indeed spoke to Rove and others about this, who knows WHAT could have been shredded, deleted, erased in that period of time. Ah so turns the world in the Bush White House...is there NO ONE in that adminsitration who is NOT corrupt? I am highly beginning to doubt this (all right, I've doubted it for some time, but, optimistic girl that I am, I keep hoping that there is some "do-gooder"
somewhere in that White House).
Yeah, so I go away and have no regular computer access for awhile and all hell breaks loose. From the 12 hour Rove-Gate lapse to John Roberts. Boston and the home-town stay were lovely as, while I did not have computer access, I did get to listen to Stephanie "I love the smell of impeachment in the morning" Miller each morning, and I got to, you know, be an actor for a week. The downside was having to deal with Mit "I'M RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!" Romney. After the last London bombing, the man did a publicity ride on the T...for one stop...and he didn't know how much the fare was...AND yesterday morning he came down from his vacation in New Hampshire to
veto a bill that would allow women to get emergency contraception. Now, the state of Massachusetts wants this bill, Romney's Lt. Governor was going to sign it in his absence, but Romney, after hearing from the handful of conservatives in the state and from those
out of state who would be potential votes in '08, decided to go with them and veto this bill. Luckily, the
legislature had enough votes to override his veto. Pretty much anyone I spoke with in MA about Romney, reacted to the name like a bad taste in their mouth or just "he's such an idiot!"
Speaking of idiots...did anyone see Rick Santorum on
The Daily Show last night? He was trying so hard...but John Stewart just couldn't see how a "natural" family
only could consist of one man and one woman (Stewart himself being raised by a single mother and just not able to comprehend Santorum's feeling that single mom's and homosexual parents do not a family make...) Stewart does win the award for best subtle zinger ever, though, as, after Santorum made reference to Bill Bennet's own morality book, Stewart said, "I'll bet, 5-1 odds that your book sells better than Bennet's" - Santorum, forgetting that Bill Bennet ended up having to admit to a gambling addiction simply replied with "I'll take that bet,"...soooo glad that this stuff ends up on tape :)
IN THE MEANTIME...John Roberts...oh John...I would like to believe that you'd have to be half in the bag to join the
Federalist Society anyway, but how drunk were you to not remember joining? And despite the White House trying to avoid releasing his
records from his White House counsel days (surprise), apparently,
some documents will be released. Didn't help to hear that he was counsel during the 2000 campaign, I suppose. (in this article there is a link to his 49 published opinions...and as you look at those opinions, remember that his wife is a founder of Feminists for Life. Please allow me to add a comment from wonkette:
"Quick, name three other high profile Republican women who call themselves feminists....
We're waiting.
No, really.
Go ahead."
Yet, I want to know why it's okay to read about stuff from the Reagan years, but
not from Bush, Sr.'s years...could it be...perhaps...that he's a...BUSH?!?!?
And speaking of trying to hide things...Apparently some parts of the latest
energy bill that would curb the use of oil in the US, "fell out" of the bill on its way to vote...
And it's not just at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, apparently there's been some
issues at Marine Boot Camp...*low recruitment's been making them a little crankier than normal*
And speaking of getting cranky, can someone PLEASE tell me why we are not hearing more about
Darfur? as well as the case of the
Angola 3 which I heard about honestly for the first time this past week as one of the plays that was part of the festival dealt with the story and the playwright's actual connection and involvement. *beautifully done play* Perhaps time to write your press folk AND congress people, hmmmmm?
All right, time to play "beat my lunch cover" and finish up here before she comes to take over the desk for me and KEEPS E-MAILING!!! E-mail, call, write, fax your friends and family, the press and your Congressfolk and let them know that you are paying attention!!! Like how you know about rallies in September involving
ImpeachBush.org and
United For Peace and Justice and the fab t-shirt line from
Clothing Of The American Mind. And, as always, pass it on, pass it on, pass it on!
Peace --Alex
All Rove All The Time
Yes he's EVERYWHERE and the Republicans are scrambling to defame Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame saying that she sent him out to Niger and that Wilson was working for the Kerry campaign (did ya see Newt Gingrich on Today last week?) and even on Fox News someone questioned whether or not Valerie Plame was actually a deep cover agent!! Are ya getting dizzy from the spin?
yet apparently Matt Cooper has said that HE got the info on Plame from ROVE and Scooter Libby, not the other way around as Rover and his people have claimed...ooo this could get bigger and uglier...who wants to bet we hear about Dick Cheney in the next week or so?
All right, I'm on a public library computer and don't have NEARLY as much time as I'd like (I'm in Boston preparing for the Theatre Diversified Festival which is July 22nd and 23rd at the Theatre Cooperative in Cambridge, MA www.theatrecoop.org...thank you jeff for goin' PROMOTE YOURSELF DAMMIT!)
But KEEP E-MAILING my friends and I shall see you when I get back!
Peace --Alex
GAH!
I had so much that I wanted to write about yesterday such as
Rick Santorum saying how he's not surprised that the priest abuse scandals happened in Massachusetts due to "Boston liberalism" (cause it certainly would have nothing to do with the state of the Catholic Church...yeah I wrote him a little note yesterday), how it's been reported that Abu Graib abuse techniques were honed at
Gitmo, how the parental guide on talking to your teenagers on the
government website has negative messages about single parents, gays etc, AND how the death toll of
Iraqi civilians has been rising steadily-up to 800 deaths a
month...but everytime I would try to get to it, the phone would ring or someone came in...don't these people realize that I have personal business to take care of?
SO TODAY, I'm gonna get this in before we shut down early (I do love summer Fridays...though they are always better when thunder showers are not threatening).
Ahhh, we finally hear about
Robert Novak. Judith Miller never actually wrote about Victoria Plame yet is in jail, Matt Cooper did write about Plame, but has testified and his notes were surrendered...but the whole shebang started 'cause of Robert Novak's column...and we haven't heard squat about him or from him...cause he made some special deal...but NOW, it's said that
Karl Rove called the man and he is FINALLY in the news about this. Novak apparently during this phone call, brought up Plame's name and Rove, according to a lawyer involved with the case "indirectly confirmed" Plame's identity and role in the CIA. Yes, I'd like to be in the press briefing room this morning to see how McClellan handles this one...And yes, I am hoping to eventually see footage of these men being led out of their offices in handcuffs, but not sure I'll see it happen...but a girl can dream can't she?
And...call me crazy...while it is appalling that Pearlstein at
Time gave into the government and gave up Cooper's notes, there is a part of me that wonders, if Karl Rove and Novak end up indicted, could he possibly end up some sort of Watergate-esque underdog as he was the one who said "this info has to get out there..." and Judith Miller end up looking like she was protecting Rove and perhaps other rumored sources (Dick Cheney)...it will be interesting to see how this all plays out...
At least the political cartoons have been great :) (check amNew York today and yesterday)
IN THE MEANTIME...The man has been undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, just got released from the hospital, and people have been saying for months that he was going to retire. Well, yesterday
Rehnquist declared "I'm not dead yet!" and is not retiring. He is going to stay there and continue his duties as long as his "
health permits". *having two images now:
Rehnquist playing Strom Thurman, IV bag and all, being propped up by a paige, getting poked when he has to make a statment at the bench. Or he'll end up like that teacher in the Harry Potter books who hasn't realized that he's dead yet and his spirit remains teaching class. I am also wondering if there was some bizarre game of Telephone that went on at the Judiciary when all this retirement talk started and somehow O'Connor's name turned to Rehnquist in the process...*
AND in the "things George doesn't want to hear" category...44 government
scientists have been found to have ties to various companies (am I sensing a continued theme here with government folk and business?)...
and I'm sure George would not want to read, pardon me,
hear about the opionion section of the NY Times which includes an article about the debasement of
military women at Gitmo and
Paul Krugman's feelings about Karl Rove...
Nor do I think he wants to hear about the
JAG lawyers who have been fighting the policy of torture at Gitmo and elsewhere...
And where is Condi? Out in Korea, hiding and perhaps burning papers in Kim Jong Il's office, and unable to console George...
But until she gets back, KEEP E-MAILING!!! E-mail, call, write, fax your friends and family, the press and your Congressfolk and let them know that you are paying attention!! And as always, pass it on, pass it on, pass it on.
Peace --Alex
And send some love to my boys this evening as the Red Sox must redeem themselves after last night's stupid loss to the Yankees.
so nice...
to see
Karl Rove (evil genius) all over the news and in the
papers leaving
Scott "Puffy McMoonface" McClellan to twitch in the White House briefing room.
And then there's George speaking out today...with
Karl Rove (evil genius) standing
right behind him.
"I will be more than happy to comment on this matter once this investigation is complete." *i.e. "I know I said I'd fire whoever was leaking information, but...but...it's Karl...I can't fire Karl...I...I...just can't do that...I'd have to, you know, think for myself...and uh, he's scary...he might do somethin'..."*
It's even gotten Keith Olbermann to get back to his
blog...and
John Kerry has e-mailed me not once, not twice, but THREE times about getting Rove fired, as has
Act For Change,
MoveOn and
True Majority. People are getting out there, man, and letting their voices be heard.
IN THE MEANTIME...There is still this Supreme Court thing going on.
Wonkette has a "Rehnquist Retirement Watch!" going on, as as Rehnquist was
hospitalized this afternoon, that retirement may come sooner than later, but then again, he's being treated for cancer, is walking with a cane and hasn't given up yet...
And
Bolton-almost forgot about him, eh?=MAY accept a recess appointment (cause Bush is that desperate to have
one of his guys get in there...)
And in Iraq there not only was a suicide bomb that killed 12 number of children and one American soldier, there is a mystery of how 10 Sunnis ended up
suffocated while under the custody of Iraq police commandos...
And then there remains Darfur...which still does not get nearly enough coverage. My friend Sonia gave a great
link to pass on...
There's always more, and then people actually start making me do my job! So before that happens at your office KEEP E-MAILING!!! E-mail, call, write fax your friends and family, the press and your Congressfolk and let them know that you are paying attention!!! And as always, pass it on, pass it on, pass it on :)
Peace --Alex
and the analysis begins...
Yesterday were the horrific bombings, and today is the
analysis of what happened and potentially why.
I, of course, found myself ranting to friends yesterday afternoon that if we had actually focused on Afghanistan and gone after Bin Laden (Mr. Goss? any more news on that "excellent idea" of where the guy is?), not gone into Iraq and started a breeding ground for terrorists, let alone continued a cowboy attitude toward Iraq and the war on terror, perhaps this attack would not have happened. Who is to say with terrorists?
What can be said, is that due to our administration's attitude with
Iraq-not our "values and way of life"- we do have more enemies than friends, terror has been growing not receding, and our administration-along with the British administration and other allies-need to face-up to this reality and arrange a proper exit strategy, as well as focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan to find Bin Laden.
Security was beefed up here in
New York (though, honestly, for all the footage of police with rifles on subway platforms, they seem to be avoiding the A train-guess we can take care of ourselves...) and apparently all transit is back on high alert orange (yawn, NYC's been on orange from the get go). And of course, the
Today show and the other morning shows had to have segments on "how safe are we
really?" and what to look for while waiting for your bus, train, or subway...instilling
more fear than already out there.
See, it's that which irks me the most. To quote Tony Blair (who, while I question his Bush-esque phrases about our way of life being attacked-did give a highly eloquent speech that our own President couldn't make if Blair wrote it down for him):"The purpose of terrorism is just that - to terrorize people and we will not be terrorized." After 9/11, I felt that we should not allow these people to take any more than that one day out of our lives, yet our own administration has been the biggest fearmongerer when it comes to terror in order to continue and unnecessary war.
On the news, I saw footage of people here talking about how they were
afraid to come into New York City, afraid to get on trains for their commute, and all I could think of was 1) how much I felt for these people who were left again to worry for their safety; letting fear dictate their day, and 2) how
Bush might use this fear again to link the war on terror to Iraq and regain waning support, manipulating the vulnerable as he did back after 9/11. I find that most frightful of all. I suggest sending him, and perhaps some conservative
senators who might follow his "message", a
note not to pull that...juuust in case.
IN THE MEANTIME...while Bush and Blair may trade freedom phraseology, they still have some issues to work out at the G8, like the
environment...
AND
Karl Rove ain't out of the
spotlight yet...
And just to irk Karl Rove (evil genius), KEEP E-MAILING!!! E-mail, call, fax, write, your friends and family, the press and your Congressfolk and let them know that you are PAYING ATTENTION! And always, pass it on, pass it on, pass it on... :)
Peace --Alex
London
4 coordinated explosions occured during rush hour in London this morning. When I heard about this event, which has been confirmed as a terrorist attack, I immediately e-mailed my cousin who lives there. He got back to me quickly enough to let me know that he and his girlfriend are all right...and then let me know that his flat is 100m from Russell Sq. where a doubledecker bus had its top level completely blown off.
I have never been so happy that my cousin is an absolute workaholic and most likely got to work at some obscene hour hence was not dealing with regular rush hour traffic.
I do hope that none of you had any loved ones/friends in London who were hurt in this tragedy.
and I mean it when I type it:
Peace --Alex
Not so god dag for George...
You know, it's almost a shame that the Danes are, just in general, such pretty people as I admittedly found myself looking at footage of the Danish Prime Minister thinking: "he can't
possibly support George and want to keep Danish soldiers in Iraq...he's too handsome to do that...let alone give the man a
cowboy shaped cake for his birthday" *smack myself into reality* Such a shame, yet luckily the majority of
Danes disagree with their PM as well, no matter how handsome he is...
And speaking of trying to find that special pretty person, and making sure they're not stupid, please go to
wonkette and look for the ad for DemocraticMatch.com...it is the best ad for a dating service
ever.
NEWS BREAK!!! the only good reason to postpone my blog to the afternoon (besides the fact that i have time to kill..)
Judith Miller (who apparently wrote nothing about Plame...just had "gathered information"...I am assuming the charge is "gathering information with the intent to write an article") of the New York Times has been ordered to jail for
not agreeing to testify in the Victoria Plame case. Time reporter Matt Cooper was
ready to go to jail, but apparently his source (Karl Rove, evil genius), will let him talk so Cooper
will testify...and Robert Novak who actually wrote the article revealing Victoria Plame somehow has evaded this whole situation...
And speaking of evasion...George has said, under the influence of jetlag-and perhaps akavit and whiskey-(have you
heard him speak while in Europe?), that he will have no "litmus test" when it comes to naming nominees for the Supreme Court. He'll look at "their character" and whether or not they can do the job. AND he is asking that Congress not listen to the "special interest groups"...did anyone else kinda go "WHAT?! How the hell do you think you got elected, George?" Though you have to hand it to George for defending Gonzales from the
conservatives who have attacked him. In the meantime...he's asked back yet another person who has tried to leave Washington (think Karen Hughes, Donald Rumsfeld "I gave him my resignation twice!") to help out with this. Fred Thompson retired from the Senate to play the DA on Law and Order, is now going to head a Supreme Court Commmittee...I'm telling you, George won't let people leave!!!
And speaking of giving a hand to George, Sarah Vowell has to give a hand to, of all people,
Pat Robertson...
And Mom has just alerted me to the fact that George, while riding his bicycle today in Scotland, ran into a police officer. He was brought to the hospital for bruises and scratches and then asked that the police officer be checked in on as well...yep, yep, that's the leader of the free world...man can't even ride a BICYCLE! (now watch me have an accident on mine...)
All right, just becasue everybody's calling me cause I'm doing personal stuff, I have to go, but remember this: wear a bike helmet and KEEP E-MAILING!!!! and pass it on, pass it on, pass it on!
Peace --Alex
Och! George heads for Scotland!
*picturing the leader of the free world asking some guy in a kilt: "Now really, what do you wear under the skirt?")*
He apparently dropped in on Denmark to thank them for sending troops to Iraq (WHY Denmark supported the war I have NO idea...nor do my cousins over there for that matter...and they still wonder how we allowed George to become president...)
The
protestors have alreay been in full force for the G8 summit and I don't doubt they'll increase when George gets there.
But besides the protestors, and having to have someone tell him what
climate change is, George also has to deal with this
Supreme Court situtation, as there's a shot at a
filibuster, and even the conservatives don't think
Alberto Gonzales is conservative
enough...*he'll sign off on torture but still
possibly let a woman have a right to choose? scandalous!*
AND his guru Karl Rove (evil genius) could, I say could, if people actually read Michael Isikoff's
Newsweek article and force the rest of the press to read it, and pass it on to their Congressfolk and perhaps continue an investigation into this and prove just how evil this man is, the man could end up in jail...or we could just put him in Gitmo without formal indictment for a few years...*picturing Karl in a rather unflattering orange jumpsuit making calls to GOP goons trying to work things from the inside..."what do you MEAN I can't get a call through to the White House?!?! Nobody says no to Big Daddy Karl!"* oh please oh please oh please....
Until that time, you can watch George twitch and KEEP E-MAILING!!! E-mail, call, fax, write your friends and family, the press, and your Congressfolk and let them know that you are PAYING ATTENTION!!! Pass it on, pass it on, pass it on!
Peace --Alex
