In an interview with Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News Obama promised investigation of crimes in todays White House. Citing last Fridays release of Bush saying that he knew of torture plans and approved them the reporter asked how he would work with this information if elected.

“What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that’s already there and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can’t prejudge that because we don’t have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated.”

All weekend we heard how Barack had alienated the people of Pennsylvania. McClinton and McSame rattled on about non issues while Obama tried to touch on things that matter. We, the general newswatchers, didn’t see coverage about the crimes the administration had admitted to through their Idiot In Chief. Share this info with everyone. It is important.

Tip of the space helmet to Tamara.

Ms. Manitoba over at The Political Cat wrote a response  to the stories about Obama’s “gaffe” about Pennsylvania’s workers who don’t have jobs or industry anymore. I couldn’t have said it better so go see how she responded to the SF Gate story.

I am usually non responsive to the mud slinging but this time Hillary McClinton and John McSameoldBushit’s petty attacks rubbed me the wrong way. The exporting of jobs has caused many Americans to look for other ways to get through and Obama hit the nail on the head. This truthiness slammed into the other candidates ideals and they used shitslinging instead of addressing the real issue. Joblessness caused by sending our jobs to other countries.

Well FUCK THEM!!!!! I am a regular working class guy who takes offense to the mudslinging and the lack of jobs for the people in my economic class. John Lennon wrote a song about the people like those in Pennsylvania, and all over America. They are truly hero’s and they we are something to be.

Here’s Mary Ann Faithful doing a very good rendition of his “Working Class Hero’s”.

The warmongers are following Bush’s line and saying our troops will be needed in Iraq for years to come. Petraeus told congress today that this war is not a mathematical exercise. While touting the “success” the war has gone through recently they showed how the violence has reduced in the last few months. Not taking into account the cease fire by Iraqi rebels they gave all of the credit to the surge and presence of US troops there. Of course the reports were prepared before the cease fire started to unravel a couple of weeks ago. There was little mention of the renewed escalation of deaths and maimings in the war ravaged country.

In the past 2 days at least 12 more US soldiers have been needlessly killed. Hundreds of Iraq citizens, either armed or civilian have been killed in the past couple of weeks. Many more soldiers, who the United States have armed, defected and took their weapons with them to be used against the very people who gave them the guns and ammo. Yeah. Thats success. But for who? Nobody is winning and the United States is losing big. More every day.

From the AP;

“I do not want to keep our troops in Iraq a minute longer than necessary to secure our interests there. Our goal — my goal — is an Iraq that no longer needs American troops,” McCain said in a nine-minute statement. “And I believe we can achieve that goal, perhaps sooner than many imagine. But I also believe that to promise a withdrawal of our forces, regardless of the consequences, would constitute a failure of political and moral leadership.

————-

The FAILURE OF MORAL LEADERSHIP HAPPENED LONG AGO !!!! The liars that got us into this war failed. The ones who keep us there failed. Those like John McSameoldbushit have failed. They are continuing with the failure at a huge cost to you and me but big profits for them. I wanna tell McSame that the political and moral leadership he aspires to is already a failure and that he will just continue the failing. Not bringing the “surge” troops on schedule is another failure.

As a man who says he doesn’t know much about economic things, even McCain must see how this war is affecting our economy. The american people do. Besides all of the outsourcing of jobs to other countries, rising unemployment and more businesses failing here at home, huge foreclosures in housing, the war is costing us dearly. I shudder to think of the burden this administration, and the McSame administration if for some reason he is elected, is leaving for future generations here.

Thats enough of my anti McSame rant for now. Petraeus also said to the Armed Forces Committee, “We haven’t turned any corners, we haven’t seen any lights at the end of the tunnel. The champagne bottle has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator. And the progress, while real, is fragile and is reversible.” 

He said an Iraqi operation earlier this month to stop Shi’ite militias in the southern city of Basra, which President George W. Bush had called a “defining moment” for Iraq, was a disappointment and not adequately planned or prepared.

More proof that the Bush plan isn’t working. How could Bush place an inadequate General in charge if his operations can’t be planned or prepared properly. Oh! I guess it’s because of the way Petraeus pukes the Cheney/Bush plans for political advancement. This war is tumbling around Bush’s feet just like every thing else he and his administration touches.

Before long the posturing was in full swing. But so was the posturing in Iraq. During the Q and A going on in Wahington, Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr threatened to unleash his Mahdi Army militia against U.S. and Iraqi forces. Threatening to lift the cease fire declared in August Sadr said, “If it is required to lift the freeze (cease-fire) in order to carry out our goals, objectives, doctrines and religious principles and patriotism, we will do that later and in a separate statement”. This all is in the aftermath of the failed attempt to disarm opposition militias in Basra 2 weeks ago.

Both Clinton and Obama were claiming to have plans to start withdrawing the troops soon after they take office. While there are naysayers that say this would be bad because the factional fighting would grow it seems that the factional wars are going on even though our soldiers are there. The withdrawal of our troop, however gradual, seems like a good idea to me. Why do we feel some need to have our kids in harms way when the wars are going to continue. The United States has no business being the worlds police.

So with the liars talking about successes and the rest of the world looking on in disbelief it looks like the war has just begun. I don’t think our soldiers have any place in this war and really am looking forward to the new presidency. There is a possibility that the disaster started by this administration could be stopped. Well, maybe not stopped but less American troops would be lost to the civil war that we have no chance of stopping or changing. Our leaders helped get this civil war started by removing the tyrant that kept it quelled without a plan to keep it down. Now that it’s un fixable by a western power it seems too late.

The troops need to come home.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus will testify in front of congress today. They are supposed to give the glowing reports of success we are supposed to be seeing in the conflict there. You know…the surge is working, we are in control of he Green Zone, we have had less casualties because of the surge. That kind of Bushieshit.

They probably wont talk about the 4023 US soldiers killed at first. I wonder if the 29,628 officially wounded soldiers will even be mentioned. Nobody there will have the balls to mention the stop-loss, flopping our troops back for another tour, travesty that is going on. I doubt the tragic loss of up to a million Iraqi lives and the displacement of over 4 million people will come up either. Just a lot of posing and puffing of the chest.

While both McCain and Clinton are on the Armed Forces Committee McCain is the one to give the opening speech. Lieberman and Graham are on that committee as well. The pundits are saying that the hearing there will just be a Bush Butt Buddy Blowout Bash. That Clinton’s late question will seem insignificant after all of the Repulicaspeak at the beginning of the session.

Then the warmongers will travel down the hall to the Foreign Relations Committee where Barack will be . I am in agreement with the news people that the questions asked there will be less party line and more about the realities of the war. Maybe the General and Ambassador will have to be more candid. Maybe they will show some truth in the testimony. I really don’t think they will be allowed to by the administration but maybe their lies will have more of a chance to be exposed. If the questions are being asked by non Bushies maybe they will slip and tell a real fact or two. I doubt that though.

I just hope it doesn’t turn into a campaigning debacle. There are so many risks to that. This question and answer period is about lives. It’s about bringing our troops home. It’s about the billions of dollars wasted. It’s about lies told and lies exposed.

It isn’t about partisan politics because when our soldiers are there all party lines go away. The men and women serving may feel their own political feelings but they are comrades and don’t need party division when their lives and safety are at stake.

Lets hope something positive comes from these meetings. Lets hope the answers they give don’t satisfy the American public and the demand for the immediate return of our men and women gets louder. Lets hope the liars are exposed and the McSame ideas get shot down.

Lets hope.

Although I have been remiss in being a proper blogger and haven’t been posting diligently, most of the others have been. Now on Saturday night I have a feeling of non-productivity so I have tried to get something done. But…(dadgum buts)…I can’t get any clear thoughts out so I am going to try to pass some other folk’s creativity along. Bear with me for a bit and I will get my wind back. For now follow these links for news and commentary of the week.

Last Sunday The Political Cat told us her opinion about the links between Cheney, Bush and Nouri al Maliki. Even though she has been changing routines with her meds she was able to point out the costs of this war in lives, money and extending tours for our troops and how the leaders are behind it.

ViceZilla brings us the stink from San Francisco, the birthplace of my favorite band the Grateful Dead, where they are considering naming a fitting monument to George W.Bush.

Stephen was drinking liberally in New Milford when he passed along rumors of Hillary suspending her campaign and added the beer back to his whiskey with a link to a funny video called Mrs. C.

Buzz gave a moving non Believers tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King over at Buzz Daly Sez.

The Grateful Dissident talked about the “Million Man March” in Iraq.

Alicia who lives somewhere near the Last Left Turn Before Hooterville, shared what they are talking about in the beauty shop.

Fade over in the House Of The Rising Sons brings us links to Montel calling for real support for our troops especially the wounded ones.

Gordon with the Alternative Brain brings us a letter from Iraq.

Dusty shows us its her right to be left of center by showing us pictures of Georgie playing by himself.

I wonder if he is shunned because of his ineptitude dealing with the dignitaries. Do you think maybe he is also alone because of the fact he supported the liars who led America and the rest of the world into this huge debacle that has cost so many lives, limbs and dollars? I think the fact the death toll is so high in Iraq because of the lies was the reason he was greeted the way he was when he threw the first pitch of the season for the Washington National’s last Sunday. I love this footage as I believe the sentiment shown will also be shown in November to Senator John McSame.

They have been turning out in droves. Registrars in Pennsylvania and Oregon have their hands full. The Republicans are flocking to change their party affiliation before the primaries. They don’t have anything to lose but freedom and security so they are abandoning the “Grand Ole Party”. They seem to be waking up.

Maybe it’s because of their discontent with the way the government has been going. Maybe it’s because they see the path we are going down isn’t leading anywhere good and they know their parties candidate is going to be more of the same. Maybe they just feel that Clinton or Obama could do better than John would and they want something better than he can offer. Maybe they are just acting smart for a change.

In Virginia and Missouri Obama won big because of the Repube vote. Texas and Ohio Repube’s gave the Clinton and Obama campaigns a huge boost. Those places have shown that no one is satisfied with the things going on in Washington and are seeking to change it. And change seems to be the common goal.

They have been running a lot of McCain for president ads on teevee here in New Mexico. We are supposedly a “swing state”. It seems that the pundits are right about him. He seems, through this ad, to be comparing America now with America of Viet Nam times. The ad they are running this week has a lot of footage of him after he was brought to some hospital after his captivity in that war. It almost seems like he wants pity for the prison time he served. The message I get from it is that he seeks revenge on his captors so much he can’t tell the difference between the Vietnamese and the Iraqi’s.

His call for occupation of Iraq for 50 years has been overshadowed by his carefree quip about 100.

“Make it 100.” he said when questioned about his support for an extended occupation.

“We’ve been in South Korea … we’ve been in Japan for 60 years,” he continued. “We’ve been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, that’s fine with me. I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting and equipping and motivating people every single day.”

That is just disgusting. Americans ARE being injured, harmed or killed everyday in Iraq so there is no reasoning to this statement.

Maybe this one statement of doddering senility has gotten the Repube populace thinking. McSame is driving them away in a way Bush only dreams about. The thinking people see what disaster lies ahead with him running the great ship America. They are more interested in saving our country than some other place. They know we can’t save the world if we can’t save ourselves. They know the way things are going we are actually destroying ourselves. They want change.

In this race the Republicans can’t count on the conservative evangelical vote. This isn’t a race based on abortion or whatever one issue subject they choose to vote on. This race affects them the same way it does Democrats and “liberals”. Their kids are dying in Iraq the same way those on the left’s kids are. They are tired of being lied to by those they trusted 4 and 8 years ago. Their homes have also been foreclosed on. Their jobs have been shipped out of the country too.  Their phones and internet are at risk of being invaded just like the liberals. Their rights are being trampled along with everyone else’s. Only the hardcore are waiting for Bush and McCain to speed up their “rapture” and the end of the world.

I have become an Obama supporter over the last few weeks. I think Clinton brought some good things to the table but she also brought her bucket of mud and has been slinging it much to my dismay. Bill Richardson has endorsed Barack so there is my big turning point. Richardson is the experience and knowlege Obama needs to bring on board so thats my humble endorsement.

I won’t make this page a campaign for any candidate until after the Democratic National Convention and then I will only do what I can to defeat the Republicans and their drive to bring us back to the stone age. Until then I have to depend on the conservatives who are running frantically away from their own party. For whatever reason they are running.

The members of the Grateful Dead also endorsed him by playing a benefit for him so Thats an added bonus as far as I’m concerned.

With a firm shake of my head , clearing the cobwebs out I’m gonna try to get back behind the wheel of this big rig and head off in my quest for the road to insanity. I thought I had found it over the past few days but realize that I was only parked on the off ramp at a rest area. The break I needed to realize the road to our countries freedom from tyranny has just begun. I am now headed down that road and it seems scary. Twists and turns, slippery surfaces and road closures threaten our progress.

The lying political lot lizards have taken control of every rest stop along the way and it is time we quit prostituting our country in the name of patriotism. Our troops have been pimped out to the oil companies. Some returning soldiers who have been trained for nothing but war are turning tricks for Blackwater and Halliburton because thats what they know how to do. The Republican candidate for president has said it would be “fine with me” for our troops to spend hundreds of years in Iraq. The politician whores of the oil companies and the rest of the big businesses who make money supplying war tools are making loud noises about invading Iran.

With this war “hero” McCain clinching the Re-pube nomination yesterday the fight to keep our country free from the cloud of eternal war has just begun. Its time for the people of the thinking class to unite and put a viable candidate in the running. To quit letting Obama and Hillary’s barbs and comments divide the voters. Time for everyone to ignore Nader and Paul and unite against the evil that is McCain. Time to take our country back from the pimps and whores who have been “leading” our country. Take it back from the “John’s” who buy into the lies and support this horrible warmongering trade.

The cost of this war, and the impending war with Iran, goes far beyond lost lives and the billions spent on it. Our leaders need to look at the economic impact it has made in our nation With our president stupidly telling Ann Curry on NBC news last week that the war spending has helped our economy and blaming the economic downturn on the housing market the war hawks think they can dupe America even more.

Even though I really don’t like either Clinton or Obama a whole lot I feel that they are the only ones who can begin to bring our nation out of it’s decline. My political opinion leans a lot farther left than what they represent. But they are mainstream enough to be viable in this contest and are probably our only hope. They both seem about the same to me and like I have said before, whichever one of them that Bill Richardson endorses is the one I will support.

But support the Democratic candidate I will. It is important. Defeating the war machine and it’s whores is first and foremost. Defeating John McCain is the first mile on the road to freedom.

I’m dedicated to jamming those gears and turning them wheels towards freedom. Welcome aboard.

This video has been making the rounds in the blog world. It is worth watching in this time of blind patriotism and I thank those responsible for putting this together.

Tippin’ the space helmet at Crooks and Liars

Our president “strongly disagreed” with presidential candidate Barak Obama yesterday about diplomatic meetings with Cuba and Iran.

“Just talking with them sends the wrong message, confuses U.S. allies and raises the international profile of regimes that suppress human rights”, Bush said responding to Obama’s statement he would try to negotiate with Iran if elected. More of the warmongers rhetoric to spur us into a war with the Iranian government.

Continuing he also said that negotiations with Raul Castro would just be more of the same. And we all know how well the United States policies with Cuba have worked. Almost 50 years after the sanctions went into effect Fidel finally was defeated…sorta.

Responding to Obama’s promise to start talks, and willingness to meet with, leaders from Iran, Cuba, Venezuala, Syria and North Korea, Georgie decried diplomacy by saying “… it’ll send the wrong message. It’ll send a discouraging message to those who wonder whether America will continue to work for the freedom of prisoners. It’ll give great status to those who have suppressed human rights and human dignity.”

With the United States just achieving the honored status of having the highest per capita population behind bars that is a ridiculous statement. While the Evil Bushman rallies for immunity for the telecoms domestic spying continues to grow. Using the human rights stance he continues to support taking them away from Americans while refusing to negotiate with those governments who also violate the basic rights of their citizens putting him in the same category as those he speaks against.

Invasion and stripping the rights of citizens of foreign lands is more his speed. Sending the army we have to to occupy other countries suppresses human rights much faster than diplomatic talks. Suppressing the dignity of the populace is evident here as well.

No country can hold their heads high if they neglect the fighting men and women they send into war without proper equipment. There is no dignity for a country that neglects the veterans after their return from fighting in a war. No honor in a country that spies on its citizens phone calls and e-mails. And I wonder how W can even think of talking about another nation’s status after the lies, deceit and manipulation our government used to start a war that has claimed over a million lives.

Obviously the present administrations lack of diplomacy hasn’t worked. They refuse to learn though. They keep rushing headlong into war talk while not even trying to negotiate policies that would bring better human rights and dignity to the people of other places.

I guess that they would rather kill them than try to negotiate for their rights.

After showing his ass before the Iowa and New Hampshire votes were cast President Bill Clinton quietened down for a bit. He has been appearing in public more lately after a brief hiatus. It seems he is becoming visible again in a much more subdued form. The dutiful husband form. The under the thumb form. The FORMER president form.

But the real Bill story is coming from Santa Fe it seems. The democratic front runners are courting the man who dropped from the race January 10. The man who can help them win. The one person who has the right experience in foreign relations. New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson.

Bill Richardson’s record on a local, national and international level is tremendous. He worked in the Bill Clinton administration as an Ambassador to the U.N. as well as 14 years as congressman. He was our Secretary of Energy under Clinton. While serving our country he visited many countries around the world promoting good relations with “troublesome” leaders. He did such a good job in the old days with leaders like Saddam Hussein that George W Bush sent him to North Korea last year to deal with Kim Jong il and the nuclear crisis. He came away with success. N. Korea agreed to stop producing weapons and invited the U N to send in inspectors.

In New Mexico he pushed for a medical marijuana law that was shot down 6 times before it passed on the 7th try. Although the Feds are giving growers and patients grief he is pushing for less federal involvement on the laws of our nation. Maybe if he had a position high in the federal government the D.E.A. and other cops would start leaving individuals alone. When asked how the MMJ laws would affect his presidential campaign he said it didn’t matter as “it was the right thing to do”.
He has made law here that gives incentives to homeowners and businesses that go with alternative energy to power their electrical needs. Passed bills requiring the big power companies to use solar or wind for a growing percentage of their output.

He has demanded an end to the US occupation of Iraq. The return of our troops from the face of danger is a high priority in his political opinion. With 3970 American soldiers killed there so far he strongly supports the troops by calling for their rapid return.

President Clinton watched the Super Bowl with the Governor a few weeks ago. Mrs. Clinton stays in close touch with him. Barack Obama calls him often, on the average of every 3 days. They both have told him that they need him. His endorsement would swing so many votes their way and they both know his support would make the candidacy, and the election, theirs.

Richardson has said he is not going to put the offer of possibly being a Vice Presidential running mate or a Secretary of State appointment aside. He is staying in touch with both Obama and Clinton during their campaigns and is remaining friendly and non-controversial. No endorsements yet and thats probably a good thing.

If he were to become the VP nominee for either he would bring a lot to their campaign. Obama’s campaign would benefit from the experience and maturity he would bring. Clinton’s organization would be better off with his diplomatic attitude diverting the publics attention from the silly stuff her husband spews. The nation would be much better off with him as our Vice President what with his “progressive” ideas and policies. As Secretary of State he would be an asset to help heal the broken and bruised image of America the rest of the world has.

So with these thoughts, and others, in mind I am now going to make the Alien Trucker’s endorsement in this presidential race. I am saying, on the record, I am endorsing whoever Bill Richardson endorses. Especially if he is chosen as their running mate.

Does it really matter who I support? I don’t guess so but at least you know how I feel.

The peace sign

turns fifty today. It was first used for a march on a nuclear weapons facility. For a story about it with links to a newspaper article go to our friend Ted’s Page.

Campaigning must be hard. Long hours, early mornings to late night. Candidates wake early and stay up nights. Tough, kind of like a truck drivers job.

I have driven 14 hours looking forward to a nap at the receiver while they unloaded me only to be told I would have to put my fingerprints on every box while I was the one unloading the trailer. Then when it was unloaded have dispatch send me to a shipper 150 miles away to load before I could get some sleep.

I sympathize with their fatigue and really hope all of them stay somewhat healthy. What I don’t understand is how some pussy pampered politician could compare campaigning with torture.

Check this Huckabee quote out then see if you think he is making light of an illegal torture procedure. What a dweeb!

I was writing a post Tuesday evening. Something about the Obama lead over Clinton and how the Paul/Huckabee campaigns were slowing the McCain…well you have read everyone else’s opinion of the old news so I’ll just piss and moan about why I have been off line.

While writing my post my hosts server crashed. It was down both Tuesday and Wednesday. When they got the whole thing back up there were errors of some kind messing up the links from server to web page….then when I was online chatting with my hosts techs my internet provider crashed.

I have been out of touch for days but I wasn’t raided or shut down as was suggested by one reader. I just had some bad luck. The upside is that I get a month of hosting at no charge. Thats cool.

It’s a good night and we are expecting snow tonight in Roswell. Probably wont last very long as it is supposed to get warm tomorrow afternoon. I will be back up to posting stuff tomorrow. (saturday)

I hope your weekend is great.

Daytona 500 Sunday for those who like to watch 43 drivers go fast and turn left.

I haven’t paid much attention to the news over the weekend. Just babbling about Huckabee dividing the nation and black people pushing for Obama. The race card has been played hard lately but Clinton has gotten hurt from whoever is voting for Barack. Bad enough that she felt the need to change campaign managers in the middle of the stream. Aging bald dudes seem to be working for the change Obama promises by the looks of things at the Rotus Ranch.

Clark, the head rancher over there also has a nice blog with music reviews. Go check it out at Clarks Picks.

Rotus has a somewhat different take on some issues and I try to read his stuff every day. I think you should too.

The street sweepers are washing the pavement in the alleys and streets of the French Quarter. New Orleans bar workers are mopping up the funk that comes from days of revelry while the bar owners are counting their riches. Catholic faithful are going to masses to have some ash smeared on their foreheads. Lent is here and in the next 40 days leading up to Easter the city will relax. Almost rest.

But Ash Wednesday in New Orleans is also the day of the Louisiana Primary. There will probably not be as big a cleanup as one might think. The election results from todays primaries and caucuses show McCain is the only candidate that cleaned up in the polls. The Democrats are still pretty much on the same level when it comes to their peoples support.

McCain’s overwhelming win of delegates is due to the “Huckabee Factor”. Mike has taken a lot of the “liberal” Republican vote from Mitt much to Romney’s chagrin. His whining today just alienated more of his would be supporters giving John McCain more of an advantage. That scares me.

With McCain the probable Republican candidate for president America is facing a strange future. His stance on the war in Iraq along with his hinting at future wars, Iran probably, could make or break him. Especially if his Democratic opposition remains weak on their demands to withdraw our troops from Iraq. If the Democrats can’t show strong we may be facing Johns proposed 100 years there.

New Orleans, and much of Louisiana, has a large black Democrat population. The strength of the black vote became clear in 1992 when Democrat Edwin Edwards, a known criminal and liar, was running against Republican racist David Duke for Governor. More black people registered and voted than any time in Louisiana history. The crook won in a landslide even though the Republican Duke got a huge turnout of white voters.

Obama and Clinton are running neck and neck. Clinton has only 100 more delegates then Obama. The primaries in the weeks to come can change that. There are more delegates yet to be chosen and Barak may overcome Hillary in the polls. With only 56 delegates at stake there Louisiana wont be a deciding factor in the final outcome but will probably bring the race closer. I think Obama will take the state today.

The really surprising state for Obama was Idaho. Such a huge amount of their votes going to him there shows me the race card is fading in this campaign. When I was a kid growing up in Idaho there was an underlying racism that welcomed many white supremacy groups  to build compounds and enclaves all over the state. I was pleased to see that the old days are going away and people are starting to think clearer.

So as the post Carnival cleanup continues in The Big Easy the cleanup in the polls wont come. The democratic candidates will have to really duke it out. Lets hope the mudslinging doesn’t start too bad. Thats a mess that may cause McCain to clean up in November.

We can’t have that.