The End of the Swift Boat Era

The end of the Swift Boat Era is here - The Band of Brothers are the ones that will put a stop to the SwiftBoating™ of our military veterans.

The right wing has done it a million times: the Purple Heart bandaids, the prancing around in flightsuits and the disgusting attacks on our vets. They will all be challenged by our candidates. (Childish whining about political cartoonists by the Joint Chiefs of Staff will not count.)

John Kerry couldn't fight it alone, not with the cable news tidal wave of partisan sludge bearing down on him like a tsunami. But people have started to identify the tactic, and we know it will be used 100% of the time. Why? The Republicans have no facts behind them, so they slime our messengers. This is their so-called "support" of our troops.

And these are the same guys that complain about the politics of personal destruction.

Can you say hypocrite? I knew you could.

Gomer Pyle, Preznit in Chief

Kevin Drum does the work, so I don't have to:

George Bush, Tuesday: "...new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025."

As soon as Bush finished that sentence, I knew he would catch hell from his base. Don't they at least talk to these people before putting such outright lies in the State of the Union? - Z

Wednesday: "One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally....'This was purely an example,' Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said."

George Bush, later on Wednesday: "Bush expressed hope, as he did in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, for cutting oil imports from the Mideast. 'I believe in a relatively quick period of time, within my lifetime, we'll be able to reduce if not end dependence on Middle Eastern oil....I meant what I said last night, that America's addiction to oil is bad for this country.'"

Joel Hefley to Retire?

Joel Hefley will have a serious challenger this year: Jay Fawcett, Air Force veteran, family man, and long-time Colorado Springs resident.

Joel Hefley has long-taken this seat for granted. He hasn't anounced whether he'll run again, but you can bet Karl Rove doesn't want to worry about this seat. But when you get complacent in a job, do you keep doing the best job you can? Do you worry as much about your constituents? Not if you're Joel Hefley.

Hefley was kicked off the ethics committee after actually doing his job and citing Tom DeLay for his obvious ethics violations. Tom didn't appreciate that. Is this the kind of respect a 20-year congressman deserves from his party? I don't think so.

Jay will demand more from his party.

Hefley has said almost nothing about the lack of proper body armor and armored HUMMVEEs for our troops. Our men and women are getting killed over the failures of our Pentagon planners. Hefley supposedly represents Fort Carson, where many of our friends and neighbors serve our country. Does he care that these people are getting killed and blown to bits in Iraq? Why is Hefley even on the Armed Services committed if he won't make a peep about the safety of our soldiers?

Jay will demand more from the Pentagon.

Oh, and I'll never forget this beauty from Joel: a vote against a resolution commemorating the life and legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt - arguably our greatest president ever. Joel was one of six brave Republicans who are blinded to FDR's greatness. Was this the kind of partisan simple-mindedness the citizens in CD-5 voted Joel Hefley into office for?

Give Jay some of that mother's milk of politics. We need to be ready no matter what Hefley decides to do. Now is the time to take this seat back. Let's send Joel Hefley to a well-deserved retirement. Whether he wants it or not.

Jaw Fawcett is the one to do it.

You really have got to be friggin' kidding........

Joint Chiefs write letter to Washington Post cartoonist, body armor still lacking in Iraq.

It's true.

State of the Union Analysis

Just go here - they are the experts.

I will have a list of lies, as spoken by the President, later. Ran out of fingers and toes for now.

Cosmic

On the same day as Samuel Alito is sworn in a the newest Supreme Court Justice, Corretta Scott King - the embodiment of the civil rights movement and the heir to the throne of Dr. King - passes away.

I wonder if God it telling us something.

I wish I had Pat Robertson's phone number, I'm sure he knows. And I wonder how many wingnuts in Colorado Springs did a jig when they heard the news?

Keep Your Powder Dry

Ok, we've heard this phrase a zillion times by Democrats the last few years. What on Earth they are actually keeping their powder dry for, we'll never know, because they can't seem to pull the trigger on any one thing that this President is doing that warrants a trip to the powdercache.

Well, here's a list:

• Because President Bush authorizes spying on Americans without a warrant.
• Because President Bush authorized torture by Americans and through renditioning.
• Because President Bush detains people without charge for an indefinite period.
• Because President Bush ignores whatever laws he wants, even if he signs them.
• Because President Bush lied about Iraq to get us into the war.
• Because the Army is stretched "to the breaking point."
• Because the reconstruction of Iraq is being fucked up, too.
• Because President Bush refuses to acknowledge what it's gonna take to help the people of the Gulf Coast.
• Because Ford is getting rid of 30,000 employees.
• Because Karl Rove still has a job.
• Because President Bush and the Republicans fail to fully fund the bullshit "No Child Left Behind" program.
• Because President Bush denies the existence of global warming.
• Because the Medicare prescription drug program is a clusterfuck that will end up in people dying because of its existence.
• Because President Bush denies any connection to Jack Abramoff.
• Because President Bush refuses to speak before any audience that doesn't adore him.
• Because Dick Cheney exists.
• Because Osama Bin Laden is either living free or died free.
• Because Donald Rumsfeld still has a job.
• Because the White House has stymied every investigation into its fuck-ups.
• Because President Bush calls spying "terrorist surveillance" and pollution "Clean Skies" and money to churches "Faith-Based Initiatives."
• Because Richard Scaife doesn't need another tax cut.
• Because there has to be a line in the sand, somewhere; otherwise, it's just one long desert until who-knows-when.

Is that enough? Have they been so cowed by the Right, by the biased media, by Karl Rove's smear maching that they can't muster up some cojones to fight this garbage? I'm afraid so.

Nine Senate Dems who should be replaced

While 18 nominal "Democrats", including our very own Senator Salazar, voted against cloture today, unfortunately it is difficult to send half of them a post-vote message that they might understand. Someone once said that politicians, like diapers, need to be replaced often -- and for the same reason. Nine members of this august group are up for re-election and have demonstrated their "diaper nature" with this cloture vote. Below I list the Democratic Senators who effectively voted in favor of Judge Alito (which is how any reasonable Democrat would interpret the cloture vote) and who are up for re-election this cycle.

Akaka (HI)
Bingaman (NM)
Byrd (WV)
Cantwell (WA)
Carper (DE)
Kohl (WI)
Lieberman (CT)
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)

What I propose is this: let's all send at least $20 to the primary opponents of these individuals, and let them know we're doing it. Somehow I'm sure they all understand the language of money.

(posted on behalf of Derek, another determined Colorado Springs Dem)

Ken "Nighthorse" Campbell

Well, now we know what Ken Salazar's penchant for wishy-washy moderation gets us: stomped on the throat by a Republican majority determined to reverse the liberal tide of the courts. Yes, I will say that courts have had an inherently liberal (notice the small "l", wingnuts) bias over the course of our country's history - this is as unstoppable as it is undeniable.

The desire of each and every human being to determine their fate and expand their individual freedoms is irrepressible; the courts have always been either ahead (Brown vs. Board of Education) of or bringing up the rear of this natural societal force. Nothing will stop it, no matter the hopes of the far-right wing that we return through the fuzzy lens to yesteryear when men did the work and ruled the house, women raised the children who said nothing unless spoken to.

Ken Salazar felt Samuel Alito, though not qualified for the Supreme Court, should get an easy pass to his confirmation - so Salazar voted to end debate on this hightly debatable nominee. Ken Salazar also ignored the thoughts and strategies of two of the finest and most moral Senators of our time: Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, who just so happened to receive 50 millions votes 400 days ago.

Ken's unabated flimsiness came at a time when the President's approval ratings are rising in reverse, when more and more Republicans are calling for and end to llegal spying on American citizens, and when more and more Republicans are calling for full disclosure of Jack Abramoff's meetings and photos with White House "staff". How can this president be given a pass by a man who was elected at the same time as Bush's re-election? A man whose clarion call was to counter the President's actions. Coloradoans are dumb, but we are not that dumb, Senator.

Senator Salazar has cemented his status as a milquetoast Dem. He voted yes on Gonzales for AG. He voted yes for Condi as Secretary of State. He may even turn into a Fox News Democrat down the road. Believe you me this is no compliment.

He needs to show the guts that all of us showed in working for him, voting for him, propelling him to office -- he must think we were fools, because now he only heeds the call of the far right Christian-Industrialists and the social Luddites. Doesn't he have Gary Hart's number? To get some common-sense, bedrock-progressive advice from his elders. He can erase this image as a patsy and he can regain the trust of his constituents. But he has done much damage to his base. And it's going to take some serious thought on his part. He must learn that Dobson and the right and Mike Rosen and all the yapping-mini-Limbaugh's will never support him in a million years.

But until then, I will call Ken Salazar "Nighthorse" for his remaining 5 years in the Senate. He reminds me of the man he replaced, a man who sold out his root, a man who betrayed his constituents, and a man whose own self-ineterest overcame that of his nation and his party. Please make me take it back, Ken.