Coffee Table

I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head. -Theodore Roosevelt

Talk about whatever you choose. Click on the comments and go to it!

Our Election

I have been listening to the radio ads around town for the candidates in the election. Maybe I'm wrong but I smell a Rod Adair running a number of the campaigns. I think Rod loves the negative bash Richardson thing. He does it on a regular basis himself. Many are running these "proud conservative",(for the life of me I can't figure out what they are so proud of) bash Richardson ads. As a matter of fact, Nora Espinoza is running an ad that I would run as an attack ad AGAINST her. She lists a number of things she believes in and any one of them would be enough to make me vote against her. When you combine them all together she sounds like a raving wingnut lunatic. Only McCarty and Kakuska stress the positive. If we HAVE to have Repugs in Chaves County I would vote for these people. The others would get my vote under NO circumstances. If we keep electing people that are more interested in political fights than doing the states business we will only get more of these people and more of these nutjob ads.

The PNACers And Wingnut Apologists Are Responsible

The Haditha situation is a very sad one. And now more is being said about other atrocities. First let me note that I have read stories of many Iraqis blaming Americans for every explosion and every combat death in the country. Kind of the equivalent of the right that sees an evil liberal under every rock over here. Haditha seems like an authentic complaint but as you may note, as is always my policy, I have been slow to comment on this until I felt reasonably certain what the stories on both sides were. I am suspect on some of the others because of the wingnut equivalent in Iraq.
It seems Rushbo thinks we should lower the bar to the point of the "insurgents" saying look at how many they have killed. The right does this on a regular basis. The equivalent of "so am I but what are you". Pointless bonehead comments the Rush lives up to and exceeds everyday. I am now convinced after listening to him for a week that he is, if not the dumbest man on the planet, certainly vying for a bronze or a silver. A sickening hateful apologist. He does it everyday. Apologist, Apologist, Apologist all day long.
Regardless I have to say I don't know if I could do what our troops are doing over there without cracking. Walking among the citizenry never knowing when an explosive will go off or who will suddenly shoot at them. I feel sure I would crack. Especially if I see my comrades face get blown off. I am not condoning what the Haditha soliders did. We need to hold them responsible. That shows the world that we have at least some ethics and values as a nation. Something that is badly needed these days to refurbish our image.
The fact is that these people have been put in an untenable position with lies and a failed, poor battle plan. These are not the "terrorists" that attacked America. These are Iraqis having a civil war. Get our troops out, start a war against oil and let them live in the 12th century all they want. Let them kill each other over religion all they want. We will never stop it and this is going to get worse for America, Americans and our troops the longer we are there.

It's The Personal Economy Stupid

I read a blog where a conservative was despondent over the fact that nobody cared or gave credit to the administration for good economic news. I also read a story that Rove plans a strategy to run on the economy. From Bloomberg News Service:

Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's top political adviser, laid out a plan to win the 2002 congressional elections by stressing national security. For 2006, Rove is framing a strategy for Republicans to sell the U.S. economy.
In a recent speech, Rove argued that Bush's policies of tax cuts and trade agreements had pulled the nation out of recession, created millions of jobs, boosted productivity and increased disposable income. That record can help lead Republicans to victory in November, Rove said in the May 15 speech at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

No denying the macro indicators are up but who is reaping the rewards? Could this be a clue to why average Americans are not excited by the economy?

Almost all the benefits of productivity growth have gone to firms, and very little to workers,'' says Harvard University economist Jeffrey Frankel.....One explanation for the public malaise may be the distribution of prosperity. Total compensation for Americans fell to 65.4 percent of national income in 2005, down from 66.2 percent in 2001, Federal Reserve figures show. At the same time, corporate profits rose to 12.3 percent of national income, up from 8.5 percent in the year Bush took office. ``From middle incomes down, there has been very little gain,'' says Robert Solow, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who won the 1987 Nobel Prize in economics. ``No wonder they feel they're not sharing in this prosperity.''

No wonder.

By most major indicators -- from a historically low 4.7 percent unemployment rate to strong corporate profits to the stock market -- the economy is moving forward. ``We are like marathon runners winning the race,'' Edward Lazear, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in a May 23 interview.

If you look more closely at the economic numbers you will see that the vast majority of new jobs are in the restaurant and hospitality business(jobs being taken by cheap foreign labor) and the government. We are handing truckloads of money over to the corporations through tax cuts and government policies. No wonder their numbers look so good.

As for Bush's tax cuts, Treasury Department figures show that as the economy recovered from the 2001 recession, federal revenue fell 6.9 percent in fiscal 2002 to $1.85 trillion and dropped again in fiscal 2003. In the third quarter of 2003 -- the strongest three months of economic growth in the Bush presidency -- revenue fell 4.9 percent to $430 billion from the same quarter a year earlier.

Oops.

The housing market -- which has contributed to about half the economy's growth since 2001, according to a Merrill Lynch & Co. report -- offers more cause for concern. Housing starts fell 7.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.849 million in April, the fewest in 17 months, the Commerce Department said May 16.

Half the growth!!!? Oops

Seventy percent of 1,002 respondents in a May 8-11 Gallup poll said the economy was in fair to poor condition, up from 63 percent in an April poll.

Unaffordable health care. Gas 3.oo a gallon. Minimum wage 5.15. Low wage jobs with others going overseas. Think their is a chance that many peoples personal economy is far worse than the corporate numbers? Or is it the liberal medias fault for not saying how good things are over and over again?

Minister Of Disinformation

I've had a chance to spend a little more time with El Rushbo lately. Please pass the Maalox! What the ape regularly says is bad enough but the people that call and fawn and dittoes him are just disgusting. Truly, what is the matter with these people? I'm not looking for an apologist(rush), I'm looking for someone who can use common sense and tell me what he/she thinks. Like this, or this or this.
There is precious little common sense and lots of emotion and show business. If he would let an informed person debate him he would lose everytime. Either that or he would have to admit the truth. ..Which he did when confronted by a caller. The caller was interested to find out why he had focused so much on Rep. Jefferson(rush refers to him as William Jefferson DEMOCRAT Louisiana) while at the same time saying very little about the Repub. Governors and such involved in scandal. The caller noted that what Jefferson did was wrong and should not be condoned but noted confusion on why he got far more coverage by "Americas Anchorman" than all the others. Of course we all know the answer. Rush hemmed and hawed and finally admitted that he was there to bring "balance" to the " Liberal-drive by(whatever that means) media. In other words he admitted that he really only cared about wrong doing when Dems or Liberals doing it. Not at all like the people at the links listed above. Does rushs' common sense tell him that this qualifies him to be the "truth detector" as he claims?
El Rushbo was really pissed at Al Gore today because he called those in charge a bunch of renegade rightwing extremists. I listened and I still don't know quite what his rage was about. If it is name calling MR. Feminazi has no room for comment. If he thinks Al is wrong(I think that is what it was) he sure didn't even start to convince me. I heard nothing Rush said that would make that seem untrue. Of course it is not untrue. If you disagree I need to hear your definition of Right, Moderate or Centrist and Left. Rush also blasted Gore as the most boring, stiff politician. I seem to remember rush and the other sundry apologists noting how "emotional" Gore was and how out of control he was after various speeches he gave. Is he an emotional madman or boring and stiff. Apparently Rushs' view of Al depends on what drugs Rush has taken on a given day. A rather unclear picture if you are looking to Rush for the answer.

It's as plain as the nose on your face that these people do nothing to benefit the average American. It's all about the corporations, globalists and the rich. How can someone not see that? How can you read the Neo-con PNAC agenda and not know exactly why we are at war?
How can the "Doctor of Democracy" defend anything that has the scent of Constitutional impropriety. That must be that wit that his fans talk about, you know, telling jokes again.
The show reminds me of a movie. A chance to escape reality for a couple of hours.
I couldn't compromise my principals, values or belief in the Real America designed by my forefathers enough to do a show like that. I would be guiltridden and ashamed to spew the trash that he spews everyday. Not for all the money, fame, popularity that I could possibly want. Maybe that dooms me to "non stardom" but that is fine with me if we get our country back.

Reflections On America

Will Our Nation Survive


I have sometimes been accused, especially by my rightie friends, of being esconced in my studio and not knowing what is really happening. Nevermind I have friends and associates dotted all over the country. Regardless, I have just completed a 7 state tour of the heartland. Interestingly people were responding to my questions much as I expected. If anything they seem more distraught and upset about what is happening. Even most of those on the right seem to feel things are askew. People are wildly incensed about the high cost of medical care, especially drug costs. They also are concerned about the oil situation. Most just have no way to put it in a concept or idea that they can verbalize. Hopefully I can help aid in that and we can all move America forward. The ones still pushing the right agenda have nothing but slogans and a defeatist attitude about how we move to the future. They think we can't soon win the war ON oil, just a killing war FOR oil.
Gas prices by the way were, on average about 2.59.9. Highest in New Mexico(oil state) and lowest in Iowa(ethanol state) and Oklahoma(oil state).
10% Ethanol gave me a mile or two less mileage per gallon but made my car run better( it has a lower ignition temp.) It was also cheaper( I know, subsities etc.).
States, in many cases, seem to be stepping up where the federal government has failed to act. More ethanol plants, more wind farms. Most of you know my rant on this issue buy heart by now. I will speak more on it in another post. Suffice to say that people overall were most receptive to it and are ready to move on.
I listened to a lot of talk radio going around the country. Many religious broadcasts that had a quite notable political/partisan slant. No better way for them to ruin and pollute their religion. Just ask George Washington.
I heard a well known rightie talker conclude that George Bush was more of a liberal than Bill Clinton and we actually would be better off with Bill Clinton.
I would surely agree that we would be better off with Bill, or Gary Coleman or Mary Carey than with Cheney as President(another thing many more are admitting). I think we might be able to make the rest a little more clear.
Clinton, I've always said, was the best Republican President we have had in modern times(TR an exception of course.) Bush is so far to the right that to many it looks left. Almost a 360.
Here is a point that needs to be driven home again and again.
What is the difference for the average American if the government owns the corporations or the corporations own the government. The latter is now true. Americans see it but it is a bit fuzzy as to how they put their perceptions into words. The current government is so far right that it looks left to some.
More on the way. Thanks for your patience. I hope everyone is still fired up and inspired to continue the fight to give the country back to the people.