Bush's "war on terrorism" fails again...

The Bush administration’s obsessive secrecy and adamant opposition to public trials for suspected terrorists not only violates the Constitution, thus moving our country closer to totalitarianism, but makes it impossible to fairly try those accused of collaborating to plan 9/11.

One such suspect was freed in Germany today and the outcome of his trial thrown into doubt.

BERLIN, Dec. 11 — The United States' refusal to allow testimony from a jailed Qaeda figure prompted a Hamburg judge on Thursday to order the release of a Moroccan accused of aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers.

The judge acted after reviewing new evidence that Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a member of the Hamburg Qaeda cell that planned and executed the World Trade Center attacks, told American interrogators that only he and the three suicide pilots from the Hamburg cell knew about the attacks before they happened. The judge said that while he had strong doubts about the reliability of the evidence, he could not properly evaluate it without testimony from Mr. bin al-Shibh.

Complete story here.

The problem with Democrats....

As much as I abhor radical Republicans and the stands they take—war in Iraq, tax-cuts and tax-shelters for the wealthy, dismantling of Medicare and Social Security, de-funding of public education, exploitation of the environment, opposition to gay marriage, against a woman's right to choose, and so on and so on--I detest spineless Democrats even more. At least the Republicans stand on their convictions, selfish, twisted and corrupt as those convictions may be. While Democrats seem to have no principles, much less the guts to take a stand, even against Republicans.

In a letter to the editors of the Rapid City Journal, Senator Tom Daschle's campaign manager defended his boss' legislative record by emphasizing how often the minority leader sided with the opposition.

I'm very disappointed in Denise Ross' Nov. 25 column allowing Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia to do a 1,100-word hatchet job on Tom Daschle without any opportunity to refute the false charges.

For instance, Allen claims that Daschle opposes the president at every turn, but in fact a Congressional Quarterly study has Sen. Daschle voting with President Bush 75 percent of the time. [Emphasis mine.]

Jeeze, with enemies like this, Republicans need no friends.

Complete story here.

More broken promises...

SACRAMENTO — Retreating from two central campaign promises that helped make him governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday dropped his personal "guarantee" that cities and counties would be compensated for billions in lost car-tax revenue and reversed his pledge to safeguard spending for public schools.

In a wide-ranging interview with CNN, Schwarzenegger offered no commitment that his administration would restore to local governments the money they lost when he repealed a vehicle registration fee increase on his first day in office. Rather, he said that mayors and county supervisors who are worried that some $4 billion in lost revenue won't be replaced should look to the Legislature, which is considering a bill to make that happen.

And he suggested that if local government coffers are not replenished, it is not his fault.

"They [local officials] should put pressure on their state legislators because they've spent their money," Schwarzenegger said on the network's "Inside Politics" show. "It's not me taking anything away from them, it's they've spent their money."

Schwarzenegger also broached the prospect of suspending an education spending formula mandated by the state Constitution. During the campaign he had said that schools would be cut "over my dead body."[Emphasis mine.]

Ahh, you can see Schwarzenegger's learning from the best. Promise voters anything, then once in office plunder public coffers with one hand and point the finger of blame at Democrats with the other.

How California voters could be so delusional as to expect otherwise from Schwarzenegger is beyond me.

I'll soon be leaving the state to return to NYC (and my sweetie!). Perhaps regarding the debacle from afar will be less painful than up close.

Complete story here.

I was rooting for the green...

SAN FRANCISCO — Gavin Newsom, a 36-year-old millionaire entrepreneur and protege of outgoing mayor Willie Brown, edged out a surprisingly strong Green Party opponent Tuesday night to become the youngest San Francisco mayor in a century.

[...]

The contest between Green Party member and Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez and fellow Supervisor Newsom had become a referendum on politics as usual.

Newsom — a charismatic Democratic Party favorite — campaigned for more than a year as Brown's chosen successor. With all the precincts counted, Newsom won by 52.6% to Gonzalez's 47.4%.

Gonzalez led a vigorous Green Party bid for mayor that drew national attention and had Democratic Party heavyweights scrambling to protect their longtime stronghold. The Democratic strategy worked even though young liberals, disenchanted with Newsom's establishment credentials, flocked to Gonzalez, a candidate who cast himself as a political outsider.

[...]

If Gonzalez had pulled off an upset, he would have become the most prominent elected Green Party official in the United States — claiming a city that has been a Democratic Party stronghold for decades. Democratic Party leaders had responded accordingly. Former President Bill Clinton flew in on a Newsom backer's private plane Monday to address supporters. Former Vice President Al Gore visited last week. And Democratic officials including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, among others, have campaigned aggressively for Newsom.

I can only hope that Democratic pols--across the nation--realize that Gonzalez's strong showing is a sign they better respond to concerns of the party's progressive wing.

Complete story here.

CA's gropping governor breaks promise...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is dropping a plan to hire a private investigator to examine allegations that he groped at least 16 women over the last three decades, a spokesman said Monday.
The governor is busy with the state's budget crisis and doubts that such an inquiry would appease critics, said Rob Stutzman, communications director for Schwarzenegger. Because of that, he has decided not to look into the charges himself — as he promised to do in the final days of the recall campaign — Stutzman said.

How considerate, to save his critics the trouble of deciding whether or not they will be appeased.
Complete story here.

Chechnya brings the war to Moscow...

Another horrible suicide bombing.

MOSCOW, Dec. 9 - A suicide bomber blew herself up outside a historic hotel in the center of Moscow today, officials said, killing at least 5 other people and seriously wounding 13 only steps away from the Kremlin, Red Square and the Parliament.

The bomb exploded just before 11 o'clock on a cold, snowy morning, leaving a scene of chaos and carnage. Russia has suffered a wave of suicide attacks this year that has killed more than 200 people, but the explosion today brought terrorism's grisly results to the historic and political heart of the country.

The Russian military has wrecked havoc in Chechnya, in one of the most brutal occupations in modern history. I am sickened and repelled, but not surprised, that Chechnyans are strapping on explosives and striking back on Russian soil.

It frightens me, too. Unless we change our foreign policy, withdraw our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, I fear it is simply a matter of time until such retaliatory attacks become common in the U.S.

Complete story here.

Petty, vindictive, greedy little men...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 — The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying the step "is necessary for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States."

The directive, which was issued by the deputy defense secretary, Paul D. Wolfowitz, represents perhaps the most substantive retaliation to date by the Bush administration against American allies who opposed its decision to go to war in Iraq.

I guess Haliburton and Bechtel don't already have a big enough share of the Iraqi plunder.

Complete story here.

Hiatus....

Sorry about the unannounced hiatus.

I was in France, celebrating the holidays with my daughter. I thought I might want to post now and then--hence, my failure to announce my planned absence--but ended up enjoying the time away from the (bad) news.

And there is/was so much. Children murdered by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, practicing a favorite Israeli maneuver to take out suspected terrorists from the air. Bush's bill to annihilate Medicare and divide the booty among private drug companies, signed into law. Passage in the House of the president's $820 billion spending bill with no extension of benefits to unemployment workers--Merry Xmas! The AWOL "commander-in-chief's" slink into and out of Baghdad on Thanksgiving for a staged photo-op, complete with the prop-turkey. Rush Limbaugh’s toxic return to the airways. The unending, terrible, and pointless death toll among U.S. forces, allies and civilians in Iraq.

While a part of me would still like to hide away from the news, Bush and his murdering junta must be ousted from office in ’04! Keeping this blog is part of my small contribution to achieving that end.