HAPPY NEW YEAR

I wanted to wish all my viewers a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and remember that 2006 means we can get rid of all those in Congress that disappointed us in 2005 and send a positive message about who are the true Americans. The whole world, all the way to Iraq, will hear that message and believe in us once again. Stand up and be counted in 2006. It is a year of sea change away from the far Religious Right and the far LEFT. It is a year we are all looking for bi-partisanship and away from the arrogance of this Administration, the intrusiveness of spying on Americans without the sanction of the judiciary, and the terrible stories of torture sanctioned under the cover of Presidential rights in wartime, according to Bush, Cheney, and Gonzales by the Constitution. It has been a shameful year to be a proud American and witness the abuses of power we all have. I am hopeful true Americans and the "Silent Majority" will wake up in 2006.

God Bless America.

The Constitutionality of Bush authorizing Spying on Americans without Court approval

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I have given considerable thought to the spying on Americans justified by President Bush, as he insisted he has the right, under the Constitution, to impose his Executive order and give the NSA authority to conduct whatever wiretapping and surveillance of Americans he deems necessary. To me it seems like our President and VP are acting like Kings, King George and King Richard, rather than the elected officials who are responsible and accountable to its citizens for their actions. In this case, I believe they broke the very laws they have sworn to uphold. Since these are my feelings I thought I should investigate the facts for myself and so I post the following excerpts for your review, consideration and comments.

I quote here today selected relevant passages of the preamble of the Constitution:

"But when a Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a history of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
....... He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices.......
He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.......
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power....."



Does any of this ring true today? I think so. What do you think? We threw off the shackles of a king because of the way he treated us, cannot we find it in our love of this country to impeach these 2 semi-elected officials?

Tom Brokaw's "To War and Back" must see TV

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I taped a show and watched it last night. Tom Brokaw's "To War and Back" was must see TV. It brought the war in Iraq home to all of us in a very personal way that I'm sure this Administration does not want us to see. They showed a small town in Glenn Falls, NY and a group of friends who decided to go in together and watch each other's back. One didn't make it back, 3 were injured badly and all suffer reentry problems caused from Post Tramatic Stress disorder. I was touched by their closeness and frankness. Their emotions were not visible but I could see them just below the surface. There was much that went on over there that unless you were there they said, you can't appreciate. They can't talk about what they did there except to themselves. The horror of war had obviously taken its toll.

This documentary by Brokaw has put a human face on this tragic episode in our history as a country. These brave men deserve all our support. But lest you forget this was a war of choice by those who have not served. The Chicken Hawks like Cheney who had 5 deferments and is the biggest hawk in this war should see the consequences of his actions and be required to personally visit every family who has paid the ultimate sacrifice and be present at every returning funeral, from when the casket arrives at the home town airport, to their final burial.

At this holiday time, I give praise and thanks to all the men and women of our armed forces. I pray to God that you are brought home safely soon to your waiting families. For those that have returned home I say you will always be able to hold your head up high in honor of your fellow comrades. Help us help you by speaking out more so you allow us to heal along with you.

This war has made me very angry at President Bush and VP Cheney and it has sickened me that we as a country allowed this war to unfold without having the world there with us as we did by Bush 41, King George's father. But this son didn't listened to the wisdom of his father and elders. He and Cheney and the rest of the idealogues think they know what is best for all of us. I wish they were personally there fighting for what they believe in. If they were, this war would have been over just after it started. I leave you with the picture that has been hidden so many times and that this Administration has gone out of its way to hide from us all of returning caskets of our fallen heroes.



Thanks Tom Brokaw for focusing on this issue and presenting a very personal closeup of a group of friends from Glenn Falls, NY and their detour "To War and Back"

Bush's News Conference -Arrogance surfaces again

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President Bush got a bit testy this morning at his news conference when a reporter asked him about his unchecked powers because of his decision to bypass the FISA court and authorized spying on Americans by the NSA. His comment back to the reporter was hostile saying in essence, "I don't use dictatorial powers". Well I'm sorry Mr. Bush, you and brother Cheney act like that is exactly what you want. I agree with Sen. Feingold that you have broken the law and that you are not above the law. It was a pretty good switch wasn't it to have Gonzales to replace Ashcroft. Now he can rule that everything you do is within the law. Other's need to wake up to this grab for unlimited power. And stop saying you briefed members of Congress like they are all in agreement. They couldn't speak about what you did because they obeyed the law and kept this secret even though they didn't agree with it. You didn't, you broke the law by doing it!

Stop using the reasoning of protecting us as your justification for your contempt of us. I feel less protected since you and VP Cheney took office than I have since I was a child. I feel less secure, more responsible for taking care of myself than I ever had. If you want to protect us, figure out what you did wrong and your officials in your name did wrong, when Katrina happened. Stop looking for local officials to blame. Using the words of being responsible is not the same as truly being accountable, where your actions change as a result of your new understanding.

And by the way, why haven't you captured Osama? Oh I forgot, "it's hard work"!

What is inexcusable is that the Senate and House hasn't started proceedings for you and Cheney's impeachment. God help us all! Will someone with courage in the House or Senate consider impeaching both of them please. This arrogance is why we are despised across the world. The elections in 2006 can't come too soon for me.

Gov. Schwarzenegger: Clemency for Tookie-Right or wrong decision?

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Well Gov. Schwarzenegger has come to his decision on Tookie Williams and whether he should receive clemency. I am not going to bash the Gov. on this one. It is difficult to decide these things as there are points of view on both sides of this issue. What I did like was the fact he took his time to come to such a serious decision.

I don't believe in the death penalty, so you know where I stand on matters like this. All we can do is voice our opinions and hope they land on someone who has the decision making responsibility, and listens and is moved by our opinions. The Gov. didn't "win" on this one and neither did Tookie nor the rest of us. Many so called of the Religious Right fought to allow the 10 Commandments statue in a court in the South. Where are those same voices when a man's life hangs in the balance where it clearly states, "Thou shall not kill". It doesn't say "in certain circumstances, it is OK."

I live in California and only about 3 miles from where he will be put to death tonight just after midnight. God have mercy on his soul and forgive him and allow his victim's families peace also. These are terrible decisions to have to live with for anybody, including our Governor Schwarzenegger.

Howard Dean finally says the Iraq war isn't going to be won.

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Howard Dean, Democratic National Chairman, is quoted today as saying, "The idea that we are going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong," Calling Bush's plan in Iraq a "failed strategy," Dean said he and most Democrats support bringing home an estimated 80,000 National Guard and Reserve troops within the next six months.

Finally the Democrats seem to be stating the obvious. Back 4 months ago from yesterday my posting of August 5th titled, "Fallen soldiers deserve our respect and our attention", I said the following, "What has been creeping into my awareness from the events of the past week, where we have lost about 30 brave soldiers in Iraq, is that, for the first time since we started this war in Iraq, we aren't expecting to win this war. I felt this way during the Vietnam war and now this has crept back into my awareness. We aren't doing right in Iraq even though many Generals state we need more troops there to help "secure the peace". If you give this some thought I believe you will come to the same conclusion. We don't have a plan to win this thing. We are trying to hold on until the Iraqis have sufficient forces trained to start to leave. What a mess and disservice to all that are there and those that have fallen and the Iraqis too, as they are paying a bigger price than we are."

Many of you have reached or are reaching the same conclusion. So why isn't Bush, Cheney and the rest of the Administration coming to the same conclusion? It isn't because of a good strategy they believe they have. It isn't because the facts on the ground have turned in our favor recently. It is all because of their pigheaded EGO'S. Now that makes sense, doesn't it as EGO needs have no logical function other than to protect our self image from thinking we made a big mistake and are therefore failures. Well Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Rumsfeld, I have a news flash. This Iraq war will be recorded in history books as a huge failure by this country. That will be your final legacy for generations to come. The only real question is this, When will the American people finally reach the tipping point and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. My guess is Nov. 2006 elections.

Sen. John McCain on Meet the Press

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Last night I watched Tim Russert's Meet the Press with Sen. John McCain as his guest. I must say I was very disappointed with McCain's answers to some very good questions by Russert. It seems that McCain has become too much of a politician these past few months as he considers a run for president in 2008. He still supports the President and his Iraq fiasco, had a difficult time when asked about Rumsfeld saying he should be replaced when McCain believes he should and generally was not the John McCain I once knew and respected. The only bright spot was when McCain was asked if in his negotiations with Stephen Hadley, National Security Director, he was willing to change any of his language in a Bill that McCain has sponsored with regards to the use of torture, McCain wouldn't compromise on the key language of the bill. At least we know where he stands on the use of torture by the US. I just wish he had the same backbone in calling for the replacement of Rumsfeld and moving more to a centrist position on the war than he has been willing to take so far. His movement to the center could bring along many more Americans trying to sort this all out. The fact is this Administration lied to us at every turn to get the American people to support going into Iraq on false pretenses. McCain, shame on you for compromising values and becoming political like all the others. Senator Joe Biden has been the single strongest consistent voice on Iraq as he was again this morning on the Imus show. But the President and the Administration while asking for his opinions, didn't follow his recommendations. They, and Cheney in particular, think they know what's best for all of us. When are the rest of you going to wake up out there. Is it going to take you losing a son or daughter before you see the uselessness of this failed strategy. Is it going to take another 9/11 before you are mad enough to insist that both Congress and the President back the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and make us safer. Wake up America! Your country is slipping through your fingers.

CNN or Fox news: Which to watch for fair and balanced news?

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I watched several morning shows that had Stephen Hadley, National Security Advisor, being interviewed. One was with Wolf Blitzer of CNN and the other was on Fox news with Chris Wallace. The interviews were on similar topics i.e. the usual questions regarding the war in Iraq but both newscasters asked Hadley questions on the reported killing of the #3 Al-Qaida figure who was responsible for planning operations. When Chris Wallace inquired as to whether the story was true that he was shot down with a Missile fired by a drone by the CIA. Hadley gave an answer that said he can't confirm this as they were investigating the story and indeed they would be happy if it was in fact true that he had been killed. Then the questioning moved on to another topic. Wolf Blitzer on the other hand pursued Hadley with a followup question as to whether this meant that US personnel were actually in Pakistan. This was a much more probing question to which Hadley wouldn't answer. The moral of the story is watch CNN for fair and balanced news, not Fox news.