Bad News/Good News?

Ashcroft is out (Good news)--Alberto Gonzalez is in. (Don't get ahead of yourself--this is not the good news part!) Here's a brief list of questionable items regarding our new AG from the NY Times:

". . . Gonzales publicly defended the administration's policy - essentially repudiated by the Supreme Court and now being fought out in the lower courts - of detaining certain terrorism suspects for extended periods without access to lawyers or courts.
He also wrote a controversial February 2002 memo in which Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture law and international treaties providing protections to prisoners of war. That position drew fire from human rights groups, which said it helped led to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Some conservatives also have quietly questioned Gonzales' credentials on core social issues. And he once was a partner in a Houston law firm which represented the scandal-ridden energy giant Enron."

Now the good news--at least he's occupied with a position that will last no more than four years--he COULD have been on the Supreme Court for generations!

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Hubris Exemplified

OK, you'd think that after Bush's "mission accomplished" caper that he and his associates would develop just a smidgen of humility. Today, as hundreds of people (that is counting both sides) are killed or injured in a full-blown attack on Fallujah, the "mission accomplished" stunt seems more cynical than ever.

But the hubris or the cynicism, or both continue to exude from the Bush administration. In his "quirky" handwritten letter of resignation, John Ashcroft wrote, "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved." That's amazing. Please note the definitive past tense Ashcroft chose to use. "Mission accomplished!" What is wrong with these people? The recent 9/11 Commission Report concluded that much has yet to be done; that many opportunities were squandered by Bush (and Ashcroft) for making the country safer; that we are very vulnerable still. But JA says he's leaving because the job is done; he's cleaned up Dodge City, so it's time to ride off into the Missouri sunset. Good riddance.

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A Nation in Denial

In spite of the documented lies . . .
(subscribe to the Daily Mislead http://www.misleader.org/daily_mislead/Read.asp?fn=df11022004.html)

In spite of a wasted surplus and monstrous deficit (examine Deficit Watch) http://www.deficitwatch.org/report2.htm

In spite the Iraq debacle
http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/Iraq/IraqCrisis.cfm

In spite of the fact that 40+ million people do without health care
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/11/MNGII96CVP1.DTL

the list goes on . . . the people elected bush for a second term. Now, THAT IS AMAZING! How troubled can we be as a nation?

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Push Back on Voter Intimidation

Tomorrow, if anyone tries to intimidate you at the polls, take none of it. Don't be put off by glaring "election challengers." They can go soak their heads. Republicans, vote. Democrats, vote. Greens, vote.

If you do encounter intimidation, visit the link below for help in dealing with the problem. If you are registered, your vote is important. Vote, no matter your registration--the integrity of the system is more important than affiliation.

http://cdn.moveonpac.org/content/pdfs/ep_card.pdf

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