Well, they hung him....

Yes, they hung Saddam Hussein. Even though impartial organizations pointed to the many failings of the trials. Should America be proud? The majority of the world condemned it, both for their being against capital punishment, and because of the poor job the court did. Our great and God fearing Christian President, W. Bush, supported it, even though the Pope did not. Who else in the entire world was glad to see it happen? Well, one very notable amongst the few...Iran. When you find you are on the same side as Iran...maybe you should reconsider. But of course, the new Iraqi government, borne from the democracy we brought to them, is welcomes and embraces Iran, while their people are showing their love for our liberating them by continuing to murder our soldiers in their streets. Is there an American soldier in Iraq, or a Jew in Israel, that can possibly sleep as soundly as George W. Bush has pointed out that he does? It would seem hard to imagine.

President Bush signals he is ready to seek new strategies in Iraq....and other reasons to be weary at Year's end....

In a rare showing of initiative and true courage, the President announced "No longer should you do as I say and not as I do. From this point forward you should do as I do, and not as I say!" He then encouraged all the great young men and women of this country to avoid actually serving in military combat, just as he, and Cheney and Rumsfeld (not to mention Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and so, so many other neo-conservatives) cowardly did in Vietnam. "If only I had thought of this sooner, we would not have soldiers dying in Iraq. What a brilliant startegist, I would be hailed." Bush remarked. When asked if this might actually cause there to be more parallels made between Iraq and Vietnam, he said: "I don't think so. In Vietnam there was an actual communist threat, where in Iraq, it seems to have all been in the imaginations of Rumsfeld, Cheney and myself." Clearly, if these quotes should turn out to be accurate, we would be entering a new enlightened era as the W. Bush administration winds down, to its inevitable place in the history books of having been a disaster, culminating in such bon mots as enabling and encouraging the struggling little nation of Iran to self actualize and become a world wide threat to peace everywhere, as well as the very future of Israel. And let us not forget the cozy and balmy winters it helped bring about by avoiding such annoying contrivances as the Kyoto Protocols. W. clearly will be remembered fondly by the Pharmaceutical industry for that lovely present: Medicare Part D--while tying the hands of government cost-cutters by forbidding drug price negotiations. A nice economic incentive that will ensure healthy Christmas bonuses for some Drug executives, as well as your childrens, childrens, children paying interest on the deficit created during this glorious hey-day for Texas Yahoos everywhere. W. will also be remembered fondly by all die hard 70's conservatives as the President that wiretapped the people but this time got away with it. And those Iraqis that survived being imprisoned by American forces will fondly recall how they were the lucky ones to get to be tortured under the most immoral administration the U.S. has seen. Of course, we won't be hearing any opinions from all the prisoners we are holding around the world without due process, because they are in solitary and have no clue what we are talking about. Imagine if W's daughters were held indefinately in solitary for using fake i.d.'s, maybe his stance would change? Maybe not. Those girls seem like a lot of trouble, and if he has the gumption to get tough with unarmed civilians whose only crime was choosing to be Muslim and alive after 9/11, he might have the wherewithall to toss the little princesses to the wolves. Who knows? More importantly, who cares? The important thing is to get the impeachment started so the war crimes tribunals can be set up and everything wrapped up before the next Presidential election. That's democracy in action!

Conservatives, in this case the media, show their true colors, once again, this holiday season: the unpatriotic losers that they really are...

Four true patriots died this holiday weekend. You wouldn't know it if you read Fox news on the Internet. A top story at the moment it was first checked was how Donald Trump is fighting with his neighborhood over flying the flag. As I've always maintained here on this blog and in my writing, those who talk the talk invariably do not walk the walk when they are conservatives talking about war, (or practically anything else). How many members of the current administration or the current Conservative pundits out there, have we pointed out avoided military service when they were called by their country to fight in Vietnam? But this shameful display of hiding the bad news is so unfair to the men and women who laid down their lives, as well as to their families and friends. It's nothing less than disgusting. To say nothing of not fair and unbalanced. Should Fox point out that at some time it was on their news service, it was clearly only their for a few moments at most. I have followed this story of the death toll in Iraq on the Yahoo! News AP service, as well as having it pointed out to me by someone who reads the CBS news website. It's been there all weekend; (and even on Fox's AP section it is not there) such a big and important story as well as so tragic that it should occur at this special time of year. For Fox news not to make it a headline story and leave it up throughout the holiday weekend is a travesty and only serves to point out that for Conservatives to give their point of view in the news, they have to lie and distort. The truth rarely supports their assertions or points of view. You can see that in everything from the Iraq war to the way Medicare part D was handled. I just don't get why they haven't a clue. And for five years they were able to convince many people in this country, by lying to them, and painting a rosy picture, that it really was that way. The country finally couldn't take it anymore, stood up and took notice, and voted for change this past Election Day. Nevertheless, if you read the conservative statements leading right up to the election, they didn't believe they were going to have any trouble with the election, because they still refused to accept all the problems they had created, all the burdens they'd enhanced and all the solutions they failed to grasp.

Despite all this, clearly the country has embarked on a new path. So while I started on a sad note, let me end on a better one. Let me wish you all happy and healthy holidays and a happy healthy and prosperous new year 2007. May God bless you all and may God continue to bless this great nation of ours. And may God grant us the wisdom and foresight to bring our young men and women home from war as quickly as we possibly can.
Thank you.

You can't make this stuff up...but you wish it wasn't true....

It was reported that the President, may, after all, read the newspaper. This may not seem particularly newsworthy if not for the fact that the President mentioned in 2003 that he didn't read the newspaper but preferred to get his news from "objective sources"; that is, his staff and colleagues. He might want to consult a dictionary a bit more than he reads the newspaper so he would understand the term 'objective', but this does explain a lot about why he thinks the way he does. He thinks the looney right wing gossip he's been getting from Cheney, Condi, Rove, et al was actually news! (He didn't like "the news" Powell delivered--so he dumped him and Rumsfeld is suspect now with his last memo: maybe he was just misunderstood? Or maybe Cheney was telling him what to say?) But here is the problem that makes this just another Bush-lie. (If we look up lie in the 2007 Merriam-Webster, I have heard rumors that for accuracy sake, W. Bush's picture will be there.) His wife just announced that they have a morning ritual of waking up to coffee and the newspaper for many years. So which is it? Was George lying then, or Laura now? Laura's might seem a "white" lie to preserve respect for her husband, as many of them there highbrow intellectual Presidents of the past have been known to "read a paper or two". Now, of course, Cowboy W. doesn't pretend to be an intellectual (we don't need no steenking IQ--we the Presidente!) So is it possible that the 2003 comment was an unusual dose of truth and candor from the empty cave where George H.W. and Barbara's genetic code thought they'd left a couple pounds of grey matter? We'll never know for sure. But we know it doesn't matter. If W. did read the newspaper, it would no doubt be the Washington Times, Wall Street Journal or the New York Post. Oh wait, not the Post, it endorsed Hillary. Just when Satan thought the temperature was starting to rise again, too! So, at least we know the "news" the President would get, would match the nonsense he gets from his mush-for-brains sidekicks. So maybe he was on to something...why bother to read the newspapers anyway???

Here's To Your Health, Iraq

You can't be wrong all of the time. That is the only conclusion I can come to as I find George W. and myself are of the same opinion on whether Iran and Syria should be involved in discussions about stabilizing Iraq. We both agree they should NOT be a part of the situation. Like a thousand monkeys toiling away day and night at a thousand wordprocessors are bound to write something meaningful eventually, so to, it would seem, that by spouting off on so many things he does not understand, eventually W. Bush was going to hit on a reasonable thought or opinion. It is the exception that proves the rule. You see, the bipartisan commission on Iraq, that so correctly got it right when they said the situation was "grave" have shown that despite their 20/20 hind and current sight, they are as myopic as the Bush administration has been for the future. Sadly, there is no good way to handle Iraq; a monumental mess and catastrophe, but that does not mean you attempt to destroy the stability of the middle east by requesting help from two of the most dangerous, destabilizing and terrorist assisting governments in the middle east. Maybe we should ask Osama bin Laden what his thoughts are, too. Afterall, he's been around during regime changes, and knows what is in the mind of suicide bombers, so he might have some valuable insight. I do agree with the commission that we must negotiate directly with the insurgents, but that is because, as I have pointed out all along, 'insurgents' is just another example of how the neocons like to take control of the argument rather than actually take part in it. The insurgents are not alien terrorist automatons from beyond the moon. They are actually Iraqis, that did not happen to lay roses at our soldiers feet when we 'liberated' them. They are not happy to have us there, but just like they are part of the indigenous population and we need to deal with them, we are part of the landscape and they will have to do the same with us. Iraq, the way that blobbish, incoherent, amorphous organism in washington that we will call CheneyBush envisioned it, is not possible. That does not mean we have to take a total loss on the proposition.

Here's To Your Health, America, as 2006 draws to a close....

As NY considers the recommendations of its committee for Hospitals and Healthcare in the 21st Century (the hospital closing commission to many) and we see West Virginia is trying a Medicaid incentive program that rewards patients that are diligent with their care, and try to prevent problems, with more services, I would like to discuss this. First, let me just pat myself on the back and point out that NY's idea of converting some of these hospitals into clinics and outpatient care centers are ideas you read here. Also, what is being tried in West Virginia was also posited by me in the comments to a healthcare editorial on the CBS News website. Why do I mention this, besdides to blow my own horn? Because this is only the beginning,and there is much more to do. Also, it is not just the ideas, but how they are handled. In NY, they are creating a lot of upheavel, lost jobs, mandatory changes of affiliation and services offered. It is landmark, but is it reasonable and ultimately legal? And more to the point, is it fair? Are they allocating enough resources to help with the changes? So far, 1.5 billion has been mentioned and that won't be enough. West Virginia has the right idea, in that people need to take responsibility for their own health, and if they won't. there is only so much the public should pay for it. You will see alot more of the ideas you read about here first, but obviously, the lead time was short, and these things were being worked on before they were written here. I am not trying to take credit for them, merely to point out that the cutting edge of healthcare reform sits right here. Somethings you will read here fist, and some will just be better said here. And just like the rest of the country, we will even make a few errors in judgement, but not too many. When I am finished analyzing the commissions proposals we will examine them in more depth here, and see what can be done better.

Here's To Your Future Health, GM

I don't claim to be a Car executive. But as someone who has owned, and liked, GM cars, and would like to see the American auto makers thrive. And also one who is considering one of GM's more appealing import fighters, in the guise of a partnered product they made with Subaru, I have this observation. The model I am considering was discontinued this year, because GM gave up its stake in Subaru by selling its stock to raise cash. Why do I think this was a mistake? Well, Toyota, at the moment, seems to be doing everything right. Even with their recent recalls, and the fact that I can personally attest to their awful customer service, and their less than stellar reliability in some models. They are enjoying a world wide lovefest on their way to becoming the largest auto maker. So who bought GM's stake in Subaru? Toyota. Word to GM executives.... If Toyota wants to buy your stake in another company...you probably shouldn't be selling it.