I found a snippet of down time today to do a little browsing in the blogosphere for news of relevance; news that reinforces and reaffirms our view that the Bush Administration is not only hopelessly inept and incompetent but is, at the same time, morally bankrupt, probably is the most corrupt in history and is on a mission, fueled by greed and the will to power, to dismantle our democracy. LS
RAW STORY.COM BREAKS PIECE ON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S TIGHTENING OF ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.
Essentially the Bush Administration can deny access to anyone based on its interpretation of one's sexual orientation, anti-US quips, ability to “leak” to journalists, etc.
RAW STORY PIECE ON TIGHTENED ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED INFO HERE
AMERICANS ARE BEGINNING TO WAKE UP TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S OVERZEALOUS USE OF SECRECY.
It is well about time. Piece found on Yahoo News.com via BUZZ FLASH.COM
Excerpt:
The poll by the AccessNorthwest research and outreach project at the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University in Pullman found that 81 percent said democracy requires government to operate openly.
Nearly seven in 10, or 69 percent, told researchers that open public records and meetings keep government honest. Nearly as many, 63 percent, said it was OK for government officials to keep records secret if they deem it necessary, and almost three-quarters, 73 percent, believe the president should "make some public records secret if it might help with the war on terrorism."
The Scripps poll was conducted from Feb. 19 to March 3. There is a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
YAHOO NEWS ON PUBLIC'S WORRY ABOUT GOVERNMENT SECRECY
FORMER SPEECHWRITER FOR REAGAN SAYS BUSH IS NOT A CONSERVATIVE. HE IS RATHER A RIGHT WING IDEOLOGUE
Of course he is. We progressives have known this since W. was governor of Texas. LS
Found on L.A. Times.com via Buzz Flash.com
LA TIMES PIECE ON REAGAN'S FORMER SPEECHWRITER HERE
30 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS CALL FOR IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS
From the Atlanta Progressive News.com via BUZZ FLASH.COM
Excerpt:
“There has been massive support for House Resolution 635 from a very vigorous network of grassroots activists and people committed to holding the Bush Administration accountable for its widespread abuses of power,” US Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said in a statement prepared for Atlanta Progressive News.
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) also released a book, Articles of Impeachment Against President Bush. The Center is extremely influential in high-profile court fights over issues such as wiretapping, the treatment of detainees by the US, and felon voting rights.
“We have the book, we are calling for the impeachment of the President, and we’re supporting Conyers’s resolution,” Bill Goodman, CCR Legal Director, told Atlanta Progressive News.
ATLANTA PROGRESSIVE NEWS PIECE ON IMPEACHMENT HERE
PUBLIC NO LONGER SEES THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AS STRONG ON NATIONAL SECURITY
I found this piece on the Huffington Post. Americans apparently now see the Republicans as the party interested only in its political gain and or survival. They are no longer perceived as the party that is strong on national security, at least according to candidate Sherrod Brown of Ohio. (I must admit I have a problem with this guy, however, after what he did to Paul Hackett's campaign). LS
HUFFINGTON POST PIECE ON SHERROD BROWN HERE
WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH MCCAIN?
Ken sent this wonderful piece by Paul Krugman on John McCain today. I am posting only excerpts of the piece because of copyright issues. You can view the entire article on NY Times Select.com (paid registration required) or in the NYT op-ed section of today’s paper. Check out Truthout.org later in the week. They publish articles by Krugman and others. LS
The New York Times
March 13, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
The Right's Man
By PAUL KRUGMAN
It's time for some straight talk about John McCain. He isn't a moderate. He's much less of a maverick than you'd think. And he isn't the straight talker he claims to be.
But now ˜ at a time of huge budget deficits and an expensive war, when the case against tax cuts for the rich is even stronger ˜ Mr. McCain is happy to shower benefits on the most fortunate. He recently voted to extend tax cuts on dividends and capital gains, an action that will worsen the budget deficit while mainly benefiting people with very high incomes.
The bottom line is that Mr. McCain isn't a moderate; he's a man of the hard right. How far right? A statistical analysis of Mr. McCain's recent voting record, available at www.voteview.com, ranks him as the Senate's third most conservative member.
And I'm sorry to say that this is typical of Mr. McCain. Every once in a while he makes headlines by apparently defying Mr. Bush, but he always returns to the fold, even if the abuses he railed against continue unabated.
So here's what you need to know about John McCain.
He isn't a straight talker. His flip-flopping on tax cuts, his call to send troops we don't have to Iraq and his endorsement of the South Dakota anti-abortion legislation even while claiming that he would find a way around that legislation's central provision show that he's a politician as slippery and evasive as, well, George W. Bush.
He isn't a moderate. Mr. McCain's policy positions and Senate votes don't just place him at the right end of America's political spectrum; they place him in the right wing of the Republican Party.
And he isn't a maverick, at least not when it counts. When the cameras are rolling, Mr. McCain can sometimes be seen striking a brave pose of opposition to the White House. But when it matters, when the Bush administration's ability to do whatever it wants is at stake, Mr. McCain always toes the party line.
It's worth recalling that during the 2000 election campaign George W. Bush was widely portrayed by the news media both as a moderate and as a straight-shooter. As Mr. Bush has said, "Fool me once, shame on ˜ shame on you. Fool me ˜ you can't get fooled again."
The New York Times Company
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