First Door on the Left

I have a feeling that things are about to change in the United States of America. The time is coming when the people who live here are going to stand up and say “enough is enough.”

American Airlines, the world’s largest airline, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Senior management had a chance to save the airline, but they lied and got caught. They didn’t lie, exactly. They just “forgot” to tell the truth. They went to the employees of the airline with a plan that would save the airline nearly two billion dollars per year. This plan called for the employees to take huge cuts in pay and benefits, and to agree to less strict work rules. What they forgot to tell the employees was that the senior managers had set up a fund for themselves, exempt from bankruptcy proceedings, that was worth millions of dollars. There was no way the senior managers were giving up anything. They had their asses covered. The employees found out, and now they are pissed. Enough is enough.

American Airlines is not alone in what they did, however. Every large corporation does it. Corporate executives, no matter how poorly they or their companies perform, are always very careful to ensure that they are going to walk away with their pockets stuffed. Read “You’re fired. Here’s your $16 million.” Some day, the employees of all these corporations are going to rise up and declare “enough is enough.”

Our President (who has fooled 70% of the American public into believing he is doing a good job) said it best:

“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” —George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

Enough is enough. I feel a change coming.

DEAN’S STATEMENT ON SEN. SANTORUM’S OFFENSIVE REMARKS

“In an interview published yesterday with the Associated Press, Rick Santorum, the third highest ranking Republican in the Senate, compared homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery. I am outraged by Senator Santorum’s remarks.

That a leader of the Republican Party would make such insensitive and divisive comments—comments that are derogatory and meant to harm an entire group of Americans, their friends and their families—is not only outrageous, but deeply offensive.

The silence with which President Bush and the Republican Party leadership have greeted Sen. Santorum’s remarks is deafening. It is the same silence that greeted Senator Lott’s offensive remarks in December. It is a silence that implicitly condones a policy of domestic divisiveness, a policy that seeks to divide Americans again and again on the basis of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation.

It is a policy that must end, and it is a policy that will end with a Dean Presidency. This Saturday, April 26th, marks the third anniversary of the signing of the Civil Unions bill in Vermont. I signed that bill because I believe no human being should be treated with less dignity than others simply because that person belongs to a different category or group. I also believe that, as Americans, it is our duty to speak up when others are treated wrongly—especially when others are treated wrongly by a member of the Senate leadership.

I urge all Americans, and members of both parties, to join me in condemning Sen. Santorum’s remarks. They are unacceptable, and silence is an unacceptable response. By standing up against such divisive rhetoric—whether one is gay, lesbian, or straight—we can begin to achieve the American ideal of equal rights for all people.”

Howard Dean

What does it mean when your right eye is all itchy and won’t stop watering? It’s like I’m crying all the time, but only out of my right eye. The s/o says it’s just a seasonal allergy, but if it is, why haven’t I had it before? Very strange.

And I slept. I slept last night for 14 hours straight. I did not even get up to go to the bathroom. Not once. That is not like me at all. I’m usually lucky to get seven hours of sleep, interrupted by at least two nature calls. Again, very strange.

And I’m still tired.

I know, I’ve been linking to a lot of political articles lately, but here is one you really should have a look at. I promise it will be the last one for a while. Probably. This one is entitled “The Most Dangerous President Ever“.

I want to repeat the last sentence of the article here, because I think it bears repeating. Over, and over, and over again.

But, as with [Jefferson] Davis, obtaining Bush’s defeat is an urgent matter of national security — and national honor.

George W. Bush has to be removed from office in 2004. He just has to be. I do not believe this country will survive of another four years of his administration. If it survives the next 20 months. We have to start working now to get him out.

I read one theory that Bush and his right wing buddies staged the attacks of September 11, 2001. While I don’t believe that, I do believe that they have certainly worked those attacks to their advantage. Please, we must get these people out of office!

Okay, one more. Remember that a few days back I wrote that I detest John Ashcroft? Well, Jason posted a link to this biography of the man. After reading it, I now detest him even more. He’s gotta go!

(Jason has gathered a lot of great links. You should read them all. Perhaps they will make a crack in your “patriotism” (defined as “love of Bush”).)

I haven’t had time to write (or think) much this week. Seems all I do is work, sleep, rinse and repeat. So until I can somehow find my way back into a more or less normal rhythm, I’d encourage you to read this. Then, if you still have a few minutes to kill, this.

I can hold a grudge for a long, long time. It is one of my [few] faults. I am still angry at the Supreme Court for appointing George W. Bush to be our President and for what that did to our country.

Last night, I decided to see who I was angry with. Here are the Justices of the Supreme Court, along with the Presidents who appointed them and the year each was appointed:

William Rehnquist – Nixon – 1971
John Stevens – Ford – 1975
Sandra Day O’Connor – Reagan – 1981
Antonin Scalia – Reagan – 1986
Anthony Kennedy – Reagan – 1988
David Souter – Bush – 1990
Clarence Thomas – Bush – 1991
Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Clinton – 1993
Steven Breyer – Clinton – 1994

Seven of the nine were appointed by Republican presidents. Did Al Gore really think he stood a chance against those odds?

What they did to us was illegal and immoral, and I am still angry.

NBC News tells me that 75% of my fellow Americans approve of the way in which George W. Bush is doing his job. I wondered for a while how that could possibly be true, then the answer came to me…

We whooped some ass!

Nevermind that our economy is in the toilet, that thousands and thousands of people in our country do not have jobs and many more are losing theirs every day, that our public education system is among the worst in the world, that public services are going to have to be cut in order to pay for tax cuts for Bush’s rich friends, that our senior citizens cannot afford prescription medications, let alone retirement, that most of the rest of world views us as imperialist pigs, that our country is very close to bankrupcy, that our health care system sucks… nevermind all these things. The important thing is, by golly, we went to Iraq and we whooped some ass!

That George Dubya, he must be quite a fellow if he can whoop ass like that.

Are 75% of my fellow Americans really that shallow?

Okay, so George read yesterday’s post and decided not to go after Syria after all…

The White House has privately ruled out suggestions that the US should go to war against Syria following its military success in Iraq, and has blocked preliminary planning for such a campaign in the Pentagon, the Guardian learned yesterday. (link)

One must pay attention to the blog of the vice presidential candidate of the opposing party!

Or, could it be that he just realized he has an election coming up and maybe he should pay a bit of attention to things here at home for a while? Like, getting his tax cuts for the rich through Congress. There will be plenty of time to take down Syria, Iran, North Korea, et.al., after the election. (Or so he thinks.)

Now that we are almost finished with Iraq, who would you like us to go after next, Mr. Sharon?

The United States has stepped up its pressure on Syria, warning of possible sanctions against Damascus over its suspected chemical weapons programme and alleged help for fugitive Iraqi officials.

“With respect to Syria, of course we will examine possible measures of a diplomatic, economic or other nature as we move forward,” said US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer described Syria as a “terrorist state”.

He noted that Syria is included on the US State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.

On Sunday, President George Bush said: “We believe there are chemical weapons in Syria”. (BBC News)

(sigh) George is still looking for chemical weapons. We didn’t find any in Iraq, so, by gum, maybe we’ll find some in Syria. At any rate, I doubt we’ll find as many as we have right here in the United States.

The United States stockpile of unitary lethal chemical warfare munitions consists of various rockets, projectiles, mines, and bulk items containing blister agents (mustard H, HD, HT) and nerve agents (VX, GB). About 60% of this stockpile is in bulk storage containers; 40% is stored in munitions, many of which are now obsolete. The stockpile is stored at eight sites throughout the Continental US (Edgewood Chemical Activity, MD; Anniston Chemical Activity, AL; Blue Grass Chemical Activity, KY; Newport Chemical Depot, IN; Pine Bluff Chemical Activity, AR; Pueblo Chemical Depot, CO; Deseret Chemical Activity, UT; and Umatilla Chemical Depot, OR) and at one site outside of the Continental US on Johnston Atoll. (link)

What say we clean our own house first? Then maybe we can work on reestablishing a democratic government, right here, in the United States of America.

It’s official. Howard Dean has my endorsement for President of the United States. That should be worth about two votes, huh?

Seriously, though, I have studied the candidates, listened to their speeches, and read their records. I think Howard Dean is the man to beat George W. Bush in 2004. I truly and sincerely hope he does. It is time for us to take our country back from the egomaniacs who are now running it (right into the ground).

I’ve made a button and a banner. The button is at the bottom of the navigation column and the banner is at the bottom of the page. If you agree with me, please save these to your own server and display one or both on your website. Link them to http://www.deanforamerica.com/index.cfm.

And, Governor Dean, in return for my endorsement, “It is with great humility that I accept your nomination to be Vice President of the United States.”