Just When You Think it Can't Get Any Worse

It does.

Never, ever, ever say "it can't get any worse." Never.

The universe has a very wicked sense of humor; as soon as you say something like that the feces will impact the air motivating device in a totally unexpected way.

Take my word for it.

Tie a Green Ribbon Around...

Tie one around just about anything. If you're tired of the mindless "support the troops" yellow ribbons, maybe this campaign will be more to your liking.

The Wilderness Society, in an effort to remind people about the plight of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), have started the Green Ribbon Campaign. Tell Congress and the public that you support keeping ANWR pristine and a true Refuge by sporting a green ribbon.

Check out the campaign's web site here.

Give them a little support. Save ANWR for your children or grandchildren or somebody else's children. Help keep BushCo.'s and the oil companies' greedy mitts off of ANWR.

Peace Denied

I've not blogged about the Terri Schiavo case in the past. Others have done so much more eloquently than I ever could. But today, as she is finally allowed her wish to die with a little dignity - whatever dignity might remain after being used as a political and religious football for a decade - I thought it appropriate to weigh in. Briefly.

This case touches on two things very important to me, and I think to many people: dignity in death and the autonomy of an adult. Terri was no child when she collapsed and died in all but body. Not only was she fully an adult, but she had entered into an adult "contract" called marriage. In such a case only Terri's wishes and her husband's matter. The apron strings had been completely severed. They could offer their sympathy and their help - and surely they could make their wishes known to her husband - but that's it.

As for the dignity aspect, while it may be too late to restore the dignity she lost during the many circuses cum court battles in the interim, she and her husband, Michael surely showed more dignity and quiet strength - each in their own way - than all the politicians and so-called religious leaders who interfered. Republicans' attempts to subpoena the brain-dead woman herself this week were particularly reprehensible.

But enough of that - it's all been said before.

Rest in peace, Terri; in the peace you could not find at the end of your short life.

R.I.P. A.N.W.R.?

The optimist in me thinks it's too early to mourn the demise of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The realist in me - who knows the power Republicans hold to ramrod legislation through Congress - is starting to come to grips with the fact that the time to mourn may not be too far off.

Perhaps it's just a matter of something so simple as a definition; perhaps Republicans, who despise public education and disdain anything that smacks of intellectualism, are ignorant of the definition of "refuge." Maybe this will help:

1. An area set aside for the purpose of conserving species and their habitat.

2. A place that offers protection or shelter. (This from the Fish & Wildlife Service)

More likely, this is just another Republican sop to their sugar-daddies in the oil industry. The paltry amount of oil available in ANWR (6 billion barrels - or less than 21 months at January's consumption rate), and the amount of time it would take to get commercial quantities flowing (I've seen estimates from 2 years to 10 years) can in no way compensate for the amount of damage this pristine wilderness area will suffer.

In other words, like much else that Republicans have done or would like to do, they are doing this because they can, for spite, for plain meanness.

Farewell, Scooter...

If you've never read Scooter's Freakin' Wicked Weblog, you've missed some great writing - along with a heaping helping of wicked sharp humor. And now, it's too late. Scooter's shutting down his blog for good.

Before it disappears forever and before he stops reading his comments, go tell him goodbye.

The blogosphere is a bit poorer now.

Who's Arming Terrorists Now?

Just when you think that you expect only the worst from BushCo., they do something that makes you think that perhaps, before, they were just pikers. Even after more than four years of hypocrisy, this still amazes me. Sort of.

More than 40 terror suspects were able to buy firearms in the United States last year because background checks showed they had no felony convictions and weren't illegal immigrants, according to a government report released Tuesday.

Okay, you're thinking, just close the loophole and keep these nutjobs from buying a gun, right? If it were anyone but this administration, you'd probably be correct. But for the Bushies, who's a more powerful lobbying group than even the anti-choice folks? C'mon, I know you know the answer to that one...

FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House subcommittee Tuesday that perhaps the law could be altered.

[snip]

But the National Rifle Association says the law is protecting Americans from terrorists while allowing citizens the freedom to own guns. Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's chief executive, said under current law, if the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System gets a hit that someone applying for a gun permit is on a terror watch list, the government official who put that person on the list - along with other counterterrorism personnel - is notified.

All of you out there who guessed the NRA before reading the above, raise your hands... yeah... I thought so.

Honestly, I give up. There is no low these guys won't stoop to.

You Want the Truth?!?

Seems MSNBC thinks we "can't handle the truth..."

The last link in my post below now goes to the MSNBC "we can't find that link" page. It was a story about how the Afghans are faced with growing violence from resurgent warlords and how Afghanistan now provides something on the order of 80% of the worlds opium. Which is exactly, I'm sure, what BushCo. had in mind.

But then again... they've got religion pushing it's way more and more into the public sphere and if religion is the opiate of the masses, why not push the real thing as well?

I wasn't able to find that article anywhere on MSNBC's site.

Thanks to CmdrSue for pointing out that the link was broken. Thanks to MSNBC for pointing out that we're just not ready for the truth.

One Thousand Five Hundred

With barely a notice from the White House the continuing misadventure in Iraq has passed yet another grim milestone. The deaths of three American soldiers on Thursday, pushed the total deaths over 1,500.

With no end in sight.

Remember all of the big events that were supposed to presage a decrease in violence and deaths? Remember how they've all gone by with no decrease - in fact - remember how they've all gone by accompanied by only an increase in violence? You remember if you've kept track of it yourself; you certainly won't remember if you're depending on either the White House, Department of Defense or the mainstream media to keep you up-to-date. According to them, everything's just fine.

Oh, and if you thought the deafening silence about Afghanistan means everything is going great there, well... not so much.

Pot, Meet Kettle...

It's official - if it were ever true, it is no longer - irony is not dead.

The State Department on Monday detailed an array of human rights abuses last year by the Iraqi government, including torture, rape and illegal detentions by police officers and functionaries of the interim administration that took power in June.

In the Bush administration's bluntest description of human rights transgressions by the American-supported government, the report said the Iraqis "generally respected human rights, but serious problems remained" as the government and American-led foreign forces fought a violent insurgency. It cited "reports of arbitrary deprivation of life, torture, impunity, poor prison conditions - particularly in pretrial detention facilities - and arbitrary arrest and detention."

If this were any administration but the second coming of BushCo., nobody would have the gonads to release this report. For our friends at State, now lead by Miss Dominatrix Rice, it's just another bogus report.

Seems that the press' description of Condi's attire in Germany as "Matrix-like" were spot on. Either she's living in a computer generated world where reality is whatever they say it is or the rest of us are.

Either way, it scares the hell out of me.

They Just Look Better Than Hobnails

This week the press was all atwitter over Condi's so-called "Matrix-style" dress in Germany. Her black, cassock style long coat, over a black dress and nearly knee-high black stiletto-heeled boots gave her the look of a demure dominatrix. I can only imagine the drooling of right-wing journalists and bloggers feverishly typing with one hand...

I thought it rather ironic that Condi chose Germany to strut her sartorial stuff. To me her outfit looked more military than sexy; with the high, closed collar and the multiple buttons and loops. There is very little feminine about our new Secretary of State and her stride is not among those few traits. She marched out in her boots with a purposeful, domineering step. If you listened closely, you could almost hear the sharp crack of hobnails on cobble.

Can there be any doubt that somewhere in the right side of the blogosphere somebody put together - in the most horrible of juxtapositions - Condi and "fuck-me-shoes?" Knowing her slavish devotion to her "husband," W and his disdain for the rest of the world (and most of their own country) they should more accurately be called "fuck you" shoes.

Slick

After one of the largest fuel oil spills in recent history in Alaska, comes word that oil lobbyists and their paid-for friends in Congress just haven't learned their lesson. From the Wilderness Society comes word that the oil cabal are going to attach authorization to drill in ANWR to the federal budget bill:

Right now, the oil industry's allies in Congress are plotting a sneak attack on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In the next two weeks, oil industry allies in the House and Senate will try a backdoor trick to pass the controversial proposal to drill for oil in the Arctic Refuge by inserting it into the federal budget bill.

The Wilderness Society needs your help to stop this sneaky maneuver and save the Arctic Refuge! Click here send a free message to your members of Congress urging them to do everything they can to stop drilling in the Arctic!

The more noise we can make, the better our chances of thwarting the sneak attack and saving the Arctic Refuge from oil drilling will be.

Click through the link above to give the Wilderness Society a hand.

Bush Blows Off Northern Nukes

While to most realists the news that North Korea has nuclear weapons was no surprise, even less of a surprise was the Bush Administration reaction:

"Nukes, huh? 'Magine that... Did you see Condi in Europe?"

If imaginary nukes could trigger a real war, why can't real nukes trigger an imaginary war? Can anyone really accuse BushCo. of being consistent on any issue? Why start now?

Of course the fact that Kim's secretive country is entirely capable and sociopathic enough to actually launch a nuclear weapon just to make a point seems to have had little effect on Bush's plans. Or lack thereof.

Meanwhile, administration flunkies continue to make scary faces at Iran.

I'm glad 51% of us feel safer with this loose cannon in the White House. Me? I think I'll start digging a small shelter in my back yard...

"Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated"

For my readers who get my RSS feed, or for those that continue to drop by on occasion, I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here.

Family crises and work continue to conspire to keep my free time to a minimum and while I do check in on most of my favorite bloggers from time to time - thanks to Thunderbird's built-in RSS reader - I've had precious little time to keep up with the news to the extent needed to do justice to my own blog. Hopefully I'll find the time and the energy to devote to The Fulcrum; in the past this effort has not only kept me informed and energized, but it has helped me to feel less isolated from other liberals and progressives. And, in truth, many of you had started to feel more like friends than just blog acquaintances.

So it's in that light that I take the time tonight - and I promise to take time where I can - to let everyone know that "Charles2" has not disappeared.

As usual, Mark Twain said it best...

Balls!

Tomorrow begins act II of the horrid tragedy that set me to blogging in the first place. Inauguration means a beginning and beginnings usually bring to mind a new start; perhaps a chance to make right past wrongs. Perhaps just to set off in a new direction.

In the case of Bush's second coronation I think it only means the beginning of more. More of the abuses of power we've seen for the past four years; power in both the political and the literal sense.

Most of us on the left side of the blogosphere are writing about the upcoming inauguration in dread and our posts show it. I thought about writing something along those lines, but as I often do, even when I don't write in my own blog, I made a quick stop at Steve Bate's blog, The Yellow Doggerel Democrat. What I found there expressed every wretched feeling I have about BushCo. and tomorrow's display of unbridled glee as well as their unbridled donors' money. (If you want to know how much your favorite corporation "donated" for inaugural events, go here.)

But it also made me smile.

Go read Bush's Inaugural Balls.

It's the best thing you'll read on the subject anywhere.

Shop Your Heart

I got an e-mail today from Adam Jusko of ProgressiveDepot.com. He asked me to just post a link to his site, but after taking a look at what he's up to, I thought I'd not only put up a link, but I'd post on it as well.

Here's part of Adam's e-mail:

I am writing to introduce a new Web site I hope you'll be interested in, and to request a link. The site, ProgressiveDepot.com is an online shopping mall that donates a percentage of site profits to progressive non-profits and political organizations. I've included the press release below if you are interested in learning about it.

I checked out the list of merchants on his site and it was great to see that many of the companies I already shop with are there.

Go check out ProgressiveDepot; shop by clicking through the links there and shop your heart!

Bum Rap?

Tonight on ABC's evening news, the soon-to-be former Attorney General, John Ashcroft said that his "Patriot Act" had gotten a bum rap. If only he'd gotten ahead of the "bad press" with a true explanation of PA and PA II, everyone would see that they are only efforts to protect Americans. And they would love them.

It was all I could do to not throw my glass at the TV.

Bum rap? No, but instead of skulking out quietly, it would be so much better to see Ashcroft getting the bum's rush for the Patriot Act that got such a bum rap. But you'll soon hear his refrain repeated ad nauseum across the press and around the right side of the blogosphere.

The only good thing will be watching this turkey soar - out of sight.

Vote? What Vote?

Tell me you didn't see this coming?

With just over two weeks until the Iraq election, the United States is lowering its expectations for both the turnout and the results of the vote, increasingly emphasizing other steps over the next year as more important to Iraq's political transformation, according to U.S. officials.

The Bush administration played down voter turnout yesterday in determining the election's legitimacy and urged Americans not to get bogged in a numbers game in judging the balloting, a reflection of the growing concern over how much the escalating insurgency and the problem of Sunni participation may affect the vote.

Maybe they can put all those out-of-work WMD inspectors to work digging up votes.

Whips and Chains 'R' Us

It would have surprised everyone, I suppose, had they done otherwise, but BushCo. has decided that torture really is in our best national interest.

At the urging of the White House, congressional leaders scrapped a legislative measure last month that would have imposed new restrictions on the use of extreme interrogation measures by American intelligence officers, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The defeat of the proposal affected one of the most obscure arenas of the war on terrorism, involving the CIA’s secret detention and interrogation of top terror leaders, according to the newspaper, citing congressional officials.

The measure had previously been approved in the Senate 96 - 2. But apparently a little arm twisting by administration officials was enough to get it scrapped in the final version that came out of committee.

Honestly, how long before they get our Republican controlled, lap-dog congress to do the same thing with some national law enforcement bill? That everyone - Congress critters and citizens alike - are not screaming about this bodes poorly for the future of our civil rights. Eroded as they already are...

A New Year

They say how you spend New Year's Day is an indicator of how the rest of your year will go. I hope, for my sanity, that the old saw is wrong.

A little background that will help explain my last post. On Christmas morning, while getting ready to drive to Canada to visit my wife's parents I walked into our bedroom and saw my pajamas were still on the floor. So as I do every morning, I bent down to pick them up. The next thing I know I'm on my knees in absolute agony: my back is in complete spasm.

I don't have a "bad back," and I'm not really familiar with back pain. I have to tell you, I'm not a big fan. It took me 15 minutes to make my way from the floor - right next to the bed - to the bed. I spent the rest of the day right there. There was no food in the house - we'd planned on being away. Our "Christmas dinner" was a little ham and cheese; no turkey, no roast beef, no wine, no desert.

My father-in-law has been sick for over two years with a form of liver cancer. Both my wife and I were pretty sure that this would be the last Christmas they'd have together. And we were missing it.

When I was barely able to move around the next day, we bundled ourselves into the car for the four hour drive to Canada. I couldn't drive and every bump was painful; fortunately the weather cooperated and we made the trip in good time.

What we found when we arrived was not good. My wife's dad was shrunken away to nearly nothing and instead of celebrating and opening presents, we had to get him to the hospital. The prognosis was not good and we were told that it was only a matter of days we had left with him. So we began a vigil - around the clock, with the help of family, we made sure that he was never alone. We talked to him even after he lost consciousness and held his hands. On January the 6th he was finally released from his suffering.

You can see why I hope that the old saying about new years is wrong. I'm not sure that we could hold up to a full year of what we've already gone through in the last week of the old and the first week of the new year.

As we left the hospital on the day my father-in-law died, it was snowing and sleeting. My wife and I had to brush and scrape our car and I told her that this was nature's way of letting us know that the world keeps going and that we have to keep doing all the things we'd done before - that we had to keep living.

That's the message I want to take away from this experience. That's the message I want to send to all of my friends and family who come to read this. Life goes on and we have a choice about how we live it. I plan on making the choice to live it fully and joyfully. I hope you will to.

Worst Christmas...

Ever.

On our way to Canada today, a day late and with nothing but bad stories to tell about our Christmas. I'll post all the gory details later, perhaps.

I hope that all who come here had a much better Christmas than we did. And that the New Year is much better for us all.

Peace.