rejecting a legal strategy that the Bush administration had hoped would get around public records laws and let them keep their guests a secret.I am sure the White House will fight this as long as they can, but maybe these will come out. I have almost forgotten--who the hell do these people work for? I thought they worked for us, but that is probably just pre 9-11 thinking.
The ruling is a blow to the Bush administration, which has fought the release of records showing visits by prominent religious conservatives."
****
Speaking of pre 9-11, Sully points to recent evidence that suggests that Bush and his people have instituted a "surveillance state" that a tyrant would envy--oh, and he did so two weeks after taking office--not, as every Bushie parrots--after 9-11 "changed everything."
Sigh.
****
The Huck is starting to really bug me. Here is an "ad" where he gets to play again to the evangelical vote. Translation: "I am more Christian than anyone else running."
But, of course, don't ask him to actually live it out. Lucky for him, the evangelical base doesn't actually do that. And speaking of the Huck, the story about his son
killing a dog at Scout camp makes me sick. I know I am a dog person, but I don't understand such cruelty. And if this sick bastard (who then went on to make Eagle scout--gag) would have so little compassion for a stray dog, what makes you think he cares about humans?
So, every time Huckabee plays the "look at me, just a simple Baptist preacher" I will think about his sick son killing a dog. And Huckabee defending him.
****
More Bush. And this time we learn the cost of this president is in the trillions of dollars. Sure glad he is a conservative.
In a speech today at the National Press Club, he said, "If the federal government was a private corporation and the same report came out this morning, our stock would be dropping and there would be talk about whether the company's management and directors needed a major shake-up." Walker urged greater transparency and accountability over the federal government's operations, financial condition, and fiscal outlook.
--snip--
"The federal government's fiscal exposures totaled approximately $53 trillion as of September 30, 2007, up more than $2 trillion from September 30, 2006, and an increase of more than $32 trillion from about $20 trillion as of September 30, 2000," Walker said. "This translates into a current burden of about $175,000 per American or approximately $455,000 per American household."
14 comments:
I'll be interested to see what happens when this moves through the appellate system. I would prefer that these be public, but there are also compelling separation of powers arguments.
The surveillance state is scary, IMO. Locally, the Lansing mayor is having cameras installed in certain areas to "fight crime." Nevermind that the city is in major financial trouble and a Lt. from the police department says they don't have enough people to monitor the equipment. I know this isn't the same thing as what Bush is doing, but it is part of a movement that I don't want. The last time I was in the UK, I noticed the number of cameras had gone up tremendously and it certainly didn't make me feel safe. It just reminded me of Orwell.
The stuff about Huckabee's son is disturbing, but it is also pretty sketchy. The fact that he was fired seems to say it did happen, but it is not conclusive, by any means. The alleged cover up also stands on shakey ground. It is certainly believable. Many parents would want step in to protect their kid. I am not suggesting this isn't a serious crime, but do the state police in Arkansas get involved in investigating misdemeanors? This isn't my experience with the state police in MI.
There is just too much missing for me to conclude what really happened. How did he make it to Eagle Scout? I was in Scouts and, from what I recall, my troop wouldn't have kept someone that tortured animals. He would have been gone. This kind of behavior is often a precursor to other sociopathic activity.
So what's the big beef with Huckabee, Streak? Not that I don't agree, but you seem pretty focused on him. Is it his smarm? His evangelicalism? His up-til-very-recently unexamined past?
What, Giuliani not good enough for you?
Huckabee represents everything I distrust about evangelicals right now. They reward the language but not the action, and that gave us the disaster that is the Bush administration--in my opinion.
Steve, I understand the dog thing is a bit of a he said, he said, but we do know that the kid killed the dog. Nothing suggests (even huckabee's defense) that the stupid kid did some kind of mercy killing. The Scouts making him Eagle says nothing to me, but then again, I am not a scout.
It certainly bears further scrutiny and I hope more comes out on if Huck Sr. covered up for Jr. Killing the dog was sick, but I am sure the statute of limitations has expired on that. I can't speak for all scouts, but he would have been booted from my troop and it wouldn't of mattered if dad was the gov.
No doubt. I am sure the statute of limitations expired too. I think it is a misdemeanor in Arkansas anyway, and that has never really been the issue for me. And if the dog was really suffering and the kid actually put the dog out of its misery in a humane way, I would have nothing bad to say.
But I don't think that is what happened. And I think the kid was old enough to know better.
Streak: The release of these records is good news. I think this could cut both ways i.e for those that visited as well as the bushies.
The disaster that is our president will be dead and gone and my kids will be paying for this administration. Nice legacy. Not only are they less free, they have a nice public debt to pay. I still say the dems are party to this fiasco. Too bad you can't buy spinal columns- maybe we could ship some to washington.
I haven't followed Huckabee much other than to know he's moving ahead in the polls with less money (I caught the loaves and fishes). He does seem to be following the trends lately in public pastor figures i.e. skeletons in the closet. As a parent I sure wouldn't hold him responsible for what his son did. Leaning on law enforcement would be another matter.
Later-BB
BB,
We could always send Congressional Dems some medical models. They might miss the point if the pelvises are still attached, though.
Heh! That would be great! Although the numbers needed would be cost prohibitive! It was interesting that right after I posted that I got the email advertising this book:
http://www.palastinvestigativefund.org/impeach-the-president
Later: BB
Over the years I have had a few kids on my caseload that tortured animals. For some, the acts were impulsive and I don't think they fully understood what they did. For others, they were old enough to understand, but they lacked the capacity to feel empathy or sympathy. One of them ended up killing another kid, which isn't totally unheard of. Torturing animals often leads to other stuff.
Streak
You'll love this:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5389403.html
Personally I don't see anything wrong with his ad itself. I also don't see what it has to do with being a good president or not. What grates on me is the "Aw shucks, this isn't about politics" message. Are you kidding me?
Later- BB
Good one, BB. I had not seen that, but it doesn't surprise me.
I think what bothered me about the ad was the almost purposeful solipsism of it--the arrogance of "Christians are really the only ones who matter or who celebrate during this time of year" and then, as you say, claiming that it had nothing to do with politics.
"solipsism?" WTH- do you really talk that way or are you making fun of us nonacademics? :-).- BB
Streak does have a salubrious vocabulary.
it is a great word, you have to admit. A friend of mine used to use that word a lot and I kind of liked it. It just felt like the correct time to drop it in the blog.
Remember, childrens do learn.
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