Thursday, July 31, 2008

Antiques Road Show

Here you will find a nice summary of McCain's cluelessness about a number of things. The ones to be worried about include his confusion over countries borders, and where genocide is happening.

Some of his GOP colleagues have recently said things like, I don't want him anywhere near a trigger, and the thought of him as president sends chills down my spine.

This man needs to retire, not run for president.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Contempt, To Say The Least

Whoever wrote this AP piece stopped reporting and starting opinionating in the last paragraph.

Why would Pelosi not want to put hearings out there for the public to see how Bush and Co.
have screwed the American people for eight years? McCain would be damaged by association.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper.

Let's Hear It For Joe Klein

Read here Time Magazine columnist Joe Klein's piece on the Jewish Neo-Cons who attack him as anti-Semitic and other nasty things.



One or more of those who left a comment said he should name names. He does if you use the links he provides in his article.



Richard Perle and Douglas Feith are familiar to most of us and are two of several names he named. These are dangerous people and bright lights need to be focused on them.

Good for Joe for his part in doing so.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

This article scares me.

Jeffrey Toobin has written a book about the Supreme Court, and I'm told by a friend who has already read it that "Justice" Sandra Day O'Connor was horrified by the news that Bush had lost Florida in 2000. It seems she had long been an admirer and supporter of Bush.

Her vote in the Supreme Court resulted in Bush being appointed President by the court, ignoring the will of the people.

She got to vote twice for Bush as did four other "Justices" it appears; once at the polls and once in court. Her vote at the polls was about her choice of Bush for President. But so was her vote in court, when it was supposed to be about interpreting the law.

I truly wonder what kind of country my children and grandchildren will live in.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Apologies to Robert Novak

Recently I wrote a disparaging piece about Robert Novak's apparent hit and run accident. I just read that he's been diagnosed with a brain tumor, which was found when he fell ill on Cape Cod. The article reported that docs often look for a brain tumor when someone has hit something but didn't realize it.

It's not yet know if the tumor is malignant according to today's Cape Cod Times. I hope it isn't and is treatable, and that he makes a full recovery. He says he's suspending his journalism efforts for now.

I'll miss berating him for his blinkered political views, and hope he gets back to writing his stuff soon.

Leanderthal. Lighthouse Keeper

Support Our Troops?

Decide after you read this, thanks to Minstrel Boy. Find a link to his blog to the right.

Apparently the felon was a contractor, not a US soldier, but the Army brass covered up the crime. A woman was raped and tortured and the Army called it a suicide.

The "troops" are not just grunts. The troops include the brass. So find ribbons for your car which say, "Support some of our troops", "Prosecute some of our troops".

I found this today, the same day I read that Bush has OK'd the execution of an enlisted soldier who raped and killed twenty years ago. They say rank has its privileges.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

That's What I'm Sayin'

Bob Herbert has hit the nail on head in his NYTimes piece today.

As I've been saying for months, in presidential elections three things are important, the economy, the economy and the economy.

Up to now Obama hasn't grabbed that issue by the horns and, as Herbert writes, actually let some great opportunities go by the boards. Herbert thinks that might be about to change.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Monday, July 28, 2008

Novak Hit and Run

Here is a link to the Washington Post's article about their Right Wing columnist Robert Novak hitting a pedestrian with his car and running, only to be run down himself by a guy on a bike a block away from the scene of the accident.

He got a $50 fine.

The Post's article on this was shoved back to Section B.

Sheesh!

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Bush: Business Yes, We the People No

How low can they go?. The Bush Family Mafia I mean. This link takes you to an article about the Bush administration rushing to push through rules that make it tougher to regulate on-the-job exposure to toxins.

I just keep wondering why Obama isn't ahead of McCain 67% to 33%, the latter number being about where Bush's approval rating falls.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Shame, Shame on the Bush Administration

Bob Herbert's piece in today's Times does the best job I've read on exposing the shame of the Bush administration.

Those he cites in his column should be sent to the Hague.
Nothing less is due them.


Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Maliki and Obama. Wow!

Here's a shocker. Washington Monthly posts a piece on al Maliki endorsing Obama's 16 month troop withdrawal plan.

Certainly got the Bushies' attention.

The sad part of this is that Kevin Drum who wrote the piece has to acknowledge that what comes of this will depend on the "narrative" about it adopted by the Main Stream Media. I say again, and again, this is why bloggers have to keep speaking up.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

It's The Pocket Book Stupid

Here's a link to a Times editorial on the economy.

I've written before that administrations get kicked out more over bad economic times than wars. Bush I lost his second term because of a tanked economy, even though he was the world leader who kicked Saddam out of Kuwait.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Go Tell It On The Mountain

As usual, Bill Moyers is doing his best not to be a voice crying in the wilderness. He is doing it publicly, and asking us to do the same, in the absence of neutral journalism in the so-called Main Stream Media.

Be sure to read all the way to the end. The last two paragraphs are the message.

Sometimes I wonder why I keep writing to this blog. I get almost no comments, so I assume almost no one's reading it. But Bill Moyers concludes, as I did when I started this blog, that the corporate media is damaging the Republic, and any and all voices are needed to expose it for what it has become, the Pravda of the United States of America.

So, I will blog on.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Law and Order; Criminal Intent

Today's Times lead editorial can be read here.

It's about the clear intent of the Bush administration to kick the global climate change can down the road. They have always protected corporations at the expense of the planet, which means people; in other words they commit crimes against humanity. Just a few days ago someone blew the whistle on Cheney's office removing six pages of testimony about climate change effect on health, testimony given by Julie Gerberding, the head of the CDC. Guess what the import of the removed parts was.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Today's Must Read

Here is a link to a thorough airing of evidence for trying Bush, Cheney and their minions as war criminals.

I have long labeled this administration "the elected mafia". Frank Rich, who authored this piece, uses mafia titles for several of the administration's major figures.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Saturday, July 12, 2008

New England Smog

Here's an article that caught my attention for two reasons.

The first: My total disgust for Cheney and Bush who continue to do all they can to protect their cronies and financial benefactors who continue to pollute the environment because not doing so would kill their GOLDEN GOOSE.

The second: My awareness that one of my life partner's sons has recently needed medical care for pulmonary distress. His employer moved into a new building, and shortly thereafter he reported breathing difficulties. Speculation has it that his distress was caused by materials used in new construction which are known to release into to the environment "stuff" which can be toxic to living species.

I have since been told by the mother of this son that she and he believe that there is growing and accumulating evidence that there is something to the validity now becoming known as "New Building Syndrome".

Based on reading the article to which I provided the link above, it seems his medical problems might be compounded by the air he has no choice but to breathe as a result of his recent decision to relocate, for an indeterminate time, to Cape Cod.

Please read the article for which I provided a link above. It is well written and seemingly well factually documented.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Ultimate Political Cynicism

Kevin Drum, in The Washington Monthly, expresses the ultimate political cynicism in his piece about Baker and Christopher's stance on the War Powers Act.

Sad, but true.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Slapped Into Understanding

Gail Collins slapped me upside the head with her column in the Times today. She writes about how we who have been upset with Obama by his apparent moving toward the right haven't been listening. She observes that his moves toward the center are actually his carrying out his message of bringing people together, not appeasing the right.

I thanked her in an email.

I commend to you her fine article.


Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Cheney's Nose Thumbing of the Law

Someone please tell me what law Cheney broke for which he could be and should be indicted and impeached. This link will take you to an article about his office removing six pages from the testimony of Julie Gerberding, head of the CDC, on the subject of global warming.


Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

A Chris Hedges Essay

Chris Hedges has written an essay which I wish all would read. Here is a link to it. His ability to articulate is the equal of James Carroll's in my view.



Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Caution, Dangerous Curves Ahead

More reaction to Obama's Lurching.


Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

War Powers Commission

James Baker and Warren Christopher have an op-ed piece in today's NYTimes. A former GOP Secretary of State and a former Dem Secretary of State have co-chaired a commission on who has what war powers, and have written a bill to clarify the situation we're in.

One can only hope that these two well respected men will be listened to by the president and Congress.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

The Righting of Obama's Ship

Bob Herbert, a well respected columnist with the NYTimes, writes here about Obama "lurching to the right".

One can only hope that Obama will pay attention and realize that he's taking his base for granted, but doing so can be very dangerous.

I am one who wrote to his website my disappointment in his supporting the FISA bill.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Heil _________!!! Fill In Your Preferred Blanks

Here is a report, complete with photos, of a staged event, called a ceremony, to give it a kind of blessing, and which is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda, complete with huge ranks of uniformed people, gathering around and under a flag, in this case the American flag.

If you feel good about this, I am seriously frightened.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper

Friday, July 4, 2008

No Gender Equality Here

This is an article which reveals just how embedded patriarchy is in the human psyche, especially in places on Earth where human rights equality has been resisted. And in those places, it's religious practices which have been the resisting bulwark.

The irony here is that it took modern medicine to make this story even possible.

Misogyny lives.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper