Alabama's Public Transporation Challenges

Markeshia Ricks of the Anniston Star reports on the increasing need for solid public transportation systems in Alabama. A tremendous need indeed, made all the more complicated perhaps with the "patchwork" of current providers, and yet I'm not so sure Joe and Jill Sixpack are going to be able to see past the usual distractions to elect leaders that will be up to tackling these issues. Andy Singer nails at least one part of the problem. Peace ... or War!

Australia's PM John Howard Exits Stage Right

The AP via MSNBC reports Labor's huge win down under. Bu$hCo's essentially lone remaining ally John Howard's saw his Conservative Party simply trounced by Labor, leading to the likely rise of Kevin Rudd as Australia's PM. Peace ... or War!

Thanksgiving of Dubyah and Dick

I woke up yesterday thinking how only one Thanksgiving will remain to the Bu$hCo Administration. The image is from Keven Siers of the Charlotte Observer yet Scarecrow's Crossing Bush's Line on FireDogLake sums up all I'd want to write. The link to Joseph Galloway's McClatchy Commentary: Good riddance to them all serves up some writing that is likewise perfect. Peace ... or War!

It's Buy Nothing Day

Via the LA Times I located Joseph Barnbrook's take on Buy Nothing Day. As a Scot, linking to a Brit is tough. Still, this designer has simply nailed conspicuous consumption. As for the image above, that also says much on how we tend to live. Peace ... or War!

Clinton Appointed Federal Judge Does Justice

Lousiana Senator David Vitter has admitted "sin" in regards to the DC Madam list yet at least he'll avoid testifying before a a federal court. While the press would have enjoyed, and perhaps others than value schadenfreude when yet another of the GOP's values crowd gets caught, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler did the right thing. Reckon if a loyal Bushie would have?

Senator Vitter's official website still has the following language up:

David Vitter is dedicated to making life better for his young family and all Louisiana families. He’s focused on putting Louisiana first as an independent and outspoken reformer, and on advancing mainstream conservative principles.

There's even reference to an award he "earned" from the Family Research Council still up! I'm sure Dr. Dobson is so proud. It's been a tough year for Dr. D. with Senator Craig's scandal as well. You'd think he'd have tweaked this a touch given the last few months. Then again when his wife Wendy spoke out so boldly in 2000 over the Clenis' indiscretions there's apparently little shame in the Vitter household. As lectors at St. Francis Xavier Church perhaps they are above things of this earth? Peace ... or War!

John Kerry and T. Boone Pickens Are a Feuding

Sasha Issenberg of the Boston Globe gives us Swift Boat issue becomes crucial to Kerry anew yet it is too little and too late for most of us. T. Boone Pickens is surely an interesting character and those nasty Swift Boaters had the funds san his zillions yet this ought to be fun to watch. Peace ... or War!

There's Life After Bu$hCo's for Ari and Scotty

Although news today is of Scott McClellan whining about being left in the dark for lies he told on Plamegate I'll mostly focus on what Ari Fleischer has been up to with his role in Freedom's Watch. A nasty group and yet they can be I suppose. At least they aren't pretending to be a neutral group as do a rather large number of the 501(c)(3) outfits that make up the Right's Noise Machine.

Going after my very own candidate this past fall, namely Congressman Jerry McNerney, who admittedly hasn't always done everything I'd have wanted one in DC (the idea of tossing aside perhaps the best of the Progressive taxes, the estate tax, for instance) has certainly brought Ari's latest adventure back in my sights. As for Jerry, I'm going to still try to find a way to help him this next year. Carl Pope is right in how better off we are sans Dirty Dick Pombo. I'll hope Jerry will prove to be the Progressive I'd like, or at least close enough for CA-11. As a Progressive from Alabama, I've surely learned to not expect too much from plenty of candidates I've helped. I can surely hang in there with Jerry. Plus he and his mean plenty to me.

I suppose Ari and Scotty will be cashing the checks for some time, despite their association with Bu$hCo. As an aside, is Ari's brother Michael still working with whatever might remain of the Coalition Provisional Authority? While the GOP is trying to disassociate with Dubyah for 2008 I'd expect anyone that could work in the Bu$hCo White House will live to lie another day. Peace ... or War!

Bu$h and LBJ - Big Spenders

Comparisons of Dubyah to Nixon in a prior post and now we have, courtesy of David Lightman, one to LBJ. And it is not just their Texas roots! His McClatchy piece Bush is the biggest spender since LBJ surely shows that Bu$hCo, like so many Conservatives, is mostly talk and hardly any walk. The image above is from Jeff Parker and I do appreciate the fact he's covering the veteran. Truly Bu$hCo and the modern GOP, as well as some supposedly on my team, have long been looking out for the fat cats rather than regular folk. Peace ... or War!

Superb First Newsweek Column from Kos

Of course Karl Rove is off our federal payroll (yet another Bu$hCo outrage that a craven political operative ever was!) so obviously the above John Cole image is a bit dated. Markos Moulitsas delivers a superb Newsweek piece, titled Make the Bush Record the Issue : Absent amnesia—which only happens on soaps—Democrats will be fine, in his first effort in that venue. He starts off in part with the following:

Earlier this month, according to Gallup, more people strongly disapproved of George W. Bush than any previous president since the advent of polling—and, really, how could things be any different? Bush can boast of an unwinnable quagmire in Iraq, a decimated housing market, economic instability and a collapsing dollar, a dysfunctional health-care system, a still-devastated Gulf Coast, a wealth gap of a scope unseen since the Great Depression and a pervasive and disturbing image of America as a hapless, blundering giant, rather than a beacon of freedom and morality in the world.

His close 'aint bad either where he writes:

Democrats, on the other hand, believe government can be a resource for promoting the common good and thus are invested from the beginning in governing competently, efficiently and fairly. Their ideology demands it. And what better way for Democratic candidates to illustrate this contrast than by running against the Republican trifecta—the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court—that governed throughout most of Bush's eight years in office?

Democrats should and will use Bush and his destructive policies on the campaign trail as the primary example of what happens when people who hate government are elected to run it. The message will be that Bush isn't a historical anomaly: he's the embodiment of modern conservatism.

Dead on true words. Conservatism, at least that practiced by the Republicans in the last thirty or so years, simply fails the test. Peace ... or War!

Some Time Spent with a Libertarian

I recently came across Robert Higgs Resurgence of the Warfare State: The Crisis Since 9/11. While I'm hardly a Libertarian, this work, courtesy of The Independent Institute, was worth the time spent reading. However, one of Higgs' inclusions originally appeared at VDARE, a questionable outfit I stumbled across via Captain Bama. I also noted some references to The Mises Institute way down yonder in the loveliest village on the Plains. Peace ... or War!

Saudi Court Sentence Rape VICTIM to 200 Lashes

This BBC report reads best yet at least some mass media here in the States covered this outrage. An appeal yielded a doubling of the sentence! With friends like the Saudi Royal family and Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf I'm truly wondering how Bu$hCo continues to sell the idea of spreading democracy. Peace ... or War!

How Bu$hCo Teaches Iraqis Democracy

Mary Ann Akers and Paul Kane of the WaPo report that Manuel Miranda, the former senior Senate aide who previously obtained various Democrats documents and communications from an apparently unsecured computer system, has been hired by Bu$hCo's State Department to teach "democracy" to the Iraqi "government". He'll be the working in the "Office of Legislative Statecraft" and as a loyal Republican soldier I'm sure he'll do just fine for this administration. Peace ... or War!

Andy Singer and David Sirota on "Free Trade"

Andy Singer provides the image and David Sirota supplies analysis related to the 2008 primary candidates which builds off his Flattening the Great Education Myth piece from last year. Peace ... or War!

Alabama's Republican Supreme Court Saves Exxon 10% of Last Years Profits

To the middle left you'll see Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker, a favorite target of Captain Bama, along with some of his wingnut buddies. Recently "Justice" Parker proved his worth to the very folks that likely ran Judge Naybors against him for the Chief slot this past year by writing the opinion for his seven other GOP colleagues in overturning the 3.5 billion punitives award against Exxon/Mobil for dirty dealing the state on gas revenues.

Complicated case is some respects but it looks like lack of "reasonable reliance" on the State's part was how the GOP Justices justified their decision to toss the fraud and thus the punitives. Here's the actual slip opinion, all 125 pages, if you want to read the thing.

If this Exxon/Mobil outfit made 40 billion last year the 3.5 was about 10% in punitives. Hardly draconian, especially after the thing had been tried twice and Judge McCooey had cut the punitives from 11.8 billion. The compensatory damages were over a hundred million at trial but the Supremes, at least the eight Republicans, dropped that by half. Exxon's last CEO got a 400 million retirement deal yet the BCA and others in Alabama are celebrating I'm sure the wisdom of the decision. Scott Horton of Harper's has a nice take on the decision, especially given his role in representing fat cats of commerce. Note also how he also connects some of the players in the ongoing saga of The Don.

Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb correctly provided the lone dissenting voice for the little man. Perhaps Joe and Jill Sixpack will pay some attention to this case come the next elections yet I'll not hold my breath. I still favor the Alabama State bar's Missouri Plan approach for selecting Judges. Peace ... or War!

Soak The Rich!

Within the last month or so I had a good conversation with a smart conservative where I dropped the old Huey Long line of "Soak the rich!" While I'm not really wanting them soaked, merely dampened will do, I strongly believe in a Progressive Tax Code. A tip of the tam to R.J. Matson for the above image yet one is also due to Warren Buffett for today's testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. As an aside, I'm so frustrated seeing how Congressman Jerry McNerney's estate tax position is "evolving. I appreciate the Progressive Connection for news of CA-11 yet also for how they handled the "save the family farm" angle with this post. I'm all for helping the little guy yet I thought that was what I was doing when I helped Jerry get to DC. Peace ... or War!

Drug Money?

This toon of Bob Englehart might explain the following MSNBC coverage as much as anything. Lobbying stalls generic drug legislation contains the following:

An Associated Press review of lobbying reports, from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007, found that $38.8 million was spent by at least a dozen generic and brand-name companies and their trade associations on issues including the Senate legislation.

I reckon 38 large buys a lot of access. I've long favored some type of Universal Health care and so far the plan of John Edwards works for me. That he's honest enough to admit an increase in revenue will be required to fund his plan speaks well for him. Peace ... or War!

T-town News Gets it Right on Rudy and Pat

On the eve of the Iron Bowl I'll look to Tuskerlooser for at least one thing positive. They've seemingly summed up both Rudy and Pat with their November 12, 2007 Editorial. The work of R.J. Matson above says what's left. Peace ... or War!

Did Bu$hCo Ignore Hart-Rudman Commission?

Above we have former Senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman. I was totally ignorant of the Senators' work on The US Commission on National Security/21st and yet it surely seemed, and still seems, relevant. Thanks to my finally finishing Professor Eric Alterman's What Liberal Media? I've learned at least a little that I now want to share. Jake Tapper's Salon piece, namely Commission warned Bush; But White House passed on recommendations by a bipartisan, Defense department-ordered commission on domestic terrorism., from just the day after September 11, 2001, is the best summary I can find yet the Google is having trouble coming up with much subsequent coverage. Reckon why? From the start of the Bu$hCo reign it surely seems that Dubyah and Dick and Condi and ... have plenty of questions remaining as to exactly what they did regarding the threat of terrorism. Peace ... or War!

Dr. Robert Entman on American Media & Voters

Another addition to the Wish List. Professor Robert Entman of GWU likely has plenty to offer on a multiplicity of subjects yet if I understand a central premise of this book it is that a "vicious circle of interdependence" impacts both our media and citizens. "To become sophisticated ... Americans need high-quality, independent political journalism". However, to "stay in business while producing such journalism, news organizations would need an audience of sophisticated citizens". RIght now I'd argue the supply of either is very limited. Peace ... or War!

More Questions on Siegelman Judge Mark Fuller

As to The Don, issues as to the trial judge, Mark Everett Fuller of the Middle District of Alabama, continue to interest me. I've found Scott Horton of Harper's to be a tremendous source of information. Serious questions do seem to be present as to Judge Fuller. His image appears to the left.

Scott Horton weighs in on Saturday with The Curious Case of the Missing Transcript and in part explains that it is rare for defendants convicted on public integrity issues to not be granted release pending appeal. Horton writes

... fair application of the rule would have gotten in the way of the theatrics that Judge Fuller had planned for sentencing day. As that day commenced, the Montgomery court room was packed with U.S. Marshals who had been summoned by Fuller. After sentencing, Fuller directed that Siegelman be placed in manacles and dragged before the camera to provide full propaganda benefit for the Alabama Republican Party, on whose Executive Committee he had previously served (a fact the defense didn’t know until it was disclosed this summer in this space). Indeed, the event appears to have been well coordinated with the Alabama G.O.P., which immediately exploited it in press releases.

More follows as to the idea that the 11th Circuit is seemingly not pleased with how the Judge responded to their last Order requesting information on why release pending appeal isn't appropriate. There's also some rebuking of David Prather of the Hunstville Times ( a Newhouse paper ... need to look at that one) although I've often found his writing solid.

On the Alabama GOP's Executive Committee and truly a fortunate son, Mark Everett Fuller was a Bu$hCo appointee. Close ties to Congressman Terry Everett (note the "Everett" in his name) from their church in Enterprise to defense contracts to ..., it would seem the Judge continues in his good fortune. Questions as to his large interest in Doss Aviation remain, at least for Scott Howard (see his The Pork Barrel World of Judge Mark Fuller and ... ) yet few if any of the press down in Alabama seem troubled. Bob Martin, Glynn Wilson, ... are exceptions.

More to follow on this mess I'm sure. In the meantime, I'd argue The Don (and Richard Scrushy for that matter) ought to be released pending the outcome of his appeal. Let's hope the 11th Circuit sees it that way. Peace ... or War!

Fraud Req'd to Ratify Alabama's 1901 Constitution

Today's B'ham News reminds us that only massive voter fraud in the Black Belt allowed Alabama's 1901 Constitution to become the oppressive and now bloated document which continues to limit this state. The ending to this editorial sums up the belated remedy.

When the Legislature goes into session in February, it should pass a bill that would let the people decide - in an honest election - whether they want a convention of their fellow citizens to write a new fundamental charter for Alabama.

It won't make up for 106 years of constitution-fueled racial injustice, shabby treatment of the poor and ill, wretchedly funded schools and throttled local governments, all for the benefit of an oligarchy of the deep-pocketed. But letting the people vote would be a start toward undoing the massive fraud of Nov. 11, 1901.

Long overdue yet I'll still not hold my breath. Peace ... or War!

Dubyah's Nixonian Disapproval Numbers

Actually he's at 31% yet the image is close enough to pass muster. Eugene Robinson of the WaPo points out that he's actually beating Nixon in the "strongly disapprove" measure. Good language on what a mess the next President will inherit. Peace ... or War!

Who Needs Knowledge? I Reckon I Do!

Professor Todd Gitlin asked the question via TPMCafe building off Sunday's WaPo piece from Ahmed Rashid (image to the left) questioning Bu$hCo's "talent" on merely understanding Pakistan.

I will first give snaps to Dr. Gitlin for closing with:

I await ... Tim Russert's indignant question to Republican candidates, Will you pledge that the State Department will be staffed by people who have a clue about the countries they're in charge of?

His ending is great but to appreciate fully you perhaps need some background as to Tim Russert's most recent inanity. For more on this inanity check out Paul Waldman's recent American Prospect work. Oh mercy another book to add to my wish list it appears.

I suppose what I want to do with this post is once again lament, and also celebrate in some way, how long it takes to understand almost anything of substance. I am finally finishing Eric Alterman's What Liberal Media? and admittedly I'm frustrated with how the right often gets to keep the simple stuff so simple for the simple. Yet isn't it great that we can track down ideas and resources so easily on the internets. More on that to follow.

The bottom line from all of this is that ...

Retired American officials say that, for the first time in U.S. history, nobody with serious Pakistan experience is working in the South Asia bureau of the State Department, on State's policy planning staff, on the National Security Council staff or even in Vice President Cheney's office.

It gets worse however in that ...

Current and past U.S. officials tell me that Pakistan policy is essentially being run from Cheney's office.

Here we go again? Truly I expect few people with any real grasp on this area would want to work for these Mayberry Machiavellis. Especially with Dead Eye Dick ready to use the dark side of the force on anyone that crosses him.

I want to learn. I want to understand. And I want to share. Once again I understand why I am so attracted to the process of blogging. Peace ... or War!

Developments for The Don

While I was disappointed in the Siegelman administration at times I'll still admit to supporting him with donations of both time and money. I'm becoming more and more convinced he was hosed by Bu$hCo and others of the extreme GOP set. Given the politicization of DOJ under Dubyah nothing now seems beyond reach I suppose. And politics in Alabama has always been a contact sport. Don't forget that Karl Rove had worked in Bama before.

Our own Glynn Wilson (he's been all over this mess as evidenced by these archives) appears in The Nation with "A Whistleblower's Tale" to provide plenty of background and also some new developments. Snaps to Glenn for the coverage! Also Bob Martin of The Montgomery Independent is due some snaps as well. With the trial judge's potential conflict, or at least the appearance of impropriety, being raised, plus the news of Jill Simpson's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee being leaked, I'm thinking The Don is at least due another day in court.

Stay tuned to this one. Let's also hope the mainstream papers in the state don't forget this case. Peace .. or War!

UPDATE - I've not time to digest this Bob Johnson reporting the The Advertiser but worth adding just for the smell factor that continues to add up. The more you scratch this case the more it seems to signal some monkey business was going on as to prosecuting The Don.

Left Coast Reporting on AL-GA-FL "Water Wars"

Jennie Jarvie of the Los Angeles Times provides solid coverage of the issue with her "Atlanta water use is called shortsighted : The rapidly growing metropolis' 'cavalier' attitude toward conservation is the real problem, critics say" . More to come as time allows yet expect little from Bu$hCo and these three GOP governors in the way of solid solutions. Peace ... or War!

Tip of the Tam to Paul Krugman

Even if often hidden behind the pay wall of the Gray Lady, Paul Krugman's New York Times work usually manages to get out to the poor masses. In fact, The Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive seemingly appears to be at least tolerated by the Professor. His recent The Conscience of a Liberal is certainly one of my must reads this fall and winter.

The growing gap between the haves and have nots is surely something we've got to grasp and hopefully solve. If we can't keep and ideally grow the middle class then our nation/world is surely headed in the wrong direction. Professor Krugman has long been working in this fertile field and I look forward to understanding what he's sharing.

Even now portions of this heavy hitter's thinking are available at TPM Cafe's Book Club. Yesterday's The awful truth, and the better future is likely just the start of good things to come. To offer just a portion of yesteday's work I'll clip the following:

But what I learned when doing research was that the most consistent source of the rightward drift of American politics in the face of growing inequality is race. In fact, the simplicity of the story is almost embarrassing: American politics changed because Southern whites started voting Republican after the civil rights movement.

To give you a sense of just how little there is to be explained once you take this shift into account, here’s a statistic from Larry Bartels, my Princeton colleague. Everyone knows that white men have left the Democratic Party. But what everyone knows isn’t true, if you exclude the South. In 1952, 40 percent of non-Southern white males voted Democratic; in 2004, that was down to, um, 39 percent. (And no, the choice of years doesn’t matter – a fitted trend line tells the same story.)

Not this Southern white for the record! I've been voting under the rooster (Democratic) in I think nearly all races since I got the franchise. Also, that statistic group was one that surprised me. On behalf of the South I'm sorry. Thankfully Professor Krugman is relatively optimistic that race is losing the power it once held in voting patterns. Regretably, the Deep South is behind the balance of the nation in this trend. Thoughts? Peace ... or War!

Reading and listening lets you ...

Last night, after some time with Baby Plaid, as I drove back to Auburn, the Loveliest Lillage on the Plains that I'll miss terribly, for one particular person living here especially, I used AM radio for enlightenment and entertainment (the XM/Sirius portable option remains beyond my budget) as I dodged deer. I stumbled across Willie Cunningham. Oh mercy! I'll not attempt to delve into the depths of his wingnuttery beyond a few ideas to follow.

Given Willie's soliloquies on the media (interesting that Willie belongs to Premiere which is owned by Clear Channel) being to blame for all that is hurting our nation and their support for the dark forces of the Clintons, coupled with his cheerleading for conservatism, even Bu$hCo (making him a little odd among the right these days) for the most part, I was surely bothered. Claiming we live in the best of times was another of his reliable themes, again taking his fantasy of a liberal media fooling the American people to ridiculous levels. I'll give old Willie one that the media distracts our voters yet that's another day's posting. A little jingoism here and a little religiosity there, Willie kept the right wing's Mighty Wurlitzer pumping air as good as anyone could I suppose. He's a Great American after all.

As Willie claimed the American soldier for the right wing I was also frustrated yet I was simply baffled upon hearing Billy explain how the American soldier deserved a Nobel Peace Prize rather than that dastardly Al Gore. Huh? Fuming, I reflected back on a recent FireDogLake post titled "The Rules of Power" from Ian Welsh and a reference to Hannah Arendt in a comment (#35 for the record) which contrasted nicely with Willie's "reasoning". Typical top drawer work from Ian. Reflecting back on what I'd read just this Saturday let me find some measure of peace.

"A position not founded upon reason cannot be swayed by argument!" came to mind. And is reasoning really part of the equation for much of the GOP and the rabid right? I'll continue to try to learn and engage. But I'll pretty much pass on trying to engage with folks like Willie and the alleged million or more that make up his brand new audience. As a replacement for Drudge with first guests like Surely Sean and last night's Dinesh D'Souza and ... is Willie up to the task of keeping the noise going for the true believers? If not then the right's bench is deep with "talent" I'm sure.

As an aside, I'll admit to being weak on some of the heavy hitters like Hannah Arendt yet at least one of her works will be added to my Amazon wish list. Perhaps I'll have some time to read soon? Hope springs eternal. Packing and then heading to the Northwest on Wednesday. Likely little if any posting will occur in next few days yet we'll see how that goes. I do hope to start back writing and perhaps even rebuilding some regular traffic here should that prove possible. Peace ... or War!

Who'd Have Thunk It?

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

Take the quiz at http://www.fightconservatives.com/Inside-the-Book/What-Breed-of-Liberal-Are-You.html

Another reason to flee the classroom ...

Eduwonkette on KOS and also Marc Fisher of the WaPo both give us something to ponder after looking at the sorta kinda incentive plan that NYC is apparently going to be trying. Perhaps after five years I'll be ready to give teaching another run but with developments such as these I'm hardly optimistic. Peace ... or War!

Dragging Up the Past

Off Fort Benning's Sand Hill since October 12th (Amen ... yet I worry that my right shoulder will never be the same!) and headed slap across the country to Fort Lewis at the end of the month. I'm still not clear, although clear enough to proceed I suppose, on Uncle Sam's policy on blogging by soldiers so likely just one post for now. More to follow I hope (There's plenty I've been stewing on indeed ... although I've admittedly been as news deprived these last few months as I've been since I was embryonic!) if I saddle back up on Old Blogger.

An especially scary slate seeking the White House from the GOP this cycle and yet I fear the masses will hardly grasp the radicalism these candidates are spouting in their present effort to secure "the base" that makes up a large chunk of today's Republican party. Rudy Giuliani appears to be their boy yet it is way too early. Coverage like what I'll reference below, at least for the rare voters that bothers reading even these common resources, might help educate those on the fence as to some of the perils of going with the GOP's "I'm not Hillary but can beat her in the general" candidate of choice. I'll have plenty to offer on the Democratic candidates (Is there still hope for Progressives?) later I hope, even if merely offline, yet the term "Yellow Dog Democrat" surely applies in 2008 for not just this ornery Scot.

I was pleased to see Michael Cooper and Marc Santora of the Gray Lady today up on MSNBC with their "Mideast hawks help to develop Giuliani policy : Team includes Podhoretz, Pipes and Rubin" piece. I'd noted Fareed Zakaria's recent "Stalin, Mao And … Ahmadinejad? : Conservatives have become surprisingly charitable about two of history's greatest mass murderers" where he also pointed out the lunacy of Norman Podhoretz. In that I was already aware of old Norman's influence on at least Rudy, if not most of the GOP's field, the blogging sirens were calling especially lovely to me.

Truly we've got to understand the past as this old history teacher so often preached. That Dubyah needed all the help he could get to try to understand pretty much anything is a given. However, from Grandpa Fred on down, the GOP's team doesn't exactly seem that "sharp". So is this peril and/or opportunity? How the Vulcans (and yet another book is added to the Amazon list!) influenced a weak-minded "leader" elected by a weak-minded electorate is hardly a past lesson I want to be dragged through again. And I'm hardly sure the American public will pay enough attention to the details to set things straight. Thus the use of The Donald in our image. One works with what they've got I suppose. Peace ... or War!

See you in October or ....

Captain and Baby Plaid are pictured above as of June 2007. We look you in the eye and then look forward. Mercy if he doesn't need a haircut and yet I surely need some hair. Baby hadn't seen me sans beard as the cover came well before his arrival. I went ahead and shaved since Uncle Sam will expect me to keep the chin naked. Forty one and gray as could be so maybe I look younger.

I surely hated to leave the blog with George Will as the image folks might see if they visited and figured these might be the best representations of what I'm about when it comes down to the nut cutting. Far from an ideal parent and woulda coulda shoulda applies for much that Baby Plaid has had to deal with. Still, good Scots always move forward and I've done the best I could by the boy.

Note the view in the background. Highlanders indeed!

Once again, I hope to saddle back up this fall or soon thereafter yet at least know I'll spend the next four or so months down at Fort Benning. Ready to make a top drawer soldier so if posting never occurs again then so be it. Hooah! And of course I must end with the the obligatory Peace ... or War!

George Will Made Me Lie

Although a baseball man, a rather decent and smart one from what I've gathered, George Will has been a frustrating fellow to follow in recent years. I suppose that he, like plenty of those on the right, is struggling mightily under Bu$hCo and the wounded yet still powerful remnants of his Rubber Stamp Congress. Yesterday's WaPo column from Mr. Will, The Case for Conservatism, is surely not the best he's got and yet it makes me nearly certain I'll be back in the saddle. So one more post.

In the meantime, I'll read, study, learn, etc. I'll perhaps be a rare Progressive lefty in the next five or more years. I expect there will be plenty of time for talking and sharing. I've read Lakoff and others that suggest Progressives' failure to frame, and otherwise use language as well as the right has managed, which will I hope serve me well. I've long believed that "centrism" as practiced by many in the Democratic Party is very flawed and yet there are admittedly ways to meet in the middle with some rather serious conservatives if in fact they come at things from an intellectual foundation. Paleo-conservatives are reachable as well in some areas. They can be tough nuts to crack but on many issues we can at least agree to disagree. Then again, even some "social conservatives" can be swayed if given a reasoned and principled path they can walk.

Pompous, dismissive, wordy (not that I can throw stones!) the column is classic George Will. He gets much wrong I'll argue but, assuming he's one of the increasingly rare intellectuals on the right that does still have some influence, I suppose a visit would be a good use of one's reading time. The main reason to link to Will is for a partial understanding of what the right is thinking. If Progressives will get a handle on their concerns, at least those that aren't completely bonkers, then we'll be better situated to join issue.

One can hope the Democratic candidates and their handlers are reading George Will and his ilk in preparing to run a campaign in 2008 that will manage to challenge and also use the concerns of thinking conservatives. Again, that's not "centrism" exactly but winning elections is where changes in policy begin. We've got a long row to hoe in the decade or more to follow so getting thing right in these next few election cycles is truly critical. Picking off conservatives votes is I think often best accomplished on a small scale and I intend to get at least a few votes that the other team would have gotten but for the work of this ornery Scot. How many will you get? Peace ... or War!

Misty Eyed and Choking Up ... I'm Outta Here

The image to the left is one I briefly used as a wallpaper some years back with my middle schoolers. My recollection is that the man was in Iraq yet I'm hardly certain. I can also not supply the appropriate attribution.

I am in no way comparing my emotions today with what this soldier was feeling when this image was captured yet today I enlisted in the United States Army. While prepared for the serious nature of what I was doing, I was surprised when I started choking up and getting a touch weepy while doing my oath. I'd been thinking of my son and ancestors often during the last two days so perhaps this was at least part of what moved me so much. I felt something very powerful in the process. I've long respected professional soldiers, knowing that exceptions do at times apply where some don't deserve to wear the uniform, so to now start building on that tradition in my own life is truly exciting. And scary, especially at the ripe old age of 41. Infantry is my MOS and I've pledged at least five years and seventeen weeks on active duty. I'll try to become an exemplary soldier.

Also, I'm stepping aside from Captain Plaid for at least the next few months. I'll perhaps be unable to post due to deployment or limitations on blogging that will I think apply. I'm not sure about the exact policies and conditions but I'd hope that if settled in I could post on matters that might not involve security issues. Leaving the blog is yet another reason to get weepy and choked up! I have so enjoyed posting as I've learned so much. I've appreciated the chance to share. Maybe I'll be back and perhaps not. In the meantime, I'll just close with the obligatory Peace ... or War!

Across the Pond for some Al Gore and ...

The Guardian serves up some Al Gore wisdom that is very solid. "A drive for global domination has put us in greater danger: Moral authority, which is our greatest source of strength, has been recklessly put at risk by this wilful president" sums up the substance of his writing.

Dead on thinking and writing, something that Gore usually delivers, and yet I still grieve for what could have been but for the mess in Florida in 2000. Al's new book, The Assault on Reason, is one I surely want to spend some time with eventually.

Also, Ian Walsh of Agonist posted at FireDogLake an essay that I highly recommend. Ian's A Mile In My Enemy’s Shoes is a tremendous examination of our flawed foreign policy that seems to fit nicely with what Al Gore wrote. More frustration follows just thinking about our world's loss by having Bu$hCo in office on 9-11 rather than a better set of folks like what Gore would have been surrounded with!

Finally, it's looking like I'll enlist for five years. Doing infantry even. Might as well be up front, even if a bit more seasoned that might be ideal, and looking at the mess with my own eyes. Learning to be a serious fighter is something that I'd welcome. A matching savings plan, GI Bill that I may be able to at least share some with Baby Plaid, bonus/incentive money, etc. applies. I am rather tired of the struggle of trying to find meaningful work. I'm hardly gung ho about much in our society/gov't these days but service under arms is I hope an honorable way to do good work for our nation. Peace ... or War!

Heck of a job Bu$hie (and Congress and ...)

Lisa Myers and Robert Windrem of NBC's Investigative Unit give us the latest reporting confirming what most of us already suspect. Their work is titled CIA warned of risks of war in the Mideast: Pre-war reports say agency predicted dangers of toppling Saddam's regime.

The "Intelligence" Committees, especially in the Senate, have some 'splaining to do and yet plenty, if not all, of those very same members remain in place. It is appropriate to ask the hard, hard questions that so far have pretty much been avoided by Bu$hCo. Congress and our media owes the American public, not to mention our military and their families, this course of action.

It does seem to this observer that George Tenet ought to give back that Medal of Freedom. He should also perhaps donate most, if not all, of the profits to organizations supporting those innocents, including Iraqis, killed and wounded. Rumsfeld and the other enablers (Tenet, Wolfowitz, Feith, etc.) that have left this failed administration are due to be essentially hounded by the press. They might not talk but I'd at least try to ask the questions if I were a reporter of any weight. Peace ... or War!

Just how ornery and crazy is this Scot?

One of my rare readers, earned from my time on the Left Coast, asked me what was going on so I'll share with others that might still drop by plus ask for your thoughts.

After recovering from the campaign I started looking for meaningful work. I started back posting and yet I've been limiting my blogging lately with the thought that I'd be unable to continue in my poverty and pursuit of the dollar.

I've previously bitched and moaned about NCLB and the burdens of the cement block classroom teacher. I love the kids and teaching/learning but so far not ready to go back to the trenches.

I've walked away from playing country lawyer, largely defending the indigent from "the man" and helping resolve which spouse gets the doublewide. I talked with one of my old Circuit Judges the other day and reflected with him on how he advised me way back in the day about how practicing in Randolph County was "drudgery". I was a good criminal defense lawyer and enjoyed the work but darned if most of those facing charges aren't poor. Fighting the many injustices in the system took a toll on this lefty. Since I went to a then non-ABA blessed law school (even a lower tier than Regent Law where Bu$hCo got so much of their "talent") I'm limited in some options as well.

Politics, especially that with a Progressive orientation, was the destination. Alternatively I'd work for a non-profit or some organization doing meaningful work. Thought about lobbying even, although I loathe how the Big Mules influence so much of politics. My work this fall seemed solid and I surely worked like two Trojans the whole time I was in California. I hoped doors would be opened. Even when I've knocked, and admittedly I'm not always as assertive on asking as I might should be, they've remained closed. And darned if the wages from the left are weak. As an aside, conservative groups seem willing to pay decent wages for even marginal talent yet the care and feeding of activists on the left is an area where I'm convinced we ought to do better.

Alternatively, I wanted to try Outside Sales and/or Training in a business setting. I could be out and about plus earn a good living that would hopefully allow me to support financially the causes I believed in. I thought my people skills and work ethic and life experiences would have me snapped up even if lacking time in the corporate world. I thought being a Road Warrior would allow me, at least on most weekends, to perhaps remain on the Ponderosa and near Baby Plaid, soon to be twelve plus standing five feet and well over a hundred pounds.

So I bet on myself yet the house is now calling the wager. I'm working on small building projects and doing periodic work to keep my bread buttered. I'm resigned to the fact I'll need to seek my fortunes away from the Tin Shop in rural East Alabama. Lord if I'm not sick of Career Builder and Monster plus the whole process of chasing meaningful or even tolerable work. Still, finding even entry level positions in the big city, such as Auburn/Lee County seems to me, is a hard row to hoe. What just living takes for a single person requires more than even a so called living wage. While I'm a tasty blend of Capitalist and Socialist the reality seems to be the economy today is working for the few. I might resist Bourgeoisie life more than I should but I do think often that the markets grind up not just the Serfs but plenty of the middle class as well. Aristotle claimed all paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind. Guess we can't all be philosophers and even so he'd perhaps have a hard time getting booked and published by the corporate media masters that control so much today.

While I've got a few things still in the pipeline, I have been talking with an Army recruiter. I took the ASVAB and made an 88, although some math I've not used since over twenty years ago took a toll. My line scores are high enough to qualify me for any MOS (job) yet still doing the physical process. For folks over 40 Uncle Sam puts you on the rack and checks you out thoroughly. Some high frequency hearing loss in my left ear that they can waive but so far things look good. Physically I'm hardly the fastest runner yet I'm country strong so figure I could handle, even if a touch more seasoned that most, the joys of boot camp. My old knees might snap and pop but think they'll still work.

I'm looking hard at Public Affairs (journalism of sorts) but would consider pretty much anything except for tanks (can't be hemmed up!) should that not work out. While I enjoy tech and the like I prefer to be out and about enough to not seek that sort of MOS. The training might be enjoyable and profitable however. I could go in as an E-4 (Specialist) and the opportunities for rapid advancement are allegedly there. There is a $6ooo bonus for my education and certain MOS selections get enlistment incentives as well.

While I'm no gun nut I have grown up with weapons and my Scottish blood would likely help me be a decent grunt. Those that read and know me surely know that Bu$hCo's invasion of Iraq has been something I've long been against. I suppose there's some irony in this loathed administration opening the door for an old dog like me. Surely once Commander Codpiece is back in Crawford things will be better and yet he and his will leave our military bent and battered, from mission to morale to mechanics to ... Being part of rebuilding after the Conservatives ruin things is what good lefty types do isn't it?

I worry some about the lowered standards, such as those that allow a graybeard like me in, would perhaps allow some rough customers in that I'd have to work with yet figure Uncle Sam would cull them soon enough. I also have concerns about the gung ho types. I'm likely a reluctant warrior yet know there's a time to kill, or at least be willing to kill. Evangelicals and conservatives will be in the military as well yet I can't imagine it being as bad as I'm used to in my locale.

I am attracted to the service component of the military. I do love our nation, even if so very flawed. I'm a citizen of the world of course yet think patriotism is usually a worthy virtue.

Hardly a simple man, the satisfaction of doing meaningful work goes a long way in making me content. My recruiter and some of the others in the office were a touch tickled when I asked about post libraries. I'd be an oddity indeed around the base.

I worry about being severely disabled more than being killed yet as a father I suppose checking out is a concern. If KIA I could provide $400,000 in insurance for the boy. Being deployed and away from Baby Plaid would be tough and yet with modern tech it might be a little better than back in the day. Given his age if I went in for only four years he'd be driving when I got out. Since his mother can be a heifer at times this option might work out just fine. I've done a good job for the most part with the boy and the foundation is there. Ideally I'd have him nearby as would be ideal yet choices were made that has not allowed this to be as I'd have wished. Some educational benefits would help him as well. There are other things to boot like decent health care and my getting at least thirty days vacation.

Not sure I'd want to do a full twenty years or even a short term. But I'm looking. Partly I started this out of frustration and yet the more I ponder the more I'm intrigued.

While I'm doing this post as partly an update with an explanation of why I'm not posting much of anything I also would appreciate feedback or other suggestions. Maybe there's some therapy as well? One additional thing that bothers me is the military seems to frown on blogging. I surely know the security concerns are legit and yet posting allows this fella a chance to process thoughts that are as meaningful as anything I've ever done. So what do y'all think? Peace ... or War!

Big Pharma Wins Another Round in Senate

"In a triumph for the pharmaceutical industry, the Senate on Monday killed a drive to allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from abroad at a significant savings over domestic prices.

On a 49-40 vote, the Senate required the administration to certify the safety and effectiveness of imported drugs before they can be imported, a requirement that officials have said they cannot meet."

Bought and paid for? Peace ... or War!

The Middle Class Squeeze courtesy of the GOP

The Senate's Democratic Policy Committee Serves up some serious angst with their Middle-Class Life Under Bush: Less Affordable and Less Secure. Mercy if this ought to do it when it comes time to vote in 2008 and beyond. If any of the rare visitors here do think they still plan to vote for the GOP candidate of their choice, I'd truly like to know why. If it will only be for "culture war" reasons then at least admit it please. Peace ... or War!

Reagan's "Mourning in America" and today's GOP

Campaign for America's Future is a grand resource and their The Big Con effort is proving very useful as well. Their Republican Debate: Monochromatic Candidates, Stale Ideas from Robert Borosage served up a solid examination of the many, many failures of The Gipper. Their The Wall Street Journal's op-ed page says Democrats should be embarrassed... from Rick Perlstein examined how movement conservatism simply plays dirty. Karl Rove's nasty nature is hardly a surprise to anyone that has been aware of how conservatives play the game. As an aside, I was unaware of the claim that the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at "Princeton University" acted in part as yet another front for the right wing. If this allegation is true, and Robert Borosage and Max Blumenthal are viewed by me as good authority, then "bought and paid for" once again seem to be the "principles" of the right. Truly the fight doesn't seem fair to get Progressive ideas out to our society.

As I posted yesterday, and certainly have covered in plenty of other missives, as the 2008 cycle is fought, Progressives can't allow the GOP to attempt to avoid the failures of "conservatism" by claiming Bu$hCo hasn't been a true "conservative". While there's some truth to the idea that that the Bu$hies aren't legit, the goal ought to be diving into a blistering critique of the right. There's plenty of ground to be gained by killing off, or at least seriously wounding, the recent versions of "conservatism" we've had to suffer through these last three decades. That suggestion being offered, I'll admit that I can accept at least a few "conservative" ideas. The trouble is that the wing nuts and opportunists on the right, and there are plenty indeed, take a limited construct that has a place in intelligent discourse and then expand it to an exponential level of stupidity. This nation simply can't afford the last two or three decades version of "conservatism" as we move forward into the early 21st century. Peace ... or War!

GOP Dumping Dubyah for The Gipper

Newsweek's Marcus Mabry reveals Dubyah is down to 28%. No wonder everyone of the old white guys of the GOP tried to avoid talking up Bu$hCo. Hardly would I think that a return to the Days of Reagan would be a good thing yet that appears to be all they've got. Surely this great nation has had enough of pseudo-cowboys and "conservatism". Note also that every single Democratic front runner beats the current crop of Republican candidates. Peace ... or War!

Politico's "Wuerking Drawings" Cartoon Gem

I'm no fan of The Politico yet this one is rather clever and perhaps all too true. If in fact the Bu$hCo administration and the GOP, or even those on my team, are using our military as pawns in their political game hell ought to have a special place kept extra toasty for them. It's a damn shame yet there is usually always some political posturing in warfare, as I'm reminded in reading Jeff Shaara's The Rising Tide on WWII for instance, yet I'd argue that Dubyah and the Mayberry Machiavellis have been largely about style over substance in their "support" of the military. On the fourth anniversary of "Mission Accomplished" I really appreciated Keith Olbermann interviewing Rachel Maddow under the theme of "Bogus, Bogus, Bogus." The Commander Codpiece scene has proven so symbolic of the Bu$hCo boys. Peace ... or War!

Montgomery Big Mules Once Again Prevent Reform of Alabama's Racist, Outdated, Power Concentrating ... 1901 Constitution

The above image is from 1939. The more things change the more they stay the same? The Anniston Star is a good place to begin examining how the Big Mules, ALFA being their prime example, killed this year's efforts toward our finally getting a brand new Constitution. I would take some exception toward the idea that "agriculture" is the special interest that ALFA represents. I for one think it might be more the landed gentry and Big Timber and ... than true small farming operations.

The Daily Home's editorial from today is likewise just as dead on right. Silly arguments are the only ones reform opponents have home boys! Even the most addled observer knows chunking the 1901 Constitution is critical to this state ever moving forward. Exhibit One as to our failures of "leadership" could be the Senate "leaders" acting like jackasses this term yet we can change paper even if personalities might take a little longer to replace. I think replacing the latter will be lots easier when the former is accomplished. I did appreciate the home boys brief mention of Sandra Bell, president of the Alabama Association of Judeo Christian Values. What a shill! What a shoddy web presence! This isn't even enough to look like an astroturf effort. In Montgomery on Tuesday evening I could watch WSFA. Mercy I miss having that station. This allowed me to lay eyes on Ms. Bell on the tube and once again she didn't disappoint when given an opportunity to speak toward immigration issues. Values indeed!

Truly the Star is correct that "an article by article approach" is more about having the good old boys (and gals?) on Goat Hill making sure the Big Mules are taken care of than any fear that "special interests" will dominate a Constitutional Convention. The powers that be have Goat Hill locked up and the 1901 Constitution is just what they want to have. They'll lie, cheat, and steal to keep their lock on pretty much every way things get done, or perhaps more accurately not done, in Alabama.

Before I close the post, I'll give an update on my status. Still looking about for meaningful work. Have pretty much given up on staying here in rural East Alabama so a move, probably out of Alabama and maybe even the South or perhaps even the country, is likely. Broke and burdened, I've got a few prospects left but anticipate I'll soon call it a day up here near the Tin Shop. Only thing for certain now is that posting will be sporadic and very well may soon end, at least for a good while. Looking ahead, if able, I might wind back up on the intertubes, or whatever network is about five or ten or twenty years on down the road, as I do enjoy blogging.

For now, I just close with "Peace ... or War!" I'm hardly at "peace", and truly don't know that I've hardly ever known it, especially in the last eight years. Additionally, my early years were hardly ideal with my mother's death far too early and the ways of Papa Plaid until he "mellowed" in his last years. I surely took some time to "mellow" as well. Plenty of mistakes, personally and professionally, indeed. Maybe I can find "peace" in "war", political or otherwise?