Tannishblog

The Chicago Tribune reports today ex-Democratic, neo-Independant turncoat Senator Joe Lieberman wants to play rough with the Iranians:

"I think we’ve got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," Lieberman said. "And to me, that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."

"We’ve said so publicly that the Iranians have a base in Iran at which they are training Iraqis who are coming in and killing Americans. By some estimates, they have killed as many as 200 American soldiers," Lieberman said. "Well, we can tell them we want them to stop that. But if there’s any hope of the Iranians living according to the international rule of law and stopping, for instance, their nuclear weapons development, we can’t just talk to them."

He added, "If they don’t play by the rules, we’ve got to use our force, and to me, that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they’re doing."

Who voted to put the troops in harms way, Joe? Who’s ultimately responsible for American deaths in Iraq? The Iranians want us out of Iraq. The Iraqis want us out - they’ve voted on it, even! Americans want the troops home. I’ll venture to say that the troops themselves would rather be home. That’s an overwhelming majority by any count.

Maybe if we start to bring home our soldiers, the American death toll will lessen. Do you think so, Joe? Maybe if we admit we screwed up Georgie’s Daddy’s War, we can start a healing process. It is a sign of maturity that a person can admit mistakes, apologize and make amends. It’s a sign of mature leadership, of sane statesmanship, too.

But you wouldn’t know about that, would you, Joe?

The US and Russia are sparring again. Tensions rise at Vladimir Putin comments on America’s recent refocus on ballistic weapons.

Putin said Russia’s testing of new intercontinental and cruise missiles earlier this week was "aimed at maintaining the balance of forces in the world." "Our partners are filling Eastern Europe with new weapons," he told reporters in Moscow in a joint news conference with Greek President Carolos Papoulias. "What are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this. In our opinion, it is nothing different from ‘diktat,’ nothing different from imperialism." Washington is currently discussing deployment of parts of the system with Poland and the Czech Republic.

He’s right. America’s current incarnation, as exemplified by our cowboy/ yahoo/ redneck administration, is an Imperialistic beast. Our rediscovered bombplex mentality is only another manifestation of "bring ‘em on!" At some point, the braggadocio must be challenged, the bluff called. Somebody is going to step up to put the bully down. The grand theatre of foreign relations can be reduced to playground politics.

The White house denies the claim of a new cold war. Dominatrix Rice shoots back:

Rice, for her part, took aim Thursday at Russia’s record on human rights and democracy under Putin.

Rice said the United States wants a strong Russia as a partner, but Russia needs to adhere to democratic norms, such as allowing an independent judiciary, a free press and free and fair elections.

"Democratic institutions and an open society are not a source of weakness," Rice said after accepting an award for promoting better relations between the United States and Germany. "Nor is freedom of speech and freedom of the press just a nuisance that the state can attack at will."

Wait! We’re criticizing their human rights record? After Gitmo, shouldn’t we just shut up about that? And did you notice her rhetoric was as empty as a Rovian promise? Nothing was said about ballistics…

But what would you expect them her say? A huge portion of Gross Domestic Product is entwined in the military-industrial sector. Shareholder view - and of their lobbyists - a new cold war would be great for business.And in modern America that’s all the justification needed.How many of those shareholders work in Washington today?

Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and Russia have all been recipients of America’s arrogant hubris. Whose next, China?

This must stop.

Cindy Sheehan has left the Peace Movement. It is as sad as it is inevitable. Her diary entry on dailykos.com exudes defeat, resignation and weariness. No as many people are cheering her "demise" as are saddened by it.

Cindy, you did Good. And you did it well. You kick-started a national awareness movement, and that alone justifies your sacrifices. Only in the face of great adversity will people arise from their self-imposed stupor to pay attention, let alone take action, and to peer around blinking. You started this. Thank you.

In fantasy fiction the largest beats always move slowly. Much energy is needed to more such mass. So, too, the bureaucratic behemoth that is the United States also moves ponderously. Once it does, it moves inexorably. You started it. You’ve done more for America than anyone else by awakening sleeping beast of Democracy. Again, thank you.

Two questions remain: Where will it go? How far will it travel? Only fools will guess. While the entrenched Republic half of our Great Experiment continues, the Demon of Democracy is now alert and pondering. What more can one person do?

You’ve earned your rest. Go home not in defeat, but peaceful in the realization that you, on behalf of Casey, did more for the future of this nation than anyone in recent years. May your years be good ones.

One aspect of my job is to make delivery runs throughout four-city quadrangle of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois and Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. I’ve been known to drive to Minneapolis/ St. Paul occasionally. Such experience, as well as constant comments from my out-of-town colleagues, cause me to rename home turf as Gridlock City. I’m sure there are worse cities in the world in which to drive, but for the upper mid-west, Chicago is the toughest commute for your money.

And it takes a lot more money, too. The Chicago Tribune today features Gridlock City’s Number 1 status at the gas pump: we pay the most in the nation for our juice. A separate article tries to explain the whole mess. Refinery problems, local taxes, extra fuel processing to counter act smog - I’m not convinced.

Two things keep creeping into my mind, things the stories don’t cover: War uses fuel, and Unprecedented profits by oil companies last year. Why isn’t that on the table? Hush-hush, closed door meetings between Vice President Halliburton and the energy moguls a few years back might have something to do with why I’m gouged for gasoline every summer.

In Gridlock City, not only will you pay a premium for gas, but you’ll spend more of it while sitting in traffic jams and breathing the brown haze. Such are the perils of modern times.

Columbia, South Carolina hosted another non-debate of Republican presidential fodder - I mean hopefuls. CNN report how they’re "getting feisty," as each tried to one-up the other by shouting what is sure to be the mantra of the 2008 Republican bid: "Abortion, Gun Control and Less Taxes, Amen."

As I noted earlier, what else can they discuss? So many topic are toxic right now. Not only is the above chant hackneyed, but most American’s don’t really give a damn. The attention deficit disorder of the MSM is sure to get bored with repeated recitations of fringe issues. It’ll be interesting to see the tricks played by these intrepid soon-to-be losers to keep their names in headlines for the duration. Keep your barf bag handy.

Anyone hoping to be the Republican presidential contender this time around has got to be commended - or crazy. (Why does Rudy Guiliani come to mind?) These intrepid idiotarians are backed into a corner of their own making so tightly their underwear has right angles. As evident by the empty words uttered at their presidential debate, the corner they’re in hasn’t a board left to stand on.

I’m not surprised to read the Washington Post’s report of Mayor Rudy is taking flack for his comments on abortion. John "Kevlar Kommando" McCain, arguably the Republican frontrunner, decries Rudy’s remarks as counter to "the fundamental principles of a conservative." Interesting choice of words from the veteran Baghdad shopper; the word "value" is notably absent.

That’s why it’ll be a murderous campaign for the Republican nomination. They can’t talk about their "values" without heckling from the media. In fact, they can’t talk about:

• Iraq
• US Attorneys
• Health Care
• Education
• Global Warming
• Republican Integrity
• George W Bush
• Tom DeLay
• Gitmo
• Walter Reed Hospital
• Osama Bin Laden

What’s left to talk about? Mayor Guiliani’s support of choice for women, his contributions to planned parenthood in the 1990’s. Naturally, the 101st Flying Keyboarders of Right Blogistan and conservative talk-show hosts are all over it. Their other talking points are as stale as last month’s saltines, their pet projects in the War against Brown People are just as unappetizing. All the while the few congressional Republicans who managed to hold onto their seats are fleeing any association with the White House like rats on a sinking ship. (More a fact than a simile.)

So give these hopefuls some credit. None have a chance in Hell of sitting in the Oval Office anytime soon, but they all have the intestinal fortitude to gamble their political futures on the thinnest of chances. For that they should get a medal for bravery. That or a straight jacket.

Impeachment is getting a lot of traction lately. www.a28.org is the latest web roots attempt at creating a notional movement to oust our ineffective leadership. Their tagline is that today, April 28th, is the first day of Impeachment Summer. I hope their right.

But I’m skeptical. The time for preparation for impeachment was last year. Gathering evidence takes time, and to begin now would only result in an outcome determined only a few weeks before the natural ending of Bush’s term. What benefit is that?

What is the current value of impeachment? The republican congress of Newt Gingrich has forever cheapened the role of impeachment in the way they used it as political leverage to lynch Bill Clinton. What he did was a personal matter, it was not a national disaster. Hurricane Katrina is a national disaster. Our misbegotten war in Iraq is a national disaster, as is the regression of stability within Afghanistan that is currently taking place. The hubris and arrogance, cheating and dishonesty of the Bush administration is a national disaster. The selective amnesia of our Attorney General (no doubt a side effect of extended use of party-line Kool-ade) is a national travesty, if not yet a disaster. These things matter far more than the sexual adventures of consenting adults.

I ponder if it wouldn’t be better to gather all possible records toward the goal of impeachment, but to delay until the administration is out of office. Then we might go after these former public diservants as the war criminals they truly are. To my mind, the charge of war crimes, held in an international arena, has more weight than a mere presidential impeachment process.

A war crimes tribunal hosted by the UN would be better. Freezing the monetary gains made by war the profiteering of Dick Cheney and pals would get their attention: money is central to their thinking. After all, this whole Iraq disaster is "just another business deal" to secure an oil sharing agreement from Iraq. Our administration will not willingly withdraw from Iraq until the fledgling government there agrees to our terms regarding the sharing of oil with the United States. Republicans have said so as recently as last week during the debate in the Senate on troop withdrawal timelines.

So I reservedly back the growing impeachment movement, unconvinced it will do any good. At the same time, I believe we must "prepare for trial" regardless of possible outcome. Please support this growing movement. It is the only way average Americans can regain a voice in our own destiny between election cycles. Even if you think, like I do, that it may be in vain. While the time is running out on impeachment, there is no statute of limitations for war criminals. We can take all the time we need.

Three dollars a gallon - already!

The annual Gasoline Gouge season is upon us and, similar to the newly extended presidential primary season, it’s early. CNN reports average prices to be $2.87 a gallon. It’s always higher than average in Chicagoland. Here in the County of Cook - what with all the layers of taxation accrued - the cheapest gas is $2.89. Or is was yesterday. Last night the gasoline price gremlins went to work raising the bar by ten cents. The "Premium" grades are thirty cents more. (What makes them premium besides the premium price?)

I usually use the good stuff to keep my fifteen year-old engine as clean as possible. See: I’ve bought into (literally) the marketing flim-flam. As I squeeze the nozzle, I’m being squeezed for more money in return. Squeeze me some more, show me you love me.

CNN also mentions the eventuality of $4-per-gallon. Unprecedented profits derive from unprecedented prices.  If that ain’t magic, I don’t know what is…

One wonders what they’re going to do with all that money - start a war? Oh. Yeah…

Shouldn’t they be buying their own soldiers?

CNN reports:

The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on government-issued headstones of fallen soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday.

A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans adds the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief" allowed on VA grave markers.

[…]

The VA sought the settlement in the interest of the families involved and to save taxpayers the expense of further litigation, VA spokesman Matt Burns said. The agency also agreed to pay $225,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.

The pentacle has been added to 38 symbols the VA already permits on gravestones. They include commonly recognized symbols for Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, as well as those for smaller religions such as Sufism Reoriented, Eckankar and the Japanese faith Seicho-No-Ie.

"This settlement has forced the Bush Administration into acknowledging that there are no second class religions in America, including among our nation’s veterans," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which represented the Wiccans in the lawsuit.

That is not entirely accurate. The Bush administration did nothing in this matter - the VA did. Bushies don’t care enough. So kudos the the VA for saving taxpayers money, their own time on a non-issue that I’m sure some would make a stink about. It if appeases a grieving family - so be it. What harm can it do?

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan plans to abdicate the throne next year. He is, after all, 100 years old. His vision is to modernize his tiny nation, and for the past decade he has brought in modern imports such as cable television and the Internet. Too, he has ordered his nation to begin mock elections in preparation for installing a Democracy.

 Four political parties presents directional choices for the new Democracy, each named for the national symbol a Druk, or thunder Dragon: Druk Green, Druk Blue,  Druk Red and Druk Yellow. The citizens are to vote for the party that best represents their priorities for the fledgling  government.

The elections test the democratic process on a people that love their king, so much so that they will vote because he tells them to. It is because of this affection, and the precepts of Buddhism that keep this small society orderly. And, perhaps, their monarch’s interest in a non-western ideal of Gross National Happiness. As the NY Times reports:

“The objectives are to ensure national security, national sovereignty, well-being and prosperity, which will lead to gross national happiness also,” the prime minister said. “His Majesty believes this is the best form of government, and the people of Bhutan are ready to launch this.”

How the strange lures of modernity will affect the gross national happiness, the unusual yardstick the king invented to measure his nation’s progress, is a matter of uncertainty and wonder in this country. Gross national happiness includes criteria like equity, good government and harmony with nature.

How refreshing. A possible Democracy devoted to the pursuit of happiness. That sounds vaguely familiar…

Using such a yardstick to progress is revolutionary. No other Democracy has one. That’s the Buddhism philosophy shining through; the recognition that everyone seeks happiness and avoids suffering. Imagine a government actively seeking to improve the happiness of its citizens instead of it’s wealth? Fascinating!

But little Bhutan must be strong to not let the capitalism /consumerism message seep into and pollute their high ideals. Just the inclusion of foreign television may be enough to turn a grand experiment sour. Brainwashing people to mindlessly consume, a mainstay of broadcast programming here, has done little toward America’s Gross National Happiness. And I wonder how these tame Buddhists-types will react to Internet porn?

You know what they say…Stay Tuned.