What if chaos in Iraq was the plan all along?
Before you decide that I've totally gone off the rails, please consider a few things in light of Occam's razor: The simplest explanation that fits the available facts is probably true.
First, all those juicy no-bid contracts handed out to Halliburton, KBR (a Halliburton subsidiary) and other well connected contributers.
Second, oil has been above $50 a barrel for some time now - how convenient for the president from big oil.
Third, the unseemly haste to announce that US firms would handle oil exploration and development.
Fourth, the conduct of the war itself and it's aftermath - that one I'll examine on the flip side.
Your, job as I see it, is to pass good legislation and if possible, get it enacted into law. If you pick your battles carefully and refuse to back down on core principles, it's a win for our nation and our party. For example, couple a substantial increase in the standard deduction with a repeal of the upper level tax cuts. Pass an omnibus energy conservation bill. No issue is more vital to our national well being. Remove the cap on Social Security taxes, while lowering the overall rate.
The msm are more optomistic: Dem 47 Rep 49 Ind 2.
That's with two races undecided! Tester and Webb are leading in the two undecided races! Looks like both of them are gonna pull out squeakers. If I am right and both indies caucus with the Dems as expected, that means we pulled it out. House numbers don't look right to me either.
"Fairness in voting act"
This act will provide that every vote cast must engender a verifiable paper trail.
That every U.S. citizen has an unqualified right to vote,and
That any law in conflict with this act is null and void.
That any attempt to manipulate ballots, the machines counting them, add to or subtract from the legitimate vote count shall be a felony punishable by a minimum 10 years in prison. That conspiracy to suppress a vote is a felony, punishable by a minimum of one year in prison per voter.
That whistleblowers will be provided with a $10000 bonus per conspirator or $1000 per vote suppressed, whichever is greater, to be assesd as a fine against the miscreants, collected by the court, and paid directly to said whistleblower.
Barbara Ann Radnofsky (Dem) just kicked Hutchison's ass! She's a real longshot at this point, but with the current climate, and some last minute money, she might win! She is forceful, one helluva debater, and whatever the outcome of this election, she has a real future in Texas politics. Help her turn this red state blue!
It was about 1978 and I had dreamed that the traitor Kissinger was to become the permanent secretary of state. Even when I realized that it had only been a horrible nightmare, it took a long time to shake the panic and depression the dream had engendered, so you can imagine my delight when I heard that Nixon wannabe W was soliciting his advice. For those of you too young to remember, LBJ was desperate to end the Vietnam war before the '68 election, and instructed his lead negotiator (K) to do whatever it took to reach a peace deal.
K however, made a secret deal to with Nixon to sabotage those talks. That's how he became Nixon's secretary of state.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but spread the word. There is a clear legal obligation for employers to immediately investigate and curtail all such behavior. How much more so when the employees are teenagers? How can a kid who came to Washington with dreams of a political future say "No congressman, I wouldn't feel comfortable going to dinner with you" or "I can't go to your room, congressman, it wouldn't be appropriate" or "Stop that congressman, I don't like it" or "If you keep emailing me, I'm gonna tell"?
It's hard enough for adults, that's why we have the laws.
If we keep attacking on the wrong front, this explosion may fizzle and we can still lose.
Much as I'm thrilled by the Rs circular firing squad and the media frenzy that is still building I'm afraid that it is mostly missing the point, and that if we fail to get on point and stay there, big as this all seems now, it may fade. How does a politically ambitious 16 year old turn down a dinner invitation from a congressman? Straight or gay, how does he/she tell someone who can make or break their career, "stop that, I don't like it."? WE DON'T KNOW THAT ANY LAWS WERE BROKEN HERE, BUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT CERTAINLY DID OCCUR, and superiors (the house leadership) who were informed, who had a legal and ethical obligation to investigate the allegations and prevent further outrages, conducted no real investigation, took no real action. If this was a corporation, the lawyers would be looking for a high window from which to leap. Were this a school, everybody involved would already be out the door.
A few weeks ago a secret U.S.Marine report was leaked detailing a drastic increase in insurgent activity in Iraq's Al Anbar province, the Sunni area in which Al Queida is most actively recruiting, training, and "blooding" it's fighters. (a soldier who has actually fought -been blooded- and survived is worth several raw recruits) A few days later U.S. forces were WITHDRAWN from the province and "redeployed" to Bagdad. I expected this to be a major news story, because it means WE HAVE LOST THE WAR. Remember, "we're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here"? WE are in full retreat-we have lost. Mussharif, our "ally" in Pakistan, has made a treaty providing for a safe haven in Waziristan for the Taliban, poppy production is at record levels, and we are losing there too.
