Office of the Independent Blogger

Israeli ground troops have invaded Lebanon, and Tony Blair joined Kofi Annan in calling for the deployment of International Peacekeepers to the region. A timeline of everything that’s occurred and is occurring can be found here, and some of President Bush’s more intimate thoughts can be found here, as he was caught speaking by microphones he didn’t know were there. Some of what he said was sadly ironic to me,

Bush expressed his frustration with the United Nations and his disgust with the militant Islamic group and its backers in Syria as he talked to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the closing lunch at the Group of Eight summit. “See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s— and it’s over,” Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll. He told Blair he felt like telling U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who visited the gathered leaders, to get on the phone with Syrian President Bashar Assad to “make something happen.” He suggested Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might visit the region soon.

Isn’t that funny? If Bush could find the time to open a dialogue with other countries and accept their outreach, so many of our problems would either have not begun (in the case of Iran, North Korea, Palestine) or would have been lessened (the same three cases). I, personally, never reject an apology offhand, and if someone wants to talk, I talk. If I have a problem with someone, I reach out to them to discuss it. I’m not above toughness or standing your ground, but I am beyond a childish refusal to respond to messages or pretend that someone or something doesn’t exist. Bush isn’t, and for him to call on Kofi Annan to talk to Syria is unreal. Why can’t he talk to Syria and Israel? He is the President of the United States, and in so being he has more power than Kofi Annan could ever dream of giving up to the French!

I think that there’s only been one positive development from this War, and it’s this news, the news that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and a handful of other Gulf countries are criticizing the attacks on Israel. As the article notes, the Middle East is fearful of Iran, and trusts Israel more as a safer presence. It’s a start toward better Mideast relations, and it’s surely a fire that we should attempt to stoke. Anything that encourages better relations between Israel and Arabs should be utilized by the US Government to help build trust and friendship. (Don’t get me wrong: I still think that Israel’s actions are indefensible, but I am, at least, glad that there are some Muslim countries above reactionary Jew-hating.) Negatively, there’ve been several effects and developments: the first is that Israel is destroying Lebanon. The other is that human lives are being ripped to shreds as if they were nothing. Another has to do with America’s refusal to enter the conflict as Peacemaker.

And then there’s this one, Gingrich’s, which involves Newt saying that George Bush should call a Special Session of Congress and tell the World that we’re fighting World War III. The situation in the Middle East is dire, Mr. Speaker, but there’s no need to call for a third global conflict, destablize the World by putting everyone on high alert, push War with Iran prematurely, and generally create a panic in the world. And on that, I’m sure that the White House agrees.

I’m not sure what George W. Bush’s problem is, but he sure seems to love “the stupid comment,” as he showed this weekend at the G8 when he told Vladimir Putin that his country needed to imitate Iraq’s free press and religion, to be countered by Putin saying, “We certainly would not want to have same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, quite honestly.” First of all, I think it’s poor diplomacy to try and embarrass Russia in their own country by shining the light on their mistakes; Russia is imperfect, but it isn’t a slave state like it used to be, and so the time was not at the G8 to knead them. But, at least, Bush gave Putin a large target to club.

And now, to discuss the direction that the Middle East is heading in. Hamas and Hezbollah are working side by side, united in tactics if not exactly, and Syria is mobilizing its Army to prepare for War, Iran is the flame boiling the pot, and the Israelis show no signs of halting their assault on Lebanon.

This is what happens when the United States refuses to have diplomatic relations with countries. If we had any sort of relationship with Iran — if we had, at the least, a phone line between us — we could call them and discuss, and try to calm the rage within. As it stands, we are currently incapable of talking to Syria or Iran about relaxing, and, while we can talk Israel down, we refuse to do that, too because the Administration’s looney toons believe that a “showing of strength” by Israel is in the best interest of everyone. How anyone can defend a President who has idly allowed this sort of violence to flare up and then refuses to lift a finger to stop it is beyond me.

What we’re seeing is the most dramatic unraveling of Peace in thirty years, and maybe the worst since the first World War came on so suddenly. It’s no stretch to say that, unless someone somewhere in Israel, America, Syria or Iran makes a fateful phone call, extends a genuine Olive Branch, we’re going to have some problems.

A friend of mine wisely put it this way after noting that Israel is mistakenly fighting a non-state entity as if it were a State: “Israel is destroying one of the most liberal states in the mid-east and a nascent democracy and basically acheiving nothing because Hezbollah fights guerilla warfare and doesn’t have big camps and headquarters. They are attacking an unregulated militia by destroying neighborhoods in suburban Beirut. They are attacking an unregulated militia by destroying the transportation infrastructure in Lebanon. They are attacking an unregulated militia by literally destroying the Lebanese government. And sadly it won’t end soon - even though nothing but pain will come of this. Because neither hezbollah or the state of Israel is willing to have peace yet. Israel because its acting out of anger and political necessity, Hezbollah because it has nothing to lose.”

Sad, isn’t it? It disgusts me deeply to see what Israel is doing in Lebanon, and even their view on it is obscene (from here).

Nevertheless, Israel says the massive destruction of vital Lebanese infrastructure is intended to show Lebanon’s people the price they will pay for Nasrallah’s decision to instigate a war. “You know that we are doing the right thing, and that if we succeed, Lebanon would be the beneficiary,” Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman told Lebanon’s envoy as they appeared before the Security Council last week.

Machiavelli, anyone?

I haven’t much time today, as I’ll be out in Michigan for awhile, but I thought this article provided an interesting rundown of Russia’s problems, but a faulty prescription for a remedy.

Russia is richer, but clearly not rich. Perhaps more importantly, the country’s economic growth is primarily a function of high oil prices. Growth in commodity-based economies rarely obtains, but rather stagnates over time. One need only look to the Middle East for ample evidence of this process. Therefore, the current economic growth exists on a tenuous foundation.

With population declining annually by more than 750,000 people and male life expectancies hovering near 50, Russia demographically resembles a backward nation at war more than a modern developed state. It seems that the Russian people are getting little more than nominal macroeconomic growth in exchange for their liberty. The overall quality of life in Russia, especially when compared to the rest of the G8, is quite simply abysmal.

Russia has been down this path before. Stalin established military-industrial strength at the cost of political freedom and millions of lives in the 1930s. While Western economies languished during the Great Depression, many foolishly looked to the Soviet Union as hope for a brighter future. Ruling with an iron fist, Stalin was able to transform backward Russia into a literate, technologically advanced superpower. The means by which he achieved this transformation, however, also precipitated the Soviet Union’s later decline and collapse. In short, Stalin’s authoritarianism produced diminishing returns over time. Although Mr. Putin is hardly a sadistic Stalin, his current authoritarian policies may realize similar diminishing returns. As a result, the prosperity promised to Russians in exchange for their liberty may never materialize.

Former Putin aide, Andrei Illarionov, in a recent New York Times article lamented the squandered opportunities for economic and political freedom. In 2006, Russia once again politically resembles the dreary land that revolted against the tsars in 1905 and 1917, and threw off the shackles of communism in 1991. Clearly, the Russian people are still responsible for choosing freedom for themselves. In this regard there is little that the G8 can do over a weekend to alter present circumstances. G8 members can, however, use this Summit as a venue to hold Mr. Putin publicly accountable for his policies. Pressure to free the press would be a good start.

It wouldn’t be in the West’s interest to embarrass Putin in Russia. We should criticize him, and begin to pressure the Russians into Liberalizing, but not at the G8. It would be a massive diplomatic misstep to attack Vladimir in his home country at an event meant to be a source of pride to the Russians.

As you surely know, Israel is invading Lebanon and blasting away at it without mercy. President Bush, I said yesterday, should speak to Israel and attempt to solve this, and end it: hearing my call for action, Bush decided to take the opposite of the one I advocate and promise not to push for a truce. The White House’s strategy is to allow Israel to attempt for dominance over the Lebanese, and the hope is that that will intimidate Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. I, for one, think that idea fatally flawed, so it fits to be coming from this President. The Guardian, too, puts this conflict on Bush’s shoulders because of his indifference to the actions of Israel.

Personally, I’m sad to see that he’s willing to allow this to go on because, on paper, he “doesn’t want to make military decisions for Israel” but, in reality because he wants to send a message to the Muslim world, the wrong message at that! Bush is playing an absurd game of brinksmanship with the Islamic Republics of the World, and if Iran enters this War, or Israel strikes Syria, there is going to be hell to pay.

Valerie Plame is in the news again, this time for filing a lawsuit against Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, alleging that they ruined her career. We’ll see how it goes, but it should be interesting to see what is revealed to the public and what happens to these men who failed and fail to think things through.

Steve King, a House representative from New York, has compared illegal immigrants to livestock in saying that we should build an electric fence to corral them like we would cows. Isn’t that darling?

Israel is ordering more strikes against Lebanon, and what might be called a War is going on there. Israel is upset that two soldiers were kidnapped, so it is ripping Lebanon apart. I’m all for Israel’s right to exist, but it’s time for someone to tell Israel that they don’t have a right to attack any country they like whenever anyone from said country does something wrong. Ultimately, Israel is, in taking actions such as these, perpetuating perpetual war. The time to bleed and kill is past, and it’s time for someone to recognize this.

Can’t we give peace a chance in Israel? Can’t the President give peace a chance by trying for it? Can’t Israel, and Lebanon, and everyone? I’ve said a lot on the subject of Israel and Palestine, and so I’ll leave it at this for now.

Howard Dean and Rahm Emmanuel are fighting amongst themselves. I have sent the DNC a message requesting that they respectfully knock it off, because we have a genuine chance to take genuine power and make genuine changes and deliver genuine good. I’ll bet I get an arbitrary, ready-made response.

The Department of Homeland Security has declared Indiana the most threatened state by terrorists, and its list of targets is long and comical; on it is the Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, the Mule Day Parade, the Sweetwater Flea Market and an unspecified “Beach at End of a Street.” Almost everything on the list of terrorist targets is ripe for ridicule.

In addition to the petting zoo, in Woodville, Ala., and the Mule Day Parade in Columbia, Tenn., the auditors questioned many entries, including “Nix’s Check Cashing,” “Mall at Sears,” “Ice Cream Parlor,” “Tackle Shop,” “Donut Shop,” “Anti-Cruelty Society” and “Bean Fest.” Even people connected to some of those businesses or events are baffled at their inclusion as possible terrorist targets. “Seems like someone has gone overboard,” said Larry Buss, who helps organize the Apple and Pork Festival in Clinton, Ill. “Their time could be spent better doing other things, like providing security for the country.”

This gets me to thinking: my high school is the last farm in Chicago! Clearly we are threatened by the sheer nature of survival: we are the last of a species, and must be given special care, Sears Tower be damned! My cows are as sacred as the pyramids of Egypt, and in accordance, I am going to write a letter to the DHS asking them to give a grant to protect Chicago’s last farm.

Speaking of pyramids and Egypt, in the LA Times today, Bush’s lack of support for the Democracy agenda is looked at, and I find myself disappointed in this President, like always.

IF YOU WANT TO chart the downsizing of President Bush’s democracy-promotion agenda, look at the difference in his handling of Egypt between his first and second terms. Back in 2002, when Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a leading liberal dissident, was rotting in an Egyptian prison, the White House reacted with outrage. After the U.S. threatened to withhold $130 million in aid, Ibrahim was freed by an Egyptian court. This year, “president-for-life” Hosni Mubarak has imprisoned another liberal dissident, Ayman Nour, who had the temerity to challenge Mubarak in last year’s semi-free presidential election. Many other pro-democracy demonstrators also have been locked up or roughed up.

The State Department has reacted with ritual expressions of “concern” and “deep disappointment.” But actions speak louder than words, and even as Mubarak’s goons have been bashing heads in Cairo, his son, Gamal, was in May granted a coveted White House meeting with President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other senior officials. This was quite an honor for someone who occupies no government post — but who is widely considered to be his father’s handpicked successor.

Even worse, the administration has blocked any attempt to tie U.S. aid to improvements in Egypt’s dismal human rights record. When Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.) tried earlier this year to withhold $200 million of Egypt’s $1.8-billion aid package, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch went to Capitol Hill to lobby against the measure. “Our strategic partnership with Egypt is in many ways a cornerstone of our foreign policy in the Middle East,” Welch asserted. “The United States and Egypt share a common vision of a Middle East that is at peace and free of the scourge of terror.”

Maybe if Democracy held a lot of votes in the public, he’d genuinely act on that conviction.

Robert Novak wrote My Role in Plamegate today, and it’s nothing special. I’m a betting man, and I’m willing to lay down my chips on him not telling us the whole story about this. Indeed, he cites Rove as a source but says that Rove’s recollection differs from him; I’d like to know how. We’ll just have to wait and see what Fitzgerald has to see in a couple of years, because I work on a farm, and I know bullshit when I see it.

Thanks to the National Journal, we know now the salary of White House staffers, and thanks to the Journal’s research, we now know the most overpaid staffers, too, and know that there’s a Director of Lessons Learned. This fellow is being paid over a hundred thousand dollars to do nothing at all. It satirizes itself, like this news.

The State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, The Associated Press has learned. Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive U.S. information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said U.S. officials familiar with the hacking. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the widespread intrusions and the resulting investigation. The break-ins and the State Department’s emergency response severely limited Internet access at many locations, including some headquarters offices in Washington, these officials said. Internet connections have been restored across nearly all the department since the break-ins were recognized in mid-June.

That is miserable, and I think it’s the first time that I’ve ever blamed our own government for an attack by someone else. There’s absolutely no reason not to guard our computers well enough to prevent them from being hacked by foreign enemies of the United States. If we can’t secure our hard drives in the United States, how can we be expected to secure anything in these turbulent times? This century sucks, and watching it unravel reminds me of the movie Love Potion #9. Did someone in the Clinton Administration poison the White House’s drinking supply with a poli-potion that would instill all its drinkers with incompetence, because this level of overwhelming stupidity and lazyness can not have come naturally.

In Japan, there’s now a debate over whether or not their Constitution would allow a pre-emptive strike in Korea. The answer is simply No, and I hope that no one in the Administration is saying yes. I do recall that a few years ago we had members of the DOD telling the Japanese of al people that they should build nuclear weapons to deter Pyongyang, so anything’s possible, and anything ridiculous is probable, with the folks we have in Washington. Out of the other hotspot in the world today, there’s nothing positive, nothing new, except for the news that Iran is nowhere nearer compromise on anything. You know, I think it’s time for us to play hardball with Iran. Pull away from the talks, and threaten to. Countries like Iran and North Korea only begin talking when they’re told and shown that time is running out.

It’s better than sitting around listening to them brag about how they’re not going to do anything for the “invaders” from the West.

My condolences to those who died in the bomb attacks in Bombay, India. It’s terrible, and inexcusable.

There are three trends in the philosophy of our society that trouble me greatly, and they are the growing cult of pseudo-certains, along with the lack of historical perspective and a refusal to be proportional by people. It seems that over the years, more people have grown to be absolutely certain of something that they really don’t know much about, and it’s troubling. These are those people who refuse to concede anything in a debate, and think they know everything, and they are poisoning the water in America. Well, them and polluters. I’m looking at you, Exxon-Mobile.

Historical perspective is a funny thing, because it seems that nobody is quite as adept at learning from the past as they should be. Everyone doesn’t have to be Winston Churchill’s reincarnation, but more people should try to, at least, take his shadow into them. But these two trends aren’t that alarming: the worst is, in my view, the lack of proportion of recent years. You know, like impeaching the President for a sex lie; crying that a war is over because of a suicide bombing; and cutting off an entire city’s water supply because one soldier was kidnapped.

Yes, that’s right. An Israeli soldier was kidnapped, so Israel is fighting again. That is nothing new, but to cut off the water of six hundred thousand people because a few individuals took one soldier? That’s brutal, and inhumane, and wrong. It is absolutely shameful that George W. Bush decided early in his Presidency to detach himself from the Israel-Palestine situation, because, while there are no guarantees in International Politics, there is no reason not to attempt and forge peace. His line of thinking was that it’d be too hard, that all Palestine needs is to be slapped across the face by Israel once or twice so as to have dominance established. What’s happened since? Nothing good, and everything bad. If we had a President who didn’t embody these three trends, we’d be so much better off.

In Poland, the President’s twin brother is going to become the Prime Minister. Isn’t that creepy? It’d be like having Bill Clinton as President and Hillary as Speaker of the House; like having George and Jeb in similar position. It just isn’t right.

The Telegraph is running an article about North Korea and China. I hate the beginning portion, where the author runs his mouth about the Clintons as appeasers, and I hate the ending, too, where he uses a false talking point to draw the wrong conclusion.

For it is China, not the United States, that has the power to decide the fate of North Korea. It is China that has consistently propped up the regime’s basket-case economy. It is China that has hitherto resisted calls from the United States and Japan for tougher action when Pyongyang has broken its word. It might be thought that China gains little from having a madman as both a neighbour and a dependant. Until now, however, it has suited Beijing quite well - better, at any event, than a North Korean collapse. Moreover, North Korea has been more than merely a buffer state. It has been a useful proxy, allowing China to probe the vulnerability of South Korea and Japan and to assert Chinese parity with the United States in matters of Asian security.

The big question is whether or not this might be about to change. For perhaps the most significant thing that happened last week was that Kim fired his missiles in defiance not just of the United States, Japan and South Korea but also of China. Before July 4, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Prime Minister, explicitly warned North Korea not to heighten diplomatic tension. By ignoring that warning, the Dear Leader can scarcely have endeared himself to his patrons in Beijing. The Korean peninsula has seen more than enough bombs and missiles in the past 100 years. But when the Chinese finally ditch crazy Kim, it will be time for some real celebratory fireworks.

First: China has no real power to change the North Korean regime. Whatever influence China may have on North Korea is negated by the fact that China needs North Korea. North Korea can, if relations deteriorate, cease patrolling their border and allow refugees to flee into China, which is a major fear of the already overpopulated and starving “People’s Republic.” To be sure, China didn’t appreciate Korea’s actions, but they’re not likely to do anything that’ll harm that regime and sink it, and they certainly won’t join us in war. Why would China ever allow us to occupy a country right beneath them?

There aren’t going to be any changes between China, America and North Korea, and there’s not going to be any fighting, either, in all likelihood. This is a situation that can only be changed by a joint South Korean-America diplomatic effort — a long, sustained one, aimed at the ultimate goal of reconciliation. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has the stomach for negotiation that China has for human rights.

The Federal Budget deficit is said to be coming down to less than three hundred billion dollars, and Republicans are declaring mission accomplished. It is a vindication of supply side economics and tax cuts, they say. I answer with, that is what’s considered in the GOP to be a success? Excuse me for not leaping in glee, but we should’ve never been in this deficit position, and we shouldn’t even be this far in the red. It’s just ridiculous, and irresponsible to boot.

Bob Novak had an interesting report this morning about Rudy Giuliani, the incompetent and sleazy former Mayor of New York whose goal is to ride 9/11 to the White House.

Well-connected public figures report that they have been told recently by Rudolph Giuliani that, as of now, he intends to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. The former mayor of New York was on top of last month’s national Gallup poll measuring presidential preferences by registered Republicans, with 29 percent. Sen. John McCain’s 24 percent was second, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich third at 8 percent. National polls all year have shown Giuliani running either first or second to McCain, with the rest of the presidential possibilities far behind. Republican insiders respond to these numbers by saying rank-and-file GOP voters will abandon Giuliani once they realize his position on abortion, gay rights and gun control. Party strategists calculate that if he actually runs, he must change on at least one of these issues.

There you go, folks. Giuliani intends to run, and Republicans think he’ll have to reverse one of his heartfelt convictions to be President. I don’t know if that says more about the GOP strategists’ low opinion of Republican voters — they’re willing to accept not just a flip-flopper, but a flip-flopper who only flips on a position, but doesn’t flop on the others?! — or about Giuliani, if he does switch opinions. Color me cynical and call me a meanie, but I can totally see Giuliani changing his mind about things that he’s stood for forever. That’s just the type of man he is.

George W. Bush is in Chicago this week, and he’s as bending the truth like Beckham bends soccer balls.

President Bush kicked off a two-day visit to Illinois Thursday night by celebrating his 60th birthday with Mayor Daley and business leaders at a South Loop restaurant. “Laura said, ‘What do you want for your birthday?’ I said I want to have dinner in Chicago with the mayor,” a jovial Bush told the press corps and his guests in a private room at the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant at 14th and Michigan. Daley is a regular there. “I’ve got a lot of birthday wishes,” Bush, dressed casually in a blue button-down shirt, continued. “I hope the troops are safe. I hope Roger Ebert does well.” Ebert, the Chicago Sun-Times’ iconic film critic, underwent emergency surgery earlier this week.

Let’s analyze, shall we? Does he mean to have us believe that he told his wife he wanted to come to Chicago for his birthday, seriously? He wanted to visit what is probably the bluest city in America, to talk to an old Liberal lion and fundraise for a Republican gubernatorial candidate that he didn’t fully support and that has no chance in Springfield of becoming the Governor? Give me a break! And, as if that wasn’t enough, I have it on good source that he is not only not a fan of Roger Ebert, but a Richard Roper man!

Actually, the reason he came, as I suspect it, is a bit humorous in its own way. Mayor Daley’s former patronage chief was convicted yesterday along with a few others for being crooked political hacks. Patrick Fitzgerald prosecuted them, and he is the same man who has the Bush Administration by the Libby. I’ll bet they’re having a randy old time discussing their mutual distaste for Fitzgerald. But I suspect that, when it’s all said and done, Bush will have far more reasons to hate Fitzgerald, especially considering that Patrick Fitzgerald keeps showing Bush to be a liar and a phony. From here,

Bush told Fitzgerald that he had directed Vice President Cheney in the summer of 2003 to counter damaging allegations being made by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, and gave Cheney permission to disclose highly classified intelligence information to do so. Bush did not admit any connection to the act at the center of the criminal investigation. “Bush also said during his interview with prosecutors that he had never directed anyone to disclose the identity of then-covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, Wilson’s wife,” Waas writes. “Bush said he had no information that Cheney had disclosed Plame’s identity or directed anyone else to do so.” Publicly, Bush has consistently portrayed himself as not only uninvolved with the leak of Plame’s identity, but utterly in the dark about it — and determined to punish any wrongdoers.

The truth, of course, depends upon what the meaning of the word “directed” and “counter” mean. It all depends on which way the truth spins, and what semantics you want to play. All I know is, that if you direct a hitman to “take care of” your family, and they are killed, you’re absolutely liable for their murder. Bush is, then, liable for the death of Valerie Plame’s CIA career.

Richard Holbrooke is back in the news, and writing about international politics and domestic ones, too. As usual, I think he’s spot on, but I wanted to pass his article along for those of you who haven’t seen it.

When Republicans say (or do) stupid things, the statements can come in two distinct types of wrapping. There’s thunderous stupidity, like Barbara Cubin threatening to spank her co-workers or giving fellow Congressmen penis-shaped cookies. There’s Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning? stupidity. And then, there’s stupidity that flashes in front of you like lightning and makes you see that the speaker doesn’t deserve any benefit of the doubt whatsoever. This type of stupidity comes about when a man tells you he doesn’t believe in global warming or says that nobody could’ve possibly anticipated that a hurricane might break a levee. I’m no fan of the oil industry, but, in my own cautious and moderate manner, I’ve kept myself from ripping the industry apart on a personal level, despite their smear campaigns against those who present the truth about Global Warming — Al Gore, for instance. I can no longer do that, not after reading this.

Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s top marketer of biofuels, considers using food crops to make biofuels “morally inappropriate” as long as there are people in the world who are starving, an executive said on Thursday. Eric G Holthusen, Fuels Technology Manager Asia/Pacific, said the company’s research unit, Shell Global Solutions, has developed alternative fuels from renewable resources that use wood chips and plant waste rather than food crops that are typically used to make the fuels.

That’s incredible, isn’t it? It’s as shameless as the spin James Carville wanted to put on the Monica Lewinsky scandal: “At least they weren’t having sex; he was thinking of all the unborn children!” but this is about a serious matter, and is not meant to be comical in any way. Because people are starving, it’s okay for us to pollute the environment, support third world dictatorships, and gouge prices on gasoline? What an absurd proposition, and it ensures that I won’t be stopping be Shell stations for my gas. I will have a hybrid.

It isn’t the stupidest thing that I’ve read all day, though. This next act of moronics is thunderous and provides a jolt of light at the same time. Just take a look at this, and tell me you can look at Senator Ted Stevens with any measure of respect. If his ridiculous threat to resign from the Senate in defense of his bridge to nowhere wasn’t bad enough, he doesn’t know a thing about the Internet but is suggesting that he knows best.

To round this out politically, I’d like to reference this article. I’m happy to see that NATO is working hard in Afghanistan. I’d like to see more of it in the future. More American requests for assistance; more international grants of it. You never know what the world will give you if you ask; and you never know what you can achieve if you don’t work for it. As I talked about not once but twice in the last week, we need more cooperation in this world if we are to confront and survive the world’s great problems.

For anyone wondering, AJ Pierzynski won the fan vote. If you voted via my request, thank you. And goodnight.

Kenneth Lay has died. Lay, for those of you living in the White House, is the man who claimed that the frauds he was accused of in the Enron Scandal and Trial were the result of neglect and bumbling accounting instead of unmeasurable dishonesty and active, monstrous greed. Nobody really believes that he was innocent and merely negligent, and most people know that he was a money-loving crook who scammed the public for as long as he could before getting caught. When he did, he took to going on vacations and enjoying old gay outings with his male golfer buddies. An OJ Simpson of the Wallet he was, but nobody on Earth could’ve called him an innocent. There is no Mark Fuhrman in the case of Lay; there is just unequivocal dishonor, and shame.

I’m sad to see that he died before he could be brought to justice for his monstrous actions as the head of Enron. From the White House perspective, it’s a shame that he denied the President the chance to pardon him next year like his father did for Weinberger, Clinton for the Rich, and Reagan for the Watergate burgulars. If you expected Bush to, at a bare minimum, honor Kenny-Boy’s legacy, you’re mistaken, as it’s denying its relationship with the Hussler of Houston. Funny, I thought he was a man who admired loyalty?

I don’t like to talk like this about anyone, but this short-sighted and power hungry man has played a role in the oppression of the impoverished for all of his life, and he helped kick even more people to the financial curb by the time he was done. He was a pervert, and a brutal one, at that. He was the President’s friend, too, and while this White House pretends that he wasn’t, remember that it was his jets flying people into Florida to mob the recount boards, his money that funded Bush’s first campaigns for office, and his lobbying that killed Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill’s attempts to really, truly, make corporations and CEOs accountable for their financial records and the products they put onto the market. The wallop of his wallet destroyed the lives of millions, and that’s really all there is to it.

Browsing about the Internet, I came across this article about English-only laws, and I thought I’d weigh in on the issue. I am a believer that these types of laws should be allowed up to each state. If Pennsylvania wants to make its state English-only, then let them; likewise, I’m proud to see that my state is more lenient toward other languages, primarily Spanish, and is so kind as to provide translators for those that need assistance. It’s a matter of being respectful to others and treating them with dignity. There’s no need for any such law, and it’ll be terrible for something so reactionary and unneeded passes.

It reminds me of the story from Philadelphia a while back, where a sign was put up in a famous restaurant saying, “This is America: when ordering, speaking English!” and warning that management “reserves the right to refuse service.” You know how comically absurd that is? I can imagine a man coming to the counter, looking at the sign, and because he doesn’t speak English continue with his order. “Unas papas fritas con una nievesita y hamburgesa, por favor!” And, maybe I’m just a big old softie, but I can’t imagine it’s very good business to turn away a paying customer over something minor. I don’t think it’s good morality, either, to push a hungry person away when they are hungry and merely trying to get through their day.

Happy fourth of July, everyone. May all your days be filled with joy, fireworks and fun. On this day five years ago, I split my right index finger open by accident, and had to have my tendons surgically repaired, and then I needed rehab for my right hand. However, I grew bored with the slow pace of rehab, and rehabbed myself at home three times as quick as what they told me it would take. That is my personal anecdote of the day (note: don’t expect that to become a daily thing). It’s a busy day for me, as every fourth is for every American, but I’ve still got to weigh in on a couple of things.

North Korea test-fired missiles again, the first test since 1998, and it comes as no surprise to me, or anyone, really, as this has been expected for weeks, at the least. Stephen Hadley labeled the tests by their obvious name, “Provocative,” and that’s about it. The long-range missile apparently failed, and that is about the end of it. It doesn’t appear to me that the Bush Administration is going to set fireworks off in the direction of Pyongyang, and that’s how it should be. Let’s stay calm with this. It’s just a test, after all, and an attempt to get attention by the Norkean Madonna. (”Norkean” is a word I created for North Korean.)

The next thing I wanted to talk about today is this, the news that an asteroid nearly collided with the Earth. Let’s keep that in mind whenever we’re about to solve a problem. Go outside, at the beach, down a hill, and look at all the rocks. They’ve been here for thousands of years. We’re just passing through. Take time to be happy and calm, and have a safe holiday.

I’ve got a request, readers. AJ Pierzynski of the Chicago White Sox is a candidate for thirty second man on the All-Star Team. AJ is an excellent ballplayer, whose intangibles might just make him the most valuable catcher in the American League. Let’s keep it simple: go to WhiteSox.com, click “Vote for AJ” and Punch Pierzynski into the All-Star Game. It’s easy to do, takes a few seconds, and you can cast hundreds rapidly. If you ever wanted to be involved with Chicago politics, your chance is here. Let’s send AJ to Pittsburgh, hmm?

All right, now to real news, rather than my own personal request.

Mexico had their elections this week, and the ruling “PAN Party” is leading, narrowly. On a personal level, I have blood-line close relatives in Mexico, and they are all fans of the PRI political party. Frankly, I don’t trust their judgement, and so I am a supporter of the PAN. Besides that, I typically support political parties of reform over those that want to keep the establishment as is, and that habit becomes a must for me when we add in the state of Mexico: who on Earth would want to keep that country as it is? Reform away!

Here we have a commentary on the election, and it’s good. It’s very good, and it helps show what’s wrong with the PRI Party. I haven’t much else to add, just that I think it’s a good thing to see that the PAN is winning and have likely won. I did think this paragraph telling:

In any case, Mexico has a better system guarding against election fraud today than we have in most of the United States. Its voter ID program is much more rigorous. It has paper ballots, which take more time to count, but which also provide a paper trail for recounts. It has a national superintending electoral administrative agency, which our federal system of holding elections would not permit. All this is the legacy of PRI Presidents Carlos Salinas and Ernesto Zedillo, who calculated that Mexico could not take its place among advanced nations without a transparent and fair electoral system. They deserve great credit for the peaceful transfer of power from one party to another in Mexico in 2000, and for what appears likely to be the resolution of an extremely close fair election in 2006. Salinas voted quietly this year in Tlalpan and Zedillo in Pedgregal, rich neighborhoods on the south side of Mexico City, relatively unnoticed. But they are the worthy architects of this system, which is deserving of respect.

I’m not someone who believes that our electoral process is broken, but I think it could use some tweaks. Maybe we should follow the Mexican model on voting, like they should follow ours with everything else.