Category: politics

  • Dear Mr. President

    (I sent this to comments@whitehouse.gov. I just couldn’t stand it anymore.)\
    Dear President Bush,\
    You, sir, are a failure as a president. You have disappointed me over and over again the past six years, and it’s only fitting that your most disgraceful act as the president of our country comes on the anniversary of the act I consider the most ridiculous thing any public figure has ever said in public.\
    Four years ago, while talking about insurgents in Iraq, you told them to “bring ’em on.” Since then, over 3,500 America soldiers have died, over 30,000 soldiers have been wounded, and untold thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have died (who, like all your other problems, your administration have just ignored by not bothering to count their deaths). You and your administration have constantly failed to admit your mistakes, correct your course or do more than make excuses and beg for more time. You’ve said over and over again that you listen to your commanders on the ground, yet it comes to light more every day that anyone who disagrees with you is shuffled off to retirement and someone more agreeable to your illusion is put in place.\
    That act was a disgrace – the act of a bully who doesn’t fight himself, but puffs himself up with tough talk. But you’re worse than a bully, because it’s not you who’s in the line of fire, it’s the thousands of American troops over there who take the punishment for your mistakes and empty threats – mistakes you can’t admit and refuse to correct.\
    You talk tough about the rule of law. Your party supports mandatory minimum sentences for citizens for even the most petty of crimes. Your party is supposedly the party of “law and order”. Yet today, you commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby – who was convicted of a crime. He was sentenced in accordance with the law, within in the sentencing guidelines. Yet, for some reason, you don’t support the rule of law for him, and nowhere near mandatory minimums. You, sir, are a hypocrite. You are a liar, and should be impeached. Why? In the aftermath of Watergate, the judiciary committee released the following:

    In the \[Constitutional\] convention George Mason argued that the President might use his pardoning power to “pardon crimes which were advised by himself” or, before indictment or conviction, “to stop inquiry and prevent detection.” James Madison responded:

    \[I\]f the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds \[to\] believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty…

    Madison went on to \[say\] contrary to his position in the Philadelphia convention, that the President could be suspended when suspected, and his powers would devolve on the Vice President, who could likewise be suspended until impeached and convicted, if he were also suspected.

    Scooter Libby was acting on either yours or the Vice President’s orders. Either you, or Mr. Cheney, need to resign or be impeached (take your pick, if lying about an extramarital affair constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor, what do your multitudinous bad acts constitute?). If the series of articles in the Washington Post published last week is the truth, this was all Mr. Cheney’s doing, and you’re just a patsy. How frightening is that? The President of the United States of America is a patsy to a shadow government running out of the Vice President’s office?\
    You deserve no less than to be run out of office, even if that means making Dick Cheney president. You should pay some price, under the laws you continually flout and except yourself from, for all the pain, misery and disgrace you’ve brought to your country, its citizens and the world.\
    I know that you don’t care what I think. You’ve proven over and over again that reality and the truth have no effect on you. I don’t expect this to have any impact on anything, other than me using my First Amendment rights and putting a stake in the ground that I find your actions unacceptable and a disgraceful use of your authority as president.

  • Heartbreaking

    The most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen – a photo essay of a mother and son dealing with the horrors of childhood cancer. Don’t read it or look at it if you’re not somewhere you can have a good cry (seriously, unless you have an extremely cold heart or thick skin – you will).

  • Checking Out

    I’m checking out of politics. I was trying to keep up with news and what’s been going on since the election, but I just don’t have the energy. We won in November, Bush is still an idiot (and President), Cheney is still Darth Vader (did you see the interview on CNN? need more proof?), and we’re still in a bad war with no end in sight. Me paying attention to the inaction and bickering isn’t going to change anything.\
    Why I’m blogging about this, I don’t know. I just felt like I needed to say it out loud so I could turn off all my politics feeds and not feel guilty about it (because I told you I was doing it). I’ll probably flip things back on when primary season starts up and when the presidential field calms down a bit. Until then, it’s nose to the grindstone with work, family and photography. That’s a lot less contentious than politics anyway, right?

  • First they came for the…

    Elizabeth Hasselbeck, from The View, a conservative who is known to believe that the homosexual lifestyle is a sin, said that she would be ok with gay marriage, if it were voted on by the public. Voting on whether gays should have the right to marry is as ridiculous as voting whether left-handed people should be subjected to slavery. (Right-handers unite!) Fundamental rights should not be voted on.\
    I understand why some people are against the gay lifestyle. However, just because you think something is wrong, does not mean it should be illegal. Stand up and preach to your heart’s content about how you believe same-sex relationships are wrong. But don’t force your personal beliefs onto others.\
    Seriously, why is this concept so hard to grasp? In light of all of the changes the human race has seen over the years- people being property the biggest one- why does it seem like a good idea for a majority to decide what basic human rights the minority should get?

  • Christmas Morning

    I went to bed a little after midnight and had a hard time getting to sleep. When I went to bed, George Allen still had the lead, but Jim Webb was closing every time new numbers were reported. I woke up at five AM and it felt just like Christmas Morning. What would be under the tree? I rushed (quietly) down the stairs, checked the feed reader, and what did I see? Presents! Webb up by an almost recount-proof eight thousand votes, McCaskill winning in Missouri and Tester teasingly close in Montana. The Democrats took the House, and are a recount (or two) away from taking the Senate. Merry Christmas, America!

  • Feeling Sorta Smart

    It’s 11:30PM on election night, and I’m about to go to bed because I just can’t take any more. Right now, I’m feeling pretty smart. Let’s review my predictions from yesterday:

    1. A recount in Virginia’s Senate race: Right now, with Webb inching up every time they report numbers, Allen leads by only 7,000 votes, which pretty much guarantees a recount by whoever comes out behind when the first count is done. Update: Looks like there isn’t going to be a recount after all, but it was close.
    2. Cardin beats Steele: Yup, easy
    3. Wolf beats Feder: Yep
    4. The stupid marriage amendment: Yep, it passed. I’m disappointed, but not surprised. Never overestimate Evangelicals. They’ll disappoint you every time.
    5. Dems take house with twenty-five seats: We haven’t seen much from out west and the Democrats have already taken the fifteen seats they need. I expect at least ten more.
    6. Senate at 50-50: Too close to tell. Who knows? Update: Wrong! Hooray!! With Allen conceding some time today (Thursday 11/9), the Democrats will have a 51-49 majority in the Senate.\
      Of course, I’ll update this as we know things for sure, but right now, I’m feeling pretty smart.
  • Hi! *waves*

    I want you to imagine me saying this in my most condescending voice. I don’t think it will be that hard for most you:\
    It is ok to be a Republican. Really, it is. You want the dream of lower taxes, individuals fending for themselves, and the government out of your lives except for your bedroom? That’s cool. Rock on with your Republican self.\
    But it is not OK to support President Bush. I mean, I am not going to go to your house and attack you or anything. But after all of the information about everything since 9/11 has come out, it just boggles my mind that people would still support him. I understand supporting The Office of the President, but the man himself has been shown to be both incompetent and duplicitous.

  • It’s raining!

    God is sad because you didn’t vote yet.\
    GO VOTE!

  • A One Person Poll

    Jen and I took the kids to our lovely voting location this morning (there’s something kind of cool about voting in a farming museum), and it was actually pretty crowded! We had to wait in line for about ten minutes, which is about what we had to do for the Presidential election in 2004. Our little precinct is pretty “blue” when compared to the rest of the Virginia (we’re the only precinct that went for both Kerry and Socas in 2004), so I hate to use my experience as indicative, but the Dems were handing out more sample ballots and we had a lot more poll workers there than the other side. We also had way more signs for Judy Feder and Jim Webb than Wolf or Allen, which is a good sign.\
    The kids had a lot of fun and the old guy handing out “I Voted” stickers let Brian take several. The boy looks like he votes in Chicago or something. Then, because they’re going to hang out with my mom, we stopped by our table and picked up a couple Webb stickers.\
    I’m trying not to think about the results too much because we won’t know anything until late anyway, and I have work to do. Plus, it’s hard to type with my fingers crossed.\
    If you’d like to keep up with the doings all day, here are my faves: