Exactly 10 years ago today, America changed.

One partisan vote changed the face of America, and we suffer the awful legacy bestowed to this day:

Dante Atkins:

Ten years ago today, in a baffling and overtly political 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided that the only way to protect the equal voting rights of the people of Florida was to stop counting their votes--but only in this particular instance and no other, because they only wanted the votes to stop being counted when George W Bush was ahead.

The Bush legacy is one written in the red ink of debt, greed and death. An occupation of the nation hosting that did attack us, botched from an overweening desire to wage a preemptive war against a country that did not. Thousands of American lives and potentially hundreds of thousands of native lives lost in the process. Torture prisons in the name of national security. Warrantless wiretapping and other forms of surveillance and entrapment against United States citizens and nonviolent peace groups.

Not that the nation was just morally bankrupt: George W Bush did a number on our nation's fiscal health as well, with massive transfers of its wealth into the hands of those who needed the least help, and permission for private entities to loot the land and natural resources of this nation with no return to its taxpayers. And ten years later, virtually nobody has paid the price.

Many progressives--myself included-- felt that the Bush years should have been a national nightmare that we would just wake up from. That the immoral, absurd and illegal practices of those times were just a mere interregnum permitted by the ascension of a Manichean president operating during a time of national crisis, and that once he was out of office, we would instinctively revert to the comparative sanity we had under Bill Clinton. But we haven't yet, and it's likely that without systemic structural change, we never will.

The executive power grab is not restored, nor does it seem that the irresponsible, nearly trillion dollar tax cut for the superwealthy will be rescinded either. Let's bankrupt our nation further by adding $700 billion to our debt so Paris Hilton can get another $100,000 gift from the taxpayers. Nicely done, teabaggers and complicit Dems. Happy Anniversary all!

Presidential Scholars Rank Obama 15th Greatest Prez!

From Politico:

A new poll of leading presidential scholars ranks Barack Obama as the 15th best president of the United States, just below Bill Clinton but ahead of Ronald Reagan.


The Siena College poll, which surveyed 238 presidential scholars at U.S. colleges and universities, asked scholars to rate the nation’s 43 chief executives on 20 attributes ranging from legislative accomplishments to integrity and imagination.

Read more

Ahead of Reagan... which will really explode a teabagger's head. Given that Obama has gotten things done with unified GOP opposition on everything, I'd say that's pretty amazing.

P.S.: No surprise... W. is ranked as one of the worst.

Witty Responses to the Bush Billboard MISS ME YET?

How many of you have seen this?

The massive corruption, lying, criminal behavior and incompetence that led to the mess we are in. And the wingnuts expect US to be nostalgic for him?

Here are some witty responses, compliments of my fellow kossacks at DKos...

No, but the next hurricane will make me nostalgic.

No, but I do miss our budget surplus.

Bin Laden: YES, this new guy Barack actually wants to catch me

Clearly this guy does:


Every time so far…

Like a bad rash

Me, No. But someone from your village called…

No, but Al Qaeda sure does…

No, but I do sure miss the Word Trade Center…

Yes, but only because Cheney is no longer at an undisclosed location

Yes, but I'm reloading. (the billboard of course)

Hell No

I miss my job.

Yes...said the Oil Companies.

Only at the Hague

Missing Unaccomplished

Like a pretzel

Ask your Guard unit

Of course! Times were good under him ~~Al Qaeda recruiter

No, but I'm suddenly reminded to clean the litter box

Throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering?-TR

And you are?

No, we have Sarah Palin to make fun of now

Not really, you are always on the cover of Mad magazine

Ask the soldier that took your place, coward

Didn’t finish reading My Pet Goat?

YES, let me get my other shoe.

To GOP: Support Obama, Come up with your own plan, or get out of the way!

Paul Begala has a great article on CNN that should be seen by everyone:

I love Alex Castellanos. Heck, somebody has to. Truth is, we've been known to break bread after our CNN gigs. He is engaging and amusing and whip-smart.

But when he said Tuesday night on CNN that President Obama is already looking like a one-term president, he's full of more beans than a burrito at Matt's El Rancho back home in Austin, Texas.

Obama inherited an ungodly mess: a $1.2 trillion deficit, an economy that was careening from recession into depression, a collapse in effective demand, the disintegration of the real estate market and a financial meltdown that spanned the globe and brought multibillion-dollar institutions to their knees. That's not to mention Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea and the Mexican drug war.

If this were "Sesame Street," the announcer would be saying, "This program brought to you by the letters G, O and P." None of the crises the president is addressing were of his creation. All of them were created or worsened by the Republicans who ran the House of Representatives, Senate and White House for years.

And so the American people turned to Obama to bring change -- and change he has brought. He's moving on all fronts: addressing the housing foreclosure crisis, the banking crisis, the unemployment crisis. Did I mention that all of these crises were courtesy of the Republicans who ran this country for years? Good.

Got it so far? The Democrats are cleaning up their awful mess. So what does the GOP do? They attack us for, get this, having TOO MANY IDEAS! Mitch McConnell’s spokesperson announced that the GOP will start attacking the Obama administration for "throwing out too many ideas" on the economy:

Now the Republicans have what we Texans call the chutzpah to criticize Obama for doing too much. Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to be fixing so many problems if the Republicans hadn't created so many problems.

The Republicans are like an arsonist who complains that the fire department is wasting water. Obama is trying to handle an immediate crisis while also laying the foundation for long-term growth. The Republicans are doing neither. They have no plan to stop the loss of jobs or to get capital markets functioning properly -- and they certainly have no plans for health care, education or energy, which are the keys to both long-term economic growth and long-term deficit reduction.

AMEN!

All the energy -- indeed all debate -- is on the progressive side of the aisle. The Obama administration's only intellectual challengers are on the left, where economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and others are offering a vigorous critique and proposing alternative solutions. But where are the Republicans? Doing nothing but complaining. Unless and until they do offer an alternative, they really have no right to whine about the president. For now at least, GOP stands for "Got 0 Plans."

After years of having a president with no ideas, for someone to be taking charge on all fronts with ideas that actually help people--I guess that can be a bit overwhelming for some.

Dubya Ditches Phony Ranch: Moves to "Whites Only" Community

I visited Crawford,TX back in 2004 when I was visiting Waco. The whole town was just a post office, barbershop, coffee diner, a blinking yellow light, and three small shops dedicated to a complete moron. The luster wore off the prez in this little town as it had for the rest of the nation long ago, but luckily they won't need to put up with him much longer. Surprise, surprise, now that W. done being prez, he's dropping the "cowboy" schtik and is selling his ranch.

Democrats speculated that he would as soon as he left office. See here and here.

Bush didn't even bother to pretend by holding on to it for a little while--he bought it right before office and got rid of it days before he leaves office.

He bought the phony ranch in 1999, right before he ran for president. It was always just a huge prop:

• There were never any animals on this "ranch", no farming, no nothing.
• There was plenty of "brush" that he pretended to clear--for what reason is anyone's guess.
• He was terrified of freaking horses, for crying out loud!

Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico and a real rancher, was appalled with his equinophobia and derided him as a "windshield cowboy"!

But Bush was never a cowboy. It was an image he copied from Reagan--another fake cowboy with a fake ranch. What Bush really was, and still is, is a spoiled, Conneticut-born, Harvard/Yale legacy, son of a multi-millionaire college cheerleader.

It runs in the family. His brother pretends to be named JEB for the hicks--(his name is John Ellis Bush you morons!). But at least JEB, nor anyone else in the Bush family, tries to have a fake Texas drawl.

Dumb followers thought he would "retire" on his phony ranch. Now Bush shows his true colors. He is moving into a $2 million house in an exclusive neighborhood that, until 2000, had a covenant that only white people could live there!

Granted, they gracefully made concessions for some minorities: "servants" of color could live there according to the covenant. If I had the choice to live anywhere I wanted, I certainly would not set foot in such a bigoted neighborhood. Yet these are the kinds of people Bush and his wife are obviously more "comfortable" with. Good riddance.

What is most insulting is that the mainstream press hasn't mentioned this at all. After years of playing up the fake cowboy image at the "Western White House", not a word about it being chucked. I guess it's not nice to call someone out as a phony, and compared to the lies that Bush has bestowed on the American people for the past 8 years, I guess playing a fake cowboy is small potatoes.

I will really enjoy the cult followers of this colossal moron who will no doubt still make excuses. Why stop now? But at least we can finally laugh about all this (and at them) since Bush's exit is here and he can't hurt anyone anymore. That's right, Bushies--our pain has finally ended. Unfortunately, yours is just beginning.

How'd He Do? A Fair Evaluation of the Bush Years...

He still makes me angry. The Middle East is blowing up right now... and he's on vacation (literally). After a final couple of "Screw You" executive orders, including one that allows medical personnel to refuse anyone treatment for any reason of "conscience"--(one nurse pointed out that this would mean she would refuse treatment to Bush and Cheney), Bush is exiting as abysmally as he came in.

After all of our suffering, don't let the door hit you on the way out...



HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! A better, stronger America starts January 20!

Just one more...

I promised no more Bush bashing. It's over.

But damn it you don't make this easy for me, Mr. President. His exit interview with Chucky was priceless. My favorite quote:

ABC News' Charles Gibson: You're only 62. Is there one more thing you really want to achieve?

George W. Bush: Um, that's interesting question... Wouldn't it be interesting for baby boomers not to retire in, y'know, nice places, but to retire during their retirement to go, y'know, help people deal with malaria or AIDS? ... In other words, I'm not suggesting that is what I'm gonna do. It is the kind of thing that intrigues me.

Jon Stewart: That's like walking up to a homeless guy and going, "Hey, imagine if I just gave you thousands of dollars...I bet that would totally change your life! Intriguing to think about, isn’t it? Alright, See ya later!"

No More Bush Bashing

The election is over.

It's time for us as Americans to come together and tackle this nation's problems.

I can't think of any benefit that will come by bashing McCain or George W. Bush. John McCain has given the most gracious concession speech I ever heard. I wondered if the outcome would be different if the American people were given the choice between Obama and the McCain we heard Tuesday night.

George W. Bush, in the tradition of his father, has been very gracious as well. He has gone above and beyond to ensure a smooth transition. His father set the standard when he offered to pick up Clinton on Air Force One after the election and pledged not to criticize him for a period of one year after he was sworn in. That became a nice tradition that once again made our nation the envy of the world. When candidates lose in other countries, they still fight----sometimes literally. Not here.

I will no longer be bashing George W. Bush. I am willing to allow history to be the judge.

I wish for healing, and my hope is that even though Barack Obama has large majorities in both the House and Senate, that he will govern in a bi-partisan fashion. Most good legislation is crafted with input from BOTH sides--and I fully expect the GOP and Obama to work together for the benefit of our nation.

I know that's asking a lot, but after Tuesday night, I truly do believe anything is possible

Oliver Stone's W: Unexpected in More Ways than One

It wasn't at all what I expected:

I went late last night to Oviedo mall, and I figured it would be just me in there. The theater was pretty packed, however.

I also assumed that it would be mostly liberals and the anti-Bush crowd, but it was pretty mixed. I could tell because half the audience would cheer and the other half would jeer at the same parts either showing Bush in a good light or bad.

Finally, the trailors and posters of the film do not do it justice. They feature only the parts where Bush looks silly, so I expected more of a hit job. I'm glad it wasn't, because that would have been boring.

Love or hate him, you have to admit that George W. Bush is a very interesting man. Essentially, you had an unfocused, adolescent drunk through his early 40s, completely written off by his family as hopeless, finding religion and beginning a meteoric rise to become leader of the free world. Gotta admit, there's a story there.

Over the past 8 years, characatures have been drawn about W (really dumb), his wife (stepford), and the Bush family (power-hungry). This film doesn't play into any of those stereotypes. Stone did his research and treated his subjects fairly.

The movie is told in two simultaneous storylines that merge at the end. The movie focuses on what will be the Bush legacy--the run-up and subsequent invasion of Iraq. The movie flashes back during this time to tell the story of W growing up from the late 60s until it catches up to the invasion storyline.

By presenting the movie in this fashion, you get a deeper understanding of why W does the things W does. At a press conference, where Bush can't admit a mistake, you see how the complicated family dynamic, especially with his father and brother Jeb, played into that. You understand how his unsatiable drive to succeed was fueled by his fear and hatred of being perceived as a failure, such as his first run for Congress: "I'll never be out-Texaned or out-Christianed again!" And you understand how his conversion to Christianity, which the movie does not treat lightly, shaped his black and white view of the world as good and evil.

Bottom line: if you were expecting a film trashing Bush about 9/11, My Pet Goat, Katrina, the economy, etc., you will be disappointed. If you are expecting a gushing film showing a brave leader standing with a bullhorn and fighting evil with truth, justice, and the American Way, you will be more disappointed.

But if you expect a film about a complicated man that takes a hard, fair, and surprising look at this interesting story, you will enjoy it. The film certainly has its flaws. The ending I felt was weak. Also, there are many aspects of Bush's life that the film left out for time (it's a little over 2 hours long) which I wish they would have examined--which makes me think this film would have been better as a mini-series. The introduction of Rove is rushed and the story of Bush's first real success, beating a popular governor of Texas, was glossed over--and that is a story that could have been a movie unto itself.

Josh Brolin gave the performance of his career. You can tell he really studied Bush. Not just his mannerisms, but Brolin even studied how Bush walked at different points of his life. That really came across, and you evenutally saw just W. Other impersonations were good, but none were as strong as Brolin's.

In the end, I felt I got my money's worth. Afterall, the movie got out at 1am and I still wanted more.

Cafferty Sums Up Bush and McCain

Cafferty said it best:

It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president.

and

I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.

George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.

He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.

I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.

Effective ANTI-MCCAIN Ad

You know I couldn't stay away!

Here's an ad for "maverick" McCain. Send the link to anyone who says he is not like Bush. Hope you like it!



Digg It

Freedom of Speech Does Not Apply to McCain/Bush

Unreal.

You are allowed to protest in a public place. Period. The 61-year old librarian was arrested for simply holding a sign that said "McCain=Bush".

(What does it say that the GOP considers that statement an attack on McCain. Hmmm.)

Don't believe me? Watch this:



America will return 1-20-09.

Creepy Picture of McCain..

Almost as creepy as a third Bush term...

Some "maverick". Hugging the man who let Rove smear his daughter. What a loser.

What's that you say? Not Bush's fault? He couldn't have known, no one tells him anything. McCain should just be mad at Rove.

Quote from John McCain:

I've always respected Karl Rove as one of the smart great political minds I think in American politics. I've always respected him. We never had any ill will after the initial South Carolina thing. After we had the meeting with President Bush we moved on. I've seen Karl Rove many times when I've been over at the White House. We've always had pleasant conversations.

A man who throws his own daughter under the bus does not deserve to lead this great country. Click here to help us stop this bastard: Stop the Third Bush Term

Bush Legacy: Setting a Standard in Fear-Mongering

Happy Super Tuesday!!

The following is an article written by Richard A. Clarke, the former terror czar of the Bush administration, in the Philadelphia Inquirer on 01 February 2008:

When I left the Bush administration in 2003, it was clear to me that its strategy for defeating terrorism was leaving our nation more vulnerable and our people in a perilous place. Not only did its policies misappropriate resources, weaken the moral standing of America, and threaten long-standing legal and constitutional provisions, but the president also employed misleading and reckless rhetoric to perpetuate his agenda.
This week's State of the Union proved nothing has changed.
Besides overstating successes in Afghanistan, painting a rosy future for Iraq, and touting unfinished domestic objectives, he again used his favorite tactic - fear - as a tool to scare Congress and the American people. On one issue in particular - FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) - the president misconstrued the truth and manipulated the facts.
Let me be clear: Our ability to track and monitor terrorists overseas would not cease should the Protect America Act expire. If this were true, the president would not threaten to terminate any temporary extension with his veto pen. All surveillance currently occurring would continue even after legislative provisions lapsed because authorizations issued under the act are in effect up to a full year.
Simply put, it was wrong for the president to suggest that warrants issued in compliance with FISA would suddenly evaporate with congressional inaction. Instead - even though Congress extended the Protect America Act by two weeks - he is using the existence of the sunset provision to cast his political opponents in a negative light.
For this president, fear is an easier political tactic than compromise. With FISA, he is attempting to rattle Congress into hastily expanding his own executive powers at the expense of civil liberties and constitutional protections.
I spent most of my career in government fighting to protect this country in order to defend these very rights. And I know every member of Congress - whether Democrat or Republican - holds public office in the same pursuit.
That is why in 2001, I presented this president with a comprehensive analysis regarding the threat from al-Qaeda. It was obvious to me then - and remains a fateful reality now - that this enemy sought to attack our country. Then, the president ignored the warnings and played down the threats. Ironically, it is the fear from these extremely real threats that the president today uses as a wedge in a vast and partisan political game. This is - and has been - a very reckless way to pursue the very ominous dangers our country faces. And once again, during the current debate over FISA, he continues to place political objectives above the practical steps needed to defeat this threat.
In these still treacherous times, we can't afford to have a president who leads by manipulating emotions with fear, flaunting the law, or abusing the very inalienable rights endowed to us by the Constitution.
Though 9/11 changed the prism through which we view surveillance and intelligence, it did not in any way change the effectiveness of FISA to allow us to track and monitor our enemies. FISA has and still works as the most valuable mechanism for monitoring our enemies.
In order to defeat the violent Islamist extremists who do not believe in human rights, we need not give up the civil liberties, constitutional rights and protections that generations of Americans fought to achieve. We do not need to create Big Brother. With the administration's attempts to erode FISA's legal standing as the exclusive means by which our government can conduct electronic surveillance of U.S. persons on U.S. soil, this is unfortunately the path the president is taking us down.
So it is no surprise that in one of Bush's last acts of relevance, he once again played the fear card.
While he has failed in spreading democracy, stemming global terrorism, and leaving the country better off than when he took power, he did achieve one thing: successfully perpetuating fear for political gain.
Sadly, it may be one of the only achievements of his presidency.

The Most Insecure Superpower Ever

Bill Maher makes sense:

In his new ad Mitt Romney warns us that Islamic terrorists are the worse threat we've ever faced. More then the Nazis? The Russians? The Red Coats?

He warns us that they want to establish an Islamic nation, to cover the whole world, including America. Well I want to be adopted by Angelina Jolie.

And you thought that people that were scared of gays and Mexicans were paranoid. Islamic terrorist taking over America, they can barely get across the monkey bars. Our defense budget is $600 billion a year. They're using guns they took off a dead Soviet in 1981. I think we can hold Charleston....



We are the largest and most powerful nation on the earth. The largest economy and the largest military. And we are made to act the fool by a few thousand cave dwellers who still put out their videos on VHS.

And that is the problem. Because of the incompetence that goes by the name George Bush we have become the most insecure superpower ever. We can't get anything right anymore. We can't take care of our own citizens after a hurricane, or plan for a war, or maintain our infrastructure, and our celebrity rehab facilities need some work.

As a species we are failing at survival trick number one. Prioritize the threats.

Environmental ruin is going to visit all of us in the coming decades in one way or another and when it does, I hope people like .... I don't know Lou Dobbs says to himself maybe if I was going to spend my whole career obsessing about one issue it should have been ... I don't know, global warming. My skin just fell off my face and what do you know, it really wasn't the fault of a Mexican.

Maybe Bush and his followers think we must be so frightened of terrorists that we need to shred our Constitution and surrender our freedoms---I don't

GOP Candidates Support Bush VETO on Health Care for Millions of Poor Children

You have to wonder what planet the rethug candidates are on.

How else can they be on the polar-opposite side of America (86 percent to be exact) and Congress on such an important issue.

Do you know how hard it is to override a veto?? But already, the Democrats have enough to do just that with the Senate and are a few votes shy in the House.

That speaks VOLUMES.

I expect insanity from Bush. He wants no money for health benefits for children, the troops, or life-saving research. (The money he says is "too much" is only a percentage, however, of what is given to shady contracters like Halliburton and Blackwater.)

What I didn't expect is that the Republican candidates for president support his veto. My question is, who do they think they are pandering to?

The fiscal conservatives? No Dice. First of all, 12 billion a week in Iraq is not sound fiscal policy. But Bush is hardly fiscally responsible. As Kerry put it:

This is the same guy who never met a Republican spending bill he couldn’t sign. Not one. $300 million bridge to nowhere? Pass the pork. Half-trillion dollars on the road to quagmire in Iraq? Bring it on. But a few billion a year for health care for millions of kids? Forget it.

Families? Nope, they support it. Doctors? Hospitals? Nope, they support it as well. GOP Governors? Nope, they strongly support it!! Insurance companies? No, they support it to!

Think about it. Only a very "unique" person can justify spending hundreds of thousands a minute in Iraq while saying you have to deny millions of children doctors' visits or medicine they desperately need at a minimal cost.

Dean:

As a doctor, I've seen our country's health care crisis first-hand.
I've seen parents that have to wait for their kids to get dangerously sick before they could take them to a doctor. I've seen parents struggle over important medical care decisions because they didn't know how to pay for it. And I've seen parents left in poverty because they had no other choice.

Take action: Bush is no longer accountable, but Congress still is. Put in your zip code (for Winter Springs, its 32708-5312) and let the GOP obstructionists know that if if they can't even do the right thing on something almost everyone agrees on, then they need to step aside.


http://www.democrats.org/page/speakout/RejectBush

So Bush Put the "Smack Down" on Rush?

AWWW YEAH!! It's ON, NOW.

Our Commander in Chief does NOT tolerate anyone smearing the military. Say what you will about his lack of intelligence, character, courage, or common sense--he will stick up for the soldier if he feels you are attacked. Check this out:


This was his attack on MoveOn: (from CBSNews)

At a White House news conference earlier Thursday, Mr. Bush denounced the ad as "disgusting" and said he was disappointed that more Democrats did not condemn it.

"I felt like the ad was an attack not only on Gen. Petraeus but on the U.S. military, and I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat party spoke out strongly against that ad," he said.

Mr. Bush said that led him to conclude that "most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org, or more afraid of irritating them, then they are of irritating the United States military!

OUCH!! Take THAT, Bitches!!

Now, here is his attack on Rush, from his mouthpiece Dana Perino: (from TPM)

Perino said: "The President believes that if you are serving in the military that you have the rights that every American has which is you're free to express yourself in any way that you want to. And there are some that oppose the war, and that's okay."

Pressed specifically about Rush's "phony soldiers" phrase, she added: "It's not what the President would have used, no."

DAMN!! Take THAT, RUSH! That wasn't a cyst on your ass that got you out of the draft, my friend. THAT was Bush's BOOT in your ass!!

The gloves are OFF my friends!

Our Commander in Chief, fighting and standing up for the troops!--well, not literally fighting unless it's just playing dress-up on an aircraft carrier.

And not really standing up since he doesn't support body armor, va benefits, or troop rest...or changing failed strategies...

And actually, it's okay to smear some veterans, as long as they are "running for office" --as Democrats--or don't support the war--or ....

Aw hell. I feel sorry for the spinmeisters. They got their work cut out for this one.

PS--If you want to see some awesome pictures from the frontline from one of those Phony soldiers: Click Here

WTF?! What Bush Supporters Have Stooped to...

Quicknote: This was a recommended post on DailyKos under my moniker "SEMDEM", and featured on my favorite local blog FLPolitics last week. If the guy was trying to intimidate me, mission unaccomplished.

Three years ago they were supporters of an administration that had absolute control over our government and kept the American public under its thumb with fear. Now they have to deal with watching the Bush regime collapse before their very eyes with record low approval numbers, the loss of Congress, defections from their own party, and the very real possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency. So what's a Bushie to do?

Send hate mail to people who write Letters to the Editor!

Here in Central Florida, we are beseiged with right-wing propaganda. Our radio stations feature every major and minor conservative pundit, FOXNEWS shows in gov't buildings, (the Sem Courthouse is on BUSH Blvd, not far from RONALD REAGAN Ave.), and after the 2004 election, Clear Channel put up a billboard on I-4 featuring a smiling Bush with the caption "OUR LEADER".

The Orlando Sentinel attempts to put some balance in the editorial section--I've written and gotten published 5 times. This year, however, I have received hate mail. Once with a Cal Thomas response, and another with a complaint about the Libby pardon. This time I got a THICK PACKET complete with misspelled rantings. (The cowards never leave a return address or name). Even though it's an old address, the mail lady forwarded it--(which I asked her not to do anymore.)

I know of at least one other person who got published who received hate mail as well.


The goal is to intimidate people who complain about this administration or the GOP into not writing. For some, it has been effective. My friend has said it freaked him out that they looked up his address and won't write again--I won't be intimidated, but I did promise my wife that I would use an alias next time.

This is what I wrote:

Let me get this straight. The GOP vigorously opposes "amnesty" for those who break the law. But they demanded the president give amnesty for someone who compromised national security, leaked intelligence for cheap political gain, and lied to prosecutors and the FBI. I guess they only oppose amnesty if you are poor and Mexican.

P.S. That was nothing compared to what Scott Maxwell wrote (he gets hatemail all the time, though). Bush argued that he did it in the interest of justice--OK, then are we supposed to believe out of the millions of cases out there that only his personal friend was treated unfairly? Only "Scooter" was worthy of a pardon? Isn't this more about helping out a buddy than justice?--He actually got a formerly indignant GOP Rep. Adam Putnam to admit that was wrong...


For my rantings, this is what I received in the mail:

The packet had Ronald Reagan postage, and was stamped "God Bless W" all around it.

• It had my article scribbled with "Falsely Convicted A-----E!"--odd, since no one, not even Dear Leader, said he was innocent.
  
  
• A letter to a right-wing rag about how if Democrats were in charge in 1945, the bomb never would have been dropped in Japan and we would have lost WWII. --Typical educated Bushie. Harry Truman, Bush's IDOL, dropped the bomb. Wasn't he a Democrat, idiot?
  
  
• A list of favorable quotes for war by Democrats (such as Joe Lieberman) and accusing them of flip-flopping on the war ---I love this, Bush cherry-picked intelligence and lied about WMD, and the DEMS are to blame for being dumb enough to believe him
  
  
• My favorite--a picture of Bush with the caption "It's laundry day on Towelheads, and I'm the MAYTAG Repairman!!--Yeah, I don't get it either, but it inspired the hell out of this inbred hick

There were a few other articles and crap that were scribbled on that aren't even worth mentioning--I refuse to read it all anyway.

Please take time to write a quick editorial to the Orlando Sentinel. Just a few lines-- Bush and the GOP have provided no shortage of scandal to write about.

Just leave a name, city, and phone number in your email: insight@orlandosentinel.com (You can leave an alias if you are worried about hate mail--the editor just calls to verify you wrote it).


These bastards are desperate, let's shine the light on these cockroaches.
Thanks for your help.

Solemn Memorial Day..and a Screw You to Bush/Cheney

From a veteran let me say God Bless to all those serving in Iraq and Afgahnistan.

And screw you to Bush (who cried to Daddy to get him in the Guard to avoid fighting) and 5-time deferment Dick Cheney. You cowards had your chance to fight in a war, now you send 19 year olds who had the bravery you didn't.

Rot in hell.