Results tagged “politics” from jsstudios.com

Although I've tried to stay away from any political discourse for quite a while, I've been reading John W. Dean's, Worse than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush lately.

As you might guess it delves into the shroud of secrecy that has pretty much defined the administration over the last eight years. While it isn't written to be a tirade against Bush and Cheney - as many books written about the Bush administration tend to be - it's more of a comparison between the Nixon administration and our current one in all matters of the insatiable desire for secrecy and power.

Some people may suggest I read this type of stuff because it's just so cool and trendy to bash Bush and his cronies right now. Well, that's not the case. Unless you've been hidden under a rock for the last year or so, you just might be aware of the fact that we have this little election coming up. We're going to choose the people we want to run the show for the next four to eight years and I'd like to know what's been going on behind the curtain - better yet, I'd like to know what's been going on behind the curtain that more mainstream outlets either won't report or are too afraid to report, or choose to report things like Britney Spears' at the VMA instead.

Educate yourself. Read something. Don't expect major news outlets to tell you everything you need to know. They only report things that will give them ratings and they don't go into the details that really make the difference.

Because I enjoyed this book so much I just had to share a very small section of it - one little taste per day over the next week or so. In case you're curious, it is from Worse than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush pp 103-104:

You might be a Neocon if:

You agree with Trotsky's idea of a permanent revolution.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich is introducing legislation to impeach George W Bush.

There are something like 35 articles and he is on article 27. Yeah, I missed the beginning, but I'm glad I came across this.

Signing statements, voter fraud and civil rights violation is what I've caught so far.

I've been listening to a couple radio talk shows that are trying to determine what it is that sealed the Democratic victory over the the House and ( potentially at this point ) the Senate.

Everyone seems to believe that it is the war in Iraq or the Abramoff/ Delay/ Foley scandals.

I decided to walk across the street today and get lunch at an Oriental restaurant. As I gobbled down my Korean spicy pork I listened as the hosts bickered back and forth and took calls from listeners. I couldn't help but want to laugh when people said, "Well we just needed change." Additionally, I couldn't help but shake my head when the host suggested that people, "just decided to vote entirely down the Democrat side of the ticket." in an absolutely disgusted tone of voice as if that was some sinful act deserving of no forgiveness.

I know I live in a red state, but it would be nice if the word, "Democrat" could be removed from the state list of four-letter-words.

Getting on to the purpose of this post . . . After I finished my main course I opened up my fortune cookie and set the fortune aside. I devoured the tasty little cookie and grabbed my glass of Code Red ( my favorite soft drink ) so that I could refill it. Since I needed ice I decided to take the fortune with me and read it on the way to the ice machine. I couldn't help but laugh when I read the fortune and recalled the events of the last 24 hours or so.

The fortune read, "Confucius say:show-off always shown up in showdown."

For me, this is why the Democrats control the House and ( quite possibly but not yet - as of the time I am writing this ) the Senate. It isn't the war in Iraq. It isn't the scandals. It isn't anything like that. It's everything. The talk show hosts are missing the forest for the trees. There is no one single item that brought about this change. It's the way things were done.

The last six years legislators and the executive branch have acted as if they had a free ticket to do whatever they wanted using whatever means they chose without fear of retribution. It is the war in Iraq ( or lack of reason for invading Iraq ). It is the way the scandals were handled. It is the way that legislators try to legislate morality. It is the Patriot Act and the fact that no one read it before they voted on it. It is the way the 911 commision was handled. It is the lack of oversight. It is the fact that there was no assistance for Katrina victims. It is record oil company profits and no alternative energy plans. It is turning people against each other on the basis of religion. It is the way that the executive branch can do things ( usually deemed illegal ) but get away with it anyway. It is the outing of a CIA agent. It is Social Security. It is NSA wiretapping. It is stem cell research. It is name calling and negative ads. It is taking away habeus corpus. It is using scare tactics. It is The Medicare Prescription Plan. It is illegal aliens and the lack of border control. It is eminent domain. It is the lack of representation of The People's interests and preference given to corporate interests. It is Halibuton. It is all of the money.

And when questions are asked about these things what happens? We aren't supposed to ask; We're supposed to worry about gay marriage. It is six years of the same old stuff.

In summary, it may have come down to a couple items of interest for individual voters. Perhaps some people are more interested in the war in Iraq or stem cell research. Regardless, the fact remains that a change has taken place. I believe the reasons are so wide and diverse that it effectively be termed, "The whole thing is a mess." Was it something special for you? Leave a comment and tell me.

Once again it is November and for the past ( to be honest ) I'm not sure how long, you, me, and every living creature has been subjected to political debate, radio ads, television ads, mailers, fliers and every other form of political campaigning.

I'm glad it will be coming to a stop. I've had it with the name calling, the deception, the spin, and the pre-adolescent behavior politicians display when they decide once again that they deserve to be given a free ride financed by tax dollars.

What really gets me is that by virtue of the fact that they know all the bad stuff about "the other guy" and are more than willing to let me know about it, they believe they deserve my vote. But, they don't really give me any good reasons to vote for them.

The worst part for me is when I have to tolerate the same commercial ( regardless of whether I am listening to the radio or watching TV ) over and over and over and over again during the course of one program. It's always worse the few days preceding the election. It seems there are no regular commercials - nope - nothing at all that I need to buy. I have instantly transcended from the marketeer's wet dream. I am no longer so insufficient and need the latest iPod/pharmaceutical/automobile/weight loss/hair regrowth/shampoo/body moisturizing/sexual satisfaction product.