How Bush Killed Off The Fish

And The Wildlife And, Well, The Rest Of The Country

We've seen what George W. B**h has been doing to the environment in his "midnight" rulings, but few people know that he's been raping the environment for years. The stories below show that B**h, Republicans, big business all benefited from deregulation of everything concerning flora and fauna in the U.S.

(AP) WASHINGTON –

A high-ranking Interior Department official tainted nearly every decision made on the protection of endangered species over five years, a new inspector general report finds, concluding she exerted improper political interference on many more rulings than previously thought.

Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service, did pervasive harm to the department's morale and integrity and may have risked the well-being of species with her agenda, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney said in his report out Monday.

Just what did MacDonald have to gain by harming fish and wildlife? Just what every loyal B**hite wanted: to advance the conservative agenda and to make money at it.

From Wikipedia:

MacDonald resigned on 1 May, 2007, one week before a House congressional oversight committee was to hold a hearing on the Inspector General's findings.

In November 2007, a followup report by the Inspector General found that MacDonald could have benefited financially from a decision to remove the Sacramento splittail fish from the federal endangered species list.

Detroit Free Press:

Although rarely front-page news, George Bush's eight years have been an ongoing exercise in gutting environmental protections.

And who benefits from all this gutting?

Raping the environment = B**h + Oil + Big Corporations

Grinch Bush's Lumps Of Coal: 200 Deregulations

And He Won't Stop Giving Out Those Lumps Of Coal Until January 19, 2009!

Think Progress has compiled the latest list of deregulations pushed through by George B**h. Check out Bush's Backward Sprint To The Finish It's a list more appropriate for Halloween because it is guaranteed to scare the pants off anyone. Maybe Bush thinks of himself as more like a Grinch who steals from the stockings of the poor and middle class and gives all the holiday gifts to his cronies and the rich corporations.

It's passed the time to get impeachment gifts. So many people want him out of office that they are rushing to inhale the fresh air of a changed Washington and forgetting that they are not the only ones who have been affected by the B**h Doctrine and its policies: other countries want a crack at him after Barack Obama's inauguration.

Torture and Denial Pt . 2: Why The Stall?

(From Think Progress, Dec. 12)

According to the Blog of Legal Times, the Justice Department is blocking President-elect Obama’s agency review team’s request “to review classified legal opinions related to secret CIA and National Security Agency programs.” Included in these documents are the “legal rationale of the NSA’s warrantless spying program and the CIA’s detention and interrogation policies, among other intelligence initiatives.” According to a senior Justice Department official, they are “reluctant to provide the opinions to Obama’s team without permission from the two intelligence agencies whose activities they address.” (HT: Daily Kos and Talk Left)

WTF? What are they trying to stall for? A matter of a lousy five weeks? Come on! Will it take that long to use the shredders? The extreme secrecy of the B**h administration has now gone too far. Obama WILL be PRESIDENT on January 20, 2009! Whether the transition team gets the documents now or then is pointless, unless...

Bush intends to tamper with the documents in some way and hasn't had the time (nor the intelligence) to do so. In addition, would these documents be related in any way to war crimes? Related to the legality of warrentless wiretapping?

Nixon looked positively angelic next to our present diplomatic dimwit: lying to the public about the cause of a war, allowing torture against the Geneva Conventions regulations, warrentless wiretapping, refusing to divulge documents requested by Congress.

We're counting not the weeks, the days, the hours, but the minutes.

Let's hope he never gets to Dallas.

Let's hope he flees to Paraguay.

And stays there.

Just a thought.

Torture: Once Again The B**h Adminstration Floats Down A River In Egypt!

Don't Worry, He's Still On Top Of It!

(from AP, Dec. 11, 2008)

WASHINGTON – The physical and mental abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was the direct result of Bush administration detention policies and should not be dismissed as the work of bad guards or interrogators, according to a bipartisan Senate report released Thursday.

The Senate Armed Services Committee report concludes that harsh interrogation techniques used by the CIA and the U.S. military were directly adapted from the training techniques used to prepare special forces personnel to resist interrogation by enemies that torture and abuse prisoners. The techniques included forced nudity, painful stress positions, sleep deprivation, and until 2003, waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning.

"The message from top officials was clear; it was acceptable to use degrading and abusive techniques against detainees."

Whenever B**h appears in the media, trying to vindicate himself for the past eight years, the kindest thing that can be said, I suppose, is that he created his own fantasy world and is still living in it. That fantasy realm is so ingrained in him that it could be mistaken for sheer lunacy.

But the implication of mental instability is a cop-out. Insanity is always a very risky plea: it depends upon the court or the jurors (in this case, historians and political analysts) and their definition of insanity.

B**h is not insane. He is incredibly stupid, but not insane. He was stupid enough to depend upon the title of "President" and that whatever he told the public, they would automatically believe. He was stupid enough to think that repeating the words Karl Rove told him to say - "Freedom", "Democracy", "God", "Terror," "Evil" - was enough to say to a country and a world about which HE...KNEW... NOTHING.

Eight years of fantasy. Eight years of denial.

And some people joined him in the imaginary world:

Lawrence Di Rita, a senior aide to former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at the time the Abu Ghraib and other abuses took place, disputed the report.: ... "A relatively small number of people abused detainees, and they were brought to justice in criminal or civil proceedings."

Even Condoleeza Rice went along with the fantasy:

“And I still believe that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein is going to turn out to be a great strategic achievement.''

"A terrible disappointment."

Regarding Abu Ghraib, Bush now refers to it as "a terrible disappointment." Perhaps he was disappointed that the atrocities were discovered. There must be a special place in his little black book for 60 Minutes.

“I believe when people objectively analyze this administration, they'll say, `Well, I see now what he was trying to do,''' Bush said.

The "objective" analysis has already been done: what B**h has been trying to do was to be the President of HIS dreams, not the country's. That may not sound "objective," but I believe it to be possible. For why else was he performing duties against advisers, against a plebiscite, against common sense?

Just a thought.

The Last Post? I Apologize

Dear reader:

I apologize for the last post. I let my feelings get in the way of blogging on a very important subject. When I read about a child being murdered - yes, willfully killed - I lost it. I was practically incoherent! My research on the history of religion (esp. American religion) has made me callused about many things, I'll admit, but somehow it never shields me from events like these.

Again, I apologize.

Respectfully,
Dan Vojir

When Faith Kills - Guilty? Or NOT Guilty?

You may think that the above picture has nothing to do with this post, but it does. Whether it's belief that someone will be healed by prayers, or a suicide because a person feels like a pariah, "Faith" kills.

I won't go into the implications of Faith killing by means of war. That's for another time (and a lot of posts), but to willingly let someone die because you think your prayers will heal them is: arrogant and stupid. To disciminate against someone knowing full well that such discrimination can cause the ultimate harm is also arrogant and stupid.

Faith Healing Parents Assert Religious Rights They Want Charges Dropped in Faith Healing Death of Their Toddler Daughter

By DEAN SCHABNER Dec. 10, 2008

A Clackamas County, Ore., couple accused of letting their infant daughter die by relying on prayer, rather than medicine, today asked that the charges be dropped, arguing that they infringe on their freedom of religion and their right to raise their children in their own way. Carl Worthington, left, and Raylene Worthington of Clackamas County, Ore., were charged with second... Carl Worthington, left, and Raylene Worthington of Clackamas County, Ore., were charged with second degree manslaughter and criminal mistreatment charges March 28, 2008, after their 15-month-old daughter died from what the state medical examiner said were easily cured illnesses. (KATU.com)

This is going to be an Oregon cause celeb. These people are part of a church whose members have been similarly charged. Children as well as adults have died because of their "faith". Oregon passed a law against such treatment partly because of this "church." The Worthington's case is testing that law.

Did their daughter die simply to test the law? Only the Worthingtons (and possibly some church members) know for certain. If you were on a jury, how would you vote?

Just a thought.

The Ones Who Helped Bush Do The Damage: Where Are They Now?

And People Are Criticizing Obama's Choices!

So many people helped Gorge W. B**h head down the path of demoralization and destruction of the U.S., that it would be impossible to name them all in one post. So lets take some of the top cronies/professional politicians/oddballs B**h chose first (back when we had morale and an economy) and see where they are now. In the future, we can compare them with the Obama appointments. Won't that be fun?

(Obama appointments are, of course, in blue)

Chief of Staff - Rahm Emanuel
Bush Chief of Staff - Andrew Card. Card nows sits on the Board for the Union Pacific Railroad, since he knew all about railroading.

Deputy Chief of Staff - Jim Messina
Bush Deputy Chief of Staff - Karl Rove. Rove has stated that he has written a vengeful tell-all book. Signed with Simon & Schuster, the title is not yet revealed. My Thirty Years Defending A Dimwit has been discarded.

White House Counsel - Greg Craig
Bush White House Counsel - Alberto Gonzales. Poor Alberto has tried to get a job with a law firm with no luck at all. Ongoing investigations can do at to your resume. He speaks at universities that will accept him (not many).

Press Secretary - Robert Gibbs
Bush Press Secretary -Ari Fleischer. Fleischer has gone from passing the buck to passing a ball - as consultant to the NFL

Secretary of the Treasury - Timothy Geithner
Bush Secretary of the Treasury - Paul O'Neill. O'Neill was the first cabinet member to get sacked because he saw the war in Iraq coming and wasn't afraid to say it. As far as we know, he's still Chairman of the Board of RAND Corporation.

Secretary of Commerce - Bill Richardson
Bush Secretary of Commerce -Donald Evans. Evans heads up The Financial Services Forum. He also has the dubious task of heading the committee placing George W. B**h's Library in Dallas (too bad Dallas isn't on the Gulf Coast!)

Secretary of State - Hillary Rodham Clinton
Bush Secretary of State - Colin Powell. Powell's hand has been stirring so many pots, it's difficult to keep tabs on him. As far as we know, he's still involved in Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

Secretary of Homeland Security - Janet Napolitano
Bush Secretary of Homeland Security - Tom Ridge. Tom Ridge is up to his armpits in chocolate and housepaint - Serving on the Boards of Hersey Chocolate and Home Depot.

National Security Advisor -James L. Jones
Bush National Security Advisor - Condaleeza Rice. We all know what Rice has been doing, but speculation as to what she WILL do after January 20th is very sketchy. If she becomes the concert pianist she was meant to be, she'll be playing a much different tune than the one she played for B**h.

Ambassador to the United Nations - Susan Rice.
Bush Ambassador to the United Nations - John Negroponte. After being Ambassador to the U.N., Negroponte was awarded the ambassadorship of Iraq. He's now Deputy Secretary of State and no telling what he'll be awarded next: maybe Ambassador to Swaziland, if he's lucky.

Attorney General - Eric Holder
Bush. Attorney General - John Ashcroft. When Ashcroft was governor of Missouri, it is said that he annointed himself with Crisco vegetable oil because holy oil was not available. As a lobbyist, he continues to annoint himself as the "anti-Abramoff" lobbyist. Whatever that is.

Secretary of Defense - Robert Gates
Bush Secretary of Defense - Donald Rumsfeld. Rummy couldn't get it right - even the second time around. He now serves as a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, University. Which Hoover, J. Edgar or Herbert, has not been determined.