No Really....

John Nichols writes in The Nation about a resurgence of progressive politics at the local level. For those of us sometimes inclined to despair when we observe the national scene, it's good to be reminded that 1). people who are not wingnuts are still getting elected, and 2). there is reason to believe--well, hope--that there is a stirring at the grassroots that will ultimately challenge the corporate/fundamentalist deathgrip.

And not a moment too soon. In reading Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, I am reminded that many so-called "failed" societies actually lasted quite a bit longer than we have managed to do so far. Will this nation still exist in its present form 100 years from now? Or will we become the Easter Islanders of our time? Stay tuned....

Or more to the point: Stay hopeful. Stay active. Stay mad.

Things Heat Up

From the NY Times--is there finally going to be some attention paid to this administration's head-up-their-ass approach to global warming?

A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.

What a surprise.

Risky Business

The Washington Post reports that porn star (and former California gubernatorial candidate) Mary Carey and her boss, porn producer Mark Kulkis, will be among those attending a fundraising dinner for George Bush in June. According to Kulkis:

"...you won't find a group of people more pro-business than pornographers."

Contemplating a run for California lieutenant governor next year, the voluptuous actress says she hopes to network with GOP officials here. "I'm especially looking forward to meeting Karl Rove," she cooed in a statement. "Smart men like him are so sexy."

Define "network", please.

Wait a minute, Karl Rove is sexy?? Are we sure this isn't Jeff Gannon in drag?

First there was "military, male, discreet" Gannon/Guckert, and now this. Who knew Republicans were so kinky?

Uh, Why?

...is John Kerry now authorizing the release of his military records? They show, among other things, commendations from some of the same veterans whose criticisms of him did so much damage in the Swift Boat Vets' negative ad campaign. Said Kerry:

"...I felt strongly that we shouldn't kowtow to them and their attempts to drag their lies out."

There are lots of reasons why John Kerry was a lousy candidate. Running away from his VVAW experience and its applicability to the Iraq debacle was only one of many. Taking the goddamn high road in response to the Swift Boat campaign (and everything else) was another.

So John, why take the trouble now to remind us of why you lost? It's not as if anyone is going to take you seriously as a candidate in 2008.

Elephants in the Room

And yes, I would love to write about something other than Iraq and the religious right. Something witty and inconsequential. Unfortunately that would require something like the opposite of blinders, to see everything except what's right in front of me.

Let George Bush start to pull the troops out, or do anything else right in Iraq. Let the fundy ayatollahs and their stooges stop trying to take over. Let me complain about ordinary things again.

Please...make my day.

Things get Worse...

...by the day, as Dahr Jamail writes in his Iraq Dispatches. With civil war looming and the onset of another brutal summer with temps as high as 125 degrees and next-to-no electricity, Iraqis ask yet again:

“Two years of occupation…for God sake where is the rebuilding, where the hell are these billions donated to Iraq? Even not 1% improvement in services and electricity! They say again and again the terrorists are to blame and I would accept this, but why they do not protect these facilities? Do the American camps have cuts of electricity? No, no, and nobody will allow this to happen...but poor Iraqis, nobody would be sorry for them if they burn with the hell of summer, small kids and old men they get dehydrated because no electricity, no cold water, etc."

The billions are going to build massive permanent military bases in Iraq (14 at last count) and to fortify the so-called "Green Zone" so that American officials and their contractor buddies and their private armies can have the illusion of normal; going into the pockets of corrupt officials; going to pay for mercenaries to do what the US military is stretched too thin to do. Reconstruction for Iraqis?? You must be kidding. That would require some outside-the-box thinking, some shift in priorities that is obviously beyond the capability of our present civilian leadership, entrenched as they are in their fool's vision of empire.

Oh, and the Army has declined to release their recruitment numbers for last month until they figure out how to put a spin on their failing efforts. Not enough troops; no stomach for a draft that would be a political disaster. This ought to get interesting real fast.