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Monday, May 28, 2007

What would you Trust Alberto Gonzalez to do?

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is apparently to incompent to know what is going on in the justice department.  Regardless of his atempts to coach Monica Goodling's testimony before Congress, he has consistently demonstrated that he did not know what was going on at the Justice Department.

He's a lawyer.  He should either know, remember, recollect or have taken very good notes such that the information would be readily available and at his finger tips to respond to a questions within 30 seconds.

He's apparently to incompetent to do that.  It begs the question why is he still in the Justice Department.  I have no confidence in him obviously.  Congress is considering a vote of no confidence.  I hope that they proceed with the vote. 

Congress confirmed him into the job and they need to take a stand on his job perfromance or lack there of.  Based on his history, I wouldn't trust him to sell cars or home furniture or for that matter mow my front lawn let alone take responsibilty for the Justice Department.

Monica Gate 2.0 - Republicans Gone Wild

For years now, almost a decade, Republicans have been livid over the scandal known as Monica gate that brought President Clinton's 2nd term momentarily to its knees during an impeachment process.

Unfortunately, Monica Gate 2.0 is here and in many ways this is less like a sequel and more like a new and improved version, except in a very bad way.  The justice department under the leadership of AG Alberto Gonzalez and President Bush oversaw the hiring of legally ignorant people like Monica Goodling that proceded to mix church and state in the justice department with a heavy emphasis on politics.

In many ways, their contemplation of the firing of all attorney generals emphasizes a level of out of the box thinking that seems down right unconstitutional, especially when you consider that The Constitution is the box that they are supposed to follow.  The President has made it clear over and over again that he chooses to ignore the Constitution when it runs counter to a higher calling, ergo either God or Money preferably both when they are to be had together.

The Clinton administration is very very similar to the Bush Administration.  Bill Clinton might be considered a minimalist.  He found a way to dissemble and parse the definition of the to be verb 'is'.  President Bush and the Attorney General have found a way to parse the concept of responsiblity, accountability and leadership.  Both administrations are responsible for severely undermining the foundation of our country.

We can no longer ask 'Who is responsible?'

The Clinton's taught us that the word is in that question an mean anything.

Bush and his happy band of cohorts have taught us that there is no responsibility for anything, the buck can stop if its spinning in a circular vortex.

I'm sure that the next administration regardless of whether it comes from the Democrats or the Republicans will knock out the third leg of the stool and find some way to cancel out the word 'Who'.

Regardless, I do not look forward to Monica Gate 3.0, I do not think the country can handle another Monica led scandal.  In this age of computers and virtually endless amounts of computer memory I find it inconceivable that anyone would be unable to keep decent soft copy notes about what is happening in their organization unless they specifically choose not to know what is going, on or choose not to document what is going on to avoid responsibility.

The Clinton's forbade paper notes to avoid a paper trail.  The Republicans rely on GOP email addresses to avoid using government systems.  They are both severely corrupt and there is very little difference between these administrations other than the fact that Bill Clinton could sell a lie and George Bush doesn't waste too much effort to sell a lie.  At the end of the day we are still forced to drink snake oil

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NASA Dismisses Pilot to Obscurity Over Love Triangle Attack

US Naval Officer William Oefelein got his pink slip from Nasa after 19 years of service and he was sent back to the Navy.  Oefelein was involved in an affair with astronaut Lisa Nowak for two years.

When he called off the affair, which had led to his own divorce and later Nowak's, he began another relationship with an Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman. 

NASA apparently did not take to a love triangle distraction which cost them 2 astronauts, a serious blow to taxpayers investment in both people.  So Oefelein will go back to the Navy and probably awaits an early retirement (my speculation entirely).  It would surprise me if his retirement results in future level of total obscurity by this now former NASA pilot, who will probably find it difficult to find a job selling anything other than discount office supplies

Japanese Minister's Suicide Surprises PM with last coffin nail for administration

The Japanese agriculture minister killed himself by hanging surprising Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had supported him through rumors of a scandal involving the now former agriculture minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka.

The suicide was a complete surprise to the administration, not that anyone could have predicted a suicide, but this is the first suicide of a Japanese Cabinet minister since World War II and just not something that was on anyone's radar detectors.

The Prime Minister had been defending the agriculture minister.  He had stated that he would not request a resignation and then the agriculture minister changed things tragically by taking his own life.

His death and the circumstances will likely be the last nail in the coffin for the Prime Minister's hold on the government.  Prime Minister Abe's approval ratings were in the low thirties from a percentage perspective and this will probably mark the publics perception with a confirmation of the doubt that was already present.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Putting Bush to Pasture Past time

President Bush has had a difficult 2nd term in office.  His difficulties pale in comparison to the difficulties of the rest of the country. 

Bush has suffered through many problems, catastrophes and more, but the American people have suffered through all of those same things.  Plus, we have suffered through his bungled management of those problems from Katrina to the scandal du jour.

There is no way in the world that Democrats are ever going to consider playing a trump card and starting an impeachment process on the President.  They are to scared of the recoil from that weapon.

This means that the American people are stuck with President Bush until 2008.  I would suggest that maybe we just need to appeal to his passion for baseball.  Back in the 80s and early 90s when he couldn't run a bank successfully Texas was able to push them off on running a baseball team to keep them out of trouble.

Maybe we should adopt a similar strategy and just offer them up a lifetime supply of baseball tickets.  For the sake of the country we could even allow him to throw out the first pitch of any baseball game that takes place anywhere around the country at his option.  Baseball fans would continually be reminded of the significant benefits that Bush brought to our country by resigning himself from office and retiring to watch baseball games.

Just think how much better our country would be if Bush was in the midst of managing our problems and making mistakes left and right.  Let's go find a good deal on baseball tickets, and put them out to pasture to watch America's favorite pastime.

If You are Poor, Watch Out! The World Bank Wants to help

Tony Fratto, a spokesman for the White House indicated that the White House wants to choose a replacement for Paul Wolfowitz that is passionate about helping people that are poor.

Given the record of President Bush of selecting people that are completely wrong for the job that spells trouble for people around the world trying to lift themselves out of poverty.  Bush has a long record of selecting the absolute wrong person for the job in many of his cabinet positions as well as other high profile slots.

Putting Paul Wolfowitz in the World Bank position as president was a good example of picking the wrong person for the job.  Back then the White House wanted to clean up the organization and stop providing money to countries that are corrupt.  Two years later after Paul Wolfowitz resigned for ethics violations, the White House now wants to find someone passionate about lifting people out of poverty.

To interpret the White House doublespeak, that probably means that the White House wants to insure that people remain in poverty.  I'm not saying that President Bush likes to trot over the poor and the weak and the second helpless, but the results speak for themselves.  That's what he does.

Breezy Hawaii Meditations

I have been away for my writing for a couple of days here in gridlock news and I'm hoping to catch up with a vengeance this weekend as I have a backlog of articles to write.

Where have I been?

I have been meditating in Hawaii.

Well actually that's not true, I'd like to be in Hawaii right now it's been a couple years as I took a vacation there and I definitely could use some meditation time on a breezy beach somewhere in Hawaii, but instead I've been preparing to move.

I took a trip to Hawaii back in 2001. We stayed in a condo on the beach where the wind blew in almost continually off the Pacific ocean. I think this was the only trip where I actually enjoyed the jet lag! I crashed on the bed after the trip with the windows and doors open letting the breeze in. It was the middle of the day, but the weather was beautiful.

I had a great time in Hawaii, hiking up diamond head and some other small hills or mountains. Had a better time in the ocean and bays and taking in some of the attractions, but truly I don't think I have ever slept better than I did when I crashed on that bed after the flight with the breeze blowing in around me. I still remember that after 6 years.

I'm getting out of gridlocked Atlanta and moving up to soon-to-be gridlocked Charlotte, North Carolina. That trying get ahead of the gridlock wait just a little bit and trying keep some of my sanity. I'm moving to a nice little house on the lake where I won't have to commute anywhere which means I won't be in the gridlocked nor will I be contributing to the gridlock.

There has been a significant amount of activity going on in politics recently and I'm hoping to get that with a vengeance and catch-up because events are moving and happening very rapidly right now.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Choosing between Iraq, Floods, Tornados and Hurricanes - Someone will Loose

The Governor of Kansas seized an opportunity to jump in the car with President Bush this week following his tour of the tornado ravaged areas of Kansas.  Governor Sebelius like many governors all across the country are concerend about the depletion (and lack of replenishment) of their National Guard resources.

Troops deploy to Iraq with their equipment.  Some of the troops return but the equipment does not.  Some of the troops take leave upon their return and some leave the service entirely despite stop loss orders.  This leaves states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas and many more states at a loss to deal with emergency response situations.

FEMA provides help and people can purchase their own Disaster Kits but at the beginning of a crisis National Guard troops are the closest resources to respond to emergencies.

Governor Sebelius is extremely concerned that the Pentagon's current plans only provide for replacement equipment over a 6 year time frame.  Six years is not fast enough for hurricane victims, flood victims, tornado victims nor even for troops redeploying back to Iraq again and again. 

The President and Congress are at odds over funding the Iraq war with an open check book.  That is a question over funding continued Iraqi operations in the future.  What neither Congress, nor the President nor the Pentagon have yet dealt with is that they have been running operations in Iraq on borrow equipment, borrowed money and borrowed time.

The current strategy in Iraq is requiring a sacrifice not just paid by the troops that are deployed but also by each of the states that provide their first responders.  This problem is rooted in part in the un-Total Warfare strategy kicked off by Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld four years ago.  President Bush chose to follow their advice and kick of a war with out a declaration of war, without a complete committment by the people of the United States and the world.  That lack of support was just a wedge in the early days when many people trusted the President.  The wedge has grown into a chasm and the repurcussions hit every time we have a natural disaster or terroristic attack in our country.

Sharpton Trumped with Romney's Bigot Card

Al Sharpton is coming under fire for some remarks he made regarding Mitt Romney this week.  Sharpton's comments accused Mitt Romney of not believing in God.

Listen Below

This is not the first time that Sharpton has been accused of bigotry.  However, this latest charge comes just a few weeks after Sharpton, a Radio personality and former Presidential Candidate, accused Don Imus of being a bigot for comments Imus made on the air.

Given that Sharpton helped play a role in the downful of Imus for bigoted remarks, should Sharpton be confronted with the same tests that Imus failed?

In this case Sharpton did not make the comments on the air of his own radio program, so his radio job may not be on the line directly.  However, for a former candidate who actually had a number of poignant moments during the 2004 campaign, it is extremely unfortunate that Sharpton has not been able to shake his own demons of bigotry and intollerance.

It is even more unfortunate that Sharpton has allowed himself to succumb to partisan politics and tainted his efforts with bigotry. He had potential to be more effective and influential during the upcoming primary, however, his own words have probably neutralized his potential for positive change. Personally, I think Sharpton should apologize in person with Mitt Romney.

Past Comment

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Maybe Wolfowitz should take his Girl Friend to Aruba next time

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Back in January they upgrade their booking system to speed up processing and offer more filtering options.  If Aruba isn't Paul's speed they offer all inclusive trips to many locations around the world. I'm sure he can find some place to hide away in for a little while. 

He was one of the chief architects for the Iraq war, which has proven to be so highly popular and successful.  I doubt he will have any difficulty finding a warm welcome.

Will the US Veto a World Bank Ouster of Wolfowitz?

 Foreign relations for President Bush might get a little bit uglier if Bank President Paul Wolfowitz receives a thumbs down vote from the Board of Directors of the World Bank.  The president of the bank is appointed by the United States.  This is a five-year term and if he keeps his job, bowlful wits would stay on in the bank until 2010, 2 years into the next term for the next president of the United States.

The United States does receive a 16 to 17% share in the vote if the board were to recommend the ouster of the current president of the bank.  That essentially gives the US a veto power over the removal of the president of the bank.  However such a veto could cause serious damage to our relationships with the European members of the bank.  They have been strong critics of Paul Wolfowitz as well as the President of the United States himself.

It is not clear how large a majority would be necessary to remove Wolfowitz forcibly. Each country casts votes according to its percentage contribution to the bank's funds, with the United States the most powerful with 16 percent to 17 percent of the vote. Super-majorities are required for some board actions; a super- majority requirement to remove Wolfowitz would effectively give the United States a veto.

Source: Wolfowitz decries 'smear campaign' in ethics investigation - The Boston Globe

Full Speed Ahead for Microsoft After AT&T dealt Supreme Court loss

 Microsoft won a fight yesterday in the spring court against AT&T.  It's probably likely that this win for Microsoft will someday come back to haunt them but in the meantime they are making out like bandits.  They utilize a patent from AT&T that deals with voice compression, and when they sent software outside of the country to be manufactured and sold abroad that software program goes with it.  And when the states they have to pay a royalty on the use of AT&T's technology.  When I sell abroad it's not covered by US law so says the spring court.

AT&T can follow up and foreign jurisdictions to enforce foreign patents if they so choose and if they have that type of standing.  The Supreme Court has been taking steps to help identify some of the loopholes that seem to be present and patent law today.  This most recent decision seems to indicate that the spring court would prefer for Congress to step up and fix the patent laws that are not keeping up with advances in technology today.

At issue in the case is whether Microsoft violated an AT&T patent on digital speech compression processes when it sent its Windows operating software covering that patent overseas for production and sale outside the U.S. The main legal question at issue is whether software code, which isn't patentable, is nonetheless a component of a patented device and covered by U.S. patent law that treats domestic and foreign production differently.

Source: Supreme Court's two rulings dilute power of patents - MarketWatch

Is San Diego Bucking The Down ward Real Estate Trend?

Sponsored Article Dream Homes Magazine Just published a release claiming that San Diego and other Southern California Counties are still hot for real estate. Nationally sales of existing home sales prices were down in March by 0.3% and the expectation is that nationally existing home sale prices will be down by 0.9% the first decline in home sale prices since the Great Depression. Dream Homes Magazine claims that san diego real estate is still hot for homes priced in the $1 million plus range. That could be possible as there are still many good things to attract people to Southern California. Last fall my brother in law sold his home in San Diego and they watched the price on the home fall by about 5% while it was listed, but their small 1700 sq ft home was selling for only about a half million dollars. (keep in mind a million dollars doesn't go very far in San Diego, that's about double to triple the price of a starter home.) Even if that isn't buying much a million dollars is still a barrier to entry for some, but for those that have and for those benefiting from the stock market surge, it may not be that big of a problem.

Firing Gonzalez the Valerie Plame Way???

Someone from a high level in the current administration has lead some documents to the national Journal that indicate that Attorney General Gonzalez authorized to aides that were under instruction by the White House to hire and fire people in his name back in 2006.  The authorization was later slightly updated to indicate that all hirings and firings would have to be reported to Attorney General Gonzalez.

The department's Office of Legal Counsel feared that such an unconditional delegation of authority was unconstitutional, the documents show. As a result, the original delegation was rewritten so that in its final form the order required "any proposed appointments or removals of personnel" be "presented to the Attorney General... for approval, and each appointment or removal shall be made in the name of the Attorney General."

Source: NATIONAL JOURNAL: Secret Order By Gonzales Delegated Extraordinary Powers To Aides (04/30/07)

The fact that these documents were leaked seems to indicate that the White House is taking approach similar to what it did to destroy Valerie Plame.  The president had indicated that it was up to the Attorney General to win back the trust of Congress.  However the Attorney General failed to disclose to Congress that he had signed this authorization for his aides back in 2006.  Now someone is leaking this information showing the discrepancy the attorney general made and more importantly showing that he's failed to win congresses support after the president told them to do so.

This smells a lot like the Valerie Plame incident where the White House leaked information to high-level sources to achieve their political goals.  Again they are leaking information at high levels instead of acting in a more transparent fashion.  Could they be attempting to force the Attorney General to admit to recent mistakes as opposed to the big mistakes that he made in 2006 that were directed possibly by the White House itself?

This would defer the blame of the real problem that occurred to this lesser problem which could still cause the Attorney General his job, yet save the White House and President Bush any embarrassment.

Latest Virginia Tech Casualty is the Loophole

The loophole that allowed a mentally disturbed person to purchase two handguns within a month passing background checks both times in Virginia ceased to exist today.  The loophole was the latest casualty of the Virginia Tech massacre and this is a casualty that we welcome. 

The governor issued an executive order intended to prohibit the sale of guns to anyone found to be dangerous and forced to undergo involuntary mental health treatment. Under the order, their names would be included a database of people banned from buying guns.

Source: Virginia Ends a Loophole in Gun Laws - New York Times

this close a loophole that allowed state level problems to occur, however it's unclear whether or not this will push the state to report up to a federal level the same problems.  A person should not be able to purchase a handgun in Virginia if they were found to be mentally disturbed there. 

It's a little unclear if the loophole still remains at a federal level.  If it hasn't been close to the federal level than a person bound to be mentally disturbed in Virginia that goes through outpatient services could go to West Virginia and potentially purchase a weapon.  There were many problems that surfaced  during and after the Virginia Tech massacre, this loophole was one of them but there were other issues it remains to be seen of all of them will be fixed.

Let's hope they are fixed before another problem develops . . .