During the Bush administration, in the days following 9/11, we lost our moral compass. Now we will pay the price for our laps in judgment.
One of my former co-workers has a friend that served in the first Gulf War and he told my friend that one of their biggest problems was in trying to deal with all of the Iraqi soldiers rushing to surrender to the US to escape Saddam. A nice problem to have, but unfortunately that won't happen again for a very long time. Here's a vets account of the price we will now pay in blood and treasure as a result of our failure to live up to our values:
We need accountability now to make sure this won't happen in a future administration. I'm sorry Mr. Nixon, just because the president does it does NOT make it legal!
George Bush has been out of office for over a month, but we are still uncovering new damage he has done to our nation. In Tuesday's Washington Post, Cindy Skrzycki reports about the latest discovery of new rule changes that the Bush administration Health and Human Services Department quietly enacted back in September that will make it much harder for consumers to sue nursing homes.
The change, which affects the $144 billion nursing-home industry, was enacted with no public notice or attention.
"This is pretty stunning," said Mark Kosieradzki, a plaintiff attorney in Plymouth, Minn. "Nobody was told. It was just done."
The rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, a group usually shielded from providing evidence for either side in private litigation.
The restrictions affect about 16,000 nursing facilities and 3 million residents in the United States. The practical effect is to force litigants to go to greater lengths, including seeking court orders, to get inspection reports or depositions for cases they are pursuing or defending.
"This change hurts nursing-home residents and their families by allowing bad practices to be kept in secret by nursing homes and inspectors," said Eric M. Carlson, an attorney with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles. "Government inspectors have the right to go into nursing homes and investigate, and they learn things that residents and families otherwise could never find out."
On Bloomberg.com, more details are given about the effect of this terrible new ruling:
More than 90 percent of U.S. nursing homes in each of the previous three years were cited for violating federal standards, according to a report in September by the inspector general of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
The new rule was issued in September by the department. It generally prohibits state health departments and contractors that do auditing and other services for the government from participating in private lawsuits involving facilities that are in the federal assistance program without approval by the head of HHS.
The effect of the directives has started to play out in the nation's courtrooms. Requests for information, once fairly routine, now are stalled between state and federal officials.
"This regulation update was in the works for a very long time," said department spokesman Bill Hall, in an e-mail.
I'm sure the enactment, at the end of the Bush administration, was just a coincidence!
Check out this banner headline in the December 28, 2008 issue of Greenwich Time:
"Bush departs with legacy in question"
In question? The only questions for most Americans seem to be: "Can't he leave sooner?" and "Is he the worst president in American history, or only the second worst?"
But if you thought that headline strange, take a look at the first sentence of reporter Neil Vigdor's article:
"Some will remember him as Bush the protector, the president who prevented another terrorist attack from befalling the U.S. on its own soil during his watch."
Some will? Perhaps, but certainly extremely few, especially in this state. Vigdor goes on to write that in Greenwich,
"Where the seeds of his family's political dynasty were planted, George W. Bush is seen among many of his most ardent Republican supporters as an enigmatic figure at the close of his presidency."
An "enigmatic figure"? He carries the lowest approval ratings in modern history, thousands are dead in his pointless Iraq War, the country is racking up the worst economic numbers since the Great Depression, and Neil Vigdor believes that there is something "enigmatic" about Bush? No, he's an unmitigated disaster. Period.
It's pretty good, the only thing I would change would be to draw a contrast between lobbyists and regular working families (the pics of forclosed houses hints at this, but is used in a negative association more than anything else), and have the word "lie" in there somewhere, but it's a good ad for the internet.
People who sign up for McCain's program receive reward points each time they place a favorable comment on one of the listed Web sites (subject to verification by McCain's webmasters). The points can be traded for prizes, such as books autographed by McCain, preferred seating at campaign events, even a ride with the candidate on his bus, known as the Straight Talk Express, according to campaign spokesman Brian Rogers.
...snip...
More chillingly, dissidents alleged earlier this year that the Chinese government has paid Chinese citizens token sums for each favorable comment about government policies they post in chat rooms and on blogs.
Recent revelations including the Pentagon's use of retired military officers as spokesmen for the war that they personally profited from, the Congressional report that the administration absolutely lied to the American people and to Congress to push us into war with Iraq, the new book by former Press Secretary Scott McClellen which documents the fact that Bush himself had a hand in the outing of a covert agent of the CIA and now the report "Broken Laws, Broken Lives" on medical evidence of torture by the US conclusively proving that the United States government used torture on detainees, have fused to form an unassailable case for impeaching both Bush and Cheney. The only thing preventing impeachment and continuing to protect the President and Vice President is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
The Chairman's responsibilities and Jurisdictions will include real oversight concerning failures of the Bush administration in providing security to our nation during times of war, illegal invasions, ongoing occupations, and natural disasters, as well as overseeing the bloated budget and operations of the largest branch of government ever to be created in the US governments' history through legislation authored under the Republican controlled Senate and House, and signed by the Republican pResident of the time.
Your main and immidiate responsibilities will include holding the needed hearings, directing sub-commitees and legislation needed to avoid repeating the previous disasters, corrupt practices, and failures that will be found with the propper direction and oversight of a NON-PARTISAN and ethical Senate leader.
(1)Minorities such as moderate Republicans having no ties to far-right-wing radical organizations like the Neoconservative movement, the American Enterprise Instute, The Heritage Foundation, Energy Corporations, or the Bush administrations most recent policy proposals that are doomed to failure, are encouraged to apply to Senator Harry Reid for any consideration concerning this soon to be available position.
(2)Note to applicants: Please mark the subject of the Email as "Homeland Security" and refer to this x-posted Blog diary in the opening paragragh of the application. You will be contacted shortly before I post an "I told you so!" diary covering the flawed positons, election statement lies, and propaganda of the far-right-wing radical Neoconservative Joe Lieberman.
President Bush got it exactly right today when he warned about the threat of Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. It is imperative that we reject the flawed and naïve thinking that denies or dismisses the words of extremists and terrorists when they shout "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," and that holds that - if only we were to sit down and negotiate with these killers - they would cease to threaten us. It is critical to our national security that our commander-in-chief is able to distinguish between America's friends and America's enemies, and not confuse the two. - LIEberman
President George W. Bush is scheduled to be the guest of honor April 25 at a fund-raiser for State Sen. David Cappiello at the Kent home of former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger and his wife, Nancy.
I've been wrestling with this diary for a day and a half... basically as Iraq has moved into the background, I've spent a bit less time thinking about it, but then I saw something on TV that I had to write about. Here goes...
The horserace narrative has swung back into full tweety ahead over the weekend. But more troubling to me than the Clinton/Obama back-and-forth (and let me say, pretty much all of the Democrats running for Prez are equally complicit in Iraq in my eyes) was what Clinton repeated over and over during her interview on Meet the Press on Sunday. Her rationalization for her vote on the 2002 AUMF was 1) it was her understanding that the vote was not for actual use of force but rather for the threat of force 2) she thought inspectors would go back in 3) she found out later Bush was deceiving Congress (and the American people) by going in unilaterally on an inflated / fabricated case for war. In this characterization, Bush is the one who bears the full responsibility for the war. Here's what she said on the transcript:
Well, I have said that obviously, I would never do again what George Bush did with that vote. He misused and abused the authority that was given to him, in my opinion. And we can't turn the clock back. I've taken responsibility for it.
...
I, I would not have given President Bush the authority if I knew he would deliberately misuse and abuse it.
...
It became clear in retrospect, Tim, once people started writing books and information came out of the administration, the president had no intention of letting the inspectors do their job. That's not what I was told by the Bush White House. That's not what we were told in constant briefings from high-level Bush administration officials. That's not what the president told the country in his speech in Cincinnati shortly before the vote. If you remember, he said this vote was the best chance to avoid some kind of confrontation.
Clinton is saying that Bush abused the power of war under false pretenses, and deliberately misled the country by lying about his intentions. Okay, I think we all can agree with that.
But this begs what should be a very obvious question, one that Russert did not ask.
One of the most potentially repressive bills ever to be considered by Congress passed the House of Representatives last month by a vote of 404 to 6, with 22 not voting. H.R. 1955, called the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, was introduced by California Democrat Jane Harman with 14 co-sponsors. Designed, supposedly "To prevent homegrown terrorism, and for other purposes," the language in this bill is so broad that it easily could incorporate the Orwellian concept of Thought Crimes.
Scott Bateman has created a great animated video using the audio portion of a 1946 educational film about Despotism. Totally worth the time to watch. h/t to Debris.
Bush has mastered the political art of projection. To him, it's acceptable for our country to fund the wars in Iraq and Afganistan completely on debt - now estimated to reach $1.5 trillion, or more than $20,000 for each American household! But, when the Democrats want to fund education and healthcare using available tax dollars, they are "acting like a teenager with a new credit card." Go figure... http://www.connpost....
Dad, you have always been the strong silent type. I admire you for still lifting weights and working out at the unbelievable age of seventy-six! I salute you for your service in the Korean War. Although, your service was not something that you ever wished to discuss while I was living at home, not even with Mom. But something is changing in you and well....you are beginning to not be so silent. I still search in vain for the family of the man in Utah that you asked me to find although you won't share why yet. I now know that your best friend from our hometown died two days before you both were to return to the states. You have still not shared what happened in that airplane. I have never mentioned the old black and white photographs in the cedar chest in the attic but I will wait for you to talk. Dad, we are all so happy to support you right now. I can tell that you have so much that you are wanting to get off your chest. I believe the turning point was your seeing these veterans returning from Iraq and the shameful Walter Reed Hospital situation. I know that you do not like the Bush/Cheney shredding of our Constitution that you fought to defend. I love you Dad and you will always be my best friend. Are you ready to join the Veterans for Peace yet? You can still make a difference, just like you always taught me!
According to data carried on the website icasualties.org, the number of Americans killed, wounded, and medivac'd out of the country due to serious injury, disease, and combat-related psychiatric illness has now surpassed 61,000. That total includes 97 American women soldiers who've been killed and unspecified hundreds more women soldiers who have been wounded. It doesn't include most of the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who've returned from Iraq afflicted with PTSD, but only those who cracked while they were there and had to be medivac'd out of the combat zone. And it doesn't include the 130 American soldiers who committed suicide over there.
Here are the cold numbers for the senseless war that Joe Lieberman, Chris Shays, George Bush, Dick Cheney and the rest of their neocon cabal forced us into:
killed in action: 3,859
wounded: 28,451
medivac'd out with serious injuries or disease: 29,584
Total: 61,894.
That also doesn't include the 17% of all soldiers who suffer "mild traumatic brain injury," or most of the 30% of all troops deployed to Iraq who suffer from PTSD, which now numbers in the hundreds of thousands. And the suicides only account for a quarter of all "non-hostile" deaths suffered by military members in Iraq. Furthermore, the figures for wounded and injured medivac'd out are only up to the beginning of October, more than a month ago in the deadliest year yet of this war.
Shame on those who sent them into that war and who still pretend that it is worth the dying.
A dedicated, life-long Democrat, I am not alone in being thoroughly disgusted with my Party. We won the 2006 elections but might as well have lost: Congress continues to enable the Bush-Cheney crime family in all of its worst endeavors; and, increasingly, it appears that Democratic voters may fall into line and nominate the right-wing's first choice (and best hope) for our standard bearer in 2008. How dumb can we get?
As I wrote earlier [in "Not Hillary"], Republicans are licking their chops at the chance to batter Hillary Clinton a second time around; in fact, they aren't even waiting until she's been nominated. The Republican debates already have produced numerous examples of the stampede to beat up the presumed Democratic front-runner; and the media, predictably, has followed suit by beating up on her Democratic challengers. When I mentioned recently to a largely apolitical friend - and registered Republican - that Rupert Murdoch has been making large contributions to Hillary's campaign, he said: Well, her candidacy represents Republicans' best chance of retaking the White House in 2008.
As if the prospect of a Republican victory in 2008 were not enough, there are many more reasons for Democratic voters to hold their representatives accountable for the jobs they were elected to do. In this context, it should be reasonable to expect any Democratic Presidential candidate to demonstrate a willingness to address the country's most important challenges. After two terms of Bush-Cheney, the country's "To Do list" has become a very long one - including numerous intractable problems. I have generated a Starter List below, which includes just a few of the most serious challenges we face; it is by no means comprehensive . . .
(An informative expansion on DemFromCT's diary on Shays' unsteady position on S-CHIP, updated with links. - promoted by tparty)
Look very closely at Congressman Chris Shays' recent actions on the renewal of the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and you'll understand how he really operates. In September, Mr. Shays joined with 45 Republicans and 220 Democrats to pass the renewal and extension of SCHIP (HR 976, Roll Call #906, September 25), which had just passed the Senate by an overwhelming and veto-proof majority. The bill extends health insurance to the children of poor and working class Americans who can't afford private health insurance, and was credited with sharply reducing the number of uninsured children over the past ten years. Naturally, George Bush vetoed the measure, for which he became the butt of jokes from Jon Stewart, and drew the ire of the AARP, American Medical Association, American Federation of Teachers, Catholic Health Association of America, the March of Dimes, and American Cancer Society, among many others. Following Bush's veto, Mr. Shays promised he would vote to override it, calling the SCHIP extension, "a good, bipartisan bill that is worthy of passage." But as always with Mr. Shays, one has to look behind the curtain to find out what he's really up to.
On the same day that he told Connecticut Post that he would vote to overturn the veto, he voted with his party's right-wing leadership to kill the SCHIP extension he'd just pledged to support. Understanding that the bill was still a few votes short of the two-thirds necessary for an override, the Democratic leadership introduced legislation (HR 976, Roll Call #938, October 3) to postpone the vote on override for two weeks in order to try to convince more congressmen to support it. The Republican leadership, however, demanded that the vote be held immediately, a move that would have meant certain death for the measure. Chris Shays? He voted with his leadership to for an immediate vote that would have killed SCHIP. Moreover, in May of this year Mr. Shays joined 147 other Republican congressmen in signing a pledge that he would vote to sustain any presidential veto of a spending bill that exceeded the president's budget request. In other words, his public pledge to vote for SCHIP notwithstanding, Mr. Shays had already gone on record promising to vote against it. So his vote last week to kill SCHIP was no surprise at all.
Of course, if one understood Mr. Shays' opposition to most sensible health care proposals, his paper-thin support for SCHIP, a program that a WSJ.com/Harris Interactive survey last month demonstrated enjoyed overwhelming support from the American people, including a margin of more than two-to-one among Republicans, would come as no surprise. Mr. Shays also opposed empowering the federal government to negotiate lower prices on pharmaceuticals for Medicare recipients, even though the Veterans' Administration has been able to reduce the prices it pays for the most popular drugs to just 50% of the price paid by private insurance companies. And Mr. Shays went out of his way to support George Bush's unpopular "Health Savings Account" proposal in Bridgeport last year, a scheme that even the Congressional Research Service estimated would not reduce health care costs in America.
Now, might Shays still vote to override? My guess is only if his leadership is assured of the votes to kill the bill. In that case, the Republicans would play "catch and release," permitting him to vote to please local constituents. But if it looks very close, here's betting that Shays will once again stick with his right-wing buddies and vote to kill it, just as he did this week on the snap vote.
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