Thank God for the Republicans!
Part 1 in a series

I've been saying it for weeks now: no group is doing more damage to the Bush administration right now than themselves and old school Republicans.

The Democrats have been given ample opportunity to call Bush to task, but they've lacked the courage to do much more than whine and moan. Defacto Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry has been strangely quiet lately, letting Karl Rove define the terms of the debate, barely defending himself against the GOP's spurious attacks on his combat service record. (Arianna Huffington and others have called on Kerry to "go big, ask more from us, and power his campaign on the politics of hope and progress." If you agree, sign the petition.)

While the Democrats work on figuring out ways to lose in November, thanks should go out to stand-up Republicans like Paul O'Neill, Richard Clarke, John Dean, Joseph Wilson, Bob Woodward, Patrick Buchanan, John McCain .... Thanks to Republicans like these, each day we're learning more about Bush's lies and deceptions that led us into Iraq, and the damage he is doing to democracy at home and abroad.

Tell your Republican friends and family. They may listen to you, but they're much more likely to listen to members of their own party.

Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 World Premiere on Monday

Moore revealed he had smuggled three camera crews into Iraq to film disillusioned US soldiers for his new documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11.

He was speaking for the first time since his public row with Disney, who had refused to distribute the film in the US because of its anti-Bush message.

Fahrenheit 9/11 looks at life in the US in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks and the onset of military action in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Moore sent the crews into Iraq after disaffected soldiers wrote to him, he said.

"I was able to sneak three different freelance crews into Iraq," he said.

The soldiers had "express disillusionment that they had been lied to", said Moore.

"[The film from Iraq] is certainly something the Bush administration does not want people to see," said Moore.

Moore made Fahrenheit 9/11 for Miramax, which is owned by Disney.

He said Disney had backed out of distributing the film for "only political reasons".

This isn't the first time that Moore has been muzzled. HarperCollins asked him to excise 50 pages from "Stupid White Men," in which he was critical of President Bush, just after 9/11. Moore refused. Harper pushed back the release date, sitting on 50,000 finished books. The only reason why the book was finally released as Moore had intended was that a librarian stood up for him.

"This is a fascinating story because it shows what a free society does when confronted with a crisis. Do we maintain our sense of freedom and liberty and dissent and open discussion of the issues? Or do we start putting the clamp down?"

Once the book became a bestseller, Moore was ticked off that he had made so much money for a corporation that didn't have the balls to defend him. He's now with a new publisher and "Dude, Where's My Country" has been a big success.

That was two years ago. Now we have even more reason to criticize Bush, while yet another corporation, Disney, is unwilling to advance Moore's work, even when it's certain to bring them profits.

I don't see the same sort of timidity when Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly come out with new books. Gosh, I wonder why?

As consumers, we can only hope that Disney shareholders punish their board for its political timidity.

Scenes are available at Moore's website here.

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This story of Disney cowering to rightwing political pressure reminds me of what they did to Bill Maher in 2001.

On the first episode of "Politically Incorrect" after 9/11, guest Dinesh D'Souza told host Maher that Bush was wrong for calling the attackers "cowards."

'Not true,' D'Souza said. 'Look at what they did. First of all, you have a whole bunch of guys who are willing to give their life. None of 'em backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete.'

Maher concurred. 'We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away,' he said. 'That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly'

Ok, big deal, the show is called Politically Incorrect, right? But then Texas-based radio-show host Dan Patrick told his listeners to complain to both Sears and FedEx, who both subsequently pulled their advertising from the show.

Maher later issued a clarification and apologized, but the damage was done.

ABC's Washington, D.C., affiliate WJLA -- along with 16 other stations -- decided to drop the show.

Then the White House joined the fray when Ari Fleischer said Maher's comments were: "'unfortunate' and 'a terrible thing to say.' Although he hadn't actually seen the broadcast, Fleischer said it was a reminder that Americans 'need to watch what they say, watch what they do, and this is not a time for remarks like that; there never is.'"

Sounds Orwellian, doesn't it? Guess what all the controversy did for Maher's ratings? "The controversy has boosted Politically Incorrect to its best ratings in more than six months. The show averaged 2.8 million viewers for the week of September 17, up 20 percent from last year."

So what did Disney/ABC do? It took them until May 2002, but they finally fired Maher.

ABC Chairman Lloyd Braun said Maher's controversial comments had nothing to do with the decision to replace him.

'We made a decision to go with straight entertainment programming in late night,' Braun said on Tuesday. 'That's just basically a scheduling opportunity that we felt over the long term had more potential.'

Whereas Disney executives often publicly supported Koppel and 'Nightline' after the Letterman flap, there was little support for Maher and 'PI.'

HBO had the balls to give Maher a show, "Real Time with Bill Maher," and he's never been better. If you don't have HBO, get it by August, when he'll start his new season.

(Update: Michael Moore won the Palme d'Or. Boy, I can't wait to see this movie.)

Justice is Duck Blind!

The following is taken from Justice Scalia's memorandum rejecting the Sierra Club's request for him to recuse himself from the case involving Vice President Dick Cheney's secret energy task force meeting.

For five years or so, I have been going to Louisiana during the Court’s long December-January recess, to the duck-hunting camp of a friend whom I met through two hunting companions from Baton Rouge, one a dentist and the other a worker in the field of handicapped rehabilitation. The last three years, I have been accompanied on this trip by a son-in-law who lives near me. Our friend and host, Wallace Carline, has never, as far as I know, had business before this Court. He is not, as some reports have described him, an “energy industry executive” in the sense that summons up boardrooms of ExxonMobil or Con Edison. He runs his own company that provides services and equipment rental to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

During my December 2002 visit, I learned that Mr. Carline was an admirer of Vice President Cheney. Knowing that the Vice President, with whom I am well acquainted (from our years serving together in the Ford administration), is an enthusiastic duck-hunter, I asked whether Mr. Carline would like to invite him to our next year’s hunt. The answer was yes; I conveyed the invitation (with my own warm recommendation) in the spring of 2003 and received an acceptance (subject, of course, to any superseding demands on the Vice President’s time) in the summer. The Vice President said that if he did go, I would be welcome to fly down to Louisiana with him. (Because of national security requirements, of course, he must fly in a Government plane.) That invitation was later extended— if space was available—to my son-in-law and to a son who was joining the hunt for the first time; they accepted. The trip was set long before the Court granted certiorari in the present case, and indeed before the petition for certiorari had even been filed.

We departed from Andrews Air Force Base at about 10 a.m. on Monday, January 5, flying in a Gulfstream jet owned by the Government ...

Signs of Life

I don't know how much play this got on mainstream media, but it was on CNN at least once.

In the middle of Rumsfeld's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, a group of protesters let rip a pretty damn good chorus of "Fire Rumsfeld!" for about a minute before the cops ushered them out. Click here to see some quick video of the protesters from CNN's broadcast. (It's a 1.6 MB MPEG so give it time to download.)

Which Issues Is Bush Running On?

I've been trying to get a grip on this myself. Obviously Rove is going with his ridiculous "wartime president" hoakum, but what about the issues? To discover which issues Bush&Co feel strongly about, look no further than the White House website:

Making America Safer

America is safer today because of the decisive action and leadership of President Bush. The President will not allow the nation to return to a sense of false security and complacency. (False security and complacency? You mean like when we had a President and intelligence community that were actually focused on terrorism?)

Jobs & Economic Growth

In his 2004 State of the Union Address, President Bush announced Jobs for the 21st Century - more than $500 million for a series of measures to better prepare current and future workers for jobs in the new millennium. (So far Bush has been pretty good at losing jobs. In fact, he's the best since Hoover. And let me guess where these supposed "new millennium" jobs will be -- Walmart? And don't forget, Bush says that working in fast food counts as manufacturing!)

Progress in Iraq

In his 2004 State of the Union, President Bush said, "Last January, Iraq's only law was the whim of one brutal man. Today our coalition is working with the Iraqi Governing Council to draft a basic law, with a bill of rights. We're working with Iraqis and the United Nations to prepare for a transition to full Iraqi sovereignty by the end of June." (I can't wait to see how that works.)

Strengthening Healthcare

The rapidly rising cost of health care is the main reason why millions of Americans lack health insurance today. To make insurance more affordable, the President proposed measures to address rising healthcare costs and help more Americans afford insurance. (I can't even decipher what the hell they mean by this one! What "measure" has Bush proposed that would make health insurance more affordable? Bush had this to say back in January:

"Fortunately, the positive news is that we've got the best health care system in the world. And we need to keep it that way. We need to keep it that way by keeping the private market strong, by resisting efforts that are happening in Washington, D.C., to say the federal government should be running health care. See, we don't believe that. I don't believe it. I believe the best health care system is that health care system generated in the private markets. "

Education

President Bush's plan will improve the quality of education at our Nations middle and high schools and better prepare students for success in higher education and the job market - including $100 million to help striving readers and $120 million to improve math education. (Just like he did in Texas, right?)

I remember hearing about the Tillman brothers last Thanksgiving. Paul Beston wrote in The American Spectator last December about "The NFL’s Lonely Hero."

Pat Tillman was the starting strong safety for the Arizona Cardinals when the 9/11 attacks occurred. He played out the 2001 season and then with his brother Kevin, a former minor league baseball player, enlisted in the Army Rangers. In doing so, Tillman walked away from a three-year, $3.6 million dollar contract with the Cardinals for an $18,000 salary and plentiful opportunities to get his head shot off. That hasn't happened yet, and God willing it won't. But the pay cut kicked in right away.

It seems that God wasn't willing. Tillman was killed in Afghanistan this week. White House spokesman Taylor Gross spoke for President Bush today:

"Pat Tillman was an inspiration both on and off the football field. As with all who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror, his family is in the thoughts and prayers of President and Mrs. Bush."

But don't expect George to attend Tillman's funeral, or that of any other soldier he's sent overseas to make the "ultimate sacrifice."

* * *
You probably know by now about the husband and wife working in Kuwait who were fired after the wife's photograph of coffins draped in US flags turned up in their local paper, or the website that published similar coffin photos after a Freedom of Information Act request. What you probably didn't know is that one network has yet to show these images. Guess who? FOX. I guess on some level they recognize that President Bush is responsible for the deaths of US soldiers serving needlessly in a conflict that he created, just so he could run as a "wartime president."

Correction: FOX did eventually show the coffin photo, but with a predictably pro-Bush slant on the story, "Bush Concerned About Privacy on Coffin Photos."

What Are 4 Points Worth?

Today's San Francisco Chronicle ran the front page, bottom-of-the-fold story, "Bad news not hurting Bush in polls."

It is hard to imagine a worse month of news for President Bush's re-election efforts than the past four weeks: 100 Americans killed in Iraq, chaos in Fallujah and wrenching public questions about the administration's pre-Sept. 11, 2001, intelligence failures.

Go on to read the story and you'll find that Bush's numbers against Kerry have gone up in the last month by 4 points, from 44% to 48% against Kerry's 48% to 43% decline.

What you'll miss unless you continue reading on page A4 is the real reason why Bush's numbers have gone up, albeit slightly.

Democrats were quick to point to Bush's $50 million advertising blitz, his domination of the news over the past several weeks and a natural post-primary cooling in support for Kerry as explanations for the president's continued strong standing in the polls. An analysis of cable news networks starting the day after California's March 2 primary through last week found that stations devoted 12 hours and 11 minutes to live coverage of Bush as compared with three hours and 47 minutes for Kerry.

$50 million for 4 points! Go ahead and spend your money, BushCo. You're still going to lose in November.

What Does Bush Have To Hide?

Why is Bush even bothering to appear before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States?

He can't answer questions without help from "Vice" President Dick Cheney. And he will not be answering questions under oath, so he is free to lie, I suppose. Not that oaths have ever stopped him from lying before. And his appearance will be made behind closed doors, so the American people won't be allowed to determine on their own whether Bush and Cheney are trustworthy.

Former US Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman has said:

"If Bush refuses to answer reasonable questions in public, the indelible impression is left that he has something to hide. That impression is reinforced by the White House's insistence that Vice President Cheney sit with Bush at the hearing. The President cannot afford to convey the image that he is afraid to appear on his own. And neither the 9/11 Commission nor the public should permit a behind-closed-door session for anything except national security information. The same principle should have applied to the testimony of former President Bill Clinton."

Bush Is Now Officially Impeachable

I hate to admit it, but I'm beginning to agree with those who are calling for the impeachment of President Bush. I've tried to resist the petty desire for vengance, to pay the Republicans back for their indecent impeachment of President Clinton. I've tried to remind myself that impeachment is an extraordinary action that our nation has undertaken just twice in its history. But the more I think about it, the more I agree with Ralph Nader:

"When you plunge our country into war on a platform of fabrications and deceptions, and you bring back thousands of American soldiers who are sick, injured or dead, and that war is unconstitutionally authorized to begin with, Mr. Bush's behavior qualifies for the high crimes and misdemeanor impeachment clause of the Constitution."

"Lying under oath is not a trivial offense, but it cannot compare with deceiving the American people night after night after night on national television, staging untruths and rejecting the advice of his advisers."

Nader said this before watching 60 Minutes last night. Bob Woodward talked with Mike Wallace on tonight's 60 Minutes about his new book, "Plan of Attack," and added to the mounting evidence that should eventually lead to the impeachment of Bush & Cheney.

"Rumsfeld and Franks work out a deal essentially where Franks can spend any money he needs. And so he starts building runways and pipelines and doing all the preparations in Kuwait, specifically to make war possible,” says Woodward.

“Gets to a point where in July, the end of July 2002, they need $700 million, a large amount of money for all these tasks. And the president approves it. But Congress doesn't know and it is done. They get the money from a supplemental appropriation for the Afghan War, which Congress has approved. …Some people are gonna look at a document called the Constitution which says that no money will be drawn from the Treasury unless appropriated by Congress. Congress was totally in the dark on this."

* * *
Did Mr. Bush ask his father for any advice? “I asked the president about this. And President Bush said, ‘Well, no,’ and then he got defensive about it,” says Woodward. “Then he said something that really struck me. He said of his father, ‘He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength.’ And then he said, ‘There's a higher Father that I appeal to.’"

When we impeach Bush, his appeals to his 'higher Father' will fall on deaf ears, I'm certain. Incidentally, can we impeach Bush & Cheney together?

... For those who missed Bush's hilarious press conference last week, he told a great lie about mustard gas found on a turkey farm, "Bush Makes Three Mistakes While Trying to Cite One." Calling them "mistakes" is euphemistic. Call a spade a spade.

... In case the impeachment movement can't gather steam in the Republican-led Congress, there is always the election: "Bush's beatability factor". I find it disturbing and sad that many Americans actually think that Bush is doing a great job and deserves to be elected in November. If the impeachment fails, we should at least send his dumb ass back to Crawford.

Tax Day is Raid the Treasury Day for Bush&Co

President Bush took the opportunity today to once again call for making his tax cuts permanent. If there is one issue that Americans are not strongly divided on, but should be, it's taxation. There is little substantial argument over taxes. Both Democrats and Republicans have found that tax cuts go over well with voters. Their differences lie in how federal revenues should be spent, whether it's using the Army or "civilian contractors" in Iraq, whether its having social services or faith-based initiatives provide for the poor, whether its social welfare or corporate welfare. Everybody wants something from the government, and everyone seems to love tax cuts, even when they know that the rich are getting richer at the public's expense. When our lawmakers are being bought and sold by the wealthiest among us, why should we expect otherwise?

Let me make this point clear: I like paying taxes! Yes, I do. You see, the more money I make, the more I pay in taxes. It's quite simple, really. This is how we keep score. A higher rate of taxation lets me know that I'm getting ahead, and therefore have a greater responsibility to contribute to the greater good.

What I resent is that many people think that government should be paid for by poor and middle class Americans. What I resent is being sold a false bill of goods. I resent that Bush proposes tax cuts even while waging a war that costs us $1 billion a week, even while deficits are soaring. I resent being told that my federal income tax is being cut, but that my state, local and sales taxes are increasing. I resent that the rich manage to pay much less than they should thanks to unscrupulous accountants and a tax code that is written on their behalf. I resent that American corporations are getting tax breaks for sending jobs overseas. I resent that 70% of American corporations pay no federal taxes at all. I resent that George & Laura Bush got a tax cut of $30,858, while Dick and Lynne Cheney paid $88,047 less in taxes this year. The Vice President paid a tax rate of just 13.1% on his income. Guess who makes up the difference? (And yes, John Kerry got a tax cut, too.)

I understand that we live in a wonderful, free society, and that costs money. We have good roads and clean water and the best national parks system in the world, and those things cost money. We have the world's strongest military, and that costs money. We have an agricultural industry that can feed the world several times over, and that costs money. And we all should pay our fair share. But Bush&Co think the Treasury Department is their own personal bank account, to withdraw funds from as they see fit. They say they're cutting their taxes to help the economy, to create jobs, or even that they've earned it, but we know better. They're just greedy. (Isn't greed a venial sin, Mr Bush?)

There are things we can and should do better as a society, and these things cost money, such as providing universal health care, or rebuilding what was once the world's greatest public school system. We can do these things, but they will cost money. And for that I gladly pay my taxes, as any patriotic American should.