Day: August 1, 2008

Lieberman/Hagee Love Fest

One of John McCain’s most prominent supporters on Tuesday praised an evangelical leader whom the Republican presidential candidate repudiated after a string of controversial remarks were made public.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who frequently campaigns with McCain, said pastor John Hagee’s support for Israel outweighed the remarks that led McCain to reject his endorsement.

“The bond that I feel with Pastor Hagee and each and every one of you is much stronger than that, and so I am proud to stand with you tonight,” Lieberman told several thousand members of the group, which urges U.S. support for Israel.

“I don’t agree with everything that Pastor Hagee’s done and said … but there is so much more important than that that we agree on,” Lieberman said.

Let me see if I have this right–Rev. Wright makes comments that are offensive and it is STILL being used by the media and yet, this yahoo spouts crap and is not that important.  So much for fair and balanced reporting.

OOPS! We Killed Him Again

Missiles hit a building in a Pakistani village on the border with Afghanistan on Monday, and intelligence officials said they were investigating reports that a senior al-Qaida figure was among six people killed.

Pakistan’s army said it had not confirmed the strike killed al-Qaida operative Abu Khabab al-Masri, described by Washington as an expert who trained terrorists in the use of poisons and explosives. The U.S. offers a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

While the Pentagon declined to respond to questions about possible American involvement in the strike, it followed a series of attacks in recent months on militant leaders in Pakistan‘s tribal belt that are widely believed to have been conducted by the U.S. military.

The attack came just hours before President Bush met with Pakistan’s prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, at the White House amid rising pressure on the Islamabad government to act against Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds in his country’s frontier region.

Al-Masri was previously reported killed in a January 2006 missile strike in the Pakistani tribal region of Bajaur that targeted and missed al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri. Pakistani officials said then that al-Masri was among five al-Qaida militants believed killed in that attack, but bodies were never found.

The U.S. official said al-Masri was not an operations planner for al-Qaida, but played a crucial role because of his knowledge of explosives and poisons and his death would be a significant blow for the terrorist network.

OK, is he or is he not dead?  I mean we have killed him twice and he still seems to be capable of making headlines.  Or is this just a political ploy to help influence the election?  Well?  Is He dead?

What Is The Reason?–Info Ink Commentary

All media analysts are scrambling around trying to explain why Obama and McCain are struck in the 40 percentile. Some say Obama is not gaining support of working Americans. Others say that he is an unknown, not much to analyze. And yet others say that he appears to be arrogant and an elitist.

Then there is McCain—who cannot seemingly be able to get above the low 40%. This is explained as he is perceived as a Bush III candidate or that he has lost his maverick rating. And yet others say that his campaign is horribly managed.

All the campaign surrogates are allowed to spout campaign rhetoric. They seldom answer questions, when real questions are asked. But mostly they are allowed to speak in diatribes that have NO substance. And then there is the fact that these people are vague, on message, whatever it is for the day and just plain boring. Plus there is just so much manure they can shovel before they look pathetic and desperate.

Excuses! Excuses!

What does all this really mean?

There are more opinions than there are hairs on your head as to what is going on in these campaigns. I would like to believe that the American voter has become more politically intelligent than anyone has imagined. And that they see the campaigns for what they are—pandering and lack any substance. I am not taken any sides here—both Democratic and Republican campaigns are nothing but smoke and mirrors.  These surrogates are just appearing to be ridiculous.

I realize that in the past I have questioned the intelligence of the American voter. Why? Because they constantly vote against their own best interests. That shows a lack of logic in their voting record. I know that I am dreaming that they have finally grasped the situation in their voting habits, but one can dream.

The reality is that these polls show that NO ONE gives a crap, right now. It should become clearer after the two conventions. It is too early. Hell, these two guys are not officially the nominees. I think that all will become clear after the coronation of the nominees. And then with the election we will see just how good of a grasp that the voter has on what is really happening in the world of politics.

I am not optimistic!

Today In Labor History

01 August

After organizing a strike of metal miners against the Anaconda Company, Wobblie organizer Frank Little is dragged by six masked men from his Butte, Mont. hotel room and hung from the Milwaukee Railroad trestle. Years later writer Dashiell Hammett would recall his early days as a Pinkerton detective agency operative and recount how a mine company representative offered him $5,000 to kill Little. Dashiell says he quit the business that night – 1917

Sid Hatfield, police chief of Matewan, W. Va., a longtime supporter of the United Mine Workers union, is murdered by company goons. This soon led to the Battle of Blair Mountain, a labor uprising also referred to as the Red Neck War – 1921

Police in Hilo, Hawaii open fire on 200 demonstrators supporting striking waterfront workers. The attack became known as “the Hilo Massacre” – 1938

A 17-day, company-instigated wildcat strike in Philadelphia tries to bar eight African-American trolley operators from working. Transport Workers Union members stay on the job in support of the men – 1944

Government & Civic Employees Organizing Committee merges into State, County & Municipal Employees – 1956

Window Glass Cutters League of America merges with Glass Bottle Blowers – 1975

California School Employees Association affiliates with AFL-CIO – 2001

What Will Lou Dobbs Talk About?

With a stagnating economy and hundreds of miles of new fences along the Mexican border, the United States – and California – may have become a less inviting destination for illegal immigrants from Latin America.

Two key signals – an unprecedented slowdown in money sent by immigrants back to Mexico, and a new report that claims the nation’s illegal immigrant population has dropped significantly since last summer – indicate a possible change.

Still, the evidence is not strong in the Bay Area, where the economy is more robust than in the rest of the state, and where local immigrant groups said they see little or no local evidence of an exodus of undocumented residents.

In a study released Wednesday in Washington, D.C., the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors tighter curbs on immigration, said a weaker economy and aggressive immigration enforcement have prompted many immigrants to return home to Mexico and other countries.

“Illegals are responding to changing conditions in the United States and are going home in significant numbers,” said Steven Camarota, director of research for the center and co-author of the report, which was based on U.S. Census Bureau data.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s Central Bank reported Wednesday that the amount of money sent home by Mexican immigrants dropped by 2.2 percent in the first half of 2008 compared with the first six months of 2007, the first such decline in a decade.

CNN’s Lou Dobbs has got to be unhappy with this news.  And this is an interesting turn that has gotten very little press.  I guess news like this is not good for the chest thumpers.

An Intel Revamp

President Bush ordered a major restructuring of the nation’s intelligence-gathering community yesterday, approving new guidelines aimed at bolstering the authority of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) as the leader of the nation’s 16 spy agencies.

The long-awaited overhaul of Executive Order 12333 gives the DNI greater control over spending and priority-setting, and also over contacts with foreign intelligence services — a responsibility that has traditionally fallen to the CIA, according to a Bush administration document describing the changes.

Executive Order 12333, which was originally issued by President Ronald Regan in 1981, established the powers and responsibilities of the major U.S. intelligence services. Administration officials have been quietly negotiating the overhaul for more than a year, seeking to modernize the law to reflect the new role of the DNI as the head of the intelligence community. The DNI was created by Congress three years ago in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but critics have charged that the agency was not given the budgetary and policy-setting authorities it needs to lead the intelligence community.

Wait!  I thought that when Bush found his Intel Czar that this was suppose to happen.  So basically, we have been paying a “czar” and staff for doing nothing?  Does anyone else see a problem with this?

No Vote On OffShore Oil

For weeks, pressure has been mounting in Congress to approve more domestic oil drilling, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has held the line, using her power to block a vote on offshore drilling.

President Bush has made almost daily calls for Democratic leaders to take action. House GOP leaders, citing a new poll showing that a slim majority of Californians now favor offshore drilling, issued a release today saying “even (Pelosi’s) own California neighbors oppose her efforts to block new drilling far off American coasts.” GOP lawmakers are so disgruntled they’re urging Bush to deny Congress its August break by calling a special session on energy.

Even some Democrats are getting antsy, fearing the party’s stance could hurt in the fall elections. But Pelosi, who has opposed offshore drilling throughout her two decades in Congress, insists opening new areas to drilling won’t lower gas prices in the short-term. She believes a vote would only help the GOP blame Democrats for high gas prices.

While I agree with Pelosi on this matter, because there are already 68 million acres of leases already.  Let the companies start there and then see if it will make a difference in the price of gas.  I doubt very seriously if it will and the whole clap trap about it is just that a shovel full of manure.