its ok he's a Lame Duck!!!

For those who don’t know, a lame duck president is a second term president nearing the end of his term who has a low approval rating. A lame duck is basically useless for this fact, if you are a senator or a congressman/woman who needs to be reelected in 2006 why would you support Whitehouse policies that the American people don’t approve of for a president that’s not running again. So they become lame and get nothing done in the final years of their presidency. It’s ok though, lots of presidents have become lame ducks. Your party will turn on you if you can’t help them get reelected that are just how DC is. But the questions are Bush a lame duck?

Yesterday Bush received his lowest approval rating ever 37% down from 87% in 2001 he sure seems to be lagging. Bush also received his all-time worst marks in three other categories in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. The categories were terrorism, Bush's trustworthiness and whether the Iraq war was worthwhile.

Terrorism~ 49 percent said they disapprove.
Trustworthiness~ For the first time, more than half of the public thinks Bush is not honest and trustworthy -- 52 percent to 46 percent.
Iraq~ 60 percent said it was not worth going to war in Iraq

those numbers a pretty bad, Bush's lowest approval ratings came on two issues that divide his own Republican Party. On federal spending, 71 percent disapproved of his performance. Sixty-one percent of respondents disapproved of Bush's handling of the economy. and only 26% of people agree with bush's immigration policies.

the nation is so split that bush only has 7% of democratic that support him. but the way I see it the democrats are doing there best to capitalize on these latest events. they know that the American people won’t really support them in the long run for the presidency so they are just letting the republicans dig their own grave. By dividing the party bush has weakened the republican position.

Bush Orders Staff to Attend Ethics Briefings

"In other news, Don King orders underlings to crash meetings. Mike Tyson orders hangers on to attend "How To Sensibly Deal With Women" course. Ted Kennedy orders staffers do attend "AA" meetings. Whitney orders back-up singers to enroll in "Crack is Wack" program. A-Rod orders Yankee minor leaguers to attend "How To Be Clutch" seminar"
The Bush has ordered his White House staff to attend mandatory briefing this week on ethical behavior and the handling of classified material after the indictment last week of Dick Cheney's senior advisor in the CIA leak probe.

so The Bush (I have decided I am going to refer to him as The Bush from now on) sent a memo to all aides on Friday encouraging them to "adhere to the to the spirit as well as the letter of all ethics laws and rules." So starting yesterday they will be watching refresher presentations on general ethics rules, including the rules of governing the protection of classified information. Now here is the kicker, a copy on the memo which probably should have been classified as to not embarrass the white house any more that it has been in the last few weeks, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post by a senior White House aide on Saturday. This is laughable.

So no more Miers!

President Bush Withdraws Miers' Nomination
In what the media is calling "stunning", but everyone else knew was coming, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers asked George Bush to withdraw her nomination. Conservatives absolutely hated this nomination and were fighting amongst themselves at a time when they need to come together. This is perhaps the best move Bush can make at this point in time. Senior officials in his administration are about to be indicted and he needs his base, as fringe as they are, to support him. If he doesn't have his base behind him at a time when indictments are coming down, he would be in big trouble.
As unqualified as Miers was, it is scary that the far right side of the party forced the leader of the free world to select someone else. The far right, as loud as they are, represent a very small percentage of the overall country. Most people in this country do not believe in many issues that the hard conservatives believe in. From abortion to affirmative action to prayer in school to gay rights, the majority of the country stands on the other side of the neocons.
The part I don't understand is the current spin on this withdrawal. Republicans are hitting the airwaves to say that Bush withdrew the nomination because he didn't want to grant access to confidential papers from Miers' work as his White House counsel. We all know that is not the reason she withdrew. She didn't have the votes to pass the confirmation. Why not just say that? Is it so damaging to admit the truth; that she wasn't going to pass the confirmation hearings?

And the big WHIGS go down the hole!

Vice President Richard Cheney's Chief of Staff, Lewis Libby was indicted by a grand jury on last week on five felony charges. Libby was charged with two counts of perjury, two counts of providing false statements, and one count of obstruction of justice. He faces the possibility of serving up to 30 years in prison. That is a long time. Libby resigned immediately from his position as Chief of Staff to Cheney.
Patrick Fitzgerald, the star attorney in the case did not indict anyone else, this was due to the obstructions that Libby caused. Essentially, Fitzgerald could not get to the bottom of the CIA leak because of the lies and the lack of memory of many witnesses. If Libby decides to actually tell the truth, Fitzgerald will be able to further investigate the leak. As Fitzgerald said during his press conference, this is a very serious matter that involves national security. "Anyone who is lying to a grand jury in order to impede his investigation will be prosecuted."

Post will follow !?!?!

The federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity is meeting this morning and could hand up charges as early as today.

Avian influenza (“bird flu")

Maybe I'm a conspiracy nut. I don't go crazy over everything I see and hear. But I'm always leery of government and how they handle information - just can't get past the idea of thinking they share or don't share information for no reason.

Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus has spread to to humans. The disease, which was first identified in Italy and has spread worldwide. Since 2003, 65 people have died after contracting the bird flu in Southeast Asia. The most potent strain of the virus is known as “highly pathogenic avian influenza”. This form is characterized by sudden onset, severe illness, and rapid death, with a mortality that can approach 100%. Such was the case in 1918, 40 million people died from the flu. so far this flu season over 17 million birds have been destroyed.

So, naturally, I'm getting real leery about how much they are beating this drum. Is it simply being prudent? Or do they already know something maybe we don't? Ever feel that way? Or am I a full fledged conspiracy nut and never realized it? ; ) The likelihood of a human flu pandemic is very high, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt warned Monday as he sought Southeast Asian cooperation to combat the spread of bird flu.

So I bet you reading wondering how I am doing to relate this to liberals and conservatives! Oh trust me I am. I read today about the presidents plan to combat Avian Flu. He said he had weighed whether to quarantine parts of the country and also whether to employ the military for the difficult task of enforcing a quarantine.

Still feeling the burn from the Katrina backlash bush said "It's one thing to shut down your airplanes, it's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu," he said. Doing so, Mr. Bush said, might even involve using "a military that's able to plan and move."

Don’t you think that in such a large, diverse and mobile country like the United States, the Army would if anything spread the flu? They barely have enough kelvar vests and armored humvees in Iraq, I doubt the National Guard has enough protective has mat gear to effectively quarantine half the country. And what exactly will happen to the people in the quarantined area.

We need to be proactive not reactive. Avian Flu commands respect. I think we need be lobbying the drug companies and offering subsidies to make it profitable for them to mass produce vaccinations. But I think we are learning that you can not plan a response to a major disaster in advance. The same goes for earthquakes, terrorist attacks, storms and pandemics. Good solid institutions need to be in place to protect and serve the affected. Personally I don’t think homeland security, which I believe is with out a director, cuts it.

What do you we will have an Avian Flu epidemic in the US and what should be done?

So who needs a Judge anyway?

A very interesting move out of the white house today. President Bush nominates Harriet Miers, with a strictly conservative literal interpretation of the constitution, to fill a vacant seat in the United States Supreme Court. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Bush has nominated so many people in the last few years. Where do they go? Oh wait they all quit! But seemingly Ms. Miers is nice enough to fill a seat in the highest court.

You know the saying; it’s all in who you know. Bush was Quoted today "She will be an outstanding addition to the Supreme Court of the United States, she has a record of achievement with the law." It is funny that he said that, as she has no judicial experience because she has never been a judge. And don’t let me forget, Ms Miers is Bush's personal lawyer and friend from the good o'l ranch days. She also happens to be the White House council since 2004 and helped to get Jeb Bush elected as governor of Florida. A little suspicious don’t you think.

Ted Kennedy (D) Mass. sure thought so. He issued a subpoena requesting all White House documents, notes, memos and such that relate to today’s nomination. But!! There are still a few relationships that are guaranteed privacy from the public eye. One being that between a priest in confession, and that of attorney client privilege. So once again the red tape blocks potential justice.

This as iffy as it sounds, doesn’t really bother me. I mean we have seen much worst from this administration. It’s the response that gets me. The far right (conservatives) is the ones raising hell. Bill crystal said "this announcement depressed and demoralized me" I think he might a need a Pixil or something. Several conservative senators have thrown the term "cronyisms" around. Which is the natural thought process, but it is the democrats who blew my mind.

After loosing the 2004 election they vowed to keep their values. Carol mosey Braun, (ran for the democratic nomination, lost) said that the American people would turn on the democrats further if they lost what little values they had left by the end 2004. One democrat was quoted today "she is the best thing since sliced bread, she brings good credentials." what happened to the filibusters, the hard lines? It seams that the democrats are trying to grow their conservative base so they are in fact selling out. Exactly what they said they wouldn’t do. Personally I think that to be a Supreme Court justice you should have some judicial experience, being the presidents pal and on a county council do make the cut. What do you think?

Protesters Destroy Morale

So today, one tenth of a million people (100,000) gathered in Washington DC to protest. Angry over the War in Iraq and the Globalization of the world, they demanded that President Bush bring the all the troops home immediately! (Like that is going to happen.) With Lots of attacks on Bush, my favorite "Make Levees, Not Humvees", protestors gathered in London, Los Angles and San Francisco to vocalize their disapproval of the US Government.

Cindy Sheehan, basically the leader of the movement says “We need a people's movement to end this war; we'll be the checks and balances on this out-of-control criminal government. She has high hopes. I don’t want to sound uncouth in criticising her, as he son was killed in fighting in Iraq. But I really do dislike anti war protesters. People don’t end wars, money does. "The political protesters of the '60s didn't end their war and neither will this new generation they will, however, achieve the same result -- they will devastate troop morale."
Like most of us back in the states, I have a few close friends in Iraq now. There over there doing a job. It’s not a job that I would wish on any one but it is what it is. There over there, SO SUPPORT THEM.