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Not any smarter

AUSTIN, Texas -- Living proof that the Democrats haven't gotten any smarter since the last time they ran a candidate for president. Much huffing (and a huffy Democrat is a terrifying sight) over the fact that George W. Bush used images of 9-11 and of the firefighters at Ground Zero to tout his candidacy in his first campaign ad. How crass, said the D's. Exploiting a national tragedy for political purposes -- oh, how tacky.

Dammit, the problem is not that the ad is in bad taste, the problem is that Bush screwed the firefighters in a famous case of his favorite bait-and-switch tactic, and now he has the chutzpah to exploit them anyway and that, my friends, is gall. Bait, switch and then claim credit anyway.

Democracy vs. Corporate 'Free Speech'

Think of corporate influence peddlers and you might envision distant figures working the halls of Congress and state capitols. But more and more, they roam city halls, municipal offices and even local shopping malls attempting to snuff the growing trend of communities setting limits on corporate activities. But regardless of location, the goal of the corporate lawyers and lobbyists remains the same: to use the enormous wealth of their employers to get what they want -- even if it means trampling democracy.

California evidenced this trend with last Tuesday's elections, in which three different communities faced corporate attempts to spend their way to victory on ballot initiatives.

'No Doubt' Human Activity Is Affecting Global Climate, Top Scientists

BOULDER-Two of the nation's premier atmospheric scientists, after reviewing extensive research by their colleagues, say there is no longer any doubt that human activities are having measurable-and increasing-impacts on global climate. Their study cites atmospheric observations and multiple computer models to paint a detailed picture of climate changes likely to buffet Earth in coming decades, including rising temperatures and an increase in extreme weather events, such as flooding and drought. The study appears December 5 in Science as part of the journal's "State of the Planet" series.

The coauthors-Thomas Karl, director of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, and Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)-conclude that industrial emissions have been the dominant influence on climate change for the past 50 years, overwhelming natural forces. The most important of these emissions is carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps solar radiation and warms the planet.

"There is no doubt that the composition of the atmosphere is changing

Oscar Smiles on "Fog of War" and its Warnings on Iraq

Dear Mr. Wasserman,

Appreciate your articles very much. However, I would like to point to your recent piece where you refer to Bush as an "AWOL president." Respectfully, I believe Michael Moore was technically correct when he used the term "deserter.," which carries far more sinister implications. From an article by Maureen Griswald at www.commondreams.org/views03/1011-01.htm I paste the following distinction.

 "Note: 'AWOL' - 'absent without leave' and desertion' (defined as 'AWOL' beyond 30 days), are actual crimes - crimes with NO STATUTES OF LIMITATION. This Action Figure is 30 years overdue his court-martial."

SATIRE: 'Osama in October': Leaked White House Transcript (9)

Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Ridge, Schwarzenegger, Rove

PRESIDENT BUSH: Alright, everybody, on your knees. We've been beat up enough these past few months. It's time to get right with the Big Guy.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL ASHCROFT: Yes, George, I quite agree. It's long overdue.

ALL: Shuffling. Silence.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Dear Lord, we know you are testing us, and that we shall not be found wanting. It is not for nothing that you elected me President. I have allowed the September 11 attacks to occur, as you asked through Reverend Robertson, to put this nation on notice that it can no longer live in sin. We have launched our crusade against the Islamics. We have smited the Saddamites. We are warming the planet with Holy Fire, as revealed in Revelations. This is a time of illusion for those who would do us harm, or attempt to take power from your true servants We all know that I am your Divine messenger, sent to get things right. So please, dear Lord, help us as always, continue to kick liberal butt.

ALL: Amen.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Alright, so lets get down to it. This Kerry guy is pretty tall, isn't he.

A candidate

AUSTIN, Texas -- So the Democrats have a candidate at last, and he is about bent over double with gravitas. I think that means he doesn't a have humorous bone in his body. It's a good thing there's at least one serious person in this race -- the Bushies are getting sillier and sillier.  

            Just when you thought no one could top Rod Paige calling the teacher's union "a terrorist organization," along comes Veep Cheney with this gem, "If Democratic policies had been pursued over the last two-to-three years, the kind of tax increases both Kerry and Edwards are talking about, we would not have had the kind of job growth that we've had."  

            Uh, in the first place, Kerry and Edwards are not talking about tax increases at all, but about repealing part of Bush's tax cuts -- so we would have had no tax cuts, not tax increases. And in the second place, if losing 2.3 million jobs is "job growth," Dick Cheney is a laugh riot.

The uproar over Nader

Here's how a lifelong, very radical organizer put it to me the week after Nader announced he was entering the race.

            "I have never voted for a Democrat for president, and I don't intend to start now, but I want to beat Bush -- I want to beat Bush more than I have ever wanted to beat any Republican.

            "I support Nader's run, wholeheartedly, but at the same time I think that punishing Bush should be the main point of this election.

            "Vote now to punish Bush; four years hence, vote to punish Kerry. And so on. But I am not sure where that leaves me. Can a vote for Nader be a vote to punish Bush, or does it just split the vote against Bush? That can be argued, as Nader did in his declaratory speech.

Keep Davis-Besse nuclear plant closed!

As you may know, FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Oak Harbor, Ohio has been shutdown for over two years because a football-sized hole was discovered by workers during routine maintenance.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is deciding any day now whether or not to allow FirstEnergy to restart Davis-Besse, perhaps the nation's most poorly managed, and therefore most dangerous, nuclear reactor.

We need Ohio's leaders to stand up for the health and safety of all Ohioans by opposing attempts to restart Davis-Besse.

Please take a moment to ask Governor Taft and his Director of Public Safety to speak out against restarting Davis-Besse. Then, ask your friends and family to help by forwarding this e-mail to them.

To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser: pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=595&id4=OHFreep

BACKGROUND

Don't hit the hornets' nest

 AUSTIN, Texas -- Anyone see any reason to think Haiti will be better off without Jean-Bertrand Aristide? Just another little gift from the Bush foreign policy team, straight out of the whacko-right playbook.

            Jesse Helms always did think Aristide was another Fidel, not being able to distinguish between a Catholic and a communist. We know the main armed opposition group is a bunch of thugs and that they have been joined by old Duvalierists, including members of the Tonton Macoutes, the infamous torturers.

            The Bush administration wanted this to happen -- it held up $500 million worth of humanitarian aid from the United States, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and International Monetary Fund. Without U.S. or multilateral help, the country spiraled downward.

            So here we are, reduced to hoping for the best again.

            David Corn of The Nation magazine developed a wonderful metaphor for this experience. It goes like this: Two kids are playing, and one says, "I'm gonna take this stick and whack that hornets' nest."

Mel Gibson and the Killing of the Christ

At a time when the Republican White House stands in full breech of Jefferson's guarantee of religious freedom (implemented by the now defunct separation of church and state), Mel Gibson's portrayal of "The Passion of Christ" is a reminder of millennial issues in the world of western Christendom. By and large, these issues were successfully dealt with two centuries ago by America's "founding fathers."

We must keep in mind that American Democracy actually has two remarkably different sets of "founding fathers." There were the Revolutionary liberals who rallied around Paine's "Common Sense" and Jefferson's Declaration of human rights (as America's ideological base). Opposed were the religious conservatives (made up largely of pro-British Tories) who had very little interest in any of this new ideology, being more interested in efforts to circumvent a revolution.

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