A Collapsing House of Cards

History will not be kind to George W. Bush. What evidence does anybody have that history will redeem the presidency of George W. Bush when the hallmark of this administration has been secrecy? There are very good reasons why Bush and Cheney don’t want you to know what they’re doing, who they’re talking to, how much money is changing hands. The obvious reason they don’t want to tell us much of anything is that they are ashamed of what they are doing, and they know that what they are doing is wrong, illegal, and immoral. I can hear my cousin, a pot-smoking conservative Hoosier who dropped out of college after a couple years and now cleans windows while living in the same house in which he was reared, saying “No, you’re wrong, they are keeping those secrets because if they revealed them the terrorists would win.” My response to that inane talking point is, “Define winning, and better yet, describe a scenario in which disclosing a list of attendees from an energy policy meeting that took place five years ago would put the country or even the people on the list in jeopardy.” The only result that might come from disclosing the attendees of that energy policy meeting is that it would reveal the depth of incestuousness that exists between the vice president and the big oil companies. And to those who might want to claim that the details from an energy meeting are not the only thing that this administration is keeping quiet about – I must reply “Exactly, my point." It is standard operating procedure for this White House to not just play their cards close to their chest, but also to deny that they are even engaged in a game of cards.

The answer is always "no," that is if the question is something along the lines of who, what, where, how or most importantly, why. The answer is always, “No, you can’t see that document,” or “No, I don’t recall saying that,” or “No, I don’t remember,” or “No, we decline to follow the law,” or “No, you cannot question that person,” or “No, I will not honor a Congressional subpoena,” or “No, I will not tell you, the American people, a damn thing about the business about which I am engaging in your name and with your money." "No, I am not going to keep you in the loop, in fact, you will not ever know what loopy logic steers this administration you’ve got representing you in the world." or a simple “F*ck you” (Cheney answer only). Finally, all I’m saying is I’d bet my eternity on the forecast that history will treat George W. Bush as the worst president that this country has ever put up with.

As the National Archives pull back the cloak that has covered the Nixon administration, NARA is revealing the heretofore unknown, but suspected, underbelly of the dirtiest, meanest and nastiest man who ever sat in the Oval Office. What makes anyone think that the revelations over time that will bring the Bush/Cheney administration into the light will uncover anything less disgusting? The only difference between the Nixon White House and Bush's counterpart is that the Bush legacy will be as the most incompetent, duplicitous and disastrous presidency, rather than just the nastiest as was the case with Nixon. Secrecy is rarely a good thing in a Democracy, and even less so when the secrecy is in place to cover the most heinous lies and crimes that a president and his administration have ever perpetrated on the American people. Impeach Bush & Cheney NOW! Click here to read the report - Government Secrecy: Decisions without Democracy

Stephie Does Seattle

Before Stephanie can fly to Seattle for another spectacular appearance on Saturday night, she's got to get feeling better. Momma, all of us are sending you many good wishes for a speedy recovery from whatever's been ailing you. Take good care of yourself and go to the grocery store for goodness sake and buy yourself some of your favorite foods, come home, crawl into bed with Max and Puff, and just get well soon!!!

Stephanie Miller will be in Seattle, WA where she will be participating in a Seattle Town Hall Forum on Saturday, July 14th from 7:30 - 9:30 pm (PST). She will be joining a Seattle Progressive Talk Station AM1090 Forum "Perfect Presidents or Perfect Politicians?” Stephanie will be one of six national radio talk show hosts who will be discussing the field of presidential candidates. Other special guests include Ed Schultz, The Young Turks, Mike Malloy. Thom Hartmann will serve as the moderator. The 2008 Presidential Primaries are right around the corner, and AM1090 wants to inform progressives and other open-minded folks about their political choices. You can tune in to AM 1090 in Seattle at 9:30 - 11:30 pm (CST) and 10:30 - 12 midnight (EST) for live web audio of the event. Tune in and show your support for our favorite progressive voice on the airwaves (that's Stephanie Miller, in case you're new to this blog =).

Steph read this list on the air this morning, Friday, July 13th (She's back, turns out that Steph didn't get the memo that warns everybody to NOT eat egg salad that has been sitting in your car for 3 days in the southern California heat - way to go, Stephie =( )

Items to Request on the Rider for Steph's Next Appearance:

--Should go without saying, but an unlimited supply of box wines (in a variety of flavors).

--Large stuffed toy doggies so Stephie feels at home (but please no stuffed rats, squirrels or racoons).

--A housecoat and those blinders you put over your eyes when you are sleeping.

--A life-sized cardboard cut-out of Russ Feingold.

--Plenty of batteries for Stephie's "Mr. Happy."

--A balanced mix of Melissa Etheridge and Ludicris tunes for Steph's I-Pod.

And the number one item requested by the Stephanie Miller entourage for Steph's dressing room:

--A TV with an endless loop of Keith Olbermann saying her name on THE episode of Countdown.

Of Subpoenas and Stolen Tomatoes

I am spitting mad – what, you may ask, is any different about me today than the day before when I delivered yet another angry rant to an ignorant and ignoring world? Well, this time the primary focus of my ire is not Dick Cheney nor George Bush nor anyone residing in Washington DC. This time the culprit is in my very own neighborhood (I have my suspicions, but I’ll keep them to myself, for now). Today, when I ran home for a late lunch, as I was pulling out of my driveway I noticed that my carefully and lovingly tended tomato plant was missing a few of its green tomatoes. I got out of my car and on closer inspection saw that not just one or two tomatoes were gone, but almost all of the tomatoes had been stolen off my potted tomato plant. The tomatoes were green and had been left on the vine to ripen in the rich Oklahoma sun until they would have been beautiful and no doubt delicious morsels of summertime sweetness. But they are GONE, I tell you GONE, somebody has stolen my tomatoes!!! As I already stated, I have a suspect in mind, but just calling this neighbor up or marching over to his front door and accusing him of doing this dastardly deed would be too good for this a**wipe. I have considered many different ploys to avenge this despicable crime, from leaving a note at the end of my driveway where my tomato plant used to be that might read something along the lines of “I hope you choke on your ill-gotten gains you stinkin’ tomato thief, you” to a more sinister note that warns the thief that the tomatoes had been treated with a very harsh pesticide that when ingested gives the ingestor days of non-stop diarrhea. This particular affront reminds me, of course, of another affront that we as the American public seemingly must endure until our leaders grow a spine and stand up to the bullies in the nation’s capitol and shout at the top of our collective lungs “We’re mad as hell and we aren’t gonna take it anymore.” (I can hear the Twisted Sister refrain from the opening song of Stephanie Miller’s Show blaring in my head…)

Now you didn’t think that my anger was ALL about my stolen tomatoes, did you? If you did, this must be your first visit to my blog, and to you I say a hearty “welcome, sit down and stay a spell, won’t you?” The anger raised by my stolen tomatoes rode in on the coattails of the white hot rage I already had going on inside me from dubya’s refusal to honor the subpoenas that were issued to members of his administration, former members though they may be. What in the world is this president thinking? The answer is that he is thinking only about his own hide, his own skin, about stopping the noose from being tightened around his own neck. He cares not a whit about you and me, America, he just doesn’t give a good goddamn about the Constitution or Democracy or the Bill of Rights or anything that we as Americans have heretofore collectively valued. All George W. Bush cares about is getting outta town before his entire house of cards comes crumbling down around him and he finds himself in a cell with a guy named Bubba who likely voted for him at least the first time and now wants a piece of his ass.

The only thing on this once green earth that could possibly make me madder than a neighbor stealing my not-quite-ripe tomatoes is Georgie Bush digging in his heals and refusing to comply with a lawful order to produce documents and witnesses to testify before the People’s House of Representatives and the Senate. Excuse me, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, did you think that you could conduct all of your nefarious business behind closed and impenetrable doors? Well, you see the kind of guvmint that we have here in Amurika is what we call a Democracy – that’s a government by the people and for the people NOT a government hidden from the people. So you better turn over those subpoenaed documents and those subpoenaed staffers pronto or we'll, we'll, we'll....well we'll IMPEACH youse guys. There, I've said it - Speaker Pelosi, it is long past time to put impeachment back on the table. It seems that it is the only recourse that we as a people have left, short of an armed uprising or civilian revolt, to take back our country from the corrupt and hideous men who have stolen it from us.

I may never get to eat my precious tomatoes (although the sentiment in one of my imaginary notes remains true - I hope that the criminal who stole those tomatoes gags on every juicy bite), but I'll be damned if I let my country slip away from me like so many stolen green tomatoes. I want my country back and I want it back now. And I am getting to the point that I don't much care how this return to democracy is achieved - if it takes rising up, I am ready to rise up, if it takes storming the White House, I am ready to storm, if it takes marching on or even to Washington DC on my own two feet, I am ready to march. I just don't know how, short of fast-forwarding through the next agonizing 17 months, we will be able to survive as a country, a people, a community, a goddamned group of human beings who are living in a country where a good idea has been highjacked and has gone horribly awry, where our very foundation is being glibbly tossed aside and replaced with a tyranny that none of us recognize nor want. Help me stop this madness! Impeach Bush & Cheney NOW!!!

For a first-hand account of the injustices that have been ongoing at the Dept of Justice for the past six and a half years, please see John S. Koppel's op-ed piece in July 5, 2007 Denver Post.