Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others.

As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor; let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own, and his children's liberty.

Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and Let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.

While ever a state of feeling, such as this, shall universally, or even, very generally prevail throughout the nation, vain will be every effort, and fruitless every attempt, to subvert our national freedom.


- Abraham Lincoln, January 27, 1838
  Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois

Monday, May 14, 2007

Finally: A graphical guide to 'Bushie' scandals!

This is almost too good to be true: a graphical guide to the incomprehensible web of lies, scandal and corruption gradually rising up and out of the fog that is 'Bush Country!'

Actually, I just changed the title from 'GOP' scandals - even though these are mostly GOP politicians we are talking about. Bush-world is all partisan, all the time, so other than an occasional Joe Lieberman, you aren't likely to find any Democrats in these lucrative neocon games.

I live in a Goldwater Republican bastion and I still refuse to paint the entire Republican party with a neocon brush. The same thing could easily have happened (and may happen yet) to the Democratic party. Any party that gets absolute control and is tied so closely to lobbyists is going to be subjected to the same temptations. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

No, this is 'Bushie' stuff. I can't imagine Chuck Hagel behaving like this, or my own Senator, Richard Lugar. Huckabee also seems like a nice, honest and ethical guy. It must be a rough time to be a reasonable, ethical Republican.

Ethical Republicans absolutely do exist, they've just been pushed around and bullied like the rest of us. They are beginning to speak out. I feel for them, and I hope they can rescue their party. Without a strong and responsible Republican party (I'm thinking pre-Gingrich here; the Contract On America was the beginning of the BS-fest,) the Democrats themselves will have absolute control... and we'll be right back where we are now. Lobbyists are equal opportunity employers.

Actually, I have come to believe that we need at least three political parties - all acting as oversight over one other.

Its all about balance and oversight. With three strong parties, we'd never been stuck (as we are today) hoping that the Democrats will save us from a Republican party-gone-mad. Both parties are corrupted and taking kickbacks from the same lobbyists. I have slightly more faith in the Democratic party right now - but not much.

You'd think that with a mandate from the people, and with daily corruption unfolding right and left, the Democrats would have found the will to take a strong stand on Iraq. They can't seem to do even that - with most of the country behind them. And that's how much we matter in this day of corporate lobbyists. The corporations are making a killing in Iraq. Our only entertainment in the meantime - while the Democrats dawdle and hope we don't notice until after the 2008 elections are over - is to watch the daily corruption follies.

From Slate.com:

Bushies Behaving Badly

An illustrated guide to GOP scandals.
By Holly Allen, Christopher Beam, and Torie Bosch

For an interactive feature on the recent scandals of the Republican party, click here.


Having a hard time keeping track of all 10,000 GOP scandals? Between fired U.S. attorneys, deleted RNC e-mails, sexually harassed pages, outed CIA agents, and tortured Iraqi prisoners—not to mention the warrantless wiretapping, plum defense contracts, and golf junkets to Scotland—you could be forgiven for losing track of which congressman or Bush administration flunky did which shady thing. Renzi—now, was that the guy with the skeezy land deal? Or the woman Paul Wolfowitz promoted?

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