A first time congressperson or senator — no such thing as entry level — receives the same pay together with fringes, as one with thirty years of service. Now that’s entitlement. To keep under control the arrogance of power and greed I hereby propose Draconian bylaws. Starting salary for congresspersons will be two-thirds the going rate. If reelected [considered tenure] he/she is entitled to full scale. First time senators will...
Many of us have trouble grasping the obvious truth that the world is painted in gray by consistently perceiving it in black and white. Bloggers are notorious for superimposing their graffiti in bold black and white defacing gray intentions. Many bloggers like to think of themselves as free thinkers, yet unwittingly echo pundits and broadcasters infamous for their lopsided ideologies. No doubt the likes of Ann Coulter and Michael Moore have some truth in their respective vitriol, but it is dif...
At the outset of the Korean War, President Truman labeled his decision “police action” in the hope that “UN” troops police the incursion over the 38 th Parallel on the part of the North and restore peace to South Korea; he, like Bush, was stunningly wrong. To approach internal political and ideological strife as it were a crime wave is unwise. Though the Iraq War was hailed as a no-bars invasion, it was in fact an exaggerated swat team operation freeing hostages from the grasp of a dictator....
On the surface merit pay for teachers appears as a no brainer; still, how would it be determined? It is known that school administrators have favorite staff members because they don’t present burden the office with discipline problems, which does not automatically make them good facilitators of learning. Based on the number o...
With eighty to ninety percent of Americans admitting to believing in God, why on earth is the religious right so uptight that they continue to attack Evolution? Even if evolution were a major unit in biology classes — it isn’t — students couldn’t care less and far from brainwashed and certainly don’t juxtapose it as a challenge to their religion. So why do the fundamentalists keep playing into the ghostly hands of Darwin by giving him undue publicity? Haven’t they learned by now that bad...
According to Newsweek Muslim women have discovered a new approach to liberation: become an equal among al Qaeda jihadists by dedication to their cause. Obviously, I should think, they cannot discard their burquas; they need them to hide the dynamite strapped to them. After all, it’s only right that women, too, be graced with the privilege of martyrdom. I trust Heidi might see to it that seventy studs await them.
The brouhaha over disguising positive stories by GIs passed off as written by Iraqi reporters is as usual another example of this administration having trouble with modus operandi. Surely, there is nothing wrong with letting Iraqis know that there is much reconstruction going on and not all door-kicking. The essential problem is with the Pentagon and its subterranean operations with contractors on the sly. The simplest solution is to send in stories and great pictures to the local papers, jus...
There’s little doubt that McCain can be a thorn in the side of his party and President, and for that reason becomes the darling of the Democrats. The likes of David Broder and Chris Matthews fall all over him as not only a hero but as a left of center diplomat. Other than respect for his war record, he is nothing of the sort. He is as much a political opportunist as H. Clinton, both of whom are boldly positioning themselves for a run in ‘08, and remarkably support the President’s stay the cou...
Before the liberals order the champagne for a post ‘06 victory, they should take note that the apparent trend in electing Democratic governors is volatile and in the main the governors are dead center or slightly left of center with dead silence on abortion and gay rights.
California’s populist poster muscle man has had sand kicked in his sagging face by the defeat of his referendums. Elected as a populist for the average Joe, he soon made a Hummer’s sharp turn to the right to take on the working class and to attack liberal voting districts by gerrymandering in midstream, Texas style. One state got over its love affair with a wrestler, it’s apparently time for California to file divorce.
Much was said when President Reagan passed away about how he singlehandedly ended the cold war. When Alexander Yakovlev died recently, this Russian intellect, the conscience of a nation’s brutal past and political adviser most responsible for inspiring Gorbachev’s reforms, there was no such eulogy, except sparsely in Russia.
What is remarkable about the Senate’s 82-14 vote against Senator Coburn’s amendment to block the $453 million earmarked for Alaska’s two bridges to nowhere, and to allocate some of the money to rebuild the interstate bridge wiped out by Katrina, is that there were so many Democrats unwilling to rock the boat, lest their own states’ pet projects be undermined. Needless to say, it is a cherished tradition to milk the cash-cow of revenue “sharing” regardless of national priorities — particularly...
Hillary against flag-burning! Wonders never cease. https://forums.joeuser.com/Forums.aspx?ForumID=17&AID=64356
Missile Defense Agency, since Rumsfeld took over has spent billions[ $7.8 billion] on land based star wars for continual testing, none of which has proved operational. Another $7 billion was appropriated for fiscal 2006. In 2004 MDA ran $370,000 over budget, despite the dire needs in Afghanistan and Iraq. The worst part of this is that there are no guidelines to spending, such as “prove weapons are operational and then buy.” Now, I am not one to fault the Defense Department to try to mak...
It is shameful that the Democratic Party lacks the courage to stand by Murtha and save the lives of our troops; instead they take Bush’s stance to save face inasmuch as so many were for the war. Of course — as Murtha’s tear-jerking decision showed — there are no easy, absolute answers. Nevertheless, Iraq’s coming election on a permanent government should be a milestone for a phase one redeployment of say, 50,000 Coalition forces to Kuwait’s border, and ensuing incremental withdrawal as Iraqi ...