George Bush

Brought to you by the fine people of Brave New Films, inspired in part by Tim Dickson's "Bush's Final FU". 

Watch it!

The other day, while researching images of the 9/11 devastation, I came across this image of the entrance of the World Financial Center.

All I could think of while looking at this photograph was "this is what they (Bush, Paulson, Bernanke) are doing to us all over again. Only this time they have no terrorists to blame, just sinister market forces.

My other thought was, and is that capitalism is ultimately violent and destructive.

H/T to Craig Newmark via ProgressiveAccountability.com:

• 95 percent of the time McCain voted with George W. Bush in 2007. 
• 100 percent of the time McCain voted with George W. Bush in 2008 so far. 
• 164 lobbyists McCain enlisted to set policy and raise money for his campaign. 
• 100 years - the time John McCain thinks U.S. forces must stay in Iraq. 

Seems the Republicans are losing on the "character" and "values" issues. The pastor and spiritual advisor to the Bush family, the very man who presided at Jenna Bush's wedding recently, has harshly criticized Republican John McCain for his lack of values and poor character and has endorsed Barack Obama.

Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church gave the official benedictions at Bush's inauguration in 2001 and 2005. Although a controversial figure for his first inaugural benediction in 2001 that explicitly excluded non-Christians, and for his inspiration of Bush's "faith based initiatives," there is no question that he is in touch with what Republicans mean when they discuss values and character.

Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell just publicly denounced John McCain's morals and has endorsed Barack Obama.

This seems to have been precipitated by the furor about John Edwards' affair, leading Caldwell to point out John McCain's own infidelities. It was also precipitated by John McCain's offering up of his wife to a topless and rather obscene (keyword: banana) pagent at the Sturgis bike rally last week. I guess John McCain's behavior is not pleasing Christians interested in true values rather than mere words.

Got a message from my brother. He saw the run on the IndyMac Bank in Duarte, California.

Let me introduce this with dueling headlines. From the Pasadena Star-News:

IndyMac appears close to collapse: US regulators may not be ready to protect bank

And from the LA Times:

IndyMac denies that it's close to collapse: "Depositors have been pulling money from the Pasadena-based thrift, whose share price is down 90% this year."

Today, my brother saw a crowd at the Duarte IndyMac Bank desperately trying to get their savings out. Many elderly people were claiming that they are being offered dollar for dollar on the first $100,000...after that only fifty cents on the dollar.

Did you know that Republicans are so embarassed by Bush that you can actually get ARRESTED for holding up a sign that says: "McCain = Bush"? It's true. A 61-year old librarian, Carol Kreck, held up a "McCain = Bush" sign when McCain showed up at a Denver "Town Hall Meeting." She was threatened with arrest.

It's all on YouTube:

Now not only are McCain's policies nearly identical with Bush's, so the sign is true, but given that Bush is a Republican president, why is the McCain campaign so embarassed to be equated with Bush?

After all, there was the hug:

And there was the birthday cake McCain and Bush shared while Americans were dying in the aftermath of Katrina:

So, in solidarity with Carol Kreck, I offer you the "McCain = Bush" T-shirt:

Image by Pantone801, found at Flickr.com

This is so mindboggling it defies commentary. Up until the 1st of July of 2008, Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the United States.

Bush Removes Nelson Mandela from Terror Watch List
By VOA News
01 July 2008

U.S. President George Bush Tuesday signed a bill that allows Nelson Mandela to enter the United States without special clearance.

The measure officially removes Mr. Mandela and his African National Congress from a U.S. terror watch list.

The former South African president may now visit the United States without the U.S. secretary of state having to certify that he is not a terrorist.

Mr. Mandela was placed on the list because of his work with the African National Congress (ANC), which fought to end white minority rule in South Africa.

Mr. Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his work with the ANC to fight apartheid rule in South Africa.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner turns 90 on July 18.

Un.

Be.

lievable.

As the flood waters recede in the Midwest, it becomes increasingly clear that this was yet ANOTHER preventable disaster that the Republicans let happen. McCain is one of many Republicans who fought tooth and nail to prevent flood control measures in the Midwest.

First, some general background. On June 8th, 2008, NPR ran a report on the decline of America's flood control dams (you can listen with Openplayer, I think). There has been a jump of 33% in the number of dams that are considered unsafe. Consider that as you ponder the impact of these floods.

Now, more specifically, the Des Moines Register carried a piece on how Republicans, despite warnings from 1993 on, refused in 2007 to fund a much-needed upgrade to the levees protecting Des Moines. Many other similar upgrades were part of the same bill. McCain fiercely opposed the bill and Bush eventually vetoed it when Democrats passed it. From the Des Moines Register:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain opposed legislation last year that included money for flood control in Des Moines, which shows he is wrong to push for reforms to the congressional earmark system, a Democratic lawmaker charged Thursday.