it has occurred to me
June 25, 2008 by Betmo · Leave a Comment
that i haven’t been around in the loop much of late. it doesn’t mean that i haven’t been thinking about the world at large- because i have. i finally made my party affiliation a non party affiliation. i no longer belong to a major party- or any party- in america. i try to adhere to what i believe in- and i have been pretty diligently trying to parse out my belief system for myself. a good friend of mine once told me that what i wanted was the entire system to grind to a halt and to scrap it and start over. and, he told me, that it wasn’t realistic. i know. and he knows that i know.
much of what we have inherited of our lives has come from our parents’ and grandparents’ generations- the 20th century was a booming one and the western world exploded with wealth and power. folks here have lived the good life- and this country sold it’s soul (and our planet) to the devil to do so. well, the devil has come to collect his due- and we are left holding the bag. sigh. however, there is much that we could do that could at least alleviate suffering of untold millions- and we won’t because there isn’t the political will.
this is where it gets somewhat scathing- so if you are a liberal- you may want to back away and go read kos or something. i left the democratic party because of issues i complained about going on two years ago- and all through last year. (i am not digging through my own archives to link up to the posts- i have already read all of my own stuff- but feel free. check betmo’s musings first and then go from there.) the biggest issues i see with democratic politicians- they are no different than their republican counterparts. they all take corporate monies and are swayed by lobbyists. don’t take my word for it- i just posted about dems making money from mercenary groups and war profiteering by the dems in congress recently- and i linked to the original stories for good measure.
the biggest issue i have with so called liberals in the democratic party- and this primary season showed it in all of it’s red glory- they use the same thought patterns and tactics as the republican party. yep. misogyny, racism, smears, innuendo, insults, slurs, outright lies- and the thorough tearing down of ‘the other side’- in this case fellow dems- were all present. not just on the big blogs- you know the ones hob nobbing with the democratic politicians at the same functions- but the rank and file bloggers like me and you- at each other’s throats for no other reason than they wanted their candidate to win.
and what the fuck would have been the big prize? clinton or obama. both in aipac’s pocket- and countless other corporate interests- obama just backed the telecom bill- couched with an exception of course in typical political maneuvering so as not to insult anyone (wouldn’t want any votes to slip by for standing on principle). so, what did we win? nothing. just a stay of execution- instead of the quick death of democracy we will continue to slowly bleed to death- because obama as president won’t be any different than any other president- except maybe cheney. there will still be war in iraq and afghanistan; there will still be domestic spying that the congress will continue to sanction; there will still be idiocy with homeland security and the militarization of the police state that is becoming a stronger presence by the day- why?
because the democrats want that power- they just don’t have the balls to grab it for themselves. they are certainly not going to give it back. hence, the stay of execution and the slow bleeding versus the neo cons just doing whatever the hell they want to do. hence, obama, pelosi, hoyer, et al and the telecoms or impeachment or the lack of caring for the will of the people.
the democrats don’t have the set needed to rise up in revolution and neither do the real republican conservatives. ‘when in the course of human events’ are just words on paper that has been shredded and thrown into the circular file. so, you can wheedle and whine and talk about ‘lesser of two evils’ but you will get nowhere with me. we have a one party system in this country and it is a corporate oligarchy. we, the people, mean exactly nothing and they laugh in our faces because they consider us the have nots- and when you look at pelosi or reid or conyers or hoyer or shumer or clinton or obama or any of the haves- you will see the little white man standing in the background pulling the strings that makes them dance- and it is attached to a checkbook.
cross posted at life’s journey
sounds like a fraternity to me
June 22, 2008 by Betmo · Leave a Comment
“The mysterious payments, whose amounts had not been publicly disclosed, included $68.2 million to the United Kingdom, $45.3 million to Poland and $21.3 million to South Korea. Despite repeated requests, Pentagon auditors said they were unable to determine why the payments were made.
“It sounds like the coalition of the willing is the coalition of the paid — they’re willing to be paid,” said Mr. Waxman…”
indeed.
The $300 Billion betrayal
June 14, 2008 by Dusty · Leave a Comment
Our soldiers arent’ getting the protection and the equipment they need. Yet BushCo has squandered 300 Large on boondoggles like we see in the video. From Alternet. These people are Absolute Corruption.
‘when will we ever learn?’
April 15, 2008 by Betmo · 2 Comments
when i read about what we do and say to our fellow human beings- i think about ‘where have all the flowers gone’ and the line ‘when will they ever learn? when will they ever learn?’ and i answer my own question. never. being up on current events is a double edged sword- on the one hand, i get to hear racist, misogynistic, bigoted comments all over the news and blogosphere- women against women; men against men; religion versus religion or non religion everyone is fighting everyone and no one at the same time. i get to read how we pollute and corrupt other cultures and then leave them to clean up the mess; how we destroy our planet and don’t care if the other 75% of the planet lives to see another day as long as we have our starbucks on the way to work talking on the cell phone in our suv- because we are oh, so important.
and on the other hand i read this:
“I just want to be like you,” he said tiredly as he gazed into the middle distance, and with those seven words summed up the eternal plight of the downtrodden and discriminated against. “I’ve got two arms, two hands … why am I any different from other people?” he went on - and, of course, the answer was staring us in the face from the gun turrets of the guard towers overlooking the camp…He was vicious in his condemnation of those at the helm of the Israeli government, castigating them for their decades spent keeping his people down and subjugating them with brute force and bloodshed - however, he was adamant that he did not view their actions as emanating from Jewish sources. “Zionism is far, far removed from the Jewish religion,” he assured me. “I have no issue with Jews - just as I have no problem with Christians or Buddhists. I don’t mind Jews living here, just so long as they do it peacefully.”
A little corruption goes a long way in DC..
March 31, 2008 by Dusty · Leave a Comment
Two…count them two stories today on political corruption.
First, the Supreme Court has allowed to stand a lower court ruling on the searching of William Jefferson’s Congressional office. The no-no was rifling through his congressional papers. This ruling does NOT get Willie off the hook for all that hard cold cash they found in his freezer.
Next, we have another Bushie resignation. I should say I expected this one after all the things I have been reading over at TPM muckrakers about Housing Secretary Alphonso R. Jackson. A real piece of work Jackson is. He decided to fuck with the Housing Authority head in Philly simply because he refused to sell a piece of city property to a friend of Alphonso’s. Now, he will be spending quality time with his family..which is code for hot-footing it out of DC before he gets charged with something.
Sibel Edmonds still blowing that whistle..
February 20, 2008 by Dusty · 5 Comments
Not that our big national media giants will run with this story, but still..she is getting some American press just the same. The Murdoch-owned TimesOnline did a big writeup the beginning of January. Sirens’ posted an article by Lew at Unbrainwashed about this whistleblower back on January 10th.
Sibel is a former FBI Translator that has plenty of dirt on BushCo. Alternet has an interview with Ms. Edmonds here. The Blogosphere is rife with posts about Ms. Edmonds. If your unfamiliar with her story..shame on you. Henry Waxman promised her he would dig into it and hasn’t. From a National Review writeup on her:
But Congress has refused to act, and the Justice Department has shrouded Ms. Edmonds’ case in the state-secrets privilege, a rarely used measure so sweeping that it precludes even a closed hearing attended only by officials with top-secret security clearances. According to the Department of Justice, such an investigation “could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to the foreign policy and national security of the United States.”
Ah yes..States Secrets Privilege..the bitch that keeps everything in the dark and hidden from public view. BushCo is the king that uses that card quite liberally for anything and everything.
I would like to suggest you read some of the links contained in this post, especially the recent interview at Alternet. Perhaps after BushCo leaves office we will get to the bottom of this smarmy bullshit..one can hope right? Because I don’t believe any of it will see the light of day while the Decider is still in office.
Corruption at the NRCC? You don’t say..
February 12, 2008 by Dusty · 4 Comments
Sweet Jebus in a thong..this heinous crap should not surprise a friggin person living in these United States..afterall..what party is the king of corruption?
That was a rhetorical question my dear reader.
I do love how idiotic their attempt at subjugated the audit process was..what morons! From the Politico writeup:
Finally, at a recent meeting, the now former NRCC treasurer, Christopher J. Ward, relented, giving Conaway what was supposed to be an official internal audit from 2006. That document was a fake, the GOP members said. Even the letterhead on which it was sent was a forgery.
Revelations about the falsified document touched off an unfolding scandal that has rocked the NRCC and spurred a criminal investigation by the FBI into the committee’s accounting procedures.
Fearing the fallout from the discovery, the NRCC informed its principal lender, Wachovia, of potential accounting problems. Wachovia, which declined comment Thursday, had lent the committee $9 million in 2006, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Knowing the bank was required by law to notify federal investigators of any “suspicious activity,” the NRCC also alerted the FBI, Republican insiders confirmed.
At the same time, NRCC officials notified the FEC that the committee may have filed inaccurate disclosure statements.
what’s wrong with us?
January 16, 2008 by Betmo · 2 Comments
that was a question asked by a reader of mine over at life’s journey. i posted on how the kenyans mobilized and kept in contact with each other during this time of turmoil and whatnot. it is a fine, fine question. i have pondered over it until it depresses me. there are lots of folks out there who are mobilized and fighting for a good end- but we don’t all agree on that end result. for example, i am a kucinich supporter and i have been rallying around the kucinich campaign almost since day 1. i feel he would be a step in the right direction- but the obama supporters are working just as hard to get him elected. folks mobilized for a common good- but, well, you get the idea. not everyone shares my view that we need to shut this country down and take it back by force of numbers in order to get some accountability and movement away from the corruption. and they are probably right. the corruption cuts deep- in every layer of our ‘way of life’. we would have to shut things down indefinitely to sort this all out- and in the end- we would still have our forests cut down, our infrastructures crumbling and our tax money evaporating in the ether. why?
The year in Corruption
December 31, 2007 by Dusty · Leave a Comment
A heartfelt thank you to the wonderful folks over at TPMmuckraker. They have taken the time to build a list of who’s who in the world of political corruption
. Their standards were strict, which is why Karl Rove didn’t make the cut. They insisted on proof positive that the individual was guilty of corruption..and sadly, no one has actually busted Krazy Karl yet. Also, a TPM reader, DavidSilver, has created a nice pictorial homage to these fuckwits here. Now, onto the list!
Indicted / Convicted/ Pled Guilty
* Eric G. Andell - deputy undersecretary in charge of newly created Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (previously senior adviser to Secretary of Education Rod Paige) - pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest for using government travel for personal causes and was sentenced to one year of probation, 100 hours of community service, and fined $5,000.
* Claude Allen - Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy- resigned, pled guilty to shoplifting from Target stores.
* Lester Crawford - Commissioner, FDA - resigned in late September 2005 after only two months on the job. On October 17th, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts, making a false writing and conflict of interest. On February 27, 2007, Crawford was sentenced to to three years of probation and was fined $90,000.
* Brian Doyle - Deputy Press Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - Resigned in wake of child sex scandal. Doyle was arrested on April 4th, 2006 and pleaded no contest on September 19, 2006 to seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and sixteen counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor. On November 17th, 2006 Brian Doyle was sentenced to five years in state prison and ten years of probation. He will also need to register as a sex offender.
thoughts
on why i am not writing about the bhutto murder. i am a woman and i recognize that bhutto’s stint as prime minister in an islamic country was important. her role as a strong leader among men was as important as golda meir and margaret thatcher’s were in paving the way for women everywhere. however, i am someone who believes that people are equal. men and women are equal even as they are different physiologically. that bhutto was murdered is newsworthy because she was an opposition leader backed by america to disrupt a nuisance who doesn’t want to toe the mark. that doesn’t detract from her former accomplishments or what her future could have held. but is her life any more newsworthy or precious than any number of iraqis or kurds or palestinians or sudanese or rwandans? or anyone else on the planet? in my mind no. she was a daughter and wife and mother- just as countless other women are. she suffered loss just as any number of women have. she was special only because she moved up the ranks of power- something that many women can’t do.
Your Friday political corruption post..
December 14, 2007 by Dusty · 2 Comments
Lets start today with one of the clown prince’s of political corruption..Abu Gonzales! Yes Abu has been given award (h/t to Fran) by, of all groups…wait for it..
A magazine published by the American Bar Association names Gonzo: Lawyer of the Year
Now, I almost gagged to death on my freshly made, Splenda instead of real sugar, Peanut Butter cookie when I read the title of the article. I mean really..wtf, I thought as I was choking my ass off. But a closer look into the article shows that like Time magazine’s award it doesn’t mean its a good thing. It means he got the most press of any lawyer in the entire world. Ain’t that the truth my dear reader? Can’t argue with that logic can we? From the RawStory writeup:
“Think about Time magazine’s Person of the Year,” Adams said in an interview. “In years past they’ve named people like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin. So we’re not suggesting by these awards that these are the best lawyers in any sense of the word. We are saying they are the most newsworthy — and perhaps also the best.”
Ok, I don’t mind Abu being linked to Hitler or Stalin on second thought..do you?
A friend to Bush and a top polluter..
November 17, 2007 by Dusty · 2 Comments
“An American power company with close financial links to President George Bush has been named as one of the world’s top producers of global warming pollution.The first-ever worldwide database of such pollution also reveals the rapid growth in global-warming emissions by power plants in China, South Africa and India. Power plants already produce 40 per cent of US greenhouse gas and 25 per cent of the world’s.”
And so begins the story on CommonDreams.org. This is a disgusting tale of corruption and greed. Its always about those two things isn’t it my dear reader? Check this out…
Your Friday political corruption post..
Ah yes..we start off today with the indictment of Bernard Kerik. Asshat was charged with at least major transgressions. From the NYT writeup:
A federal grand jury today indicted Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York police commissioner appointed by Rudolph W. Giuliani while he was mayor, on
charges that include tax fraud, obstruction of justice and lying to the White House.
In announcing the indictment, Michael J. Garcia, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said it was a “sad day when this office returns an indictment against a former law enforcement officer, particularly one who served in positions as high as those held by Bernard Kerik.”
The charges against him together carry a maximum penalty of 142 years in prison and $4.7 million in fines. According to sentencing guidelines, he will most likely face lesser penalties.
The man was ALMOST the head of Homeland Security..thank god that didn’t happen. Smarmy bastid that he is..
That’s it for this week. Last week the federal contractor Brent Wilkes was found guilty on all counts..YAY!
Tags: Corruption in Government, Kerik indicted
tuesday post for peace
July 24, 2007 by Betmo · 4 Comments
with all of the recent information coming out in (gasp) the msm- about corruption and executive orders- and faked al quaeda operatives, one would think that holding someone accountable and starting the pullout from iraq would be a no brainer. but no. sadly no. here we are, with the dems doing nothing. even after cindy s. and her crew begged and pleaded- and promptly got arrested. even after poll numbers hit a new high with folks wanting impeachment. even after meeting with the former ‘axis of evil’ folks to hope that they can do what we couldn’t- bring some stability to a country we de-stabilized. we have to work diligently for peace- and it has to become a mindset, because even after the last soldier is home, america will not be at peace. she may be resting in peace- but there are millions of angry people here- and peace is far from our minds.
tags: peace now, iraq war, angry americans
