Its hard to believe its been almost four years since Katrina hit. Its even harder to believe that its taken almost four years to see some real action regarding the police actions on the night the storm hit:
Nearly four years after the police shootout that took the lives of Ronald Madison and James Brissette on New Orleans’ Danziger Bridge, the FBI raided the offices of the police investigators who had been looking into the deadly incident.
The bureau’s move suggests that the federal government may be serious about seeing police officers prosecuted over the Sept. 4, 2005 shootout, when Madison and Brissette were allegedly killed by police and four others wounded as they crossed a bridge in the midst of the Hurricane Katrina crisis.
It also suggests the FBI may be worried that New Orleans police are trying — or may in the future try — to destroy evidence of what happened that day.
Many Americans watched this unfold that night on their televisions and were in horror. Not just the fact that this was happening in a 21st American city, but the fact that the federal government was AWOL. Its a solid reminder of just how dangerously derelict a Republican administration was.
The Republicans have been planning all along to use this bailout as an issue against Democrats, despite the fact that it is a bill by a Republican administration. They were so intent on using it that the RNC already had made attack ads and sent them to key states:
The Republican National Committee's new advertisement critical of the the Wall Street "bailout" was produced and sent to television stations in key states before the package failed, officials at two stations said.
"Wall Street Squanders our money. And Washington is forced to bail them out with -- you guessed it -- our money. Can it get any worse?" asks the ad's narrator, as the words "BAILOUT WITH OUR MONEY" cross the screen. (The answer: Obama's plans would make it worse.)
Absolutely amazing. The Democrats should say they aren't bringing the bill backup until the Republicans stop holding the American people hostage. We saw what this did to Wall Street and America's 401k yesterday. They always put party before country. Will John McCain stand up and denounce the RNC for this? Will the media even ask him about it?
It looks like Lieberman is wondering where all his friends have gone and looking for some new ones:
Sen. Joe Lieberman made an unusual pitch to people outside Connecticut when he conceded the state's Democratic primary to Ned Lamont and announced plans to run as an independent.
"If you're disappointed with the ugly tone of our politics, if you're fed up with the nasty partisanship in Washington, then I ask your help, too," said Lieberman, who was criticized as being too close to the Republican administration.
Lieberman called on people across America to visit his Web site and send ideas "on how we can build this new politics of unity and purpose." He also hit them up for campaign contributions.
"Together I am confident that we can find common ground and secure a better future for our children," he said. "That, and not partisanship, is what our politics ought to be about."
The next day, Lieberman discussed his decision to run as an independent before a national audience on CNN's "Larry King Live."
Lieberman's plea to voters beyond Connecticut comes as many Democratic Party leaders in and out of the state are abandoning the three-term incumbent and publicly endorsing Lamont. Several have urged Lieberman to withdraw from the race.
I don't believe many, if any, Democrats outside of Ct. will help Joe out. He might get some help from people like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter though. This is a certain sign that Lieberman's race is looking pretty dim.
Now here is something interesting - the Russians seem to have a better grip on American politics than most Americans do. They have called out the Republican party for what it is - fear mongers:
An influential Russian newspaper here accused US President George W. Bush's Republican Party of deliberately raising tension with Russia to boost its own sagging popularity ahead of elections.
"Russia's success at the Saint Petersburg G8 summit depends on US domestic politics," the liberal business daily Vedomosti said in a front-page commentary, referring to the Group of Eight nations meeting scheduled for July.
"This unpleasant situation became obvious during the past week" as Bush's Republican administration, looking ahead to autumn congressional elections, continued taking "energetic steps to resurrect its shaky popularity" ratings, the newspaper said.
"One of these steps is to tighten policy on Russia."
The paper noted that the G8 summit agenda is set by member countries and this year centers on energy security, education and fighting infectious diseases.
Just think about it. During the 2004 election Bush kept beating those "fear drums". He tried to make Americans fear that Osama was still on our door step and even backed that fear up with raising the terror level on bogus claims.
Now terrorism isn't enough to scare the Americans into voting for Republicans. So what is the alternative. Here we go - lets relive the cold war. Lets make the Americans fear that there are Russians out there ready to strike us at any minute, as well as Osama.
The same crowd that has placed Bush on this high pedestal and made even coined him as "one of the greatest presidents in history" is now turning:
From Iraq to deficits, from immigration to port security, some of the most pointed criticism leveled at President Bush is coming from within his own party. Republicans these days are almost sounding like perennially divided Democrats.
The rising GOP angst stems from Bush's deep slump in the polls and the growing unpopularity of the Iraq war.
But it also reflects a political reawakening as Republicans follow their own political interests in this midterm election year and as would-be 2008 presidential contenders seek ways to set themselves apart — from each other and from Bush.
"It's open season on him. George Bush has lost trust on too many issues," said presidential historian Thomas E. Cronin of Colorado College. "We saw it happen with Johnson, we saw it with Nixon. And now, sadly, we're seeing it with Bush."
If that is not enough of a turn then check out this little article from today's Dallas Morning News:
There was no clearer sense of the despair among conservative Christians who gathered recently than the row upon row of books with urgent, alarmist titles.
Pagan America. Judicial Tyranny. Liberalism Kills Kids. The Criminalization of Christianity.
The
Boston Globe hit a home run today. In an article titled "Congress Reduces
Its Oversight Role" they highlight how Republicans in Congress ignore their very
duty as given to them in our constitution.
WASHINGTON -- Back in the mid-1990s, the Republican-controlled House of
Representatives, aggressively delving into alleged misconduct by the Clinton
administration, logged 140 hours of sworn testimony into whether former
president Bill Clinton had used the White House Christmas card list to
identify potential Democratic donors.
In the past two years, a House committee has managed to take only 12
hours of sworn testimony about the abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib
prison.
The jarring comparison reflects the way Congress has conducted its
oversight role during the GOP's era of one-party rule in Washington.
While congressional committees once were leaders in investigating the
executive branch and powerful industries, the current Congress has largely
spared major corporations and has done only minimal oversight of the
Republican administration, according to a review of congressional documents
by The Boston Globe.
An examination of committees' own reports found that the House Government
Reform Committee held just 37 hearings described as ''oversight" or
investigative in nature during the last Congress, down from 135 such
hearings held by its predecessor, the House Government Operations Committee,
in 1993-94, the last year the Democrats controlled the chamber.
Party loyalty does not account for the difference: In 1993-94, the
Democrats were investigating a Democratic administration
