-Scott McLellan stated that President Bush admitted to being the one who authorized the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to the press. Boys and girls, that is treason. I'm not calling for a hanging, but can we at least get an impeachment? Surely treason would warrant it if a blowjob does. If Dick Cheney weren't Vice President, this asshole would have been out of office years ago. I think everyone is too terrified to go after Bush because that would mean President Cheney. Admittedly, there is some sound reasoning to that. I think that was their evil plan all along.
-Experts predict that food prices will continue to rise. About one month ago, however, Democracy Now also reported that agricultural firms posted record profits last quarter. How have their profits increased if food prices have increased? One would expect increased revenue, but not profit. People are struggling here in the States, but it's nothing compared to the devestation these prices have had in Eastern Africa. If these companies are manipulating the market through price gouging, they need to be held accountable. People are dying to the tune of 40,ooo a day because they can't get enough to eat. How much is greed responsible for those deaths? I'm not an economist obviously, so if I'm misguided on this issue, please correct me; I'm genuinely baffled.
-A group of American activists were convicted for protesting Gitmo. 34 activists will spend up to 60 days in prison for participating in a January 11 demonstration. See guys, it's not hard to hold a trial. Just do the same for the prisoners in Guantanamo, and you won't have to try any more protestors.
I just finished watching HBO's Recount. A word to the wise--don't go near this unless you intend to seethe with anger. Actually, no, I take that back. Watch it, and think long and hard about how we as Americans failed ourselves and our nation. Each and every one of us. Sure, I was only 16 in the year 2000, obviously not old enough to vote, but even those of us without a ballot have voices that shouldn't go unheard.
I'm not going to rehash the plot of the film, seeing that if you were paying the least bit of attention, you already know what happened. To its credit, though, I was so carried away at a couple of points while watching it, I almost believed that there would be justice at the end and President Gore would be inaugurated. So much for David and Goliath.
This may seem to be a case of sour grapes, and you know what, maybe it is, but it has nothing to do with being a democrat, republican, or whatever party you choose to affiliate with. The bottom line is that thousands of people did not have their votes counted--thousands of citizens disenfranchised. 20,000 more of them were placed on an arbitrary list, denied their constitutional rights to cast a ballot because their names were similiar to those of felons--more than 10,000 of said people being African-American. Out of this list of supposed "felons," only 33 of them had actually ever been convicted of a crime. How did this happen!? We bent over and took it in the ass from Katherine Harris and nine supreme court justices, because in this country, fuck liberty, it's all about respecting the "law." I hate to tell you this, but we are not a nation of law abiders. Our forefathers were revoluntionary outlaws, refusing to subject themselves to an unjust authority, or so the mythology goes. When authority oversteps its bounds, it's our reponsibility, no--our honor--as Americans to beat the shit out of it. Thomas Jefferson said so himself, only in slightly more eloquent terms.
We have to stop being so complacent, which ultimately makes us complicit. I'd love to blame Katherine Harris or James Baker or the Supreme Court or Al Gore or Ralph Nader. Where do we come into the fold, though? George W. Bush was not our president. He only had as much authority as we were willing to bestow upon him. After 2004, he legitimized himself, which was probably a good way to heal some of our wounds, but he shouldn't have been running for re-election that year in the first place. We should have gone on strike, a nation-wide halt of all activity. Then maybe our voices would have been heard. Most people today believe that we had to accept Bush as our president so the nation could move on and come back together. I call bullshit on that one. Sometimes you need to fight back, and yeah, it gets ugly, but it's the only way to ensure that you are taken seriously.
We set up the precedent for this administration. We took the 2000 election lying down, and George W. Bush realized that we were a people who would go along with anything in the name of authority and "patriotism." So after a war, a recession, a credit crisis, skyrocketing debt, innumerous human rights and Geneva Convention violations, Hurricane Katrina, the outing of a CIA agent, and a general nonregard of our civil liberties, I think we have paid the price and learned our lesson. Which is precisely why Senator Clinton needs to do the honorable thing and get out of this race. Mrs. Clinton, we have had enough of our votes being held in little regard by those with immense power and money. If you expect the super delegates of the Democratic party to ignore the majority of their constituents and appoint you as their candidate, you are no better than Mr. Bush and his cronies. I have said it before and I will say it until a candidate is chosen, but if the Democratic party goes against its voters' wishes in this primary, I am leaving it for life, and you can be damn sure that she is not getting my vote.
Oh, and before I forget, the real bitch of all of this is that Gore won.
On a less divisive note, director/actor Sydney Pollack passed away this morning. He produced HBO's Recount, and I hope he at least died with the peace of mind that he went out on top. My thoughts are with his friends and family and all of those fortunate enough to have worked with him over the years.
